Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone

Maya Angelou

Alone, All Alone

Carol

Carol felt Michonne hand grab hers and hold tight. In the first few weeks after the Turn Carol had thought that the army would come in and rescue everyone. Just like in the movies, only the cavalry had never shown up. Their family had made the long dangerous trek from Georgia to Virginia without seeing any sign of military activity. Alexandria had defended itself from the Wolves. Now, Morgan was telling them that the army had shown up and captured Daryl and Rick. Fuck our luck.

"Are you sure that it is our army?" Abe's voice sounded far away. Carol felt as if she was incapable of speech, couldn't seem to put the whirling swirl of thoughts and words into anything that made sense, and now even her hearing was all wrong. Morgan's words kept flowing like one of those fountains that loop the same water over and over again, "I'm sorry, but Daryl and Rick are gone and we don't know where."

Morgan's voice was sure, "They were wearing regular army fatigues, using army issue weapons, and army vehicles. They moved as if they had done this before. They weren't there to kill, but they made sure that they were in control of the situation. My guess is that they had scouted out the Wolves before and had come back to take the whole pack. Daryl and Rick were just in the wrong place and got snatched up."

"They'll let Dad and Daryl go won't they?" Carl's voice sounded more like the boy he had been than the young man he had become.

"It may take a while for them to figure out that Rick and Daryl aren't Wolves, but we just have be patient," Morgan put his arm around Carl and gave him a little hug. "We have walls to reinforce, supplies for winter to gather, and people to train. Daryl and Rick wouldn't expect us to sit around and wait for them to get these things done."

Everyone began to move toward the door and Carol automatically rose to go. Deanna's voice called her back, "Carol, would you mind staying here. I need to talk to you. Michonne, would you stay too." "I'm sorry, but Daryl and Rick are gone and we don't know where."

The two women took seats in front of Deanna's desk. She leaned forward with a sigh, "I know that you are both upset, but those two are survivors. They'll be back, but I need Michonne to take over the constable job by herself. Carol, I need you to develop a schedule for self-defense lessons. I think your days of making casseroles are over."

Carol found her voice, "I hope they are ready to be pushed." She didn't care one way or the other, but it was something to say. "I'm sorry, but Daryl and Rick are gone and we don't know where."

Deanna settled back in her chair, "Time to put the cards on the table. I handed the reins of power to Rick because I trusted him to take charge and that was the right call. Not everyone in Alexandria was happy about that. I am getting some kickback now. They didn't have the balls to say anything before the attack, but now there is a whispering campaign against me. I'm trying to hold on to this job until Rick gets back."

Michonne shifted in her chair, "What are they saying?"

"We lost people last night. No doctor in town now. They have questions about Rick's relationship with Jessica and how she died. Jeremiah and Mary Thompson. Basically, they resent your group taking positions of power. A lot of it is being fueled by Father Gabriel; he has been telling stories about your group's savagery." Deanna grimaced, "We have a few conservative Christians who believe that women should not be in a position of authority and they have been a thorn in my side all along."

Carol had been listening mostly because she needed something to take her mind off of Daryl and Rick. "Jessie came back with Ron and Sam after sunset. She said that she was going to defend her home and she wouldn't listen to us when we tried to convince her to go back to Tobin's house before the attack came. Daryl and Aaron ran to our house to tell us that the walkers were on their way. The plan was that we would go inside and keep anyone from coming in. Jessie sent Sam inside. Suddenly, Jessie ran down her steps and toward the tower. Ron followed her. We never saw them after that."

"You went after Sam." Deanna smiled at Carol, "Michonne and Sasha went to the sidewalk to clear a path for you and Sam. I talked to Sam today. He doesn't want to live with Tobin and his wife. He wants to live with your family."

Michonne's smooth voice answered quickly, "We'd love to have him with us. We need a set of bunk beds today. Sam can room with Carl until we get Carl's new bedroom finished. Sasha will take my room, and I'll stay in Rick's room with Judith until he gets back. We have room."

Guess Michonne is now our new leader. Carol felt a mixture of anger and relief. She was pissed that Michonne had made this decision on her own and relief that Sam would be with a group that would protect him. She decided to join the conversation before Michonne picked up any more strays. "There was no relationship between Jessie and Rick. I was pushing him to do something about Pete. I deceived you about my marriage; my husband was abusive in every way possible. Sam told me that Pete was abusing Jessie. I told Rick and he did his job." I am tired of lying. Time to tell the truth.

Deanna nodded, "Jeremiah and Mary were friends of mine. I talked to them yesterday afternoon. I agreed that they could stay in the office. He didn't tell me about the pistol."

