Haha! I finally got this one done! You're getting your full dose of Lacey/Daryl fun!
I had some down time so I powered this out and I'm pretty happy with it. I won't keep you too long with my rambling so if you find any errors or have any ideas/complaints then please feel free to let me know. And as always enjoy!
Lacey didn't sleep very long- only about an hour- before deciding to get ready to go. She went through her bag of weapons, grabbing her most necessary weapons and piled them to the side before packing some small provisions in her back pack just in case they got stranded out there.
She routed around the floor of her tent looking for clothes. There wasn't much in the way of clean clothing so she grabbed the least grungy and pulled her boots on. Her hair was pretty nasty from not bathing so she pulled it into a tight bun out of the way and unzipped her small tent.
Lacey was walking over to Daryl's old truck but was intercepted by Amy and Glenn. She scowled at them, not exactly wanting to talk to them before she let but Amy threw her arms around Lacey and said, "Please, please be careful and don't do anything stupid."
Lacey snorted but Glenn answered for her, "Telling Lacey not to do something stupid is like asking a walker not to bite." They all shared a laugh before Glenn continued, all trace of humor gone from his dark eyes.
"You be careful. Daryl is an okay guy I think from what I know about him but I could be wrong. Keep your defenses up cause we don't want to lose you. I know you can defend yourself but we're friends and you dead would be bad."
Lacey raised an eyebrow and smirked saying, "You know, your speech was going great until the end." Amy slapped her should and Lacey sighed, "Look, I get what you're saying but I trust him and I know how to kill someone- dead or alive. Don't worry about me, just keep an eye out here. You might think you're safe here but you're never safe now. If you need a weapon, and this is just between us, I left some in my tent."
Amy gave Lacey another tearful hug and Glenn nodded, clapping a hand on her shoulder. She turned away and made way to the truck. She beat Daryl by five minutes but what she didn't know was that he had heard her conversation with her friends. He looked at her funny and Lacey narrowed her eyes trying to figure him out. She was pretty good at reading people but he was complicated. Lacey could tell he was good but there was so much on top of the good that sometimes she couldn't tell.
They rode in silence for half an hour before coming to a small town that Lacey had been to weeks ago. It was so close to the quarry that Lacey couldn't believe she hadn't run into anyone from the group. The hotel looked out of place amongst the small convenience stores and middle class houses. Lacey made him stop and do a quick sweep of the smaller stores and siphon some gas from cars she'd missed the last time.
"I cleared the hotel and I stockpiled a shit load of supplies in case I ever needed a place to go. I have it packed pretty well already but I only cleared one floor. It would probably be best if we hung around here today and just sweep the other three floors."
"Fine just don't get hurt. Chinaman would never shut up about it," Daryl said pulling the truck up over the curb and parking as close to the doors as he could get.
Lacey stopped mid reach for her bag and turned to face him, "Glenn is just a worrier and he's Korean."
"Whatever," was Daryl's reply and Lacey rolled her eyes, opening her door and grabbing her favorite machete. The street was fairly deserted of walkers except for two wondering slowly towards them. Lacey stomped towards one of them and before Daryl could call her a name she swung her machete and watched the top half of its head detach from its body and fly a few feet before splattering onto the pavement.
Daryl had his eyes narrowed before pulling out his own knife(even though he much preferred his crossbow) and striding to the other walker, lashing out with one smooth movement. Lacey watched, small smirk on her face, as the walker fell to the pavement.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to impress me Mr. Dixon."
He just grunted in reply and Lacey laughed before turning back to the Hotel's boarded up doors. She'd taken the time on her last visit to barricade it so she wouldn't have to re-clear the lobby again. Daryl looked around the empty lobby, following Lacey to the stairwell.
Lacey made her way up to the fourth floor, feeling much more secure up there. She peeked around the corner just in case something had happened- you really couldn't be too careful. Finding nothing but the ugly carpet, she led Daryl down to the end of the hall to room 225.
When she opened the door, Daryl had to admit even he was a little impressed with her. Seven boxes were neatly stacked and labeled against the wall: bedding; food; clothing; more food; medicine; weapons; random.
Lacey dropped her bag and said, "I doubt we need any more bedding. There's plenty at the quarry and this shit isn't the nicest. Keep an eye out for empty boxes and kids and men's clothing. It's mostly women's in the box."
Daryl nodded dropping his own duffle bag and walking out to the hall. Lacey followed him down to the third floor. Daryl stopped on one side of the hall and Lacey was about to go to the door opposite him when he said, "Stay behind me and let me clear it first. Don't want you getting hurt."
Lacey snorted, "Stay outta my way, Dixon. You know I can take care of myself. Don't treat me like a baby."
She strode forward and kicked the door with all her force, thanking God it was an older hotel with actual key locks. The door swung open and the unmistakable smell of rotting flesh assaulted her nose. Daryl watched through his narrowed eyes as she walked in the room, a little pissed that she wouldn't listen to him, but followed when he heard her laughing.
Hanging from the closet was a walker of a man who'd tried to opt out. "Coward," Daryl muttered and Lacey giggled again and walked up to it poking its leg saying, "Poor bastard probably made the right choice 'cause I doubt his rich ass would've made it." She picked up the Rolex from the bedside table and threw it in the guy's empty duffle bag on the bed.
They left the walker hanging, not bothering to waste the effort on killing him since he was clearly not a threat. They rummaged around for a few minutes and Daryl came up with a few bottles of pills and tossed them in the bag. Lacey looked them over, noting anti-depressants and heavy duty painkillers. She only found a bottle of shampoo and a few razors before declaring the room ransacked.
"This time I'm taking the next one and you take the one across from it," Lacey said pointing to two adjacent doors.
"No; you get killed and China-"
"He's Korean," Lacey snapped.
