A/N: Howdy all, did ya miss me? LOL Unless you're reading one of my stories for the first time, of course, then it's pretty unlikely you've missed anything. ;)

So, as promised another little TWD story. This is definitely going to be a two-parter, end of. Not like the last two-parter I started which ended up being 50 chapters long. .

This story is only going to be a bit of fluff and silliness... something quite hard to introduce into TWD universe what with all the zombies and desolation of the human race and all. But, I've given it a crack. It's actually serving as a prequel to my other TWD fic "Echoes". If you haven't read "Echoes" and are tempted to check it out after reading this, then that's wonderful. Just a heads up though, that story isn't all fluff and nonsense like this story is, just so you know what you're getting yourself into, okay? ;)

I've just come from watching 'The Lone Ranger' – which I loved and have no idea why the critics are being so harsh about, but whatever – and who should be in that movie but Axel! He played a Ranger at the beginning... spoiler alert – don't get too attached to him, he's not around all that long but I did enjoy very much seeing him and he has a great line about eating a foot which I loved. LOL So, I figured seeing him was a sign that I should get posting this fic I promised while writing 'Echoes'.

I think that's all I wanted to say, except for thanks for taking the time to check this story out... and read through this ambling preamble, if you've made it this far.

So, on with the show, I guess, and I'll see you soon for the last part of this story...

THE JONAH

"A long-established expression among sailors uses the term "a Jonah" as meaning a person (either a sailor or a passenger) whose presence on board brings bad luck and endangers the ship. Later on, this meaning was extended to "a Jonah" referring to "a person who carries a jinx, one who will bring bad luck to any enterprise.""

Chapter ONE

"But bad luck makes good stories."
~Bernard Evslin~

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Carol's quiet words of warning were said around a mouthful of pegs. She took one out of her mouth and used it to stretch out a shirt of Rick's on the line.

Axel looked over from where he'd been circling around Daryl's crossbow. Daryl had left his weapon of choice out in the courtyard. The Dixon boy had gone back inside to collect some things he was taking out with him on his hunting trip that day. When Axel had wandered out into the courtyard, looking for someone to have a chat with, he'd spied it immediately.

"I used to do some huntin' myself, back in the day," noted Axel. "Before I was sent to prison." He sent Carol a knowing look. "They don't let you hunt when you're in prison."

"You don't say?" said a straight-faced Carol.

"Yeah," sighed Axel, seeming to miss her slight sarcasm, "it's a real shame. Me and my brother used to go off into the woods for days." He grinned. "Turkey huntin' was my favourite, until I had to give it away."

"Because you went to prison?"

Axel was back to circling the cross bow again. "Nah, I got shot."

Carol's brow creased. "By another hunter?"

"By a turkey."

Carol opened her mouth and the closed it again, knowing she shouldn't ask but then she couldn't help herself. "A turkey?"

"I'd shot one with my bow and arrow and stuck it in the trunk of our car when I was huntin' with my brother. We got stopped by the local ranger cause it weren't exactly huntin' season and he wanted to look in our trunk."

Despite herself, Carol was caught up in his story. "And?"

"And it turns out the turkey weren't quite dead yet," admitted Axel unhappily. "I went to open the trunk up and the thing kinda twitched and it's foot must have got caught in the trigger of my brother's shotgun-"

"Which was loaded?" Carol interrupted him.

"My brother, he ain't too bright," conceded Axel. "I was always the smart one in the family."

"Oh god," said Carol in disbelief and then realised she was being rude. "I mean, oh god, this story is fascinating, go on."

"Well, the bird kinda did this death throes thing and got caught up in the shotgun and the next thing I know, I've been shot in the leg through the trunk of the car." Axel looked accepting of his fate. "I spent three days in the hospital and after that, I weren't so keen on huntin' no more." He wrinkled his nose. "Even gone off eatin' turkey. Brings back bad memories. I keep hearin' turkeys laughin' at me."

Carol didn't know what to say to any of that. She wasn't aware turkeys could laugh, but Carol suspected if they could, then Axel would be a good source of amusement for them. He certainly was for her. "Um, well... that's too bad, Axel," said Carol, lips twitching from trying to control her laughter.

The former prisoner picked up Daryl's crossbow and tested the weight. "This sure is a beaut."

"I really would leave that thing alone, Axel," Carol cautioned him, reaching for more clothes to hang. She now had a bundle of them against her stomach."You know how Daryl is about his crossbow."

