CHAPTER 21

Daryl

Over the years, Daryl had woken up in so many different places it was impossible to keep track. When he was a kid he usually fell asleep in front of the little TV in their one room trailer. The TV only got about four channels and that was if you could get the antennae pointing exactly the right way. One night, when he was maybe 10, his old man wanted to watch some movie and he made Daryl stand holding the antennae in one awkward position for over an hour. Daryl didn't dare complain, even when his arms started to ache and his fingers tingled. He knew better. His father had been drinking all day and hadn't let up. Eventually though, no matter how still he was trying to be, the screen went all squiggly. His old man stood, stumbling drunk and screaming. He ripped the metal rod off the back of the TV and hit Daryl all over his body with it until he tired himself out. Daryl slept in the woods that night. He did that a lot on the bad nights.

When he got older, after Merle came back for him, they never stayed in one place very long. Sometimes they'd crash with whoever Merle was sleeping with. He always had two or three women who would always take him in and Daryl was part of the deal. He'd crash on their couch and have to listen to Merle fucking whoever it was every night until Merle would eventually piss her off and they'd have to move on. One time it was because he'd taken all the pills, another time some chick caught Merle sleeping with her sister. But no matter what Merle did, the same women would eventually take them back in.

If they came into some money, selling a deer or fixing someone's car or bike, Merle would get a motel room for a couple nights. And if all else failed, there was always the woods.

Since the turn, Daryl had stayed consistently in one place more than he had in years. The prison was the best home he had known and now when he woke up he was usually wrapped around Kate. The bunk allowed so little space that they didn't have any room to change position and he'd sometimes wake up with a crick in his neck or his arm dead asleep, but he didn't care, he'd never been happier in his entire life than when he woke up and realized she was real and in his arms.

On this particular day, Daryl rose early, pulling himself reluctantly from her warm body and dressed quickly in the dark.

'Where you going?" She asked, as he kissed her goodbye.

"Hunting. Remember, gonna try and get a deer for Maggie and Glenn."

"Oh ya." She smiled, still half asleep. "Be careful."

Daryl headed out the cell and down the stairs quietly. Hershel was the only one up, out in the common room reading his Bible.

"Mornin' Hershel."

"Good morning Daryl. Heading out to hunt?"

"Thought I'd try. What are you doin' up so early?"

"My leg bothers me sometimes. Especially now that it's so cold."

"You need me to pick somethin' up for it on a run, you let me know."

"I appreciate that Daryl. But I think I'm going to have to learn to live with it."

Daryl nodded. "You're a tough bastard Hershel."

He headed out into the cold, misty morning. Tyreese was on watch and climbed out of the tower to let Daryl out. The new gate was working perfectly. The few walkers that were drawn close enough, were pushed right into the stakes allowing Daryl to slip out quickly. He only had to put down two more before he slipped into the woods. He quietly made his way through the trees, looking for any sign of deer or other animals he could hunt.

Maggie and Glenn had decided to have their wedding, if you could call it that, tomorrow. It was just going to be out in the field with whoever wanted to go. Hershel would perform the ceremony. As far as Daryl knew he wasn't official or anything, but he was the closest thing they had to a preacher and these days no one was keeping track of those things anyway. Kate told him that Maggie wasn't looking for anything fancy - no dress, no flowers. She just wanted to make it official and she wanted witnesses.

Glenn wanted something special for Maggie. He knew that most women spent their growing up years picturing the whole fancy wedding day and the big party afterwards. Glenn couldn't do anything about the dress or the fancier things, but he had an idea for a celebration.

Every time he'd been on a run recently, he collected any CDs he could find - in people's homes, in abandoned cars, on shelves in stores. On the afternoon of their wedding, he was going to pull one of the cars out to the field and with the doors wide open and the speakers turned up, they'd play whatever songs they wanted from the CDs he'd found. He had even picked out a first dance song from the selection. He told Daryl he remembered that at his sister's wedding that was a big deal to her and thought maybe it would be to Maggie too.

Daryl knew next to nothing about weddings. He had been to one once, as a kid. His aunt, his mother's sister, was getting married at the little church in the town his Mama had grown up in. Her folks didn't have much, but she had had a nice enough life before she got pregnant with Merle at 15 and ran off to marry a no good Dixon. As the years went on, she saw her family less and less. Daryl figured she was mostly ashamed of how life had turned out. When her sister got married though, his Mama bought him and Merle new shirts with collars. His father refused to go and told her it was a waste of money dressing his boys up like sissies to try and impress people who thought they were better than everyone else, but for once his Mama didn't let him stop her and so Daryl knew it must've meant something to her.

He'd seen enough movies since to know that girls did seem to care and he thought what Glenn was planning for Maggie was really nice. Glenn had asked Daryl if he could get some meat for the party, preferably a deer, but anything that would make it a little more special. So that's how Daryl found himself out in the woods on the trail of wedding supper.

