This was one of those chapters that I wrote and then I re-read and then I read it again and still wasn't sure if anyone would like it. See, I guess you can say that I have a strange sense of humor, and the thing that happens to Daryl in this chapter happened to a friend of mine and when he told me about it I cracked up and for some reason, as I started this chapter, that story popped into my head. So I got to thinking, what would Daryl Dixon do? And then I thought... well, let's find out. And so I wrote it. And it was pretty funny... although a little mean... You get to read a little evil Carol. I really hope you like it. And if you don't then I'm so sorry but I couldn't resist XD
Chapter Nineteen
The food was actually good. The two men had really outdone themselves. There was a huge table in the kitchen and everyone sat around it eating their dinner, talking, laughing and enjoying being clean. There was a lot of wine flowing. Daryl didn't do much talking but it was funny just watching everyone else. When he wasn't watching Carol.
She looked amazing. He always liked the way she looked but tonight was different. It wasn't just the clothes she'd snagged out of one of the houses either, although he really liked the way she wore the hell out of those jeans. She smiled a lot tonight. She never once avoided anyones eyes which he had noticed, before he had ever even talked to her, that she did a lot. She drank one glass of wine and then wouldn't take anymore. Which he was pretty glad because if she kissed him again he wasn't sure he would be able to stop anything from happening and if she was shitfaced he wouldn't have a choice but to stop. He was tired of all the stopping.
Milton showed the kids to the game room and came back with more wine. The more the wine flowed the louder everyone got and Milton and Jenner just seemed to be enjoying everyone else being there. Even Milton was smiling a lot as he chatted with Andrea and Amy. T-dog was sitting to Daryl's left and he had a bottle of wine all to himself. He looked over at Daryl and offered him the bottle. Daryl took one last lingering look at Carol and grabbed it from the man. He turned it up.
Jesus, if Merle would have seen that he would have had a stroke. A Dixon, not only sitting next to a black man, but also drinking pussy ass wine out of the same bottle.
He nearly jumped out of his chair when he felt Carol's hand run up his inner thigh under the table. She wasn't looking at him. She had her head turned and was talking to Dale. He expected that hand to stop at some point but it kept going and when it did finally stop it really didn't stop.
"Hey, man? You alright?" T-dog asked worriedly.
Daryl whipped his head around and blew out a heavy breath. All he could do was nod at the man though. If he opened his mouth to say something God only knew what kind of sound would have came out. She wasn't stopping with her secret explorations. Well, she kind of stopped her exploring after she found something that sparked her interest but she didn't stop moving the hand. He'd already had to go back to his room and get back in the shower after leaving her room earlier. Under water that was as cold as he could get it. And it had taken nearly five whole minutes for that to work. Now he was in trouble. Real trouble.
He put his elbows on the table and put his face in his hands for a second and then she did something that caused him to jerk his hands away from his face and gape at her. She wasn't looking. She was as calm as could be with her head still turned, having a normal conversation with someone while she was slipping her hand right down his pants.
T-dog said something to him but he didn't catch what the man said.
"What?" He croaked as he turned to look at him.
"I asked if you wanted some more." He held out the bottle and Daryl turned it up again. This time he chugged the rest of it. Which was about a quarter of the bottle. He handed the empty bottle back and T-dog just looked at it dejectedly. "Well damn, Dixon." He sat the empty bottle on the table.
She was running her hand up and down the length of him. Never in a million years not a billion years would he ever have thought she was capable of doing something like this. She was shy. She was sweet. She was quiet. She startled easily. She was fucking evil. He stifled a groan. He wasn't even sure anymore if it was the wine or if it was her that was making his head swim.
He glanced around but no one was paying any attention to him at all, thank God.
Images started running through his head. The way her skin had felt that second night when she came down to the water. The way she had pressed up against him in the tent that very first night they had shared it. The way her body felt the morning he woke up and she was on top of him. And then last night in that bed. The way her lips tasted and the way her body had felt under his hands and then the camper. And then her tonight, standing there right in front of him, wearing nothing but a towel. How easy it would have been if they had had more time.
He felt his muscles begin to tense and he glanced around once more, still no one was looking at him, even T-dog had his head turned now as he talked to Glen. He dropped his arms onto the table and rested his head on them as he bit the hell out of his lip and concentrated on keeping his breathing as normal as possible and then he was there. Right there at the table, in a room full of half drunk people, Daryl Dixon was in the middle of a surprisingly intense orgasm. And for some reason it was lasting much longer than any he had ever had before, probably thanks to all the torture he had put himself through the last few days. Well, that she had put him through anyway. He stayed as still as he could. He felt his shoulders jerk a few times but he couldn't help that at all. He squeezed his eyes shut and kept his head down while he waited it out.
