Chapter Fifty

The backpack Carol was filling slipped from her numb fingers, her narrowed azure gaze swinging to the front of the pharmacy as a chill raced through her. The hairs raised on the back of her neck and arms and she couldn't shake the feeling of dread coiling in her stomach. She was being silly, wasn't she? She jumped as Rick's hand fell heavily on her shoulder.

"Hey … You ok? Did you see something?" he asked, staring down at her with a worried frown.

Carol shook her head. "No, I just got a strange feeling, is all. Like something's wrong." She laughed nervously, trying to cover the mild panic clawing at her chest. "I'm sure it's nothing. It's not like I'm psychic or anything."

Rick wasn't so quick to dismiss her worry. "You're a mom, Carol. You have that sixth sense." He raked a hand through his hair and adjusted the strap of his backpack where it hung on his shoulder. "We've pretty much cleaned this place out of things Hershel put on the list. Why don't we start heading back to the coffee shop and see if the others are finished, too?"

Carol pasted a brave smile on her lips, one she surely didn't feel, and followed him out of the storefront. She strapped the pack securely to her back, leaving her hands free for her weapons, and tried to loosen her posture. She didn't want to let on to Rick just how anxious she was. And she knew she'd be that way until she had Sophia and Daryl back in her arms. Her sharp gaze took in the abandoned street as they crossed, ducking down an alleyway to shorten the distance back to Main Street where the coffee shop was located.

Glenn and Maggie waved from the shadows cast by the bright yellow and blue awning where they waited. "Hey, too bad this place couldn't serve us up a couple of lattes, huh, Carol?" the girl quipped, taking the pack from Carol and setting it down next to their own.

"Yeah," she nodded, continuing to look up and down the street. It just seemed wrong. "Have you seen Daryl or the children yet? I would've thought they'd be back by now."

"No," Glenn said, removing his hat to wipe his brow. "But they might have wanted to do a little scavenging and –" His voice trailed away as he spied something down the street. "Shit!"

Carol and Rick whirled around to see Sophia and Carl bolting up the street, running full-out towards them. There were tears on her daughter's face, and her bow was clasped tightly in her hand. Rick nodded to the others for each to take one side of the street and backtrack to where the kids had come from. He put out his hands to catch Carl as Sophia collided with her mother.

"They took him!" Sophia panted.

"Five men and a … a … woman," Carl added as he fought for air.

Rick stared at them both, stunned. "Someone got the drop on Daryl? Are you sure he wasn't trying to test you?"

"Dad! Would I lie about something like this?" Carl asked incredulously. "He was taken!"

Sophia clung to her mother. "Mama, it's ok. We're gonna get him back. We followed and know where they took him."

"What?!" Carol shrieked, her heart threatening to beat clear out of her chest. "You followed these people? What if you'd been seen? Then you'd have been captured, too! My god, Sophia, what the hell were you thinking?"

Sophia's lower lip trembled, tears welling in her eyes. "Mama, I couldn't let them take my daddy. I had to see where they were taking him, so we could go and get him back." Her chin lowered to her chest, unable to look at the worry on her mother's face another second.

Carl broke out of his father's embrace and wrapped an arm around both Sophia and Carol. "We were careful. Daryl taught us how to be sneaky, so no one would see us."

Glenn and Maggie returned with the abandoned gas can. "We found this back there. What the hell happened? Where's Daryl?" Glenn asked, setting the can down next to their collected loot.

Sophia took the canteen Rick offered her and drank greedily while Carl spoke up. "We were siphoning fuel over there," he pointed to where the Chrysler sat, "and we felt like we were being watched. Daryl made us climb up the fire escape over by the strip mall and cover him from the roof while he took a look around."

"He made it over here when three men came out of the alleyway behind him," Sophia added, handing the canteen to her friend. "They were wearing fatigues, so I'm guessing they're military. There were two more men over there in the street. It was kinda strange, Mama. They all had weapons, but they never really threatened Dad. It was when he was backing away … he didn't hear the woman come up behind him or he wasn't quick enough to defend himself, I don't know, but she got the drop on him and knocked him out. He'd signaled us to stand down." Tears rolled over her ashen cheeks which she quickly brushed away. "I should have shot her. I shouldn't have listened to him."

