Yesterday
Disclaimer:I do not own The Walking Dead, or anything at all of value, please don't sue. I am poor.
Chapter 2: Mind out the gutter!
Hayden spit her belt onto the road and took a few deep, ragged breaths. "Shit, that hurt." Was all she could manage to say. Her head was hung low and Daryl was still holding on to her, mostly to keep her from falling. Slowly he let her go making sure she wouldn't collapse. She gave him a grin and before he could take the bottle of vodka back over to his truck she snatched it from him and took another swig. "One for the road." She smiled, the only reaction she got from him was a quirked eyebrow and shake of the head as he headed back towards his truck with his things.
"You alright?" Shane asked her looking concerned.
"Never better."
"You sure?"
"Positive." Hayden shrugged, "Shit, I really liked that shirt." She looked down at her t-shirt that was stained dark red and brown with dried blood. "Shit, I'm not wearing a shirt..." She just now noticed that she was standing there in a bra. She scurried over to her car and opened the back door and began rummaging through her things. A few moments later she came back to the group with a large gauze bandage over her wound and was wearing an over sized hoodie with a bottle of orange juice in the pocket. She was also using a damp towel to finish wiping the blood off herself.
Everyone had gathered around now, even the children. She opened the bottle of orange juice and drank almost half of it in one gulp. "Okay," The brown haired women started impatiently, "Who are you? Why were you shot, why did you shoot that guy, and just what the hell was that all about?"
"Well I'm Hayden, and this is my little brother Dylan. That guy," She motioned over to the corpse with half a face, "shot me because I wouldn't let him have my car... or YOU KNOW..." she trailed off not wanting to say the "R" word in front of the children. "And that's why I shot him... and uh, hasn't everyone had to dig a bullet out of someone at some point?"
"No," The woman interjected, "No they haven't."
"Oh... well...uh..." 'Shit.'
"My sister can do that cuz she was trained too." Dylan cut in. "And that's not all she knows how to do either."
"Trained?" Someone asked.
"Yeah, back at home she used to have to be in military training when she was younger because she was so bad ass... what?" He stopped after noticing the look Hayden was giving him. "What sis... you were a total bad-" She covered his mouth with her hand and shushed him.
"No swearing in front of the other kids I don't think they're moms appreciate it..." She let out a nervous laugh but the pain was back with full force. 'Okay no laughing with a broken rib...' " I was just a rebellious child..., for a while..., when I was younger... because of stuff..." She stopped, looking at everyone's faces. They looked confused, intrigued, sceptical. How much should she actually say? "And it wasn't really military training so much as boot camp and then later cadets and shi... stuff like that."
Hayden didn't really feel like divulging her whole life story to a group of random strangers who could be judging her every move. She then noticed the small blonde child eyeing her orange juice thirstily. "You want one?" The girl looked surprised at being acknowledged and blushed a deep shade of red. "I've got plenty if you do... what about you?" She questioned looking at the three other kids. "You guys want some Sunny D?"
"Mom... is it ok?" A brown haired boy who looked around Dylan's age asked the guarded brown haired lady.
"Well, only if she wants to share her supplies Carl."
"Yeah, I don't mind." She walked the few feet over to her car and grabbed juice for the kids. She stumbled a bit on the way back losing her balance. "Adrenaline must be wearing off." She muttered trying to keep everything from going blurry. "Here you go!" She forced a smile handing juice to all the kids. "I think its about time for those introductions though."
After she said this she learned everyone's names and who was family with whom. She also got the inkling that no one liked Daryl much, or his brother Merle. The later she could understand why he was a bit of a prick but Daryl seemed decent enough to her. The only other person she didn't really trust was the little blonde girl's father, Ed. It was almost noon and they decided that they should head out and that Hayden and Dylan should travel with them at least until her wounds were healed. But there was no way she could drive in her condition.
"Hey," She walked up behind Daryl and Merle.
"Yeah?" Daryl answered offhandedly. She wasn't sure if he was annoyed or just surprised that she came over to talk to him.
"I saw the way you were looking at my baby... undressing her with your eyes and all."
"Beg yer pardon?" He looked at her like she was crazy while Merle tried stifling his laughter and failing.
"Yeah you were definitely trying to figure out what was under her hood, looking at her like she was some piece of meat, but I was wondering, as long as you don't try to get too fresh with her, did you want to drive her?" She couldn't hold back her smirk. Daryl surprised her with a half smirk of his own and she couldn't help but think that he was a rather attractive male.
"Guess I could giv'er a go, But I can't promise not to check'er out and git fresh."
"Sorry to interrupt Hayden, but what are you talking about?" Shane asked as he came to stand beside her.
"What am I talking about? I'm talking about this lil lady over here." She pointed to her black 1967 four door Chevy Impala, "She's got some miles on her but she rides smoother than any car made after her."
"Oh, I see. Did you need someone to drive it? T-Dog or I could drive it if you want."
