Persephone Chapter 14
LOTS of help again from my friends Cynthia and Kat-I'm not worthy….
I've been reading up about viable transportation during the Zombie Apocalypse-I was blown away by all the information out there-cars, military vehicles, trains, bikes, boats and PLANES. I'm surprised none have been shown on TWD yet, maybe that's coming. Anyway, I like the idea of a plane and it's pilot being introduced to the show and my story. Here goes:
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is the most manufactured GA aircraft in history, with 43,000 craft as of 2008. Almost all pilots have a little flight time in the 172, making it a great go-to aircraft. While not outstanding in any attribute, it is far from poor in any area as well. With a decent load for a small team, decent speed, and spare parts for years to come, this aircraft can help you hop across the country even landing on some dirt or grass fields. Easy to fly and easy to land, this is a great all around airplane. A Skyhawk's wings will pass over most zombies when taxiing.
Over the next few weeks, Daryl stayed longer and longer at Lucy's, sometimes two days in a row. He brought the pups with him when he stayed the night, and the pups quickly made themselves at home in Lucy's house.
Lucy had earlier noted that Daryl seemed to favor Persephone-not that he neglected any of the pups, but she saw he was especially patient and loving with Persephone. Lucy smirked a bit at this-seemed few females with any sense could resist Daryl Dixon's charms once they became apparent. Lucy herself had found herself favoring Achilles, the largest of the pups and he in turn seemed to have taken to her just as quickly. When Daryl slept at Lucy's house, they shared her large bed with Persephone and Achilles, and Zeus and Cerberus usually slept in the hall by the bedroom door, guarding all of them. On nights Daryl was restless he would notice Zeus and Cerberus took turns patrolling the entire interior of the house while the other would remain by the bedroom door. Persephone and Achilles had claimed the left side of the bed-the one nearest the door while he and Lucy were relegated to the farthest side of the bed. He was glad her bed was large, otherwise some nights he was sure he and Lucy would have ended up on the floor on nights the pups themselves were restless.
They had started taking the dogs outside the walls for short runs, to get the dogs acclimated to being outside their perimeter. Lucy had convinced Daryl it would be safe for them if they had some body armor like police dogs or military dogs had. They had used the boiled leather they had found in the museum to fashion safety vests for all four of the dogs. Their main body would be protected, and they had worked daily with the dogs to teach them not to bite a walker if one approached them-they weren't sure what effect the goo from a walker would have on the dogs. They had used dummies to train the dogs, but the true test would be when the dogs encountered an actual walker.
Daryl had been a bundle of nerves the first couple of times he'd taken the dogs with him-fidgety, tense, snapping his answers. He and Lucy had agreed that only two of the dogs should go on a run, leaving the other two to assist in patrolling the town. They rotated the dogs each time they went out, and soon found that Persephone and Achilles worked the best together and Zeus and Cerberus were their most comfortable with each other. The dogs themselves had decided who their best partners were. And although the dogs were obedient to all the members of the group that most often went on runs, they had noticed that Cerberus and Zeus were especially fond and obedient of Michonne and Aaron. Daryl and Lucy had even discussed asking Michonne to move in with them-there were more than enough rooms in the house. Since Jessie and her two boys had moved in with Rick and Carol, Carl and Judith, Michonne had spent more time with Daryl and Lucy. Glen and Maggie had their own place, Abraham, Rosita, Tara and Eugene had theirs. Carol seemed to like being around Jessie's boys and of course Judith. Lucy told Daryl Michonne might be more comfortable with them, since their house was all adults and she was involved with the dogs. They had agreed to ask Michonne soon, not realizing that in discussing this they'd called the house their home and this meant Daryl was all but moved in with Lucy despite his hemming and hawing.
One morning when he'd stayed over, he and Lucy were in the kitchen after letting the pups out briefly. They were eating some toast before taking the dogs on patrol and Lucy was studying some book intently.
"What's that you've got your nose stuck in?" he teased. He knew when she got involved in some book the world ceased to exist-she became fully immersed in whatever story she was reading and he'd had to tap her on the shoulder sometimes to get her attention. He didn't mind-he himself was the same way if he was cleaning his bow or making bolts or anything that took his concentration. He was still surprised though that anyone could get that absorbed in a book. And none of the books he'd seen her devour-because that was the only way he could describe it-had any pictures, and most were pretty thick. She was a quick reader and he'd been surprised more than once when she'd shut an especially thick book with a sigh and he'd realized she had finished it already-he knew a book like that would take him years to get through, if he made it through the first few pages.
Lucy started at his voice and looked up, an almost sleepy look on her face. Whatever she'd been reading had certainly interested her. She frowned at him, her forehead crinkling slightly and bit her lip in thought. "Do you know anything about planes?" she murmured, seemingly still lost in thought.
Daryl snorted in surprised laughter. "What?! Planes? Girl I ain't never been on one or around one!" he laughed again.
