Slipping
The woman they had brought in was called Michonne, she had witnessed the abduction of Glenn and Maggie. The guy who abducted them was the right hand of the "governor" the leader of a small town called Woodbury, that he had managed building up as a defense for people who lived in it. The story sounded crazy enough, but Daryl didn't have second thoughts to go after Glenn and Maggie. They decided for Rick, Daryl and Oscar to go with Michonne and get the two back. After Hershel sewed Michonne's wound, they prepared the car and guns and were ready to go.
"Ya stay safe, ok?" Daryl said to Carol who had managed cleaning herself and was holding the baby.
"Nine lives, remember? And you return safe".
"I'll always return to ya, woman. Especially now…not gonna lose ya yet again".
She smiled and he stroked her back before leaving.
Carol remained behind with Beth, Hershel, Carl and Axel. Carl decided to name the little one Judith.
Carol cooked dinner, while Beth took care of Judith and attended Hershel's wound. It had almost healed. But when Carol returned she found Axel sitting a little too close to Beth. He was making her compliments and the young girl had started feeling uneasy. Carl was getting annoyed and Carol called Axel out of the cell.
"What's the problem?"
"Stay away from her" Carol demanded.
"Please" he said after he looked back at the cell Beth was in.
"This isn't about you repopulating the earth".
"I didn't mean no offence, I've been locked up a long while and, well there weren't many women, you follow me? I mean Maggie… she's with Glenn and you're a lesbian and I was talking to her".
Carol looked at him very amused.
"I am not a lesbian".
"You're not a lesbian? I mean you have the short hair and…"
She looked at him with sarcastic eyes.
"My, my, this is interesting" he tried looking more charming.
"No, it's not" Carol said amused. She passed him and returned to Beth and Carl.
"I'm so glad you're back" Beth said.
"I was lucky you were cleaning up the place" she looked at Carl.
"We thought the sound was coming from a walker".
"Yes, Daryl almost jumped at me with the knife" she said amused. A smile took over her face as she looked at the baby.
"You know…he jumped on his bike the minute she was born, went out there with Maggie to get formula. And he was the first to feed her…called her lil' ass kicker" Beth told her.
"He's a good man" Carol smiled again. "But I think Judith fits her better".
"You realize she will always carry this nickname? Lill' ass kicker" Carl said entertained. "I hope they return soon".
"They will" Carol reassured him and herself.
Meanwhile Daryl and the other had made it to Woodbury, walking on foot the last mile. Rick thanked him on the way there for taking care of Judith while he was out, handling his loss. They managed finding the place Maggie and Glenn were held, after they heard some shotguns. They freed them with the help of a smoke bomb and rushed back out, but there were too many following them. Daryl remained behind and was soon captured. They covered his eyes and pulled him away.
He heard noise around him, people cheering and a man talking in front of them as he was pulled by two other men. His hands were tied and he couldn't see a thing. But when they pulled the hood off his head he faced no other than Merle.
Merle froze at the sight of his brother, Daryl couldn't believe his eyes. As he looked around he realized they were in some sort of arena. He spotted Andrea there. The man, who was probably the governor, asked the crowd what to do with the two men. They screamed for them to die. Daryl looked around trying to find a way out. The governor approached Merle.
"You wanted your brother. Now you've got him" he said.
Andrea tried approaching, talking the man out of it, but he ignored her. Daryl's hands were untied.
"I asked you were your loyalty was, you said here. Well, prove it. Prove it to us all" the governor said to Merle. "Brother against brother. Winner goes free".
He approached them.
"Fight to the dead!"
Daryl looked at Merle. He was alive and he was not going to fight his brother. Merle raised his hand.
"You all know me. I gotta do what I gotta do to prove" he turned around and hit Daryl in his womb, making him fall down "that my loyalty is with this town!" he yelled kicking Daryl again in his guts, making him roll.
He hit him over and over again, until Daryl had no other option than to hit back. He grabbed his brother, but Merle put him back down. Some walkers on a leash were brought in.
"Ya really think that asshole is gonna let ya go? Daryl said as he was chocking Merle who was over him".
"Just follow my lead, lill' brother. We're getting out of here" Merle whispered and Daryl realized he was saying the truth. "Right now" he said pulling Daryl up. They faced the walkers, back to back.
