Carolina in my mind

Chapter 30

Both she and Sasha were on guard duty. But Carol noticed that had not stopped Daryl from continuously entering the guard tower with one lame excuse after the next. Each time he came up, he stared out through the binoculars. Whatever he claimed to be looking for, be it turkeys or deer or signs of danger, they both knew what he was really doing.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon," Carol said, knowing full well that she wasn't really sure of anything. Michonne and Carolina had been gone for four days and counting. Carol shuddered at the thought of what might happen to two women out there alone. There was a good chance they might never come back. And since they left without a word to anyone about where they were going or why, there was no way to even search for them.

"I said I was lookin' fer turkeys," Daryl huffed. He shoved the binoculars towards her with more force than necessary. Turning on his heel, he stomped almost all the way down the stairs before Carol hollered for him to come back,

"Daryl! Oh my god! I think that's them!"

For someone that claimed to be bird watching, Daryl flew back up the stairs with surprising speed. He shaded his eyes from the sun, looking out toward the only unblocked road that led into the prison. Carol was right. The sun glinting off her blonde hair made Carolina easy to spot even at a distance. She was perched on the back of a dark brown horse, leading a few more unsaddled horses on leads behind her. Michonne was riding parallel to her, holding the reins of a lighter, more reddish horse. She had two more horses tethered behind her. A young colt was keeping close enough to the larger of the two that a lead rope wasn't necessary.

There was a large tractor chugging along behind the women, pulling a packed wagon. With the sun reflecting off the glass, Daryl couldn't tell who was driving. But since the two women left alone, it was a fair guess that even if he could see the tractor's driver, Daryl wouldn't know the person anyway. And he felt a sudden pang of jealousy, wondering if it was a man that Carolina and Michonne brought back with them.

Just the far glimpse of her was enough to make his heart leap in his chest. But when Carolina trotted her horse close enough to the gates that Daryl could see her face, that's when his stomach started rolling like he'd just indulged in a night of heavy drinking. Her hair was falling down over her shoulders in full glossy golden waves. And the way her curves were bouncing with the movements of the horse under her already had him feeling like he needed to adjust his pants. It was impossible not to picture her as he'd seen her last, completely bare and parting her thighs so he could lower himself down between them. Daryl swallowed the spit that was accumulating in his mouth and nervously adjusted his crossbow.

"I thought you were looking for turkeys," Carol teased.

"Shuddup," Daryl grumbled.

Daryl gripped the handrail, ignoring Carol's almost silent laughter. He'd barely been able to sleep, knowing Carolina was out beyond the fences by herself. But now that she was back, he had no idea what to say to her. Or even if he ought to say anything at all. He wasn't even sure if she would lower herself to speak to him again after his display of sexual inadequacy. Even after three days alone in the woods and another three waiting on her to get back, Daryl still felt ready to die of embarrassment. He was convinced that Carolina must be comparing him to Merle in her mind. A man that, in the true fashion of younger brothers the world over, Daryl felt he could never even begin to live up to. Especially when it came to women. Daryl wasn't deaf. He heard the noises coming from inside their cell. He laid awake on his bunk and heard his brother make her come over and over. What the hell was he doin' ta her in there? And not only had Daryl failed to get the job done even once, he shot his shit and took off running. Like a rutting animal.

"Aren't you going down to say hello?," Carol asked. When Daryl's only response was a firm "Naw" she shrugged her shoulders and handed him the binoculars. "Suit yourself." Carol chirped. "I'm going down to see the horses."

Carolina swung down off her horse, smiling as she warned the kids to stay back from the baby horse. It's mother was justifiably protective over the small spindly legged animal. And Carolina hurried to release her from the lead rope so she could corral her baby away from the forming crowd of onlookers.

Tyreese was the first to approach them, pulling Michonne into his arms the moment her feet touched the pavement. She allowed the contact for long enough that Carolina could tell she secretly liked it, before wriggling away to glare at him. When the scene started to become awkward, Carolina scooted in to get a hug for herself from the big man.

"Who's this?," he asked, releasing Carolina much faster than he released Michonne. Tyreese gestured towards Bob, giving the man a curious look.

"Oh," Carolina squeaked. She forgot everyone didn't already know Bob. In her mind he was already part of the group. "This is Bob," she explained. "Don't worry, he's cool."

Bob shook Tyreese's hand when the larger man extended it to him. But it was obvious that he was focused on the woman that was hovering behind Tyreese rather than on the big man himself. Carolina bit back a grin as Tyreese introduced his sister. To help her new friend out, Carolina decided she might as well sing his praises to Sasha. "Bob's an army field medic."

"Was," Bob corrected. "I was an army field medic." Sasha didn't seem as eager to welcome the man as her brother was. But she did take Bob's hand when he offered it. Instead of shaking it, he brought his other hand down on top of hers, gently sandwiching her hand between his. "But if I'd known I'd be surrounded by beautiful women in prison, I might have taken up a life of crime instead."

