Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or the characters, just my story-line :)
The rain crashed against the outdated, half lit 'Senoia Motel' sign, and a loud crack of thunder echoed through the gloomy parking lot. Daryl recounted the remaining amount of money in his hand for a second time, mentally weighing the positives and negatives of tapping into his limited funds.
"What's it gonna be kid? You payin' or not?" an undersized man with a tattered white beard and a lazy eye grumbled through the small office window. Daryl enfolded the cash in his hands for a second hesitantly, but then nodded and painfully passed four twenty dollar bills through the small opening on the bottom. He didn't have much money left, but he really needed somewhere to crash for the night. Park benches and wooden gazebos did the job mostly; but between the soreness in his back and the torrential down pours, a bed was starting to sound like a dream come true. After a few minutes, the man returned to the window and slid a labeled key through the opening, "it's around the bend… checkout s'at eleven, not a minute later". Daryl removed the key and narrowed his eyes at the old man, before giving a slight nod and walking away. The guy was obviously nasty to his potential customers, and if it wasn't for the fact that Daryl needed the room for the night, he would have told him where to go.
Daryl walked over to his parked motorcycle and grabbed a large green duffle bag tied securely to the end of the seat, and continued walking around the bend until he approached door twenty two. He unlocked it and found a worn-down double bed, a nightstand, and a small bulky TV; probably twice his age. It was perfect for him; all he was really concerned about was the bed and the roof. Comfortable, warm and dry – that's all that mattered. After setting his bag down on the floor, he immediately headed for the shower, removing his ragged leather vest along the way. It had been a while since he took a hot shower, hell; it had been a while since he was able to take a shower in general. Besides quickly cleaning himself in gas station bathrooms along the way, he hadn't had anywhere to take a real one since he left.
He turned on the shower and let the steam fill the small yellow tinted bathroom as he removed his shirt, leaned up against the sink, and stared at himself in the mirror. His arms and back displayed slightly faded bruises, matching the shadowy black and blue tone underneath his right eye. They were finally healing, and looked rather good compared to the weeks prior; but just knowing they were still there, along with the many other scars his body held, angered him. They were like battle scars from a war that he never wanted any part of.
As the steam started fogging up the mirror, Daryl wiped his hand across it, clearing a circle. He traced his fingers across one of the bruises on his right shoulder and after a few seconds of studying it, he closed his eyes and massaged the temples of his forehead with his thumbs, trying to shake his mind from the memories.
Daryl exited the bathroom, his hair still wet from the shower as it shagged across his face. He had a black pair of boxer-briefs on, and a white towel draped around his neck, soaking up any excess water dripping down his neck. He plopped down on the bed, stretching his feet out in front of him as he pulled the cover up to his waist and rested his back against the pillow and the old wooden headboard. He missed her, his little girl. It had been the longest he'd gone without seeing her since she was born, and it was killing him inside; but this was something he needed to do. He wasn't going back there. He gently lifted the receiver of the ancient beige rotary phone that sat on the nightstand, and maneuvered his fingers through the circular numbers as he dialed. He waited as the phone rang a few times, and after the forth ring she answered.
"Hello?" Carol said through the receiver, her voice a bit groggy.
"It's me" Daryl said simply, "Sorry I know it's kinda' late"
"Yeah it is", her voice slightly irritated, "Where are you?"
"Some motel in South Georgia… there's a phone, so I wanted to call to talk to Sophia, is she up?"
Carol exhaled, "Yeah, she's up", her voice hesitant for a few seconds, "Daryl you know she's been asking where you are right?"
"I know" he said, taking a deep breath to follow, "I can't come back there right now, you know that"
"Listen, I get it okay?" her voice soft, "but you need to think about Sophia too alright? She misses you"
Daryl shut his eyes momentarily, "Jus' let me talk to her"
He heard Carol sigh, but she didn't respond. It was quiet for a few minutes until she was heard in the background, telling Sophia that her daddy was on the phone.
A small, yet excited voice flooded the receiver, "Daddy?!"
"Hey baby girl", a smile cracked across Daryl's lips, "whatcha' doin'?"
"Nuffin'… Momma's tryna' make me go to bed; but I didn't wanna", her voice became softer, "I miss you Daddy, when am I gonna' see you?"
Daryl's heart broke a little, "I know baby girl, I miss you too; and I'll see you soon alright?"
"Okay", she said melancholy and Daryl shut his eyes to cope with the guilt.
"Aright, well you go listen to your momma and get ready for bed… I love you Sophia"
"Okay, I love you too Daddy"
Daryl smiled a little as she spoke the words. His daughter meant the world to him, and even though he couldn't be there right at that moment, he knew eventually he'd figure things out.
"Hey", Carol returned to the phone, "So you know the house is gone right? Nothin' but a pile of ashes and saw dust now"
"Yeah, well… it never was anything spectacular anyway", Daryl said.
