Author's Note: I just wanted to give a little shout out to my sister who definitely helped me with an idea for this chapter. At the very end there is a little snippet that she actually wrote and I just wanted to give credit where it's needed. So thanks big sis! :) I am sincerely hoping that you guys all like this chapter because it took me forever to write. I worked really hard on it and I am actually super in love with it. Just to warn you it's a little fluffy...
I also want to thank any new favorites or subscribes, your support helps so much more than you know!
And thanks to the-originals-rock, bigtimerushlover101, and padme4000 for the reviews of chapter 7.
You guys are the bomb dot com. ;)
Also, if you guys wouldn't mind I am TRULY curious to know some things. If you could be so kind as to let me know in your review a few things:
Shane&Lori. Do you like the pairing being kept together?
Rick/Taylor or Taylor/Daryl?
Should I have Glenn pursue a male or female character?
Thanks so much for helping me out! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own any Walking Dead characters.
CHAPTER NINE.
KEEP 'EM SEPARATED.
Rick looked over and smiled faintly at the small blonde as she gazed out the window aimlessly. They had been sent on a last minute scavenger trip to a town that was close by the quarry. The rest of the group stayed behind to pack up all their belongings and get everything in order for the big road trip to the CDC. It was a long night of bickering, back and forth arguing, but eventually everyone had agreed upon going. No one was really thrilled about the idea of being on the open road, but honestly, staying in the quarry made them squirm in their seats as well. With the last assault taking more than one of their own they were unsettled by the plaguing thoughts of another attack looming in the near future. Minus one family the whole gang would be ready to leave before sundown and it was Rick and Taylor's job to grab some last minute things. The very last thing they wanted was to have the whole line of cars have to make a stop to grab a measly first aid kit, then they would all be sitting ducks.
Rick wasn't particularly fond of having to go on the outing with just two people but no one else wanted to volunteer and he had grown to like her company anyway. A few days worth of constantly being around somebody could make or break a growing relationship and he would say she had made it enjoyable- possibly a little more than that. She made some of the unfortunate things that happened seem a little less unfortunate.
Everything had gone by so fast the day before with Lori telling him it was over. He had even begged for them to stay together, not for the sake of keeping her, but for the sake of their son. Even Rick had to admit everything had gone to hell between him and Lori way before the 'end of the world' but he wasn't ready to pull his son into all of it. Now he was sure Carl would pull the short straw because his mother would be back in the arms of Shane and more confused than ever. He sighed and tried to push the tiresome thoughts out of his mind.
"You wanna talk about it?" She glanced over at him with a small frown masking her features. He hadn't even noticed she stopped her staring contest with the window.
"No," he shook his head and refocused on the bland road ahead of him. The repetitive yellow and white lines giving him a bit of a headache. He had told Taylor about the way Lori broke it off for Shane only moments after getting in the truck. He always had word vomit with her and it seemed to never fail. Her door shut, his shut, and suddenly the confession poured out. Rick was pretty certain she may have seen the few tears that ran down his cheeks at the thought of all the years lost, but she was too gracious to emasculate him and bring it up.
"She doesn't know what's she's missing." Taylor returned to her previous pose and let her arm hang out the window. Her eyes followed the trees as they swooshed by. He could see the crooked smile that spread across her lips as she recited what he had told her just the day before. He let a chuckle slip out at her comment and beamed a smile at her.
She messed with the knobs on the radio a few times whenever the silence began to suffocate them. She knew that none of the radio stations were working but if she was lucky there was a CD in. Bingo, she thought as the speakers began blasting out a song. Luckily it was a band that she really liked. The Offspring sang 'Come Out and Play' while she bobbed her head and tapped her foot along to the beat.
"They should probably keep us separated."
"Really?" His tone was inquisitive as he pondered what she really meant by those words. He rose an eyebrow and glanced over at her quick enough to catch her sending him a mischievous look. Once she noticed his eyes set on her she pursed her lips together and turned to face the faithful shield of the window again.
They pulled into a cul-de-sac filled with a row of beautiful houses. Rick parked the truck in the middle of the street leaving it on just in case they had to make a hasty exit. They both slid out of the truck with their guns held out in the ready position. They each scanned their respective sides of the road and relaxed their shoulders and tense jaws whenever there was not a soul to be seen- alive or dead. Rick nodded to the first large brick house they were pulled up in front of and they stealthily made their way inside. Rick kicked the door in with a loud bang as the wood buckled under the pressure of his well trained and skilled ability. He had kicked plenty of doors down in his day and this one was just as easy.
