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I watched as Daryl and Maggie rode out of the grounds, smiling at how determined he was to make sure that the baby would survive.
Carl tugged on my sleeve, making me look at him, "My dad...what's wrong with him?"
I turned to look at Rick and saw he was staring straight ahead. Slowly I moved over to him, crouching down so I was in his line of sight but he didn't respond.
It was as if he was looking straight through me.
"Rick?" I asked quietly, waving my hand in front of his face, "Rick?" I turned to Hershel, "I think he's gone into shock. He-" I fell back as Rick stood abruptly, grabbing an axe on the ground before storming back into the cell block.
"Rick!" Glenn called after him, moving to go after him but I grabbed his arm, shaking my head, "He needs some time."
He frowned but nodded.
I looked around and it was then that I noticed that Carol and T-Dog were missing.
"Where's Carol?" I asked quietly, not sure if I wanted to know the answer and Beth looked down at the little girl in her arms, I had my answer.
Glenn wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder and I looked down, unable to stop the tears that fell.
**************************
We were sat in the canteen area of the prison when Daryl and Maggie rushed through the doors.
Maggie handed Beth a tub of formula while Daryl took the baby from me, rocking her back and forth.
Beth quickly made up the mix in the bottle before handing it to Daryl and he gently pushed the tip of the bottle into her mouth, smiling as she started drinking. "You like that sweetheart? Little Ass Kicker," he looked down at Carl, "She got a name yet?"
Carl shook his head, "Not yet. I was thinking maybe Sophia? Then there's Carol too. Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Patricia or...Lori, I don't know."
I smiled, "Well, Little Ass Kicker has quite a nice ring to it."
Everyone let out a small laugh before they left to do their own thing, while I stayed with Daryl, sitting down on one of the seats, "How are you?"
He looked down at me confused, "What're you talkin' 'bout?"
I rolled my eyes, "About Carol. I know you two got close after everything with Sophia."
He looked down at me and I could see at once that his eyes had become guarded, not like thay had been a few moments ago.
I didn't really want to cause an argument so I shrugged, standing up, "If you do need to talk, come find me."
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The next morning, everyone went down to the small section of the inner field that we decided we'd use to bury any bodies that belonged to our group.
Even though we hadn't managed to recover their bodies, we still made wooden crosses to make sure we wouldn't forget Lori, Carol and T-Dog.
Everyone started to leave and I couldn't help the tears that started to stream down my face as I kneeled down in front of Lori and Carol's plots, thinking about how much the two of them had done for me and I had to put my hand over my mouth to try and silence the sobs.
I stood up again, moving back so I was standing beside Daryl, he was the only one who was still standing there.
Suprising me, he wrapped me into a tight hug, resting his chin on top of my head as I cried into his chest, pulling away after a few short moments and I watched as he pulled a Cherokee Flower from his pocket and placed it on Carol's grave.
As we started walking back up to the building, we were met by Glenn and Maggie who said they were going on a run for more baby food and any other supplies they could find.
"Where's Rick?" Daryl asked, running his hands through his hair.
"Don't know. Down in the tunnels somewhere. Hershel said something about a phone." Glenn answered.
"Maybe I should go find him...it doesn't sound like he's stable." I said quietly, mostly to myself.
Daryl shook his head, "No. Give 'im some time. C'mon, we'll go get Axel and Oscar then we'll go start cleanin' out the bodies. If we see 'im, you can talk to him then."
Nodding, I followed him into the prison where we split up to look for the two prisoners.
***********************
The tunnels looked like a bloodbath. I placed my hand over my mouth and nose as we walked past the pile of rotting bodies.
In amongst the entrails, I could see the familiar yellow fabric of T-Dog's shirt.
I hadn't realised that I had stopped until Daryl's hand slipped into mine, pulling me away.
"Don't look." he whispered, tugging me into a clearer spot. Letting go of my hand, he looked around, "Alright, Axel and Oscar, you two take the corridor that we just came through. Lily and I will take this one and Carl will keep watch. We don't want to be caught off guard by anythin'."
Carl...he was coping well considering what he was going through. He was quiet but I guessed that it was his way of dealing with things.
I ruffled his hair, "C'mon. Let's get this over with."
We followed Daryl into our assigned corridor and it was almost as bad as the one we had just came through.
I tucked my knife into my boot before helping Daryl drag one of the walkers towards the exit and as we were dragging, I noticed a knife protruding from one of the walker's heads. A very familiar knife.
I dropped the feet I was carrying and walked over to it, crouching down to examine the weapon more closely.
"What the hell?" Daryl hissed, coming up behind me.
I looked up at him, "That's Carol's knife."
We both looked around for any sign that she was here but couldn't see anything. Then I noticed the metal door in front of us.
Daryl pushed me behind him, looking back at me as if asking if he should open it.
I nodded hesitantly, not knowing if we wanted to find out what was behind the door.
Before he opened it, he bent down and slowly slipped the knife from my boot and then cautiously, he started to pull the door open.
"Oh my god!" I gasped.
Carol was curled up in a ball, eyes closed and not moving.
"Move." I breathed, pushing Daryl out of my way.
I pressed my fingers to Carol's neck, checking her pulse.
"Is she alive?" Daryl asked quietly.
Smiling, I nodded, "Yes but she exhausted and dehydrated. We need to get her back."
Without another word, he hoisted her into his arms and we quickly headed back to the cell block.
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