Axel didn't seem to be inclined to listen to her warnings though as he lifted it up as though he was about to fire, checking the sights. "He won't mind me havin' a little look see," said Axel confidently.

Carol was just as confident Daryl would mind a whole heap. She went to argue the point with Axel but then Daryl appeared in the courtyard entrance and the argument was rendered moot. Daryl's face clouded over angrily when he saw Axel with his crossbow. For his part, Axel had gotten a fright from the other man's unexpected reappearance and quickly jerked the crossbow away from where he'd been now unintentionally pointing it at Daryl. Unfortunately, his sudden movement caused Axel to pull on the trigger mechanism and a bolt was sent hurtling across the courtyard with deadly force.

Carol froze to the spot as the arrow whistled right by her side, embedding itself in the wall behind her. She'd felt the impact as it tore through the clothes in her arms but couldn't tell if it had hit her on the way through. It had all happened too fast and she was still in shock.

Daryl's reflexes were quicker. "Shit!" he exclaimed in horror, racing over to the stock still Carol. He tore the clothes out of her numb arms to better see if the arrow had passed through her or not. Daryl's hands were sweeping Carol's stomach and hips, frantically looking for blood. "Did he hit you?" he asked urgently, pulling up the bottom of her shirt and checking her skin for any wounds. "Are you hurt?!"

"N-no," said Carol shakily, still a little stunned.

Daryl ran his finger across a pink scratch which ran along Carol's lower stomach, signifying just how close the call had been.

Carol felt a little unsteady from the rush of adrenaline her body had just released. She looked around for something to focus on and took in the shirt pinned to the wall by the accidental arrow. "That's Glenn's favourite shirt," she said unevenly. "I'll have to fix the hole now."

"No one gives a shit about the shirt," said Daryl angrily. He straightened up and marched up to a frightened looking Axel. "You nearly killed her, you dumbass!" he yelled at the hapless man.

Axel took a few quick steps backwards. "It was an accident," he protested.

Daryl grabbed for the crossbow. "Give me that!" Daryl snapped. Unfortunately Axel was too cooperative and shoved the weapon at the unprepared Daryl. The result was the crossbow being smashed into Daryl's mouth, splitting his lip. Blood gushed out of the new wound as Axel stood transfixed to the spot, eyes wide in horror. Daryl spat out blood. "Son of a bitch!" he growled.

"Daryl," gasped Carol, "are you alright? Let me see."

Daryl wasn't interested in any nurse maiding right then however, as his blue eyes spark certain death at the slowly backing up Axel.

Axel held up a placating hand. "Now then, that was an accident, Daryl. I didn't mean no harm. You said you wanted the crossbow and I just did like you asked."

Daryl didn't speak, just advanced on him like a lion about to tear apart a bunny rabbit. Carol sensed this was seconds from getting out of control. "Daryl, just calm down. You know none of this was intentional."

Axel's head bobbed up and down. "That's right," he said hastily, "I didn't mean to bust your lip or shoot at Carol. It was an accident. You can't blame a man for an accident, can you?"

Daryl was still advancing on Axel as the other man continued to back up. An axe was stuck in a nearby block of wood and Daryl grabbed it up without looking. He continued to close in on the fearful Axel. His eyes narrowed menacingly. "Funny, I feel an accident of my own comin' on."

Carol rolled her eyes. "Daryl," she said in exasperation, "leave Axel be."

"Yeah," said Axel quickly as he managed to scamper over to Carol's side and put her between him and Daryl. "I don't want no trouble now." He stepped out from behind Carol and stuck up his hands in the air. "See, I surrender." Unfortunately, as Axel threw his hands up in the air, he managed to smack Carol in the face in the process, as she was standing behind him.

Carol gave a little yelp of pain and that was it for Daryl. He charged at the hapless Axel and Axel did the first sensible thing he'd done all day.

Axel ran.

oooOOOOooo

Rick looked up at the glaring sun above them and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. Even sitting in the shade, eating a sandwich, he was sweating like a pig. That was a Georgian summer for you. Rick wasn't looking forward to getting back to fixing the prison fences but it was a job which had to be done. He took another bite of his sandwich and went back to reading his book.

"Do you think Hell would be hotter than this?" asked Glenn casually, as he sat beside Rick in the shade, sweating almost as much as Rick. "Cause I can't really imagine that."

