cassette tapes |d. dixon| [1]

36

DARYL SAT BY CAROLINE'S SIDE, CLEANING HIS ARROWS.

He didn't want her to wake up alone.

Maggie walked in, moving the curtain to the side, holding a bowl of water and a rag, "I'm not sure you should be here when she wakes up." The brunette commented,

"I ain't leavin' her. Not again." Daryl said,

Maggie kneeled next to the unconscious girl and began wiping blood away from her head, "I can do that." Daryl stated,

"Daryl-"

"Look, I know I wasn' here before. I hate that I wasn' here. But I came back for her. I'm here now, and I'm gonna make it up for her." Daryl interrupted, "So let me help her."

Maggie stood and wiped her wet hands on her jeans, "Okay. But if she yells at you, I told ya so."

She left the cell and Daryl moved closer. He picked up the rag, wringing it out and wiping the blood gently from Caroline's fingers.

"I'm sorry." Daryl muttered, watching her closed eyelids in case they opened.

He could've ran faster. He should've came back sooner.

He shouldn't have left them in the first place.

"Never again." He continued, moving to the dried blood on her temple, "I'm not leavin' you again."

Daryl's head perked up when he heard his name being called from outside the cell. He put the rag back in the bowl, staring at Caroline one last time before standing up and leaving.

"Field's filled with walkers." Rick said as Daryl came out and spotted the leader handing Glenn a rifle, "I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch."

"I'll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers, give these guys a chance to fix the fence." Daryl stated, placing his hands on his hips,

"Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place." Michonne suggested,

"We can't access the field without burning through our bullets." Hershel said,

"So we're trapped in here." Glenn scoffed, "There's barely any food or ammo."

"Been here before. We'll be all right." Daryl replied,

"That's when it was just us. Before there was a snake in the nest." Glenn sneered,

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the Korean, "Man, we gonna go through this again? Look, Merle's stayin' here. He's with us now. Get used to it."

"Hey." Rick reached for him but Daryl backed away,

"All y'all." Daryl broke away from the group, walking back into the cell with Caroline still asleep, "He don' understand." Daryl scoffed, playing with his arrows again, "You would let Merle stay, wouldn' ya?"

As much as he wanted his brother around, he couldn't lose the people he cared about because of him.

The sheet was moved to the side and Hershel came in, "I need to check on her injuries."

Daryl nodded and stood, giving Caroline another look before leaving the cell and heading upstairs.

He was packing his stuff up in a bag, preparing to move it into the cell Caroline lived in upstairs when Carol walked over to him, "Haven't had a chance to say I'm glad you came back."

"To what?" Daryl asked looking around the shit hole they called hime, "All this?"

She gave him a small smile, "This is our home."

"This is a tomb." Daryl growled,

"That's what T-Dog called it." Carol sighed, "Thought he was right till you found me. He's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down. After all, look how far you've come."

Daryl scoffed, grabbing his bag and moving towards the cell.

He made his way into the cell, dropping his stuff near the door before noticing that all her stuff was gone. The only evidence to show that she was ever there was on the wall, where her photos were placed.

"Fuckin' hell." He stormed out of the cell and looked around for Caroline, "Caroline!"

Beth stepped out from a cell on the first floor, "She doesn't want to talk to you right now."

"Bullshit. We'll talk now." Daryl walked around Beth and stomped into Caroline's new cell, "Seriously?! You moved cells?!"

Caroline was sitting on the bed, passing the baby back to Beth, "You walked out on me... I can't do the same?"

"I didn' walk out on you!" Daryl exclaimed,

She stood up, her face angry, "Yes you did! You made the decision to leave this group, thinking that you'd never come back!" Caroline yelled, "You made the decision to leave me. Judith, Carl, Rick, Glenn, Carol, everyone!" The cell became quiet, "Just get out."

"Care-"

"Out!" She yelled.

He stared at her for a moment. Despite just waking up, despite everything that had just happened to her, she still seemed so strong.

He sighed before leaving.