AN: Here's a little update for you. I realize it might not be the greatest thing to give you on a Sunday night, but I'm sure you'll forgive me. I might be able to get you something else out before the show tonight…but if not I'll update as soon as I can.
I hope you enjoy (as much as you can). Let me know what you think!
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Carol smiled at Andrea and Merle both as they came up the driveway, snagging boxes out of the back of Daryl's truck…which was soon to be Merle's truck now that they had a new car, or at least new to them, and Daryl was taking Carol's truck.
"Sweet po-ta-toes, sweet po-ta-toes," Merle called out, chuckling to himself as he carried one of the boxes.
"How much is there, Daryl?" Carol called to Daryl as he got out of the truck and walked around to the back.
"That's it for this load a' stuff," Daryl said. "But Merle an' me gonna run over there a few minutes 'cause I told Hershel we'd help him move some a his shit around in exchange for the food."
"I just got all those cans of stuff put away," Andrea said, a little out of breath as Carol held the door open for her and Merle both to pass inside the house. Daryl was bringing up the rear with another box.
"Just put that one out here," Carol said. "I've got to figure out what to do with everything before any of it goes bad."
One of the barns with a root cellar that Hershel and Miss Jo had on their property had suffered an unfortunate altercation with a tree during a storm the past week. As a result, they'd been dividing up all the food they had stored in there, which was enough to feed a town, between everyone they knew and Carol and Andrea both had received the lion's share of it to split.
In return, and really more just to help than because they expected something, Merle and Daryl had been putting a little of their own time after work into helping the Greenes clear it out so that they could get it torn down, the old building being simply too old to merit saving, so that Hershel could get another one put up in its place.
Once they'd all passed into the kitchen, the boxes put willy nilly around the space already packet with boxes that were loaded down with labelled food that Jo Greene had canned and probably long forgotten about, everyone stood getting their breath for a second.
Carol hadn't been allowed to load or unload anything, but she had been allowed to spend her time trying to organize the food and sort it out between what would go to Andrea's and what would stay there…though in the end it didn't really matter since they had quite the exchange policy for meals worked out that cut down on cooking time for both of them.
Carol walked over and stooped down to pick up one of the sweet potatoes out of a box that was on the floor. She examined it.
"They look good…" she said. She sniffed the potato. "Do you think they're OK?"
Daryl chuckled.
"Reckon they is," he said. "Miss Jo was makin' pies out of 'em today fast as we could get 'em out the cellar…so I think they alright ta eat."
"I'm going to make pie, then…" Carol said.
She realized "up" from her current position wasn't going to come as easy as "down" had and she turned a little, grabbing ahold of Merle who was closest to her. He heaved her to her feet, chuckling.
"Too damn fat, Mouse," Merle said. "Look like ya oughta be makin' pumpkin pie 'stead a' sweet potato."
Carol rolled her eyes at him. Merle's teasing had long since stopped annoying her. They had a little over a month to go and Lil' Bit would be joining them. There was no denying, at this point, that her weight gain was owing more to the baby than anything she could eat, especially since she hardly felt like she could eat anything at all anymore. A bite or two here and there and she felt stuffed, which had resulted in her eating more often, yes, but the quantity was greatly decreased.
"Come here," she said, tugging at the hand that Merle had pulled her up with. He tried to snatch it back from her, knowing full well she was going to force him to feel the baby, but finally she won out, pushing at her belly enough to stir her daughter into rolling a little for her uncle.
Merle grunted at her, but he didn't move his hand as quickly as he would have pretended he would. After a second, he patted Carol's belly gently with his fingertips and turned to Daryl.
"Damn alien," he said. He chuckled at himself.
Carol rolled her eyes at him.
"Ready ta load up?" Merle asked Daryl.
Daryl nodded and stepped over a box, coming to kiss Carol quickly, his fingertips ghosting over her belly.
"Don't pick none a' these damn boxes up, ya hear?" Daryl growled.
Carol smiled and kissed him again, putting on a serious face afterwards.
"I hear ya," she said. "That's why you brought me Andrea."
Daryl glanced at Andrea who was sorting through boxes on the counter and lining jars of food up in rows.
"Yeah…yeah…Andrea's got the boxes," Andrea said without looking at any of them.
"We'll have something for you boys to eat when you get back," Carol said.
"Better not be no damn ham sandwich neither," Merle growled, stepping out the door.
Carol chuckled and shook her head, turning around to start going through jars and figuring out what exactly they'd be serving up for dinner tonight since their options were more than abundant.
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Merle was driving the truck back from Hershel's in the dark and bitching the whole way about how fucked up drove since the last time Daryl had really let him drive it a distance. They'd stayed longer than they intended, but work had a way of turning into chat sometimes and time had a way of getting away from you.
"Damn Daryl…look how bad this shit pulls. I so much as take my fuckin' hand off the wheel a second we gon' be in the other damn lane," Merle said.