Michonne rolled her eyes and Carolina busted up laughing as Sasha snatched her hand back and wiped it off on her pants. Luckily for Bob, Tyreese found him funnier than his sister did. And the two of them headed towards the prison door together so Tyreese could show him around. Carolina started giggling all over again when she heard Bob check with Tyreese to make sure Sasha wasn't his wife. Tyreese looked back at them over his shoulder, smiling at Michonne before he informed Bob that Sasha was his sister and that he was in fact 'with' Michonne. Michonne glared after him with her mouth hanging slightly open, making Carolina laugh even harder.

"Quit looking so damn grouchy," Carolina suggested. "At least someone around here is getting laid tonight."

Michonne turned her sour look in Carolina's direction, which only made her laugh harder. Michonne gave the woman a few light rabbit punches in the arm, before effectively changing the topic of conversation to the large above ground pool they hauled out of the feed store and brought with them. Carolina figured they could put some fish or turtles in it and use the water to fertilize the gardens or maybe get some sort of hydroponics system going. But before that happened, she figured the kids would enjoy a swim. The only people left in Woodbury after the governor's attack were the ones that couldn't fight. Which meant the prison group recently gained an influx of children and old folks.

Like she expected, the kids were practically buzzing with excitement at the promise of a swim. The good vibes caught and Michonne and Carolina quickly gained an influx of adult volunteers that were happy to help set the pool up for the kids. And before long, it was all put together and slowly filling with water that was being pumped up from the creek. There was only one thing left to do.

"I'm gonna go put my suit on," Carolina said, smiling over at the kids. The ones that were young enough not to care were already stripping down to their underpants, ready to leap in a splash around even though there was only about a foot of water in the pool. "You're swimming too, right?," she asked, bumping Michonne's body with hers. She didn't want to be the only grown person outside in her bathing suit.

"You're damn right I'm swimming," Michonne confirmed. She didn't haul this stupid million pound pool out of the feed store and all the way back here just to stand around and watch the kids play.

The two women fell in step together as they headed for the large wagon Bob pulled in behind the tractor he was driving. Carolina hauled herself up inside, tossing Michonne down the bag of things the woman brought back for herself before she grabbed her own duffel and headed into her cell. The plates of uneaten food had been removed. But everything else was as she left it. Carolina braced herself for the sight of Merle's neatly folded belongings among her mess. She tossed her bag down on her bunk and quickly lifted the whole stack, placing it on her top bunk towards the wall before she lost her nerve. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with Merle's stuff. But she was relieved that it was now in a spot where she didn't have to look at it every time she turned around. Carolina still felt his loss. But it was nowhere near the crushing grief she allowed to consume her immediately after his death.

Carolina was pulling on a pair of denim shorts over her coral colored bikini when she heard a rap on the bars of her cell. She buttoned her shorts as she gave whoever was outside her curtain permission to enter.

"Hey," she said, unable to stop a beaming smile from spreading across her face.

When Daryl didn't even come down from the guard tower to greet her, Carolina naturally assumed he was still upset with her. She shrugged it off, deciding that whether or not Daryl got over what happened was on him. She'd never run after a man in all her life. And she wasn't going to start now. But looking at him standing near the doorway of her cell with his chiseled arms on full display, she thought she might just be willing to power walk.

"Hey," Daryl said, lifting his hand to his mouth and chewing on the side of his thumb. Carolina wasn't sure what sort of reception he was expecting when he entered her room. But it seemed like how happy she was to see him there had thrown him off.

"Did you miss me?," she teased. The way his eyes were raking over her body was starting to make her blush. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips and she could feel her nipples going hard against the fabric of her suit. And her previous idea of blowing Daryl in lue of an apology was sounding better and better in her mind.

"I was worried 'bout ya," he admitted. "Ya shouldn't take off like that and not tell anyone where yer goin'."

Daryl admitting that he was worried about her gave Carolina a warm feeling in the center of her chest. And she slowly drifted across the cell, closing the distance between them until her arms were wrapped around Daryl's waist and her body was brushing up against his. She'd be more than happy to tell him where she was going from now on. Where she was going and when she was coming. She wasn't sure if he would be able to hear her though, not with her thighs pressed against the sides of his head.

A sharp rap on the cell bars made both of them jump. Carolina started laughing when she heard Michonne on the other side of the curtain telling her to hurry her ass up. Sliding her hand down from Daryl's waist, Carolina gave his ass a firm squeeze as she whispered into his ear.

"To be continued…," she teased, knocking a rough kiss to his cheek before she darted out of the cell and away from him. The sound of Carolina's laughter echoing off the cement prison walls made him smile. And Daryl took a few deep breaths, willing his body to come back under his control so he could follow her outside.