Carolina in my mind

Chapter 49

Watching that car drive away with Carolina inside nearly broke him. But knowing the woman was just inside the hospital building across the street and not being able to get to her was its own special kind of torture. Daryl volunteered to stay up and keep watch while the rest of his group slept. He knew he was never going to be able to sleep anyway. Not until they had her back and he knew she was safe. The night passed slowly as he paced back and forth in the abandoned parking garage. His eyes flicked repeatedly towards the window that Michonne signaled them from with the small compact flashlight she snuck into the place by tucking it into her bra.

"Have you been up all night?," Rick asked, scrubbing his face with his hand as he approached from the stairwell. Daryl answered with a tick of his chin and an affirmative grunt, waving the man away when he offered him a granola bar.

"Eat something at least," Rick urged, "...you're no good to us if you can't concentrate." Daryl responded with another grunt, this one laced with irritation. But he did compromise and take the granola bar from Rick's hand, ripping the crinkly wrapper open and taking a large angry bite. It felt like sticky sand in his mouth and Daryl had to take a few sips of water before he managed to swallow it down.

"Are the kids a'right?," Daryl asked. After much discussion and arguing, they decided to keep the group together as they made their way into Atlanta. There was danger in the city. But there was danger everywhere. And no one was eager to split the group after how long they just spent trying to find each other again.

Rick stashed Lori and the kids on a different level of the parking garage. The weird scientist that everyone seemed to think had the ability to save the world was down there with them, along with the young hispanic woman that was acting as his personal bodyguard. Daryl didn't really know her well enough to trust her yet. But Carol stayed to help Lori with the kids. And that eased his mind. People underestimated Carol. She was tougher than she looked.

"They're good," Tara assured him, holding out her canteen when she saw that Daryl was tipping his up to drain the last few drops out.

"Carl is still pissed that we're not lettin' him help," Rick said, his lips twitching up into a slight grin as he shook his head. "I didn't know he was so close with her."

Daryl fought the urge to snort in disbelief. He knew Rick spent the last few months distracted by the multitude of personal problems between himself and his wife. But he'd have to be completely dense not to see how much all the kids liked Carolina. They followed her around outside, always wanting to help her with whatever task she was working on. Which meant they were usually following him as well, by default, because he was with her. Daryl never spent much time around kids before. And he was surprised by how much he enjoyed their silly questions and the funny way they had of saying whatever was on their minds even if it was rude or stupid as can be.

"Let's get this done," Daryl said, almost as eager to change the subject as he was to set their plan in motion. "Ya ready?," he asked, directing his question to Noah. The boy nodded, gripping the gun in his hands with as much false bravado as he could muster.

Noah waited until everyone was in place. The plan was simple enough. And they'd gone over it many more times than necessary. All Noah had to do was head out into the street and start shooting. The gunfire would attract the attention of the guards that spent the last few days hunting for him. And once they spotted him, he was going to lead them into the parking garage where the rest of the group was waiting to ambush them.

Daryl felt like a string that was stretched so tight it might snap at any moment. But for once, the plan actually went the way they planned it. And about fifteen minutes after Noah started shooting at random walkers in the street, Rick and Abraham had all three wannabe cops restrained with their own handcuffs and leaning against the side of the car they were planning to force Noah into.

Daryl fingered his crossbow as he looked their hostages over. One of them was a woman, which surprised him a little. Not that life hadn't taught him that women could be just as cruel as men. But if these rent-a-cops were snatching women off the street and holding him prisoner somewhere, he didn't expect that they'd have other women helping them. And he wondered why this particular woman was wearing a security uniform instead of being held in a room somewhere. The other two guards were both men. One was black and one was white. But other than that they looked about the same with their buzzed heads and matching uniforms.

"Is she alive?," Daryl hissed, stepping closer to the darker skinned man.

"He means Carolina," Noah explained, hovering behind Daryl and waiting eagerly to see what the man was going to do. When Carolina described her boyfriend to him, Noah pictured him taller. But other than that, Daryl seemed to be every bit the apocalypse anti-hero she described. Noah felt slightly in awe of the man. And he couldn't wait to see what Daryl was going to do to the band of self righteous assholes that killed his dad and held him hostage for over a year.

"Is that the black woman with the dreads?," the female guard asked. She did her best to avoid the female wards. It was easier to look the other way if she didn't have to actually look at them.

"She's the tall blonde," Noah corrected. He thought about saying the tall blonde with the big chest. Everyone would know who that was. But Noah wasn't sure if Daryl would appreciate his girlfriend being described that way.

"Oh," the woman replied, "...you're her people?" The female guard glanced to her right, the corners of her mouth twitching up slightly as she glanced at the lighter skinned and more burly of her two companions. "You're in deep shit now," she announced.

"What the hell do you mean?," Daryl growled, stepping closer to the small group of hostages. He slung his crossbow onto his back, pulling out his hunting knife instead. The woman looked scared. But her male companions looked absolutely terrified.

"I never touched her," the black man said, squirming nervously as he tried to put as much distance between himself and the angry redneck as he could.

"Both of you shut the fuck up," the other guard hollered, looking in irritation at his companions.

"Fuck you Licari," his female companion spit back. "I knew you and the rest of those perverts would get what was coming one day. I just didn't think it would be today."

Licari, the man she was talking to, was taller and heavier than Daryl. But that didn't stop him from jerking the man to his feet and slamming him back against the side of the car. Daryl held his knife up where the man could see it.

"What the fuck did you do to her?," Daryl barked. He was gripping the front of the man's shirt so hard that he could hear the fabric ripping.

"Nothin'," Licari said, his voice shaking. "She's fine. We were just having a little fun with her. No harm done." Somewhere behind him, Daryl heard Maggie gasp and begin to weep. He had a white knuckle grip on his knife. And he was trying to decide if he wanted to spill this asshole's guts out before he killed him or after. The hint of pleading in Rick's voice cut through the fog just in time.

"We need him alive so we can trade him and get the girls back. He's worth nothing to us if he's dead."

"He's right," the female guard said. "Dawn will trade you your people to get us back. But she won't want to negotiate with you if she knows you killed one of her guards." The woman paused, exchanging a knowing glance with her other companion before she added, "...I guess it's a good thing Licari here got killed by rotters while he was trying to grab Noah."

Daryl stared down at the woman, taking a moment to assure himself that he heard her right. She lifted her brow and tilted her head slightly, almost as if she was as eager as he was to see the man that hurt his girlfriend pay. Daryl glanced back over his shoulder. Rick had backed off and he gave Daryl a shrug. That was all the permission he needed.

Daryl grabbed the guard he was holding against the side of the car and knocked him to the ground. Since the man had his hands pinned behind his back, there was no way for him to protect his face. Daryl kicked him in his mouth first, sending a few of his teeth clattering across the concrete. Daryl aimed for the man's crotch next, kicking him over and over in every part of his body until he felt some of the fury recede. Then he knelt down and cut the man's throat, making sure he would still turn since scum like that didn't deserve to even be put down properly. There was blood on Daryl's boots and splashed across the front of his pants when he leaned down and spoke to the remaining two hostages.

"Unless ya wanna end up like yer friend, ya better start helping us get our people back."