Moving Day

Daryl woke up early and went hunting. He wanted to check out the place and have some time to himself before the others showed up. He followed the farm road along overgrown and weedy pastures. It was frosty this morning but the sun was coming through a cloudless sky. He came upon a boundary bolted boundary gate but he climbed over and headed to the woods to the right.

Daryl had just entered the woods when he saw Merle standing there. "Lil' Brother, it's good to see you. Just dropping in to see if you have located those lost testicles." Merle grinned at him and Daryl shook his head at him.

"I didn't conjure you up this time, Merle. I ain't going with him this timetoday. I told him already." Daryl wished he was as confident as his words.

"You got to do more than that, Lil' Brother. You have to find a way to keep their ass here. You like being the follower but that ain't what you gotta be now. Rick and Abraham are good in a fight but they like going off on these little adventures too much to be leaders." Merle hesitated for a moment, "They aren't coming back this time with your with youyou or without you, so find some way to keep them here."

Daryl thought of the determined look in Rick's eyes when he talked about Eugene finding a cure. "I don't know how to do it."

Merle sighed, "I can't tell you how. You have to be a leader on your own. Now I will tell you that you are on the right path with the mouse, but you still have a long way to go. She is talking to you but you have hurt her too many times and this last time the cut went deeper. Carol is in too much pain to just fall into your arms and make whoopee."

"I love her, Merle. I am trying to show her that I love her".

Merle turned away and kicked a rock. "She is in mourning, asshole. She lost the prison and her place there. Then, she lost Lizzie and Mika in the most painful way possible. That brought all the pain from losing Sophia. Wait until she trusts you enough to tell you what happened in the grove and then tell her these thingstell her what I am telling you now. Please let her know one thing; sShe is grieving because she thinks that she won't see them again. That isn't true. Lizzie, Mika, and Sophia are here and waiting for her. Things worked out the way they were supposed to, you tell her that. Tell her that Lizzie loves the flowers here. She'll understand what that means."

Daryl said, "How did you get there?" Merle in the same place as Lizzie, Mika, and Sophia didn't make sense.

Merle shook his head, "Hershel was always talking to me about his faith. Last minute conversion. Well, I gotta go and see Jane for a while."

"Jane?" Daryl was trying to remember a Jane in Merle's life.

Merle grinned, "Jane Austen, I was a big fan of hers. Of course, I hid her novels in between the covers of my porn magazines, but I read everything she ever wrote. We hang out some here. My advice to you is stop being Mr. Bingley and work on being Mr. Darcy. Now I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you that you are on the right road". Merle vanished.

Daryl watched his brother disappear. He gave up on hunting and started back to the house. Merle was insistent about stopping the others from going. They thought they had to save the world singlehandedly. He had no clue on what to do or how to do it. He walked until he reached the boundary gate again. He stopped and stared at it and then turned around and walked in the opposite direction with Merle's voice telling him that he was on the right road.

TWDTWDTWD

Carol was stressed before they got started. Rick and Abe were pissed that they were traveling at least two hours out of their way to get to this new location before they got started. Maggie was pouting at Beth and everybody seemed out of sorts. Judith was fussy and she didn't know how to act when Daryl caved and went with Rick. She hadCarol grabbed a ride with Tyreese in the box truck. She just wanted away from all the drama for a little while.

Michonne drove the big suv and she led the way. Carol and Tyreese were next in the truck and the others straggled behind. It was mid-morning before they got there. The place was quiet and it looked as if the place was deserted. The house looked deserted on the outside, but she could tell that Morgan and Daryl had been busy.

Carol stopped a minute to admire the neat job Morgan and Daryl had did in covering the windows with plywood. Morgan opened the door and they all poured in. The door now had bolts at the top and bottom. The house was dim inside but not dark. The family room was huge. She could hear the generator in the background. The inside of the house was comfortably warm. The elves had cleaned the place too. She saw Elf Morgan but where was Elf Daryl?

Morgan showed Rick around the place. The windows downstairs were small glass blocks and the back doors were all heavily bolted from the inside. They were going to build a soundproof barrier around the generator to keep the sound down and would not be running it during the night.

