cassette tapes |d. dixon| [1]

55

"I didn't know what to do. Sitting in a guard tower all day seemed cowardly. But I didn't want to get sick and have Daryl get mad at me. I want to help, but I just don't know how."

CAROLINE NARROWED HER EYES AS SHE WATCHED HERSHEL AND CARL HEADING TOWARDS THE GATE.

She quickly put her pistol in her waistband along with her knife before running after them, "Where you two going?"

Hershel glanced back at her, "I already have him taggin' along, I don't think Daryl would be happy with you comin' too."

"Daryl told me to stay away from the ill. You two aren't. If anything, Daryl should be glad I'm following you two rather than going into the prison."

Hershel sighed, "Fine. Let's go."

The trio left the fences of the prison, Caroline quickly taking out the few walkers that lingered nearby.

"What are we doing out here?" She asked the older Greene,

"Herbs, berries." Hershel answered, "We might not have the medicine right now, I figured a tea might help those who are sick."

"Good idea." Caroline smiled at the older man, 

"It was peaceful, being out in those woods. Almost like all of our problems had disappeared in the wind. It was nice to forget about it for a while, to have a distraction."

Caroline kneeled beside Hershel, helping pick some berries while Carl stood behind them, keeping watch,

"When did your dad give it back?" Hershel asked,

"Yesterday." Carl answered, "After everything happened. "

"You've grown a lot these last few months." Hershel told him, "There's a responsibility about you. I think it's done you good to step back."

"Yeah. It was all right. Can't be like that all the time." 

"I would have been fine on my own." Hershel told them,

"It's alright," Caroline smirked, "Needed the distraction. All of us did."

"It's peaceful out here. These last couple days, we might be safer outside those walls than in." Hershel said,

"No, we're not." They both turned to look at the teenager, who was staring at something in the distance. They both glanced over at spotted a wrecked tent.

Caroline took out her gun and the three of them approached. While the tent seemed abandoned, there could still be someone of something hiding within.

She heard growled and spotted a decayed walker pinned against a tree. It seemed like a large branch had fallen and killed the person, leaving the walker behind.

The walker turned towards them and raised a hand to them. It didn't pose a threat.

"Let's wrap this up."

They heard a branch snap behind them and turned to see another walker approaching, an animal trap wrapped around its calf.

Caroline felt bad for the human that used to possess the body. She must've died scared and in pain.

Carl raised his gun and Caroline pushed it down, "Don't waste your bullets." She told him before taking her knife out and killing the walker,

"It was so peaceful." Hershel sighed as they began to walk away,

"It was." Carl mumbled, "Can't be like that all the time."

Caroline took out the other walker. She couldn't just leave them like that. If she was walking around as a rotting corpse, she would want someone to put her down.

"It's hard to remember that people are killed from things that aren't caused by the end of the world. Things like fallen branches and animal traps. And there's no one there to help them not come back."

Once they got back to the prison, Caroline sent Carl back to the quarantine area. Hershel went to get supplies to make tea while Caroline went back to the guard tower.

She noticed the moving wheels were set up inside the gate, something they used to keep walkers distracted if they wanted to go right outside the fence.

Caroline spotted Carol by the stream, trying to fix the hose, "Shit, Carol."

As she reached the bottom of guard tower, Rick sprinted past her, "Carol, run!"

Caroline ran after him, "You go out, I'll distract the ones by the fence!"

The two made it to the fence and stepped through the hole they kept closed by the clips. Rick kept going to get to Carol while Caroline started shaking the fence, "Hey! Hey, over here!" 

Some of the walkers turned back around and approached Caroline. Carol began running, stabbing a walker in the head, but her knife got caught in its' skull,

"Carol, just run!" Caroline yelled,

Rick got to where she was and pulled out his gun, pulling the trigger in time to hit a walker that was coming up behind Carol,

Carol ran past Rick and the two went back into the fence, out of reach of the walkers,

"Piece of cake." Carol panted,

"We agreed to do that tomorrow." Rick scolded her,

"We don't know if we get a tomorrow." Carol said,

"You could of at least asked someone for help." Caroline sighed, putting her knife back into its' handle,

She wandered back up to the guard tower and sat on the mattress that was placed inside. Caroline grabbed one of the granola bars from a pile of snacks that Daryl had put in there for her and began to nibble on it.

Daryl better get back soon.