Carol took over the narrative, "Mary was weak yesterday. Her pulse was thready and she was cold and clammy. She was slipping away and what if she turned downstairs with the rest of the elderly? Jeremiah wanted a gun. I understood why he wanted it and I gave him one." Carol didn't turn to look at Michonne who was giving her the side eye again. Well, so much for telling the truth. Michonne gave Jeremiah the pistol but I'll take the blame on this one.

"I enjoyed your interview. I thought your performance was a little over the top, but I see now it was Emmy worthy. Miss Carol, you are full of surprises. Maybe now you'll let us see who you really are?" Deanna stared at her until Carol reluctantly nodded. "Jeremiah asked me to write a will two days ago. Mary was there and she agreed to everything he said. They left you everything they owned including a good sized house and farm in the mountains. He had the deed with him and they signed it over to you then. It meant something to them to give it to you. Mary was the prepper in the family. She hoarded gold and silver and that belongs to you now. Right now it means nothing but in five years? Ten years? The army might be able to stabilize Virginia and we could start to rebuild civilization."

Carol remembered the fairly heavy envelope that Jeremiah had given to her. She hadn't taken the time to open it because too much was going on. Quick tears came to her eyes, "They were good people. I liked both of them."

"I loved both of them. Mary worked for some top secret government agency. She told me once that she couldn't tell me what she did or she would have to kill me and she wasn't joking. She said that she stayed in the job because she had enough power to block some bad things from happening. It was implied that lots of bad things happened that she couldn't stop. She looked like a sweet old lady but she was tough as nails. No wonder she liked you." Deanna sighed again. "Damn this world. I want to go upstairs and crawl into bed and never come out, but I can't. I'm like Mary, I have enough power to stop some bad things from happening."

Carol stood up, "I need to go. I have things I need to get done."

Michonne walked with her back to the house. "Why did you say you had given Jeremiah the gun?"

"I stole guns. I'm not sorry I did. It is crazy not to have a weapon handy. They banish you here. I can't see them understanding about what I have done. You need to be here for Judith. I can make it out there alone."

Michonne shook her head, "Nobody, but nobody. Can make it out here alone". I'm not going to let you go out there alone. None of us are. We just need to keep a low profile until Rick gets back. He won't let go of you either. We are all bonded by the things that we have seen and have done.

"Rick loves you. That thing with Jessie was just some sort of mirage. He's over it now. Mika would say that things worked out the way they were supposed to. You and Rick with Judith and Carl. That's meant to be." Carol held up the envelope, "Now I am a rich heiress so maybe my ship has finally come in."

"Daryl is your ship coming in. They'll be back soon. I just know it." Michonne sounded confident and Carol let herself hope that she was right. She could face whatever this world threw at her as long as Daryl was by her side.

Daryl

Daryl had woken up inside the moving truck. His hands and feet were tied together and a man wearing an army uniform bent over him with a syringe, "Buddy, it is nighty night time." Daryl tried to push him away but the man was too strong and the darkness enveloped him again.

It was dark when he woke up again. He was lying in a narrow bed and he had splitting headache. He was as thirsty as he had been that day out on the road when Carol had insisted that he drink some water. He was wearing some sort of loose pants and a dark t shirt. Daryl had never been in jail, at least not longer than overnight, but this felt like a jail cell. Stop being a pussy, get your ass up, and get your ass back to Carol.

There was a window, set high on the wall and too narrow to be an escape route. It did bring a little light into the room and he could see that he had his own little bathroom. A tiny sink, commode, and the world's smallest shower. There was a light switch on the wall and Daryl noted that he looked like shit. He used the commode and washed his face and hands. There were two towels and one hand towel and a wash cloth. All a dull green and there was a toothbrush and tooth paste. A comb, soap, and shampoo. Good to know that I'll be clean and well-groomed when I get the hell out of here.

He drank two glasses of water from a plastic glass and wandered back to other room. The bed and one chair. There was a small closet which had nothing in it.

He sat in his one chair and allowed himself to think about Carol. Did she know that he hadn't been killed? Morgan and Aaron might have been captured too. Rick must be somewhere close. She wouldn't give up on him and he wasn't giving up on finding a way out of here and back to her. She was safe, probably asleep in their bed right now. Keep her safe and help me get home.

Carol would be sitting here scheming on how to get out. She would be paying attention to her surroundings and looking for a weakness that she could exploit. Daryl would have enjoyed a full scale tantrum complete with broken furniture and screamed curses. He might have tried to overpower the guards. Carol would be the model prisoner and sooner or later she would get out. Daryl went into the minute bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He practiced smiling. Turn that frown upside down, and put on your smiley face. Daryl was sure that he didn't have a smiley face, but by morning he would stop looking like he was having a seizure when he smiled. When I get back to Alexandria me and Carol are gonna walk all over town holding hands and I am going to smile at every one of those assholes. Just cause I can. Just cause I am home.

