Eight months ago, Australian Outback
Mara groaned.
"Another letter?" Christine asked from her bunk.
"Yeah, it's like he doesn't understand we broke up." Mara had broken up with Eric when she enlisted. She just didn't feel they were compatible and being the army wasn't really conducive to being in a relationship, especially given the circumstance. He had not taken it well and often wrote her pining letters. Mara had been sympathetic, and even flattered, at first but now the triad was wearing thin.
She didn't even think it was because he liked her over much but because Eric, doctor in training, had never had a woman leave him before. Mara might have stayed with him for an indeterminate amount of time if the world hadn't ended.
"Ease up Mara, you crushed the poor dude," Yussuf said. That wasn't strictly true. Mara had ended it as kindly as she could but Yussuf's words still stung. Mara didn't like the idea of hurting anyone/
Mara shot him a withering look. "What are you even doing here Yussuf? This is the women's bunk!"
He shrugged, "Just hanging with my gals."
"Well any advice on how to get rid of clingy guys who don't know when they aren't wanted?" Mara asked crumpling the letter and throwing it at Yussuf's head. He dodged the projectile with ease.
"Well you gotta- Oh I see what you did there. Clever." Yussuf was waggling his finger at Mara.
"But ultimately ineffective," Christine added.
"I'm persistent." Yussuf shrugged.
Mara cracked a smile a reluctant smile at Yussuf. He was an idiot but he was actually growing on her. Which was a good thing since there would come a time when she'd have to trust him with her life.
Present day, Georgia
The first time Daryl opened his eyes, he could see a hazy image of Hershel standing over him.
"It was a mild concussion; I think he'll be fine."
Daryl was glad of that because he was exhausted. He fell back to sleep immediately.
The second time he woke up his hand was tightly gripped. His eyes found Carol's and it was clear she'd been crying. She gave him a weak smile and Daryl wanted to reassure her but he couldn't find the energy or the words so he went back to sleep.
The third time he woke up his whole body felt like he'd been hit by a truck. The wound in his leg ached but his face and torso throbbed with pain too.
"How are you feeling?"
He noticed Mara sitting in a chair close to him. She leaned over to get a better look at his face. Her expression was serious and concerned. What had happened to him to make the women fuss like this?
Mara had a large white bandage on her bicep.
"You 'k?" His voice was hoarse from lack of use.
"Yeah, Hershel stitched me up good."
Daryl's memories of the incident came flooding back. How they had tried to beat Merle's whereabouts out of him. How Mara had saved him. "'M sorry for what happened. It was my brother they was searchin' for."
"Hey, don't worry about it."
He must have looked like shit if Mara was talking to him so gentle like.
"You got a brother that ever get you into trouble like this?"
"My brother?" Mara said with a laugh. "My family is amazing and very normal." Her voice trailed off and Daryl didn't know if it was because she was apologetic that his family was awful or if she was missing her folks. Probably both.
Daryl could see the red under her finger nails. She hadn't quite scrubbed them clean. She saw where his eyes were and self consciously tucked her hands under her arms.
"It was the first time I've killed anyone that wasn't already dead," she confessed. For a second she wouldn't meet his eyes but then she did and her stare was defiant. "They deserved it."
Daryl felt something twist in his gut that had nothing to do with being kicked there repeatedly. This new world was stealing innocence left, right and centre.
His thigh itched and he felt hot like his skin was on fire and complained as much.
Mara leaned forward unexpectedly and put her palm gently on his cheek. Her skin felt cool against his.
"You have a fever. Hershel said your body might be fighting an infection."
Mara moved off her chair to sit on the bed next to him and lay her second hand on his forehead. He closed his eyes. The coolness of her hands felt amazing on his face.
"Yeah you're burning up, alright." She reached down and picked up a pill bottle. She shook two white pills into her hand.
"Paracetamol. Two should ease the fever."
Daryl put the two pills in his mouth. Mara helped lift his head to drink some water when it became apparent he had little strength of his own. She did it without asking for permission and made no comment, so his pride was salvaged. He would have pushed her away but that would have required a strength that he just didn't have.
She wiped away a tiny drop of water on his chin. Daryl had never been looked after when he was sick as a kid. His mother had been too drunk or too dead and his father had never won any awards for his parenting. And here was Mara, being kind to him.
