The Dead and The Gone (TWD Daryl/Rick Love Triangle)

Roll Out

Tina, Daryl, and Carl were down in the block that Rick said he'd cleared. They were searching around to see if they could find Carol. Even if she was a walker.

"Hey buddy, you okay?" Tina asked Carl. He just nodded.

"My mom, she liked her wine," Daryl began. Tina looked at him confused. "She liked to smoke in bed too. Virginia slims. I was playin out with the kids in the neighborhood one day, That's the kinda stuff I could do since Merle wasn't around anymore. They all had bikes, but I didn't. One day, they heard sirens, loud ones. The kids followed them on their bikes to see if it was anything worth looking at. I ran after the, but couldn't keep up. Those sirens were at my house. I arrived and the kids were lookin at me, hell, everyone was lookin at me. My mom had been smokin in bed again. Everythin was burnt down to nothin." he sighed, "That's the hard part, ya know? She's just gone. Erased. Nothin left of her. People said it was better that way. Huh, I don't know, it just made it seem like she wasn't real, ya know?"

Tina's heart broke for Daryl, "Yeah, I know," she responded. He looked at her  somewhat shocked. "I was at my 8th grade graduation. I was havin fun. Smilin with my friends," she sighed, "Suddenly, all the adults started lookin at me weird. I thought there was somethin wrong with me. They kept saying 'He was a good man'. I didn't have a damn clue who they were talkin about. I went home to find out my father died. He was in a car accident. The other driver survived. Said that my dad just drove straight, was lookin to get hit. Must've been suicidal or somethin. That's what they ruled it as. Suicide. I- I never believed them. My dad was the happiest guy you'd ever know. Kind and caring. Always makin ya laugh when you were down. It felt like it was impossible. Like one day, he'd just come through that door with a smile on is face askin how my day went. But he never did, I waited, trust me I did. Everyday. My mom became depressed and angry once my dad died, she slapped me around a lot. One day I just stopped waiting. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. My dad dying so suddenly just felt  unreal," Tina wanted to continue, but had nothing left to say.

"I shot my mom to stop her from turning." Carl added in monotone.

"I'm sorry about your mom," the sad adults said in unison. 

A walker came at the pair and the woman shoved her knife through it's head. 

"Daryl," Tina called, "There's already a knife in it," she pointed.

"That's Carol's knife."

He looked down in defeat. "Carl, ya hungry?" she asked the boy. He nodded. "I'm gonna get him something to eat." 

She understood that Daryl needed to be alone. He nodded and they left. The blue eyed man sat down and stabbed the floor numerous times in anger. How could Carol actually be gone? Again, and again, the knife penetrated the ground. The sound of a door opening and closing finally got to Daryl and he stood up, ready to kill whatever was behind it. He threw the walker blocking the door out of the way and slammed it open, only to find a very weak Carol.

Daryl dropped the knife and picked Carol up bridal style. She needed food, water. The woman's face was smeared in blood. She tried to speak, but couldn't. He couldn't care less though. He was so overjoyed that she was alive.

"C'mon Rick, you can do it. You have to do it," Tina reassured sternly. He walked with her over to where Carl, Beth, Hershel, and the baby were.

Rick walked over nervously and looked at the baby. He picked the newborn up and took her in his arms. "Hey there," he whispered and  held her up and smiled, then cradled her close. They walked outside with the newborn. 

"She kinda looks like you," Rick said to Carl, causing his son to smile. Rick looked out into the distance and saw a dark skin woman holding a basket behind the fence.