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“Guys! She’s here!” Abraham’s booming voice rang out through the construction site to alert his men about the incoming van.
“Thank god!” “Wonder what she’s got for us today.”
The men all abandoned their projects to stare in anticipation at the woman who had just parked, and was now talking with Abe.
For the last few weeks Carol Peletier had been cooking and delivering lunch to the construction crew and, simply put, all of the men were in love with her. They didn’t get this kind of treatment every day, but “Carol days” always had the most people on rotation and always ended in an enormous amount of work getting done.
“What do we have today, MasterChef?” Tobin approached Carol with a dazzling smile, “the guys have been guessing all morning.”
“Aaron got that pasta maker for Mrs. Neidermeyer, so I borrowed it and made some fresh lasagna for you boys,” Carol was handing out little Tupperware containers to the men who were eating it so fast she wondered if they were even tasting any of the food.
“You’re an angel, Carol!” “Thanks, Carol!”
“I don’t know how you manage it, but this is fucking heaven,” Abraham was eating lunch next to Carol and watching as the crew ate until they could barely move.
“Rosita helped me with this one,” Carol winked, “I think I know what you’re having for supper.”
“I did the cooking on the road before we met you. Don’t know what you taught her, but keep it up, Xena.”
Carol nudged his shoulder, “don’t call me that, I’m just cookie-lady Carol here, remember?”
The pair just laughed and started chatting about the new plans for the walls, which they expected to finish today, especially after the morale boost that the homemade food would bring.
Carol hopped back in the van and leaned out the window, “You guys know the drill, bring your clean dishes to my place tonight, and you’ll get something new in a few days.”
The men smiled and waved, or gave her thumbs up in response and Carol drove off. She headed back through the gates and made her way back to the house that she shared with Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Carl and Judith.
She looked at the mess in the kitchen and decided to ignore it for now. She wanted to relax for a bit.
As she sat in the bath she thought back to what her mother had always told her, ‘the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’. It was an old saying, but it still applied and probably always would.
She had learned to cook quite young, and on particularly tough nights with Ed, she was extremely thankful for it. Sometimes her perfectly cooked meal was enough to spare her from Ed’s wrath after a hard day at work. When she wasn’t spared, the act of baking or cooking would lift her spirits. There was something about focusing on a recipe, and carrying out each step to perfection, that was soothing to her mind.
There weren’t a lot of troubles to forget in Alexandria. They had been safe for a couple of months now and she could tell that everyone was starting to get comfortable here. She had thought about dropping the suzie homemaker disguise several times, but would always revert to the idea of ‘it’s always better to be safe’.
Keeping up the charade had been harder than she’d anticipated, especially on days when she had to deal with some of the long term residents of Alexandria. Tobin had taken her out shooting one morning and she quickly learned that she was a much better shot than her so-called teacher.
She gave herself an Oscar for her performance that day.
After draining the tub and getting ready, she went downstairs to find Carl just returning home.
“Carol! Can you watch Judith? Dad and ‘Chonne are doing rounds and I was gonna go to Ron’s.” Carl was holding his chubby-cheeked little sister who was babbling happily and already reaching towards Carol.
“No problem, go have fun,” she smiled as he raced out of the house. Carl had been through so much in these last few years, but he always seemed to bounce back. Her thoughts drifted to Sophia, as they often did when she was alone.
What would her little girl be like now? Would she have adapted as well as Carl? Or would there have been another horrible tragedy that would’ve taken her away?
A sloppy kiss on the cheek stopped her train of bad thoughts and she focused her attention to the giggling baby girl. She brought the littlest Grimes upstairs and gave her a quick bath before playtime.
These were the moments she was trying to preserve. She’d give anything to have had more of these little moments with Sophia, and she would do everything in her power to ensure that Judith Grimes got to live a long and happy life with her family.
Apocalypse or not.
She heard the door slam shut and woke with a start to realize that the sun had set long ago. She had fallen asleep with Judith and it seemed that someone else was home, and it sounded like they weren’t happy.