"Sleep now. You'll be on your feet in no time, annoying the crap out of me again."
Well, almost kind. Every time he'd opened his eyes someone he knew had been standing there, interested in his well being, fighting for his survival. He may have felt like shit but that was a good feeling to fall asleep with.
After a week though he was going stir crazy. He was under strict orders to take it easy so his leg would heal properly. Luckily the bullet had cut clean through the top of his thigh and there wasn't any muscle damage. But still, there were only so many card games he could play with Carl, Beth or Carol before he started to consider slitting his wrists with the jack of spades.
To make matters worse they couldn't afford to waste any more painkillers on him once his fever had dropped. It meant he wasn't sleeping well and he was twice as grumpy as usual. Carol offered to smuggle him a few extra but he stoically declined. In this world it was only a matter of time before someone was badly hurt and needed them again for something much worse than an achy leg.
He was in the middle of a fitful sleep one night when commotion outside his bunk woke him up. He quickly pulled himself to the opening of his cell, cursing emphatically his damaged leg.
"What's goin' on?" he called. Rick was by his side in seconds.
"The Governors men are inside," Rick hissed.
"Shit!"
Nathan appeared by their side. "Yussuf and Elias caught them sneaking in. They're going for a more of a subtle approach."
"What's the plan?" Hershel asked, concerned. Everyone was appearing in the opening of their cells, hair ruffled by sleep but eyes alert and fearful.
"We need to lead them away from here. We'll get 'em to follow us to the tombs."
Carol gasped, "That's suicide."
"The tombs are over run," Glenn said softly.
Rick ran a hand over his mouth. "I know. It's a risk we have to take. Hopefully the amount of walkers will deter them."
"Kill them," Christine corrected.
Rick nodded brusquely. "Me, Nathan, the soldiers, Glenn, Maggie and Carol, we'll lead them down."
"The fuck?" Daryl snapped. "You're not going anywhere without me."
Rick grabbed Daryl's arm and pulled him away. "You can't run on that leg. You'll get yourself killed. 'Sides I need you here with Carl and Hershel to protect Judith and these cells."
Rick was intense and he was using his leadership voice that tolerated no argument.
"Fine," Daryl hissed.
"Get your weapons. You have two minutes," Rick instructed.
Daryl felt furious to his core. Maggie, Glenn and Rick could hold their own. The Australians were soldiers. Carol was no fighter though. Sure she'd stepped up and become a tough little survivalist in the last nine months but she still needed protecting. Daryl couldn't stand the idea of her going out there without him watching her back. The last time he had let her out of his sight it had ended with him thinking she was dead. He had already used up one miracle finding her alive. He didn't think he'd get another one. Carol was the one who had pulled him into the group in the first place and he would not lose her.
Mara came running down the stairs pulling on her jacket which now had a slash down her upper arm where skin showed through. He reached out and seized her wrist.
"Look after her," he demanded gruffly. He didn't like admitting he cared about anyone but this night wasn't the time for any of his personal issues.
Mara met his eyes and nodded wordlessly. Then she was gone, following the others out the door. Carl locked it behind them then retreated further in so they couldn't be spotted easily by someone snooping.
He didn't know when he had started trusting Mara to look after one of the people dearest to Daryl. Probably after he got shot and she had fended of walkers and henchmen before practically dragging him to safety.
When he heard the first shots, he clenched his fists and hoped he had made the right decision.
...
When the action really began Mara didn't know who was a friend or foe. At first they could only distinguish between dead and alive.
The generators they had found were giving in and the lights over head were flickering madly and Mara had the insane notion that it wasn't that different from a night club.
At one point two spooks had her against a wall and she had dropped her sword. Glenn was suddenly throwing her a bat and Mara was beating both their skulls in to pulp.
And they kept pushing further, pulling the Governor's men deeper into the pit of the prison. The corridors switched from light to dark like an internal lightening show and each time the scene was illuminated she tried to kill the closest thing to her, slowing only enough to ensure it wasn't one of theirs at the end of the knife.
The next clear moment was having Maggie at her back. The generators were steady for a few minutes straight and while Maggie fended off the spooks, Mara focused on killing the Governor's men.
