Solitary {2} : The Walking Dead

Chapter Twenty-nine.

A double-capper.

Daryl and Iris sit on the front porch, Iris lifts her cigarette to her lips and looks down at the dog sitting in between them, Daryl and Iris watch Carol as she collects some food before walking off, Iris stands up and grabs her axe and backpack from the floor before walking away.

Daryl grabs his crossbow and follows her as she makes her way to Carol at the gate, "Hey" Daryl says, Carol stops and turns to them "Hey." "Feelin' better?" Iris questions "Yeah. Thanks." Carol says "Where you goin'?" Iris asks.

"Mm, gonna do another sweep for Negan." she answers, "Cool. You want company?" Daryl asks, Carol looks at Iris, a small smile on her face as she nods yes to them.

..........

"Think Negan crossed the border?" Daryl asks as they walk through the woods "He'd know we couldn't follow him over there." Carol says "I can't see him puttin' on a mask." Iris says "Or staying quiet for long." Carol says "Still, stranger things have happened." she adds.

Iris stops and watches Carol set her things down in front of a clearing, "We takin' a break?" Daryl asks "Nope. This is our spot today. Gonna stay here... see what we see." Carol says, looking through her binoculars and scanning the surroundings.

"He ain't gonna wander around, waitin' to get spotted. He ain't that dumb. Neither are you." Daryl says "Gee, thanks." "You wanna tell us what we're doin' out here?" Iris asks "Lookin' for Negan." Carol says "Right." Iris sighs.

"You gonna tell us what we're really lookin' for?" Daryl asks "Alpha's horde." Carol admits. "We're gonna find it, and we're gonna destroy it." Carol adds, looking through her binoculars again.

...........

Iris sits on a fallen tree trunk next to Carol and Daryl "Alpha's been sending waves of walkers to screw with us, right?" Carol says, looking down at the map in her hands, "Well, I've been tracking walker movement along the border. Small groups. Some of them might have Whisperers in them. But they all connect right back to this general area, so I figure we stake out this spot." Carol explains.

"See where the Whisperers go. Might lead us back to the horde. That's smart." Daryl says "I thought so." "She's gonna need a place, though, like the canyon they used to be in. Only spots I know are on Whisperer territory, though. Not gonna be able to sneak in there without startin' up some kind of shit." Daryl says.

"We only need to figure out where they are, and then we'll tell the council. I swear." Carol says, "Why weren't you straight with us before?" Iris asks "After what happened at the border and with Alpha, I didn't want you to worry. Sorry." Carol says.

"I get it." Iris mumbles, "Just wanna keep us safe... So, you gonna stick around?" Carol asks "Well, if you spot somethin', you're gonna need us to track it, right?" Daryl says "I dunno. Picked up a few things over the years." Carol says "Yeah, we'll see." Daryl scoffs.

...........

"So close." Carol says when Daryl misses the tin, Iris throws an acorn but misses, Carol throws one but only hits the tin, "Mr. Crossbow, I thought aiming was your thing." Carol jokes when he misses again.

"It's definitely not your thing." Daryl says when Carol misses, Iris throws another, only hitting the tin again, Daryl throws one but it bounces back out of the tin "Mnh-mnh. Sorry, it doesn't count." Carol says.

"'Course that counts." Daryl says "No, you gotta knock the can over. You can't just kiss it" Carol says "wait i thought we were supposed to get it in" Iris says, looking at the two confused "no, you gotta knock it over" Carol says

"Oh, my God. You're such a sore loser." Daryl says to Carol, "I'd have to lose in order to be a sore loser, so since that didn't count, I'm gonna take my turn." Carol says "i don't like this game" Iris says, dropping the acorns on the floor, Daryl and Carol laugh at the woman.

"Oh, it's a double-capper. They're good luck. Maybe it'll help your aim." Carol says, handing the acorns to Daryl "Very funny. But I'll keep it." he says, putting them in his pocket, "You should watch your own throws, though." he adds.

"How was Hilltop?" Carol asks, "It was fine." Daryl says "King sends his best." Iris adds, "how are you two doing?" Carol asks, "we're fine" Daryl says, confused, "what?" Iris asks, looking at Carol as she stares at the two, a wide smile on her face.

"Nothin'... you've just been together for a while" Carol says, "yeah, and?" Daryl asks, "nevermind" Carol says, shaking her head and looking away, Daryl looks over at Iris, as she looks out at the clearing, Carol gently nudges him in the side, he shakes his head and throws an acorn at the tin again.

"Oh, see? Your aim's better already." Carol says, when the man knocks the tin over "i think you both cheated" Iris mumbles, "how?" Carol laughs "no one actually explained the game" Iris says making Carol laugh again.

"I'm hungry. You got food?" Daryl asks, grabbing Carol's bag "Yeah, I'll get it." The woman says, taking her bag from him, Carol pulls out some bread and hands it to Daryl "Thanks." he says, ripping some off and handing it to Iris, "Hey, you see that?" he asks, pointing to the field.

Carol looks into the binoculars before handing them to Daryl "It's a Whisperer." he says handing them to Iris, she looks out into the field and watches the walkers.

.............

"It's getting bigger." Carol says "Yeah, looks like they're gatherin' up all the strays." Daryl says "Well, once the sun goes down, it's gonna be tough to see where they go unless we can get closer." Carol explains "What makes you think they're goin' anywhere?" Iris asks.

"If us three were Whisperers, that's when we'd move 'em. You know I'm right." Carol says "You wanna cross the border, don't ya?" Daryl asks "I wanna find the horde. If that's what it takes..." Carol says.

"Sure this isn't you just tryin' to take another shot at Alpha?" Iris questions, looking over at the woman "The horde is our shot. You changin' your mind?" Carol asks "Nope. I didn't say that." Iris says "Then what's the problem?"

Iris lets out a sigh "Alright, we do this, we gotta be smart about it." she says "None of this "runnin' off in the middle of the night, no backup, just us" stuff, alright?" Daryl says "Since when are we not enough?" Carol asks

"You know, we mess this up, everyone else is gonna pay for it, right?" Daryl says "We've already paid. We keep paying no matter what side of the line we're on... I gotta pee." Carol says, standing up and walking away.

Iris watches as Daryl starts going through Carols bag, he sits back down when he doesn't find anything, Carol walks back over to them, sitting down again, "Did you find what you were lookin' for?" Carol asks "You bring the gun?" Daryl asks

"No. Used up all the ammunition, remember?" Carol says "There was still some ammo left in the storage room." Daryl says "I didn't bring the gun, Daryl. Wanna frisk me? Go ahead." Carol says, Daryl raises his hands in surrender "Okay." he mumbles, dropping his hands and looking back out.

"Either we're enough, or we're not." Carol says "Alright, let's do it. A plan this stupid, might as well be us." Daryl says, Iris puts her bag on and they start to move.