"Whatever- he'll bitch about it."
Lacey stopped and moved in front of Daryl standing a mere few inches from him. She could feel is body heat and warm breath on her face. She thought about taking a step back but knew that it would look stupid so instead she took a deep breath and said, "Look, if we don't split up, we'll be here for days and not all the rooms had occupants so it'll be a waste of time."
Daryl didn't want to agree but he saw the logic and fire in Lacey's eyes and didn't want to wage a war against her so he grudgingly nodded and swung around, kicking the door with so much force that it swung back and made a hole in the wall behind it. Lacey just rolled her eyes, letting him have his tantrum, and turned to her own door, kicking it in with much more finesse.
By the time they reached the rooms, Lacey was covered in blood but had pulled a decent haul of shit including a bottle of whiskey and clothes that would probably fit Lori or Amy. Daryl hadn't found a lot but did score some first aid stuff that Lacey said was definitely important to take. He'd also managed to find a clean plaid shirt and quickly changed when Lacey wasn't looking, ripping off the sleeves.
"You changed," Lacey said once they were back in their room for the night. Daryl grunted and Lacey went to the bathroom to piss and change into some new clothes of her own. She didn't bother to close the door because there was obviously no electricity and she wasn't about to pull her pants down in a small dark space.
The two ate a small dinner of Vienna sausages and apple juice before Daryl said, "I got first watch," and said in a chair he'd moved next to the window. Lacey took that as her cue and quickly disappeared to change into a fresh pair of jeans and a tank top before lying down to sleep, sliding under the blankets and pulling them up to her chin. She laid there and, although her eyes were closed, she thought about the man sitting not far from her.
He was rough around the edges and not the most talkative but he'd been much more pleasant than Merle and that was really all she could ask for. Most importantly though, Lacey felt safe with him and was sure Glenn's misgivings were completely off base.
From his spot at the window, Daryl could tell she wasn't asleep quite yet but was glad that she wasn't staring at him. It gave him a chance to look her over. Back before everything went to shit, Lacey probably wouldn't have given him the time of day and he wouldn't have even tried to talk to her. She was incredibly attractive to him but he couldn't help but ponder her scar. Daryl knew all about those and he could tell it was old and had probably ended her up in the hospital. It was large, spanning almost half of her face, and had to have hurt like a bitch on skin that tender.
Lacey couldn't figure out where she was; it was dark, so dark, blackness almost completely surrounded her. Was she alone? She couldn't tell. She took a tentative step forward and a scream pierced though the darkness. Lacey knew that scream and launched into action screaming, "Sarah, Sarah!"
Running, running, more running and it seemed like she would never get to her little sister, her only family she had left. She couldn't get to her fast enough it felt like but when she found her she froze, her blood running cold.
Sarah lay on the ground, blood seeping out of her, her stomach ripped open, entrails coming through the jagged hole in her abdomen. She was just lying there, shaking, forcing labored painful breaths.
And then it all came rushing back to Lacey. The blackness transformed into the dim, derelict gas station where Sarah died months ago. The walker was nowhere to be seen, so much unlike that night. "No, no, no, no, please no," Lacey cried dropping to floor next to her sister.
Sarah lifted one pale hand, as if trying to grab Lacey and pull her to her, her eyes suddenly glazed and hungry. Lacey fell back and scooted away, going until she felt hands gripping her from the blackness behind her. Panic ran through her and violently tried to lunge out of their reach.
Lacey bolted awake, breathing hard, sweat beaded on her face. She jerkily looked around, slightly confused about where she was, jumping when she saw Daryl sitting on the bed staring at her with a hard expression. Taking a deep breath Lacey said, "I'll take over watch now. Go to sleep."
Daryl looked like he wanted to say something but though better of it and remained silent, taking Lacey spot in the bed. Thankfully it was still warm although a little damp with her sweat. He'd heard her mumbling in her sleep and had moved to wake her up when she started getting loud.
Now he watched her from his spot on the bed, feigning sleep and saw her viciously rub her eyes and try to stifle her sniffling. He watched tears leak out of her eyes and she took a deep breath exhaling and tiling her head back to look at the ceiling. So she is human, Daryl thought, feeling vaguely frustrated with her small noises and the fact that he was too chicken shit to comfort her. Instead he said, "Stop crying girl; I can't sleep."
"Shut the hell up, asshole," Lacey grunted, slightly embarrassed at being caught, but kept herself silent, holding in her tears, admonishing herself for being caught.
A little while later when she though Daryl was asleep she looked out the window and did something she hadn't done in a long time; she prayed.
"Jesus, God, fuck, Buddha, whoever the hell's really there. Shit- I mean crap. I'm going to hell aren't I? I can't even pray without cussing. I'm so sorry. I've screwed up so much since the world changed. I've killed too many people- not even walkers," She sighed, "I've lost everyone, why the hell haven't you killed me? You killed my entire family, let my brother die out there alone, trying to get home to me. Then you took my Sarah- my little baby Sarah. Fifteen is too young to die and you took her.
"I know I shouldn't be mad. You've done them a favor, getting them out of this hell so they could be with mama. But now I'm completely alone and I don't have faith in this group. They don't realize how bad the world really is. Please, please, please make this group get it. They aren't bad people- well, some of them I don't know about- but they deserve to die."
Throughout her long prayer, Daryl lay awake, listening to her slow murmur. The little spit fire was strong, he'd give her that, and a little crazy but now he knew just how lost she was. He'd watched her at the quarry and she was acted tough and like none of the shit bothered her but now he saw her, saw how human she really was in that moment, staring out the window, the moonlight bathing her solemn face. She looked so sad but he knew that tomorrow she'd be the tough bitch he always saw and would keep fighting like she had a reason to. She was a natural survivor, something must've happened to her and Daryl wanted to know.