I do not own The Walking Dead.

Carol welcomed the release of pressure as Ed rolled away from her body, his head already bobbing with drowsiness. She felt the sting of tears that hadn't come in years and she would have laughed at the irony of it if she weren't so desperate for Ed to fall asleep as soon as possible. She'd spent eight years in this loveless marriage, covering bruises and scars all while trying to keep her sanity from slipping away. She'd grown numb and had turned inwards in a means of self-preservation, not having really cried for the majority of her marriage. Yet here she was, on the night that she would finally escape, and she was crying. They were tears of relief, of happiness that she would never again find her body used so distastefully at the hands of a cruel man. Her body would no longer be seen as an object to bruise and cut or as an object to defile in the fit of Ed's need for release. She supposed that some of the tears were of grief too, shed at the loss of what their life together should have been.

At 22, Carol never would have imagined that her life would have come to this. She had been happy and relatively carefree. She was working towards a degree in education, dating Ed, and living a completely normal life. She hadn't even second guessed her decision when Ed had asked her to marry him. She had postponed her final year at school to plan her dream wedding, one outside in the springtime with lots of flowers, planning to return once she had found herself settled into married life. But the summer passed and the fall semester was approaching and Ed had convinced her to wait to sign up for classes until the next semester. Empty words of love and promises to provide had blinded her in her naivety and she agreed, wanting to please the love of her life.

Yet as that first year of marriage progressed, it had become more and more difficult to please Ed. Dinner was never served at the time he liked, she never seemed to have the house clean enough, his shirts weren't ironed well enough, the excuses were plentiful. She would apologize and promise to try harder, desperate to be the perfect wife that she had always dreamed of being. So when school was yet again postponed, she chose not to think about it too much. This was her marriage, what else could be more important? School would always be there for her to go back to, but if she couldn't make her husband happy then he might leave, and she would be alone again. That thought spurred her on in her attempts at perfection. Anything was better than being alone, even if she found that she wasn't quite as happy as she had dreamed she'd be.

It had started out small, the abuse. Ed would grow irritated more quickly as time went on and she'd find herself on the receiving end of snarky comments. He would tell her she wasn't trying hard enough, that she was lazy and forgetful. Eventually the insults became worse and in his irritation, Ed would spend late nights at the bar and distance himself from her as much as possible. Carol became distressed and anxious, always trying to predict Ed's behavior and do things in a way that would ease his anger. The second year of marriage came and went and the verbal abuse continued while Ed's drinking became a daily occurrence and a trigger for his temper. The first time he hit her he had been out until 11 at the bar, not even coming home after work. She had tried to time supper just right, but he had never been out so late without having come home first and she had been worried that something was wrong. So when he stumbled into the house drunk, she met him at the door only to be slapped without warning. Her eyes had filled with tears, more so from the shock of the action than any actual pain, which only seemed to make Ed angrier. He rampaged throughout the house, knocking items off shelves and throwing pillows at her as she stood in shock, unsure of how to handle the situation. The fit ended with him throwing the casserole dish with dinner in it out the back door, causing it to shatter on the back porch. Without a word, he had stalked up the stairs and gone to sleep. Frightened, Carol had done the only thing she could think of and cleaned up the mess, falling asleep on the couch once the house was returned to its usual state.

Ed had woken her that next morning, apologizing profusely and crying his apologies and Carol's heart had swelled with compassion for the man she had married. She believed him when he said it was a onetime thing, that he didn't mean it, that he loved her and would never hurt her again. How could a man show so much remorse and raw emotion if he wasn't really sorry? But it wasn't long before the next fit of anger left her with a black eye and hand shaped bruises on her arms. Still, Carol was sure that the Ed that she had fallen in love with was still inside him somewhere and she forgave him again and again. After all, he was right, wasn't he? She was lazy, not even having a job of her own, and he worked so hard to provide for her and give her a nice home. He was stressed and her inability to do as he wanted only added to his frustrations. So she tried harder and suggested that she go back to school or try to find a job. Those suggestions left her with a broken arm that she awkwardly lied about at the hospital, the first of many claims of having fallen down the stairs.

