And it's Tuesday! Not my playground, I just dig!
Daryl Dixon was a hunter and a tracker. He was also an observer of people and surroundings. He could get madder than a wet hen and could be as mean as a damn pissed off copperhead, only with less warning. He could also calmly plan for every contingency and see an exit from every situation. It wasn't always ideal, and he had the scars to prove it, but he could get out of any scrape. People often overlooked him, however, because he was so quiet, but there was a method to the madness. Because of his quietness, people tended to talk in front of Daryl. They just assumed he was an ignorant hick and he let them. Before they left the hospital on the medical supply run, he knew exactly what area of the city they were going to hit, and he knew what was planned each step of the way. He was a smart man, and he knew, even without Lerner's warning, that the two cops he was riding with had no intention of having him return to Grady Memorial. At least, not alive. And that was ok. What they didn't know was that Daryl knew where they were going, what they were planning, and he had an edge they had no idea about. All of those solo runs had come in handier than anyone could have ever known. And the run last night, the one no one but he and Carol knew about had paid off in spades.
The group of officers and civilians from the hospital had received their final instructions from Captain Hanson and had moved out to hit a supposedly deserted medical facility. They needed more meds and first aid supplies as they had not really been rationing them. People were taking the ibuprofen and acetaminophen like candy for every little ache and pain. The hospital was already in short supply of other medicines because they had been used when the turn first happened and they had no idea what they were facing. This went on until Doctor Montrose finally told the Captain that they needed to start looking for medical supplies after he has asked for something for a headache. Lerner and Shepard had been tasked with going over the hospital inventory. What they found wasn't good. The three nurses that still remained in the hospital told the officers that they had been instructed to allow people to use supplies as needed. Because of this, there was a shortage of over the counter meds, antiseptic, and bandages. It didn't take long to realize that they were going through supplies to quickly and that it was too late to do anything but scavenge for more. They had hit all the area pharmacies and small clinics - which gained them a new doctor by the name of Edwards - and while that gave them a good stockpile considering that most of them had been hit by people evacuating Atlanta, they still needed more things along the lines of antibiotics and narcotics.
So this was the reason given by Hanson for such a large scale run. Some of the others had argued for a smaller party or for the group to be split up and sent to different places, but Hanson refused. Ever since his argument with Dawn over the little blonde and the trailer trash she was sleeping with, Hanson had become increasingly difficult and erratic. He started wasting supplies on runs that didn't gain anything but dead men, including Doctor Montrose who had been forced to go out on a run by Hanson - he was now insisting that everyone pull their own weight. Besides that, he kept trying to talk to Beth who wasn't having anything to do with anyone other than her family.
This run was going to be the finale of a plan he had been plotting for several weeks. He already had his condolence speech ready for when the team came back with the dead Dixon in tow. He had made sure that Gorman knew to bring the body back. He didn't want Beth to have any hope that he had survived. Besides, it would do him good to see the man taken down. Dawn might then remember which side her bread was buttered on. Little did he know that plans never work out the way you hope, and certainly not when Daryl Dixon is two steps ahead of you.
"Carol, gotta sec?"
"Certainly, what do you need?" She followed Daryl over toward the window at the end of the hall. between their two rooms.
"Keep an eye on Beth. I'll be back, and then we headin' out. I already got a way ta get outta Atlanta and enough supplies for 'bout a week. And my bike's hid a little ways away. Figured they might try to mess with it, so's I told 'em it was wrecked last time I went out."
"You got a car and supplies? Without help? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Keepin' under the radar. Now, I got a coupla bags last time I's out. You and Beth pack 'em up with whatever ya think. Blankets, clothes, anythin' we collected while we been here, but not food or meds. Don't want anyone to notice nothin'"
"Where are you going? I don't understand."
"I'm goin' on a run tonight. Can't be seen, so Imma need ya help in and out. Don't tell Beth, but I got a warnin' 'bout tomorrow. Looks like the cops wanna make a move on Beth and they need to get rid a me first."
Carol stared at Daryl in shock, and when she opened her mouth to fuss, answer, cry, question, he just held up his hand.
"Don't. We been knowin' this was comin', and I ain't lettin' nothin' happen to any of ya. I got a plan and I'll be back in two hours. Let me in that stairwell across from the cafeteria."
Carol nodded and watched as Daryl melted into the shadows that embraced the hospital after dark.
