They all settled in the house where she had found Tyreese, and they lit up a small fire, reluctant to go to sleep. They all stayed up, sharing stories of where they had been, and how they had looked for each other, and Daryl wanted to bite them.
They had not looked for Carol, and she was too nice a person to ever say it, but he could tell that whenever one told about his quest for the others, she died a bit inside. He put his arm around her, slightly away from the rest of the group, and she came closer to him. He had a feeling she would have climbed on his lap if she hadn't been afraid to admit she was vulnerable in doing so. He didn't care about her being vulnerable, he only hated the fact that some people managed to make her feel so when she had saved them all just a short while ago.
As he felt her shrink against him, if that was possible, upon listening to everybody's tale, he told her in a low voice:
"I never wanted you near Terminus, but I also know it's the only reason I've made it out alive. Thank you."
She smiled, and he wanted to hit his chest like Tarzan in pride. She got closer to him, and even though it was not that cold, they were huddled up together as close as they could be without getting naked.
"I was not going to leave you with them. With Tyreese, we encountered one of them, and he talked about you, about some prophet shit, talking about scars, and I knew it had to be you. He also mentioned Michonne and Carl, but I was already sold on the idea that I needed to get you out of there. Though, I have to ask, Are you the prophet?"
Her slight jibe made him feel better, like she was finding herself again.
He thought back about the prophet shit, and he would have eluded the question had it been anyone else's interrogation.
"You know what they did, I know you do. There was the leader, Gareth, and his mom was around too. She was the queen of crazy. They had this thing, this saying, be the cattle or the butcher…." He felt her shiver against him. "They took me to this old woman, scary chick, and she talked some shit about me being the prophet they were waiting for. Creepy as fuck. She took a look at my scars."
He didn't need to say he had tried to fight her off but she had been with three guys who had held his face against the ground as she probed his scars.
"She kept on rambling, 'is he your Prophet, Lord, the one that will be the Herald of your return? Is he the one who will grant us absolution for what we did even though we only followed your orders?' It was complete bullshit. At some point, she asked me a riddle, which, if you ask me had to be straight out of a Harry fucking Potter book, and I failed, duh. So she decided I was just a scarred bastard and she had me thrown back in jail."
"It sort of makes sense, emphasis on the sort of part," she said, hugging him tighter, raising her head to kiss his shoulder where she knew he sported another scar. "When I was in the compound, they had a room, it was religious in a creepy way. I think I encountered the crazy chick you mentioned. She talked about cattle and butchers, and people raping them and more. I want to say she was batshit crazy, but I think it was more of a pushed too far thing. They were all too far gone. Maybe their quest for a prophet, who could have been you, was their way of coping with what they were doing. It still makes me want to puke.
"They were psychos."
"I agree."
He could tell she was still thinking about it, and it was always there when she closed her eyes.
"'Sup lovebirds?" Merle said, coming into their private bubble.
"You guys do know that Carol saved my ass and yours, right?" Daryl spat out, unable to stop himself. "Because you're all Kumbaya, we found each other again, but if Carol had not been there, you would be all Kumbaya in someone's stomach."
Carol flushed slightly and he could tell she was torn between the want to tell him to tone it down, yet at the same time he knew she was also grateful. The lovefest they had going on around the fire camp, it was her doing. Some of it was their own doing too, but she had given them the chance to break out.
Merle sighed as he looked at his group.
"Don't… Don't take it at face value. If there's one thing I've learnt with those guys, you rejoice about easy things, and you mule over the bigger things. Doesn't mean they're not grateful, just mean they know that they let Rick kick her out, and they're not sure how to act."
"You know about her exile?"
"Yeah. And truth be told, from me to you," Merle said to Carol, "I'd have done the same with no hindsight. It's easy to blame you when the flu broke out anyway, but yeah, to protect Judith and Carl, I'd have done the same."
"How did you end up with them?" Daryl asked, as Carol let Merle's words sink in.
"Remember the Governor?"
"Prick who talked a big game, and tried to get us to join? Sadly, yes."
"When I lost you, I wandered," Merle said, embarrassed as he mentioned having lost his brother.
They had lost each other, Daryl thought, there was no point in feeling embarrassment but then again, who they were and what made sense were wildly different things.
