Carol had learned what to say to Merle to get him to agree to let her and Sophia stay with them with the least amount of argument. She had learned what exact time to approach the Dixon brothers so they'd both be there and Daryl would force Merle's hand when Merle was hemming and hawing. She'd learned just how fast to walk so Ed could see them and follow her over. Ed making himself a visible threat always cut Merle's arguments down before he could voice them. She didn't know the exact history the two had with abuse, but she knew there was enough for them to be up in arms once she spelled it out what Ed did to her. What he might do to Sophia if given the chance.
Sometime Daryl would give her a look and she knew that this time around he remembered what she did. Sometimes Glenn would step in to stop Ed and she knew he was 'awake' to it all, too. Sometimes Carl would and those days were harder. It was easiest to get away with whatever it was they were doing when three of them were 'awake' together.
The day all four of them were, was a day she couldn't begin to describe. It went off so perfectly, so fluidly, that it was like being back where they should be. The four of them stepping to the same beat, working without having to ask. Just moving. Just doing.
She headed across the camp and caught Glenn's eyes. He nodded subtly and started an idle path back to his tent. Carl's eyes caught her next and he jogged over to talk about hanging out with Sophia. Carol assured him he could after they spoke to the Dixon brothers. Daryl was already standing up, crossbow hanging loosely in his left hand as he waited for them to get there. At that point Ed was making his way behind them and the rest of the camp was watching with tense shoulders and baited breath.
Glenn's path cut behind Ed's and after Ed passed, he followed, his hands almost idly drawing a machete from the holster at the base of his spine. Carol spoke to Merle while Carl took Sophia's hand and led her to the tailgate of the Dixon's truck. He kept her occupied while Daryl skirted to the side, like he was going to head off.
Ed reached out out to grab Carol and there were three weapons pointed at Ed: the knife Carol had under his chin (a small boot knife with an easier to conceal sheath), Glenn's machete (which he pressed to the back of Ed's throat, his other hand on Ed's shoulder to control his movement), and Daryl's crossbow (which had flipped up and into position so fluidly even Carol wasn't sure when it had happened). She smiled at him and took a step forward as Glenn took a step back, pulling Ed along. Daryl kept his crossbow lined up with Ed's eyes, right where the man could see it. They moved as a unit the three of them, and guided her husband across the camp to the clearing in front of the RV.
It was only then that Carol finally spoke, the onlookers too shocked to know what to do. Even Merle was left staring, unsure of his brother and how easily he'd slipped into whatever it was they were doing.
"This is your only chance to live, Ed," Carol said firmly, her tone and unblinking gaze leaving no room for argument. "You walk away now. Away from me and away from Sophia. You walk away and you don't ever come near us again. If you don't, you will die. I will be the one to kill you. Glenn and Daryl here, they're not going to do it. They'll just make sure you can't run before I have a chance to slide this knife through your skull."
When she stepped back and put her knife away, Daryl and Glenn stepped back, too. Glenn released Ed's shoulder and sheathed his blade while Daryl kept his crossbow leveled at Ed until both his people were far enough away that Ed couldn't jump them. Then he let it drop and spat on the ground. The three of them walked back to where Merle and Sophia waited. To where Carl waited.
Shane and Lori exchanged looks with Dale and Andrea. T-Dog's eyes followed Ed as he stormed off to his camp, muttering obscenities, before searching out Shane and Dale's. There was relief that Carol had finally stood up to Ed, but there was fear as well. The three weren't close. They hadn't spent any time together. But suddenly the were working like they'd been a team for years.
Merle had the sense to try and quietly question Daryl where no one could listen in. But Daryl kept himself close enough that Carol and Glenn could hear it. He dismissed his brother's worry and made a change of plans.
"I'll go in with that group to Atlanta. You should stay here and watch Sophia," he said, looking over at Glenn and getting a nod.
"I think I'll go in, too," Carol piped up, smoothing Sophia's hair down. "Mr. Dixon will keep you safe. You trust him, don't you?"
Sophia looked over at Merle, then back at her mom. She clearly didn't, but she trusted her mother and nodded anyway.
"Aw hell kid, he ain't gonna bite," Daryl muttered with a laugh at her shyness. "Tell you a secret. Me and Merle, our daddy beat on us, too. We don't take that shit no more. And we ain't gonna let you get hurt that way neither."
Behind him, Merle's eyes went wide. He hadn't known their dad hit Daryl. He thought it was just him because he was the one their dad always went after. He was the juvie screw up. But he couldn't admit that in front of anyone. He'd thought he'd been protecting his brother all those years. No way he could admit he hadn't known. Even if he looked stricken and sick all of a sudden.
It was then that Lori finally made her way over. She always took her time if Carl wasn't in the line of danger with Ed. She always let him spend some time with Sophia before coming to get him and talk quietly to Carol about what had happened. It was something all four of them had come to be aware of.
They'd stacked the deck in their favor without ever discussing it.