Several hours later, miles from the prison, he had a big buck. It was large enough that he knew he'd have to field dress it in order to get it back. It was riskier this way, standing in the woods and opening up the deer, potentially attracting walkers, but he wasn't going to be able to drag it back on his own.

It was late in the afternoon before he arrived at the prison, covered in dirt and blood and dragging the gutted deer behind him. Carl opened the gate and Rick ran out to help Daryl get in without too much interference with the walkers.

Glenn was heading down the gravel path from the prison with a big smile on his face.

"Thanks Daryl! This is so awesome."

Daryl took the deer to the side of the yard to skin it and break it down. He would have preferred to let it age, but the wedding was tomorrow and fresh deer meat was still better than spam or whatever they had in cans in the cafeteria. By the time he was done and had cleaned up as much as he could in the buckets of water Glenn had brought up, it was almost dark.

After stopping by the cafeteria to grab something quick, he made his way up to their cell. He found Kate sitting Indian style on the bunk, her back against the cement wall, reading a book. The little battery operated camping lantern wasn't very bright and so she had it next to her on the mattress.

"Hey." She said, her whole face lighting up with a smile that thrilled him. "I hear you got a deer!" She tossed the book aside and leaned forward to meet his kiss.

"Yep. Big son of a bitch too. How'd you know?"

He leaned his cross bow against the wall and started to change into clothes a little cleaner than the current ones which were caked with dry blood.

"Beth was up here awhile ago. She thought I'd be happy to know you were back safe."

"Did ya have a good day?"

"Ya. I kept busy. Did some fence duty, took Judith for a while and helped get dinner going. After dinner, Beth and I were playing this card game, Phase 10, with some of the Decatur group. Chloe brought the game with her. It's a lot of fun."

Daryl kicked off his boots and laid on the bed, his head in her lap.

"Which one's Chloe?"

"Um...she has long brown hair, wears a headband a lot. Does fence duty."

Daryl started chewing on his thumbnail, shrugged and mumbled something about not being able to keep everyone straight. Truth was, he was gone on runs a lot, or hunting and even when he was around he wasn't the most social person in the group.

"You like playin' cards?"

"Well this isn't a regular card deck. It's kind of like Uno or something like that. It was nice getting a chance to just play, but weird. It felt like camp or something, sitting around the table with a lantern and just laughing."

"Wouldn't know, I never went to camp."

"I went a couple times. Well, not like summer camp, but church camp. For a week at a time or whatever."

"Kiss many boys at church camp?"

"Maybe."

Daryl asked the question jokingly because all the movies he had ever seen about camp always had everyone hooking up, but he didn't really think Kate would have said yes. He was surprised how jealous he felt over some boy who was probably a walker by now.

He looked up at her, "How many?" he demanded, only half joking.

"Well if I tell you, you'll have to answer the same question."

"Well that's easy. I ain't ever kissed any boys."

She laughed and slapped his chest.

"You know that's not what I meant!"

"What are you doing kissin' at church camp anyway? Weren't you supposed to be prayin' or readin' your Bible?"

"I don't know. He kissed me. It was only the one guy anyway."

"I want to punch him in the face."

"Daryl Dixon, are you jealous?!"

"I just don't like the idea of anyone kissin' my girl."

"Believe me, no one has kissed me like you before. Besides I don't exactly like the idea of anyone kissing you either."

Daryl shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face.

"You ain't got nothin' to worry about there. You're the best girl I've ever had. Ain't even worth discussing."

Kate was running her fingers absentmindedly through his hair. It was weird how such a little thing could make him feel so loved. He couldn't explain how being alone with her quieted the fight inside him, but it was more addicting than any drug he'd tried.

"Did you get something to eat? Want me to go down and grab something with you?"

"I ain't leaving this cell 'till morning and neither are you." He growled.

He turned over, grabbing her legs and dragging her down next to him, kissing her and covering her body with his.

Kate

Maggie and Glenn exchanged vows in the yellowing grass of the prison field. Almost everyone had made their way out to witness the joyful moment, a fun departure from the normal routine. Hershel kept the ceremony short and simple, but it was still emotional. He spoke about being a helpmate to one another and how the importance of that in this current world couldn't be overstated. When he spoke of the deep love Maggie and Glenn shared for each other, Kate couldn't help but look up to the man at her side.

After the bride and groom shared their first kiss as man and wife, which was met with enough hootin' and hollering to remind her she was in the south, Rick pulled the truck down from the side yard. Carl fiddled around in the front seat and Rick climbed into the bed.

"Hey everyone, Glenn and Maggie didn't ask me to give a speech..."

"You'll always be my best man Rick!" Glenn yelled out with a big smile.