"I found the Governor. He was pretending not to be the Governor. He had a new gang, away from Woodbury, and I stayed with them for one night. He had shacked up with Tara's sister," Merle said, gesturing vaguely to the girl around the fire. "and he was in full batshit crazy stupid mode. I didn't see it, when it was you and me, but the guy had some issues. He talked about the people he wanted to destroy, and I figured I would go to them, and tell them the Governor was plotting, hoping to be able to stay with them. It took them some time to trust me, but some knew me from the quarry. In the end, Rick decided I was worthy of being one of them."
Daryl felt Carol press her face against his shoulder and he knew, just knew that she needed to hide. They had kicked her out, and taken Merle in, just like that. He was grateful that his brother had not been alone, but he was aware of the double standards. It was not about who was a better person, it was about how easy it had been to condemn Carol, and how easy it seemed it had been to take in Merle.
"I know you don't trust Rick," Merle told his brother. "He's an acquired taste."
"First time I ever thought of him that way," Carol said.
"Yeah, I guess it is strange. You knew him before, and I got to know him after Woodbury fell, and things like that. We've known two different persons. I get along with the one I know. I don't know where you're at with the guy. But you guys, you belong with us. I want you to stay. I may not be Ricktator, but he knows I will say my piece. I want you guys with us. Come on, baby bro…"
"Don't look at me, Merle," Daryl said with a surprising ease. "I appreciate the sentiment," he started as he knew it must have been a real effort on his brother's behalf to say those words, "but we're a package deal. We make the decision together, and the people you're asking us to join, Carol has a history with them. I'll follow her lead. I will not try to persuade her."
"But Daryl, that's your brother…" Carol said, bewildered.
"Yeah. And I've missed him like the bitch he is," Daryl told her, lost in her eyes. "But we're a team. And you know the people we would be joining and if we do, I need you to be sure."
Lord knew he wanted to be with his brother again. Merle was an ass and more but he was his brother, and even though he had done a shit job at trying to protect his younger brother, he had tried. When he had opened up to Carol about his past, it had been one of the things he had realized. Maybe he had always known it, but to say those things out loud had made that truth unescapable. For all his faults and his qualities, Merle had tried, had loved his brother and had never wanted for him the things he had had to suffer himself.
"Okay," Merle said. "I get it. The new Mrs. Dixon will have the last word."
"We will both have the last word," Carol said, putting a hand on Merle's. "Whatever we decide will not be a slight to you. It will be about doing what's best for us."
"Being in a group of people sounds like the best place to be during the apocalypse, but what do I know?" Merle said, before going back to the fire.
Daryl and Carol didn't speak after that. Without a word, exhausted after the craziest day so far, they settled on the floor, as all their camping equipment had been lost at Terminus, except for the weapon she had gotten back. They didn't sleep back to back, for once, and were facing one another. He didn't know how long he spent looking at her face, as she fought against sleep until she gave up and let herself rest. All he knew was that her face was the last thing he saw before he fell asleep and he could get used to this.
When morning came, Carol woke up before Daryl, and tried to make her way out of the house, walking carefully across the basement, avoiding people who had set up here and there to sleep. She stopped when she saw Carl and Judith sleeping so close to one another. Rick was there too, and Judith was sandwiched between the two men. This was where she belonged, Carol thought, doing her best not to acknowledge the pinching in her heart, that made her want to take the baby and keep it safe. It was not her place. She loved that kid, oh yes she did, but this was not her place.
"They look peaceful," she heard behind her, and she was surprised to see Michonne with her sword, watching the family sleeping.
"Come on, we can go upstairs. I want some coffee," the woman said, and Carol followed her.
The sun was barely up, but Carol's internal clock had known it was rising, knew it was time to move. It was habit, for sure, as Carol didn't know if she was to stay, or to go.
Michonne fixed them a quick brew of coffee, handing one cup to her as she kept one for herself. They didn't dare go out, didn't want the scent of food to bring in animals or worst. They sat at what had once been a kitchen table, and they watched out the window as the sun shone brighter and brighter.
"Thank you,' Michonne said, breaking the silence.
Carol didn't answer, because "yeah sure", sounded too casual, but she also didn't want to say more than was needed. She just wasn't sure what really was needed in the end.
"I know you heard our tales, last night, around the fire," Michonne said.
Carol brought the cup to her mouth in order to not have to answer.
"It must have been tough. Glenn talking about his quest for Maggie, and Rick and Carl talking about how they had looked for Judith, though we thought her to be dead. Sasha and Tyreese's quest for one another…"
"I get the picture, I was there," Carol snapped, as she remembered all those people looking for family members, and no one looking for her.
"What Rick did, when he left you out there…"
"I don't want to talk about it."
