Vi - Yeah, I'll take that compliment, considering I avoid children at all costs.
Surplus Imagination - Well, it has only been one chapter and one day, I'm sure Annie will be flocking around Beth soon enough...
Axelrocks - I stick by my theory that Merle isn't a monster. He's probably just like Daryl in that he has this deep, well hidden, soft spot for children. Haha, my default image is indeed Norman with a little princess crown...I never make cover images for fanfiction, it seems too serious for the ridiculous world that is fanfiction. I mean, it's bad enough I take the time to write it, must I cobble together some dramatic cover image as well? ...I got shit to do, man. *pulls Rick-face* I do stuff, Axelrocks. Things.
KrisAnthemum221 - ^_^ I'm glad you enjoyed that part so much!
MarionArnold - Yeah, the ZA is probably the worst place to be a kid. You never get to have any fun and if you're a kid who knew the world before the ZA then you'd definitely miss being spoiled and lazy.
LL - Oh! Haha, never really planned on nun's getting down with the secular men...but...I do like to keep an open mind...
Because you've all been so kind in reviewing, I decided to do a rapid fire upload. Enjoy!
Chapter Fourteen: Gaienne
**Carol**
"I'm thinking if we can find a vehicle of some sorts we'd have a better chance of covering more distance."
She stood nearby while the Lieutenant and Daryl went over their plan of tracking the rest of the group, huddled over a road map of Georgia.
In her arms Judith kicked and twitched in her sleep, moving her little jaw, pushing her plump, wet little mouth out in her sleep, drooling a little onto the blanket she was wrapped in.
"I went through a farmyard a few weeks ago, had a truck parked in the driveway, we might find some fuel and keys there, could use it." The Lieutenant said, pointing to an area on the map. "Around there, somewheres."
"Sounds good. I'm going to take a piss, then we can set off," Daryl replied, walking away.
On his way past her, Daryl paused long enough to give her a small nod and she returned it with a large grin.
He passed by the Mother Superior on his way across the lawns and the woman gave him a kind smile and greeting.
"Lafayette?" She greeted, moving to stand by the towering soldier, a piece of paper in hand.
Carol smiled as she watched the man react to the petite nun, hunching over almost imperceptibly. She didn't know what their relationship was exactly, but from what little she had seen, the man adored the nun.
"Yes, Missy?"
"I have a list of things, if you come across them."
He took the paper from her hand and glanced it over. "Okay. I'll see what I can do for you."
Reaching out the woman smoothed down the lapel of the Lieutenant's camouflaged flak jacket, her tiny hand making neat, quick work of it. "You come back to us, Lafayette. You belong here with us."
Carol watched at the man's grey eyes went from amused to openly shocked and then back to amused just as fast.
His crooked grin broadened. "Of course, cher. Keep the Sisters alert, while I'm away. One herd is more than enough, yeah?"
The woman nodded.
"If things get bad, for any reason," he went on. "I want you to take everyone up into the bell tower and barricade it the way I showed you all how, yeah?"
"Of course."
"I'll be back soon enough to clear you out."
"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." The Mother Superior whispered softly.
"And then some, Missy," the Lieutenant replied cheekily.
Too busy being a spectator in the little moment between the Mother Superior and the Lieutenant, Carol didn't notice someone move up just beside her until he spoke.
"You be careful while we're gone." Daryl said.
Carol jumped a little and turned her head to him, he could sneak up on the wind. "We will. You stay safe out there."
The gruff man nodded, a very, very faint smile touching his lips. "Yeah." Glancing over at the Lieutenant and the Mother Superior, Daryl winced. "Judith's running low on formula. I thought we'd look for some while we're out."
"That'd be good, thank you." She pursed her lips.
Shifting on his feet as though something were bothering him, he adjusted the crossbow on his shoulder and sniffed. "Stay away from the infirmary, okay?"
She must have given him an odd look, because he got even more uncomfortable.
"Just do it."
"Okay."
With one final nod, Daryl moved off, heading for the Lieutenant who waited for him at the gate.
Carol moved to stand beside the Mother Superior, watching the men leave.
"I always get an eerie feeling whenever that man passes through that gate," the woman said, crossing herself slowly, the Mother Superior took hold of her rosary and sighed. "Maybe it's because outside these walls is hell on earth and he's the only thing that makes me feel safe anymore. Imagine that," she addressed Carol, "a mortal man bringing an old nun like me comfort."
Smiling, Carol turned from the nun back to the gate that was now locked and secured behind them. They were nowhere in sight.
"Come on, honey," the nun said. "We all pull our weight around here and I have a few chores for your lot to take care of."
