Daryl and I stared at each other for a moment, before continuing eating. I was, in fact, quite worried about Rick. But, I didn't want to express that worry in front of Carl. He had enough to deal with as it was. Saying something about his father would only add to that worry, and I didn't want to be the one to throw that weight on his shoulders.
After we cleaned up around the block, I walked over to where Carl was sitting. He was sharpening his knife as I plunked down beside him. Giving me a sideways glance, I saw the corners of his lips tug upwards slightly, and I forced a smile. Pulling my knife from my belt, I held it by the blade, handing it over. Carl stopped sharpening his knife, looking over at me.
"You mind?" I asked, holding my smile.
"No." He gave me a smirk, taking the knife.
"Thanks..." I wasn't sure what to say to the kid, so I leaned my head back against the wall immediately regretting doing so. My head was tender from before, and I winced slightly at the pain. As the scraping noise of my knife being sharpened drifted through the air, I saw someone leaving the room. Hershel was walking towards the door Rick had come from, and then disappeared back into. Daryl stopped in front of him, and the two exchanged words. Dixon walked away after a few seconds, coming my direction, while Hershel continued on through the door.
"Hershel's gonna go check on Rick." Daryl informed, stopping in front of where we sat.
"Should I go with him?" Carl asked, standing up.
"Nah... Let Hershel talk to him. Need you for somethin' else, anyways." Daryl replied, holding out his hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. My head throbbed for a moment, but I just gritted my teeth and dealt with it.
"What?" Carl asked, handing over my knife. I grabbed the smooth handle and secured it back into my belt.
"Go down into the prison, take a look 'round. Make sure Carol's not still down there, holed up somewhere." He said quietly. The look on his face told me that he thought she was dead. Nodding, I turned to Carl.
"Searchin' partners?" I stuck out my hand, remembering that day, so long ago. We had been searching for Sophia, and when the church failed, we had split up. Rick, Shane, Carl, and I had trudged off into the woods, but before we had left the church grounds, I had asked him those exact words.
"Searchin' partners." Carl took my hand and shook it, a little smile coming over his face. Feeling satisfied at that smile, I squeezed his hand, before letting him go. We followed Daryl across the room, picking up our flashlights. I had my gun and my knife, ready for whatever was to come. Oscar joined us and we left the block, heading down into the tombs again.
"Be careful!" Maggie called from the cell door. I turned and flashed her a thumbs up, but her face held nothing but concern. We had all been on edge since the attack, and with Lori's death in front of our face, then finding out T-Dog was dead and Carol missing... It was all too much to process.
But that was the way it was now. It was the way things happened. You didn't get to process things anymore, grieve the proper way. People die, bad shit happens, and you have to move on. Because, well, what other choice do you have? If you want to keep yourself alive, you learn to be sad for a moment, then try your best to push it all away. Keep it somewhere in your head, learn to remember the good times and best not dwell on the bad.
"Check it out, man," Oscar's voice pulled me from my thoughts as he stopped, raising his flashlight at the door in front of us. It was moving, barely, like something very weak was pushing against it. "We must've missed it last night."
"It's probably just one or two of 'em." Daryl mumbled, stepping towards the door. He began fiddling with the door. "Don't look like they got much fight...They ain't goin' nowhere. We'll take care of 'em on the way back." Walking towards Carl, he let out a little whistle. I followed behind the two, and Daryl looked at Carl. "Come on... You know, my mom... She liked her wine..she liked to smoke in bed.. Virginia Slims." Daryl looked behind a door.
"Virginia Slims?" I made a face.
"Yea... I was playin' out with the kids in the neighborhood, I could do that with Merle gone... They had bikes, I didn't." Daryl kept talking as we walked, Carl and I silent. "We heard the sirens gettin' louder.. They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know. Hopin' to see somethin' worth seein'..." He checked behind another door. "I ran after 'em, but I couldn't keep up... I ran around the corner, and saw my friends lookin' at me. Hell, I saw everybody lookin' at me. Firetrucks everywhere, people from the neighborhood.. It was my house they were there for. That was my mom in bed, burnt down to nothin'. That's the hard part... You know, she's just gone. Erased. Nothin' left of her... People said it was better that way... Huh, I dunno. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, ya know?"