She really didn't want to talk about it. She loved Michonne, still loved her even though she was not part of her family anymore, and she wanted nothing more than to see her make it through the apocalypse. Hell, if a fight erupted, she would probably be ready to give her life for the samurai to make it out alive. It shouldn't have hurt, knowing it was a one-way street feeling, but it still did. Carol reminded herself that you gave your love freely without expecting anything in return otherwise you cheapened everything, and she had given them, all of her family members her love, whether she had known them two years or two hours. She had decided in her heart who would be part of the people she was ready to die for. It was the end of days, you had to think of things that way. You had to know who you would leave behind, and who you would fight till your own death in order to give them a chance to make it.
"I never looked for you," Michonne said, and it felt like she had run her sword through Carol's heart.
"I don't mean it like that," the woman started again. "I never looked for you, because things were happening at the prison, and I knew that you had more lives than a cat. I knew that if there was one of us who could make it out there and survive, until the moment presented itself for that person to come back and be welcome back into the group, it was you. I didn't look but that doesn't mean I forgot about you. It only means I trusted you."
"Maybe I needed someone to look for me," Carol said. "Maybe I needed someone to tell me that Rick's sentence was not almighty. Maybe I needed someone to come and say that they knew I was not a villain."
She knew where this was coming from, those words she had only dared say to herself the first few hours after she had been exiled, when she had hoped though never really daring herself to really hope that someone would come back for her and tell her that Rick was full of shit and that was a matter to be decided at the prison. But no one had come, and she had been left with silence.
"I take it you heard our talk with Merle last night?" Carol said, forcing herself not to linger on what had never happened.
"I know it makes no difference, but after he had slept on it, Hershel pleaded your cause to Rick. He didn't tell anybody, and I didn't tell anybody but I heard him. He went back to Rick, and told him that he understood the decision he had taken, but that upon thinking about it, he wondered if he had been right. He talked about two guys they had killed after the barn incident, for no reasons, but to protect themselves, and how it had turned into a kidnapping later on, but that was not Hershel's point. What he said was that Rick, Glenn and he had killed two guys in a bar who wanted to join them on the farm. They didn't know they had people, and they couldn't explain why they made them feel threatened, but they killed them anyway when the others tried to kill them first. They had known. Hershel made a point about what you had done, about what they had done, and I'm no Hershel so I think a lot of it was lost on me, but his idea was that you felt threatened, and you felt the others were threatened, and you acted harshly. Hershel said something about the fact that they would never know if there could have been a way out of their encounter with the two guys that didn't end up in such a terrible way, but that still, they had killed in cold blood and had never had to face the consequences of their act. He said that in his opinion, you deserved to be heard out, or at least to be brought back, for people to decide, as a society, instead of a dictatorship."
"I'm sure Rick loved that comparison…" Carol said, trying to absorb the fact that the guy who had been seen as the ultimate judge of character in their community had pleaded for her to be brought back. She didn't think about the fact that it hadn't happened, she only thought about the fact that there had been a voice, in her favor.
"And yeah, I heard you talk to Merle. Guy is a dick. Please tell me the brother has some redeeming qualities otherwise I just won't understand why you're pairing up with him." Michonne said, lightly.
Carol thought about it, a light smile on her lips, though thinking that everything was being discussed too fast and she was given no time to process anything, but once again, it was the end of days, time was a luxury they didn't have.
"I've been part of that crowd, you know, that crowd who tells other people that this guy is a good guy when I know he isn't. When I was Ed's wife, and people asked me why I was with him when they could see fading bruises and more, and I'd tell them, "Ed's a good guy, he just has a temper". Like he was really a teddy bear at heart, but there was this devil on his shoulder who made him do those things to me. I've called a bad man a good guy for many many years. But now, I don't have to anymore. I don't have to hide what I was going through, and I surely do not have to hide my opinion on anybody when asked about them. Daryl, he's not a good guy, he's a good man. Quite possibly the best man I've ever encountered. He is good at heart and if there is a devil on his shoulder, he knows how to deal with it and not take it out on anybody else. He saved my life when it would have been so much easier for him to look the other way and let me die. I saved his life too, because I knew he deserved another day, another chance, another whatever. Daryl is a great man. He is private, and getting him to say something personal is more often than not like trying to teach a fish how to fly, but he is good, he is great. He has so many faults, but they're nothing compared to the goodness of his soul."
Michonne gave her a side look, and took a deep breath.