It was the longest two hours Carol had ever spent. She was just glad that Beth and Hershel were so absorbed in the game of rummy that they were playing, that they didn't notice Daryl's absence. They barely even looked up with Carol said she was going to the cafeteria for some tea and asked if either wanted any. So Carol made her way down to the next floor and let Daryl onto the floor through the locked door where he had met with Lerner the day before. They went into the cafeteria and got four drinks before going back upstairs. No one, not even Gorman on his rounds noticed anything strange.
The next day, Daryl got up early and got dressed quickly. There was a knock at the door and Daryl got his gear and headed out to the desk. He had tried not to wake Beth, but even as quiet as he was, she woke up as soon as he slipped from the bed. She didn't speak, just helped him get his things, and then handed him the gift she had for him. It was a quiver she had made from a piece of plastic tubing that had contained medical posters. She had found several in a storage closet right down from their rooms. The elderly lady that stayed in the room next to them had told her that the closet was used as a catchall of things that no one wanted. Beth had found a treasure trove of stuff, including several sizes of the tubing and extra blankets that needed to be mended, and a small collection of mismatched tools. After everyone had gone into their rooms for the night, Beth and Carol had emptied that closet. Now, while Daryl was out on this run, the two of them sat on the floor in the Greene's room and went through everything.
Beth was painstakingly boring a hole into the two ends of a fourth plastic tube. As she finished, she took a roll of nylon rope and threaded it through the bottom hole. Running it out of the top, she tied a sturdy knot. Before pulling it back through and tugging as hard as she could, she used a BIC lighter she had found in a cigar box and burned the knot. She watched it melt into a ball, and dipped it into a cup of water to harden it. When Beth was satisfied that it was secure, she cut enough cord to make a carry strap and did the same to the other end.
"What's all this for? I mean the plastic tubes." Carol asked as she went through a sack full of odds and ends of office supplies.
Beth looked up from what she was concentrating on. "I figured that it would help if we had something waterproof to protect essentials when we leave."
Carol's head snapped up. "What do you mean?" She asked with a grimace.
"I know Daryl has something he's planning. It's about those cops, the ones that keep bothering me. I'm not the only one, you know."
"I know, sweetie, but after what happened before, he is being cautious."
Beth nodded. "I know, that's why I'm not mad, just figured I'd be ready to run when he said the word."
Carol looked up at Hershel who was sitting in the small recliner. He smiled at her and just shook his head.
"Ok, well, Daryl wants us to be ready to move out as soon as he says. No food or water, no medical supplies. He has them already."
Hershel spoke up then. "I figured that is the reason behind all those trips by himself. He's been planning this for a while."
The two women didn't answer. They went back to the jobs they had been given. When Daryl Dixon came back in the hospital, alive and as well as one could be after an attempted murder, the Greene's were ready to go, and the few that stayed behind were glad to see the back of them.
Daryl leaned his head back on the rest and closed his eyes. The two officers waited about five minutes, and when the man seemed to be asleep, started talking.
Gorman was driving and Lamson kept looking back at their passenger. "He's asleep. Why don't we just do it now, save the trouble of setting up an accident?"
"Captain wants a body and a bite. For a piece of that little blonde, I'm going to follow orders."
"Gorman, you are such a pig. What are you going to do if Hanson changes his mind?"
"He won't if he wants to stay in charge."
Lamson snorted and looked back at Daryl again. "You aren't just a pig, Gorman, you are an idiot."
"Shut up."
Daryl just continued to breathe easy and rest.
He was actually almost dozing when Gorman piped up again.
"Almost there, man, don't forget we go in the front and the others will take the back. There isn't any other way out. If we can get them in that courtyard, we can surprise them. I'll put a bullet is the hick and we can take out that damn gangbanger."
Lamson hmm'd in response and Daryl noticed a definite change in his breathing. Smirking to himself, he relished that uncertainty that was creeping in. Hand tightening on his crossbow, there was going to be a surprise alright, just not the one Gorman was counting on.
The courtyard was a mess, in fact, the whole place was. The idiots that Hanson had recruited to loot the place didn't really have any experience, and a good many of them dropped their weapons and became walker food. Some were there just to help keep their home supplied and surrendered to the soldiers that came out of nowhere. The courtyard was the center of the fiasco. Gorman, Lamson, and two of the civilian thugs that ran around with them were down on their knees, guns to the backs of their heads, trying to figure out where things had gone wrong.
Daryl was still standing, talking to a couple of Hispanic men and another in uniform.
"Dixon, how the hell are you? Did the old man survive?" Sgt. Lewis was grinning and stuck a hand out to the hunter. "We were coming back through on our way back to Canton when we came on a couple of guys having some walker trouble. They brought us here and I couldn't believe the story I heard about a redneck and the cops trying to kill him. So we decided to stick around and lend a hand."
