Carolina in my mind

Chapter 55

"This is no time for your games," Rick huffed, staring at Carolina and half empty gallon of water the rest of them were passing around with a look of strong disapproval on his face. Carolina sneered back at him. She considered flipping her middle finger at him, then thought better of it.

"It's not a damn game," she countered. "It's the truth." Rick took another look at Carl, who was slurping down the potentially tainted water so fast it was bound to give him a cramp even if it wasn't poisoned. Then he opened his mouth like he was going to start in on the boy. But Carolina cut him off. "You don't believe me?," she asked, not waiting for an answer before she continued speaking. "I can prove it."

Carolina thought back to season one of the show. And then she started telling Rick everything she knew about him. It was actually quite a lot, considering he was the main focus of the show, especially for the first two seasons. Carolina knew the details of the shooting that landed Rick in the hospital right before the outbreak. She knew what happened when he woke up there, down to even the small details like what was written on the chained door he saw and the dead bouquet of flowers on his bedside table. Outside the hospital Rick saw his first walker, the little girl in her pajamas with a teddy bear. He met Morgan and Dwayne shortly after. Carolina knew what Dr. Jenner whispered to Rick at the CDC. She knew Shane reanimated after Rick killed him. Carolina could have kept going all day. But she stopped when Rick started looking like he was ready to vomit. He sat down on the dirt streaked pavement and reached for one of the smaller water bottles, sighing heavily before he twisted the top off and took a sip.

Carolina took a breath before she turned back towards the rest of the group. Their expressions were varied. Some of them looked as shocked at Rick, while others just seemed to find the whole situation entertaining. Maggie was the first to find her voice. She took a step towards Carolina, her face lit with a hopeful smile.

"Do you know what's going to happen when we get to Washington?," she asked. "When we get Eugene to where he needs to be… How long will it take before the walkers are gone and life can go back to normal?"

"Uh…," Carolina stuttered. She'd never been very good at controlling her facial expressions. And this was no exception. She was sure she was cringing with the bad news she was about to deliver. Now that she was finally telling the truth, or as much of the truth as she could tell, there was no point in lying about this. "None of that is going to happen," she admitted reluctantly. Carolina gave Eugene an apologetic look before she added, "...Eugene's not a scientist. That's all a lie he made up so Abraham would protect him and keep him alive."

Maggie's smile faltered. And then the expression on her face turned slowly from shock to absolute devastation. Carolina wiped at the tears she suddenly felt welling up in her own eyes before she offered the woman a quiet apology. Deep down, people had to know that the lie Eugene was selling them was too good to be true. They believed it because they wanted to believe it.

"That's not true!," Rosita said, her voice rising with emotion. "I've seen the things he can do."

One by one, people's attention and focus shifted from Carolina to Eugene as they waited anxiously to see what he had to say for himself. And Carolina wondered if he was just going to admit to his ongoing deception, or double down and accuse her of lying. The tension was growing thick. And people were starting to argue back and forth with each other, their voices rising with anger and frustration. Carolina took a few steps back when she saw Abraham heading in her direction with a crazed look on his face. Daryl intercepted the man before he could reach her. But it wasn't until the confrontation between them started to turn physical that Eugene finally hollered out above the raucous.

"I AM NOT A SCIENTIST!" His eyes were wide and he was breathing hard, his shoulders shaking with his efforts. "I just know things!"

"What do you mean, you know things?," Glenn asked. He gestured towards Carolina. "You know things like she knows things?"

Eugene shook his head. "I'm not blessed with the gift of presentiment. I just know I'm smarter than most people. I know I'm a very good liar. And I know I needed to get to DC."

"Why?," Maggie asked. Carolina wasn't sure if she meant why he lied or why he needed to get to DC. But he answered the latter.

"I believe that locale holds the highest probability for survival. And I want to survive," he explained. "If I could trick some people into taking me there, I just reasoned that I'd be doing them a solid too."

"People died trying to get you here," Rosita said, looking almost as upset and shocked as Maggie was.

Eugene rambled on for a little longer. But it seemed like most of them had stopped listening once he confirmed Carolina's announcement to be true. Abraham released his grip on Daryl's shirt and turned. People didn't seem to be paying him much attention. He was just sort of standing there looking dumbfounded. But Carolina was watching him closely. And she saw it when the muscles of his back and shoulders started to tense. His hands clenched into fists.