Lucy frowned again and shook her head and went back to reading absentmindedly. Now Daryl was curious. "Why ya askin' bout planes?" He came over to the table and sat beside her, trying to see what she was reading. She looked up again, still that sleepy look on her face and swiped at a loose curl in her face.
"Because, if we had a plane we could go on a scouting trip. We could see if there were any other places that are like us. We could see if there are safer places than this, ones with a lot less walkers." Daryl and Aaron had reported two weeks ago that they had noticed a sudden increase in the number of walkers they were encountering. Morgan had been out on some runs with them as well, and he too had remarked on the increasing number of walkers they encountered. They had discussed this with Rick and Michonne and Deanna and increased the number of guards on the walls as well as reinforcing yet again the walls. Daryl had hesitated in telling Lucy-he didn't want her to worry unless there was something to actually worry about, but he knew if she found out from somebody else she would be furious with him for not telling her so he'd finally filled her in a few days ago. Since then she'd been preoccupied with books that didn't look like the usual ones she read.
"Ya gonna tell me what you've found in that book?" Daryl said quietly. Lucy dragged her eyes away from the page she was studying and looked up at him, still lost in thought.
"I found some books about aviation, and different types of planes. The kind anyone could fly without years of training. We should look for tiny airports when we're out-the kind that would service crop dusters for farms. The fuel should be relatively easy to get, some of these lighter smaller planes can go pretty far on a small tank-kind of like your bike. The smaller ones can land in fields, hell some can land on streets like these here in town." She waved her hand toward the front of the house and the street. Daryl could see she was getting wound up about the idea-and if he'd learned anything in the brief time he'd known Lucy it was that once she got hold of an idea she would exhaust herself trying to make it workable. She was definitely one of the most stubborn, pigheaded women he'd ever met-sometimes it felt to Daryl that she was almost his twin in some ways, they were both stubborn, quick tempered, no picnic to deal with if they were aggravated about something. But that was one of the things he'd come to love about her. He might get frustrated with her at times, but he understood her.
Daryl hummed in thought. "Maybe Abraham knows something. I mean, he was in the military. Maybe he could help tell ya something," he suggested. Lucy nodded and marked the page she'd been reading. "Take the book with ya, show him and ask him what he thinks," he continued. He could see she wasn't going to let go of this easily, although truth to tell it was a great idea. He was surprised none of the other people here who knew more about that stuff had brought it up already. He bit his lip in thought. If there was one thing he'd noted about the general population of this town though it was they were like sheep-content to live here while someone else thought for them. They had escaped the worst of the virus and it's aftermath and they didn't want to hear any stories about it-they preferred to live here in their safe little town and pretend none of it had ever happened. When any new group he and Aaron had brought in had tried to describe what they had seen or done, he saw the only people who listened were the people in his group and one or two others. His family didn't want to forget, and if it hadn't been for Pete killing Reg he was sure they all would have been cast out of the town and the residents would have been murdered by some random group of savages still out there. They'd had some scares over the previous year and a half, but it had been quiet since just before Lucy had joined them. And now with the surge of walkers they'd encountered on their runs, Daryl had a bad feeling some assholes were behind it and that they would be having trouble again before too long. Finding a plane and scouting around for another place might save them if they were attacked again. At least they'd know if there was anyplace safer to go to instead of wandering around blindly like they'd done before they'd happened on Aaron.
They walked the dogs around the perimeter, Lucy carrying the book with her and she and Daryl continuing their conversation. After their walk they stopped at Abraham's house and knocked on the door. Rosita answered and smiled, Daryl never visited them and now here he was with Lucy. She doubted it was a social call, but it was still nice to see them.
Daryl bit at his thumb and hummed. "Abraham here?" he grunted. Lucy looked over at him sharply.
"Hi Rosita. How are you today?" Lucy murmured softly. Daryl rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Rosita squelched a snort of laughter. Lucy certainly had her work cut out for her if she was trying to instill even the minimum of social graces into Daryl Dixon, but she admired her for trying. She also had picked up that although Daryl still definitely had rough edges and always would, they were slightly smoother with Lucy around.
"Hi guys. I'm fine. Abe's in the kitchen, finishing up breakfast. Come on in." She waved them in and led them into the kitchen where Abraham was finishing up. Abraham looked up in surprise.
"Hey Dixon, hey Lucy," he said jovially. He too doubted this was a social call, and his curiosity was aroused.
"Hi, Abraham. I wanted to pick your brain about something if you don't mind," Lucy said hesitantly. Daryl was already fidgeting beside her and she glanced at him again. She knew he and Abraham had had some differences when they'd first met-before she'd ever known them. And they'd bumped heads pretty often even after coming to Alexandria. They'd been cordial since her arrival, but that didn't mean anything. From what Lucy had heard, Abraham was a very black and white kind of person, and felt no hesitation in vocalizing loudly his opinions. And he was apparently just as stubborn as Daryl was-and herself too if she was being honest. She sighed a bit-seemed most of the people who had been able to survive and thrive owed their survival to their grit and stubborn refusal to give up. Which meant when they were at loose ends because they were relatively safe arguments were going to crop up regularly.