There were less of them now. They hadn't expected Rick's people to lead them into a pit of spooks and their bodies were now being feasted on by spooks that had dodged their own execution.
In one joyous moment, Mara realised they were retreating. Until she saw something frantically struggling between the arms of two men. At first Mara was confused and thought that they had captured a spook. Mara's heart plummeted as she saw that despite the feral animalistic struggled reminiscent of a spook they had Carol.
Mara launched herself after them. She had left her knife in the last spook she had stabbed; it was stuck under a decaying ear somewhere on the ground. She would kill them barehanded if she had to.
She used her forearm to block a swipe from the first knife and pushed him against the wall. Mara didn't have the strength or the time to strangle him and without further thought she slammed his head back against the wall. There was a sickening crack.
Mara felt a pain in her stomach and looked down to see a knife had been sunk into her hip. She observed this with a kind of detached ferocity. It hurt but not that much. Mara snapped the man's head back again and she could see blood. He slumped to the ground dead. Mara yanked the knife out of her side with a grunt.
Carol had seen her coming and renewed her resisting. She was slowing them down for Mara to catch up. Mara grabbed the next closest man. He hesitated seeing the hate in her eyes and the blood splattered across her face. Mara seized his wrist, drawing his arm out and brought her own elbow down hard on his. She heard bone break with satisfaction. He tried to reel away from her but Mara was too quick and she drove the heel of her palm up under his nose. She used all the force she had, swinging her whole body into the impact.
The man fell to the ground, Mara didn't know if he was stunned or if she'd managed to wedge a shard of bone into his brain. She stepped over him without a second thought.
The next one she confronted was ready for her and had his gun trained at her heart. What he hadn't counted on was Carol getting her hands free and snatching up a bat. Carol aimed for the man's head but his friend grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. The blow landed heavily on the man's back and he staggered forward. Mara side stepped and, grabbing the back of his shirt, used his own momentum to fling him to the spooks that had been following the trail of carnage. His screams tore through the air.
Up ahead Mara watched Carol summon all her strength, wrenching herself free. She had a knife in her hand, one that she stolen from her captor. Carol plunged it into his chest with both hands. She tugged it out and slid it back in a second time. That man died with a look of surprise on his face. He had picked Carol as the easy target and he'd been so wrong. The rest were fleeing.
As Mara stood next to gorging spooks she had a thought that this night they were allies and they had defended their territory.
It didn't stop her from executing them all the same once she had looked Carol over and realised that most of the wounds were superficial.
"We need to get back where it's safe," Rick called. "There are more walkers comin.'"
Maggie was leaning against a wall exhausted. Nathan coaxed her away with a few encouraging words and they were moving again. Glenn and Yussuf were bringing up the rear. At some point Mara had grabbed Carol's hand. Their hands were slick with blood and gore, and Mara didn't know whether she was holding Carol's hand so she didn't lose her or for comfort.
The closer they got to their safe haven, the more the adrenalin wore off and Mara started to feel the pain of her injuries. She knew she didn't look any worse than any other person in their group and it was a miracle no one had been killed. At some point, Mara didn't know when, but it switched from Mara dragging Carol along to Carol leading Mara.
Carl's voice greeted them. He flung open the cell in an instant and ran into his father's arms. Hershel gathered them all in checking for injuries as he went.
Daryl was just suddenly standing in front of them with a look of extreme relief on his face. Mara's heart sped up a little more. But he walked straight past Mara and began examining Carol for the source of all the blood.
"I told you t'be careful!" he was scolding, but his heart wasn't in it. His gruffness was undermined by his palpable relief.
Watching him being so tender with Carol, Mara experienced a sensation she hadn't expected to when she first met Daryl Dixon. Jealousy.
AN: Howdy everybody! More action scenes because I'm trying to perfect my writing of them. I have a back ground in martial arts but it is one thing to see it in your head and another to describe it. I have made the epically hard decision to wait for the final three episodes of TWD to air before watching them all together in one mini marathon. It feels like a dagger to my heart and I have to dodge spoilers all around, so I have a pile of fanfic notifications in my inbox and I can't read them at the risk something will be revealed. So if everyone could keep that in mind when they review – all two of you I mean :p Wish me luck on my TWD fast!
MD666