A/N: Hello out there! Hope all is well.

So, I have been getting plenty of notices about people following the story, which is completely awesome…however, the reviews have been pretty slow coming in. You don't have to write me a novel or anything, but if you like where things are going, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! It helps me stay motivated to keep writing. Yes, that's probably a sad admission, but I have never denied that I love attention and will do just about anything for it…well, I draw the line at stripping;)

Anyway, back to the story-This was a really fun chapter to write. It sounds kind of weird, but I find the parts involving action to be easier to write than the romantic parts. Don't get me wrong-I LOVE romance stuff, but it's hard to get into that frame of mind while trying to describe it to someone the way you see it in your head. With action, it's like BAM! POW! Kick ass! Much different frames of mind.

There's also a really great moment between Rick and Carol in this one. I feel like as much as these two characters respect and love each other, they have a lot that goes unsaid between them. Carol was extremely close to Lori through all of the seasons, so she knows that talking about her upsets Rick, but at the same time I think it's something he really needs to hear too. Hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing affiliated with The Walking Dead.

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Ch8.

Carol was getting pretty tired by the time they set up camp for the night. Rick had picked a spot on an embankment by the base of the mountains, and they had settled in for the night to get some shut eye before heading up further along the trail in the morning. Tyreese's hunch of finding more supplies up north had definitely paid off. They'd found an abandoned Red Cross station on their first try, stocked with plenty of medical supplies and even some food and water. There weren't even many walkers around to hold off. Carol took mostly necessities, but grabbed a couple of surgical implements too just so Hershel would have backups in case of an emergency. It was a miracle that they'd been able to find most of what they needed in one place, but Rick wanted to keep scouting in case next time they weren't so lucky.

"I say we make our way around the ridge a little further up and then we can backtrack from there." He suggested. "There aren't a lot of homes up here to begin with, so the chances of finding places that haven't been ransacked are probably greater. Most people would've headed towards the city."

"How much more stuff do we need?" Michonne asked, throwing some small sticks into the low-lit fire they'd made.

Rick shrugged. "Just a few more items. Mostly stuff for Judith and some of the younger kids. We could use some more ammo too if it's feasible."

"We're in hillbilly terrain." Tyreese laughed. "I'm sure there's more than a few shotguns hidden up in these hills."

"I'm sure you're right."

"How are we going to work out sleeping arrangements?" Carol asked curiously. "I assume we're taking shifts."

"We don't want to take any chances." Tyreese agreed. "I'll take first shift. You all should go rest for a while."

"Suburban will only sleep two at a time." Michonne reminded them. "I'll stay up too."

Rick relented. "All right, then Carol and I will get in a few hours now, and you can come get us when you're ready to switch."

Carol wasn't about to argue with that. "Sounds good to me."

Rick guided her back to the truck, where he fished around in the back for his bag. Carol grabbed a blanket and nestled into the backseat to try and get warm. She couldn't believe in the middle of the summer that she was this cold. It occurred to her that maybe she was getting spoiled.

"You all right back there?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just trying to relax." She shivered. "I'm getting too used to having a roof over my head and a bed to sleep on."

"I wouldn't exactly say we live in the lap of luxury." He teased. "But it's a far cry from having to sleep on the cold ground every night like in camp."

"Do you think…" Carol paused, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer to her own question. "Do you see us moving on from the prison anytime soon?"

Rick shut the trunk and climbed into the front seat. "To be honest, I've thought about it. I don't see how we can do that now with the amount of people we have there. As long as we can keep the prison secure, I don't see a reason to leave. Do you?"

"No. But I know some of the group is getting restless being there."

"You mean Daryl's getting restless."

"He's not used to sitting idle for so long. I think it's really starting to get to him."

Rick leaned over the edge of the seat to look at her. "You thinking he's gonna leave again?"

Carol hated to even consider it. "I really don't know. He doesn't seem to have much tying him down to one place, and it's not like he hasn't done it before."

"Yeah but now Merle's not in the picture."

"No, but he thinks he's better off on his own."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. He's getting pretty attached to you." He gestured to the back of the truck. "I noticed you were using his knife earlier."

"He put it in my bag before we left. He must be holding mine captive." She defended.

Rick laughed. "I'm not saying you provoked him, because lord knows he doesn't need it. But one thing he does care about is keeping you safe. If he did leave the group, I wouldn't be surprised if he asked you to go with him."

Carol didn't quite know how to react to Rick's assumption. She knew that Daryl did spend a good amount of his time these days keeping tabs on her, but would he really ask her to go with him if he left? Then there was the question that scared her the most. If he did ask, would she agree to go off with him? It was too much to process right now.

"Let's hope for everyone's sake that he decides not to do anything for the moment."

"I hope I'm wrong." Rick admitted. "I rely on him more than almost anyone. I even asked him if he'd take over for me as leader if I needed to step down."

"What did he say?"

"Told me I was full of shit."

