I hear a lot of thunder at the moment so I wanted to get this posted in case I lose internet! Sometimes that happens when it storms! Thanks for all the reviews! And you all pretty much confirmed that they never did mention Carol's Maiden name so I am going to make one up. XD A dear friend of mine said I should stick with Mason and since she is such a sweetheart I may just do that (although she did threaten to shoot me in the ass with an arrow recently) ;) I hope you like this chapter! Okay... That was a BIG ol' clap of thunder so I am off to post this! Let me know what you think =)
Chapter Eighty Seven
When Daryl was finally relieved from the wall for good for the night he had hurried to their room expecting Carol to be there already. When she wasn't Merle's words flashed through his head about Martinez and his plan for revenge. His heart was hammering painfully hard in his chest as he checked the bathroom. She wasn't there either.
He stormed down the hallway like an enraged bull and nearly knocked her on her ass when he turned the corner to go back outside and she was right there. He caught her before she could fall. He blew out a sigh of relief.
"Where the fuck have you been?" He growled as he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards their room.
"What the hell, Daryl. What's wrong with you?" She asked.
He slammed the door and then took a good look at her. She must have just gotten back from that stupid diner. Of all the places that moron had her working it was there. How goddamn cliche was that? The redneck's woman working at a diner. Jesus.
"Daryl?" She asked again as she came closer. He hadn't realized he was leaning his back against the door. Like he was going to block her exist with his own body so he would know she wasn't going anywhere.
"Nothin's wrong. Just thought you'd be here when I got back is all." He said casually.
She cocked one eyebrow at him and then came closer. "Somethin's wrong."
Goddamn Merle and his stupid ass spur of the moment plans. Had him all fucking nervous. There was no way he was going to be able to go all night without giving up the plan. She would hound him until he was deaf or until he told her what the fuck was going on. He figured he would skip the bullshit and just break down and spill it all. Maybe he wouldn't look like such a pussy if Maggie beat the information out of Merle too. But there was no way he could keep it from her.
Besides, she would know something was up as soon as he got up to leave. He couldn't even get up to take a piss without her waking up anymore. It had been like that ever since the farm when he had slipped out in the rain and then they had all almost gotten killed.
"No freakin' out alright?" He said quietly as he put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer.
"Daryl, you starting a sentence with the phrase, 'don't freak out', instantly makes me freak out. What the hell is going on with you and Merle?"
So she already knew something was up with Merle too. She was pretty good. Or they really sucked at being sneaky. They were pretty fucked if it was the latter.
"Merle and me are gonna kill about twenty three men tonight." He whispered.
She placed her hands on his chest and smiled. The smile stayed until she looked up and met his eyes and realized that he wasn't joking. Her smile dropped like a stone and her eyes went impossibly wide. "What are you talking about? You and Merle?"
He nodded. "We're gonna get most of'em tonight while they're asleep. Use knives. Philip first just in case somethin' goes wrong we wont have to worry about him. Without him the others are pretty much lost."
"Are you insane!" She hissed. "You'll get yourselves killed, Daryl. No." She shook her head, panic taking hold in her eyes. "You two can't do this. We have to have a plan, we can all do it together."
"This is the plan, Carol. We have to do it now and Merle's right. It'll be quick and clean. In and out until we have to take out the ones on the wall." He said this not just to assure her but to assure himself as well.
He had to look away. The desperate fearful look in her eyes was making his chest ache. He knew how she felt. She probably didn't know it but he did. The thought of him in danger tore at her just as the thought of her in danger did the same to him. But this was why he had to do it. He wasn't as much like his brother as some people thought. He didn't get any sort of thrill from the thought of killing. But this world called for people to step up and do things that they normally wouldn't do. To keep her safe he would kill. He would come in like a coward in the dark and he would kill as many people as he needed to if it would keep her and Sophia safe.
"Daryl, you'll get yourselves killed. You can't do this." She breathed. Her hands were shaking and when he met her eyes they were filled with tears, her cheeks already stained.
He felt his resolve start to crumble in the face of her fear. He brought a hand up to her face and wiped at the tears there. He held her gaze for a long time. Her eyes were pleading. And then something changed in her gaze. A switch turning on, or off, he couldn't tell. She took a deep breath and then nodded. Lifting her head and meeting his eyes now with a steely determination he hadn't seen before.
"I love you." She breathed. "Keep yourself alive."
He blinked in surprise and his hand stilled on her face. "What?"
She kissed him hard and then stepped away from him. "Keep yourself alive."
"I thought..."
She held up a hand. "I have to stop. This has to be done and you and Merle are the only ones that can do this." She wiped away the lingering tears on her face and then straightened up. She was struggling to keep herself composed but he admired her fight. This was more than hard and she was going to face it with dry eyes and hope for the best.
"You know we can do this. You know I'll be fine." He muttered quietly.
"I know you can do this. But I also know that when you walk out that door tonight it very well could be the last time I ever see you. Don't tell me you'll be fine. You don't know what will happen."
She didn't sound angry. There was still a hint of fear in her words but she was fighting that too. She sounded almost reserved. Like she already knew what fate had in store for her and she was trying to accept it. He felt as though she were already burying him in her mind.
