Carolina in my mind

Chapter 62

Daryl's arm was stretched across the back of the front porch swing. Carolina sighed, relaxing and letting her body rest against his as she tried her best to remember everything she could about the wolves. They weren't exactly a governor level big bad. From what she could recall, they were a nomadic group that operated sort of like human locusts. They survived by finding communities. After they killed the people that lived there, they would consume whatever food and resources the people had stored away. And then they would move on. She didn't think they were very well armed. They relied on the element of surprise, not brute force.

"They'll ram a truck full of walkers into the tower or the wall. While we're dealing with the dead, they'll attack," Carolina said. Most of the show storyline with the wolves involved Morgan. And he was already dead, shot of the building by Merle back before they fought the governor for the first time and won. So none of that was going to happen. No one was going to let them escape with a gun or keep one of them tied up in an attempt to rehabilitate him back into a normal person. All life was not precious. People that acted like the wolves, the evil was always there inside them, even before the turn.

"Are they comin' loaded?," Daryl asked. Carolina let her head loll against his shoulder, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck before she answered.

"Not well. Molotov cocktails. Hatchets and knives. Shit like that. As long as everyone here is armed and ready for them, we'll be fine."

"We're gonna have to talk to Deanna," Michonne said. "...about the guns."

Carolina nodded as she smiled at the woman. Michonne was sitting on the porch railing with her back against one of the tall columns that held the porch roof up. One of her long shapely legs was hanging down on the other side of the railing, swinging slightly as she knocked her heel against the slats. She was pretending that the only reason for her presence on the porch was to discuss the town's security issues. But Carolina suspected there was another reason her friend was outside. She'd placed herself in a strategic spot. The one that gave her the best view of Alexandria's entrance gate. Tyreese wasn't back from his construction site job yet. Michonne was waiting for him. It was actually really cute. But Carolina wasn't going to say so. Because she didn't want her ass kicked.

"If she don't start seeing reason, we might hafta do this another way," Daryl said. Carolina felt his arm press more firmly against her back, his hand curling around her shoulder. She snuggled closer to him, resting her hand on his thigh. He smelled like grass and sunshine and the best kind of man sweat. She preferred it to the smell of soap and laundry detergent that they all seemed to reek of now that commercial washing machines and hot showers were readily available. And she had to admit, she liked Daryl's thinly veiled threat. Even though she knew he probably had no real intention of taking the town by force, he still sounded badass.

"Maybe the murdered woman you found today will be enough to convince her," Carolina offered. All this time they were spending arguing with Deanna was a total waste. The woman wasn't going to be around much longer anyway. And while Carolina didn't have anything against her, she didn't have much interest in sticking her neck out to save Deanna either. Especially when she was being obtuse and causing most of her own problems.

Michonne's casual posture suddenly changed. Carolina didn't think anything of it at first. She assumed Tyreese must have gotten home. But when she realized Michonne was staring in the opposite direction of the gate, Carolina rose to her feet to see what the excitement was. She glanced over at Rick's front porch. Lori was standing at the top of the stairs. She had Judith balanced against her side, her other hand resting on her hip. Michonne thumped Carolina with the back of her hand and pointed across the street.

"Oh hell," Carolina whispered. "This is about to be good." She kicked at Daryl's feet with the toe of her boot. "Go make some popcorn," she joked. He swatted at her, laughing when she turned in a way that gave him better access to her backside instead of jerking away. Daryl didn't jump to his feet the way Carolina did. But he shifted his body and glanced over his shoulder, curious to see what they were staring at.

Rick was standing near the open garage door of a house across the street. And nor just any house, Jessie's house. He was speaking to the woman in question. Carolina couldn't hear what they were saying. But it was obvious that Rick had no idea Lori was on their front porch watching him. Because he was standing closer to Jessie than he needed to be. And touching her on the shoulder.

"That's the woman Rick was talking to at the party," Michonne whispered.

"Ooooh," Carolina cooed, "...he's about to be in troooouble."

Daryl looked back and forth between Carolina and Michonne before he offered up his unsolicited opinion on the matter. "Y'all both better just mind yer own damn business."

Carolina watched as the conversation between Rick and Jessie drew to a close. He touched the woman on the arm again. And then she hugged him. Carolina's mouth dropped open. She's lucky she's not hugging my man, she thought.

Rick was about halfway back across the street when he noticed Lori. She was still standing on their front porch, staring absolute daggers at him. He paused for a moment. Then continued on, walking up the stairs and past Lori into the house. She was hot on his heels. Damn, Carolina thought. She'd give just about anything to be a fly on the wall in that house right now. The windows were open. So there was still hope that they might at least get to hear some of the well deserved business Lori was about to give her husband. But instead of a fight, the front door opened again. Lori stepped back out onto the porch, this time without her young daughter in her arms. Then she stomped down the stairs and started walking across the street.

"Fuck yeah!," Carolina exclaimed.