She snorted loudly. "That sounds like Daryl. He's never thought he had it in him to be great. Spent too many years with Merle."

"I guess we'll just have to keep reminding him then." Rick suggested. "I mean, look at you. You're not the same woman you were when Ed was around. Lori used to worry about you all the time. She'd be proud to see how you've grown."

Carol didn't overlook the tone in his voice. He obviously missed her badly. She knew that things with Shane had strained their relationship, and he'd never truly gotten to work things out with her before the end. They had been so close, but then the moment was gone.

"I miss her all the time." She said, trying to be cautious of his feelings. "Lori wouldn't take any crap. She called it like it was, especially when we needed to hear it most."

"That she did."

"She was probably the best friend I ever had."

He smiled. "She loved you like a sister."

Carol chuckled. "I know she was younger than me, but in a lot of ways, she was like a protective older sibling. She always made sure that Sophia and I were okay."

Rick got quiet at the mention of Sophia. As good of friends as they were now, she felt horrible for how she had treated him when her daughter had gone missing. She knew deep down how badly he'd felt about the situation. They hadn't had much time to dwell on it after Carl had been shot, and she was starting to realize that she'd never really gotten the chance to apologize to him for it all.

"You know I don't blame you for what happened, don't you? I hate that I even tried to make Sophia disappearing seem like it was your fault."

Rick sighed. "If I had just stayed and killed those walkers where they were instead of leading them away, she wouldn't have gotten lost."

"Don't put that on yourself. You did everything you could, and I am so grateful to you for it. If it hadn't been for you and Daryl, I never would have made it this far." She wiped away a tear rolling down her cheek. "You are a caring and loyal friend, and I am so thankful to have you."

Rick sat up to look at her, and she could see the tears glistening in his eyes, just like the day she'd realized that Lori was really gone. He'd lost so much, but she needed to let him know how much he meant to her.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. "Thank you for being my friend Carol. You don't know what it means to me."

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Carol nodded off not long after her conversation with Rick, but was abruptly woken by Michonne after what felt like only minutes. They both swapped places with the others, but didn't speak much during that time except to work out an idea on where to head next. Carol understood that he was just trying to keep his thoughts together and not focus on things that would distract him from their goal. She'd spent enough time doing the same thing herself, especially when Ed would try to goad her into a fight in front of Sophia. Her mind was always focused on making sure her daughter saw as little violence as possible, despite the fact that she obviously knew what was going on.

Rick was right. I am a completely different person now.

Once the sun started to rise up over the mountaintop, Rick got the rest of them up and ready to go. Michonne had pulled him aside to talk and it looked like they were working out a strategy together. They all had some breakfast and then got into the truck and headed up further into the mountain. Rick made sure to not drive up anywhere that could get them stranded, and kept an eye on their gas supplies very carefully. They ended up finding a small bait and tackle shop not too far up the path, and Michonne quickly jumped out to go investigate, along with Rick. Carol could tell it had gone well when she noticed them coming back out with huge smiles.

"We've got our ammo." Rick said, holding up a bag full of bullets and assorted artillery. "There was a hidden back room with hunting supplies in the back. Leave it to the fishermen to shoot first and ask questions later."

Carol noticed Michonne was holding what looked like an animal trap of some sort. "What's that for exactly?"

Michonne threw it in the back and climbed into the truck. "You'll see."

Figuring they'd better not press their luck any further, they started heading back down to the main road to look for a consignment shop. They found a strip mall about an hour away with one that looked pretty deserted. Carol was surprised when Michonne grabbed her trap and made a bee line for the pet store next door.

"What the hell is she doing?"

Rick chuckled. "It's an old trick my friend Morgan taught us. She's looking for walker bait."

"Walker bait?"

He nodded. "Live animals work best, but since our squirrel wrangler isn't here, we're gonna try something else."

Michonne emerged a few moments later, holding the trap away from her body, with her hand covering her face. It looked like some kind of bloody rodent. The smell was rancid.

"Dear God in heaven…" Tyreese was obviously disgusted.

"Couldn't find any live ones." Michonne said, pinching her nose shut with one hand. "But luckily there were a few fresh dead rats on the floor. Guess they'd gotten in through the walls. Cut 'em up a little so they'd smell the blood." She shrugged. "At least it won't run away."

"Good idea." Rick agreed, shuddering from the smell. "Let's give it a try."

Carol was still completely lost, but she followed them over to the doors and waited. Rick, armed with his Colt Python, opened the doors quietly while Michonne crept in and threw the cage off to the side, then ran back out. Within a few seconds, the walkers inside descended upon the cage and Rick turned back to them.

"I'll cover the front with Michonne. Carol, here's the list. You and Tyreese get in and get what we need, then get back out. Stay together."

