Hello! Just a quick heads up, the Governor still attacked the prison and what they stumbled upon in the last chapter was the aftermath of that. We all know that some made it out alive. Since there were key characters missing from that attack, things went a little differently for some characters, much to my delight. Also keep in mind that Daryl hasn't seen team prison in going on two years. He left right after he found his brother and his emotional attachment to the group as a whole is a lot different. Anyway, here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading!

Chapter Seventeen

Once she had a chance to calm down she started to think more logically about the situation. There were vehicles missing. There could be some sort of clue as to where they had gone if any of them had escaped. It didn't take long to talk to the others and devise a plan to take out the walkers in the yard so they could try to piece together what had happened here.

There weren't enough walkers to keep them away from the place. Her group was big enough to dispatch the walkers that were there with ease. It seemed as though whatever had happened here had happened months ago. That was why Carol didn't recognize one walker right away. So far, her and Daryl hadn't ran into any that looked familiar but suddenly there was one lunging at her that did.

"Oh my God," Carol said, taking a cautious step away from the walker. The blonde ponytail had come partway undone. One eye was missing completely and her midsection was torn but Carol was still able to tell who it had been.

Just as Beth's rotted teeth snapped at Carol, Daryl stepped partially in front of her, slamming the knife into the one good eye and then kicking the corpse away before it could fall on him.

"Daryl, that was-"

"That wasn't nobody anymore. That was a walker," he said, wiping the blade off onto the dead girl's pants before stepping around and going for another one.

Carol stared down at the ruined face for a second before he grabbed her arm and was now pulling her along. She had to remind herself that, even though he had been a part of this group, he had been gone a lot longer than she had. He wasn't trying to be cruel. To him, the names of the people that had been like family to him at one time didn't stir a lot of emotion inside of him anymore. There names only words that didn't cast much of a shadow in his mind. He was detached from these people more than she had thought.

Besides, he was right. That thing wasn't the girl she had known. She hated to admit that seeing her like that hadn't been as shocking as it would have been if it had been anyone else. Children in this world didn't stand much of a chance unless they were prepared. Beth never struck her as the type that would be able to persevere. She had been coddled and it had ended up costing her.

She turned and continued on, her and Daryl keeping an eye on each others backs until there wasn't anything left to kill at the moment. He leaned his back against the bricks as the others gathered around to hear what the next plan of action would be.

Daryl met her eyes, searching. "Seems like the only one taken down here was Hershel's youngest. None of those other walkers looked like anybody I knew."

Carol shook her head. "There were a few I think could have been some of the older folks from Woodbury. I didn't see anyone from Rick's group. Then again, with enough walkers, there might not have been anything of them left to come back. Remember Lori?"

He nodded vaguely. "You okay?" He asked, ignoring the others for now.

She tried to at least fake a reassuring smile. "I think so."

Merle cleared his throat, drawing her attention. She glanced at him from over her shoulder. "What now? This place ain't salvageable."

Carol closed her eyes, leaning the back of her head against the bricks. She wasn't sure what to do now. This was the only thing she had been thinking about. "I'm sure most of them made it out. Surely there would be a sign of them somewhere if they had all died, right?" She had needed this. She had needed this final showdown to happen and then she was going to be able to fully move on. She wanted to look Rick Grimes in the eye and let him know that she was breathing.

Letting go of the bitterness and letting Daryl back in hadn't been an easy thing, but it had been something quietly monumental. That bitterness had taken root in her and had morphed into something ugly and cold. She hadn't really felt it there, growing like a tumor. Not really. Not until she found herself in that bathroom back at that apartment where they had taken refuge.

That had been the moment she realized that she had slowly turned into someone that she didn't know anymore. Letting him in, letting herself love him like she had never let herself before, opening herself up and trusting him again, had started this. It had pushed out so much of that darkness that now she wanted it purged. She wanted to let it all go.

She didn't hate Rick Grimes anymore. But she wanted to see him. She wanted to say the words that would help her let the last of the anger go. She wanted to start over and she wanted to be a better person when she did. Despite everything these two men had done to her heart, it was still beating, and it was still capable of holding more than resentment. Despite the carnage around her, she felt warm. She felt like there was more than this. She felt it so completely because it wasn't long ago that she'd been impervious to any warmth at all. Her body holding a chill that came from inside.

His arm brushed hers as he moved just a little closer and she looked over at him. "Merle's right."

Daryl's eyes met hers, searching. "This ain't recent. I can't track them."

She nodded. "I know that. But they're out there. We can't stay here."

Cassidy spoke up then, that usual anger gone from her own voice for the moment. "I think what we need to figure out first is who done this. There's somebody out there capable of bringing this kind of hell down on a group that was only trying to live peacefully. We need to hunt them down and take them out."