Maggie rubbed soothing circles over her back. "No, baby, don't think that way."

Rick shook his head. "You did the right thing, Sophia. He taught you to obey his commands and that's just what you did." He smiled encouragingly at his son. "Both of you."

Carol tried to hold herself together, her entire body shaking with tremors. Her husband was out there with unknowns and it was just the four of them and the children there to extract him and bring him home. "How much firepower do we have on us?" she asked flatly, her eyes shifting to each of them in turn.

"It doesn't matter," Rick said, a steely look of determination in his eyes. "We'll go back to the house and get what we need."

"I'm not leaving, Rick," she insisted before he had a chance to protest. "I'm going after him."

"Carol …" Glenn and Maggie both began to argue, but she cut them off.

"He's my husband. I will not leave him." She leaned down to look at her daughter, brushing a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. "Show me, Sophia. We need to see what we're dealing with."

Rick laid a hand on Carol's shoulder to show his support. "She's right. We need to see what we're up against. After we assess the situation, Glenn and Maggie can go back to the house with the supplies and bring back T-Dog and Shane if we need them and as much firepower as is necessary. We're getting our brother back … one way or another."

*.*.*

"Tie him tight, Jamie," the petite auburn-haired nurse hissed out through clenched teeth. "From what Miles tells me, he's gonna come up swinging."

"He's a bruiser all right," the sergeant murmured, tying the man's arms to the chair behind him. He turned to glare at the woman standing inside their infirmary, leaning against the wall. Her arms were crossed stubbornly across her chest, and she stared at the wounded man as if he were going to break free and gun them all down without a moment's hesitation. "Why'd you have to hit him so hard, Tessa?"

"Why?" she snarled, her thick Arkansan accent reverberating off the walls. Her dark eyes flashed hotly. "Y'all were just standin' there slack-jawed like a bunch of damn idiots, lettin' him go. What if he's part of a bigger group? You gonna let him follow you back here and take what we've managed to scrape together? I don't think so."

Sprite, known as such for her pixie smile and healing touch, sucked in air through her teeth as she brushed the man's hair back to reveal a deep gash. "Ouch! Yeah, we're gonna have to stitch that up." She arched a brow in Tessa's direction. "Thankfully, we have a few suture kits left."

"You're gonna waste it on his sorry ass?" she growled at her younger sister.

"Just be lucky I'm not makin' you do it." Tessa flipped her a rude gesture and stalked off to find Tori to see what she was going to want to do with their captive. Sprite sighed. "He secure now?"

"Yes ma'am. He's not going nowhere. Want me to stay to assist?"

"No, I got it. The cut's not that deep, but we don't need him bleeding out." Head wounds were the worst.

The sergeant nodded. "Alright. Holler if you need something. I want to see Alex before she gets busy in the kitchen." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows lasciviously.

"Jamie?" He turned back from the open doorway to look askance at her. "Do you think he was alone out there?"

"I dunno. I put everyone on alert just in case. Tighten security." The sergeant shot her a confident smile. "We'll find out soon enough, I'm sure."

The nurse dismissed him with a nod and gathered up the supplies she'd need, arranging them with precision on the metal tray before dragging it over to where her patient was secured to the chair. His head was slumped forward, his chin resting on his chest, his breathing deep and even. It was the perfect position to have him in considering where he'd been wounded. Her sister was a bit heavy-handed when taking down a threat, but she'd changed after that last raid and they'd lost their brother. Sometimes, she wondered if maybe Tessa was taking his death harder than his wife. He'd been their leader … a role Tori had assumed, and one she fulfilled with a fair hand … but he'd been their brother, husband and friend first.

Sprite dipped a cloth in the basin of warm water she'd collected and wrung it out before pressing it to the gash on the back of her patient's head. It was enough to bring him back to consciousness. He was a sneaky one, to be sure. A barely audible hiss, and the tensing of his muscles, but otherwise, he remained still. He had to be in pain, but he didn't betray his awareness to who he surely viewed as the enemy.

