Too much death
It was a hot day and Carol had tied a scarf around her head before going outside with Rick, T-Dog and Daryl. They moved some cars around, talked about burning the corpses.
"Where are Glenn and Maggie, we could use some help" Carol said.
"Up in the guard tower" Daryl pointed up.
"Guard tower? They were there just last night" Rick said.
"Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl called out loud.
Glenn's head popped up, he opened the door, shirtless, buttoning his pants.
"Hey" Glenn called back, a little embarrassed. "What's up guys?"
They started laughing.
"Ya coming?" Daryl asked amused.
"What?" Glenn asked a little confused.
They started laughing harder, Daryl's smile was up to his ears. Carol covered her mouth.
"Ya coming?" he asked louder.
Glenn looked at Maggie who was still inside.
"Come on, we could use a hand" Daryl said and they all turned around to walk to the cars, still laughing.
"Yeah, will be right down".
Carol was still laughing. Daryl looked at her and winked. She smiled. T-Dog turned around, noticing something.
"Hey Rick" he called and as Rick turned his smile vanished. Axel and Oscar appeared in the yard.
"Come with me" Rick said to D-Tog and Daryl.
Carol also approached, Glenn and Maggie came out of the tower.
Axel and Oscar tried talking them into letting them join the group. They couldn't stand living in that block of cells another day, living between the corpses of their long gone friends. While Axel begged, Oscar kept his dignity trying to convince them with arguments. Rick looked back at Daryl, silently asking for his opinion, but Daryl lightly shook his head. It was enough for Rick and Daryl locked them up in another part of the yard.
He returned to the others, finding out that T-Dog wanted to give them a chance.
"Are you serious? You want them living in the cell next to you? The least they'll be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You wanna go back to sleeping with one eye opened?"
"I never stopped" T-Dog said. "If we send them out there we might as well execute them ourselves". "I don't know, Axel seems a little unstable" Glenn said.
"After all we've been through? We fought so hard for all this. What if they decide to take it?" Carol stepped in.
"It's just been us for so long…their strangers…it feels strange to have other people among us" Maggie agreed.
"You brought us in" T-Dog addressed her.
"Yeah, but you turned up with a shotgun you didn't give us much of a choice" Maggie half joked.
"They can't even kill walkers" Glenn said.
"Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do" T-Dog looked at Rick.
"I get guys like this" Daryl said. "Hell, I grew up with them. Their degenerates but they ain't psychos. I could've been in there with them just as easy as I am out here with ya guys".
Carol looked at Daryl, her eyes disagreed.
"Ya don't believe that?" he asked her.
"No" she said decided.
"So are you with me?" T-Dog asked.
"Hell, no! Let them take their chances out on the road just as we did".
"What I'm saying Daryl…"
Carol was still looking at Daryl when Rick interrupted T-Dog telling a story of his young years, of a boy who had been acquitted by lying very good. Two weeks later he was out on the streets doing the same thing.
"We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands".
They turned to go back to their work.
"I am sorry T" Carol said approaching. "But the world is getting worse and it's becoming harder to trust".
Rick decided to get the prisoner supplies for a week. They moved the cars out, facing the road.
Meanwhile Hershel was ready to try out the crutches and, as he seemed to handle them pretty well, he decided to go out for a walk.
Carol, Maggie and T-Dog were moving the cars, while Rick, Daryl and Glenn had gone to the forest to get wood to burn the bodies. Hershel came out with Lori, Beth and Carl.
They all stopped to look at Hershel, the image of him recovering so fast, giving them a good feeling.
But as they did so, dozens of walkers appeared behind Hershel and the others. Rick and Daryl started running like insane; Glenn remained behind to lock the fence. Maggie, Carol and T-Dog who were closer to the others reached them quickly and started shooting walkers as Lori and Carl did. Beth was able to get Hershel into safety, behind a fence.
Maggie managed getting next to the doors of the cell block and called Lori and Carl. They entered just to face that another bunch of walkers had invaded their sacred cells.
Carol and T-Dog were shooting the walkers trying to get to the gates that were opened, letting walkers out. Carol opened a door for them to get out, while T-Dog closed the gates. But in the process he got bit in his shoulder and Carol only managed killing the walker after that.
