I felt this way at the beginning, but upon reflection I see it could only be handled that way. First, Carol was an abused wife. She took it and took it and took it from Ed because she was trying to protect her daughter. Her daughter is dead, Ed is dead, and she is realizing -- like so many abuse victims -- that she wasted her life trying to appease her abuser. She is now mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. And an abuse survivor is the ultimate survivor. Carol's skills at surviving an abusive marriage are translating well in the post-ZA world.
She realizes there is something "off" about this place. She realizes that if the nosy kid mentions that she was in a place she wasn't supposed to be, it could mean big trouble for her and the group. She can't be sure that the nosy "innocent" kid isn't really a spy who has been trained to report back to the grownups. He probably would mention that he saw her even if she gave him a story, so decides to terrify him into silence. I get that. I think it's smart.
As far as Daryl goes, I think he is suspicious of the too-friendly, too-pushy Aaron and decides to join forces with him to see what he's up to.