She came downstairs to see Daryl angrily scrubbing dishes and muttering something under his breath.
“Welcome back,” she leaned against the doorway and watched as he rinsed the suds from his hands, “you didn’t have to do those you know. I had a little nap with Judith, must’ve been more tired than I thought.”
“No big deal. Came up and saw ya was sleeping so I figured I’d take care of it for ya,” he drained the sink and dried his hands as he turned to face her.
“Was someone here? I heard the door shut,” Carol moved to him and gave him a short peck on the cheek before moving to the fridge and grabbing some lasagna to reheat for herself and Daryl.
“Was one of Abe’s guys, Clark,” he pointed to a cupboard, “returned a container. Few others stopped by too, what the hell is that about?”
“It’s my rule. I make them a hearty, homecooked meal every so often, but they have to do their own dishes,” she smiled at him, “I’m not their mom. They have to clean up after themselves.”
Daryl let out a light scoff, “don’t think any of them sees ya as a mom,” he moved to the counter and Carol noticed the little vase of flowers that sat near the sink, “Tobin brought those along with his dish delivery. Seemed a little gutted that you weren’t the one answerin’ the door.”
He picked up the vase and handed it to Carol, “told him I’d make sure you got it.”
Daryl had been in and out of Alexandria a lot over the past two months and they hadn’t spent much time together. He had a lot of hope for this place, which caused them to disagree on how they lived in the community. Despite their differing views on the town, he would still seek her out whenever he returned from a mission. Just as she would always see him off on the morning of a run.
She missed their banter sessions while he was gone and this little catering service was something to keep her mind occupied. Plus she could never get a proper nights’ sleep without his warmth next to her. Ever since her return after Terminus, Daryl refused to sleep anywhere other than right next to her.
She was completely fine with this.
They had just begun to explore the physical side of their relationship during the last few days of the prison. Their shared cell had slowly become a shared bed, and they had finally gotten past their insecurities from years of abuse.
They were together, and they were in love, and then it was ripped away.
They were just now getting comfortable again after all of the chaos since Terminus, but his constant run schedule still kept them apart more than she would like. A few stolen kisses and scattered nights of lovemaking just left them craving more. No one in Alexandria knew of their relationship, other than their immediate family of course, though Daryl suspected that Aaron was beginning to catch on.
Everyone in their group still tended to stick together, and some couples were quite obvious to the average Alexandrian. Rick and Michonne were beginning to act on their feelings for each other, now that they didn’t have to be constantly worried about oncoming threats, and had been seen sharing short goodbye kisses in the morning.
Carol and Daryl would share their goodbye kisses at the house before he left for runs, though she would still see him off at the gates. They were never physical in front of others. It just wasn’t in their nature.
Carol lifted the vase to her nose and inhaled the sweet smell of the freshly cut flowers, “probably wanted to ask me to go out shooting again,” she let out a small chuckle, “glad I was asleep, cause I’m not sure I could’ve pulled off another one of those sessions. He really is a horrible shot.”
“Tell him ya ain’t interested in shooting,” Daryl sat at the kitchen table and picked at a cookie, “thought you were back to being a shy little mouse. Shouldn’t you be staying away from guns?”
Daryl had always thought of her Susie-homemaker con as ridiculous. He understood her need to blend, but he wasn’t completely onboard with her plan. He had advised her to end the charade several times, but she preferred to be safe.
“Mouse, huh?” Carol smiled and sat next to him, “ya know Merle used to call me that.”
Daryl let out a slight chuckle, “we both did. Back at the quarry when Ed was around,” his smile slid from his face, along with hers, at the mention of her ex, “never thought I’d use mouse to describe you again.”
“I’m not going to do this forever, Daryl. I just don’t want to be seen as a threat.”