"Hurry!" she screamed to T-Dog, getting behind the door with the man.
Daryl lost Carol out of his side. She was nowhere and Rick was struggling to open the gates with his shivering hands. They entered the yard and cleaned out the remaining walkers.
"Those chains didn't break on their own. Someone took an axe and cut through them" Glenn said to Rick and he looked back at the inmates following them. "You thing they did it?" Glenn added.
"Who else?" he said angry.
Just at that point and alarm started screaming.
"Ya gotta be kidding me!" Daryl walked around trying to find the source.
"How the hell did this happen?" Rick pointed his gun to Oscar.
"Wow, wow, it gotta be the backup generators" Oscar said. After a short explanation on how the generators work, they ran inside to kill the alarm.
Meanwhile T-Dog was trying to get Carol back to the cell blocks.
"Dog, you need to stop!"
"Why? Die here?"
"No, I'll do whatever I have to, you're not becoming one of those things!"
"This is God's plan. He always took care of me. He will help me get you out of these tombs" T-Dog was holding on to his wound, barely able to walk anymore. Carol slipped her shoulder beneath T-Dog's arm, helping him walk. But as they did, they met two walkers. The lights were low, flashing from time to time, and neither Carol nor T-Dog had any ammunition left.
"Back!" Carol demanded.
"No, come on" T-Dog pulled on her hand.
"No!" she begged of him, but T-Dog threw himself on the walkers, pushing them to the wall.
"Go! Go!" he screamed back at Carol.
She looked desperate at him, she passed him as he was getting bitten, her eyes filled with tears and face with anxiety. She had to run while he was devoured by the walkers.
Carol ran for a very long time, losing herself in the mazes of the prison. She finally encountered a walker and took out her knife.
"I'm not dying in here. Not now!" she screamed jumping at him and sticking her knife into him. But his skin was so rotten it got stuck and she couldn't pull it out. She pushed the walker to the floor, ran and entered a small closet, closing the door after her. She moved around, images of T-Dog fighting to his last breathe filling her mind, she angered, she hit the wall, tears ran out of her eyes as she walked from one corner to the other. She hit her back to the wall and rolled down, overwhelmed.
Meanwhile Daryl had gotten with Rick and Oscar to the generator room. Daryl was holding the door from walkers to enter while Oscar went to help Rick to close the generators. But as they did so a very angry and alive Andrew popped out of nowhere trying to kill Rick with an axe. Rick defended himself as he could, while Daryl jumped from the door, grabbed his crossbow and shot the first walker, killing the next one with his knife. He managed closing back the door. Oscar threw a barrel at Andrew and grabbed Rick's gun pointing at him. Daryl was about to jump at Oscar with his knife in his hand, but the man didn't notice it.
"Shoot him!" Andrew demanded. "We can take back this prison".
Oscar took deep, angry breaths while Andrew kept talking. Oscar pointed his gun at Andrew shot him and turned the pistol. He handed it to Rick, hoping he had proven his sincerity about joining the group. They both turned the generators off.
They walked back and found two walkers devouring a body. They shot them and as they approached, they realized it was T-Dog's body. Daryl spotted something on the ground. He picked up Carol's scarf, he grunted looking at Rick. He moved on his feet, biting his inner cheeks.
They ran back to Hershel, but Maggie, Lori and Carl hadn't return.
"They didn't come back" Hershel said. "What about the other? T-Dog? Carol?"
"They didn't make it" Daryl's voice was low.
"We're going in" Rick said rapidly feeling they were running out of time. "Daryl and Glenn you…" he was interrupted by the small cries of a baby. As they looked back they spotted Maggie carrying a baby and Carl walking after her. Maggie had a distressed look on her face, swallowing her tears. Rick approached her, his face becoming desperate as well. Maggie's lips were shivering she was one step from crying.
"Where…where is she?" Rick asked as Maggie gasped silently.
"No…" Maggie said and Rick passed her. "Rick…no".
He ignored her, he started sobbing tears, covering his eyes next to Carl who was crying silently.
"Oh, no, no!" Rick's sobs became louder and more painful as he bent to Carl who couldn't look his father in the eye.
Glenn embraced Maggie, Daryl looked down, Rick fell to the ground.
And suddenly Rick couldn't hear a thing. He was looking into the distance, Daryl waving his hand in front of the man, but he was blank.