Rick gave a distracted grunt. There was only so much talking about the weather he could do. It was all anyone could talk about lately and this heat wave wasn't putting anyone in a good mood. In the end it was the things you took for granted you missed the most, simple things like air conditioning. What Rick wouldn't do for a good night's sleep in a cool room.

Glenn's didn't seem to need more than that by way of conversation and the two sat in a comfortable, if somewhat sticky, silence for a few more moments before the other man spoke again. "So," Glenn drawled, "should we be worrying about that?"

Rick looked up from where he was reading and glanced at Glenn and then over to where the other man was looking. Daryl, axe in hand, was currently chasing a scared Axel across the open field. "I don't reckon so," said Rick casually. "They'll work it out."

Axel was now screaming something about it not being his fault and it was an accident as he ran for what looked like his life from the gaining Daryl. Glenn's brow wrinkled. "You think?"

"Daryl is just blowing off some steam," said Rick confidently, going back to his book. "This damn heat ain't helpin' people's attitude none. We've been here awhile now and there are some days this place kinda feels like a prison."

"You could make the argument that this place is exactly like a prison," said Glenn dryly.

Rick's lips quirked at the other man's humour. "I guess you could," he agreed in amusement. His gaze drifted back to the view of Axel still trying to shake off the enraged Daryl. In his hysteria, Axel had now started to zigzag frantically, trying to throw Daryl off. However, in an open field, this technique was less than successful. "See now," tutted Rick, "that ain't no good. You shouldn't panic when you've got a redneck with an axe chasing you down."

"I don't know," mused a philosophical Glenn, "that kinda feels like a perfect time to panic to me."

Rick waved a vague hand at the feuding men. "Yeah, but Axel is covering twice the distance Daryl is. It ain't smart."

Glenn sent him a pointed sideways look for that comment. "We're still talking about Axel, right?"

Rick grimaced. "Okay, yeah, I see your point but even Axel has to realise he's gonna wear himself out quicker that way. There is no way he can keep that pace up."

Glenn eyed the spectacle in front of him. "Axel seems pretty motivated to me."

Rick took in the giant strides Axel was taking and the look of abject terror on his moustachioed face. "That he does," he agreed. "How you think Oscar and Axel are fittin' in overall?" Rick tried not to second guess his decision to keep the two prisoners around, but it was hard. Everyone in the group was precious to him now, and Rick would do anything to protect them. New people always meant he was opening the group up to as much potential threat as help.

"Not counting the Road Runner and Coyote show we're watching now?" asked Glenn.

"Yeah, not countin' that."

Glenn shrugged. "They're both good workers. Oscar's no fool and I think we can rely on him and Axel... well, he's Axel."

"That he is," agreed Rick in resignation.

Just then Axel must have noticed Rick and Glenn sitting there, because he abruptly swerved around and made a beeline for them. "Sanctuary!" he yelled out at the two men. "Sanctuary! Daryl's tryin' ta kill me!"

"That's a big word for him to know," said Glenn with mild admiration.

"I got a feelin' he's had to use it a lot in his life," said Rick dryly.

Axel ran up to them, wide-eyed and panic stricken. "Don't let Daryl kill me," he panted, barely able to talk.

"Then keep movin'," Rick advised him. He could see Daryl had slowed down the chase and was now walking swiftly their way but the guy still didn't look happy. Rick supposed he was going to have to find out what had happened at some point, but he wasn't particularly inclined to right now. It was too hot to play peacekeeper. Axel didn't need to be told twice as he scampered off back into the prison, throwing a couple of nervous looks over at Daryl, to make sure the other man hadn't decided to resume the chase.

"What do you think all that was about?" asked Glenn curiously.

Rick moved his shoulders restlessly. "I guess we're all family now and family always has their moments. They'll work it out."

Daryl had reached them now, his expression dark as thunder, looking like he'd given up on killing Axel. For the moment. Daryl stalked past them, his anger obvious in the way his body was tightly coiled, a streak of blood coming from what looked like a busted lip. "You put the machete through the wrong prisoner's head," he growled darkly at Rick, not breaking his stride, as he passed them both by.

"Yup," said Glenn, straight-faced, "just one big happy family."

"Yeah," Rick sighed, "the Addams family."

"I was thinking more the Manson family, but okay," said Glenn easily.

Rick grimaced but couldn't argue.

A/N: As a by the by and in the interest of full disclosure, the story Axel told about being shot by a turkey really did happen to some hunters in America. The guy nearly lost his leg and was in hospital for much longer than Axel. I know right, truth really is stranger than fiction.