"I'm gonna be fine." he growled.
She simply nodded.
There was a loud sharp knock at the door that had them both jumping. He opened it a crack and then it was shoved inward so hard he had to take a few steps back to keep it from slamming into him. Maggie barged in and spun around on Merle, who had followed her into the room.
"Has he told you?" She snapped, eyes flashing towards Carol. "Has he told you that they are going to get themselves killed tonight like a couple of idiots?" She hissed. Her voice was quiet but she delivered them with an intensity that had even Carol's eyes widening.
"He told me." Carol said quietly.
Maggie's eyes instantly filled with tears when she really looked at Carol. "They can't do this."
"They have too." Carol said gently.
"You're okay with this?" She was starting to sound angry again.
Daryl glanced at Merle. He was rubbing the back of his neck again, looking on miserably. He didn't feel so bad for telling Carol now. Merle had obviously had to face the wrath of Maggie Greene.
"There isn't anything we can do about it." Carol said firmly. Daryl couldn't help but flinch a little.
Maggie's eyes met his, desperate and afraid, just like Carol's had been when he had first told her of their plans. "Daryl please, please try to think of another way." Her eyes flew to Merle and she glared at him for a second before meeting Daryl's eyes once more. "Please." She pleaded.
He just shook his head. "We can keep puttin' it off Maggie but the longer we wait the more time they have to hurt either one of you. We can't put it off anymore."
Maggie looked quickly from one face to the other. She looked desperate. "What happens if you two get killed? You know what they'll do to us after they get rid of the men in this group. You know how many men are out there."
Daryl and Merle shook their heads at the same time. "It wont happen. We can do this. You're just scared." Merle argued.
She shook her head. "You idiot! Of course I'm scared! You two are gonna go in there and get yourselves killed. And then me and Carol, Amy, Andrea... Sophia! We'll be left facin' those men on our own cause you know they wont stop with you. They'll kill every man in this group."
Merle and Daryl both flinched when she said Sophia's name. She knew that if the Dixon's had a weakness other than her and Carol it was Sophia. "That ain't gonna happen." Daryl growled again feeling like a broken record.
Maggie met his eyes, tears streaming down her face. "It could and you know it."
Daryl could see the wheels in her head spinning. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She was grabbing at anything she could to force them to change their minds but their minds were made up. Carol just watched her sadly, already knowing that no matter what she said they were still going to go through with something that both women considered a suicide mission. But Daryl knew it wasn't. If anyone could pull this stupid half baked plan off it was him and his brother.
"What if I'm pregnant?" Maggie blurted suddenly. "Would you want your baby to grow up without a daddy?"
Daryl could actually see Merle flinch at the words she hissed into his face. He backed up quickly like he could run from what she was saying.
"Jesus Christ, Merle." Daryl groaned. "Are you serious?"
"You ain't." He growled at her but his face showed just enough fear to let Daryl know that there had been at least one slip up on Merle's part. And that dumb bastard took enough condoms to last a normal man a year. He shook his head.
"We'll see." She said stubbornly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Stop." Merle said between clenched teeth. "You're just usin' anything you can to keep me from doin' this."
"You stop. Stop bein' such a dumb ass. And you're right. I'll say whatever i have to until somethin' finally makes you change your mind. You know it's at least a possibility. Say somethin' goes wrong. What would me and the baby do if you got yourself killed?"
"Stop talkin' about fuckin' babies and shit, girl. Jesus! There ain't no baby."
Daryl had to admit that the girl was good. She was fighting dirty and he could see Merle's determination to do this start to crumble. He had obviously not put much thought into something like this but Maggie saw that she was gaining ground and even though it was cruel it was effective. Merle was in the middle of a personal war in his mind at the moment and it was plain on his face. Even Carol was watching him closely.
"Merle?" Daryl's voice was low. "Could she..."
"One fuckin' time! One time! That was it. There ain't no way." He said the words fiercely but he was backing up until he was against the wall. "And it don't fuckin' matter cause ain't nothin' gonna happen. We'll be back before dawn."
"You don't know that." Maggie whispered. "Why does it have to be you?" Her strained voice, even in a whisper, sounded tortured. She was scared to death. "Rick is strong. He can do it. It don't have to be you."
Merle shook his head. "Rick can't do it. I can't trust Rick to do it. He's got Carl and a baby on the way. It's me and Daryl."
"Daryl has Sophia and Carol. You have me and Duane." She spat angrily.
"Duane don't need me. He's got his dad back." Merle argued.
"Bullshit." She nearly yelled. "I need you and you don't even see it."
Daryl felt like he was eavesdropping even though this was all unfolding in his own room. Merle seemed to have forgotten that they were even there. Carol slipped closer to him and he put an arm around her, too fascinated by the scene unfolding to say anything else. He had seen his brother is many different situations and in every one Merle came out the top dog. The one that stood above the rest with his strength but now he seemed to be cowering under this girls gaze. Merle was out of his element and Maggie was relentless.
"Does it scare you that much? You'd just go and die instead of face it?"
