Make it Till You Don't

Long Time No See

Rick began walking in the direction we came from, to the bag of guns he buried. "It's right here." Daryl spoke up, pointing in front of Rick as he bent down, grabbing a shovel that was covered.

"The hell are we still around here for?" Abraham spoke up.

"Guns, some supplies." Rick answered, digging up said supplies. "Go along the fences. Use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em."

"What?" Bob stepped up, confused.

Rick turned to look at him. "They don't get to live."

"Rick, we got out. It's over." Glenn was the one to speak up.

Rick grabbed a gun from the bag. "It's not over till they're all dead." He looked up at Glenn.

"The hell it isn't. That place is on fire. Full of Walkers." Rosita exclaimed.

Abraham then spoke up. "I'm not dicking around with this crap. We just made it out."

"The fences are down." Maggie said, looking at Rick. "They'll run or die."

"Guys, I'm with Rick on this one..." I spoke up, looking at the others. "We didn't finish off Randall and ended up losing the farm, then we didn't finish off over the Governor and look what happened?"

RIck looked at Daryl as footsteps were heard behind us. Glancing back, we saw none other than Carol standing there. Daryl ran and gave her a hug as I stood frozen, not knowing what to think. I missed her, but what happened with Karen and David still was fresh in my mind.

Pushing the thought aside, I walked forward with the others, letting my relief that she was alive win. "Did you do that?" Rick asked, walking up to her. When she didn't say anything Rick went in for a hug.

"You have to come with me." She told Rick before glancing at all of us. Not wasting another second, we followed after her, coming up to a small cabin. As we got closer, we saw Tyreese walk out the front door, Judith in his arms.

As Rick, Carl, and Sasha went to reunite with the two, I turned to Carol. "Carol..." I whispered out.

"Oh, (Y/N)." She said bringing me into the long awaited hug.

I sniffled as I took in the comfort from the woman, letting go of my thoughts from the prison. "I'm so glad you're alive."

She pulled away, wiping my tears. "I'm tougher than I look, you know?" She joked, giving me a smile.

I let out a laugh, nodding my head. "That you are." I took a moment, seeing everyone was focused on Judith and Tyreese before looking back to Carol. "I just want to say that I know about what you did at the prison, what you did for the group... and I don't hate you for it."

I saw her eyes gloss over in relief. "I wanna hear about everything since I've been gone, deal?"

"Deal." I told her as she made her way over to Tyreese.

"What was that about?" I turned as Daryl came up beside me.

I shook my head, not bothering to explain. "It's nothing, just promising Carol I'd tell her everything that's happened so far." I glanced over at him, giving him a smirk. "And she meant everything, so be prepared, Mr. Dixon."

I watched as he let out a grunt, walking off towards the cabin, causing me to chuckle.

———

I walked up beside Daryl as we all walked down the road, in search of a place to hold up for the night. "I told you we'd find everyone again."

He let out his usual grunt in reply. "Yeah."

I bumped his arm with mine. "And we will find Beth. I know it."

"How can you be so sure?" Daryl looked at me, not confused or negative, but more curious than anything.

I let out a small hum, looking at some of the others that walked ahead of us. "Because look at everyone here." I gestured my head to them. "We all found each other." I then looked back at Daryl. "Call it a woman's intuition."

"Well your 'intuition' is pretty freaky." Daryl replied, causing me to chuckle.

"Piece of advice for ya, Mr. Dixon..." I trailed off, smirking at him. "A woman's intuition is never wrong. That's why we are always right in the end."

"The hells that suppo-"

I interrupted before he could continue. "Beth is a smart girl. She will do what it takes to survive, even if it means going along with whoever it is she's with. She'll lay low until the opportune moment."

I patted his shoulder and decided to leave him to think about what I said, falling back in my steps to walk alongside Carol. "So, you and Daryl?"

I turned my head to her quickly, seeing she wasn't too surprised. I let out a small chuckle, remembering she asked me that back at the prison. Though, this time it was different. "I guess you could say that... he hasn't said anything about it but I know. That's just how he is."

"I'm happy for you two. Just know, I was rooting for you guys first." Carol gave me a smile.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "First?"

She let out a chuckle, patting my shoulder. "Yep. A lot of us here made a bet on whether or not it'd happen."

I laughed, finding it amusing. "May I ask what was being betted?"

She shook her head, probably remembering the agreement. "Food rations, believe it or not." She then frowned slightly. "We had a good thing going at the time."

I let out a sigh, knowing what she meant. "We did. I miss the running water." I fake whined, trying to lighten up the situation. "I'd kill for a shower, right about now."

"I'm sure we'll find somewhere soon." Carol patted my back. "But promise me something." I glanced to her as she gestured me to lean in. When I did, she talked in my ear. "Next time we find somewhere with a shower, we are forcing Daryl to take one."

I glanced in front of us, staring at Daryl as I let out an amused chuckle, turning to her with a wicked smirk. "Deal."

"What are you two giggling about?" I turned my head, seeing Michonne and gave her a smile. I told Michonne the idea Carol had, causing her to shake her head with a smile. "Good luck with that."

"Oh I have my ways." I told her as I caught back up with Daryl.

"What was that all about?" He asked, nodding back to the two.

I gave him a cheeky smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He rolled his eyes at my reply, causing me to speak up. "You'll just have to wait and see for yourself."

———
Published: 12/23/2024