"Let me see the baby" Hershel said.
"What ya gonna feed it with?" Daryl asked concerned. "We got anything a baby can eat?"
"The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula and soon or she won't survive" Hershel said to Daryl.
"Nope, no way! Not her" Daryl said slipping his crossbow over her shoulder. We ain't losing nobody else, I'm going for a run".
"I'll back you up" Maggie said decided.
"I go too" Glenn said as well.
"Ok, think where we're going. Beth".
Beth took a few steps with Daryl.
"The kid has lost his mom. His dad ain't doing so well".
"I'll look out for him" Beth nodded.
"You two get the fence" he addressed Alex and Oscar. "To many pile up we have a problem. Glenn, Maggie let's go!" Daryl demanded.
Rick grabbed the axe and ran inside ignoring everyone else.
"Get the gate! Come on we're gonna lose the light!" Daryl was becoming agitated.
They decided to go on Daryl's bike, just him and Maggie. She explained to Glenn she had to do so for Lori. The two vanished into the distance.
They soon found a house that must have kept lots of children in it. Two cans of formula should be enough for now. Bottles and diapers, they collected everything. As they returned it was already night.
Daryl handed the formula to Beth and she went to prepare it with Maggie. He took the baby in his arms, his last beacon of hope. At least he had his mind busy until then, not having to handle Carol's death…for now. The baby was hungry, but seemed to feel at home in Daryl's arms. He tried calming her and gripped the bottle Maggie handed him. He fed the baby who enjoyed its first meal. He smiled bitter.
"C'mon, c'mon" he whispered tenderly to the baby.
He looked at the others smiling.
"She got a name yet?" he asked.
Carl shook his head. He wanted to name her all the names of the fallen women including his mother's. But there were too many.
"You like that? Ha?" Daryl asked the baby who was eating happily. "Lil' ass kicker?"
He looked at the others smiling.
"Right? That's good name?"
He managed making them laugh and relax a little.
"Lil' ass kicker? You like that, sweetheart?"
Daryl spent the night next Lil' ass kicker's box that they had turned into a bed. He looked at her, trying to focus on the small baby. His mind was empty and at the same time filled with images of her. His eyes were distant. There was one name calling up in his head, only one name he wanted to scream out loud. But he wasn't the type and he definitely wasn't going to go insane. She would be in his mind, Carol would be in his mind. He would hold on to her, hold on to the group just as she would have liked it.
Daryl looked at the windows realizing the day was breaking outside. He left the prison cell and walked into the yard to the grave they had dug for Carol. He kneeled and took out a Cherokee rose he was carrying in his pocket. He had picked it up the last day, wanting to give it to her in the evening. But he never got to it. He placed it on the ground and stroked the cross as he was biting his lip. He didn't linger there for too long, he had things to do. Things that would fill up his mind.
As they were all eating breakfast, Rick popped up. Just to check on Carl he said. Daryl told him they would clear the lower levels and that Axel was trying to fix the generator. Rick nodded and left.
The whole day Daryl walked around the prison with Oscar and Carl, taking care of the remaining walkers. Late in the afternoon they passed a door. Something was pushing itself against the door, trying to get out.
"Check it out, man" Oscar said.
"Must be one or two of them. We're taking care of it on the way back" Daryl concluded.
He looked at Carl who was clearly drifting away.
"Ya know my mom…she liked her wine. She liked to smoke in bed. Virgina Slims. I was playing out with kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. Heard sirens getting louder. They jumped on the bikes, ran after it, you know, hoping to see something worth seeing. I ran after them, but I couldn't keep up. I ran down the corner, saw my friends look at me. Hell, I saw everybody looking at me. It was my house they were there for. That was my mom in bed, burned down to nothing. That was the hard part…you know she was gone erased, nothing left of her. Made it seem unreal. People said it was better like that. She made it seem like it was better like that" Daryl told Carl as they were walking, checking other cells and rooms.
"I shot my mom, she was out, hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real" Carl replied with a low voice. "Sorry 'bout your mom".
"Sorry 'bout yours".
Carl seemed to feel a little better confessing to Daryl. They walked for a longer while, Oscar finding some slippers in a cell.
"What ya need slippers for?" Daryl asked.