"You know when I knew you were golden?" she suddenly said.
Carol shook her head no, not quite sure she was understanding what the woman meant.
"Sophia. And Penny. I was out of Woodbury, and I was not part of your group, wasn't even sure I would fit in ever. When I'd sleep, people would talk. Beth kept on telling Judith things that were completely inappropriate for a baby, but maybe it was her way of dealing with the situation. She told the baby about your daughter and the way you killed her when she came back. I had just seen the Governor keep his pet daughter on a leash, knowing she was a danger not only to him but to everybody else. You took a gun and ended the pseudo life of the person you had loved the most while he was playing house with his flesh-eating zombie of a daughter. It was night and day."
The woman didn't add another word, letting Carol connect the dots and it felt so weird and terrible to be praised for having ended her daughter's suffering, but at the same time, Sophia had been gone. She had known that. The Governor had not wanted to acknowledge that Penny had been gone too.
"Thing is, we all made mistakes. We all made good decisions too. There's no reason why the former should be the thing we judge each other on. Rick may not think about it too often, but I remember when he had been willing to give me up to the Governor. He didn't in the end, but we both know that's not his only bad decision. We also know he made several good decisions. If we judge him based on the times he was right, then we should all have the same benefit of the doubt."
"What you're going at Michonne?" Carol asked, feeling exhausted.
"Just saying I want you to stay, with that Dixon guy of yours. You belong with us. I know I'm just someone who came in later in the life of the group, but I could see it then and I can see it now. I'm sure I'm not the only one. So if push comes to shove, I hope you'll stay."
"I liked you better when you just tried to kill people with a stare," Carol said jokingly though she wanted to say more than that.
"I still do that. For some reason, Merle just won't drop dead. Must be something wrong with my stare these days."
Carol chuckled, and she went back to her coffee, extremely aware that she needed to make a decision, and she needed to be sure, but more importantly, that she had very little time.
Daryl had woken up when Carol had slipped out of their "bed" for lack of a better word. His instinct had been to follow her, to go with her, not because it was his old pattern, but because he needed to know she was okay. She hadn't slept evenly that night, and she had woken him several times when having bad dreams. She had not made a sound, and he supposed it was some sort of habit she had gotten when with Ed, to keep silent even when she wanted to shout. He wished she had shouted, though it would have woken up everybody. He had only been able to put his arm or his hand on hers and rub it gently. He had wanted to say something, but words had escaped him, unsure what he should have said to bring her peace. He supposed it was a big step in itself, as the man he had been before would not have tried for fear of being overheard. The guy he was now hadn't dared because he hadn't known what to say. Small improvement. But an improvement nonetheless, Carol would have said.
He waited about ten minutes and he heard her go upstairs with the sword chick. He had gotten up then and gathered whatever was left of their stuff. He didn't know if they would be leaving or staying, he only knew that for once in his life, his path was clear. It was not a road with a pin where the end of the path was, it was with somebody. He would go where Carol would go, and hope he would get to see his brother again. He felt reassured at the way his brother seemed to have merged in that group. If they were to part ways again, at least Merle would be in good company.
He walked slowly across the room, and stopped in the same place where Carol had, seeing the baby she had been so worried about.
As if to make things weird, the baby woke up, and looked at him, before gurgling something and extending her chubby little arms his way.
He was about to run away, yes Sir, and he would have had no qualms about bailing on a baby, but the kid, Carl, chuckled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Merle said something about the Dixons' charm, must have been onto something… She wants you to take her in your arms."
Daryl had never in his life felt more like a deer surrounded by a dozen hunters with canons pointed at his head.
The others were waking up, and he was painfully aware he had an audience. Running away was not an option anymore. Slowly, he bent down on one knee, and listening to Carl who was telling him how to cradle her, Daryl put his big hands around little Judith and carried her until she was against his chest.
What an odd feeling. She didn't know him, had never seen him, yet she was making cooing noises and touching his face like he was one of her toys.
"That's my nose, missy," he found himself saying as the baby hazarded a finger too close to his nostrils. "I strongly suggest you aim for something else."
So she punched him in the cheek.
He heard Lazarus – Rick – laugh, saying something about his daughter avenging her dad. Daryl would have argued back except he was enthralled by this little creature in his arms. She had long eyelashes, and if those were any indications, she would be a heartbreaker when she'd grow up.
"What was it, about Merle?" Daryl asked the kid.