Carol didn’t trust people anymore. She liked the citizens of Alexandria, even considered a few of them to be like family now, but most would always be children in her mind. They couldn’t handle themselves, and she knew that should these walls fall, they’d be the first ones to go.
It wasn’t even that she was afraid of these people anymore. She knew that she could handle the Alexandrians with no problem, but it was the outside world that made her nervous. Walls wouldn’t hold forever, and when they came down she wanted to seem as non-threatening as possible.
If anyone was watching their community, intruders would immediately go after people like Rick and Michonne since they were in positions of power. They’d know about Sasha in the tower, and Glenn and Tara going on runs. Even the tough people out on construction would clearly pose more of a threat than the flowery cardigan-wearing, cookie-lady.
“It’s just not you,” Daryl stuffed the rest of the cookie into his mouth and groaned when there was another knock on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Carol got up and moved to the door, “grab the lasagna, it should be done by now,” she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze, “glad you’re back, it’s getting colder and I need my blanket,” she threw him a wink as she left.
Daryl began to eat his supper as he listened to the conversation at the door.
“Hi Ethan! How did you guys do at the wall today?” he grimaced when he realized who it was. Daryl had never liked Ethan. Well, Daryl didn’t like many of the guys in this town, but this one in particular seemed to always seek Carol out when they were at group functions.
“We finished section C, Abe’s ready to go right ahead with the next section tomorrow,” Daryl moved a little closer to the door as the conversation became muffled.
“Thank you for the offer, Ethan, but I was just about to sit down to supper with Daryl. He just got back from his recruitment run,” a smirk came over his face.
Damn right. He thought. Move along, Ethan.
“Are you sure?” It seemed that Ethan wasn’t used to being turned down, “I’m sure I’m not as great of a cook as you, but I promise it’ll be delicious.”
Daryl could picture Carol’s sweet-as-sugar smile as she spoke, “Maybe another time-“
Daryl heard a small gasp and then Ethan’s persistence, “C’mon, Carol. Dixon can take care of himself, you deserve to have someone take of you for a change. I even have a bottle of scotch we could open.”
He was out of his chair in an instant. He spied Ethan’s hand on Carol’s wrist, but there seemed to be no damage done, so he calmed himself before making his presence known.
“It’s gonna get cold if you don’t hurry up,” pretending to just notice Ethan he greeted him cordially, “Hey, Ethan. Returning your dishes?”
Ethan dropped her wrist immediately and plastered a fake smile on his face, “Yeah, least we can do for such delicious food right?”
Daryl nodded his head and moved to place a hand on Carol’s shoulder, “right,” he turned to Carol, “I heard Judy starting to fuss on the monitor, you want me to go check her or you got it?”
Carol took the hint and smiled at the mention of baby Grimes, “Oh I’ll get her, I have some formula already mixed up.”
She nodded to Ethan, “thanks for returning the container, I hope you liked lunch. I’m thinking some rabbit stew next time, Daryl got a few good ones while he was out.”
Without giving him time to respond, she waved goodbye and left the men at the door as she headed upstairs, even though she knew that Judith didn’t need to be fed yet. It was only a few minutes later that she heard the door slam shut, so she came back down to finish her supper.
“He grab ya?” Daryl’s voice gave away his anger immediately.
“He grabbed my arm for one second, Daryl. It was absolutely nothing,”
“Why didn’t ya just punch him or call him out on it?” He was clearly agitated at her lack of action or concern.
Carol let out a huff of annoyance, “Because I didn’t need to. He is no threat, Daryl. Clark’s the one I’m trying to keep an eye on,” she sat and started to eat, “did you know he has a gun at his place?”
Daryl’s head shot up, “what?”
Carol simply nodded, “He has a shotgun on his wall, like Michonne did with her katana. He said it’s not loaded, but ya never know.”
“How d’you know what’s on his walls?”
Carol scoffed, “That’s really your concern?”
