cassette tapes |d. dixon| [1]

35

HIS HEART DROPPED TO HIS STOMACH WHEN HE HEARD THE GUN FIRE.

Then he saw smoke and he began running.

He had to make sure she was okay.

As Daryl approached the fence, he spotted walkers pinning someone to the wire. As he got closer, he noticed it was Rick.

Daryl shot an arrow at the walker and it went straight through the skull. Merle ran past him and stabbed the others with metal poles.

Once the surrounding walkers were killed, the group met up inside the cell block. Daryl looked around, trying to find a certain blonde, "Where's Caroline?"

Maggie and Beth looked at each other, "She was in the guard tower."

Daryl dropped his crossbow and ran outside, the others following. He spotted her a few yards away, sitting against the brick wall.

"Care!" He ran over and held her head up, nothing the blood leaking from her hairline, "C'mon, girl, open your eyes."

He noticed her shallow breathing and began freaking out and lifting her into his arms, "Hershel!"

"Give her my bed." Maggie said as Daryl walked through the door.

Hershel followed them into the cell and Daryl gently set her down on the bed. She let out a cry of pain and Daryl felt his chest tighten.

Hershel lifted her shirt slightly to find where the damage was and noticed the dark bruises around her ribcage. The older man began putting pressure there and the blonde girl flinched away, "I-I can't...." She began coughing and Hershel patted her back,

Hershel turned to Maggie,"I need you to go to the infirmary and get the disposable resuscitators."

Maggie rushed out of the cell and Caroline finally opened her eyes, "Care, I need you to take a deep breath. We need to get the smoke out of your lungs." Hershel told her,

She shook her head, "It hurts." Her voice was scratchy and harsh.

"I know it does, but you can't breathe properly until it's all out. And we can't have you coughing with those ribs so we need to do it now." Hershel replied,

Caroline continued to shake her head, "No, no." Maggie ran back in with the resuscitator and she began moving away, "No. No."

"Hold her down."

Daryl reached over and wrapped his hands around her wrists and pinned them to the mattress. She began to panic and looked up and locked eyes with him, "Daryl?" She whispered before she went into another coughing fit.

Hershel placed the resuscitator over her mouth and squeezed, forcing air into her lungs. Caroline cried out and Daryl winced.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she passed out from the pain.

"She has a few broken ribs." Hershel told him as he cleaned up her head wound, "I need to wait for her to wake up before I can test to see if she has a concussion."

Daryl nodded, running his hand through his hair before standing. He gave Caroline one last look before leaving the cell.

"I see why you wanted to come back so badly, lil' brother." Merle smirked, leaning against the locked door that kept him from entering the cells.

"Shut up."

Everyone gathered outside the cells, Hershel needing to stay close by in case Caroline went into another fit,

"We're not leaving." Rick stated, grabbing a rifle from a bag,

"We can't stay here." Hershel replied,

"What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds." Maggie stated, loading her own gun,

"We can't even go outside." Beth commented from the perch,

"Not in the daylight." Carol corrected her,

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn said,

"No, better to live like rats." Merle sneered,

"You got a better idea?" Rick narrowed his eyes at the man,

"Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now." Merle stated,

Daryl narrowed his eyes at his brother. They couldn't leave, not with Caroline in that state. If they moved her, they could injure her further, "We ain't scared of that prick."

"Y'all should be. That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to." Merle replied.

As much as an asshole he was, Merle was right. The Governor could storm in here and take them all out if he truly wanted to. And they would put up a fight, yeah, but not much. They'd run out of ammo before taking Woodbury out.

"Let's put him in the other cell block." Maggie growled,

"No. He's got a point." Daryl argued,

"This is all you. You started this." Maggie yelled at the older Dixon,

"What difference whose fault it is? What do we do?" Beth questioned, walking down the steps,

"I said we should leave. Now Axel's dead, Caroline's injured. There's no way she can fight. We can't just sit here." Hershel stated, Rick giving him a look before he began walking towards the doors, "Get back here!" Hershel stood and Rick paused, "You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something."