"I shot my mom." Carl stopped walking, and I wanted to just reach out and hug him. "She was out, hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real... Sorry about your mom."
"Sorry 'bout yours." Daryl said, grabbing Carl's shoulder gently. "Come on." The two kept walking, and I followed, blinking back tears. He's such a good man... Such a good man. I kept my eyes on the two in front of me, feeling pride swelling up inside of me. Despite everything we had been through, our character remained, and that gave me hope.
"Oh, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Oscar's voice made me jump, and I turned to see him disappearing into one of the cells. Walking quickly over to the cell, I stopped short, rolling my eyes playfully. "Hmm... Yea, buddy!"
"The hell you need slippers for?" Daryl asked quietly, his face curious. I almost laughed.
"You know, end of the day, relaxin'." Oscar was looking happy as hell, but the snarl of a walker made me reach for my knife. Before I could react, the walker had an arrow through it's skull, along with three or four bullets.
"All right." Daryl let out a breath, looking at Carl.
"Geez, way to be quiet, geniuses." I teased, narrowing my eyes in a playful glare. We walked over to the walker, Daryl shining his light on the body.
"Must've been in the cell at the end." Oscar looked down at the corpse. I noticed something odd, and leaned down to get a better look, but Daryl beat me to it. "We checked everywhere else." Oscar's voice floated around my ears, but I barely noticed it. My eyes were focused on the knife protruding from the walker's lower jaw. That knife... Daryl pulled it out, looking at it.
"That's Carol's knife." He said, his voice caught somewhere between quiet and disbelief. He wiped the knife off, and looked over the wound. He compared the knife to it, almost as if he was trying to figure out how Carol had stabbed the walker. "Oscar, why don't you take 'em back up to the block.."
"What? Why-" I started to protest, but Daryl cut me off.
"Just go." He said sternly. Swallowing hard, I tried to figure out what was happening. Following behind Oscar and Carl, I glanced back to see Daryl just standing still, staring off in the other direction. Looking back ahead, we walked along the tombs, and I could only see Daryl's face in my mind.
He thinks Carol's dead.. It hit me as we kept walking. He might act tough, but he needs me. We need each other, he ain't gotta do this alone. I had Maggie and Carl... I ain't lettin' him do this alone. I stopped, and turned away from the two, heading back the way we had just came from.
"Spencer? Hey!" Oscar's voice stopped me. I turned back toward him, trying to offer a smile.
"Can't leave him." I shook my head.
"I... Go." Oscar nodded. "Go."
"Thank you." I whispered, jogging back down into the hallway we had just exited. Sprinting through the halls, I stopped short when I saw Daryl sitting on the ground, his back against the wall. He was stabbing at the floor with his knife, his head hung. The door across from him was moving, a dead walker blocking it. Chink...chink...chink. The sound of his knife against the floor hit my ears, as I stepped closer. "Daryl.." I said his name quietly, letting him know I was there. He said nothing, just took a deep breath. I could hear that door moving still, and I knelt down in front of him.
"Spencer-" He said my name in a growl, and I backed away as he slammed the knife back against the wall twice. Standing up, he kicked the door across from him hard, and began pacing. Deciding it was now or never to be that comfort, I walked up to him. He tried to turn, but I grabbed his arm, forcing him to face me.
"If she's in there..." I grabbed his face with my hands. "If she's in there, you ain't gotta do this alone. Daryl... You don't.. I'm here, baby. I'm right here." I whispered, and he calmed down for a moment, just standing still in front of me. His hand ran over mine, and I could feel him pushing my hand harder against his face.
"Get back." His voice was calm, and I let him go, stepping back against the wall. Putting the knife between his teeth, he grabbed the fallen walker on the floor that was blocking the door, and grabbed the door handle. Swinging it open, he went to lunge at whatever was inside, but stopped.
In the dim light we had, I saw a head turn, and I wanted to let out a little yell. Carol was sitting against the wall in the little room, dirty and bloody, but her eyes... Her eyes weren't filmed over with that grayish cloudy look. They were tired, but they were alive. Daryl reached down and grabbed her chin, getting a good look at her. Grabbing her up off the floor, he picked her up in his arms.
"I'll bring up the rear, go!" I nodded, pulling my gun. Daryl and I took it slow through the halls, making our way out of the tombs. He never even stopped to rest, and I felt every part of my spirits lifting, just knowing that we had found her alive. We had all thought she was dead or a walker, one. I had accepted that, preparing myself to never see her again.