She merely shook her head with a small chuckle as she explained that she’d been in almost every house in Alexandria. People were always inviting her over for something or other, and her cookies, or any of her baked goods, were in hot demand lately. With their limited supplies in the pantry, everyone was baffled about how she could make such basic ingredients seem so delicious.
If Carol was good at one thing, it was acting normal when things were anything but.
Daryl couldn’t hide that he was impressed with all of the information that she’d gained from her reconnaissance, but he still hated the idea of her not being able to defend herself.
“Just promise me that if something happens you’re gonna fight and not pretend.”
Carol looked him in the eye, “I told you about Pete. I didn’t back down from him, and I won’t just sit by and let any of us get hurt if I can help it,” the corners of her lips turned up, “you know me.”
Their conversation came to an end when the door opened again, signaling the arrival of the Grimes family, “smells great in here.”
“There’s lots in the fridge.”
Rick went right upstairs to check on Judith while Carl and Michonne came straight to the kitchen, grabbing the food and starting to heat it up, “any luck today with Aaron?”
“Nah, just the dead. Got some rabbits though, so it wasn’t a complete waste. Think we’re gonna take a few weeks off, haven’t noticed any signs of people the last few times we’ve been out.”
“Sounds great, someone’s been missing her uncle Dar,” Rick came into the kitchen and sat at the table as well.
“She’s been babbling about Dar all day,” Carl said with a grin.
The little family sat and to discuss the day’s events until Carl decided to head upstairs and read his comics before bed.
Not long after, Daryl placed his plate in the sink, “gonna head on up to bed, I’m wiped.”
Carol gave him a nod, “I’ll be up in a few.”
The trio stayed in the kitchen for a while, doing their nightly routine of discussing Alexandria news. As usual, there wasn’t much going on in the small town, but since the incident with Pete, they always made sure to keep up on what everyone was doing.
They stayed in the kitchen for longer than expected and by the time Carol finally got upstairs, Daryl was already fast asleep. Carol knew that she’d actually get a good night’s sleep tonight, and apparently for the next couple of weeks as well. She crawled into bed and his arms automatically curled around her body and dragged her back into his warmth.
The rabbit stew had turned out even better than she had expected. The family had eaten bowl after bowl once she was finished, and she had to cut them off so that there’d be enough for the construction crew. She was making a surprise run today, so she wasn’t expecting a huge crowd like their normally was, but the rabbit was fresh and she wanted to use it quickly.
Carol was loading up the little van when her shadow, as Daryl liked to call him, appeared out of nowhere.
“Making deliveries today?”
Sam had dug his way into Carol’s heart, and no matter how hard she had tried to keep him at arm’s length, she had failed. He had been a scared little boy when she first met him, and now he was learning to survive.
He had felt safe enough with Carol to open up about Pete, and once he was out of the picture, Sam had decided that he needed to be able to help his mom, so he went to Ms. Carol. Sam knew she was smart, and sometimes when they were alone she would teach him things like how to use a knife, or show him how to skin the animals that Mr. Daryl would bring home. She always told him that it was just in case anything happened to the walls, and he was an eager student.
“I’m taking stew out to Abe and the crew,” Carol replied as she handed him a container to be placed in the van.
“Can I come?”
Carol turned to look him in the eye, “does your mom know where you are?”
“I told her I was going to stay with you for the afternoon,” he smiled up at her and she was a goner.
“Of course you did,” she chuckled, “grab the rest of those and let’s head out.”
Sam shoved the few remaining lunches into the van and hopped in the passenger seat.
This wasn’t the first time Sam had come with her on a delivery, and he always loved getting to go outside of the walls. Carol had checked with Jessie the first time that Sam had asked, but she saw no danger in letting him go to the construction site where he’d be surrounded by people from the community, so he got to tag along.
Sam was the youngest kid, other than Judith, in Alexandria, and when his brother would tell him to go away, he’d always end up with Carol. Ron had often decided that Sam was too little to hang out with him, but Sam didn’t care anymore because now he got to do grown up things too, like go outside the walls.