They hit the walkers, one by one, over and over again. Until one was shot in the head. And the next one, then a civilian. A smoke bomb blurred their vision. Daryl knew Rick had returned for him.
"Come on lill' brother. Stay close!"
"Merle, come on!"
Daryl followed the flashlight, grabbed his crossbow from a man and kicked him down. He found Rick and they all ran, Merle leading them to an exit.
"This way" Merle said.
"You're not going anywhere with us" Rick grunted.
'You really wanna do this now?" Merle asked running to a fence pushing himself against it to make is give in.
"Come on, man" Daryl said holding guard with Rick and Maggie.
The fence finally broke.
"Rick, come on we gotta go" Daryl said and they all went out through the fence.
Merle started killing walkers that had gathered around the loud town. They ran off into the woods.
By the time they got back to the car, where Glenn and Michonne were waiting, both wounded and exhausted, the day was breaking.
"Glenn!"
"Thank God" Glenn approached.
"Now we got a problem, I need you to work with me…" Rick tried preparing him, but Glenn was already out of his mind seeing Merle.
Michone took her sword out and Glenn was ready to attack pointing his gun at Merle.
"Put it down!" Daryl said to Glenn placing himself in front of his gun. Rick did the same with Michonne. They talked over each other, Daryl saying Merle got them out, Michonne that he tried killing her, Glenn that they were almost dead because of him.
"He got us out" Daryl said.
"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you!" Rick replied.
"Hey, we both took our turns" Merle said calm and rather amused.
"Shut up, jackass" Daryl demanded of his brother.
"Hey, get that thing out of my face!" Daryl demanded of Glenn, angering.
"Looks like you've going native" Merle teased Daryl.
"Not more than ya with that psycho back there!" Daryl turned annoyed to Merle.
"Yeah, he is a charmer, I gotta tell ya that" he said sarcastically. "Been putting a word to your girlfriend Andrea, big time" he said to Michonne who was also boiling up.
"Andrea is in Woodbury?" Glenn asked.
"Right next to the governor" Daryl replied somehow bitter.
Michonne was about to jump at him, Rick stopped her.
"I told you to drop that! You know Andrea?" he calmed a little.
She looked at them, one by one.
"Hey, you know Andrea?" his voice softened.
"Yep, she does" Merle said still amused leaning to a tree. "Her and blondie spend all winter cuddling up in the forest, mhm, mhm!" Merle started annoying everybody with his languishing gestures. "Yeah, my Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut of their jaw, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about".
"Shut up, bro!" Daryl angered, turning to Merle who was just laughing.
"Hey man, we snagged them out of the woods, Andrea was close to dying".
"There's no way she's with him" Maggie said.
"Yeah, snug as two little bugs. So what you gonna do now, sheriff? Surrounded by a bunch of liars thieves and cowards".
"Shut up!" Rick had enough.
"Oh man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them".
"Merle. You gotta shut up!" Daryl approached him, warning him. "Shut up!" he yelled at his brother.
"Shut yourself, bunch of pussies…" Merle jumped from his tree, just giving space for Rick to hit him in the nap and send him to sleep. Rick looked at Daryl who couldn't even disagree with his act.
"Asshole" Rick said calmly to the sleeping Merle.
They walked to the road, away from Michonne and Merle trying to talk things over. No one agreed with Merle coming back to the prison, but Daryl couldn't abandon him.
"What do you want us to tell Carol?" Glenn asked him fraught. No one wanted to give up on Daryl, but none could accept Merle.
Daryl looked at Glenn long. All the words he had said to her turned out to be in the end not much more than lies. He sighted, now he got how she ended up with Ed. They were much too alike and this was always getting in the way. So he knew that she will…
"She'll understand" he said believing it. "She will. She always does, she always did".
Rick looked desperate at Daryl trying to find something to convince him. He realized Daryl wasn't even mad for them not wanting his brother back there. He understood, he accepted it. But Daryl was his family now and he couldn't let him go. Daryl walked to the car, wanting to grab his things.
"Say good bye to your pap for me" he said to Maggie.
"Daryl!" Glenn tried again.
Rick went after him.
"Hey, hey there's gotta be another way!" he tried stopping Daryl.
"Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once" Daryl said with a calm tone.
