Enough to Go Around

Daryl and Rick walked the fence line and checked for breaks late that afternoon. Carol had told Daryl what the General had demanded and what she was prepared to do to save Rick. It wasn't that Daryl thought that she had held anything back, but he wanted another perspective on what happened.

"What happened in Allanvale? How did you two get caught?" Carol and Rick were the last two people that Daryl would think would be captured. Too fast and too savvy to be caught napping.

Rick pushed against a fence post to test its strength and to give himself time to think about what to say. He opted for the complete truth, "We were all in that apartment house. Michonne and Morgan were on the top floor. We saw the Humvee pull into the lot and stop at the building next to us. We sent the others upstairs and were going up when I saw a backpack in the front entry. I knew that when the soldiers saw it that they would really check out the building. I tried to send Carol on up but she wouldn't go. We went down and pretended like we were glad to see them."

Daryl had heard that much from Carol in bits and pieces. "Why did you tell him that you two were married?" That part had rankled him. "Why didn't you make her go upstairs?"

"Try making Carol do something she doesn't want to do." Rick grinned a little and went on, "She stayed down there and I thought it better to let them think that we were married. We could tell them that we had been at the prison and it had fallen and we had lost everyone else. A man would be protecting his wife in that situation. They would taking care of each other. They would give each other a reason not to give up. We were more believable as a couple than two single people. Who was going to believe that I wouldn't be hitting that?"

Daryl thought about the fall of the prison and what would have happened if he had found Carol then. He wouldn't have sunk into such a depression. He would have went full tilt into keeping her safe. He pushed those thoughts back because they made him angry at Rick and now wasn't the time. He was also a little pissed at the "hitting that" comment. "What happened when you got caught?"

"We were put in a Humvee and taken to the courthouse. One of the guys in that Humvee was a guy who used to hang out with Ed. He was a pig like Ed and I didn't like the way he looked at Carol. " Rick left out the part where he had kissed and hugged Carol in the vehicle so that he could whisper their cover story to her. He didn't think Daryl needed to think about Carol's ass on his lap right now. "We were walked across the parking lot and I saw him watching her from second story window. I could feel Carol shiver a bit. They put us in a jury room and in a bit they brought us before him. He was sitting in the judge's seat. I looked him in the face but Carol held her head down. Finally, he insisted that she look at him and she did." Rick paused there because he wanted to make sure that he got this right.

"Carol looked at him and she just kept her cool. The General is about our age, very clean cut with blond hair and blue eyes. He talked to me but he watched Carol the whole time. He wanted her and he basically told her that if she didn't agree to go to his bed then he was going to have me shot in five minutes. He wasn't playing and he wasn't angry. He just knows that he can do anything he wants and he wanted Carol."

Daryl flashed him an angry look. "So she agreed to do it to save you?"

Rick nodded, "The General let us go to the motel then. He was calm as could be, because he got what he wanted. It wasn't just sex though. I watched him. He just kept looking at her and I could tell he admired her coolness. She didn't beg or cry. She just stood there. He told her that she was wasted on a farm and that he wanted her to be with him for a few nights. He was fascinated with her and if he ever finds her again? He won't give her up easily. If he knew she was here? That army would be on its way right now."

"He didn't touch her?"

"No, he was busy making sure that they secured the town from walkers. The General is a crazy son of a bitch who wanted us to sit and wait for him to call for her. He liked the power of it. We were his puppets and he likes power. Carol mixed up some bombs after she knew you were close. She wouldn't have tried it otherwise." Rick left off the part of his comforting Carol and joking about "sloppy seconds". He didn't think Daryl needed to know that. Daryl really didn't need to know that Rick had wanted to be with her in that motel room.

TWDTWDTWD

Morgan was finishing dinner while Michonne and Eugene pored over the house plans. Carol was reading a story with the children when Daryl came in. Everyone looked up from what they were doing and smiled at him and Daryl thought to himself, I will do anything I have to do to keep my family alive. He thought of his family in circles. The first circle was just him and Carol and the next almost touching was him, Carol, Alia, and Matthias. The next wider circle was Morgan, Michonne, and Eugene. The next circle was those people that he had known from the quarry or the farm and Carol's kinfolks. Daryl had found that his circles just kept growing and he already felt comfortable with Gabriel and his sister Christie.

"Do I have time to take a shower before dinner?" Daryl asked.

Morgan rolled his eyes, "Don't let me stop you. Dinner will wait on you".

