A/N: HAPPY WALKING DEAD DAY!
It's the day we've all been waiting for…well, ONE of the days…season 4 will be here in about 47 days (eeek!) but today we can ease that pain by indulging in some wonderful moments from season 3 on our new DVD's and Blu-ray's! I personally cannot wait to dive into the deleted scenes and commentary. I will not lie…I live for that stuff. I LOVE knowing how they figure out scenes and work out the effects. Greg Nicotero is a GOD to me:) I'm also excited to see how many other amazing outcomes there might have been for scenes in the last year. So far the few I've seen have blown me away!
As for the story, I received a lot of reviews from the previous one, and everyone has been 100% supportive of the direction of the story which is a big relief to me. This chapter is all from Daryl's POV because Carol is not exactly coherent yet, but he is about to come back and find out just exactly what has happened, which will be pretty rough as well. I had to watch a lot of YouTube clips from "This Sorrowful Life" to prepare for the impact that this situation will have on him (which I can now happily watch over and over from my TV…just saying)
I also love listening to music while I'm writing to help me find the emotions I need for scenes like this. I happened to be listening to Coldplay a lot on this day, particularly "The Scientist" and "Fix You", which both seem to fit this scenario so well. You certainly don't need to listen to music while reading the chapter, but I just thought I'd share some of my processes…anyway, off you go!
Live Long and Caryl On!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead...I do own a kick-ass Blu-ray box set of TWD S3:)
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Ch16.
Daryl and Carl made their way further into the woods, still searching for the two culprits who had made the tracks they'd been following. Even though they hadn't caught up to them yet, it was a matter of time. There didn't seem to be many walkers out this way either. Daryl grinned at the prospect of being able to actually go out and hunt again without some damn walker trying to fuck up his kill. Then again, he was starting to wonder just how many wild animals there might be left. If the population of the wildlife was getting as bad as it was for the humans, they'd really have a problem. Daryl couldn't live on beans for the rest of his life.
Suddenly, Carl made a gesture, signaling that he'd found them. There were two raccoons nestled up together in a hollowed out tree down by the creek. It was an easy kill. He still preferred squirrel meat, but this would be a better meal on the table for the others. He looked over at Carl, who had his Beretta out and ready to go. Daryl held him off.
"Wait. We don't wanna make too much noise. It'll scare 'em."
"So what should we do?"
"I'll get 'em with the crossbow."
Carl gave him sort of a shy look. "Can…I try to use it?"
Daryl was shocked by his request. He'd never let anyone else handle it before. It was sort of like his baby. It was fine-tuned and adjusted just for him.
"Don't know…might not be a good idea."
Carl nodded slightly, looking defeated. "Yeah…I get it."
Daryl rationalized it. There really wasn't much effort to handling the weapon, other than making sure the arrows didn't hit anything that would split them.
"You ever used one of these before?"
"No, but dad let me shoot a regular bow at an archery range once."
He sighed. "All right. You get one shot."
Carl's eyes lit up as he handed the crossbow over to him. He showed him how to line up the shot and stood back. The chances of him getting either one his first time were pretty bad, but Daryl knew that this was the only way for him to learn. He wished he'd had a teacher like this growing up, instead of having to learn strictly by trial and error. Carl was concentrating real hard. He focused in on them and waited a moment before finally pulling the trigger. It missed, as Daryl had expected, and the raccoons scattered loudly out of the tree and down the creek.
"Dammit!" Carl muttered, handing it back. "I thought I had them lined up."
Daryl laughed. "It's not as easy as it looks. Guess we're not having 'coon for dinner."
"Should we go after them?"
"Naw, they're long gone now." He nudged Carl's arm. "Let's head back. We'll try again later."
Carl didn't move. "Are you mad?"
Daryl had to admit that a few years ago, something like that would have driven him crazy. Now, it didn't matter much at all. Maybe he was getting soft in his old age.
"Naw. Took me years to be able to do that. You're comin' along just fine. Soon you won't even think about it."
"Thanks Daryl." Carl smiled. "I like being out here with you."
"Me too little man." He pulled the sheriff's hat down over his eyes playfully. "Come on let's go. It's getting dark."
"I'm coming."
They headed back towards the prison together, practically two birds of a feather.
"So, 'bout this girl…she cute?"
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They made it back to the prison within fifteen minutes and headed for the gates. Daryl immediately noticed that something wasn't right.
"Where's everyone?"
Carl looked at him funny. "What do you mean?"
"There's no one guarding the gate."
"Maybe they're swapping out."
"Someone should be out here at all times." Daryl went over to where they'd cut a space in the fence and saw that the cable lock was still intact. "Doesn't look like there's been a breech."