"Just relax," she said softly, continuing at her task. "We didn't bring you here to hurt you."

A low feral growl rumbled in his chest as he lifted his head and swung it around to pierce her with his smoky blue gaze.

"Easy," the nurse warned. "You've got a bad laceration back here … needs stitches. You want to be a good boy and hold still for me? Or would you just prefer to bleed?"

He winced against the pain as he jerked his head away from her, but continued to hold his silence. When she brought the cloth up to clean the grime from his face, he pushed back with his feet, scooting the chair back several feet across the floor.

She sighed heavily. "Look, I'm just trying to help you. I can't really do that if you won't cooperate. We've got a pretty good setup here … safer than some of the places we've holed up. Just … Just let me patch you up and then you can talk to Tori."

Daryl could feel the blood trickling through his hair, not to mention the dull throb from his wound. His eyes narrowed as she approached him again. He didn't like this stranger touching him. It had taken him a long time to get used to Carol and Sophia. Right then, he only wanted his wife and daughter. He needed to know they were safe. How could he do that if he was being held prisoner by these people? "Lemme go."

"He speaks!" A warm smile spread over her face as she rinsed out the cloth again. "They weren't so sure you could when they brought you in. What's your name? You can tell me that at least, can't you?" she asked, pressing the cloth to the back of his head without further protest.

He clamped his lips shut stubbornly when she made no move to release him from his bonds.

Sprite ground her teeth in frustration. "You might not have to go back out there, y'know. If Tori likes you, there's nothing saying you couldn't stay. We're always looking for able bodied men to increase our numbers. You wouldn't have to be alone."

Daryl pulled against his bonds, growling as he cast her a withering stare. "Let. Me. Go!"

"Ok, I tried to be nice. So, we can do this two ways," she snapped. "Either you can let me stitch you up nice and easy like … or I can go get Jamie and Miles to come hold your stubborn ass down while I stitch you up. That second option ain't going to be a bit of fun for you. Now what's it gonna be?"

His lip curled up over his teeth in a sneer. "Mouthy bitch."

The nurse smirked and pressed his head down, so she could see his wound better. "Somehow, I have a feeling that's almost a term of endearment coming from you."

Daryl gnashed his teeth against the pain. She had a gentle touch considering she was ramming a needle swiftly through his scalp. Hershel could probably learn better technique from her, he thought, remembering when the old man had patched him up after a bolt had pierced his side. He could only pray she was almost finished. He tensed as the door to the infirmary opened and another woman entered. What was it with these people? Had he landed in the middle of some Amazonian tribe of warrior women? This one was wearing a fatigue jacket with a lieutenant's emblem on the sleeve and what looked to be an ego the size of Mt. Everest.

"Good, he's awake," she said to the nurse. "He give you any trouble?"

"He's tied to a chair, Tori. How much trouble could he cause?"

The brunette's eyes narrowed on him. "I can tell this one is all sorts of trouble. Aren't you, darling?" She turned and pulled a stool over, taking a seat before him. "Do you have a name?"

Daryl kept his mouth stubbornly closed.

Her eyes flickered up to the nurse. "He said anything yet?"

Sprite shook her head. "Aside from 'let me go'? No."

"Well, at least we know he can speak." The lines around her mouth softened as she smiled at him. "This isn't a POW camp, friend. We're not going to torture you for information, but I do have a few questions for you. Are you alone? Jamie said you signaled someone out there before Tessa got the drop on you. Who was it?"

He rotated his head on his neck and swallowed against the rawness of his throat. What he wouldn't give for a drink of water, but he'd be damned if he gave up information on his family to get it. He eyed the bottle in the woman's hand, but held his silence.

"Thirsty?" Tori asked, unscrewing the cap and passing it to Sprite who brought it to his lips. "You could've just said so. I know it's not easy to trust with the way it is out there, but really … we don't want to hurt you. You were a danger to my men. That's why Tessa hit you, but they wouldn't leave you out there unconscious in the middle of the street to be a biter snack."