Eight years of this passed and here she was, 30 years old, about to leave it behind her. For so long she had listened to the man now snoring next to her. She had believed him when he called her fat, lazy, worthless, pathetic, stupid. She had trained herself to be up before him and to fall asleep after him, to have his meals ready like clockwork, to time the housecleaning just right so that she wouldn't be vacuuming while his sports games were on. Her entire existence had revolved around what made Ed happy, what would keep him happy, and what would keep her out of harm's way as much as possible. She had thought about pressing charges once, but Ed had an uncle who worked at the police station with just enough pull that she knew any attempts to turn Ed in would do her more harm than good. So she pushed those thoughts away for years, until one day she had woken up and actually thought about her life. What kind of life was she living, acting as if she were no better than a slave? Her parents hadn't raised her to be dependent, hadn't raised her to feel small and insignificant. The man next to her had slowly but surely chipped her down to a shell of what she once was, and she had allowed it. She had been young and in love, lonely after the deaths of her parents, and desperate for a family. So desperate that she'd lost herself and allowed a monster to keep her captive. And now she was done.

That epiphany had been almost two years ago, causing a spark of desire to burn in her chest, growing stronger every day. She started planning her means of escape. She had no family, and only one close friend, their neighbor Jacqui who worked as a nurse at the local hospital. If she were ever going to get away from Ed, she'd just have to leave town. She couldn't inconvenience Jacqui and her family, and she had no one else to help her, so she figured the best option was to leave and start a new life where Ed wouldn't be able to find her. To do this she would need money and with no college degree or job, that part was a bit difficult. She had started squirreling away small amounts of cash from her grocery allowance, five to ten dollars per week, just enough so that Ed wouldn't notice. After two years, she had managed to save almost $1,000 by this method. She knew this wouldn't be enough for her plan to work, but she had one last idea that would give her just enough money to leave and find a small, cheap apartment for rent in another town, just enough to hold her until she could find some kind of job.

Her mother had passed just before her 21st birthday, two years after the untimely passing of her father. Since her passing, Carol had held onto her mother's engagement ring, wearing it on a simple chain around her neck. The ring had belonged to her father's grandmother and had been passed down for her parent's engagement. It was beautiful and a timeless piece of jewelry that she knew she could get at least a couple thousand dollars for. She had debated for months whether this was the right choice or not, not sure if she could really let go of the one thing she had left of her parents. It was her only option though, that she knew, and in her heart she knew that her parents would want her to sell it if it was going to get her out from under Ed's control.

She'd visited the local pawnshop that morning. The owner, Jim, had been a friend of her father's and had been happy to see Carol, until she told him her reason for coming.

"Carol, are you sure you want to sell this? I can just hold onto it for you until you get the money back for it. I know this has to be important to you."

"I'm sure Jim. I doubt I'd ever be able to get the money back to you, and if I know it's here, I won't ever be able to forget about it."

"I can't believe Ed is okay with you selling this. Surely you two don't need the money that badly?" Carol narrowed her eyes at Jim's insinuation. She wasn't a fool, she was sure that people knew about Ed's treatment of her, but most people just turned a blind eye. The way Jim was speaking to her now, however, caused shame and embarrassment to rear its ugly head and Carol felt the need to defend herself.

"It's my decision Jim. I want to sell it, I don't need it. Please, just give me an offer."

"I'm not letting you sell it Carol; your father would strike me down from heaven if I let that happen. I'll hold onto it for you, interest free. Think of it as a favor for an old friend. I'll give you $2500 for it, and if you ever get the money and decide you want it back, it'll be right here waiting for you."

"I'll take your offer, but I can tell you now Jim, I won't be coming back for it." There was no way she could, not if she didn't want Ed to find her and kill her. Still, what could it hurt if she kept the receipt?

As Jim had counted the money, she'd removed the chain from her neck and laid it on the counter, refusing to look at the ring as she did so. It was just an object, she reminded herself, and she would still have her memories. The money would be of actual use to her and that was all that mattered now. With a word of thanks and a forced smile, Carol had left Jim's shop and returned home to hide her money under a loose floorboard in the kitchen pantry with her grocery money and an extra hundred dollars wrapped around a fake ID. The extra cash and ID had been a gift from Jacqui when she had said goodbye two days earlier.

