Carolina in my mind

Chapter 18

Carolina lifted the gun, trying to position her arms that way Merle explained. She used her left hand to support her right hand as she stared down the barrel. He moved in, helping her adjust her stance and reminding her not to lock her elbows. When Merle stepped behind her to help her aim, he rested his hand on the curve of her waist. His bad arm was dangling down next to her.

While they were unloading the supplies into the prison, something must have caught on one of the hinges of the metal sleeve Merle was wearing and bent it. Because suddenly, Carolina was being stabbed in the ribs with something sharp. She squealed, squeezing down on the trigger of the gun unintentionally. The gun went off, scaring the fucking life out of her. Carolina dropped the gun to the ground and screamed. She scrambled backwards in a panic, nearly toppling both her and Merle onto the ground.

"What in the fuck," Merle cursed, snatching the gun up off the ground. "Pay fuckin' attention ta what the hell yer doin'!," he hollered.

"You pay attention!," Carolina snipped back, jerking her shirt up. "Watch where you're swinging your bullshit Captain Hook!"

The sharp spear of metal didn't break the skin. But there was a red mark where she'd been poked with it. To be fair, it scared her more than it actually hurt her.

"M'sorry," Merle said, stepping forward and rubbing his thumb over the scratch on her ribs as he tried to fight back his smile. "Didn't mean ta stick ya. Not with that anyway." Carolina snorted and shook her head. She'd believe his apology more if he wasn't laughing at her.

Merle handed her the gun back, indicating that she ought to return to her shooting lesson. Carolina sighed as she got back in position. This time Merle stayed next to her with his hand on the small of her back. He actually wasn't as horrible a teacher as she expected. When she missed her first few shots, he encouraged her to keep trying.

"Yer doing good," he observed. "Yer hitting low, lead yer target a little."

Carolina did as he advised, aiming slightly higher than the bottle she was trying to hit. When she pulled the trigger again, the glass exploded. Carolina squealed in excitement. Turning, she threw her arms around Merle and kissed him hard on the mouth. Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing with the gun and she accidently fired it. Again. And this time it went off right behind his head. The bullet flew off harmlessly towards the prison yard. But the sudden loud bang frightened them both. Merle snatched the gun from her hands and took a deep breath. Carolina could tell he was well past irritated with her. And she gave him a sheepish grin, deeply appreciating the fact that he desperately wanted to yell at her again and was trying his best to keep his temper under control. He paced back and forth a few times. And took a few more deep breaths. Then he turned his attention back to her.

"Next lesson," Merle announced. "Gun safety."

By the time she was done with her lessons, Carolina felt confident enough to keep her new gun in a holster attached to her hip. She was still missing her targets as often as she was hitting them. But at least she didn't accidentally shoot herself. Or Merle. She managed to take down two of the prison yard walkers that shuffled in, attracted by the sound of gunfire. Making a headshot on a moving target was so much harder than they made it look on the show. Carolina was pleased with herself.

The ride over to the cabin didn't take long. But it took them almost just as long to unload the few things they brought there as it had to unpack and carry the entire arsenal into the prison. They had a long day. Both of them were tired. And hungry. Carolina pulled a can of chicken soup and a box of crackers from the cupboard, heating the soup up in a pan on the small electric burner before she poured it into two bowls to cool off.

"We should just stay the night here," she suggested hopefully.

Carolina knew Woodbury was more secure. The place was well protected from the dead. But the cabin still felt safer. Mostly because they were out from under the governor's watchful eye. And to be honest, she felt super awkward doing the dirty with Merle while Daryl and Carol were in the next room trying to sleep. She'd rather stay at the cabin. Where she could enjoy her guilty pleasure in privacy.

Merle smashed his crackers into his soup, looking for a moment like he was thinking about giving in to her request. Carolina couldn't remember sleeping at the cabin with him. Not all night at least. But it was obvious from the way the place was set up that they had. Probably lots of times.

Merle scraped his chair back from the table, favoring her with a wicked grin. Lifting his hand, he beckoned her closer. When Carolina rose from her chair, her soup forgotten in the bowl, he patted his thigh, encouraging her to sit on his lap.

"I'll smash you like a bug," she warned, moving close enough to rub her fingers through his hair. Merle grabbed the waistband of her jeans, pulling her down onto his lap and holding her there.

"Yer not that heavy," he teased.

"You really know how to make a girl feel special," Carolina joked back, dipping her head down to give him a lingering kiss. "Does this mean we're staying the night?" Merle pulled her down for one more kiss before he shook his head.
"Not tonight sugar," he lamented.

From his tone, Carolina could tell that Merle would much rather forget everything that was going on and disappear with her. But he couldn't. Not with Daryl back at Woodbury alone and Rick planning a possible coup against the governor. Merle pulled her tight against his chest one more time before he whacked her ass and shooed her back off his lap.