Carol nodded, finally grasping the plan, and followed Tyreese up through one of the aisles carefully as the other two took care of the handful of walkers that were still trying to get at the cage. She started picking through the racks of clothes, grabbing anything she could find that would work on a toddler. She was constantly amazed at how fast kids went through clothes when they were young, so she needed to get as many sizes as possible. Throwing her supplies at Tyreese when her hands got full, she continued further back to see if she could find anything for the older kids as well. When both their hands were filled to capacity, she ushered him to go forward to the front of the store while she grabbed an extra set of diapers.

"Okay, I think-"

Without warning, a hand jutted out and grabbed her leg, causing her to stumble and fall. She screamed as the contents in her hands went flying up into the air, and her body made contact with the ground. Despite the bruises she knew would begin to develop on her arms and legs, it was the least of her worries at the moment. The walker that had grabbed her was underneath the racks, trying to turn her into its next meal. It seemed to be missing its legs and one arm, but it had a death grip on her ankle with the other and wasn't planning on giving up easily. She struggled to pull herself up enough to be able to fight back, and Tyreese was just turning back to assist. Finally able to free the other leg, she kicked its head back as hard as she could. She heard a loud crack as the walkers head nearly snapped in half and swung idly from the neck. Apparently she hadn't gotten the brain because it was still snapping its jaws at her, and the grip on her leg hadn't lessened, but it wasn't pulling anymore either. She pried its fingers open enough so that she could pull her leg out and crawled back out from the rack.

"Carol!"

He ran over quickly, scrambling to get her up off the floor so they could keep going, but another walker had come over to join in the fight. There were more in the back coming forward and she knew she had to act fast. Grabbing for Daryl's knife, she ran towards the next closest walker, plunging the blade into its head. It fell back against a shelf nosily.

"Quick! Get the stuff!"

"It's too late!" Tyreese yelled, trying to pull her back with him. "We need to go now!"

"NO!" Carol yanked away. "Get the supplies! I'll hold them off!"

Without another rational thought, she ran directly at the next two coming forward. She kicked the one back against a rack, and both went down. The rack landed point side up and the walker fell directly onto it; piercing its chest and immobilized it. She knocked the second one down and stabbed it multiple times through the head. By the time her brain would let her acknowledge that the monster was really dead, she was completely covered in blood and gore, but had never felt more amazing. Apparently Tyreese was not enjoying this as much as she was.

"Let's go!" He yanked on her arm. "We need to get out!"

She ran back to the things she had dropped and grabbed them up before following him back up to the front of the store. When they got there, Rick and Michonne were both holding off walkers who had lost interest in the dead rats. She knew they must have heard her scream, and Rick looked agitated, but they didn't have much time to dwell on it just then. With the focus of concerned on their current predicament, he pointed at the door and signaled them to get out. Carol dodged a display that had fallen over and ran out the doors to the sidewalk, followed quickly by the others. Once they were all out, Rick pushed the doors shut, blocking them with a large piece of metal from a shelving unit he'd found. As soon as it was secured, Carol collapsed against the brick wall, trying desperately to catch her breath. Rick was hovering over her a second later; a look of anger clearly plastered on his face.

"What the hell happened in there?"

"I'm okay, I swear." She said between gasps. "A walker grabbed at me but I got him. It just took me by surprise."

"Surprise?!" Rick yelled. "In this world, a surprise is as good as a toe tag!"

"If it weren't for her, we never would've gotten out of there." Tyreese defended, looking slightly stunned. "She took down four walkers like it was nothing and still managed to get the supplies. I've never seen anything like it."

Carol couldn't honestly believe it herself, even though she'd just done it. If this had been a test, she had passed it with flying colors. As mad as Rick probably was at her for doing what she did, he didn't chastise her for it either. If anything, he looked at her with more admiration. It was something she wished Daryl would do more often.

"Wish I'd gotten to see that." Michonne said, obviously impressed as well. "We'll have to do a girl's only trip next time."

"That's it." Rick yanked her to her feet and grabbed the clothes. "Trip's over. You've proven yourself and then some. It's time to head back."

"You won't hear any complaints from me." She said with a smile. "I think I've killed enough walkers to last me a year."

"Good." Rick shook his head. "Because if Daryl finds out about this, you won't be going on any more runs for a LONG time."

They threw the rest of the supplies in the back of the truck and Carol changed out of her blood-soaked clothes before they departed. Rick volunteered to drive, and Tyreese estimated that if they headed straight through, they could probably make it back by nightfall. Carol smiled as she stared out the window, watching the scenery fly by. It had been a good trip, but she was more than ready to go home.

A/N: I'm sure most of you have seen the trailer for the season 4 opener now. Believe it or not, I've had this chapter worked out in my head for months. It just so happens that it actually semi-coincides with what I saw at the beginning of the trailer, which is just insane to me because I never think I'm on the right track with anything, haha. I wasn't sure how they were going to handle having all those people inside the prison for a long period of time either, but apparently that is going to be taken care of pretty early on*gasp*. I didn't have the heart to kill a bunch of old ladies and kids, so I'll let Scott Gimple handle that part for me Off to write some more!