Lori moved forward into Jessie's personal space, poking her finger into the woman's chest. Carolina couldn't hear everything Lori was saying. But she definitely heard the words whore and slut being used liberally. Jessie stepped back. And Lori moved forward, pushing the woman. Jessie stumbled back and slammed into the weird metal sculpture she'd been working on in her driveway before Rick showed up. The whole thing toppled over with a giant crash. The metal pieces clanged together. Carolina heard the sound of glass breaking. Jessie looked down at her destroyed artwork. And then she pushed Lori back.

Carolina followed Michonne down off the porch. By the time they got across the street, Lori and Jessie were on the ground in the driveway ripping and clawing at each other. Carolina put her arm out to stop Michonne, holding her back to let Lori get a few more swings in. But when Jessie managed to roll on top of her, Carolina let go and moved in. She was acting like her intention was to stop the fight. But it was possible she might have pulled Jessie's hair a little harder than necessary when she drug her off. Michonne helped Lori to her feet and moved, positioning herself between the two women.

"Let go of me," Jessie barked. Carolina shrugged, jerking her hands off the woman as fast as she could. Since Jessie was struggling against her grip, the sudden release sent the woman flopping back down onto the pavement. "Bitch," she cursed.

Carolina snorted as she stared down at Jessie. She was going to leave well enough alone. But if the woman wanted to start some shit with her, she would be more than happy to go a round and a half with her. Carolina waited until Jessie had almost managed to scramble back onto her feet before she gave her a swift boot to the side of her hip. Jessie fell again. And this time she fell into the metal sculpture mess. It made a loud racket that thankfully drowned out most of Carolina's laughter.

"Who's the bitch now?," Carolina taunted.

Carolina was so busy laughing at Jessie that she didn't see the woman's drunken husband coming at her until it was too late. She felt the hard pinch of his fingers on her arm. Carolina struggled against his grip, nearly gagging from the fumes that were coming off him. He reeked so strongly of alcohol, she had no idea how he was still standing. Carolina backed away from him. But since Pete was still holding onto her arm, she sort of pulled him along with her across the driveway. Michonne grabbed a long piece of flat metal, part of Jessie's stupid statue. She advanced on the man, swinging hard and hitting him directly in the center of the back. He yelped and fell forward, knocking Carolina down into the grass and flopping down on top of her.

"Get the fuck off me!," she hollered. Not only was having an aggressive man on top of her freaking her out, he also smelled god-fucking-awful. Carolina brought her knee up, aiming for his dick and slamming him in the inner thigh instead. The blow still made the air woof out of him. But it didn't knock him off her.

Carolina didn't see him coming either. But suddenly, Daryl was grabbing the man that was pinning her body to the ground with his. Carolina assumed Daryl was just going to drag him off her. To be fair, Pete did grab her. But that's all he really did. He was only on top of her because he fell on her. And he was drunk as shit. Daryl jerked the man back, grabbing his arm and snapping it like a twig. Pete screamed in pain as Daryl forced him backwards and tossed him in the opposite direction. He landed hard, his face scraping against the cement driveway as he held his arm against his chest and howled.

"Oh shit," Carolina gasped. She reached for Daryl's hand, pulling herself up onto her feet. Once she was standing, she kept a hold of him. What was a slightly messy but still funny incident between Lori and Jessie was very quickly turning into a full on disaster. Daryl already broke the arm of the town's only doctor. Carolina didn't want him to get himself into any more trouble on her account.

"What on earth is going on here?"

Carolina turned, cringing a little when she noticed it was Deanna that was talking. The woman was standing on the sidewalk, gaping at the scene in front of her like she was watching a circus freak show. There were still a few people filling in behind her, so at least she just arrived and hopefully hadn't seen Daryl snap this drunken asshole's arm in half.

"Did you break his arm?," Deanna asked, pointing at Pete but directing her question to Daryl. Oops I guess maybe she did see him, Carolina thought.

"Yeh," Daryl spit. "...and if he ever lays another hand on her, next time it'll be his neck."

Before Deanna could respond to Daryl's threat, Pete rolled onto his side and vomited up what looked to be at least a full bottle worth of cheap spiced rum. The smell of it was so overpowering, even his own wife backed up. If there was anyone left in town that didn't already know he had a drinking problem, they were now fully aware. Deanna raked her hands through her hair, clearly unsure what to do about the situation. Finally she waved her older son forward.

"Will you take him to the infirmary please," she requested.

Spencer and another man stepped forward, preparing for their attempt to get Pete onto his feet. It was obvious that they weren't eager to touch him in his current condition. Before they could make a grab for him, the ground shook under their feet. There was a giant crashing bang that sounded almost like two cars got into a high speed crash right outside the gates. This was followed by the sound of a semi truck air horn. The loud blast didn't stop. It continued on, like the horn was either stuck or something was pressing down on it.

Carolina grabbed Daryl's hand, tugging him across the grass as she headed towards the armory. "It's them," she shouted, her voice ringing out above the loud blare of the horn. "The wolves. We're being attacked."