When it was finally over he felt her hand slip away and he let his breath out slowly before raising his head from his arms. She finally glanced at him, her eyes shining with excitement. He ran a hand through his hair and sat back in his chair a little.
"Are you alright?" Milton asked from across the table. He looked concerned so Daryl could only imagine what his face looked like.
"I'm fine." He growled.
Milton just nodded and turned back to Andrea.
Carol turned in her seat to face him but he only glared at her. She looked smug. She looked like the cat that caught the canary. She looked beautiful. Without thinking he leaned in and kissed her lightly and then kissed her again. He could feel the eyes on him now as the conversation in the room died away.
Maybe it was because of all the wine he had drank or maybe he was just sick and tired of worrying about what other people thought, or maybe he was just a little bit more bold after a hidden hand job. He didn't know why he kissed her in front of everyone, but it felt good. And she didn't seem to mind it either because she kissed him back. And then grinned. The shock wore off quickly because a few seconds later everyone started chatting again.
"You know your gonna pay for that, right?" He whispered.
"I hope so." She grinned.
~H~
Carol's heart was pounding so hard that she was sure everyone at the table could see it beating in her chest. She couldn't believe what she had just done. If she knew someone else had done something like that, in a room full of people, she would have been appalled. But she wasn't feeling that way right now. She felt empowered. Why something like that could make her feel empowered was beyond her, but it was true.
Everyone seemed to be engrossed in their own conversations again but that didn't even matter. The room could have been empty or every person in the room could have been staring at her for all she cared. T-dog had himself another bottle of wine and she reached across Daryl and snatched it from him before he could take another drink. He looked startled and then his face broke out in a wide grin.
"Carol," T-dog said as she took a few long drinks from the bottle, "I'm glad you finally came out of that shell of yours."
She heard Daryl chuckle as she handed the bottle back to T-dog. She grinned herself. "Me too."
Daryl grabbed her glass and then the bottle and filled it up. "Lush." He said as he handed her the glass.
"And here I thought you were keepin' an eye on how much I drank tonight." She said with a wink.
He shook his head and smirked. "I don't really suppose it matters at this point, do you?"
She shook her head. "Sure don't."
"I'll be back." He said as he scooted the chair back.
She frowned. "Where are you going?"
He gave her a severe look and then rolled his eyes. "To try to find some more pants." He whispered.
She tried to hide it but she couldn't. She laughed, causing T-dog to turn towards them once more.
Daryl sighed. "I'm glad you're enjoyin' yourself, Carol."
"Oh, you enjoyed yourself too, I believe." She downed half her glass and smiled.
"What's so funny?" T-dog slurred.
"Hand me that bottle and I'll tell you all about it." Carol grinned. Maybe she should lay off the wine. She was feeling way too bold.
"God, Carol!" Daryl hissed.
She held up her hands. "Kidding."
He groaned as T-dog looked back and forth between them with a grin.
He was about to get up to hurry out of the room but she grabbed his hand. "I picked you up some clothes. There in my bag on the bed.
He nodded, kissed her quickly and almost sprinted out of the room.
She watched him go as that small kiss simmered on her lips. She didn't realize she was smiling until T-dog raised his bottle.
"Cheers." He grinned.
She held up her glass. "To what?"
"To the redneck that saved our asses and put that smile on that pretty face of yours."
She laughed and clinked her glass against his bottle. "You're drunk." She said to him as he put the bottle to his lips once more.
He nodded and swallowed. "Yes ma'am I am. But I ain't blind. You're love struck. And I wouldn't have said it a week ago but you picked yourself a good one."
She looked towards the door he had disappeared through. "That I did."
Carol was starting to really feel the wine and she sat her glass down, although T-dog refilled it for her. Andrea caught her eye from across the table and smiled at her. "Carol, you look beautiful tonight. I don't think I've ever seen you smile so much."
Carol felt her face flush and then she held up the glass. "I think it's the wine." She grinned.
Andrea returned the smile and then her eyes flashed over to the door. "I believe it's the Dixon."
"Me too!" T-dog nearly shouted as he raised his bottle at Andrea, who laughed loudly.
It didn't take Daryl long to get back. He sat down next to her. "Jesus, look at you bunch of drunks." He said with a grin and then he looked over at her. "How'd you know what size to look for?" he asked as he scooted the chair up.
She shrugged. "I've done your laundry, remember?"
T-dog handed over the bottle and leaned back in his chair.
Shane cleared his throat loudly. He was sitting next to Lori at the end of the table across from them. "So, Jenner, this is great and all, but I gotta ask the obvious here. Where the hell is the rest of you?"
Rick rolled his eyes and shook his head. He was on Lori's other side. "Come on Shane. Can't we just enjoy ourselves here? We can talk about the rest in the mornin'."