Once we reached the cell block, I grabbed the keys from Daryl and unlocked the big cell door. After he walked through, I locked it back, and hurried over to the cell he had entered. Laying Carol on the bed, she looked up at us with surprised eyes. I gave her a weak grin, and I laughed, bending down to hug her. She hugged me back, and when I raised back up, I ran out of the room.
Running over to our supplies, I grabbed a bottle of water and unscrewed the lid. My hands were shaking and I felt like I had just won the lottery. We thought she was dead, but there she was, alive. Carol is alive! I couldn't believe it, but I knew it was real. Walking quickly back into the cell, I handed her the bottle. "Drink it slow."
A commotion in the prison made my head jerk over to the door way. I could make out Rick's voice barking orders. Looking back at Daryl, he nodded toward the door. We left Carol to drink her water, jogging over to the big door and leaving the cell area. Once out of the block, we could see Rick on the floor, leaning over someone.
"Rick!" Daryl called out to him, and the sheriff looked up as we entered the room. "Who the hell's this?"
"You wanna tell us your name?" Rick asked the mystery woman. I watched her with curiosity, as she glared at all of us. "You wanna tell us your name?" She was silent.
"Y'all come on in here." Daryl instructed to the others.
"Everything all right?" Rick asked, looking back at us.
"You're gonna wanna see this." Daryl replied, his voice like a little kid.
"Go ahead. Carl, get the bags." Rick waited for Carl, holding up the stranger's sword. "We'll keep this safe and sound. Door's are all locked, you'll be safe here. And we can treat that." He pointed at her leg.
"I didn't ask for your help." She finally spoke, looking angry.
"Doesn't matter." Rick walked toward us. "Can't let you leave." Daryl locked the door behind Rick, and we led him down the block toward the cell. Upon reaching it, Rick looked at Daryl questioningly, then inside the cell. Carol sat up, and Rick's face broke.
She stood to greet him, and I saw that smile that had been gone for so long return. He grabbed her in a big, warm hug. "Thank God." I heard him mumble, as the two embraced. I grinned, grabbing Daryl's hand. He glanced over at me with a smirk, allowing me to hold onto him for a bit.
Hershel grabbed her next, asking "How?", and Carol mumbled something against his neck. They hugged, and I squeezed Daryl's hand a little tighter. He gave me a squeeze back, and his hand felt warm holding mine. Warm and loving, something that I never could get use to, but I wanted it more and more all the same.
"Poor thing fought her way into a cell." Daryl spoke up. "Must've passed out.. Dehydrated."
"Oh... Oh.." Carol put a hand to her chest at the sight of Beth holding the baby. Then her face changed, as she glanced around and noticed someone was missing. She looked back at Rick, who nodded his head. I could hear Carol crying, as she grabbed his face. "I'm sorry.." She whispered, and I saw Carl on the verge of tears.
It was an emotional moment. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Sam was beside me. I shook my head, leaning to rest it on his shoulder. Daryl still had my hand tight in his grasp, and I wondered if he even realized he was still holding on so tight. Sam stayed at my side, and we watched as Carol looked at the baby. Rick gave Daryl a thankful look, and in that moment... It felt like we were whole again.
Okay, so I am trying to make up for lost time ! Updates are hopefully going to be as frequent as possible now that I got my new charger ! Daryl and Spencer are the cutest, right ? Maybe they'll get some more love scenes soon, despite all the craziness. We have finally entered Michonne ! I am so excited about that, she is fricking awesome.
Don't forget to go follow me on twitter, kailabrittFF, I am gonna be posting a lot of FanFic stuff that has to do with my stories, not to mention, I tweeted my pics of Chandler and I, and Norman and I from the walker stalker con. Which was an amazing experience last year. Can't wait til this year !
As you all know, you guys are so crazy awesome. All of the reviews/follows/favorites/reads on this story have been amazing. My traffic graph for this story is amazing. So I would like to say thank you to everyone who has stuck out this story with me and enjoys what I write. I cannot wait to get further into the 3rd season, and I especially can't wait to write about the 4th. Thank you again for being such great readers ! So freaking cool, you guys.
~Kaila