All my love,
-Shazzy Zhang. 3
Day 1"Rick. I need to talk to you."
Rick's dark eyes betrayed no feelings. He stared blankly at Darryl.
Darryl spat on the ground and motioned for Rick to follow. Begrudgingly, Rick did as he was asked, despite the gut feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
"What do you want, Darryl?" Rick demanded after two long minutes of silent walking.
"We need to get th' hell away from this farm." Darryl said in a hissed whisper. "Things ain't right here. They ain't been right since... Well, since Sophia... you know."
Rick eyed Darryl suspiciously. "Things ain't been right with you since Andrea shot you, either."
Now it was Darryl's turn to look suspicious. "What are you implying, Rick?"
"Nothing." Rick assured his friend. He took a hesitant step forward, knowing damn well that Darryl could probably kick his ass into next week if the other man so chose. "I've been worried about you is all."
"I'm fine." Darryl insisted angrily. He would not show weakness if he could avoid it. "All I'm saying is that we need to get going while the going's good. There ain't nothing left for us here."
Rick sighed and ran his hand tiredly across his face. His stubble was growing back in, he had been neglecting shaving again, he felt more masculine when he didn't shave, and sometimes, the confidence boost was needed. Especially when Shane got all crazy. He eyed Darryl expectantly. The Southern man was usually straight-forward and rarely beat around the bush this way. Something was itching at Darryl, it was obvious in the way he fidgeted and whispered.
"You know that I can't just pack everyone up and haul them away from here, Darryl. Not without a good reason."
Darryl's posture instantly changed from sulky to aggressive. "And just why the hell not?" He demanded, raising his voice. "We've lost too many people here. We've seen too much pain. What makes you think that staying here any longer is a good idea?"
"We're safer here than we have been since this whole thing started!" Rick shouted in kind. "We have food, we have water, we have shelter..."
"We had Walkers in the barn!" Darryl yelled, taking a step forward. "Sophia is dead because of this place! Shane has gone bat-shit insane and Glen is a misogynistic idiot because of this place! We were safer..."
"Safer where, Darryl?" Rick asked suddenly, lowering his voice. "Where were we safer? In the city? Ha! More Walkers per capita there than out here. And don't you dare tell me about loss and suffering."
Darryl snorted in contempt. "You ain't lost shit."
Rick rolled his eyes. "Grow up, Darryl."
"Pull your head outta yer ass, Rick."
The two men had moved close to one another and they were staring into each other's eyes. Rick stared at Darryl for a long moment.
"Fine, be a sissy." Darryl spat into Rick's face. "See what I care. But don't come crawling to me when more people die. I might not be there to back you up the next time Shane decides to pull some more shenanigans."
Rick opened his mouth to reply but Darryl backed off. He scowled in Rick's direction and turned to walk away. Rick held out his hand, trying to grab Darryl's arm as the other man left, but he hesitated for a second too long and Darryl was gone.
"Balls." Rick muttered to himself, imagining that he was strangling Darryl and wringing his hands as the other man walked away and disappeared from sight.