"We've started something last night. You realize that".
"No him, no me, that's all I can say" Daryl opened the trunk of the car. "You take care of yourself. Take care of lill'ass kicker. Carl. That's one tough kid".
He looked at Rick, regretting his decision, but there was no turning back. He walked to Merle who placed his arm on his shoulder, with a happy, stupid smile on his face.
"Come on, bro" he said after he looked back at Rick a last time.
Carl was guarding the gates with Carol chatting at the same time. Finally they heard a car approach.
"Please let them be them!" Carl said.
"It's them, get the gates" Carol said and Carl got the lock.
Carol pulled the gate away, the car drove in and stopped. Rick came out telling Maggie to drive on. He embraced Carl.
But Carol felt the world collapse on her when she realized Daryl wasn't in the car.
"Where's Daryl?" she asked feeling her guts explode from the emotion.
"It's all right" Rick approached her placing his palm on her shoulder. "His alive".
Carol started breathing again and looked back at the gates.
"We ran into his brother… they went off".
It took her a rather long moment to process the information and she hoped she had misunderstood him.
"He…left?" she whispered.
Rick nodded reading the sorrow on her face.
"Daryl left?" she asked again. "What…he's gone? Is he coming back?"
Rick had no answers.
Carol swallowed her tears and walked a few steps.
"Gone?" she sobbed.
"And Oscar?" Carl asked.
"No" Rick said.
Carol started crying silently and Rick embraced her understanding her pain. Lately everybody was losing someone around there.
That night Carol couldn't close an eye. She was standing in the doorway of Daryl's cell, staring at it, at its emptiness. It wasn't even surprising for her that he was gone, that, yet again, they got split. She entered and sat on his bed, sighting, looking up into the darkness of the ceiling. Her hand squeezed the sheets he had slept in just a night before.
She couldn't blame him, not a single bit. But she regretted that Merle had taken him away from them, that he gotten in his head that he had to give up everything for his brother. She regretted that Merle and all his past had gotten back to him.
Carol wiped a tear of her cheek and stood up. She took her lantern with her and went back to her room, lying on the bed. She could do a lot of things for him, but not fight his past.
Carol was attending Judith together with Maggie, trying to make herself move on.
"I always wanted a child" Beth said smiling at the baby. "She wouldn't have made it if Daryl wasn't here. He couldn't stand loosing anyone else".
"Sounds like him" Carol whispered bitter.
"I don't see why he had to leave. Merle sounds like a jerk".
"Men like Merle get into your head. Make you feel like you deserve the abuse".
"Even for Daryl?"
"I'm hardly the woman I was ten years ago and still, when I had to deal with Ed again I had a hard time telling him to go to hell. My body…it recalled everything and it reacted badly at his presence, it was hard for me to stand up to him".
"But you did".
Carol huffed a little.
"It doesn't matter".
"We're weak without him" Beth said.
"We'll get through this too".
"I'm pissed on him for leaving".
"Don't be. Daryl has his code. The world needs more men like him" she said, her eyes getting wet. She smiled looking at Judith, taking her from Beth's arms and placing her in the little box.
Daryl was searching the area for any animal to eat. His eyes moved around, but he couldn't see a thing to make a decent meal. He wondered why he was out in the woods, spending the night with both of his eyes opened instead of his bed in that cell next to Carol. Or in the same cell as Carol. He wondered why the heck he was out playing ranger in the woods, instead of securing the prison with Rick and planning how to handle the governor. He was with his brother now, his own blood, but he had left his family behind, the one he had built up with sweat and blood. He talked somehow absent minded to Merle as his brother was thinking Daryl was trying to lead him back to the prison. It seemed in vein, returning there appeared more of a distant dream than something he might be able doing. But, after saving a Mexican family from some attacking walkers, after seeing how his brother couldn't care for anyone else than himself, he took a decision.
Carol was reinforcing the prison with Axel, Glenn had gone out with the car trying to find the breech in the prison. Four people had entered it, searching for shelter, but Rick had sent them off. And then there was the governor ready to attack at any moment.
Losing Lori and having Daryl leave…Rick couldn't handle it anymore. He was walking outside the prison without any sense giving Glenn no other option than taking over. But he was boiling up because of the governor harassing Maggie and he wasn't thinking right either. They were all disoriented, but they had to hold on.
