Breath puffing through the downpour was the only thing that stood out. The tracks were disappearing but that didn't matter. They weren't far ahead. Walking was becoming tricky with the mud and roots reaching out to trip someone not watching. The smell of smoke was thick even through the rain and you could almost see it fighting the oncoming fog like a beacon.
Careful steps and watchful eyes for more than just walkers the smoke lead the way. Rain soaking through to the bone only pushed harder. The cold didn't really settle in when you were so focused. Anger, desperation, and so much more mixing and rolling in the pit of your stomach. Watching so many of your people die was like a movie scripted for you behind your eyelids. Every blink was like a rerun to the screams and gunfire that tore the night apart.
The night moved quick and before realization- a tucked away cave stood just a few feet away. Smoke whispered out at this point, the fire having died down after hours of not being built back up. Eyes staring intently a slow malicious smile spread as the fire flickered enough to show to prone bodies.
Merle kept a close eye on his brothers knowing both were feeding off the others anger. Mac was close to splintering and Daryl was close to going off the rails. Carol wasn't no better but he didn't claim to know her as well. Andrea did and she was watching Carol closely. After Carol snapped at his brother earlier he wasn't sure what was going to happen. For a brief second he'd seen something flicker in Daryl's eyes but just as quick it was gone. Daryl was always the sweet one and he knew his brother brushed aside her comment just as quick as it'd spilled from her mouth. The regret was in Carol's face and he knew she'd seen that flicker as well.
"Merle." Andrea's voice was low. When he met her eyes she was watching Mac. He was bristling visibly. His shoulders tensed and his fist clenching and his movements jerky. "We'll catch up."
She stepped around him before could say anything, catching his brother's bicep and stopping him. Mac jerked roughly almost slinging her to the ground. His jaw was working and the motion alone sent pain through Merle's jaw. His eyes were almost charcoal black, soaked in rage, and burning like a low stoaked coal fire. He wanted to grab Andrea and set her back from his brother because he knew that look. That look meant blood and unrestrained violence for anyone daring to get close to him. Andrea wasn't having it though and he watched quietly as she forced him to stop walking. She wasn't back down from him but instead her own hackles were raising.
Daryl turned from more than twenty feet ahead and his eyes went straight to Mac. Daryl tilted his head and Mac looked over his shoulder. That same look was in Daryl's eyes and Merle braced himself for what was in store. Mac nodded slowly and Daryl turned without a word his eyes going back to the hunt like a bloodhound.
Carol was keep just to his right less than a foot behind him. Daryl wasn't holding on to her physically but every shift of his body kept her within his sphere of easy movement. Rubbing a hand over his face, he hoped they found the kids soon. He'd stopped having to swallow around the sick feeling in his stomach when he thought about what could have happened. Because whatever did happen didn't fucking matter. They were Dixon and Dixon's didn't break to the whims of some pussy ass motherfuckers. Sophia wasn't weak. Whatever she'd been before Daryl found her died in those woods. Died the second Rick Grimes abandoned her and his brother stepped out of the brush to save her. Since then he'd seen her grow by leaps and bounds, coming out of her shell and becoming a little hell cat.
Daryl stopped suddenly and inhaled deeply. Merle lifted his eyes and searched for whatever he'd sensed. Nothing was jumping out at him and he looked back at Daryl. Daryl whipped out a lighter and struck it- the flame flickered but the second it settled Daryl was off. Merle watched him as he followed the wind and that's when it hit him. Smoke.
Daryl wasn't moving though and Carol kept shifting on her feet. Bouncing from foot to foot. Merle stepped closer to her and stilled her. Daryl was tense and his eyes were everywhere at once. He was rigid and turned to look at Merle.
"Get Mac." His voice was harsh, "Now."
With that him and Carol moved. They faded through the trees and went where the smoke was visible. Merle cursed but turned and sprinted after his other brother. He wanted to slap Mac upside the fucking head but knew it'd do no good. Andrea was right to stop him.
Coming to a halt Mac looked up at him and that was all it took. He spun Andrea and through her forward. When they got closer to where the smoke was he could hear raised voices. Pushing harder as his chest burned from exertion, he made it to the cave in time to see Sophia and Brian both, but wasn't sure what he was really seeing. Neither was moving and he blinked rapidly at the sight between Carol, Daryl, and some strange woman.
Carol's chest heaved as she raced after Daryl. He was moving faster than her and wasn't waiting. She didn't want him to wait. Something was wrong. All wrong. She could read it in the lines of his body and it set her blood on fire and a fierce need to protect her daughter and Brian was roaring through her.
When she caught up to him she was there in time to see a someone turning towards him. Barking voices were all she could make out but no words. Her blood was rushing to hard for much else. Sophia was just there. Right there- but she wasn't moving. Neither was Brian. That need that'd been burning before was like a ring of fire now and she forced herself to breathe so she could focus on what was happening.
"Back the fuck up." Daryl snarled.
The woman looked at him absently, "Did you think that their deaths would be free?"