Carol watched Jenner glance towards Milton, who was no longer smiling but looking down at the table.
"There isn't anyone else. Just the two of us." Jenner said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Just you? What happened to all the Doctors? All the scientists? We thought you would be able to tell us what was happening." It was Glen who spoke.
Jenner just shook his head. "We don't know what it is. When it happened it was all chaos. Most of our people fled. Some didn't get far though. Others..." His voice trailed off and he glanced once more towards Milton. "Others opted out."
Everyone grew silent then and Carol felt Daryl's hand slide into hers on the table. "So, there's no hope then?" She asked quietly. "This is it?"
"We lost all communication with other facilities the second day. You people are the first living people we've seen in a while. We thought maybe everyone was gone. Maybe we were the last few left."
"And you don't know what it is?" Andrea asked. "You have no clue if this is something that could possibly just pass?"
Milton shook his head. "Whatever it is, it isn't going anywhere. We think it may be air born."
"Jesus Christ." T-dog mumbled as he put his face in his hands and leaned his elbows on the table.
"But if it's air born wouldn't that mean..." Carol's voice trailed off.
"We all carry it." Milton confirmed as he looked up and met her eyes briefly.
"Ed." Carol looked over at Daryl. "That's why he turned."
Jenner nodded. "This is something that will happen to all of us. Whatever it is reanimates the brain stem after we die. Damaging the brain is the only thing that will kill us after we turn."
"We are sorry." Milton said quietly. "I wish we could give you all answers. We've been trying." he shook his head. "But time has ran out."
"The fuck you mean, times ran out?" Daryl asked angrily.
Jenner glanced at him. "Tomorrow evening the fuel for our generators will run out. When that happens this place is designed to self destruct."
"What?" Lori breathed. "What does that mean?"
"This facility. It will explode. There will be enough force to kill everything. This place hold things that you wouldn't imagine. If some of the things here ever got out then what you people have been dealing with outside will pale in comparison. Diseases that you wouldn't even be able to imagine. Once the generators fail this place is designed to self destruct in a way that makes it impossible for any of those things to get out." Jenner explained calmly.
"The air itself will burn." Milton said sadly with a shake of his head.
Carol picked up her glass and drained it. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be it for them. Her daughter couldn't grow up in a world with no hope and that's exactly what they were telling them. And they were all going to end up like that? Like Ed? She took a deep breath and looked back up at Daryl and started feeling herself grow more calm. As long as he was there she was fine.
Rick looked exactly like Carol felt. He looked over at Jenner. "So what were you two going to do?"
Milton looked up. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"Where were the two of you going to go? Before this place lights up like a torch?" Rick asked.
Jenner took a deep breath and shook his head. "We aren't going anywhere. We can't go out there."
"What?" Daryl's voice caused her to jump. "What the fuck you gonna do? Sit in here and burn?"
Jenner just looked at him. It was Milton that spoke. "It isn't like that. We wont feel it. Do you think the alternative is any better? You think it would be best to go out there and starve for a while? Stay on the run? And in the end get eaten by one of those things anyway? You're going to have to watch your children die a slow death. This is just better. Maybe you should really put some thought into your options."
"Listen you crazy fucker!" Daryl roared as he flew out of his chair, which crashed loudly onto the floor. He put his hands on the table and leaned towards Milton, his face looking more dangerous than Carol had ever seen it.
"Daryl!" Rick yelled as Milton coward in his own chair, clearly terrified.
Daryl pushed himself away from the table, grabbed Carols hand and nearly yanked her to her feet. "Fuck this." He turned to Milton and Jenner, glaring, "And fuck you." He pulled her towards the doorway and she followed, not that she had much choice with the grip he had on her hand.
He stormed through the door and nearly dragged her down the hallway. When he finally stopped he dropped her hand and spun around. That dangerous look was still there and she took an involuntary step back from him.
"Don't. Don't for a fuckin' second think that those bastards know what the hell they are talkin' about." He seethed.
She stared at his angry features and she was not sure if it was the wine giving her false courage or the fact that she trusted him completely but she reached up and put her hand against his tense jaw. "I wont think for a second that those bastards know what the hell they are talking about."
His features relaxed under her warm hand and then the corner of his mouth twitched. The guy that had almost launched himself across the table after the cowering Milton was the groups Daryl. The man that was standing calmly before her now was hers. There was a big difference between the two.
"You ain't scared about what they said?" He asked.
"Daryl, I've been scared to death for most of my life. It's about time I decided to stop being scared. Everybody can be scared now if that's what they have to do. I'm going to keep myself alive. I'm going to keep Sophia alive. And you're the one that's going to show me how."