"Those insurance agents have been around. They're lookin' for next of kin or something… I told em' I hadn't seen you in weeks"
"They're probably jus' looking for someone to pay the rest of the mortgage owed or somethin', and they sure as hell ain't gettin' it from me", Daryl bit a piece of skin from his thumb, "that house was never my home… more like a fuckin' prison"
Carol sighed, "I know… but you can't just live on the road forever Daryl. Sophia really misses her dad around"
"Yeah I know", Daryl said, his voice becoming irritated, "Imma' figure it out and I'll call her in a couple days"
"Alright" Carol replied simply, knowing that the conversation was coming to an end.
"I gotta' go" Daryl said before hanging the phone up on the receiver.
He swiped a hand through his dampened hair and let his head fall back against the headboard. He wished things were simpler. He would never regret his little girl; but things were a lot more complicated than she could understand. He knew he needed to figure out what he was going to do, and if he took off on the road any further, he would be too far to see Sophia often. Maybe this town would be okay, it was only an hour and a half from her. Maybe it could work. He decided it was all too much to think about at the moment and he really needed sleep. So with that, he shut the dim table lamp off, and slid down into the covers.
The next morning Daryl woke up, got dressed and returned the key to the office, hours before the checkout time. He wanted to get a head start on the morning and begin planning what his next moves were. He had a full and comfortable nights rest and the only thing missing was some food in his stomach. He slowed on his bike and pulled into a small diner parking lot. The place was small, resembling a trailer almost. He figured the food couldn't be too expensive and he could smell the aroma from outside, so there was no fighting his inner hunger at that point.
After parking his bike and entering the place, a hostess sat him in a booth on the far end, next to a window. Coffee was already set on the table with a couple of milk, cream, and sugar packets next to it. He didn't use any of them though, he preferred his coffee black. He started out sipping the hot coffee; but eventually his sips quickly increased as his mouth savored the taste of, well, anything. He had been really careful on what he spent his money on since leaving, and would only eat when it was absolutely necessary and his stomach couldn't hold out any longer. This was one of those times. He really hadn't eaten anything the day before, besides a couple fifty cent beef jerky's he picked up at a gas station, so he was really feeling the rumbling in his stomach by then.
"Good morning, care for a refill?" a perky southern voice caused Daryl to look up, "I'm Lori, I'll be your waitress", she said with a smile.
"Uh, yeah I guess I'll take a refill..." Daryl said as the woman poured more coffee into his cup, "how much is this anyway?"
"Oh, the coffee?" she chuckled, "We don't charge for the coffee Hun, it's on the house"
Daryl gave a quick nod and muttered uncomfortably, "Thanks"
Lori noticed his introverted body language, but she continued anyway, "So, can I get you somethin' to eat? I recommend the eggs with the southern style grits, they're a customer favorite"
"Alright, I'll take that" Daryl said, while handing Lori the menu, still avoiding direct eye contact.
"Okay then" her eye's creased a little in confusion, "I'll go get that for you"
She walked off to place Daryl's order and he began sipping his refilled coffee again. The coffee was pretty good there, and he made a mental note to remember that they gave it out for free. Waiting for his order, there was nothing else to do besides look out the window at the diners' surroundings. It was obviously a small town, and not much stores along the stretched out roads. He was from a small town too, but things were a lot more urban where he was from. He lived on the side of town that people were afraid to drive through, and would rather take a forty minute alternate route than drive through the streets of terror. This place was a lot nicer and seemed very low-key. He figured Sophia would probably like it; lots of land to play and run around on; but he had no idea how much the houses or apartments were around there either, if he'd even be able to afford one.
As he stared out at the street, his eyes caught sight of a small car shop across the street with a 'Help Wanted' sign placed on the outside window. He narrowed his eyes to get a better view and could see a young Asian man underneath the hood of an old red Cadillac. Mechanical work was pretty much the only thing he had experience in. He had worked in his uncles shop since he was ten years old, basically learning as he went along. He didn't have a high school diploma or any degrees and if he had to create a resume', mechanical work would be the only thing he could actually put on it.
Suddenly Lori returned to the table with his plate of food; steam drifting off of it as she placed it down in front of him.
"Here ya go. Two eggs and southern style grits. Enjoy Hun" she said; but as she was about to walk away, Daryls' voice surprised her.
"Can I ask you a question?" he said cautiously.
"Sure, ask away?" she said, throwing a white dish towel over her shoulder.
"How is this town? Is the price of living high or anything?"
She chuckled, "In little ol' Senoia? Not at all sweetheart. I'm guessin' you ain't from around here?"