"Better eat," he told her, "...or yer gonna be hungry later."

Carolina smiled as she slid back into her seat. The canned soup was bland, even with the salty crackers in it. But after hauling all that crap around all day, she was hungry enough that she didn't really care. Merle was done eating long before her. But he stayed at the table, sipping at a glass of water until she was finished.

It was late enough in the day that the sun was starting to disappear into the horizon. Carolina leaned back against the seat of the truck, watching the sky change colors and thinking that maybe life in the apocalypse wasn't so bad. But then she saw something that made her jerk to attention in her seat. There was smoke rising up into the sky. A lot of it.

"What's wrong?," Merle asked. She pointed out the windshield towards her right.

"There," she explained. "Something's on fire."

Carolina didn't have the best sense of direction. But from the way Merle hit the gas, she could only assume that the smoke was coming from Woodbury. Carolina shivered, suddenly remembering that the governor set Woodbury on fire. But on the show, he did that after most of his people were already dead and Woodbury was abandoned. Carolina didn't think he would light the town on fire while people were still living there. Especially since he had no reason yet to even suspect that they were plotting against him.

Carolina's mind was spinning. Maybe she screwed up the timeline when she brought Rick and the others into town. Morgan died. And if he died, anyone could die. Even people that weren't supposed to die might be at risk. Something might happen to Daryl.

"Can't you drive any faster?," she asked, quickly buckling herself in as Merle stepped down harder on the gas pedal.

As they drew closer, it became more obvious that the smoke was coming from Woodbury. But it was also getting lighter in color, which Carolina hoped meant the fire was already extinguished. No one opened the gate for them, even when Merle honked the horn. So he pulled the truck up next to the makeshift barricade. Carolina stepped out, climbing into the truck bed, onto the roof of the truck cab, and finally over the wall. She wasn't agile by nature. But she was tall enough with long enough legs and arms that it wasn't hard for her to scramble over the top of the barricade. As she headed down the ramp from the platform, she saw Shumpert running in her direction.

"I was coming," he said, stopping and gripping his side as he gasped for air. Carolina waved him off, moving to open the gate herself. She waited until Merle pulled the truck in before she shut and latched the gate.

"I'm glad you guys are back," Shumpert exclaimed, finally breathing more like a normal person. "Someone lit the fucking town on fire. We got it put out. But the governor wants everyone in the arena so we can do a headcount."

Carolina's eyes widened. And she grabbed for Merle, digging her fingers into his arm. Nothing good would come from gathering everyone in the arena.

"Go ahead," Merle said. "We'll be right there." Shumpert shook his head.

"We gotta go now," he urged. "The Governor doesn't want anyone wandering loose around town right now. We don't know who started the fire." Merle nodded his understanding, which seemed to convince Shumpert. But Carolina saw the deadly look in his eye. She immediately released her grip on Merle's arm, resting her hand on her gun instead.

"Hey," Merle said, ticking his head slightly to the left and gazing over the larger man's shoulder like he saw something of interest. "Here he comes right now."

Shumpert turned, expecting to see the governor approaching. In one smooth motion, Merle whipped out his gun, blowing the man's brains out the back of his head. Carolina gasped, covering her mouth with her hand and fighting the urge to scream. There was so much blood. Shumpert slumped to the ground, a bloody hole in his face where his eye should be. It took her a moment before Carolina realized that Merle was talking to her.

"Take the keys," he ordered, shoving the truck keys into her hand. "You wait right fuckin' here for me. I gotta find little brother." Carolina realized she must have been giving him a blank stare, because Merle gripped her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Carolina! Ya hear me?"

"I hear you," she finally said, forcing herself to look at Merle instead of the man whose brains he just blew out. "Stay by the truck," she added, repeating his words. Merle seemed to be satisfied with that. Because he nodded and took off down the street in the direction Shumpert just came from.

Carolina took a step back, not wanting the man's blood to spread any closer to her. She knew she'd seen lots of people get shot on the show. But the whole 'did you hear that little birdy' scene was a whole lot less funny when blood from the man Merle shot literally back splashed onto her shirt. She took another step back. And another. And then she fished in her pocket for her cigarettes and lit one. Carolina got about halfway through it when she heard gunfire coming from the other side of town.

Carolina had every intention of staying by the truck, like Merle told her. But then she saw Hershel step out of the medical center, turning towards the loud popping noises. When the group came to Woodbury to rescue Maggie and Glenn on the show, people like Hershel that couldn't run or fight stayed back at the prison. Now they were here. Baby Judith was in the infirmary. She wasn't even a week old yet. And Lori was with her, still weak from the blood loss and recovering from surgery. Hershel couldn't run with only one good leg. Carolina couldn't just leave them here to die. She tossed her cigarette to the ground, stomping it out with her boot. Then she skirted around Shumpert's body and started running towards the medical center.