Carl smiled up at his mom, innocent and like he had nothing to do with what had happened. When she asked why he came over when he did, he told her he thought Sophia looked scared so he wanted to help her feel less so. Lori always smiled at him when he told her that. Gave him that 'my brave little boy who doesn't understand how much danger he's in' look. He acted like he didn't know what that look meant and she ruffled his hair, told him to go ask Shane for some chores.
She waited until Carl was gone to cross her arms and give a tight, uncertain look to Carol and Glenn. She tried to ignore the Dixon's entirely. And the brothers moved off so she could. Daryl had things to talk to Merle about anyway. Glenn shrugged at her look and left before she could get a word in edgewise. Carol was quick to do the same, apologizing that she had to get ready for the trip into the city. Lori was left alone, mouth hanging open, as Sophia climbed off the tailgate and went over to take Merle's hand. To stay close to him like her momma had told her too.
It was a toss up who looked more surprised at that moment: Lori for being left or Merle for having a tiny strip of a girl clinging to him like he was her personal guardian angel.
When it came time for the trip, it was just Glenn, Carol, and Daryl who ended up going. Shane hadn't liked that. Neither had the others.
"Then we're not going at all," Glenn said all matter-of-fact, staring Shane down in a way Shane really didn't like. Shane was used to being in charge. He was used to having to bully Glenn a little into doing things his way, but he did get it done his way. It was why Glenn was taking a group at all.
"We need more supplies than three people can carry," Dale started up, joining the negotiations. "That's the point of the group going."
Glenn wasn't having it, though. He was standing straighter, shoulders square and arms crossed. He wasn't letting them argue. "We'll get the supplies. We know what to grab. But it's just the three of us. No one else. I'm not going risking more."
"Look, kid, we already-"
"Hey," Daryl's voice cut in as he came up, his brother's spare vest over his sleeveless shirt and crossbow slung from one shoulder. "Glenn knows what he's doing. He said it's the three of us, then it's the three of us."
Shane leveled a glare at Daryl and he wasn't the only one. Dale and Andrea and even T-Dog did so.
"We'll be fine," Carol spoke up from the side where she was leaning against the station wagon they intended to take. "We all know how to use our knives and Daryl has his crossbow. We'll be a lot safer going in small and quiet than in a big group with a lot of noisy guns."
"Nah, nah, we said we'd go as a group," T-Dog said, shaking his head and waving one hand. "You agreed to that."
"And now I'm changing my mind," Glenn met T's eyes. T was the first to look away. Glenn didn't feel very proud of that, but he wasn't going to risk lives he didn't need to. "I know the city. None of you do. You want to go in on your own, go right ahead. That's on you. But the only people I'm taking are Carol and Daryl."
Lori came up to Shane at that point, breaking into the group, asking about Carl. It broke the tension, distracted everyone enough that by the time Shane and Dale got talking about where Carl could be the three were already in the car and leaving. Shane bit out a harsh 'god dammit' that was half-directed at them and half-directed at Lori. The cold shoulder she gave him had him rolling his eyes and following after to apologize. The rest of the group broke up to do chores around the camp or go back on watch. Wasn't like they could do anything about the trip now. The camp was later whipped into a panic because no one could find Carl.
Glenn, Carol, and Daryl were not surprised to have found him laying down in the back seat of the station wagon where he couldn't be seen as they drove away. Daryl passed him his spare gun and a buck knife while Glenn laid out the plan for the day.
"Whatever's going on, it never lasts past today. I've let events play out like they did the first time, but everything still resets," Glenn started, trying to get them all on the same page. "I still wake up back in my tent knowing I'll have to get ready for the stupid group trip."
"We're the only ones doing whatever it is we're doing. Maybe that has a hand in it?" Carol offered, eyes watching the scenery pass by.
Carl leaned forward, putting himself between the front seats once they were out of sight of the quarry camp, "If that's true, then we might have to wait for Dad to wake up, too."
"Wake up?" Daryl questioned, his thumb moving from his mouth so he wouldn't mumble over his words.
"That's all I can think of to call it," Carl shrugged. "We keep waking up here and not where we should be. When we should be. It's just here. Over and over again. The last place I remember falling asleep was inside the house in Alexandria. But I haven't woken up there, yet."
"That's the last place I remember falling asleep, too," Glenn admitted and Carol and Daryl both nodded along. Daryl giving a grunt since he was in the back and not easily seen. Glenn licked his lips, then gave his own nod, "'Waking up' it is. Any idea how to figure out if Rick's woken up?"
Carol sighed and shook her head, "It took me at least twenty times before I realized anyone else was awake. And only because you did something different. I think that's the only way."
"Dad calls on the CB while we're out," Carl offered. "Carol and I have tried getting Shane and the others to send a car out to meet him while you're out with the group, but they never agree to it."
"Well, hell, why don't we just wait for him on the highway then," Daryl said, leaning forward and pushing Carl's shoulder good-naturedly. "If he's awake, we'll know it when we meet up with him. If he's not, we just keep doing what we did today until he is. And once he is, we figure out a plan."