Carol bristled and circled but the woman made a point to keep her from getting behind her. She moved as they moved. Daryl was clearly the bigger threat and Carol realized that she tensed every time he moved. She was afraid of men. Not that she shouldn't fear what was standing before her. Daryl looked like he'd climbed straight out of hell, like the devil himself sent him after her. His eyes were a shade she'd never seen and his teeth were bared. His eyes kept flickering to his nephew and Sophia. A dangerous glint striking like kindling within him as neither moved or stirred. Given the chance she knew that Daryl was going to snap this woman's neck without a though. He looked like he was ready to do just that despite her having a gun aimed at the kids and her brandishing a knife. She wasn't stupid but she was outnumbered. Carol licked her lips and she could taste blood, she knew it was her own from forcibly biting her tongue. Her eyes kept going to the kids but still they didn't move.
Merle, Mac, and Andrea were there now and still the woman held her head high like she had a last chip to play. She smiled at them and Carol stepped closer. Daryl's eyes shot to hers but she ignored him. Something cold was replacing all that fire in her. She felt no remorse and no sense of shame for the things she was thinking. She didn't need a weapon.
"Why are you after them?" Merle questioned.
Her eyes turned to Merle and they flashed with steel. "Eye for an eye." She laughed, "You took my people, I'll take something just as precious."
"You were with those men?" Andrea sounded disgusted. "Those rapist, murdering pigs?"
The woman stared at Andrea and sneered as her eyes swept over her. Carol inched forward again that coldness seeping into her bones and chilling her further. Everything about her was frigid and it felt like each step had ice cracking and shifting over her skin. Daryl shook his head at her but still Carol moved.
The woman would have been pretty in the old world. Maybe even now she could be but it was clear she'd been rode hard and put up wet, put up broken. Something was missing in her. Something that Carol wished to god she'd never lose but would be willing to destroy every ounce of herself for her daughter.
"Those men were mine!" The woman barked, "What they done was nothing that I didn't want. You think this world is free? I seen what happened to those who didn't acclimate to how things are now! Everything has a price. I'm setting on a gold mine! You think its a free ride? I bet you spread those thighs for these men. And what do you get in return? Safety!" Her voice broke at that but the steel never left her eyes. "THEY WERE MINE!"
Her voice echoed and shook around them. A noise to Carol's right had her wanting to look over but she knew it wasn't either of the kids. She didn't dare look. Movement though had her shifting and readying herself for a walker. She'd kill that motherfucker then kill this bitch.
Daryl's eyes widened suddenly looking behind her and Carol stared at him. A rumbling noise behind her had her tensing. That was no walker. Everyone paused, not even a breath stirring as the sound grew and then a loud scream tore through the air. Carol barely had time to register what was happening when suddenly the woman started screaming. Carol lunged forward but Daryl caught her around the waist lifting her off the ground and stepping backwards.
Xena was latched on to the woman. Fighting tooth and nail. Screams, snarls, hisses, and tearing was the only sounds around them as the bobcat went to work. The woman was fighting but the full grown bobcat had turned out to be on the bigger end of the spectrum and was merciless. When the cat finally released her she was limp and gasping, her eyes wide and locked onto Carol.
Daryl finally let her down and Carol moved. Kneeling over her, Carol pulled her knife and the woman's eyes were wide. Pleading. Xena was hissing and growling close by, yowls echoing and rumbling through their chest.
With a quick movement she drove the knife up through her sternum and a wet gasp escaped. It was no longer pained and the sound of her sucking fluid was now mixing with the issuing threats from the cat.
"They're mine." Carol snarled, low. Her own threat rumbling.
She stood then leaving the woman to drown in her own blood. Mac moved then and Carol had barely a second to realize what he was doing. His boot came down hard and a sickening crack echoed. His boot came down over and over on her skull. No one dared touch him as he bellowed.
Carol turned then to her daughter and Brian on the ground. Xena was pacing and around the pair and Carol swallowed. Xena didn't look like she was prepared to let anyone near the pair. Inching closer she prayed the she didn't attack her. When the cat fuzzed up and stepped over Sophia, Carol stilled. Daryl huffed and moved then. Xena never did take to her.
Daryl was there and his hand went to both of their throats. When he let out a breath and nodded his head. Carol shivered. That cold was still in her body and watching as he checked to see if her daughter was alive was almost too much for her.
"They're alive." Daryl looked over his shoulder, looking at her and Mac. "We got here in time."
Carol looked at her daughter and sunk to her knees. Daryl started rousing them even as Xena yowled and paced. Merle was dragging the body of the woman away. Mac was next to his son and dodging swipes from the cat. Andrea was standing guard, her eyes on the woods. She wanted to see her daughter's eyes, she needed her to wake up.
Brian groaned, his head lolling to the side as Mac started nudging him more towards wakefulness. His eyes were blinking slowly and Carol let out a breath seeing the clear blue and felt a sob building in her throat. Mac didn't wait before he drug him up into his chest and fell to his ass. Brian's arms went around him.
Daryl looked up at her and Carol moved closer as Xena laid next to Sophia. When Carol got there her breath rushed out of her at the sight. She was in rough shape but was breathing. When she looked up she was met with open eyes and tears rolling down her daughter's cheeks. Sophia hiccuped and Daryl pulled her up.
"Mama."