"Let's get in before we have a problem." Carl unhooked it and started unwinding the cable.
They got over onto the walkway and tied the gap back up. As they were walking back to the main gates, they saw Rick run out to the blacktop. Daryl had been right. Something was definitely up. Rick had blood on him, and it was fresh.
"Come on."
Without another thought, he immediately started running up to the prison to where Rick stood. Carl ran too, probably worried that something might've happened to his dad or baby sister. When they got there, he grabbed Daryl by the shoulders, looking troubled.
"What happened?"
Rick's face was stone. "There was an attack down in the restricted section."
Daryl's stomach dropped out from under him. "Who?"
"Beth."
"What the hell was she doin' down there?"
"I'm not sure, but that's where she was found."
Holy shit. He couldn't wrap his head around it. "So, is she…"
"Not yet, but it's a matter of time."
It was unbelievable. They hadn't had a breach that'd killed anyone in over half a year. The one time he takes off for some time in the woods, and they get attacked? Something didn't seem right. Maybe the Governor had come back.
"Do you think someone let em in?"
Rick shook his head. "Sadly, I think this one just found a way in on its own."
"How could that happen?!" Carl said, obviously upset with the situation. "We blocked off everything! We made it safe!"
"Carl…" Rick leaned down to comfort his son. "Things happen. We can't always stop it."
"If we'd let her come with us like she wanted to, she would have been safe!"
"You don't know that."
Daryl sighed. As much as he didn't want to argue it, he was thinking the same damn thing.
"I want to go see her." Carl stiffened. "I need to."
"That's not a good idea." Rick stood his ground. "She's with her family now."
Carl's eyes welled up. "After how I've treated her, I need to say I'm sorry."
"Carl," Rick put a hand on his shoulder. "She knows that you were just hurt and that you didn't really hate her. Besides, she's unconscious. I doubt she could hear you even if you told her."
He shoved Rick's hand away. "I don't care! I'm going!"
Carl pulled back and ran towards the building. Rick got up, but to Daryl's surprise, he didn't run after him. From the look on his face, he wasn't done doling out the bad news.
"Somethin' else happen in there I need to know about?"
Rick sighed deeply. "Daryl…she was with Carol when it happened."
Daryl shook his head. "You ain't sayin'…was she-"
"No. She didn't get bit, but she's hurt." Rick put a hand on his shoulder. "She partially ruptured her spleen in the battle, but the doc was able to get it out before it caused too much internal damage."
Fuck. "She had surgery?"
"Yes, but she's out now. I think the doc is giving her a transfusion at the moment."
Daryl's face scrunched up. "She gonna make it?"
Rick nodded. "She's not out of the woods yet, but the doc seems confident that she'll pull through as long as there aren't any complications."
"Where is she?"
"The infirmary."
If Rick had kept talking past that point, Daryl sure as hell wasn't listening. He ran into the block and down the long hall to the infirmary. Every fucking good feeling he'd just had was long gone. He had no idea what he would've done if Rick had told him that she hadn't made it. Even compared to the other times that he'd thought he might've lost her, this was still ten times worse. He cared too much now.
He was invested in this.
Daryl tried to wrap the scenario around his brain as he walked down the long hallway. How could this have happened? He was only gone for a few hours. And why the hell had they been down in that part of the prison? He felt completely gutted at the realization that Carol could have died if she hadn't fought him to go on the run for supplies. None of the others would have known what to get in a medical emergency. Had she predicted something like this would happen? It seemed too far-fetched even for him.
When all is was over, I'm gonna go find that fucking walker and kick the ever-loving crap out of it until there's nothing left but a pile of gore.
Turning a corner, he finally made it to the infirmary. Now it made sense where most of the people from the group were. They all knew what had happened and were waiting around for news. Daryl pushed his way through the crowd to the doc who'd come over with the Woodbury group. He knew Hershel would be with Beth right now and he couldn't disturb the poor man in his time of sorrow.
"Where is she?"
"I assume you mean Carol." Dr. Stevens replied. "She's resting right now. I performed the surgery but she's still very weak and shouldn't be disturbed."
"Didn't ask you if she was awake or not, did I?" Daryl was getting irritated. "I wanna see her."
Dr. Stevens held her ground. "She's not going to know you're there."
This woman obviously didn't know who the hell she was dealing with. "I don't give a flying fuck! Where the hell is she?"
"Throwing a fit won't do you any good."
"You wanna bet?" He got right in her face. "Try me."
"Doc wait…" Tyreese came over and got in between them. "Daryl, come on. I'll take you to her."