The hot water in the shower helped to loosen his muscles and soothe his headache. He was dressed and ready to go by the time he heard the sound of doors clanging open. Daryl sat down in his chair and tried to look non-threatening.

His door opened slowly and two bulky looking men in army fatigues stood in the corridor. Daryl stood up cautiously. The older of the two stepped closer to the door, "We're going to escort you to an appointment with a doctor. Please put your hands behind your back." Daryl contemplated fighting but he gave a weak smile and turned around. Within seconds he was handcuffed, wearing paper booties, and moving down a long hallway. Rick was behind one of these doors.

He was escorted upstairs to a large room that resembled a hospital emergency room. There were male and female soldiers milling around the cubicles. The patients were all handcuffed and a few were shackled. Daryl saw Rick sitting on one of the beds and he smiled at him. Rick gave him an odd look and then smiled back at him. Rick is alive and together we can get out of here. No Morgan and Aaron in sight so maybe they got back to Alexandria to tell the others that they weren't dead.

He was herded into his own cubicle and his handcuffs were exchanged to wrist cuffs that bound him to the bed. A stern looking man asked him his name, age, etc. His guards left and presently they returned with an African-American woman who smiled at him and Daryl smiled back.

"My name is Dr. Alston and I know that you must be frightened, but the tests that we are running are to check to see if you are healthy and to see what we need to do to make you healthier. I'm going to draw some blood now and then I am going to do a complete physical." She efficiently drew three tubes of blood, took his blood pressure, temperature, and pulse. She examined his hair, nose, mouth, ears, and listened to his chest.

Her hands were gentle on his back. She didn't say anything. Daryl forced out, "My father, when I was a kid". I'm going to tell it from now on. I have no reason to be ashamed of what he did.

The rest of the exam was more embarrassing. Carol had left a small hickey on his chest and he saw Dr. Alston's slight grin when she saw it. Things just got worse from there. He was asked to stand up and Daryl hopped off the bed gratefully thinking that it was over. Dr. Alston slapped on a pair of latex gloves, grabbed his balls, and asked him to cough. She was relentlessly thorough in her examination.

She laughed when she was through. "Mr. Dixon, I'm glad that I am not taking your blood pressure now. You can calm down because I think you are healthy and pose no medical threat at this time."

Daryl found it almost easy to smile at her, "Go ahead and call me Daryl. Mr. Dixon seems a little formal after you have had your way with me."

She lowered her voice, "Secrets aren't always a bad thing. You and the other man don't belong here. Don't feel as if you need to share where your people are. Keep your secrets." She raised her voice, "Daryl, you are going back to your room and we'll send you breakfast. We'll have the results of the tests in a few hours."

His guards were less cautious with him going back. This smiling thing might work. "Can I have something to read?" Daryl figured a man who smiled and wanted something to read would be even less of a threat.

One of the guards grunted something at him that sounded like he might bring something. His home away from home looked the same and he put the chair to the window and stood on it. He was on some sort of military facility. Strong fences and guards patrolling with dogs. Wooded hills beyond the fences. Daryl jumped off the chair and settled on the bed.

Breakfast was passed through to him by an opening at the bottom of the door. There was a book in the tray which he ignored because he was hungry. Dried eggs, canned bacon, and toast and all washed down with dried milk. It tasted as bad as it sounded but he ate it all and drank the milk. He hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday and he needed to eat to keep his strength up. Closing his eyes he envisioned being outside and running for the fences. He could be up and over in no time and then he would be in that forest.

He needed clothes, boots, and a weapon before he left. He could find his way back to Alexandria if he had those three things. Now he needed to connect with Rick because he knew he could never make it out of here without him.

The book sort of taunted him. He had never been much of a reader. Merle read when he was sober which wasn't very often. Finally, Daryl picked the book up. "The Dog Stars". He made himself comfortable on his narrow bed and opened the book.

Later, lunch was slid under and he got up and slid the breakfast tray back. He went back to the book. Reading slowly wasn't a problem. He didn't have anything else to do anyway.

Daryl found a new position on his bed and settled back to read another chapter. The door opened slowly and his guards were standing there. "Rise and shine, Dixon. Time to meet the Colonel."

Daryl put on his booties and turned so that he could be handcuffed. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The Colonel seemed to be in charge around here. He smiled at his two guards and they led him down the long corridor, up the stairs, and past armed men waiting on either side of an impressive door. One of the guards knocked and a woman's voice answer, "Bring Dixon in."

AN

The course of true love doesn't run smooth does it? Is this smiley Daryl believable? I so long for Carol to have Michonne for a friend and since there is some rule on TWD that women aren't allowed to talk to Carol very often. I guess I'll just write what I like.

Review?