OK readers thanks for your counseling. I am going to continue with Caryl because Ms. Carol Peletier deserves this and I don't think Tyreese can give it to her.

Thanks for your patience! And don't worry, smut will come.

Gone

"Gone?" she repeated in a strangled cry. Her voice was high pitched and quavering in her ears.

Rick looked at Carol with deep concern in his eyes and put his hand on her shoulder. "He's not coming back?" she questioned, her eyes searching his for any kind of hope. Rick pulled her into a hug because he didn't know what else to do. Carol dropped her arms to her sides and reeled in his embrace. Daryl gone? Without saying goodbye?

The first couple of days she felt like a raw wound, like someone had reached in through her side and ripped an organ out. She maintained all her duties around the prison but had problems concentrating through the pain. She often looked up in panic to scan the room. He's not here. He's always with me. How can he not be with me? The absence of his step on the stairs haunted her. Late one night she stared at the ceiling and tried to sort out her feelings. He had just become a part of her somehow. She loved him sure enough, just as she loved all the members of the group. She was fairly certain she was in love with him and had taken great care not to show it because he clearly wasn't ready.

But this wasn't a romantic heartbreak. This was deeper, like a fundamental part of her was gone. Like Merle's hand she thought wryly. She thought about the decision that Daryl had made and she knew in her bones that he hadn't made it lightly. To leave Judith? Hershel? Her? She knew that they had become family. She had a suspicion that he was doing this to protect all of them from Merle.

I'd take Merle to have you, she thought sadly. But I understand. She wondered if he was still alive. She resigned herself to the situation. Tomorrow I will start making each day happy because God knows each day could be my last.

The next day after lunch was served she stood in the prison yard, squinting in the sun and watching Hershel try to talk Rick back into the compound. She bit her lip and worried. If Rick crumbled they were weak and doubly so without Daryl around. I wish he hadn't kicked Tyreese's group out, she thought. She thought about Judith and how they would cope with the baby if Rick became compromised.

There was a mischievous tap on her shoulder but she was too smart to fall for that trick. She looked over the other shoulder to see Axel grinning at her. "Guess ya know that one huh?" he asked. She smiled back and allowed herself a short laugh. "I knew it was you, I know your footsteps," she said. It was hard not to like Axel. She had been angry with him when he hit on Beth, but now that she had successfully diverted his attention she found his goofiness kind of refreshing. He had an endless number of stories that had become a welcome diversion from the reality of their situation.

He was starting one about his brother always borrowing money from him when the Governor attacked. The first shot rang out and Carol's face was splashed with Axel's warm blood. The nightmarish events that followed plagued Carol for days - using Axel's body as cover from the flying bullets, the van crashing through the guard tower gate, the walkers spilling out of the van towards Hershel. Luckily she was able to dart to safety and get a gun to help defend, and eventually Maggie was able to take out the closest shooter.

No one in the prison yard could see what was happening with Rick, Hershel and Michonne because of all the walkers in the field. Finally the bullets stopped and they could hear the Governor's vehicles leaving. Glen's truck circled the field and picked up Hershel. Now they had to get the vehicle and their people through the inner gate. Carol and the others ran along the fence yelling and banging on the links, trying to draw the walkers close to them so they could kill them through the fence. When the walkers came to the inner gate she, Glen, Maggie and Beth took them out for what seemed forever. Carol's arms burned with the effort of driving her knife through skulls and eye sockets. Axel's blood was congealing on her eyelashes and she struggled to see.

She heard men's voices and saw that walkers in the back row of the crowd were starting to fall. Someone was herding them towards the gate and providing a rear attack. Michonne and Rick, she thought. She blew a sigh of relief and redoubled her efforts, trying to bring the walkers in to a tight group. Glen and Beth moved into position to unlock the gate and Carol and Maggie remained to finish off the remainder through the fence. Carol stabbed one through the eye with an exhausted scream and at the same time the one behind it fell. And Carol found herself staring straight into the blazing eyes of Daryl Dixon.

Daryl registered shock at the sight of Carol, alive and covered with blood. His thoughts had increasingly been with Carol in the last few days and he had silently worried about her. Now after the surprise attack he, Rick and Merle could see that here was at least one person down in that prison yard. If that's her...I should have been here to protect her, he thought.

Now he was face to face with her and she was covered in fresh blood, obviously human and not walker. He broke his gaze to sweep the area in front of the gate and help Michonne and Merle finish off the straggling walkers. As the gate opened he looked for Carol again. She was standing with her fingers clutched in the fencing, looking at him. She smiled at him, bouncing a little bit on her toes in happiness. His frown softening as he looked at her.

Carol stepped back from the fence to allow the group to enter and she hung in the back while the argument over Merle raged. Finally it was decided to put Merle in a cell until peace could be made. The group accompanied Merle and Daryl into the prison but Carol hung back. She had something important to do.

Carol pulled a rag out of her pocket and walked over to Axel's body. There was a neat hole through his forehead and his body was riddled with bullet wounds. She gently rolled him onto his back and used her rag to clean his face. She straightened his hair and his mustache. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful. She lifted him by the shoulders and dragged him into a shady spot so his body wouldn't be in the hot sun. She squatted next to him, crying while she moved his hands onto his chest and straightened his legs. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Axel. I hope you're with your brother," she said to him. She looked up to see Maggie had come back out of the prison and was standing along side her. "You couldn't have done anything," said Maggie comfortingly. Carol sniffed. "He was just hitting on me as usual. Telling one of his goofy stories..." she trailed off with a sob. Maggie pulled her close and hugged her. "We'll bury him tomorrow. Somehow," Maggie said.

Daryl opened the prison door and squinted outside. He had noticed that Carol didn't come in with the group and once Merle was contained he came to check on her. He saw her squatting next to Axel's body, her shoulders shaking, then Maggie pulling her up into a hug. He flinched. He wanted her to himself to talk to her. He wanted to make sure she was all right. He ducked back into the prison, figuring that if the blood on Carol had been her own Maggie would have brought her in by now.

A shower and clean clothes improved Carol's mood greatly. She walked along the row of cells trailing her fingers on the bars. When she got to Daryl's she peeked in. He was seated on the bed sharpening arrows. He lifted his head in acknowledgement and she sat down across from him. "I didn't get a chance to say I'm glad you're back," she said. They fell into easy conversation and she was proud that she even made him laugh a little bit. They fell into silence. He looked at her temple. "You OK?" he asked. She smiled sadly. "Yeah, it was Axel's blood." She looked at the floor briefly then met his eyes again. He was looking at her with a serious expression in his eyes.

Daryl was looking at Carol, really looking at her. Her hair was growing out dark at the roots and it curled at the nape of her neck. Her eyes crinkled at the corners and a corner of her mouth tugged up in a self-conscious half smile. Her light blue eyes were bordered by a darker blue edge, perfectly matching the contrast of light and dark in her hair. Her neck was long and made beautiful curves where it met her collarbone. He wrestled with foreign feelings that were stronger than him. One thing that was for sure, he felt a lot happier when she walked into the room.

An indignant snort followed by an explosive cry permeated the silence. Carol laughed. "Sounds like Little Asskicker woke up from her nap. I bet she wants to see Uncle Daryl!" She got up and held out her hand to him. He smirked at her then grabbed her hand to stand up. She smiled up at him, dropped his hand and started to walk towards the stairs. "Come on Dixon," she said over her shoulder. "You're back home now."