Daryl chuckled and leaned against the window on his side.
"Fucked it up when I had that wreck…ya just gotta compensate. Besides…don't think too damn many people would take kindly to the thought you was drivin' around without'cha hands on the wheel no way," Daryl responded.
Had they been on the backroads still, Merle would have likely fucked with Daryl some and kept letting the truck drift into the other lane, but as they were already well on their way home and into the more residential areas of Sweet Junction he wasn't likely to play with the vehicle in such a manner.
"You still got'cha bike…drive that if ya don't want the truck, but if ya don't take it I'm sellin' it," Daryl said.
Finally finding a car had taken a good deal of stress off of Daryl, but they didn't need three vehicles and Carol had an emotional attachment of sorts to her truck. It was the better of the two trucks anyway, if the truth be told, so Daryl didn't mind keeping it for his driving needs.
"Andrea bitches too damn much about the bike," Merle growled. "Other day she smashed a perfectly good melon all over our damn driveway just ta show me what she reckons is gon' happen ta my head."
Merle chuckled just as Daryl did at the image of Andrea, in some kind of fit, smashing a cantaloupe or some other shit in the driveway.
"Had ta go an' get Axel's lil' rat on a string ta clean the mess up 'cause ya damn hound dog's too damn good ta eat fuckin' melons," Merle said.
Daryl chuckled.
"Lincoln's too good ta eat any damn thing off the ground," Daryl said. "Carol feeds him his shit on a plate…or right off her damn fork. Dog don't know he's a dog."
They both laughed a second over the truth that Lincoln had no idea he was a dog. He thought he was just an extremely short person as far as they could tell…but their laughter was cut short as soon as Merle turned onto their road.
Ahead there was nothing in the dark but flashing lights and before the lights even sunk in, Daryl's heart started pounding at an ambulance that roared past the driver's side of the truck, in the opposite direction, the siren switching on just as they passed them.
And Daryl was certain at that moment he was having a heart attack. He didn't know what one felt like, but suddenly he felt like his entire body was numb and in searing pain at the same time and he couldn't breathe because of the elephant that had just sat on his chest.
He couldn't even speak. The sound of the roaring engine told him that Merle was feeling the same way as he the truck lurched forward, gaining momentum. Merle slid the truck off the road on Daryl's side, barely coming to a stop before Daryl spilled out his door and almost into a drainage ditch.
There were police cars parked on the side of the yard at Daryl's house and in the yard at Merle's…and there were two ambulances. People were milling about and Daryl circled around the truck as quickly as he could, not trusting anything in his body to work like he wanted it to.
He couldn't breathe. He was trying to…and he hadn't passed out so he suspected that somehow he was getting some air…but as far as he could tell, he had no control over it. His heart might have been pounding or it might have stopped entirely…and his legs didn't feel like they were his own.
He saw Merle trotting toward the police offers and another ambulance pulled out, the siren coming to life…that was the only sound that Daryl could clearly distinguish at the moment. The siren's wail.
Daryl felt like it took him two or three hours to cross the road and reach the place where Shane Walsh was standing, his hands going to Daryl's shoulders and holding him off. Rick Grimes was nearby with Merle and the other officers and medical people were milling about.
But Daryl couldn't really make out a thing.
"Carol?" He asked Shane Walsh, not really even believing that he could have shoved past the man if he wanted to, or if the man had any intention of letting him pass. He'd never wanted so badly in his life to collapse as bad as he did at that second and he was almost amazed that his knees even let him stay upright.
The third ambulance pulled out then and Daryl felt the heart that he wasn't sure was beating pulse again.
"What the fuck!?" He spat, almost finding his own voice alien.
"We can't say anything…" Shane Walsh started.
He was interrupted by Rick Grimes coming over, reaching his hand out toward Daryl long before he got to him.
"Is Carol alright?" Daryl spit, realizing he'd lost Merle in all this shit.
Rick waved his hand at him.
"There's been a problem," Rick said.
And Daryl couldn't help but chuckle. Three ambulances, four fucking police cars, more damn people than showed up for half the fucking shit they did around there…and Rick was going to tell him there's been a problem. He was eternally grateful for that clarification because he was just too damn dumb to figure that shit out on his own.
And then Daryl felt anger seeping into his body to replace the fear that had nearly drowned him a minute before. He didn't mean to, exactly, but he shoved Shane Walsh off of him and Rick Grimes jumped forward, both hands up now, to try to stop him.
"You don't need to do this," Rick said. "I will take you…I will escort you…"
Daryl felt his chest heaving like it might crack open and he felt warmth at his eyes. He realized then that he was crying…there were most certainly tears in his eyes…but he didn't give a damn about it and he wasn't even going to try to stop it.