As she followed the woman quietly, Carol realized that the woman seemed to have indicated something lost in her tone. Shouldn't she find comfort in Jesus? Maybe times being what they were the woman had put her faith in a more tangible saviour.
..-~-..
..-~-..
Later that evening as Carol made a stew from the canned vegetables from the convent's root cellar and the meat Daryl and the Lieutenant had caught that morning, she thought about the situation. When things first got bad at the prison she didn't have time to reflect, they were living second by second in desperate conditions, but now in the safety of the convent she thought hard about it.
There was no doubt in her mind Rick would fight the Governor until either his group or theirs was wiped off the face of the planet. He had no choice. The Governor wouldn't give up until his enemies (or who he perceived as threats) were gone and the same went for Rick.
This meant that things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.
It was one thing fearing the dead, but with man turning on man.
She couldn't understand how the Sisters could have faith after something like that. Hell, even Carol had lost hers and she had always believed herself quietly devote.
Eyeing the nuns who bustled around the kitchen beside her, she wondered if anyone of them were having doubts, if any of them were beginning to feel the pressure of the world outside their walls.
The Mother Superior's words from earlier stuck with her, it wasn't something a nun would say. It didn't feel like something a nun would say.
Smiling at Beth who was perched on a chair nearby with Judith in her arms and Annie playing at her feet, Carol went back to stirring the stew in the pot on the old woodstove. She missed having an oven with even heat, but times being what they were, she was just glad for a hot meal.
The Sister's really did live simple lives, didn't they? It seemed like the woodstove was used even before the whole mess with the walkers. Truth be told the more she wandered the property, the more she realized it was old, older than she would have thought and some of the fixtures that they must have used at the turn-of-the-century were still being used.
The nuns pumped water from a well for their purposes; they canned their own food, made their own clothes, they were highly self-sufficient.
Around her Sister Mary Claire and Sister Mary Elizabeth laughed softly about something and Carol smiled awkwardly at the elderly nun who was busy pouring water into a dish for a few cats who weaved in between her skirts and back out again.
Herschel came into the room with the Mother Superior at his side and he offered her a patient smile as he hobbled over towards his daughter.
The Mother Superior greeted the Sister's with a small smile, heading directly for Carol.
"Carol, thank you for helping, I'm sorry if I was pushy earlier," she greeted gently.
Laughing it off, Carol smiled. "It's okay. I understand you don't want to feed mouths who aren't willing to work for it."
The woman smiled too.
Carol was struck by how beautiful the nun was. She had the cheekbone structure of a classic movie starlet, the fresh, clean skin of a woman who lived a clean, healthy life and the large, clear eyes of a young girl taking in a cruel world placed under the dramatic, dark brows of Greta Garbo. And for all that, Carol found she couldn't exactly place the woman's age.
"Sometimes I come off as a little harsh," the woman admitted. "It's something I inherited from my daddy. Takes me a little while to realize how hard I seem." Taking hold of the spoon, the woman stirred the stew for Carol. "I am sorry to hear about your people," she said softly. "Lafayette has told me about them and this…Governor fellow, I wish things didn't have to be this way for you."
"Some men just want the world to burn, I suppose," Carol said absently, not sure exactly what to say. She couldn't tell the woman that from what Rick said that the Governor would come after anyone who had anything he wanted. She couldn't and wouldn't worry the woman with something like that.
"I suppose." The woman picked up a dish towel and folded it idly, making crisp, neat folds, before placing it on the counter where she found it. "He's a dangerous man, isn't he? This Governor?"
"I wouldn't really know. Rick didn't say too much about him before we all got separated."
"But the look in your eyes says enough." The woman stated. "You're afraid of this man and the threat he poses."
"Seems I'm always in a state of fear lately," Carol replied. "But the world isn't the same, is it? We just have to band together to be stronger."
"From man or beast?" The Mother Superior asked.
"Sometimes both, apparently."
For a moment the woman was silent, before she nodded. Reaching up, her hands paused at the edge of her veil, before she removed it quietly, folding it just as neatly as she had done the dish towel and placing it overtop the rag on the counter.
Carol stared at the woman's shortly cropped black hair with the hints of grey at the temples in horror. She didn't know why, but she didn't like the fact that the nuns behind the Mother Superior had fallen dead silent.
Something wasn't right about the woman doing that, but she wasn't sure what it was, not being Catholic or a nun.
Nodding, the woman placed a strong, delicate hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Thank you, Carol." Turning she moved off, pausing long enough to give each of the two sisters present a kind touch to their hands. "I'd like you to gather the Sisters together," she addressed the older nun, "as soon as possible, please."
Picking up the folded veil, Carol held it in her hands for a moment, feeling the warmth of the woman who had just been wearing it. She wanted to go after the Mother Superior, feeling guilt over being the one who…just did whatever it was she did, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized the woman wouldn't listen. She had made her mind up about something.