His brother seemed to appear out of thin air and said:
"When I was trying to have them let me in and take me in, they were not convinced. Judith was and she was pretty vocal about it."
"All we saw was a thug who was probably nothing less than a wolf in wolves clothing, but she saw a teddy bear, and she wouldn't stop crying until we handed her over to him. Scariest moment in my life," Rick said.
"I wouldn't have hurt her, she's my girl" Merle said, looking at his brother and the baby.
"She's got good taste, that's all," Daryl said as he moved the little girl around so that she was on his knee and he could make her gently bounce up and down.
"You're a natural," Rick said.
"He was a natural when it came to how you made them, before the world went to shit," Merle joked.
"Maybe one day, Judith will have a little boy or a little girl to play with, if you and Carol feel so inclined."
Daryl focused all his attention on the little girl, not wanting to give anything away about his relationship with Carol. They were so not there. Though trying to make a baby, well, he would be a liar if the baby making process hadn't crossed his mind, once or twice.
"You're assuming we're staying," he told Lazarus.
"I hope you are. Carol is a wonderful woman, and she likes you. It would only make sense for you to stay with her."
"You've got the whole thing wrong, Lazarus," Daryl said, before handing Judith to his brother. "When I say that you're assuming we're staying, I'm not using the royal we or whatever. I mean Carol and I. She hasn't decided yet, and where she goes, I go. It's a no brainer."
For the first time since he had met him, Lazarus seemed to let down his façade, and what was underneath was a very tired man, who didn't seem to really know what was keeping him alive, except for his kids.
"What happened with Carol… It seemed like the best decision at the time. I hope she will understand that and that we can move on."
"Sure, I'll toss your ass in the middle of a walker infested zone, without letting you say goodbye to any of the people you love, and when you come back, if you come back, we'll see if you understand and if we can, you know, move on," Daryl snarled.
"You were not there…" Rick started.
"But I was," came a feminine voice, interrupting them.
Daryl realized he had been getting himself ready to fight Lazarus again, but Maggie's interruption made him go back to a more neutral position.
"Actually, I was not there, not when the banning happened," Maggie started again. "But I was part of this group back then, and I let it happen. You say you want Carol back, Rick, and I believe you. I want her back to. Chances are Glenn and I'll be splitting from this group to go with Abe and the rest to Washington D.C but Lord, I want Carol back. When you came back and you told us she had killed Karen and David and thus you had exiled her, I didn't argue back. I didn't like it, I never liked it, but I never dared say anything. I suppose it was simpler to keep my mouth shut and let the leader decide. If it was happening all over again, I wouldn't stay idle, or I hope I wouldn't. You left Carol to die. You told her that she couldn't make decisions for the group then you made a decision for the group and told her to pack her bags, like it was some reality show."
"Maggie…"
"Shut up Rick, I'm talking. I'm not saying that back then I understood why Carol had done what she had done, but now I've got hindsight. Yesterday, on her own, Carol came into the Terminus camp, to save this man, Daryl, and perhaps to save us all too. Maybe it was always in her plans, maybe it happened as she went along, but she didn't free just one man, she saved us all. On her own," the woman said, stressing out the words. "Am I the only one seeing how crazy that is? Yet, it is the epitome of Carol. Carol does what needs to be done to keep us safe. She fed us, did our laundry, cut some throats, killed walkers, learnt skills… She did it all, not to save herself, but to be an asset to this group. Yesterday, she infiltrated a cannibal camp, and saved us, never taking into account the risk for herself. So yeah, now, I see things and I don't want to shut my eyes and pretend I am blind. Killing David and Karen was a bad move, but it came from a good place. I'm sure Carol thought it was the only solution to prevent the flu, but didn't want anybody to have that blood on their hands, so she sacrificed herself and did it herself. Was it good? Fuck no. But it doesn't deserve to be judged on its own, there's a whole picture we need to take into account when we make a decision. Yeah, because it should have been our decision, and not yours, but that's another issue, we should have made it clear that the moment the council started existing there was no more place for individual sentencing."
Daryl kept silent, the words the woman was saying being music to his ears. At least, someone understood, or wanted to. At least, someone made it clear why they should want Carol back, and why they needed to let her come back, not make her feel like she had to period. They had done her wrong, and she had forgiven them every time. Now that they were reunited, Carol had to decide if her forgiveness allowed them to travel together again, or if this was goodbye and closure on a painful moment in her life.
"So yeah, I want Carol back, even for ten minutes before I leave for D.C. If you're lucky enough and she goes with you guys, then you'd better be ready to make a heartfelt apology. I know I am," Maggie finished, looking in trance.