"He's going after Eugene," she hollered, rushing forward and attempting to get in Abraham's way herself. Carolina pushed back against his chest, urging him to calm down. She didn't want Eugene to get hurt. But that wasn't all. She knew that Aaron and Eric were watching them from somewhere nearby. And probably listening too. If they saw Abraham beat Eugene nearly to death, the entire group's get into Alexandria free card was about to be revoked. Abraham pushed her out of his way. Carolina stumbled back and fell, landing hard on her ass. But at least the fact that Abraham put his hands on her seemed to be enough to spur the other men in the group into action. Daryl was the first to grab him. Tyreese moved next, stopping the two of them from fighting by bear hugging Abraham and pulling him back. Rick hopped up from his spot near the water. And Glenn approached as well, hoping to keep the situation from escalating into further violence. Abraham struggled against them until the limited energy he had left in his body was gone. His body relaxed and he slumped to the ground, burying his face in his hands.

There was still a lot of tension in the air. But at least the worst of the outburst seemed to be over. Daryl approached Carolina and helped her up off the ground. He kept ahold of her hand once she was on her feet, tugging her towards the treeline and away from the rest of the group.

"Why didn't you tell me?," he asked, keeping his voice low enough not to be overheard by the rest of the group. His hair was shagging into his eyes. But Carolina could still see the wounded expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," she said, swallowing the hard lump in her throat. "It was making everyone so happy to believe we were going to save the world… I just…"

"Not that," Daryl corrected. "Why didn't ya tell me before? About you? Knowin' things ya shouldn't know?"

Carolina gulped again and looked down at her feet. That question was much harder to answer. She wasn't even sure what the answer was. She didn't tell Daryl about what she knew because she was afraid he'd think she was crazy. And like Eugene's lie, hers felt like it snowballed into a deception that was too big and too scary to reveal. Carolina tucked her hair behind her ear and tugged on the hem of her shirt to straighten it out.

"If I told you I'd been dreaming about you for years before we met, you'd think I was fuckin' crazy," she finally said. She kept her eyes on her boots, afraid of what she would see in his face if she looked at Daryl.

"Ya had dreams about me?," Daryl repeated. "For years?" His voice didn't sound as gravely as it had a moment before. Carolina flicked her eyes up, meeting his for just a moment before she went back to staring at her feet. "What kinda dreams?," he asked. Carolina swore his voice lowered a whole octave. And it was making the heat rise in her cheeks. She was blushing so hard she didn't have to look to know that even her neck and the tops of her breasts were flushed.

"You know what kind," she said, biting at her bottom lip before she forced herself to look up and meet Daryl's gaze. The sorrowful wounded look he had before was gone, replaced with a softer expression. Anytime he looked at her, it gave her butterflies in her stomach. But this was something else. Her nipples went hard inside her bra despite the muggy warmth of the air around them. And she felt a rush of heat between her legs.

Since her rescue from Grady, Carolina and Daryl kissed and held each other. They slept naked in bed together the night they stayed in Noah's old community. But she had sensed a definite change in the way he'd been touching her. He was extra gentle, like she was a baby bird in his hand that might die if he squeezed too hard. He was holding back and being very purposeful with his physical affection. Something he'd never done in all the time she knew him. But when Daryl reached for her this time, all his hesitation and self-restraint was gone. He grabbed her, pulling her body hard against his as he kissed her. She moaned softly into his mouth. And for a moment, everything around her disappeared. Neither of them heard the walker coming until it was almost on top of them.

Carolina shrieked and Daryl pulled his knife. But there was no need. The walker fell, collapsing in a heap at their feet to reveal the man that dispatched it and saved them from a possible attack. The man was dressed in a fresh looking button down shirt and a navy rain jacket. His curly hair was neatly cut and his face was clean shaven. He was quick to tuck his knife away and put his hands up, displaying his open palms so they knew he meant them no harm. Daryl started to lift his knife. But Carolina set her hand on his wrist, gently guiding his hand downwards towards the sheath on his belt.

"He's the one that left the water," she whispered.

"Hi, I'm Aaron," he said, giving Carolina and Daryl a nervous smile before he glanced over at the rest of their group.

"Hi," Carolina replied. She ticked her head to her left. "This is Daryl. I'm Carolina." She took a slow step forward, extending her hand towards him. Aaron smiled again. But this time it felt more genuine. He lowered his hand and reached for her, shaking it once their hands finally clasped together. Carolina returned his smile as she spoke. "Thanks for the water."