Daryl shook his head, "Nah, I'm from Northern Georgia; but I'm thinkin' about stayin' here"
"Well, it's a small population, only about a couple thousand. Everybody pretty much knows everyone. Jobs are hard to come by, but when you do have one, they usually pay enough to get by. Apartments and trailers are pretty cheap, no more than a couple hundred a month. That's unless you try an buy a farm or somethin', then land can get pretty pricey… are you relocating for a job or somethin'?
"Nah" Daryl poked at his eggs with his fork, "jus' relocating"
Lori nodded, "Well, the best advice I can give ya, is to get a job first and see how it goes"
Daryl pointed out towards the shop across the street, "Thinkin' about starting there"
Lori looked and then smiled, "Oh yeah? You have experience with cars?"
"Somethin' like that"
"Well Dale, he's the owner, he's a nice guy and very kind hearted. I'm sure he could use help from someone with experience. I've known him for a long time, that shops been there since I was little. It was passed down from his father I believe… been in business for over fifty years or so", Daryl nodded and Lori continued, "Give it a try, doesn't hurt"
"Yeah I'm gonna" he said, taking a scoop of grits to his mouth, "thanks"
"No problem Hun, glad I could be of some help" Lori replied with a smile before walking away to take the next table's orders.
Daryl continued eating his food while glancing over at the shop from the window a few times. It would be ideal if he could score a job so soon, but he was prepared for disappointment. His life had always been filled with it.
Daryl scraped the last piece of food off his plate, placed the money on the table, along with a tip for the helpful waitress, and made his way towards the exit of the diner. He was going to thank Lori again, but he didn't see her and he really wanted to get a move on towards the shop.
He crossed the street, not even bothering to check the traffic because there pretty much was none, and made his way towards the small Asian by the Cadillac.
"Excuse me?" Daryl said as he approached the Asian from behind.
"Just take a ticket" he yelled from inside the hood without looking.
"Nah, I'm here to ask about the help wanted sign?" Daryl said with his eyes creased.
The Asian looked up curiously and wiped his hands on a dirty oiled up towel, "Really?"
"Yeah, really" he said, still confused, "are you Dale?"
"No, I'm Glen… Dale is in the back office over there" he pointed to a wooden door on the far end of the garage, "sorry, we just uh, don't get many interested candidates, that's all"
Daryl raised one brow "oh… well I'm interested, so can I talk to him?"
"Do you have experience?" Glen asked.
"Yeah"
Glen smiled, "Alright cool… yeah go on back"
Daryl nodded as he walked past him, wondering why he was so shocked to see someone inquiring about a job. Was the town really so quiet?
Daryl knocked once on the door before slowly entering, finding an older man with white hair and a green hat sitting at the desk with his feet up, watching some talk show.
"Hi, are you Dale?" Daryl asked, scanning the room in confusion.
"That's me, can I help you?" the man said invitingly, his feet remaining up on the desk.
"Uh. I was just inquiring about the help wanted sign out front?"
"You got experience?"
"Yeah… worked for a families shop for twelve years"
Dales eyes met Daryl, "Well, that's pretty extensive… when can you start?"
Daryl wasn't expecting that; but he replied anyway, "Um, whenever… I could be here tomorrow if you'd like"
Dale nodded his head, "You new around here?"
"Somethin' like that"
"You lookin' for a temporary thing or long term?"
"Uh, I was hopin' for long term" Daryl said.
"Lori called me" Dale looked at Daryl, who raised an eyebrow, "She told me you're not from here… but lookin' to start a life here… said you'd be comin' over to talk to me. She said that she felt you needed a helping hand"
Daryl wasn't sure what to say, "She got all that from a two minute conversation?"
Dale laughed and swung his feet down from the desk, "She's good like that. She's a good woman, she tries to help people out when she can"
"Well, that was nice of her" Daryl replied, still confused.
"Aright well" Dale folded his hands on the desk, "why don't you start tomorrow? I'll give you a few things to do, we'll see what you know and what you don't know, and Glen will be out there to help if you get stuck"
"Really?" Daryl said, shocked that the man was willing to hire him already, "thanks, I'll definitely be here"
Dale gave a friendly smile, "Alright then… 9am, and don't be late"
"You've got it" Daryl said as he started to exit the office, still completely shocked at how well that went.
"Hey, uh son?" Dale called out, and Daryl turned mid-way, "You didn't say your name"
"Oh… it's Daryl"
Dale nodded, "Alright Daryl… see ya tomorrow"
Daryl nodded and exited the office with a small smile cracked across his lips.
So this is my first Fanfic! I thought of this a while ago; but just decided to post it. It is not related to any Zombie Apocalypse stuff, but the story-line involves all the characters, just in different context. This is an eventual Daryl/Beth story and has a great deal of bad language and smut, so the rating will definitely change at some point. So please let me know your thoughts! What do you think Daryl is running from?