Michonne and Carol huddled together, "Where is Daryl?" Michonne asked. Morgan had just said that Daryl had told him this morning that he was going hunting but that was hours ago. Just then Daryl came in with his bow but no foodDaryl was just coming through the door with his bow but no food. He glanced at Carol and gave her a reassuring nod.

Rick came back down stairs with Morgan. He asked Daryl to talk to him outside and Carol knew that Rick was going to make a last ditch effort to get Daryl to go with them.

Rick waited until they were out in the yard. Carl was walking around the yard checking everything out but out of earshot. "I need you, Daryl. This is a good place. I can leave Judith here and she will be safer than on the road. Daryl, if you go then I can leave Carl here to look out for her."

Daryl winced; Rick was hitting him with being responsible for Carl's death if he didn't go in his place. "You can leave Carl here anyway and you can stay and take care of both your children. That should be coming first with you instead of running off to play hero. Rick, you have children and they should come first. I am not going to follow you on this one".

Rick was angry again, "You are following Carol like a dog in heat".

Daryl flushed, "I love you like a brother, but that is the last time you say anything like that. without losing some teeth. I love Carol and I am putting her first. We need all of us to survive out here. We need you to stay. In the spring we are going up into those mountains to see if there is a place for us up there. We might decide to stay here, but we are not going off to a city that is a death trap."

Daryl went back inside and Rick followed him. Daryl only had one more card to play and it was time to throw it down. They were all gathered in the family room. Daryl unsheathed his big hunting knife and put in his belt. Eugene was standing by the window and Daryl walked up to him and grabbed him around the neck and put the knife to his throat, "Eugene, tell the truth or you are a dead man". Daryl moved behind him and said, "No one comes any closer or I kill him."

Abraham stood up but Daryl stared him down and pressed the knife closer to Eugene's throat. "Eugene, we aren't going to kill you when you tell us who you really are, but I can't let you kill thhese these good people either".

Eugene stood very still; he had seen Daryl fight at Terminus and on the road. He killed quickly and without regret. Daryl meant what he said. "Promise me that you won't kill me if I tell the truth."

Daryl said, "I won't kill you and I won't let anyone else hurt you. The game is over, Eugene. Tell the damn truth".

Eugene muttered, "I am not a doctor of science; I taught science in a high school. I told Abraham that I needed to go to DC so that he could protect me. Then, I was afraid to tell him the truth. I don't have a clue how to cure this thing. I am sorry."

Daryl released him then. "Go sit down, Eugene. Nobody does anything to him. He gave you hope when you needed it, but our hope should be in how strong we are when we fight together."

Daryl smiled at Carol and put his knife away. "Now this is a nice house, but it isn't quite big enough for all of us. Let's take a walk on this fine day. He started toward the door and the others began to follow him automatically. Daryl waited until they had all left the house and he said, "It is not far at all."

Daryl grabbed a bolt cutter from a truck and waited until Carol and Michonne caught up with him. Morgan moved to stand on the other side of Michonne and Daryl led them down the farm road that he had walked this morning. Eugene was right behind them and the others joined the walk.

Daryl used the bolt cutters to break the chain around the boundary gate and continued on. The road was a little smoother here and it wasn't long before they saw a large brick house.

"I cleaned out the walkers a little while ago and locked the place back up. It isn't bigger than our house but with four bedrooms and three baths it is as big. The propane tank has fuel in it. There isn't an automatic back up but we can find a generator. There is an outdoor wood furnace and I think they were put in the same time because they are the same make and model."

Abraham and Rick went through the house to make sure that it was safe. Daryl had put wood in the outdoor furnace and the place was warming up. Rick came out and signaled the others in. Daryl had enticed the walkers out before he dispatched them and had spent some time cleaning the place up.

"There is a road that goes down to the main road but we could block it up so no one would ever think to look", Daryl said, "It isn't very far by the farm road between the houses. We could go on runs together for food and the things we need. We could make it here."