Daryl chuffed a laugh. "We coulda handled it, but I'm glad to see ya. Makes what happens next a lot easier." He frowned over at the men on the ground. "Yeah, can't say I'mma popular guy at Grady. Assholes over here lookin' to move in on Beth... "
Lewis whipped around and strode up to the men. "Murdering a man to steal his wife? We don't allow that in the territory of Georgia."
Lamson looked like he would swallow his tongue and the two civilians started babbling about not knowing and not being a part of the attempt on Daryl. Gorman didn't say anything, but when he realized that he had been played by Hanson, he went white.
"Man, I didn't know you were married, you never said anything, you... "
Daryl dropped his crossbow on the ground, took two steps forward and punched Gorman in the face. "Ya didn't know what? That she's in my bed every night? That whenever she was out of our room she was with me or her parents? How did ya not know?"
"Nurse Jone told us you were just sleeping together. She didn't say you were married. You don't wear a ring."
Daryl didn't answer, he just turned and walked away and made his way into the home of the Vatos, followed by Guillermo. Sgt. Lewis directed a couple of his men to tie up all the prisoners while several others swept the property and put down any dead. The nursing home run for so long by the Vatos was in ruins. The hospital group had gone in tearing things up. Several of the residents had died since Daryl had been there with his original group, but there were a few new ones, too. The hellhounds were still with Abuela, and Daryl quietly accepted a tight hug from the old lady.
"Man, I'm sorry 'bout this shit. I didn't think they's gonna just come in guns blazin'. This was s'posed to just be gettin' rid a me."
"Not your fault. We knew when we agreed to help you that we might have trouble. Besides, if you hadn't come looking for us, they would have probably killed us all and taken everything we have."
Daryl cringed at the vision of elderly ladies and men lying in blood, executed by Captain Hanson because he was too stupid to keep track of supplies. The thought that all these people would just be wiped out because of one man was hard to think about.
"Come on with us, we got vehicles, or we can get 'em. We can go ta the hospital and the doc can check over the folks. I'm takin' mine and we ain't stayin' in Atlanta. Got ideas 'bout the mountains, findin' a safe place, somewhere we can rest a bit."
"Alright. We'll go to Grady, and then depending on things there, those of us who can, will stay with you. We've barely been making it. Atlanta is done as far as supplies. And it is getting harder and harder to get around without running across the dead."
Captain Hanson lay on the pristine white tile, staring sightlessly at the ceiling. A pool of blood steadily spread around him as Officer Lerner holstered her handgun. Gorman, Lamson, Shepard, and the other cops stood silently wondering if she would attack anyone else.
"I told Hanson, and I told the rest of you that this was a stupid move. Now we are down a dozen able-bodied men, and I can't trust four of my officers. Don't make me clean house. I will kill the next person who upsets the order here at my hospital."
It was a cold speech, a brave one, but everyone knew it was an empty threat at the moment. It was empty in the face of several soldiers with automatic weapons, a couple of hacked off gangbangers, and one pissed off crossbow-toting redneck. Daryl pushed by the crowd gathered in the hallway and stomped down to where Beth and Carol were standing.
"Next person that touches MY wife'l get a bolt to the head."
And then Daryl kissed Beth.
He pulled back, ears bright red when he heard Hershel chuckling from the door of his room.
"It's about time, son. That girl has been pining for you for a year now."
It was Beth's turn to blush. "Daddy!"
Daryl quickly changed the subject. "Get everythin'. Strip the rooms, stuff's ours. I got them pillows and sheets and such."
"We already did. All we got to do now is carry us and our stuff out of here."
Daryl smiled at Beth. "That's my girl."
With the help of Guillermo and his Vatos and the Guard soldiers, the Dixons and Greenes got themselves and all their stuff down to the parking lot. They had quite a convoy set up between Daryl's bike, the Humvees, the two ambulances, and the three big diesel trucks, everyone had a seat. They had everything they could salvage from the nursing home and Daryl's truckload of supplies and were scheduled to meet up with the rest of the military convoy outside of Atlanta.
Several of the truly ill decided to stay at the hospital and a handful of Grady's residents had decided to go with the convoy. As they were leaving, Lerner approached Daryl.
"You have certainly caused me more trouble than I need. You better get out of Atlanta, once you clear those gates, you are fair game."
Daryl looked down at Dawn Lerner puffed up in her uniform and body armor and tugged at his crossbow strap. "Next time I see ya, you'll get a bullet between those dead eyes a yours. I wouldn't suggest ya try anythin' today. Not if ya want ta live."