She looked up at the two nuns who were both still awkwardly casting glances in the direction of the veil and winced, moving towards them with it held out.
They gawped at it for a moment, before the younger of the two took it from her hands with a soft 'thank you'.
Carol gave them a forced smile and returned to the stew, her hands shaking a little.
..-~-..
..-~-..
She was dumping dirty dishwater outside in the dead grass of the flower garden, when a voice purred at her through the darkness.
"Carol…" Merle rasped moving out of the shadows.
Dropping the pan into the dirt, she knelt to retrieve it quickly.
"What ever happened to that fat assed husband of yours?" He went on, moving closer to her.
She glanced at him, the smug grin, the hard, mean look, the predatory glint in his eyes, she remembered him being gruff and tainted with danger, but she couldn't remember just what it was that made her afraid of him, until he moved to tower over her.
Merle was about the same size as Daryl, but for some reason he carried himself taller, broader than his younger brother.
"Ed's dead," she replied softly.
The man seemed to be sizing her up and she didn't like the feel of being under his gaze at all. It reminded her too much of Ed's gaze.
"Yeah, he seemed like the type that would be the first to go," Merle finally said. "But you…I have to say I'm shocked you made it this far, sweet pea."
Carol studied the man as his remaining hand lifted up and he held it out to her, palm up. What did he want? Didn't Daryl say last night that he was confined to the infirmary? That the priest was watching him?
"Want me to carry that for you? Seems too big and heavy for a little slip of a thing like you." He went on.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
Merle grinned. "Of course you are."
Knowing intimidation tactics better than most women, Carol found herself unable to find fear over Merle, she had faced worse and wouldn't back down from him. Still, she wasn't stupid enough to cause trouble, so she remained polite.
"What are you doing out, Merle?" She asked. "Taking a walk?"
"Of sorts. I'm on the wall in an hour."
This startled Carol more than any strike could have coming from him. "They trust you on the wall?"
"They don't seem to have much choice," he replied, "what with their local soldier boy off playing war games with my baby bro. Leaves them a little shorthanded."
"I think it's nice of you to volunteer," she said.
Merle looked at her like she had lost her damned mind. "Nice?" He demanded. "Ain't nice, I just don't want them so fatigued I can't get a good goddamned sleep in. Don't want to wake up to walkers chewing on my face…" He shifted on his feet, large boots scuffing the dirt. "I was doped pretty badly during the quarry, but…didn't you used to have a little thing that followed you around?"
Carol set the pan down by her feet. "Sophia."
"She still around?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Not anymore."
For a moment Merle's hard face stilled as he processed this, before he sniffed. "Yeah well, probably for the best."
Stooping to collect the pan, Carol tucked it against her hip to carry it better. "Goodnight, Merle."
"You know my baby brother's a dumb ass, right?" Merle called after her.
Carol stopped and turned on him to gauge his face when she said that.
He was calm, collected, gazing back at her with unreadable eyes.
"Don't say that," she whispered. "Daryl's done more for the group than anyone."
"Don't tell me what my brother is and isn't, sweet pea," Merle growled. "He's a dumb ass, always has been and always will be. He don't know what's good for him. Always getting his hopes up, setting goals that are far too high, being blinded by bitch emotions like a woman."
Carol looked the man up and down quietly. "Daryl's a good man," she said, trying to keep the shakes out of her voice. Sure she had come a long way from Ed, but big, mean men like Merle still scared her a little. They always would. They scared her, because she knew what lurked in the hearts of such men. "He actually cares about people, Merle. What about you?"
"I'm a survivor, sister." Merle grunted. "Mean as a cornered scorpion because it's what keeps a man alive in this world."
"You're an asshole, Merle," she stated firmly. She'd worry about the beating he'd give her later, for the moment she wanted him to know a few things. Besides she had a little residual anger left over from him calling Daryl a 'dumb ass'. "You got yourself high as a skunk, handcuffed to a roof for your own good and into a mess with a group of monsters like yourself, people who have no morals or scruples. Everything you have coming, you brought on yourself. So don't you dare insult Daryl for being a human being when you can barely act civilized enough to make friends."
The big man stormed towards her, with his hand curled into a fist and Carol stood her ground, flinching only a little when he invaded her personal space. His blue eyes narrowed at her and Merle just stood there, stooped enough to peer directly into her eyes.
Finally he straightened up. "I can see why the little dumb ass likes you." He said. "You've got it in you, don't you, sweet pea? Never had anyone as small as you call me an 'asshole' to my face…"
She blinked at him.
Merle smiled then. "I've got a wall to walk."
The Cajun Dialect
Gaienne - Girlfriend