"I'll sweep down here, you do the upstairs," he whispered motioning for her towards the stairs. She nodded silently and crept up the staircase as quietly as her legs would possibly let her. Rick went from room to room only spotting blood soaked walls and carpets. He inwardly prayed that sending her upstairs by herself would not come back to bite him in the ass, but it was the only plausible option with both of their safety in mind. He paced through the kitchen and rummaged through the drawers, grabbing some water bottles and food. He found some antibiotics and threw them into the two book bags as well, he had a feeling someone was going to need them at some point. Just as he knelt down to open the last cabinet he heard the one thing he had been fearing the most.
"AHH!" He sprang to his feet and bolted up the stairs taking two at a time. He rounded the corner and saw a lifeless walker that had recently been stabbed in the head. Rick continued looking through each room wondering when she had killed that one and how many more had possibly cornered her. Her swung the last door open and cursed himself, why did I let her come up here-
"Awhhh, it's a puppy!" Rick's face dropped to deadpan once his mind had put all the pieces together. Taylor sat Indian style in front of a child's closet cradling a miniature Australian Sheppard in her lap.
"You scared me to death! I thought you being eaten by a damn walker," he growled out as his heartbeat came down from the strung out beating it had just done. Taylor's cheeks flushed pink with the realization that he was more than just a little pissed off at her. She hadn't even thought about it when she first squealed at the sight of the adorable dog.
"Sorry," she whispered, petting the puppy's head delicately. The petite dog licked her face frantically with the excitement of human contact making Taylor giggle like a small child. His scowl softened into a slight smirk at the sound and his momentary anger quickly subsided. She looked up at him with eyes as wide and beg-worthy as the dogs. "Can we please take him back with us?"
"No," Rick stuck his hand out and waved it in disapproval. It wasn't that he didn't like dogs, or even didn't want to take this particular dog, he just knew Shane would throw a royal fit. "We are already struggling to fend for ourselves, it'll just be another mouth to feed. Not to mention he could be a barker… he could draw the walkers to us."
"But…" she began to protest and poked out her bottom lip with her eyes still wide in an attempt to make the perfect pouty face. "But he's so cute."
"Yeah, then you'll get attached to it and if something happens-"
"Then I'll be heartbroken, but I'll get over it," she cut him off rapidly already knowing where his argument was headed. "I've always wanted a dog and could never have one. This is the perfect time."
"I never thought I'd hear the apocalypse being referred to as 'the perfect time'," his sarcasm was harsh and she frowned with a heavy heart.
"I'll take care of his food situation and he has yet to bark even when that I had that run in with the walker out there, he's a good dog," she sighed and placed the puppy on the ground in front of her gently. The dog immediately took off and ran over to Rick, sniffing around his feet furiously. He jumped up at his feet and whined in the least annoying way he'd ever heard. The combination of his face and hers was enough to make him run a hand over his face in frustration.
"Fine," he rolled his eyes and began to walk away with the now overly cheerful Taylor and dog trailing quickly behind him. She rushed ahead of him and picked up the dog swiftly before leaning up on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you!"
He shook his head and grumbled under his breath about all the men at camp having a conniption knowing full well she couldn't hear or see him. As they exited the house he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.
"You still need to be careful," he glanced down at the dog and chuckled, "that measly thing ain't going to protect you." He ruffled the top of the dogs head making Taylor's already beaming smile grow wider.
"You two will get along just fine," she winked at him and approached the truck much more cautiously than she had left the house. Once they were in the vehicle the dog sat promptly in the middle of the two wagging his tail wildly. He had clearly not seen any humans, besides ones that wanted to eat him, in quite some time.
"What are you gonna name it?" Rick asked once they were a few miles down the road and neither had spoken. She looked down with feigned confusion at the now sleeping pup. She stroked his back lightly and looked up at him with a small smile.
"Well, I wanted to name it Jasmine but he's obviously a boy… so I think I'm going to go with Bailey."
"Bailey's a girls name," he said with a cocked eyebrow, not sure if she was aware of it. At least in his own opinion it was a girls name, once he thought about it he wasn't actually sure. He had a strong inkling that she was about to put him in his place.
"No! It depends on the spelling, it can be both," she corrected him with her usual matter-of-fact attitude. He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "He can be our dog," she whispered, still patting his head lightly.
He refocused on the road ahead of him and smiled to himself at her words. He took a quick peek down at Bailey who had now nudged his sleepy way over to her lap.
Our dog.
Daryl crouched down and scanned the horizon of the lush woods before him. He titled the crossbow up until he could see clearly through the scope. He had decided to go hunting to blow off some much needed steam. After his fiasco with Taylor and all her emotions he was in dire need of a way to get his anger out without knocking someone's teeth down their throat. Hunting was always best for that. He whipped around at the sound of a small branch cracking and readied himself to let an arrow go. He stopped his finger immediately at the sight before him and he lowered it slowly.