"I ain't got no plans to die tonight." Merle growled.
Maggie was about to say something else when another bang at the door had her pressing her lips together tightly.
Daryl opened the door, thankful for the interruption. Carl and Duane were standing on the other side, both had their hands shoved into their pockets and both looked like they may have heard Maggie yelling not long ago.
"What?" Daryl asked when neither of them said anything.
"Is she allowed out?" Duane asked.
Daryl frowned. "The fuck ya talkin' about, boy?"
Carl rolled his eyes like Daryl was slow. "Sophia."
"She isn't here, boys. Go check her room. That's probably where she's been holed up all day." Carol said from behind him.
"We just did. Beth hasn't seen her." Carl said haltingly, worry marring his words.
Daryl frowned. That girl was never alone. She was always in her room with Beth or with the boys. His heart started pounding hard in his chest.
"Maybe she just wanted to be alone after what happened today." Duane said. He was worried too. Daryl could tell by his tone.
"What happened today?" He asked, turning to look at Carol.
Merle answered before anyone else had a chance. "After she busted some boy in the face with her lunch tray she took off by herself."
"She what? And nobody thought to tell me this sooner?" He snapped as he let the boys in and then shut the door behind them.
"I hadn't had a chance." Carol said dryly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Something else came up, remember? I thought she was in her room."
"When was the last time you boys saw her?" Daryl asked as panicked started to set in.
"Right after lunch. We figured the same thing. We thought she would just go to her room. She was pretty down so we figured we'd let her be alone if she wanted." Carl mumbled. "We ain't seen her since. When we didn't find her in her room we thought she'd be here in yours."
Daryl glanced towards the window, where Carol and Merle were now looking. It was damn near dark. No one had seen her since around lunch time.
Maggie had snapped out of her desperate mood for now. She grabbed Merle's hand. "We can start askin' the others."
Merle nodded and gave Daryl a long look before she opened the door. Before they walked out Maggie stopped and turned back to face the room. "You know how upset she's been. Ya'll don't think she would have left do you? Went out the same way they did when they went after the guns?"
Carl and Duane shook their heads. Duane glanced towards the same window. "She never would have left without us. You know that. We either all three do it together or it don't get done. That's how it is with us. Somethings happened."
Carl gave him a sharp look that matched Daryl's. "Don't say that. Not yet. She could be anywhere. It don't mean anythings wrong."
~H~
The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the pain in her head. It felt like someone was drilling a hole in the back of her skull. The second thing she noticed was, when she went to put a hand to the back of her head, she couldn't move her hands. Well, she could move them but not far. They were tied behind her back.
She opened her eyes slowly, squinting as the light sent another sharp pain through her head. Her thought process was slow. It was like she knew she should be freaking out but she wasn't. Not yet anyway. Her thoughts were all muddled, her memory was foggy.
She was in a room. There was a chair a few feet away, facing her own and a tall lamp in the corner. A door was behind the chair. She started registering sounds after a few agonizing minutes. The pain in her head seemed to be lessening and with the dimming of the pain came a rush of fear. She was tied up in a room. The only good thing so far was the fact that she was alone. As long as she was alone there wasn't anyone around that could hurt her.
She heard something behind her. Nothing that sounded threatening. Just a low buzzing sound. She slowly turned her head to the side and looked behind her as much as she could. Her eyes went wide and a whimper escaped her. She was looking at heads. Heads in fish tanks. Dead eyes staring at her, mouths agape.
She turned her head and then fought against her restraints. She felt her gorge rise and had to swallow down the urge to vomit. She heard a strange mewling sound then, like an injured animal and then stilled herself when she realized that the sounds were coming from her own mouth. She needed to keep herself together. She couldn't break down and freak out, even if there were fish tanks full of human heads staring at her back. She couldn't think of that. They couldn't hurt her.
She took a few deep breaths, trying to still her pounding heart. The pain in her head was a dull throb now. Nothing she couldn't handle. She gently tested her bindings. Her wrists were burning a little and she could feel that she was bound by something rough, like rope. Whoever had tied her up had tied her to the back of the chair in a way that made it impossible to stand up without leaning over and taking the chair with her.
She moved her hands around as much as she could but there was no way she was going to get her hands free. Whoever tied her up had done a thorough job of it. She heard a sound coming from somewhere to her left but when she looked all she could see was something that looked like a large grate in the wall. But the longer she studied it she thought she could see something moving inside. She nearly screamed when something actually lunged at the metal, banging off of it and then snarling.
"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" She chanted as she once again started mindlessly fighting against the ropes. She knew that sound. There was a Walker in there. There was a Walker that was locked up in this room. A room that had fish tanks full of heads.
She wanted to cry. She wanted to pull her legs up onto the chair, bury her head and bawl like she was just a little girl. But she would not do that. That was something Sophia Peletier would do. And that wasn't who she was. Everyone said that she was a Dixon now and Dixon's weren't pussies. She'd suck it up and get herself out of this. And if she couldn't then at least, once she figured out who had done this to her, she would give them hell before they killed her. They wouldn't have the satisfaction of making her cry.