I hope that you are enjoying this story. I own nothing. These characters belong to TWD and I am using my imagination to think up a story. The happy tone of the past few chapters will soon change, protagonists must have some dilemma or we wouldn't have much of a story. I do appreciate your writing a review.
A Chill in the Air
Carol woke in the night cold. The weather had changed during the night and there was a cold wet feel to the air. She moved closer to Daryl's welcome warmth and fell back in to a night of restless dreams. It was still dark when she woke again and she eased out of bed, dressing quietly, and went out into the great room. Rick was a sleeping on one couch and Andrea was sleeping on the other. She smiled and went past to the door, unlocked it, and went out to the still dark porch. It was much cooler this morning and she could feel an autumn that was weeks away make its approach.
She set down on the swing and tried to remember last night's dreams. No clear images emerged, but there was an odd sense of unease, something wicked this way comes, and Carol shivered in the cool rainy air. There was something blocking her memory and she wondered if her subconscious didn't want the dream to emerge into her conscious mind. Carol had blocked out memories before; there were things better off left buried.
Carol turned as Daryl came out the door; she smiled and held out her hand. He sat in the swing beside her and pulled her close to him. She immediately felt warmer and easier in her mind. "Why are you up so early? Everything all right?" Daryl asked quietly. "Bad dreams", she answered, "But I can't really remember them. I just feel as if something bad is going to happen".
Daryl tried not to think of all the bad things that had already happened. He had a feeling that the shit was going to hit the fan again. He just held her close and wasn't surprised when she fell back asleep. He stared into the almost dawn and wondered what was out there coming their way.
Carol woke up in time to watch the sun try to break through the morning mists with Daryl. They took Canary out for a morning walk to stretch their legs and clear their minds. Carol thought, this is all so beautiful, why am I so uneasy today? Daryl noticed her somber mood, and asked again, "Is there something wrong, Carol?" She grabbed his hand, something was coming to her, and she wanted the comfort of his touch. The vision that she had was of Ashton's house being attacked by the living and not the dead. There were armed men going through the fence and going through the doors of the house. She knew more than saw that they wanted the women and the weapons. She could see bright autumn leaves scattered about. The vision faded. She told Daryl what she saw in as much detail as she could remember.
They went back to the house to wake up Rick. Andrea was in the shower and the rest of the group was still asleep. Rick listened carefully; he didn't understand the sight business but he did trust Carol. It would be nice to think that they had left all the bad times behind in the lowlands, but he had been a policeman too long to think that all people would play well with others. He thought about their life here, they had food, shelter, and attractive women. There were probably plenty of men who would want to take what they had.
Carol felt better after recounting it again to Rick. It was terrifying, but the vision could be changed. They needed to find out where it was coming from and stop it. Andrea came downstairs dressed for the day. She listened carefully and asked Carol to tell again what she saw. "What about this house? Where are we when they are attacking Ashton's?" Andrea asked. Carol thought a minute, "I think that most of us are on a run away from the house. I think Carl and I are there. They don't think we are much of a threat so they are attacking Ashton's and sending just a couple of guys our way. They want to wait here until the rest of you get back so that they can get the rest of the women."
"They sound organized," Rick commented, "They aren't just a roving band of bandits. They have targeted us."
Andrea asked, "Are you sure about this?" Carol nodded. "I think you are right, Rick, they must have been watching us for some time before they attack. They wouldn't try this if we were all here. They would know that they couldn't take over the houses; they have somewhere they want to take us."
Daryl said, "That means that they aren't local; they might have a few guys here but their real stronghold is somewhere else. They want to make a quick grab and go, how could they think that they are going to get back down the mountain without being caught? People would come running if they hear gunshots."
Andrea had an idea. "They come up with some distraction to keep everyone busy taking care of their own place. We would probably come straight up the hill after the run; we usually don't stop until we get home. We would just drive in and get out of the vehicles. We would be sitting ducks for an ambush."
Daryl remembered that the Governor had liked to use walkers in his attacks. "If you wanted to keep every distracted just let loose a few walkers. They could truck them in; drop them off a few at a time. There would be plenty of gun shots; most people would be protecting their own houses. The walkers would be all the distraction you would need."
Carol hated this conversation, hated the way they thought this out, hated that it sounded as if it would fit with her vision. The thing with the sight was that you not only saw it, but you also could knew how people felt about it. She had shared Andrea's love for Judith in that vision. She had felt Judith's love for Andrea and her. She knew why Judith had called Andrea, "Mommy". Those had been joyful feelings to share, but she what she had seen with this vision was different. She didn't want to know what she had felt in them, the dark twisted paths of sick minds. They would take joy in gruesome murders and agonizing rapes. "They have done this before," Carol blurted out. "We need to check out the new arrivals. They send guys in ahead of them to pinpoint where the main force wants to go."
By now, Michonne and Tyreese were listening. "We can't trust anybody but us," Michonne said. "Somebody is giving information and they probably don't know it."
Carol thought about their Woodbury friends, living in the nursing home beside of the hospital. There had been other recent arrivals there. They would stay there, be provided food and shelter in exchange for work. Eventually they would be given permanent housing and become part of the community.
"So how do we figure the bad guys from the good guys?" Tyreese asked. "Ariel and Arya must have friends in town; one of those friends might be talking about how beautiful they are to the wrong person".
"They go to piano lessons once a week," Carol said, "They don't go off the mountain regularly for any other reason. Ashton keeps a close eye on both of them. Ariel has friends that visit once in a while though. She has a boyfriend who visits, but she isn't allowed out on car dates with him. I don't think Ashton likes him very much".
Rick thought out loud, "it's time Carl took some piano lessons. He can't tell the girls that he is there to keep an eye on them; they would probably tell someone and we don't want these guys to know that we are on to them."
Rick continued, "We need somebody we can trust living at the nursing home. We need a narc; somebody the bad guys would think is one of their own." He was thinking out loud again, but an awful stillness came upon the group. There was only one among them who could pass for a rough and tough kinda guy. No one but Daryl Dixon.
.
