Carolina in my mind

Chapter 14

Carolina leaned back against the building, chasing the little bit of shade that was left there as she savored the cold drink in her hand. Unlike the adult members of his group, who were clustered together around the edges of the gathering, Carl was already running and playing with the other kids in town. One family managed to hold onto their dog during the turn, a large fluffy golden retriever. The kids were throwing sticks and tennis balls for it, laughing when the animal caught what they threw in midair.

When Michonne shouldered up next to her, Carolina did her best to hide the smirk on her face. She suspected the woman had been watching her like a spider, waiting to catch her alone. And now she knew she was right. The questions Michonne wanted answers for were clearly not ones she could ask in front of mixed company.

Glancing to her left, Carolina quietly observed the woman. Unlike the rest of the party attendees, Michonne looked more ready for a battle than a pig roast. Her sword was strapped to her back. And she was still dressed in the leather vest and combat boots she arrived in. Her attire was in sharp contrast to Carolina's t-shirt and strappy sandals.

"You gonna tell me what's really going on around here, or what?," Michonne finally asked. While her words were meant for Carolina, her eyes were fixed on the governor. He was slow dancing with Andrea despite the uptempo rhythm of the song that was playing. The corners of Carolina's mouth turned up. She told Michonne just a tiny truth about this place. And helped her get her sword back. So apparently, she was now placed in the category of people the woman didn't entirely loathe. Or at the very least, they were now on speaking terms. Carolina could work with that.

"It's not really a tell situation," Carolina admitted. "It's more of a show and tell." Her eyes scanned over the man Michonne was casting a hateful glance at, lingering on the keyring that was attached to his belt loop. "And if you want to see a show, we're gonna need the keys to his apartment."

The conversation between the two women came to an abrupt halt as Tyreese approached them. He had a friendly smile on his face that brightened slightly when Carolina smiled back.

"I was just wondering if either of you ladies might like to dance?," he asked, his eyes lingering on Carolina longer than they did on Michonne. Carolina smiled again, racking her brain for a polite excuse she could use to decline. But before she could even open her mouth, Michonne beat her to it.

"NO!," she barked, sending the poor man scuffling back a few steps. Her voice was so loud, even Carolina jumped a little. Tyreese lifted his palms in surrender before he turned on his heel and quickly headed back the way he came.

"That was rude," Carolina scolded.

Michone simply shrugged like she couldn't care less about her bad manners. Carolina shook her head at the woman, wondering if teaming up with Michonne wasn't her best idea. The woman was a total beast. But she seemed to be severely lacking in any sort of chill or discretion. Carolina sighed, reminding herself that Michonne was the one that took down the governor on the show. If Carolina wanted to rid the town of him, she was going to need her help.

"Let's go dance over near them and I'll grab his keys," Michonne suggested.

"No fucking way," Carolina argued, "I'm not dancing in front of all these people." Michonne cast a questioning glance at her. "I'm tall. My hair is yellow. When I dance I look like Big Bird."

Carolina flapped her arms slightly for emphasis. And when she did, Michonne's angry expression finally cracked. She didn't exactly laugh. But she definitely smiled. And her chest shook a little.

"How about you go apologize to Tyreese and ask him to dance," Carolina said. "Once you're over there I'll cause a distraction and you can grab the keys."

Michonne fixed her evil glare on Carolina. If looks could kill, she'd be dead. It was clear that Michonne wasn't any more eager to make nice with the man she just yelled at than Carolina was to dance awkwardly in front of the whole town. Carolina was surprised when the woman stalked off without another word, heading for Tyreese. He looked nervous at first, when he noticed her approaching. But soon enough he had his big grin plastered back on his face as he followed Michonne over to the area where people were dancing.

Carolina headed for the kids, leaning down to grab the ball they just threw when the dog came running back with it. She kept her body facing forward, but purposely threw the ball directly towards the dancing couples. The large furry dog charged in, knocking into people's legs with its body and whacking them with its big hairy tail.