When they finished Carol went out, looking at Hershel talk to Rick at the fences. Glenn was gone checking the back part of the prison, Beth was chatting to Carl. Axel appeared, still trying to charm Carol, but in a more subtle way.
He was babbling a story to entertain her, about his brother when, out of nothing he got shot in the head his blood splashing over Carol, falling to the ground.
Beth pulled Carl down, Michonne hid after the turned over truck, looking at the car that had pulled close to the prison.
Rick observed the surroundings confused, just as gunshots hit all over the area he was standing. He ran and dropped to the ground. Hershel hid between the tall grass, Carol had to pull Axel's dead body over her to protect herself from the gunshots. She was out in the open without any possibility to run. Someone was shooting from up the tower, Beth and Carl ran to a safer area.
Michonne replied, by shooting at the car, but it was pretty far away. Hershel couldn't move, Rick was defending himself with the riffle. Maggie appeared with three guns, handing one to Beth, getting Carol to safety. Carol picked up the gun and she joined the group shooting the man in the tower.
And then the worst happened. A van broke through the gates and stopped in the front courtyard. The doors opened and more of a dozen of walkers exited. Hershel was exposed, he tried pulling back and remaining unnoticed. Rick shouted at Hershel to leave, shooting the walkers approaching him, as Maggie finally got the man sitting in the tower.
But the area filled up with other walkers who had heard the gunshots. Rick had only his pistol left and after two shots he was out of ammo. He tried running away, but he got surrounded. The car and all the shooters retreated leaving them out for the walkers.
Maggie, Carol, Beth and Carl ran to the yard and tried taking out all the walkers, while Glenn returned, driving to Hershel. Michonne advanced, helping Glenn get Hershel into the car.
Rick was surrounded. There were two walkers over him, trying to bite the life out of him. He was holding them both off as much as he could, when an arrow hit the head of the walker over him. He looked up, seeing Daryl reload his crossbow and Merle running like insane hitting the walker next to him with a pipe. Daryl had Rick's back, killing walker after walker. He thanked Daryl with a light shake of his head and Daryl replied the same way around. Merle had a big grin on his face.
Carol looked at the gates. There were two man with Rick and she knew one of them by far. His way of walking and moving…Carol held her breathe. She couldn't believe her eyes and she froze for a moment. Maggie called her name and she approached the fence, shooting at walkers so the three men could come to safety. One by one they entered fast, Merle receiving annoyed looks from everybody. Daryl stopped for a mere second next to Carol, but then entered quickly. The inner gates got quickly closed.
Maggie approached Carol, placing her palm on the woman's shoulder.
"You're ok?" she asked and Carol nodded.
"Thank you" she whispered.
The two walked back to the other men.
"Saved your asses, I guess" Merle said with the same grin on his face.
"Shut up, bro" Daryl said annoyed.
Rick shook Daryl's hand.
"Let's go inside" he said.
They turned to walk, Daryl stopped Carol, taking her by her arm. He looked at her blood covered face, placing his palms on her cheeks.
"Ya wounded? Ya fool of…"
"It's Axel's blood not mine" she replied. He still looked like a chimera to her.
He nodded and she passed him, stopping next to Axel's body.
"We'll burry him" Glenn said.
Carol nodded.
They got inside.
"You stay here!" Rick said, locking Merle in the front part of the prison.
"Come on, man…" Merle said.
"Stay there" Daryl insisted.
"You're here to stay?" Rick asked Daryl.
"If I returned…I returned for good. Merle's blood, but you are family" he said looking shortly at Carol who walked to the baby.
Daryl walked after her.
"How's my baby girl doing?" he picked Judith up.
Carol rolled her eyes amused.
"She's really gotten to you" she said and was about to leave.
"She's not the only one" Daryl whispered and Carol looked shortly back at him. She went to her cell, picked up some clothes, going for a quick shower. Daryl followed the woman with his eyes, feeling unable to say anything to her.
Carol returned clean and asked Rick to open the door where Merle was locked.
"You're sure?" he asked.
"We need to eat and right now he is there with all the food" she smiled.
"Right" he said unlocking the door and locking it back after her.
She picked out some cans of food and started cooking under Merle's eyes. Merle laughed.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Ya think my lil' brother returned for ya?"