Jacqui, her husband Theodore, or T-Dog as he preferred to be called, and their two small children had lived next to the Peletier's for the last five years. Ed had immediately dismissed the family, his racial prejudices preventing him from even attempting to get to know his neighbors. Carol, however, had really met Jacqui during one of her numerous trips to the hospital. Jacqui had been her nurse the third time she had gone in for a broken wrist and upon recognizing her neighbor, Jacqui had struck up a friendly conversation. Carol had immediately been anxious and fretful when she realized just how easily her cover could be blown, but Jacqui had been so warm and friendly that she couldn't help getting to know her. It hadn't taken long for the experienced nurse to figure out just how bad Carol's home life must be and had quickly managed to worm her way into Carol's life as her only friend and confidant. When Carol had told Jacqui about her plans, her friend had been more than supportive and insisted on helping in any way she could. This was how Carol had found herself in possession of two very strong sleeping pills straight from the hospital. These she had slipped into Ed's food earlier in the evening in order to ensure that Ed was in a deep slumber while Carol made a run for it.

"Jacqui, I can't accept this! You could lose your job for those sleeping pills, I can't ask any more from you!"

"Honey, it's a gift. Use it for your bus ticket. If you can't get out of town then those pills will be a waste. Don't tell me I risked my job for nothing." Jacqui's smile was teasing and Carol knew her friend wasn't seriously worried about her job, but it didn't help ease the knot in her stomach. She stared down at the wad of money in her hand. Any extra cash would be helpful, she knew that, but it didn't feel right taking it, no matter how much Jacqui insisted.

"Really Jacqui, I can just use the money from the ring. I don't-"

"You shouldn't even be selling that ring and you know it! That money should go towards finding an apartment or for groceries or furniture or something. Please sweetie, I might not ever see you again. Just let me do this for you. All you have to do is say 'Thank you' and we can move on." There was no use fighting it, once Jacqui got an idea in her head, she'd hold onto it like a dog with a bone.

"Okay, alright. I'll use it for my ticket. Thank you, it means a lot."

"You're welcome, sugar."

Along with the money had been a fake ID. When Carol had told Jacqui that she was planning on running and changing her name, the nurse had insisted that she get a fake ID in case she ran into any trouble. Apparently T-Dog worked with a guy who knew a guy, or something along those lines, and was able to get one for her using her old driver's license photo. The ID looked identical to her real one; the only thing changed was the name from Carol Peletier to Sarah Williams. Sarah, for it was a common name and her mother's name, and Williams, which was her maiden name. She had thought about changing the last name, but Williams was also pretty common and she figured that Ed wouldn't be able to find her that easily even if the name she had chosen was somewhat obvious.

A thundering snore shook her from her thoughts and for a moment, Carol was worried that Ed may have woken himself up. She lay still for several moments, listening to Ed's breathing to see if it still followed that steady rhythm of sleep, only letting herself breathe properly when his snoring continued. Glancing at the clock, she steeled herself for what she was about to do. The clock read 11:25, which gave her just enough time to get dressed and gather her money, ID and packed bag and head down to the bus stop in time to catch the last bus to the Greyhound station at 12. Taking a deep breath, Carol slid the plain wedding band from her ring finger, setting it next to the clock on the nightstand. The engagement ring Ed had given her had long ago been sold when money had been tight. She had thought about selling her wedding band along with her mother's ring, but she knew she wouldn't get much for it and the message she would send to Ed by leaving it behind was priceless.

Slowly but purposefully, Carol got out of bed and dressed in the dark, stealing a glance at Ed's form behind her now and again. She knew she couldn't take everything she owned with her, not that she'd want to as most of her clothing was plain and unattractive, just to Ed's liking. Earlier she had packed the few clothes that weren't too awful into a small duffel bag and hidden it away in the corner of the closet, ready for this moment. As quickly as she dared, Carol grabbed the duffel and made her way downstairs towards the kitchen pantry where her lifelines lay waiting. She'd head out the back door and down the porch as the screen on the front door often let out a loud creak whenever it opened and she didn't want to take her chances with waking Ed, no matter how many sleeping pills she would have been able to slip him.

Letting herself out the back gate and crossing the front lawn to the sidewalk, she stole a glance towards her house and looked up to the bedroom window. Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest and she half expected to see Ed open the window at any moment. She stood for what felt like an eternity before she willed herself to move down the street, out of sight. Carol hugged her jacket tighter as a shiver ran through her, though she knew she was shaking with adrenaline rather than the cold. She had a long journey ahead of her, but she had officially taken the first steps towards her new life and that was certainly something to smile about.