"Sorry!," Carolina yelled, waving her hand and trying to look apologetic. No one really seemed to mind. Even the people that were taken by surprise when the big dog knocked into them were smiling. Carolina gave Carl the ball, joking that she better not have another throw.

Moving off to the side, Carolina gulped down the rest of her drink as she waited on Michonne, chomping on the bits of melted ice that were left in her cup. The song ended and while it was obvious that Tyreese was hoping for another dance, Michonne was shaking her head. Karen stepped forward, eagerly offering to take the woman's place as his dance partner. Michonne headed towards Carolina, opening her palm and displaying the stolen keys before she tucked them away into her pocket.

The two women left the party as quickly and quietly as they could, entering the building where the governor's apartment was. As they rounded the hall corner, Michonne grabbed her by the arm and pulled her against the wall. Carolina could hear her heart beating in her ears. But she could also hear quiet footsteps in the hall around the corner. Someone followed them inside. Michonne pulled her sword, grasping it in her hands as she waited for the spy to round the corner. Carolina backed up to give the woman room to maneuver but she was also shaking her head. They were just in the hallway right now. They could easily say they were just going to the bathroom. There was no reason to kill whoever was following them.

When the footsteps reached the corner, Michonne popped out. She had her sword up. But she quickly lowered it, rolling her eyes slightly. Carolina stepped forward, almost laughing when she realized that it was Carl that followed them into the building. He looked about ready to piss his pants too.

"What're you doing?," he asked, eyeing them with more suspicion than an eleven year old had any right to.

"Nothing," Carolina lied. "Just going to the bathroom. Go back to the party." She pointed him down the hall.

"You need that guy's keys to use the bathroom?," Carl asked. Carolina's mouth dropped open. And Michonne gave the boy a pointed glance. Maybe they weren't being as sneaky as they thought they were. "...if you take me with you, I won't tell," Carl offered.

"Fine," Carolina huffed, reaching over and grabbing Carl by the hand before Michonne could object.

"Keep quiet and keep up," Michonne warned. Carl nodded his head, excitement and curiosity sparkling in his dark eyes.

Before anyone else could pop out from around the corner, they hurried down the hall. Carolina took the keys from Michonne and ushered them all inside. It was her first time seeing inside Phillip Blake's apartment. She was relieved that it looked pretty much just like it did on the show. Because that meant she knew where his sicko trophy room was. Around the corner from the bedroom area there was a locked door. It looked like it was probably a large closet before the turn and he simply replaced the doorknob with one that locked.

Carolina shuffled through the keys. Finding the right one took her a minute. When she finally swung the door open, the room was pitch black inside. She felt around nervously, looking for a switch. Michonne found it first, flipping it. Instead of turning on an overhead light, like she expected, the switch lit up a large display of fish tanks that were stacked up against the wall. There was a recliner chair in the center of the room, facing the display. And inside the murky tanks were not fish but the heads of the men the governor had personally killed. Or some of them at least.

"Whoa!," Carl exclaimed, moving in for a closer look. "That's super nasty!"

Once Carolina got over her initial shock at actually seeing something so disgusting in person, she turned to see what Michonne's reaction to the governor's sick trophy room was. She looked like she was grossed out. Which Carolina expected. But it was also clear that seeing the decapitated heads gave Michonne a feeling of vindication. She liked getting confirmation that her instincts were sharp and she'd been right in her distrust of the man that ran this town.

"What the fuck are you two doing?"

Carolina spun, letting out a little yip when she realized that Merle had snuck up on the whole lot of them without making so much as a peep. He eyed Michonne with caution as he stepped closer and peered into the room for himself.

"What the fuck is that!?," he cursed. Merle moved past the girls, approaching the creepy display. "Is that Garcia?," he exclaimed, his eyes widening slightly as he obviously recognized one of the heads in the tanks. "The governor said he got caught in a herd." Merle leaned in closer, confirming that he recognized the man's decapitated head. Then he turned back towards Carolina. "We need to get the fuck out of here. Right fucking now," he urged. Pushing Carl in front of him, he shooed the boy out behind the two women and slapped the door shut behind them.

