I didn't want to post for this so soon because I wanted to get some of my other stories out of the way, but I just couldn't resist! Thank you all for the reviews! :) They made me want to write for this story more than my other ones! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Two

The sun still had not made a full appearance over the horizon and Daryl already had a belt full of kills. Fall was coming to an end and with it, so would most of the game he hunted. His freezer was half full at home, enough to feed through most of the winter, but a few more pounds of meat wouldn't hurt. That way he would have some to spare for company.

Daryl couldn't help but snort at that. "Yeah, right." No one knew him much in town and that was how he liked it. Sure, there were the guys he worked with at the garage a town over, but he wouldn't call them his friends. More like acquaintances. They had gone out for a beers a few times, but that was about it. Besides, they were the kind of men Merle would hang around with and Daryl didn't want any part of that.

Something moved out of the corner of his eye. Daryl turned, crossbow raised, just in time to see a deer disappear further into the woods. "Shit," he muttered. Snagging a deer would be the perfect conclusion to his hunting trip.

With a sigh, he started to stalk in the direction the deer had ran off in and hoped that he'd be able to track it before the sun got too high and it went into hiding.

Carol found herself sitting at the dining room table and staring out the bay window looking into her yard. The window was her favorite place in the house. It was large and when the sun rose it shone right through the glass and to her table. In front of it sat some cushions, which she laid when while reading a book most days.

It was early morning, the sun was barely up, and normally she would still be asleep. But nightmares had plagued her sleep and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall back asleep. So, making herself a coffee, she sat down at the table and got lost in her thoughts.

If I were a teacher, I would be getting up this early every day, she thought to herself. At twenty-three, she would have finished her schooling and would have had her own classroom back in her hometown by now. However, that had all went out the window the moment she had met Ed. At first, he had been fine with her going to school, but during the first few months of their marriage, he had convinced her to quit. Claiming that he would work for the both of them. If only she had known, he had only done it so that she would be cut off from her friends.

Ed had ruined her life, but she had been the stupid one to let him do it.

The phone beside her chimed with a text and she froze, coffee cup halfway to her lips. She knew exactly who it was. No one ever texted her, anymore, except for him. Changing her number would have been the smart thing to do, but this way she could monitor him and know if he was close to locating her. It was like a double-edged sword, though. It was a way of keeping track of him, but Carol knew that one of these days she would get a text that would say three little letters.

I found you.

With those words, Carol wouldn't know what to do. There was nowhere else for her to go. If Ed could find her in the middle of nowhere, then he would be able to find her anywhere.

She set down her coffee cup and reached for the phone. Unlocking it, she said a quick prayer and looked down at the new message.

Where, oh where, has my little Carol gone? Where, oh where, can she be?

The phone clattered to the table. What kind of sick man had she married?

Daryl had tracked the deer to a ravine. A pretty steep one, too. The beast hadn't gone down it. Probably would have broken its neck if it tried.

"Where the fuck did it go?" He muttered to himself and kept his eyes sharp and alert. Normally, it wouldn't have taken him this long to track an animal, but this bastard was smart. It was somehow staying one-step ahead of him.

"I'm goin' to cook your sorry ass, first," he grumbled. "I'm goin' to grill and slather you with spices, you little fucker." Talking to himself was a normal occurrence when he was out hunting. "I bet you'll taste fuckin' delicious."

Something rustled in the bushes behind him and he turned around furiously, ready to let one of his bolts fly. A small creature ran out from one of the bushes, chattered at him angrily and jumped onto the nearest tree trunk.

"Fuckin' squirrels. Lucky I already have a few of your friends on my belt or you'd be my next kill."

Daryl knew he should have been paying better attention to his surroundings, but the ever-evasive deer was frustrating him. If he had been keeping a constant vigil, then he would have seen the snake he nearly stepped on. However, he hadn't and the rattle was the only thing that warned him of its presence. He looked down just as it stuck. Turning his body, Daryl narrowly missed the thing's fangs. The ground didn't come up to meet him and with a shout, he found himself tumbling down the ravine.

After receiving the text from Ed, Carol turned off her phone and threw it into the nearest drawer. Out of sight, out of mind, she told herself. To further get Ed off her mind, she decided that she would do a little work on her garden. It had been a couple days since she tended to the plants and they were sure to be feeling neglected.

Walking into her mudroom, which was just off the kitchen, she slipped her feet into a pair of boots and grabbed her mint green gardening gloves. Before walking out the door, she pulled her auburn curls into a ponytail, knowing that it would get bothersome the moment she kneeled down to work in the dirt.