He tried his best to get his breath and calm down, realizing that punching Rick Grimes or Shane Walsh in the face might make him feel better for the moment, but it wasn't going to do a damn thing about his situation.
"Where is Carol?" Daryl asked.
Rick waved his hands again, his face blank.
"She's on her way to the hospital. I will drive you and your brother over there," Rick said. "I've got to go anyway…Shane will finish up with the guys here. There's nothing to do here."
Daryl stood there a moment longer, still not taking in everything, and then he felt Rick's hand on his shoulder and he followed him. Rick led him to his car and opened the back door and Daryl slid in, catching the reflection of another police car pulling out with its lights on in the side mirror on Rick's car.
Rick took a moment, obviously talking to Shane or whoever else was outside the car and then the other side opened and Merle slid in beside Daryl.
This was the second time that Daryl had been in a police car with his brother…Rick driving them toward a hospital…and he could only pray that it was as uneventful as it had been before.
No one in the car said anything until Rick had pulled the car away from the house and was on his way toward the hospital. He was talking on a cell phone and might as well have been speaking French for all the code that he was using…or maybe it was just that Daryl had forgotten how words worked.
Finally, though, Daryl sucked in his breath and addressed the officer that was focusing on the dark roads.
"What happened, man?" He asked.
Daryl saw Rick glance at him in the rearview mirror. Rick waited a moment before he started to speak.
"We don't have all the details yet," Rick said. "We've got to get statements and we've got to talk…"
"Then fuckin' tell me what'cha do know!" Daryl spat, interrupting Rick. "I ain't gon' sue ya fuckin' ass. I just wanta know if my wife an' my fuckin' kid are OK."
Rick cleared his throat and Daryl glanced at Merle who was being quiet…too quiet…staring straight ahead, his jaw set.
Daryl glanced back in the rearview mirror and watched the top of the police officer's head.
"When I got there," Rick started, "the first wave of responders were already there."
Rick paused and Daryl sat quietly, waiting him out. He knew the roads to the hospital by now and knew they still had a way to go, but they were making better time than he and Merle would have made in the truck, even assuming that either of them would have had the wits to cover the distance without ending up in a ditch or wrapped around a tree.
"There was a call in that there had been shooting," Rick said. "I was out on the other side of town when I got it, so I didn't get there until the ambulances were already there…"
"Could'ja just tell me what happened?" Daryl asked suddenly, feeling irritation bubbling up in him. "I love a good damn story, but not right the fuck now."
He realized his mouth might get him trouble, but he couldn't help it right now. He was feeling like he might vomit in the back of the cruiser as it was, and he was still wondering if the long term heart attack he felt like he was having might make him pretty damn glad they were going toward a hospital.
Rick glanced back at him in the mirror, nodding a little and Daryl thought that maybe the man would forgive him his mouth because he had a wife too…and he had kids…or at least Daryl was pretty sure he did…and he might understand the heart failure that was taking place in the back of his cruiser.
"Two women and one man were shot," Rick said. "Suspect has been taken into custody and admits to the shooting of the man."
"English?" Daryl asked, but his gut already told him enough to identify the two women and his heart was screaming at him again, but he was trying to hold it under control.
"Nobody's dead, Daryl," Rick said. "They're on their way to the hospital. I haven't gotten statements from everyone, but Ed Peletier was shot as well and Axel Rhodes was on the scene. He admits to having shot Ed. I really don't know the details."
Daryl felt a lump rising up in his throat and he tried to swallow it down to no avail. He glanced back at Merle, but Merle hadn't moved and his face hadn't changed. It was as though his brother had changed to stone in the back of the police cruiser.
"They ain't dead?" Daryl asked.
Rick shook his head.
"I didn't see either one of them," Rick said. "I heard chest wounds, but I don't know how severe. I've got to get a statement from the hospital."
Daryl nodded. He could tell that Rick was tapped out of information at the moment. He'd arrived at the scene late…like they had…but he had more information than they did at least.
Daryl leaned over, resting his head on the window a moment and trying to get control of himself. He closed his eyes and focused on the fact that no one was dead and they'd make it to the hospital quicker than he and Merle would.
He didn't know what happened to Ed…didn't know where he was shot or how bad it was…he didn't know what had happened at all, really, in his absence…but he hoped the fucker died.
Daryl opened his eyes again and watched the scenery changing outside the windows until they pulled into the hospital parking lot, parking in one of the parks near the door where handicapped people and police cruisers were allowed to stop.
Rick got out and let Daryl and Merle both out of the back, saying something to them that Daryl didn't listen to or couldn't understand, one way or the other.
He felt like his knees were jello again, but Daryl took a deep breath and started toward the entrance, hoping that someone inside was a lot more accommodating with information than the police force had been and hoping that he was lucky enough that his whole damn world wasn't about to come crashing down and burn around his feet.
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AN: Don't hate me? OK?