She took the stairs and got to the kitchen, where they heard muted voices. Daryl moved around as the door to the house opened, and he found a window, where he saw his woman walking side by side with Maggie. They didn't go far, and when Maggie made gestures for Carol to sit down, Daryl decided to give them their privacy.
"Maggie's not wrong," Carl said.
"I know, son. I know," Lazarus – Rick – said, defeated.
They spoke for what felt like hours but it couldn't have been that long. Maggie cried on her shoulders, saying it had been so much easier to believe Rick had done what was right when she hadn't been faced with the woman he had condemned to die, a woman she loved so much.
"It's fear, it's fucking fear. We were all cowering behind Rick, because he spoke out loud and made us feel like there was someone who knew better," Maggie said.
And she said she was sorry, before weeping.
They discussed many things, Carol's exile, Beth's death, Merle's arrival and more. They discussed what was next for the people in the house.
"I know it's none of my business, but I hope you will stay." Maggie finally said, before going back to the house.
Carol stayed under a tree for a long time, trying to think about what Michonne had said, and Maggie's speech. She also thought about Tyreese's forgiveness and she wondered how she fitted in in all of these.
Daryl tried to be discrete but she was too attuned to him and she heard him come a mile away, or so it felt. He stayed close, not too far from the rock where she was sitting yet giving her the space he thought she needed.
Truth be told, she would have welcomed his shoulder to rest her head. When she was in his arms, things didn't spin so fast around her, and her thoughts too focused on him gave her a respite from all that was plaguing her.
She thought about all those people she loved, still loved, no matter what had happened. She thought about Rick and wondered what was in store for them. Merle seemed to be a strangely calming influence on him, as he dared speak up and call him on his shit, if Maggie was to be believed.
Carol patted the space next to her and Daryl quickly sat down. When her forehead hit his shoulder, she was in heaven and she kept silent. He felt like home. Wherever he was was where she wanted to be, but he was letting her chose whether or not to join her old group again. However she kept saying of this old story, about a woman who became a pillar of salt when she looked back to her past, and she wondered if that could in store for her. Was the past a solution, or just a longing she felt? Could she see past Rick's betrayal? Maggie's words… They had been so heartfelt, so sincere… There had been no condemnation for what she had done, only a plea for her not to take it upon herself to save all their souls and take the blame on herself. Did she really do that? She wondered.
She thought about Judith, and how wonderful she felt with the baby in her arms. She thought about Carl who had been just a boy and had turned into a teen almost too quickly. She supposed his childhood had ended the moment he had had to put a bullet in his mother's head.
Grief had bounded them together, as well as hope for a better future. She still felt those. She still wanted something better for Judith, and maybe a chance at a better life for Carl. She wanted Maggie and Glenn to be free to have babies, and not wonder or worry.
After all this time, and all that pain, it seemed that they were all profoundly anchored in her soul.
She wanted Michonne to live. She hoped that Rick would be able to grieve and see what a wonderful woman he had in front of him, a woman who loved his children like they were her own. She wanted them all to be happy.
She took Daryl's hand, and they both got up, walking back toward the house. No words were necessary.
When they got in, everyone was in the cramped kitchen, and Carol cleared her throat once, commanding everyone's attention.
"We would like to travel with you guys again," she said, "but I don't want my past actions to be a Damocles' sword hanging over our head. If you don't want me back, please say so, and we will go our own way, no hard feelings."
She looked serene, but inside, she was shaking like a leaf, waiting to see if anyone would speak up or raise a hand. A full minute went by, then Merle yelled out happily:
"My little brother is back!"
"Fuck off, Merle", Daryl said, not thinking it one bit.
"You've come a long way since the quarry," Glenn told Daryl, and Carol thought that there would never be a stronger truth than that.
"So have you kid," Daryl finally said. "I thought it was a myth, but looking at you I see it's true. When you lose your virginity, it shows," he joked gesturing to Glenn's face.
"Hardy har har."
The group laughed then started talking destinations, and when to split up.
"You're sure?" Daryl asked her, in a whisper, but she could see that if she just gave him the vaguest hint, he was ready to pack their bags and get them far away from this.
"I'm sure. We'll make it work. Together."
"Am going to enjoy making Lazarus pay," he said with a grin.
And she laughed, before kissing his cheek happily.
THE END
Many thanks to all of who've read and reviewed this story, I will miss it!