The keys were still dangling from the lock where Carolina left them. She elbowed Merle out of the way, opening the door and reaching into the room to switch the light off. Then she shut the door and locked it, pulling the keys out and stuffing them into her pocket. They were halfway across the room when the doorknob of the door that led out of the apartment began to rattle.

"Shit!," Carolina hissed.

Michonne reacted the fastest, grabbing Carl and darting into the bedroom area. She hit the floor and rolled under the bed, pulling the boy in behind her. Carolina and Merle glanced at each other. There was nowhere else to hide. Everyone wasn't going to fit under the bed. They were going to get caught.

"Get on the bed," she squeaked, jerking her shirt off over her head before she shoved Merle to get him moving.

Stripping her bra off, Carolina tossed it on the floor and jumped on Merle's lap. She was facing him with her knees on either side of his hips. And she could feel him starting to laugh when she pressed her mouth against his. They were still going to get caught. But they'd be in a lot less deep shit if the governor caught them fooling around on his bed than if he knew they were snooping around in his deranged trophy room.

"What in hell?" The governor stopped in the middle of the room, blinking his eyes like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing in here?," he asked, though he could plainly see what they were doing. Carolina spun halfway around, doing a half assed job of covering her bare breasts with her arm. She could see from the expression on the man's face that while annoyed, he also seemed to think the situation was sort of funny. Which was for the best. Because that meant he was probably buying their little act.

"Looking for beer," Merle quipped.

"Did you find any down her pants?," the governor asked him, raising his brow.

Carolina buried her face in Merle's neck, her body shaking with laughter. Once she regained some form of control she pulled the stolen keys from her back pocket.

"You might have dropped these," she said, jingling the governor's keys in the air. He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, clearly trying not to laugh. Then he grabbed her shirt and bra from where she dropped them and tossed them towards his bed.

"Whatever nonsense the two of you are doing," he ordered, pointing towards the door. "...take it somewhere else!"

Carolina hopped up, turning her back to him as she quickly redressed the top half of her body. She placed his keys in the governor's hand on her way out, watching as he shook his head at them. Once they were in the hallway, the door was slammed shut behind them.

"That was quick thinkin' sugar," Merle said, pulling her in for another kiss.

"Michonne and Carl are still in there," she said, casting a worried glance behind her as Merle led her down the hall.

"He won't stay in there long with the party goin' on," Merle assured her. "They can just wait until he leaves and sneak out." Carolina hesitated, but after a moment's indecision she followed Merle towards the building exit.

Inside his apartment, Phillip Blake was still shaking his head at his closed door. He knew he really ought to impose some sort of punishment upon Carolina and Merle. Sneaking into his apartment was a serious offense. But the truth was, Merle was really too valuable for him to rock the boat too much with the man. Especially when the only thing he was guilty of was acting foolish. Maybe he'd assign the man to a few night watch shifts. Merle hated working night watch. Because if he was working on the wall, he wasn't at home in bed with his girl. A few nights of that ought to get the point across. If Merle wanted to sleep with Carolina, he better do it in his own bed.

"Hey there," Phillip said, unlocking the dark room where he kept the heads of those that disrespected him. He flicked in the light. Moving inside, he turned his back on the tanks and unlocked the second door, releasing Penny from the small room he kept her hidden in. She charged out, hissing and snapping. But he knew she didn't mean it.

"I'm sorry you can't go to the party," he told her. "Maybe next time. After Milton finds a way to help you remember who you are." He gripped the back of her sweater, releasing the small leash he used to keep her restrained. Walking the girl into the main area of his apartment, he spoke to her again. "I can only let you out for a few minutes this time, sweetheart. If I'm gone too long, people will notice."