Chapter one.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beep. Bee…
A rough, callused hand reached out from under the fluffy white comforter and hit the snooze button on the alarm. Daryl lifted his head, and wiped the hair out of his eyes. Squinting at the clock he read the time. 4:25 am. He groaned and put his face back in the pillow. It was too early. Way too early to be up but his run partner would be arriving at 5am and they were ALWAYS early. If he wasn't showered, dressed, packed and out the door by 5:05, he would hear about it the whole run. He groaned again at the very unpleasant thought of that.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Bee…
Once again Daryl hit the snooze button but this time he turned around on his back and sat up. Looking out the window he could see it was still dark. Seeing the tops of the trees beyond the wall of Alexandria, he listened the gentle chirp of the crickets, the soft whir of the ceiling fan, and other nocturnal sounds. Daryl liked to sleep with his window open no matter the weather. He loved the sounds of nature around him. Daryl had grown used them to as a child when he would escape the trailer and the beatings of his father, running deep into the woods, letting the sounds lul him to sleep.
Daryl laid back down on his bed with a sigh looking up at the ceiling fan whir above him. The house was silent with his roommate being on watch. He was happy that he had packed his bag the night before so that he could enjoy a few extra minutes of comfort. And that is what this bed was. Comfort. Of all the things that made him finally accept Alexandria, his bed was at the top of the list. Daryl had become used to crappy sleeping situations. Growing up, his bed in the trailer was more like 3 pieces of cardboard wrapped together with very little padding. Since the world went to shit he had laid his head various places in search of a few minutes of rest; chairs, cars, a barn, even a tree or two. His bed at the prison was similar to his childhood bed, thin and unyielding. But this? This was heaven. Sitting high off the floor, it looked like two mattress stacked on top of each other (his roommate called it a double pillow top mattress). He didn't know what it was called but it was perfect. And HUGE. A king size. Daryl could lay on his back spread eagle and still have room. He was hooked the first time he sat down. Just getting back from a particularly trying and demanding run, he had sat down just expecting to rest his feet. Instead he had passed out in such a deep sleep that he was shocked awake by Carl shaking him, saying he was late to watch Judith. Lil Ass-kicker was the only person he told about this love for his bed. Well, Lil Ass-kicker and her.
Beep. Bee.
This time he turned the alarm off for good, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. He got up, stretched and walked to the window to close it and shut the blinds. Walking into the adjoining bathroom, he turned on the light and started the shower to warm it up. As he brushed his teeth, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He COULD use a hair cut. She was right about that. Daryl had trimmed it a few months ago when hair kept getting his eyes as he aimed his crossbow . Since then it had grown back and then some. However, he loved how she would run her fingers through his hair when they kissed. How she giggled when it tickled her as he kissed her stomach. How she clutched it so ferociously when she came. Daryl smiled at that image as he rinsed he mouth. Nope. He would trim it again, but he wouldn't be cutting it for sometime.
He stepped into the shower, letting the warm water hit him from multiple sides. Like the bed, the shower was also huge, the tub being separate. It had two shower heads on opposite sides, and a rain shower head in the center. Daryl imagined that this is how it would feel to stand under a waterfall, like in the movies he used to watch. After taking a minutes to enjoy the sensation, he began to soap up, avoiding anything with a strong fragrance. No one wanted to be found and killed by a walker because they used too much Axe body wash.
Rinsing off he heard a faint noise. It was too early for his roommate to be off watch. Turning off the water he listened for the sound again. Knock. Knock. Knock. Letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, he stepped out of the shower, shaking his head free of water as he did so. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he walked down the stairs.
Reaching the front door he looked through the peephole and opened it.
"Damn Dixon! I underestimated you. Who knew you were confident enough to rock pink?"