“Can I?” Sam gave her those puppy eyes again, and she slowly nodded her head.
He reached across and blew the horn of the van once to signal the crew, then stuck his head out of the window to yell at them.
Carol waved as she pulled up next to Abe and parked, “hope you’re hungry.”
“You know it,” Abe gave her a smile and called out to the crew to come and get it, while Sam started handing out the meals.
The construction workers sat around the site, happily eating their home-cooked meals and chatting amongst their little groups when the first walker broke through the treeline.
Walkers were few and far between around Alexandria, and the majority of the town still relied on only a handful of people to take care of the problems once they surfaced. Every week a small group would check the immediate area and attempt to herd the walkers together and drive them away from the walls, but occasionally a few stragglers would get through and be picked off by Sasha.
The first one was no problem, a quick shot to head from Francine, and it was over.
But the moans and growls only grew louder after that.
A herd was making its way into the construction site, and the crew wasn’t prepared. The crew was small today, and though they had guns, most couldn’t get a head shot without wasting a ton of ammo. Many of the men immediately ran to the nearest vehicles to close themselves inside, or underneath, not even attempting to join the fray. Those who fought, fought hard.
A barrage of bullets soon echoed through the site and surrounding areas.
“Sam!”
Sam had been bouncing from group to group and at the first sign of trouble, he had been ushered under a truck by a couple of men who then ran to join the fight.
Carol immediately had her knife in hand and ran into the swarm to protect the young boy. Seeing his terrified face beneath the truck brought on flashes of memory that she hoped to never relive. She wouldn’t let this happen again.
Ignoring all of the people nearby, Carol made her way through the mob of walkers with her knife, Abe following behind with his gun.
Once she reached the truck, she stood in front of Sam with her bloody knife raised high, ready for anything that may come her way. Abe went around to the other side to ensure that the kid was covered.
Carol reached behind her and grabbed her stolen handgun. With some well-placed headshots, she took out a few of the walkers that were sneaking up on those who decided to fight. When her clip emptied, she tucked the gun back into her waistband and moved a little further from the truck to take care of the ones that were attracted to her gunfire.
Once the herd had thinned, she wiped her knife in her already bloody sweater and reached down to give Sam a hand as he crawled from his hiding spot. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and clung to her as they surveyed the damage.
After checking him for any signs of injury and finding nothing, Carol brought Sam to the van, and got him to sit in the front seat, “I just need to talk to Abe for a bit, so I want you to stay in here, and don’t come out until I come back, alright?”
Still a little shell-shocked, Sam merely nodded.
One man and one woman were dead, and instinctively Carol plunged her knife into both of their temples to make sure they stayed that way.
“When’s the last time the fucking group went out to drive these sons of bitches away?!” Abe was breathing heavily as he inspected the dead nearby to make sure they were down for good.
“Guess the fucking herd must’ve gotten turned around since the last run,” Carol angrily wiped her knife again and started to talk to Abe about what their next move should be when they were interrupted by a confused voice.
“Carol?” Tobin, flanked by a couple of other confused Alexandrians, was staring at the bloodied warrior before them and wondering where the meek and mild housewife had gone. No one in Alexandria had even heard Carol swear, let alone seen her angrily mow down a bunch of walkers while she did so.
She realized then that the entire crew was looking at her in awe. They expected this kind of thing from Maggie, or Tara, but little Carol had never shown the slightest hint of combat skills. Even Aaron and Eric had written her off during their spying since she didn’t seem to do any fighting during that time. Little did they know, she had just survived two car crashes and was still recovering while on the road.
“Well Xena, can’t really hide it anymore can ya?” Abe just laughed at the looks of disbelief from his crew while handing Carol a full clip, which she quickly loaded into her empty handgun before slipping it behind her back once again.
“Well shit,” She holstered her trench knife and smiled up at the men in front of her, “I guess now would be an alright time to tell you that I really didn’t need those shooting lessons.”