Abraham smirked. He bet it was just killing Dixon to have his girlfriend asking him something. He straightened up and puffed out his chest a bit, which caused Daryl to roll his eyes and snort in disgust. Rosita looked at the two men and left the room hastily. She was not in the mood to referee yet another disagreement between the two.
Lucy opened her mouth to explain her questions to Abraham, when Eugene wandered in the back door. At his appearance both Daryl and Abraham rolled their eyes and a pained expression appeared on both their faces. Eugene stopped in his tracks and looked at the three standing there. He tried his best to keep out of everyone's way-although they'd all been in Alexandria way past the time it should've taken him to find his niche, he still felt at loose ends most of the time. He had volunteered to teach some classes at the little school the town had set up, but they had ended quickly. He was smart, but had no idea how to make the information interesting. Lucy had no idea what he was doing to occupy his time now, but thought he might know something that could help her as well as Abraham.
"Eugene," Lucy said pleasantly. "I was just about to ask Abraham what he knows about airplanes." Abraham shot a look at Daryl and Daryl shrugged. Eugene saw the look and flushed. He had a crush on Lucy, she had been kind to him and she understood him when he rambled on about a subject without ever acting impatient or bored. He knew he stood absolutely no chance of ever stealing her from Daryl, but he could aggravate Daryl to death just by talking to her. He'd already seen this when he'd visited Lucy previously and saw how agitated Daryl had gotten. He knew he was being petty, but he'd never been the object of anyone's affection much less another man's jealousy and it went a little to his head when he thought of it.
Eugene smiled and waved Lucy to have a seat at the table and then moved to sit by her, leaving Daryl leaning against the kitchen cabinet glaring at him. Lucy was so absorbed in the book in her hands that she failed to notice. Abraham flicked a glance at Daryl and suppressed a smirk. This might be worth sticking around for.
Lucy explained what she'd been reading to Eugene and Abraham and asked them multiple questions about planes and what experience they had, if any, and what they thought of the idea about using a plane to scout the area. Abraham liked the idea, but stated he had absolutely no experience in or around planes. He'd been in the Army, knew about tanks and other vehicles of that sort, but nothing about planes. He stood and nodded to Lucy and Daryl and made his way out of the house. He had been leading a crew outside the wall in salvaging yet more building materials to shore up any weak spots in the wall as well as monitor the walkers in the area. He didn't want to be late for meeting up with his crew, but he sure wished he could be the fly on the wall back there to watch Dixon fidget and grimace at Eugene. The man was crazy if he thought Lucy would even look at Eugene as anything other than someone to bounce her ideas off. Anyone could see that. He shook his head and headed toward the wall where the crew waited for him.
Back in the kitchen, Eugene was taking full advantage of Daryl's agitation to further aggravate him. He continued to expound on even the most outlandish stories he'd heard about planes and flying, etc until he was startled by Daryl stomping out the door toward the porch muttering that he needed a smoke. Eugene glanced at Lucy and saw she was still oblivious to Daryl's discomfort as she continued to flip through the book she held.
"It's a good idea," Eugene told her. "Have our guys look when they're out on runs for small municipal airports around the area. I can look at some maps as well, there's quite a few survey maps in Deanna's office. Airports should be marked, even the ones that serviced crop dusters and such." He started as he heard Daryl shout Lucy's name sharply from the front porch. Lucy glanced up and frowned. What was he yelling about? She sighed and stood up and smiled at Eugene.
"Thanks so much, Eugene. Let me know what you find out please. I'll see if Daryl wants to talk to Rick or Deanna about this." And with that she strode out toward the porch where she could see Daryl pacing about the porch, a scowl on his face. She sighed. "What?" she said a bit more sharply than she had intended. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot –and Daryl blew out a breath. He'd pissed her off, and he admitted to himself he'd acted like a jackass. He just couldn't stand to be around Eugene. And he just knew that Eugene did this kind of shit to aggravate him-but he couldn't point it out to Lucy because she would just shake her head and brush it off. He knew he shouldn't let Eugene get him so riled up, but Eugene just rubbed him the wrong way. Every damn time.
"Nothing," he mumbled and grabbed her hand after flicking his butt out into the grass. Lucy leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek. She acted like she didn't notice all the fuss because she didn't want to go around and around about it, she hoped if she continued to ignore it Daryl would eventually calm down when she spoke to Eugene. She knew he wasn't really jealous of Eugene, and she knew Eugene in his own way egged the situation on. She just didn't want to deal with it.
"Let's go over to Deanna's and ask Rick and her what they think about looking for a plane?" she put it as a question to him so he'd feel included again. Daryl nodded and they headed off toward Deanna's house which she also used as an office for meetings and town business. The dogs followed them, having waited on Abraham's lawn while Lucy and Daryl were inside.