Daryl drank greedily from the bottle until it was drained about three quarters of the way. She was right. He'd have been in a bad way if he'd have been left. Even Carl and Sophia couldn't have gotten him to safety if they'd been set upon by walkers. "Thanks," he croaked, his voice raspy from disuse. "Jus' lemme go. I ain't no threat t' you people."

"Yeahhh," she drawled, "that isn't happening just yet. We've tried to help people before. People not quite so nice. Would you like to know what happened? That girl went back to her group, gathered up her friends and attacked us. It was before we found this little haven. They took everything we had and when my husband made us run, staying behind to cover us … they killed him."

Sprite slipped around behind her sister-in-law and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It hasn't been easy, but we're surviving the best we can. We don't want to lose anyone else. He was our leader … mine and Tessa's older brother, Tori's husband. He pulled us up out of ruin and banded us together, taught us how to scavenge and take care of one another."

Daryl shifted uncomfortably, and not just from the punishing knots which held him to the chair. He knew what it was like to lose someone, he mused, thinking of his uncle as he gnawed on his lower lip. He wondered where his family was at that moment, if Rick had made them go back to the house. He hoped their leader wasn't stupid enough to let her stay, or come up with some hare-brained scheme to break him out of there. He still thought it prudent to keep his mouth shut for the time being.

Tori smiled sadly. "So … not even name, rank and serial number, huh?" She sighed and rose from the stool, turning to the nurse. "Give him something for the pain. I'll ask Jamie to have a few of the men escort him to one of the empty rooms downstairs." Again, she looked at Daryl. "I think Alex is making stew, so don't worry that we'll let you go hungry. Tomorrow we'll go out looking for your group, and see if we might be able to negotiate your release. Rest easy."

The nurse held out two white pills to him, along with another bottle of water. He eyed the pills and pressed his lips firmly shut. He wasn't going to take anything from these people no matter how unassuming they seemed to be.

"It's just Tylenol. We have some stronger meds, but we try to save those for emergencies. Sure you don't want any?" she asked, showing him the bottle she'd taken them from.

The pounding in the back of his skull and the pull of the stitches made him reconsider, and he held her gaze as he opened his mouth to accept them from her. But he still didn't trust her … either of them.

*.*.*

"There's one walking the perimeter and two on the roof. Gate looks pretty sturdy," Rick said. He was lying flat on his belly in the grass on the incline overlooking the small compound below, a pair of field glasses held up to his face. Trinity Gardens Day Spa from what the sign out front stated. Carl and Sophia were behind them, nestled in the trees, granting them cover from anyone who might approach. He'd already sent Glenn and Maggie back to the house for reinforcements should they be needed.

"Rick, it's getting dark. We're out here exposed. We can't wait for the others," Carol ground out through clenched teeth. Her whole body vibrated with tension, never having been so scared in her life. Her fear was comparable to the day Sophia had gone missing or the night the herd had overrun the farm. She couldn't stand the thought of Daryl in the hands of these people, not knowing if he were even still alive.

He scooted back into the brush with her and laid a hand on her arm. "Carol, I know you're scared for him. I get it. But we can't go in there shooting up the place when we don't know how many more of them are inside. We could get captured or killed … we could get Daryl killed. Once it's full dark, we can scout it out a bit more, see if there's another way in around back. We need to be prepared for when the others get back."

Carol wanted to scream at him so badly, yet she knew it would be pointless. A calm the likes of which she'd never known, settled over her and her mind cleared. She knew what she needed to do. "So, that's the plan? To wait for the others?"

"It's our best bet."

She hung her head for a moment, playing the part Rick had come to expect from her. Carol was their voice of reason, a leader in her own right when I came to the domestic side of the group. She was important to them … but she wasn't a fighter. At least they didn't think she was. She had no intentions of fighting now unless it was absolutely necessary. But she wasn't going to sit on her ass out there waiting for Rick to clear the risks while her husband could be in danger.

"Ok. I'm going to go to the truck and grab a couple of blankets for the children. Maybe some protein bars from our packs," she said. They'd parked just down the street and walked in. Maggie had hot-wired a small Honda they'd found to take back to the house. She'd be at that front gate before Rick ever suspected a thing. Who would ever suspect the timid battered housewife of such a bold move.