She walked towards Clark and picked up the rifle that he had dropped near his feet, the rifle she had been carrying on the road, “but if you guys would ever like any pointers feel free to stop by”, a fallen walker twitched a few feet away and Carol took it out swiftly, “I’ve gotten quite good with this one,” she slung the strap over her shoulder and patted the gun when it rested near her hip.
“You good for clean up?” She turned back to Abe, “I want to get Sam back right away, so I can let everyone know what happened. You can put Jean and Jax in the back of the van if you want” she gestured to the fallen Alexandrians who had been covered with a tarp by their comrades, “I can let their families and Gabriel know, and tell Deanna what to expect when you arrive.”
Abe nodded and gestured for the bodies to be placed into the van. He clapped Carol on the back and flashed her a grin, “Just cause your cover’s blown don’t mean you gotta stop baking right?”
“Don’t worry, the baking will continue,” she laughed and climbed into the driver’s seat. Carol reached over and squeezed Sam’s hand, but the boy seemed to have calmed down. He gave a small squeeze in return and began to fiddle with the CD player until he found a song that he could sing along with on the short drive back behind the walls.
After returning the dead to their families and friends, and informing Father Gabriel and Deanna what had happened, Carol brought her shadow home. Jessie had been frantic when she heard that Sam was at the construction site when the attack happened, but crushed Carol into a hug when he told her all about how “Ms Carol killed a zillion walkers and made him hide under a truck, and then Mr. Abe came with a gun and he killed a bunch more, and it was so cool, and he was only a little scared.”
By the time she got home, she was exhausted. The whole family was home and it seemed that Rick had explained the attack on the construction site while she was out. Rick had been at Deanna’s earlier, so she simply gave him a nod as she walked through the living room and headed on upstairs to have a hot shower and go to sleep. Her cover was blown and there would be no more den-mother Carol, or Susie-homemaker outfits.
Part of her was crushed that she was no longer invisible. She had taken that superpower and learned tons about the people of this town without them blinking an eye.
Another part of her was thrilled. She could finally drop the façade, get outside of these walls, and be useful. She wanted to do runs, maybe even take a shift in the guard tower once in a while. She wanted to check out a gun without people giving her condescending looks for wasting ammo on target practice.
“Ya alright?” Daryl’s voice greeted her as she entered their room, “no scratches or cuts to be looked at?
“I’m perfectly fine,” she walked over to where he sat on the bed and stood between his open legs, “Abe had my back, and not everyone out there was completely useless with a gun.”
She moved to place her knife and gun on the nightstand and noticed that her old combat boots were on the floor near her side of the bed, “you trying to tell me something?”
“I think you’ll need something better when you go out on runs from now on, right?” Daryl stared at the black boots that he had brought back for her during their stay at the prison, “plus those boots are hot.”
Carol couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped her after his confession. He had gifted her with the boots, and subsequently told her how great they looked, which had resulted in her wearing them almost exclusively.
“So this means you can finally stop wearing this shit, right?” Daryl gestured to her bloodstained floral sweater and she found herself laughing at him again.
“Well they are quite comfortable…” she couldn’t finish her lie when she saw his eyes widen at the prospect of her actually keeping her Susie-homemaker clothes, “I’m just kidding, Daryl. It’s too fucking hot for these cardigans.”
“Good cause I’ve been wanting to do this since I first saw you in this hideous thing,” he moved towards her and ripped the floral monstrosity open, causing buttons to scatter around the room.
“Daryl!” they were both laughing at the ruined sweater, “As happy as I am that you’re gonna be home for a while, and that I can finally wear some normal clothes, I’m covered in blood, so let me shower first, yeah?”
“Well what are you waiting for?” He took off his vest and shirt and moved across the hall into the bathroom. A couple of seconds later she heard the water start, and a large grin spread across her face.
She would’ve given up this spy shit a long time ago if she knew that Daryl would react like this.
It was going to be a good night.