"Thanks, but I just promised Daryl he could have his way with her, so long as he's a gentleman about it." She let out a snicker, "Just buy her a meal first and she'll purr to your touch."
"You sure about that? You wouldn't feel more comfortable with one of us."
"No, Daryl's cool." She looked at Shane confused but just shrugged it off as him wanting to ride in her beautiful baby. She then looked at Daryl who was rolling his eyes at Shane as he walked away. "That was weird."
"You know what, fer a scrawny lil bitch yur alright." Merle said still chuckling, "I'll even forgive yuh fer drinking mah hooch." Hayden grinned. He was a bit of a racist, sexist prick, but he was okay.
"And for a racist old hillbilly you're alright." It surprised even Daryl when Merle started laughing even harder before getting into the truck. As Hayden and Daryl walked over to her car she said, "You know I'm kinda shocked he didn't punch me for calling him a racist hillbilly... If I was him I woulda laid me out." Daryl Dixon didn't answer her, but just rolled his eyes and smirked.
After everyone was in there respective vehicles and starting to drive Hayden turned around in her seat to look at her little brother. "Sorry about today Bud."
"Its okay, you're okay, and I'm okay, and I made some friends, and Mr. Dixon seems really cool." At being called Mr. Dixon Daryl shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Daryl's fine kid, yew don't need tuh say none o' tha' Mr. Dixon shit."
"Really? Awesome! Daryl is cool shit Sis!" Hayden snickered to herself at her brother and Daryl shifted uncomfortably once again.
"Man, if you keep swearing like that all those kids moms are gonna hate me for sure."
"You always let me swear, when its just me and you though." He gave her puppy dog eyes.
"That's not fair!" She looked away from him, "You know I can't resist that face. You're too damn cute." Hayden let out a frustrated sigh, and winced at the sharp pain it sent through her body. "Fiiine, just don't talk like that in front of the other kids okay?"
"Okay."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Dylan quickly fell asleep and the car fell into total silence. Hayden wasn't even sure how she was still conscious albeit everything did look a little hazy. The time was rolling by slower then Hayden thought possible. She would glance over at Daryl occasionally but he kept his eyes straight on the road. She rested her head on the window and just looked at the scenery if there weren't so many dead bodies and abandoned cars on the road it would have been a beautiful sight. This was turning into some vacation. After about twenty more minutes of total silence she couldn't take it anymore, it was driving her nuts.
"You don't talk much do you?"
"Never have nothen tuh say."
"What? A handsome, Southern man that has no crazy stories to tell?"
"Handsome?" He couldn't hold back his smirk.
"Well it could just be the massive blood loss talking but yeah that's what I said."
"It must be the blood loss talkin, Darlin'." Hayden couldn't get enough of the way his voice sounded, the Southern Drawl, how it was low and kinda husky. She could listen to him talk for hours. Too bad it was like prying nails to get him to say more then a few words. She figured though if she couldn't get him to talk about himself she would get him to talk about something else.
"So hows my baby handling, she a smooth ride or what?"
"Oh, yeah Darlin'" He stroked the dashboard, "She rides like a dream, I may haf'ta take her home wit me."
"Well I guess, as long as she's willing that is, that you could take her out for a night around town, as long as you promise to be gentle with her."
"I guess I could try'nd take it slow wit her, but no promises, I'd wanna push it to see how far she could go."
"Mr. Dixon, I do declare," Hayden put on a mock Southern accent and batted her long eyelashes at him jokingly, "That if you keep talking like that she is going to wind up getting the vapours and end up overheating." Daryl looked at Hayden and couldn't control the grin growing on his face or stop the laughter that soon followed.
"Darlin' you are one strange woman."
Daryl couldn't figure out why she, or her brother, had taken such a shining to him. Especially after almost shooting both of them with his crossbow barely two hours ago. Figures, woman and children had always been a mystery to him. He thought back to how she handled fixing the gunshot wound. She was indeed one strange woman. He glanced at her through his peripherals as he drove. It could be worse he guessed, she had a good sense of humor about everything, and her body weren't bad neither.
He glanced at her again, she had long thin legs, that'd be good fer wrapping round his waist when they fucked. He stopped his train of thought right there. 'What the fuck am I thinkin'?' He shook his head, that was not something he should be thinking about after just meeting someone. Although it had been a while now since he'd done the deed. He chalked it up to the fact that it'd been awhile since he'd seen a new female.
"You okay Daryl?" She asked in that silky kinda sultry voice she had.
"M'fine Darlin." He took a quick side glance at her again 'Breasts ain't bad neither, perky, and could fit in my han-' He stopped himself once more. 'Get yer mind out the gutter, Daryl, mind out the gutter.' He let out a frustrated sigh trying to stop thinking about sex. He glanced over at her once more and this time she was staring at him her head cocked to the side, a curious look on her face.