Rick walked around the house and looked it over. "Daryl's right. We couldn't find a better place. Me and mine are staying here".

Carol and Michonne left them to argue all the details. They walked back together, "Daryl became our leader today," Michonne was surprised but pleased by the turn of events.

"Daryl has the ability to think long term. He has always lacked the confidence to go against the leader." Carol was relieved that this DC business was over and she was pleased that Daryl had found a way to keep this group together. The distance between the houses was probably a good thing. She wondered how this would all shake out in the houses, but that was just another problem that she wasn't going to handle.

That night Carol cooked dinner for herself, Daryl, Morgan, Michonne, Rick, Carl, Judith, Beth, Elijah, and Eugene. The other house had Maggie, Glenn, Sasha, Bob, Abraham, Rosita, Tara, and Tyreese. Daryl and Rick did the dishes.

The generator was turned off at dark and they used oil lamps to light the house. The furnace still put out enough heat to keep the house warm. They sat in the family room and talked about their plans for the winter. There was coffee in the pantry and Daryl sat back with a cup of coffee and looked at his winter companions.

There were three single women there; but he hoped that would change. He wanted Carol; Merle had warned him that she was still mourning. He would wait. Michonne was so going to hit on Morgan. Beth and Elijah would drift together soon. Rick was the odd man out but he was just going to have to find his own woman. These were all claimed.

Daryl and Morgan had given out the bedrooms. Carol had Judith so she got the master bedroom. Michonne got the other bedroom with its own bath. Beth got her own room. Rick and Carl got the last bedroom. It wasn't exactly subtle; Daryl, Morgan, and Elijah were sleeping in the basement. Carol flushed when she realized that she was to stay in the master bedroom; she remembered the way Daryl had looked at that bed. Daryl helped her move her and Judith's things to her new bedroom. "We'll go on a run for a crib. Make me a list of things that she will need. Is this okay with you?" Daryl seemed anxious to please her and Carol tried not to think about sex with Daryl in that big bed. She had washed all the sheets today and dried them outside. The lamp cast a romantic glow to the room and she remembered sleeping on the wicker couch last night that wasn't quite long enough.

Carol looked out the window. The world was utterly dark out there. The beautiful day had turned cloudy by evening. It was starting to rain and it felt good to be in a warm house. Judith was already asleep in the bed.

Daryl had sat down in the cushioned armchair and Carol thought that he looked tired, "You've been busy the last couple of days; you look wore out."

Daryl grinned, "Morgan and I drank a little whiskey last night. I put the booze in your closet. Too much temptation for Bob to leave it out. When we get those snares and traps fixed up, we may not have to be on watch all the time. "

Carol sat down in the other chair, "You handled today really well. You scared Eugene into telling the truth. You found a place for the rest of the group to go. I only have one complaint."

Daryl frowned, "I did all that and you have a complaint?"

Carol grinned, "How did we get Eugene?" Daryl wished Carol wouldn't grin like that; it made him want to forget Merle's words of caution and just kiss her.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders, "Abraham was mad enough to skin him alive. He is a really smart guy. Eugene could be useful. If he gets too annoying we'll send his ass back to the other house. Carol, who is Jane Austen?"

Carol laughed out loud. "This has been a strange day, but did you just ask about Jane Austen?"

Daryl nodded, "Someone mentioned that name today and said that she was a great writer. "

"I think I have read everything she ever wrote," Carol thought about Jane Austen's books. "I loved all of them". She yawned suddenly and Daryl yawned too.

Daryl stood up, "Better go down and tuck Eugene in for the night. He might need his teddy bear and a drink of water".

Carol followed him to the door, "Goodnight Daryl". He stood looking at her for a second and picked up her hand and kissed it and closed up her fingers to hold it tight. He went downstairs and Carol shut the door. She sat down in the chair where he had sat and leaned back into the warmth that Daryl had left there. "I love you, too".

AN

Can you tell that Jane Austen is my favorite author? The thought of Merle spending eternity hanging out with Jane was too good to pass up. I quite fancy Jerle.

"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."

― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

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