Daryl sat at his motorcycle watching as Carol said goodbye to each and every member of the original group, he understood there was always a chance that they wouldn't be returning but he didn't fully comprehend why they had to dwell on that fact. If it happened, it happened...
"Ready?" She asked walking over to where he sat.
Daryl gave a nod to Rick before turning his attention back to Carol, "Ready." He repeated.
The ride into the nearest town took a little over an hour and Daryl tried his hardest not to think about Carol's arms wrapped around his waist and her chin pressed against his back. It was hard enough concentrating on riding with thoughts of Merle rattling around in his head, he didn't need the added complication of thinking about Carol's close proximity too.
Predictably, the sound of his motorcycle brought a few Walkers out of the woodwork, but Daryl took them down with a single shot each, it was strange how easy Walker killing had become considering how hard it was to begin with.
"Where do you need to go?"
"Nowhere." Carol replied simply, she climbed off the back of the bike and didn't dare look at Daryl, knowing he would be mad at her. "Just wanted to get out." She lied.
Daryl shook his head and sighed heavily before climbing off of his bike, he cast a look over his shoulder at the surrounding foliage and spotted another two Walkers ambling towards them. He lifted his cross bow, aimed and fired straight through the eye-socket of the forthcoming female Walker while Carol took out the other with her knife. She smiled a satisfied grin as the Walker dropped to the floor, a pool of dark red blood surrounding it's now penetrated head.
"We get what we gotta get then we go." Daryl hissed, she made him nervous around Walkers, she always got so close...scarily close.
"Formula?"
Daryl nodded once as they made their way across the tarmac towards yet another daycare centre, the doors had been padlocked shut but a window had been smashed and he shuddered to think of the children that would have been there when the infection hit. He stuck his head through the window and noted the lack of bodies in the room he could see before ushering Carol to move in. She climbed inside, trying her hardest to avoid cutting herself on broken glass and stood with her back against the wall till Daryl joined her.
"It's easier to split up." Carol breathed, hoping Daryl would disagree. When he didn't she sighed inwardly, "I'll go left, you go right."
Daryl grunted by means of a reply and started through his half of the dilapidated day care centre, in the first room, he found nothing, bar a board filled with pictures of kids doing kid-like things. He cast his eyes away and made his way into the next room, nothing there too, except a rabbit soft toy, he picked it up, dusted it off and stuffed it in the waistband of his jeans before continuing into the next room.
"Daryl!"
Hearing her call out his name did weird things to his stomach, he knew by the tone of her voice she wasn't in any imminent danger and he also knew she was smiling when she had said it. He turned his back to the room he was just about to enter and started back towards the sound of her voice when a feral snarl ripped through his reverie.
He brought his knife out from his waist band, turned and sunk it into the head of a scrawny looking Walker dragging herself across the floor.
Daryl placed his knife back where he'd brought it out, quickly checked the room he was in for anything and then went to find Carol.
She stood with her back to him when he found her, "What?" He asked.
"Mother load." She whispered, eyeing up a cabinet filled with formula, "Didn't we check here before?"
"Obviously not well enough," Daryl replied, he started grabbing tubs of formula and stuffing them into his rucksack, "I found a bunny." He added thrusting his hips in her general direction.
Carol grinned, "So you did. That for you or for Judith?"
"Do I look the cuddly type?" He asked rolling his cobalt blue eyes, Carol simply chuckled without saying a word as she loaded his bag full with formula. "We'll come back for the rest." He stated grabbing one last tub.
Carol nodded her head firmly, answering his first question rather than agreeing to the idea of making a second trip, she smiled widely and suppressed the urge to laugh.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothin'." She replied.
Daryl fought the overwhelming urge to smile back at her and instead gazed out of the window, "We better get goin'." He breathed.