"Wanna listen to music or something?" She pointed to the I-pod that was connected to her radio. Daryl nodded his head, "Anything specific you wanna listen to?"
"Don't matter." He shrugged as she began fiddling with the device.
"Its just on shuffle so whatever pops up pops up, if you don't like it you can change it with this button." She said pointing to the forward arrows. Hayden pressed play and the song didn't help matters any.
You know there's a dirty word
Never gonna say it first
No, it's just a thought
That never crosses my mind
"Shit, I love this song." She smiled singing quietly along with the crude sexually charged lyrics. Daryl was a bit shocked at some of the words coming out of her mouth. Her mouth, he could picture it around his dick. 'Gad dammit Daryl, whut in the hell is wrong wit yew?' He inwardly cussed at himself. He took a few deep breathes. Normally he didn't talk much because everyone just assume he was a dumb hick, so he just kept out of the conversations and minded his own business, but right now he was wishing he knew how to start a conversation.
"How do all of you survive down here?" She asked when the song was over.
"Uh, what you mean?"
"The heat, it's so hot. I feel like my skins melting off my body. It never gets this hot back home."
"S'not even that bad right now... wait til you get stuck in a heat wave, now that'll make yer skin melt." Daryl gave her a sympathetic look when he noticed just how flushed her cheeks were. "Where you from anyhow?" The questioned slipped out.
"East coast in Canada." She let out a small laugh, "We got all four seasons. Road construction, almost Winter, Winter, and still Winter. Last year, on my birthday, it snowed and I don't mean a little there was a good foot of it on the ground. Dylan and I were all dressed up in our Halloween costumes, soaking wet and freezing." The memory made her smile.
"Ain't you a lil old fer trick-er-treatin?"
Hayden looked at him aghast before pointing to her knuckles and saying, "You are never to old for free candy. Never. Besides I had a really good costume, and someone had to take Dylan he was only 9. You should have seen him, he was dressed as the Joker from Batman and I was Harley Quinn. I had him out till almost midnight and got him three full pillow cases of candy."
"Darlin," He drawled, "you are one strange woman."
"Yeah I heard that from someone already today. Not sure who though." She grinned, while using her hand as a fan. "Fuck, its hot..." she whined a few moments later. She turned looking to the back seat then started reaching over rummaging through her things. She was kneeling on her seat half in the front and half in the back.
"What'chu doin'?"
"Looking for clothes." She grunted in pain. "I'm dieing right now."
"Can'it wait till we stop?"
"Nope."
"Well where yew planin' on changin'?"
"Right here."
"Whut?" He looked over and her ass was wiggling inches from his face. He directed his gaze back to the road instantly. Fighting back more thoughts of what he'd like to do to her. After a few more seconds she turned around with a light blue tank top and pair of grey cameo shorts and a pair of ladies undergarments. He couldn't help but notice they were very colorful with swirl designs on them. He cleared his throat .
"I won't flash you or anything." She smiled. "The sweater I'm wearing is big enough for me to hide in to change."
"All th' same." He mumbled putting one hand over the side of his face so he wouldn't be tempted to peek. Daryl heard her mumbling a bunch of ow's and cusses under her breath along with the shuffling of clothes.
"Done." He put his hand back on the steering wheel. She had her legs stretched up on the dashboard in front of her and let out a yawn. It seemed like she was finally going to pass out from the earlier events. She then leaned her head on his shoulder with her arms crossed over her chest. He instantly recoiled at her sudden closeness. He hadn't expected her to just casually lean against him. "You don't mind do you?" Hayden apologized lifting her head to look at him. "You looked comfy." He could see her blue doe eyes begin to close as her eyelids became heavy.
"Jist this once." He grunted moving his arm so she fell between his chest and he draped his arm over her tattooed shoulder.
"Thanks," She sighed sleepily, "You're the best Daryl." She snuggled into him and quickly fell asleep.
Daryl rolled his eyes. This was not how he was expecting to survive an apocalypse. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but it seemed that she was just putting up this tough act so people wouldn't think she was weak. But as he looked at her sleeping form he could tell that she wanted someone to protect her. Daryl grunted, agitated. He already had himself and Merle to worry about. Although Merle was more than capable of taking care of himself someone had to keep him from flying off the handle. He looked down at her porcelain face, which was a mistake. Something deep inside him that even he didn't know was there started moving. It felt like a need, a primal instinct to protect. Like something in him needed to prove that he was up for the task. He had to show the world he wasn't useless, that he could provide. However much he protested at the thought he couldn't help that it appealed to him. He looked in the rear view mirror at her younger brother. Something about the kid reminded him of himself when he was very young. He would then undoubtedly have to protect the child out of association as well. He could do it. Prove everyone wrong. That he wasn't nothing. Wasn't just Merle's younger brother. Wasn't just some dumb Redneck. He was Daryl Dixon and he was going to do something good with his life.
"Darlin," He spoke softly. "This better not come back'ta bite me in th' ass."