Daryl's eyes didn't waver from the person before him. His jaw went slack and he honestly could not believe what he was seeing. Another survivor? His eyes than were automatically floored to the dead walkers body below him. He noticed there was an arrow neatly through the eye of the zombie. He had almost been killed by a walker and didn't even know it. His mind clouded with the realization that this person had saved him. He was so caught up in his own thoughts and own distracted that he had almost let himself be bitten. He looked back up as the stranger spoke.
"Hey handsome," her voice was thick was a southern twang and he couldn't take his eyes from her. She was almost as tall as him with a head full of luscious brown curls. She was stacked and hot, even someone as stubborn as him would admit that. She had that kind of look that defied gravity and he found himself at a loss for words. Daryl Dixon did not become speechless at the sight of a woman.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked, now eyeing her warily. He was not sure where she came from and what she was capable of. Not only did she have a hell of a shot on her, she had to have been tracking him, he just knew it. There was no way she happened to stumble upon him almost being eaten for dinner. He would be damned if he let a woman track him.
"I'm Cassidy," she answered and slid the arrow out of the lifeless head without so much as a shudder. He had to admit he was pretty damn impressed. Cassidy though…? He twisted his face with slight disbelief since the name did not seem to suit her.
"Really? Cassidy? Doesn't seem right," he trailed off watching her wipe the walkers blood off of a very nice looking arrow. They almost looked like his.
"I didn't pick my own name," she shrugged her shoulders at his suggestion. "Everyone just calls me Cass or C. Or at least they did," she rolled her eyes at the thought of the world being half wiped out. It was a different reaction to it than he was used to. All the girls at camp would be all depressed or they would cry… she just seemed to not care. Maybe she was a natural loner like him.
"Why are you out here? These woods?" He slung his crossbow back over his shoulder knowing that now there would be no way he could hunt with all the commotion they had caused. She laughed and shook her head at him like she knew something that he didn't.
"This my part of the woods. I live a few streets down. These are my hunting woods," her tone seemed clipped suddenly. She had grown possessive thinking he was trying to take them over.
"I ain't never seen you before," he said flatly, trying to ignore the way she constantly licked her lips and stared at his.
"That's because you've never been down this far before or I would have known. You were probably too distracted and got off course," his eyes narrowed at her. Daryl wondered if she trying to imply he was a bad tracker by straying too far. Maybe he was distracted, so what. She didn't own this land.
"Whatever," he began to stalk off back to camp to get away from this whole situation. What was it with women and making him feel awkward?
"Do you have a group?" She chased after him, hot on his heels. He turned his head slightly to speak behind him.
"Maybe, wouldn't tell you though."
"Why not?" He could just tell she was pouting. He didn't need to see her face, he could tell by the tone of her voice. He had been hanging around Taylor way too much if he was able to predict the look on a girls face. She caught up to him and sure enough there was a small pouty look on her plump lips.
"Cause I don't know if I can trust ya," he glanced over at her and the hurt expression now taking up residence on her face. "Ugh," he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"I can hunt, I'm sure you could tell," she waved behind her to the corpse, "and I can cook… I can shoot a walker between the eyes from a mile away."
"Yeah sure," he snorted at the mere idea of her being able to perform such a task.
"Okay, I may have been exaggerating but I can be of a lot of help. I'm by myself back at my place. It's just me," she looked him up and down as she awaited an answer. He turned towards her and did the same, his eyes momentarily stopping at her chest. He shook his head and turned his gaze straight forward again to prevent it from happening anymore. It wasn't his fault she was wearing a shirt that revealed way too much cleavage.
"Fine," her words of being holed up alone made his memory drift back to finding Taylor alone in the attic. He had saved her, he supposed he could save this one too. Though she didn't look like she needed much saving.
She nodded at his words with a minuscule smile forming, she didn't squeal, or kiss him, or do any of the things that Taylor would have done. Damn, he needed to stop thinking about the blonde that he ditched back at camp.
As soon as they were on the brink of the campground she turned and aimed her bow towards the distance. She released the arrow and he followed it as it pierced a lone walker quite a distance from them. The body slumped to the ground and she gave a side glance to the stunned looking Daryl. He hadn't even noticed it. He scoffed and continued up the path without acknowledging it. A little smile did grow when he thought about how nice it was to not have to worry about having both of their backs. Hell with this one he didn't even need to worry about himself, she clearly had them both covered. He put his hand up in a half-hearted attempt in front of their now all packed up little camp. A wide grin broke out across her face at the sight of all the other people. Cassidy couldn't believe after months of being stuck by herself she was finally around other people.
"Thanks, champ," she slugged him in the shoulder and took off to introduce herself to everyone. He stared in awe, did she just hit him? In the few minutes that he had known her she was already proving to be the type of girl that he would have chased after before the apocalypse. She was a badass with an attitude and a body to match, not to mention she was good with a bow and hunting. Daryl smirked to himself as she walked out of his sight, maybe he made the right decision after all.