Carol's garden was located in the far corner of her yard. It was the only place that got enough sun to have a garden. It did, however, set close to the lurking woods that surrounded her property, but Carol made sure to never put her back to the looming trees.

The only thing growing in the garden at the moment was some flowers and a mint plant. Carol loved the smell of the mint and also liked to pick the leaves to make tea with. Sinking to her knees, she saw that there were a few weeds that needed taken care of. She hated weeding, but with a garden, it something that had to be done.

The moment her hands sunk into the soil, a loud yell coming from the woods startled her. It was a man's yell. Carol jerked her head to the woods and didn't see anything. The yell didn't sound like any words, but it was almost like someone calling for...help? Could someone need help out there? She reached over and clutched a trowel in her hand. Should she go and investigate?

What if this man intended to do her harm? Couldn't she risk that? Ed had caused her to become paranoid. But what if this man really needed her help? What if he was dying?

Finally, she made her decision and...raced inside. She threw her gloves as she passed through her mudroom and went straight to her room to grab the gun from her underwear drawer. If this man, if she found him, intended to hurt her in someway, she would be prepared. Not that she ever shot anyone before, or even entertained the thought. She just had to believe that if her life was in danger, she would do whatever it took to stay alive.

Clutching her gun in one hand, Carol walked back outside and stared into the woods. Not once had she stepped foot in them since she moved there. They'd always intimidated her. Now, she was going in them, armed with her gun. Someone was out there and they needed her help.

With a deep breath, she started to walk though the trees.

Daryl didn't know how long he lay at the bottom of the ravine, unconscious. When he did come to, there was a searing pain in his side and a throbbing in his head. Looking down to the where the pain in his side was coming from, he saw, with horror, that there was a bolt sticking out from his hip.

Well, fuck.

Somehow, in his tumble down the steep ravine, he had shot himself with his own bolt. With a sigh of defeat, Daryl let his head thunk back on the ground. How the hell was he supposed to climb up the ravine with an arrow in his side?

"Come on, Darylina. You should know better than that." A familiar voice came to him.

"Great," he mumbled. "Now, I'm hearin' my damn brother." At that moment, Merle walked in front of him, smirking. Like always. "And now, I'm seein' him."

"Well," Merle squatted near him. "Looks like your ass has a concussion and you're bleeding like a stuck pig."

"Thanks, genius."

"You need to bind the wound, baby brother. Didn't I teach you that shit?" Merle pressed a finger to Daryl's side and Daryl hissed in pain.

"Fuckin' stop."

"Get up, then. Come on," Merle stood and kicked him in the leg. "Come on, get up."

With his last ounce of strength, Daryl sat up. Ignoring the pain in his side, he looked around to see that Merle was gone. God, he was going fucking crazy.

Carol had no idea where to look. The shout had come from the woods, but she had no idea where. The only thing that was out there were the squirrels and the occasional rabbit.

"This was a bad idea," she whispered to herself. Maybe the yell had been all in her imagination.

Daryl shrugged off the long sleeve shirt he wore; he tied it tightly around the wound and hoped it stopped the flow of bed. Bending down, he grabbed his string of squirrels, threw them over his shoulder and moved to attack the difficult task of climbing the ravine.

However, he didn't get far before he grabbed a branch that didn't support his weight and he was tumbling down the ravine. Again.

Carol heard another yell and her pace quickened. This time it sounded close. Incredibly close. If she was more surefooted, then she would have taken off running, but knowing her, she would trip over a wayward root or branch. Whoever was in need would have to wait until she reached them, unscathed.

Surprisingly, it didn't take her long to come to the source of the yell. Or what she thought the source was. She found herself at the top of a ravine and down below, she saw a man sprawled at the bottom. Unconscious.

"Oh my God!" Carol cried and covered a gasp with her hand. Was he dead? There was only one way to find out and that meant she had to somehow climb down the ravine. She'd climbed trees before, this wouldn't be any different. Right?

"This was such a bad idea." Even as she said the words, she found herself walking towards the edge of the ravine. She stuffed the gun in her pants and carefully began to make her way down to the man. It was a miracle she didn't slip and share the same fate as him. It was most likely because of the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

"Hold on!" She called down to him, knowing that he probably couldn't hear. "I'm coming!"

Daryl groaned when someone started to shake him. The pain, this time, was almost unbearable and all he wanted to do was keep his eyes shut. Hoping that it would help shut out some of the pain.
Unfortunately, the shaking was persistent.

"Fuck, Merle, I'm gettin' up!" However, this time, when he opened his eyes, he was not greeted with the sight of his brother. Kneeling above him was an angel.

Thanks for reading!