Daryl went on to his room and saw that Carol had already laid out his clean clothes. He had a quick but needed shower and shaved the stubble off his face. He had decided to keep the itchy hair off his face for the coming summer. He was keeping the uniform too. He might need to go undercover soldier again.

He wasn't surprised that Gabriel and Christie were eating dinner with them. Christie's son was about Alia's age. Luke looked like his mother, tall and thin and he had her deep dark eyes with a thick fringe of eyelashes He must have the same resiliency too because he had went through some shit in the last few days and he still kept that air of calm acceptance. Luke had been in the jail with his mother that night when he had freed them. He hadn't been crying or complaining. He had hustled out of that jail and across the alley without saying a word. Right now Luke was looking at Alia who was throwing out her usual barrage of questions and comments with a slightly stunned expression. Daryl took pity on Luke and picked up his little girl, "Alia, give the kid a chance to answer once in a while." She grinned at him and nodded. He put her in her booster seat and then Matthias.

The adults dominated the conversation that night. Brian McKinzee, Gabriel, and Sasha had spent the afternoon getting the South Carolina people settled in houses. Brian had enlisted the help of the mountain families in getting the newcomers in a warm place by evening. It helped that they brought their own food supplies either from their homes or from the ambushed supply truck. The mountain men who had helped with the ambush had told their families about the empty ditch. Daryl figured that there would be conflicts between the two groups but they had gone to war together in Allanvale County. They had a common enemy. These mountain people would not go peaceably into "farming communities" down south. Their roots were here and Daryl had seen how deep those roots grew. They accepted Carol as one of their own because she was a McAllister and a Coulter. She was kin to them and always would be.

Gabriel and Christie were staying in the cabin just down from their houses. Christie had been Physician's Assistant in South Carolina and she was taking over the clinic that Bob had ran. Sasha had taken her there this afternoon and Christie wanted to get some more supplies.

After dinner the women cleaned up the dishes and talked. The men took a walk around the farm to check on things and the children played a game on Alia's computer in the living room. Christie and Gabriel went to their cabin after that. Everyone was tired. They had started the day in South Carolina dealing with Bob's death and it had been a long day.

Daryl volunteered to put the children to bed. He could tell that Carol was slightly distracted. She needed some time to herself to think about whatever had her attention this evening. She had smiled and kissed the children goodnight and that she would see them in the morning.

Daryl got them through the bath and remembered to check behind ears. The children brushed their teeth and got in pajamas and then he let them cuddle for a while. He talked about the green grass and flowers along the river in Georgia and how much he had missed them while he was away. They needed to work in the greenhouses tomorrow and both children nodded solemnly. Eventually, they yawned and he kissed them goodnight. He waited in the rocker until they went to sleep. He checked the doors even though he was sure that Morgan and Eugene had already checked them. Then he went in search of Carol to see if she was ready to talk to him about whatever she had on her mind.

Carol wasn't in the bedroom so he went into the bathroom to find Carol taking a bubble bath. She was leaning back with her eyes closed and there was a look on her face that he recognized, "Enjoying yourself?"

Carol opened her eyes, "I was enjoying myself".

Daryl sat down on the commode, "Don't let me stop you, I thought I was doing a good job keeping you satisfied, but you were sneaking in a little "Carol" time there."

Carol grinned at him, "Don't take it personal. The water was just so warm and I felt so relaxed. Honey, there is enough to go around."

Daryl moved to the bathtub and sat down. He put his hand down between her legs and could tell that she had been enjoying herself. He let this fingers slide into her slit and he began to rub her clit. She bucked a bit and he knew she had been close when he walked in. "Do you wanta fly solo here or can I be a copilot?" He figured he was a winner either way.

"Take your clothes off and you can be copilot. The children are asleep?"

He nodded as he stripped his clothes off. He did lock the bathroom door because he was a responsible parent. "I don't think there is enough room in there for both of us".

Carol sat up and he stepped in cautiously. He lowered himself down and he stretched his legs out. Carol slid toward him and there was enough room to kiss and touch. He put his hand back between her legs and watched her face as his fingers slowly began to explore her pussy almost ignoring the swollen clit. She moved around so that his fingers were bumping up against her clit and he stopped teasing and began to rub it gently. Carol moaned, "Faster," and he increased the speed and he was rewarded with her almost there face.

Daryl felt the shudders and spasms that signaled that she was coming and then she jolted into an orgasm. She collapsed into him catching her breath. He held her close and tried to ignore his swollen cock that wanted to be inside of Carol. "Is there anything else I can do for you while I am here?"