"You know…end of the day, relax" Oscar explained.
A walker jumped to them and they all turned, being taken by surprise. They shoot at him all of them and sighted nervously. It had taken them by surprise.
"Must have been at the cell at the end. We checked everywhere else" Oscar said as Daryl bent at the walker. Something had caught his eye. The walker had a knife stuck in its throat and Daryl pulled it out.
"That's Carol's knife…" he said surprised. The walker looked fat and Daryl's blood started boiling.
"Ya head back, I'm gonna take care of that room".
"You sure?" Oscar asked.
"Yeah…I'm gonna take…some time".
Carl nodded, understanding. He left with Oscar.
Daryl leaned on the wall in front of the room the doors were moving. It was closed from the outside, the body of a walker also making it hard to break the door from inside. Daryl kept sticking the knife in the ground, staring at the doors move. His hand was on the bridge of his nose, his blood boiling up. That story he told Carl…it reminded him yet again of Carol. What wasn't after all? Why did she have to slip through his finger, over and over and over again? And now…she was dead, there was no slipping, no hope, no nothing. She was gone, those words would remain unspoken, those actions undone. Those eyes would never look at him as they used to, those lips would never smile at him as they did. He jumped up, angry, he walked around the doors and finally pushed the corpse away. He pulled a little on the doors and as he opened them…he froze.
Carol was inside, barely standing, barely looking at him. Her hands were formed into fists, ready to fight her last breathe without a gun or anything to protect herself, but as she saw him, her face relaxed. She collapsed; he barely had time to catch her.
"I couldn't get out…" she whispered, her palms stroking his hair.
He kissed her lips and lifted her in his arms. His body was shivering and he almost feared it was unreal. She held to him as he held to her carrying her back, swearing to never lose her out of his sight.
When he got back to the prison cell, it was empty. He placed Carol on the bed and rushed to get her some water.
"Any bites?" he asked concerned.
"No, just a little dehydrated and…out of hope" she smiled. "Was out of hope" she added as she drank the bottle of water. He bent to her to look closely at her.
"How did you?"
"I locked myself in there, the doors closed from the outside. I couldn't open them and I also heard a walker strolling around. My knife was gone, I…" she stroked his cheek. "The only thought keeping me alive, was wanting to see you again".
"Woman, you scared the shit out of me. We buried you, for crying out loud" he bent down, supporting his back on the wall. He rubbed his forehead and she also sat on the floor, approaching him, her body still very weak. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in his arms, embracing her.
"Ya not leaving me anymore, I'm moving in that cell with ya. We've done playing stupid games, waiting for time to fix things. I want ya no matter what, past or future".
"I'll always be here for you, Daryl" she whispered.
He kissed her lips again and helped her up to sit back on the bed.
"Now rest, you need to recover your strengths" he smiled as she closed her eyes.
He sat next to her, watching her rest, unable to take his eyes of her. She had aged, but she had somehow become more beautiful. Her features had formed into something solid and decided, her eyes had gained strength. She was more appealing now than she was in her teenage years, even with all the dirt on her. He stroked her cheeks and neck, drowning into her.
Daryl heard noise coming from the door and approached. Rick had carried a wounded woman inside, Hershel and Beth were taking care of the baby. Carl was with them as well.
"Who the hell is this?" Daryl asked.
Rick placed the woman on the floor, taking her sword away.
"Come on, ya all will wanna see this" Daryl said.
Rick made sure the woman wasn't going anywhere and turned to Daryl.
"Did something happen?"
"Ya wanna see this".
They all followed him in the cell, Daryl locking the door.
Carol stood up as they approached. Rick couldn't believe his eyes, he embraced the woman long. She saw the baby and as she looked back at Rick, Carol understood Lori was no more.
"No" she whispered her eyes filling up with tears. She had lost the only best friend she had ever made. Her face crooked into pain, as Rick's eyes also filled with tears. She stroked the man's cheek, embracing him again. Carl was on the verge of crying as he saw Carol suffer so much for the loss of his mother. Carol took the baby in her arms as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"We're going to take so much care of her" she whispered, unable to hold all those tears from rolling and rolling.
Note: Sorry for taking such a long time to update, I hope you haven't lost your interest in the story :). Anyway, thanks for reading!