For the Love of a Woman

Chapter 20

Karl and Daryl walked the corridor slowly. The right hand tunnel walls weren't as tight so they were able to walk side by side.

"So you've been down here since yesterday morning?" Daryl asked.

"Yep," Karl confirmed. "If I didn't have food and water on me, I'd probably be in worse shape than I am now."

Daryl had noted the limp. "How'd you hurt it?"

"Damn, trap," Karl said.

Daryl grunted.

"I made it to the spot you found me and sat down there after it happened. Was resting pretty good to until you called the walkers out. Damn things practically came out of the walls a couple of feet away from me. Fighting with a twisted ankle is not ideal – or a fuzzy head. How's your head?"

After Daryl had tossed his cookies, the drunk feeling had disappeared, but his head was killing him. "I got a hell of a headache but other than that I'm fine."

"I got some aspirin in my bag. Well, homemade, but it works pretty good," Karl said.

"Nah. I should be all right in a few minutes," Daryl said. "I don't usually keep headaches long and . . . no offense but I'm a little wary about taking anything else from someone around here that I have to ingest."

Karl chuckled. "I understand. If I ever see that damn sorceress and her adoring priestesses again I'm going to kill em'."

"Get in line," Daryl grumbled.

They walked in silence for a few moments. "So, you're in here because you tried to scale the wall?" Daryl assumed he was the guy Captain Mills put in the tomb yesterday morning.

"Well, not exactly," Karl mumbled. "You see, I made the fatal mistake of falling in love. We had only been together for three months before King D'artagnan spotted Wendy in town. Liked how she looked. The next day I go to her house, she's gone. Her neighbor told me that the palace soldiers came for her. Packed up some of her things and took her to the palace. It took me a month to infiltrate that place. Knocked a guard out from behind took his clothes and entered the place. I found her on the south side of the castle – as part of D'artagnan's harem," he bit out.

Daryl listened intently.

"A whole wing for his concubines and she's one of them. I told her that I was there to save her," Karl said and then scoffed. "A long story short, Wendy refused to come with me. She said if she left they would either find us or we'd be on the run on the outside and that's not the life she wanted to live. And as much as she cared for me, she wasn't willing to struggle on the outside with death waiting at every turn. Wendy lives a good life in the palace. She wasn't going to give that up for me."

Daryl felt bad for the guy. He could tell it cut him to the bone.

"I left before someone figured out that I wasn't supposed to be there. I went back to the shack I called home. After a few days of moping I decided to leave. I couldn't stay in Hampton knowing Wendy rejected me for the easy life and under that son of a bitch's hand. Leaving Hampton isn't easy. If you're an ordinary citizen, you're not allowed to go out unless you have special permission from the captain of the palace guard or D'artagnan himself. So, I tried climbing the wall. I was almost half way up before members of the army caught me."

Daryl grunted. "Sorry, man."

"Don't be. What happened is what I chose. I rather go out on my own terms than by D'artagnan's guillotine."