"I don't think anything, Merle. But I guess he found here something he never had: appreciation".
"Hey, who the fuck are you to speak about such things?" he angered a little.
"I grew up with him, followed his life step by step. I know it, inside out" she said calmly turning the fire on".
"Yeah? And then you decide to abandon him. You don't think I ain't knowing he had a real friend in you. But you blew it away. You left".
"And so did he, yesterday. Guess we're even".
"Yeah? You can't tell me you are forgiving him for choosing me over you".
Carol looked back at Merle.
"Why are you making this a competition? How can you even say that? I have nothing to do with your relationship with Daryl. The only one screwing it up is you, Merle".
The gate door opened again and Daryl entered. Rick closed it after him and Daryl supported his back on the wall, crossing his arms.
"What you doing lil' brother? Keeping an eye on me to not scare your sweetheart?" Merle asked rather annoyed.
"Shut up, Merle".
"Yeah, I recall how she shivered just seeing me in the past. And still it was me who got you out of that shit years ago. Both of you…little nice Carol getting into trouble because of a Dixon…what would have your daddy thinking if his baby girl would have ended in prison that night?"
"Well, it looks like we ended up in here anyway…" Carol said. Then she looked shortly at Daryl, who was staring at her the whole time. "You're talking about the night we went to that illegal race?" she asked Merle.
Daryl snorted.
"What were you two? Barely 17 or something".
"Well…I drove there that night as I knew Daryl would be present" Carol smiled mixing in her pot.
"Yeah, I didn't see anything out of that race. Ended up talking to ya all night sitting on the platform of my truck" ignoring Merle.
"I'm getting diabetes with all the sweetness floating around" Merle rolled his eyes as Carol and Daryl laughed. "You've got a pot I can piss in here?" he asked.
Daryl asked Merle to follow him. He returned soon and stopped next to Carol who was thinking of those past events.
"Ya were wearing that white summer dress, patting it with ya hands all the time. I couldn't take my eyes of ya that night, cars passed and passed…and for the first time I didn't care. And then ya placed ya head on my shoulder and I knew I was lying thinking ya were just my closest friend".
"Didn't you have a girlfriend in those times?" Carol said amused.
"Did I?"
"I am pretty sure you did".
"Yeah he did, always coming around locking himself in his room with her. But she was so jealous of you" Merle popped out.
"Weren't ya tacking a piss?" Daryl asked, annoyed of the interruption.
Carol poured the food in the bowls, with a bitter smile on her face.
"Those were good times, Daryl, times the world wasn't insane" she sighted handing him a bowl. She handed one to Merle. "Dinner" she called out loud and Rick opened the gates everyone coming in to eat. Carol took her bowl and went to her cell.
She felt tired. Two people had died under her eyes; her best friend was also gone because she wasn't there to help her deliver the baby. And she had practiced, but for what?
She ate her food slowly until she heard Rick approach.
"Axel's gone as well" he said.
"And T-Dog…both dying under my eyes. And…" she looked up at Rick being afraid to say Lori's name.
He nodded understanding what she meant.
"We have to go on…for them. For Judith, for Carl, for Beth. Glenn and Maggie. They are all so young, they need to live" Carol whispered.
"What about us? What about me? Hershel? You, Daryl?"
"We are all keeping them alive. You're not alone, Rick. You have two children, you have Carl who is…and amazing child. And Judith who will grow up to be…"
"Where will she grow up, Carol? In this world?"
"She will learn to live in it and do a better job than any of us have done. My point is…we are not alone. We have each other".
He nodded and smiled bitter, leaving. Carol rubbed her head the image of T-Dog fighting the walkers with his least breathe, the image of Axel collapsing, all which was twisting and mixing in her head. She placed the bowl to her side and turned off the lamp, lying down. Her body felt in pain.
"You locking me in here, lil' brother?" Merle asked as Daryl was about to go to sleep.
"Ya done a lot of shit, can't ask anyone to trust ya" Daryl said and walked away.
"Now you're mad at me?"
"Merle, get some sleep".
He walked to Carol's cell, but the lights were turned out. He sighted, passed her cell and went to sleep in his bed.
Note: I do have to warn you that the next chapter will be the last one. Until then I hope you enjoyed this one.