Carol lifted her head and smiled at him, "Well, I see opportunity has lifted its head again."

Daryl grinned, "Sometimes it only knocks once". He lifted her up and onto his greedy member and then lowered her slowly. They kissed and he bit gently at her nipples and then settled into a deep satisfying suckle. He could feel Carol buck against him and he moved his hand between her legs again. She pushed it away and put her fingers there. She took the other hand and pinched his nipple hard and he looked at her almost there face and began to thrust up and back. She shuddered and met him the next time with her own.

The water was getting cold by the time they were finished so they took a hot shower together. Daryl brushed his teeth and then went out to their room to wait. He put on his favorite pair of sleep pants and a shirt. Playtime was over: Carol had something to tell him that had her worried.

Carol came out dressed in pajamas and she sat down in the other chair. "It's about Matthias and it's about the General. He was married to a woman name Melinda Campbell. She is a distant cousin of mine and she grew up on Coulter Gap which is about ten miles from here. They had a little boy and then the turn happened. He had always been controlling and demanding and he became much worse after that. They were in a big group that had settled somewhere in Georgia and he was their leader. They began to merge with other group and got stronger but some of those other groups were racist. The bad began to outnumber the good and Mason emerged as the leader. He and Melinda were at odds. He began to abuse her; she began to hate him. She was still close to some people who had been in the original colony and last summer they escaped and ran toward these mountains. Melinda's group moved further west and something happened to the others and she started back here in the winter. She got bit and tied herself up so that she couldn't hurt Matthias. She died of the bite and came back. Jesse found her and heard Matthias crying. Our son's father is the General and he is going to come this way soon to look for Melinda and Matthias." Carol stopped then.

Daryl sat silently until he thought about this. He had known that the war wasn't over with the General. Carol had called him Mason so she had had some more flashes about him. His sweet boy was the offspring of an evil man. A powerful man who would want him back. "That is why he got so wound up today when we came home. Do I look like him?"

Carol shrugged, "He is our age. Blond hair and blue eyed. He doesn't look like you to me, but I think Matthias saw the uniform. Mason will kill everyone on this mountain to get him back."

"He ain't getting him back. Matthias is our son. He ain't getting you either. He ain't gonna hurt Alia. We got two choices here. We can take off on our own and get away from here and go somewhere that he won't find us. Or we can stand and fight. He has more men but we have home field advantage. What do you want to do?"

Carol shook her head, "I don't want to leave here. He'll try to kill everyone he finds here because half of them are Black and the other half will never let themselves be captured. They deserve to know that Matthias is his son. Let them decide. We are going to have to talk to Matthias about the General. Matthias is terrified of his father, but if we don't tell him now he'll hear it from someone else." Carol got into bed and pulled the covers up.

Daryl got up and checked the children again. They were still fast asleep because Mommy and Daddy were home and they would always keep them safe. He just wished Mommy and Daddy knew what to do. He sat for a bit by their beds and thought his way through.

Carol was still awake when he went back to bed. "You told Emily months ago that we needed someplace to put the children in, a safe house and we're going to make sure that we have them out of the way. All the children of the mountain are going to be put in there and we are going to keep the whereabouts known to just a few of us. We will let the others decide but they ain't going to send us out. We got women who can't fight and they'll go take care of the children. The pregnant ones too. Michonne can be in charge of that."

"The rest of us are gonna plant crops and get ready for war. We need more bombs and weapons so that is our first priority. We are going to make them fight for every inch of ground they take and in the end the mountain will win." Daryl's voice was surprisingly confident and he turned off the light. "Now scoot over here and let's get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow".

Carol scooted over and Daryl put his arm over her and pulled her close, "I can't sleep good if I can't feel you close to me". He remembered that at first he would pull away at night and turn away from her. Now it just felt right to be close to her. "Besides, you might decide to go another round with yourself and I don't want to miss it." He was rewarded with a sharp elbow to his ribs and Carol's laugh.

AN

I tried to tie up some pieces of the story in this chapter. We know that the new people are being absorbed into the mountain. Daryl finds out that Matthias is the son of the General and his mother was from that area. They are letting the others decide whether they should leave.

I debated the Carol enjoying herself in the tub scene as maybe being a little off since she has planned to talk to Daryl. I kept it in because Carol and Daryl going rub a dub-dub in the bathtub is fun to imagine and again I leave most of the details out.

This past weekend was busy and I haven't had a chance to get this out.

Please review.