He stared at her for a long moment. "You sure? I could go."

She shook her head, pasting a resigned frown on her face. "No … they'll be safer with you watching out for them. It shouldn't take me long."

"Just be careful. I don't even want to think of having to deal with Daryl if something were to happen to you."

"I'll be fine, Rick. Trust me." He looked like he wanted to say more, but she spun quickly to her feet and disappeared into the encroaching twilight. She didn't even stop to explain to Sophia where she was going. Her daughter had an uncanny ability to see through the bullshit, and she didn't want to risk her plan being exposed. Besides, Sophia would be madder than a wet banty rooster that she'd been left behind. Carl too, for that matter.

Carol made her way down the incline, only slipping once on the damp leaves. She went to the truck parked innocuously across the street next to the post office, and gathered the things she'd wanted to retrieve in case Rick came looking for her. He could bring them back himself. Her ears perked up as she silently closed the passenger door of the silver Dodge. Walkers. Just what she needed. She'd removed everything from her belt aside from her knife, not wanting her weapons to fall into the hands of the enemy.

She inched around the front of the truck, ducking low and peering around the driver's side of the hood. Three shuffling along the cross street. The way the wind was blowing, it was doubtful they'd pick up her scent. She didn't want to waste time with them when she needed to focus her attention on getting to Daryl. She wouldn't allow herself to dwell on what they may or may not be doing to him. She had to keep her wits about her.

Carol kept low, her hand on the hilt of her knife as she darted across the street. The sounds of the walkers were a distant memory now, the path ahead of her clear as she turned onto the winding drive leading up to the former spa. Another turn in the driveway, and she would be spotted by the men they'd seen on sentry duty. She forced her heart to steady, every breath she took measured. Calm, Carol. Show no fear, only strength. You're a Dixon for fuck's sake, she mentally scolded herself.

She relaxed her posture, willing away the stiff tension in her shoulders, and held her arms away from her sides. It was imperative that she show these people she meant them no harm. In that moment when the men behind the gate sprang into motion and leveled their weapons on her, she thanked God for her husband and all he'd taught her. She only prayed Rick could keep the kids from barreling down the hill in some ill-fated attempt to stop her.

"Evenin' ma'am," their sergeant greeted, pushing his cover back on his head as he regarded her through wary brown eyes. "Nice night for a stroll … but something tells me you're not out to enjoy another beautiful Georgia sunset."

Her lips spread into a wide beguiling smile, unable to help herself in the face of his humor. Sophia had said they could have fired on Daryl at any time and yet they hadn't. Reading the man before her, she could see the goodness alight behind his eyes. He was a soldier, close cropped brown hair, alert brown eyes and a body used to combat, but he didn't look the type who preyed on women. With two fingers, she peeled the edge of her jacket back and lifted her knife from its scabbard, laying it flat on her palm and extending it towards the gate.

"You're right. I've come to claim my husband."

Jamie whistled low through his teeth. "That caveman belongs to you?"

Her brows shot up at the apt description. "About five ten, shaggy brown hair, piercing blue eyes? Crossbow and an angel wing vest?"

"Yeah, that's him." He looked over her shoulder into the encroaching darkness. "You alone?"

"That would be rather foolhardy, don't you think?" she asked, answering his question with one of her own. His men instantly went on alert, searching the shadows surrounding the gate. "You have nothing to fear from them. I just want my husband back."

He nodded at Miles to open the gate as Cameron stepped out to take her knife and usher her inside at gunpoint. The sergeant gave her a quick frisk and settled his rifle on his back when he found no other weapons. "I'll bring you inside and let you talk to Tori, our leader. But just so you know, lady … your people attack, and we got us two hostages instead of one."

Carol's eyes turned icy as she clasped her hands together before her and prepared to follow him. "If Daryl's hurt, my people will be the least of your worries."

A/n: Oh, snap! Carol in rescue mode :D Rick's gonna have kittens. Hahaha! So, anyway, I really hope y'all enjoyed the update. Next time: Carol meets the new group's leader before she's reunited with Daryl.