Daryl backed away, trying to calm down. Flying off the handle wasn't gonna make anything better, and he knew it. He followed Tyreese into a small, dark room just a few feet away. There was a candle burning on a table by the door, but he could barely make out her figure lying on the cot in the corner. She looked so small and frail. It killed him to know that he hadn't been there for her. Now Beth was probably dead, and she was lucky if she'd make it back out of this.
From the looks of it, Tyreese had been the one that had given her blood. He stood silently by the doorway while Daryl grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the cot, taking Carol's hand in his. She had been cleaned up for the surgery, but he saw a pile of bloody clothes still lying in the corner of the room. The sight of her limp body in front of him nearly brought him to tears.
"Did you find her?" Daryl looked back to Tyreese, who nodded.
"I carried Beth back up here and Rick got Carol. I found them when they were coming out of the tombs, and Carol told me to take her. Apparently she passed out not much later, and we got her over to the doc. That's when we realized how hurt she was."
"You give her blood?"
"We started talking awhile back and figured out that we had the same blood type, so I volunteered." Tyreese looked down at her. "Doc says she might need more soon, so I figured I'd stick around."
Daryl looked back down at her hand. "I can give her more blood if she needs it. I'm universal."
"I'll let the doc know."
He turned back to the large man. "I never thanked you…for keeping an eye on her out there on the trip."
Tyreese shrugged. "She really kept an eye on me. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have half of this stuff either. It's a miracle that we had what we needed to save her."
"I'd been thinkin' the same damn thing."
"You think…she knew something would happen?"
Daryl sighed. "She thinks ahead. May not've known it'd be her needin' it, but she knew eventually someone would."
"You're probably right."
Before he could respond back, Carol made a groaning noise that startled them both. Daryl didn't know how many pain killers they had on hand, but he was sure they'd be going through a good supply of them in the next few days.
"Go fetch the doc for me, will ya? She's gonna need more drugs if she's gonna get any rest." He brought his hand up to her forehead to wipe away the sweat that was building.
Tyreese nodded. "I'll go get her."
"Before you do…" Daryl looked back at him. "I need to apologize. 'Bout what I said that day-"
"No need." Tyreese shook his head. "We're good."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely." He gestured to Carol. "You just take care of her."
Tyreese left the small room, but the minute he did, everything seemed to come crashing down on Daryl. He lowered his head to the cot and took a deep breath. He still wanted to know why they had been down in the tombs together. None of it made sense. Maybe if he'd brought both of them on the trip, they would still be all right. Whatever had gone on down there, it had been bad. Even though Beth hadn't made it, in reality it still could've been a lot worse. Especially with all the people living here now. If that walker had gotten loose in the main cell, it would've been a goddamn bloodbath.
He suddenly realized that somewhere just down the hall, Hershel and Maggie were having to say goodbye to someone they loved. They were lucky they had each other, but it still wasn't right. That girl hadn't deserved none of this. He'd wanted to punch the wall not moments ago, but suddenly he was too tired to do anything but sit there and hold her hand.
"Don't you die on me woman. You've come too far now to go out like this. You may be hurt, but you ain't checkin' out." He sniffled; his eyes were blurry with tears. "You said some things are worth fighting for. I ain't gonna give up on you, but you gotta fight for me now. Just fight."
She didn't open her eyes, but he saw her turn her head towards him as if to say that she was there. Daryl had never felt so defenseless in his whole life. If he could have traded places with her, he'd have done it in a second. Just as he was about to admit it, he heard someone walk in the door and clear their throat.
"You need a moment?" Dr. Stevens asked quietly.
"No." He gestured her over. "Do what you gotta do…I ain't losin' her."
A/N: Seeing Daryl emotional is something that I truly love because it gets to the heart of just who this man is. I really hate it when people react to the show by saying that he's getting too soft…this man is smart, brave, loyal, cunning, and sensitive all wrapped up into one package. He has his flaws like anyone, but of all the things I ever hope to find in a man of my own, these are at the core.
I actually just joined Twitter not too long ago and have been following Norman Reedus's posts…as different as he is from Daryl in real life, he's also a man of conviction and I've seen how absolutely dedicated he is to his work and his fans. Just today he posted at least a dozen pics of things fans made for him, which is just amazing. He seems to really appreciate what he's got, which is rare these days. I hope that one day I'll be able to actually have a conversation with him and be able to tell him these things, but for now that's just a pipe dream. Either way, he's created one hell of a character:)
Oh, and if anyone would like to follow me on Twitter, send me a private message and I'll be happy to send you the deets. I'm still new to it but I'd love to keep you guys updated on what I'm doing! Thanks again!