Merle smiled slowly, taking in the woman with a quick eye that made Carol nervous. There could not be anything blossoming between these two. It would be catastrophic to her nerves. Dealing with them separately was hard enough. Merle shook his head when Cassidy met his look without glaring. "I can tell you who did this, and I saw his body already. The Governor."

Carol scowled. "How do you know for sure?"

Merle nodded towards the yard. "I was his right hand man, remember? I know his MO. Not only that but if he died here, it was cause he brought this to Rick and the others. And huntin' down whatever scum he got to follow him here would be pointless."

Cassidy looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, this is your party," she said to Carol, her lips turning up slightly. "What's your call?"

Her and Daryl shared a long look and he nodded slightly. She met Cassidy's level gaze. "We walk until we either find this group, or we find a place to settle. A place to reinforce."

They picked through the ruble and Carol felt her chest tighten after a while. This had been home. It had been a good home too. They had offered refuge to a lot of people and they had done what they could to build a life. She wondered briefly, as her eyes swept over a stained car seat, if there really was anywhere that would ever be truly safe for them, or if their life would continue to be like this. Finding a reprieve for just a little while and then running all over again.

~H~

Daryl volunteered first watch with a few of the other women because he needed time to get his head clear. He didn't understand this need of Carol's to finally see Rick. It wasn't his place to question it, but it made him nervous. She'd been through enough and barely came out on the other side with her damn sanity intact. She'd lost it up there in that apartment.

So why now? He didn't know. All he could do was hope that enough time had passed that Rick was in a better place. And he hoped that Carol was too because he wasn't going to be able to stand by and watch the man hurt her. She'd been through enough already. Now he just wanted a fucking moment to slow down and figure out where they were heading. Not at the moment, but for good. He wanted something more than a life on the run. He didn't want to sleep with one eye open, in the middle of the woods, always wondering when hell was going to rain down on them. He was tired.

He wasn't sure how many times he had walked the perimeter but footsteps behind him, familiar footsteps, told him that it was about time to switch off. He turned and, sure enough, Merle was there.

"Time to hit the sack, little brother," he said in a low voice.

Daryl looked out at the darkness, his ears straining for the slightest sound that would indicate danger. "Ain't too tired. Got a lot of sleep last night. I ain't too used to it."

Merle snorted. "You didn't get too much sleep you liar. Remember, the rest of us heard what you were up to. That wasn't sleepin'."

He scowled. "Shut up. You know what I mean."

Merle nodded and then shouldered him towards camp where a fire was still burning low. "Either way, it's my turn asshole. I don't care if you sleep or not, but I ain't havin' them say I ain't pullin' my weight around here."

Daryl snorted and walked away. He was surprised to find Carol still up, sitting near the fire with her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked like she was deep in thought but as his feet silently carried him towards her she looked up.

"Why the hell ain't you asleep?" He whispered, sitting down next to her. He leaned his back into the log behind him.

She shrugged lightly. "A lot on my mind, I guess."

He nodded, his gaze going to the fire. "'Spose everybody does, but it ain't keeping them awake." He nodded to the group that were scattered about camp.

She bit her lip and he could have sworn she was fighting a smile. "I guess that's because me and you actually slept in. Not everyone had the luxury and apparently, nobody was able to get any sleep until we... finished up."

He groaned and swiped a hand over his face. "You're a fuckin' loud mouth," he muttered.

She shrugged again, just a barely perceptible rise of one shoulder. "You're a better lay than expected, what can I say?"

His head shot up at that, his eyes narrowing on hers. "You're an ass too." Which he meant it but he'd be a liar if, under the blush on his stupid face, he wasn't at least a little glad that she'd seemed to enjoy herself. He wasn't going to let her know it though. She was more herself now and if she thought she was embarrassing him with her crap then she'd just keep poking.

"You think we'll find them?" She asked, all traces of humor gone from her face now.

He shook his head. "Ain't too sure. We don't even know how long they've been gone. Or if any of them really made it. We're goin' on a hunch."

She surprised him when she moved over, curling up next to him and putting her head in his lap. "You think we should start looking for a place instead of trying to find them?"

He didn't answer her. He didn't know for sure if he even wanted to find them. He had a feeling that she had a lot more control over her anger than he did at this point. If he never laid eyes on Rick again, it wouldn't bother him in the least. But he knew she wanted to talk to the man so he wasn't going to say anything about it. It didn't matter what he thought. She needed to do this for some reason.

A few minutes later her breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep. He wondered idly, before his own eyes grew heavy, if she was as ready to face the others as she thought.