Twenty minutes later Rick comes up to Daryl and I's cell and looks at us with a forced smile. "Thanks, for bringing the meds back"
Daryl and I exchange a confused look but nod all the same "Of course, why wouldn't we?" I say
"Where's Carol?" Daryl asks
Rick rubs his face with his hands "She's gone"
I stand "Gone where?" I ask
Rick walks over to the balcony and leans on the barrier. Daryl and I follow him out "Rick?"
"Carol killed Karen and David" Rick says
My eyes widen and my heart beats faster "No, she wouldn't do that"
Rick looks at me "She admitted it"
Daryl starts to pace while I hold myself on the banister feeling sick "Man, you couldn't have waited till we got back?"
"Until Tyreese got back?" Rick asks
"I could've handled that." Daryl says
Hey. Hey. She killed two of our own. She couldn't be here. She's gonna be all right. She has a car, supplies, weapons. She's a survivor." Rick says
"Stop saying that like you don't believe it." Daryl snaps
"She did it. She said it was for us. That's how it was in her head. She wasn't sorry." Rick says after a small silence
"Man, that's her, but that ain't her." Daryl says then turns his back on Rick "What are we supposed to do about those two girls?"
"I told her we'd look after them." Rick says.
Daryl turns to me and places his forehead on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around his back and hold him to me.
"I haven't told Tyreese yet. I don't know how he's gonna take it." Rick says
Daryl stands straight and takes my hand tightly "Let's go find out."
"Right now?" I ask as I'm pulled down the stairs
"Yeah, right now" Daryl says.
"I don't know, I have a bad feeling about this" I say gently
Down in the tombs we search for Tyreese "Tyreese. You down here?" Rick calls
"Rick, that you?" Tyreese calls back. We follow his voice until we see him come out the shadows "You guys got to see this."
"Can we take a beat? There's something we need to talk about." Rick says
"It can wait. Come on." Tyreese says then leads us back the way he came. He points at something with his flashlight "Look."
What I see makes me gasp "The hell?" Daryl says. It's a rat that has been nailed to a board with its insides on the outside
"I was just looking for... answers... and I found this." Tyreese says "Same person that killed Karen and David did this. Remember the rats at the fence? They showed up the same day she was killed. We got a psychopath living with us."
"Tyreese." Rick says
"We got to find him, Rick. And I'm not gonna sleep until we do." Tyreese says
"Tyreese... whoever did this, I don't think that's who killed Karen." Rick says
"Why?" Tyreese asks
"Well for one, the torture of animals is the first stage in becoming a serial killer. It's adolescent, No way a kid could have killed Karen and David and dragged them both out" I tell him
"You're saying a kid did this?" Tyreese asks
I nod "Most likely. It's sick, unhealthy curiosity. Brought up in a world surrounded by death, is it really that surprising?"
An explosion that rattles the whole building cuts off any response I might have received. "What the fuck was that?" I ask