Rick smiled back at him, "...but there are just a couple things I wanted to say. The circumstances that brought us all together, that even led Maggie and Glenn to meet, have been terrible. No one wanted a world like this and everyday we are faced with this reality and the challenges and darkness that come with it. The first time I met Glenn, he was saving my life. And everyday since then he has worked hard for this group, was willing to put himself on the line to keep people fed and safe. Since Glenn met Maggie, those of us who have been around to witness their love grow, have been lucky to see two people continue to live and find joy in this life, despite the circumstances. I'm so grateful to count them as family and I'm so happy they found each other. So here's to many years together."

Everyone clapped and Maggie and Glenn kissed sweetly.

Rick continued.

"Now some of you may be wondering why I dragged this truck out here. Well, Glenn, being the romantic man that he is, has made some plans of his own..."

Everyone, including Maggie, looked at Glenn who just looked at her and smiled.

"...we have a collection of music here that he has been gathering and we are going to crank up the volume on this thing and y'all can dance and enjoy the music. Feel free to come look through the songs. Carl and Patrick will be our DJs for the night."

Carl tipped his hat and Patrick did some awkward cheer with his arms.

Kate laughed. Patrick was such a goof, but everyone loved him. He was so happy to be here.

"Also, if you haven't already caught a whiff of that smell, we have a deer on the grill, thanks to Daryl. I think it won't be too much longer before you can grab some of that. And finally, and then I'll let you get to it, Glenn has picked a song out especially so he and Maggie can have a first dance. So Carl, if you want to start that up. Congratulations to the happy couple!"

Kate looked at her friend, who was beaming at the thoughtful man she had just married. The first notes of some country song Kate didn't know played through the speakers and they all watched Maggie and Glenn dance.

The afternoon was just the thing their growing group needed. A celebration to give them all a break from the life they'd all been fighting through. The picnic tables that were normally up in the courtyard had been moved down to the field as well as any other chair not nailed down in the prison. Kate looked around at the smiling faces as they sat and ate their fill of deer off of the orange prison plates, happily talking to one another and enjoying the music.

Although their selection of songs was limited, it had been so long since they had gotten to listen to any, even the tired tunes and overabundance of country music somehow sounded beautiful to her. Kate didn't expect Daryl would ever want to dance, but she had fun with Beth, Maggie and Chloe.

Rick, who was a good dancer, took a turn spinning some of the girls around the grassy field. First Carol, then Beth and finally Michonne. Kate noticed that the playfulness he displayed with both Carol and Beth had all but disappeared as he moved Michonne around the long grass. She wasn't sure if that was due to something brewing between the two of them or if he was just still not as comfortable with her as the others.

Daryl hung back, still not at ease in the larger group or really with being social at all. Kate watched as he worked at the grill or headed to the fence to help contain the growing number of walkers being attracted by the music, an unexpected side effect to their fun. She didn't mind Daryl's reluctance to be in the middle of it all. She knew it wasn't his thing.

She was standing with Rick, Michonne and Sasha, talking and laughing when David from the Decatur group approached her.

"Hey Kate," He said, giving a friendly smile and nod to the rest of them. "I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?"

Patrick had just started playing a slow song and she saw that Maggie and Glenn, as well as Karen and Tyreese were dancing already.

Her friends grew quiet around her, trying their best to pretend they weren't paying attention, looking off in the distance and exchanging looks with each other.

"Oh thank you so much for asking David, but I shouldn't." She stopped short of explaining she was spoken for. She didn't want to over estimate his intentions. He probably just wanted to have some fun.

He looked a little embarrassed, but seemed good-natured enough about it.

"Well if you change your mind, come find me."

She managed a small smile as he walked back to a few of his friends.

Rick gave a low whistle. "That there is a brave man." He laughed, shaking his head.

"Or maybe he has a death wish." Michonne suggested. "Where is Daryl? Did he see it?"

"Did I see what?" Daryl's voice sounded behind them and they all turned to see him walking up.

"David just asked Kate to dance" Sasha replied, they were quickly discovering that she was never one to mince words.

"Now you've done it." Rick chuckled.

Daryl looked at Kate, like he needed her to explain the situation.

"It wasn't a big deal." She assured him with a smile. "I told him no."

Daryl scowled, eyeing everyone in the yard. His body had taken on a defensive posture and he looked like an animal ready to pounce.

"Which one of these fools is David?" He snarled.

"Easy Daryl," Rick said calmly, a grin on his face. 'I don't think he meant anything by it. I doubt he even knows you two are together."

Daryl kept looking over at the small group from Decatur, but he didn't say anything more. When Daryl was worked up she could practically feel the hum coming off his body. Kate wasn't sure what to say to calm him down, she knew Rick was probably right. Between all the runs Daryl went on and the hunting most the time they spent together was in their cell and even when they were out among other people, Daryl wasn't really into open displays of affection. But explaining that now would probably be a waste of time.

"As much as I hate to say it, we probably need to cut this short soon." Rick said, changing the subject "More walkers coming to the fence than I thought. Probably wasn't a very good idea. We'll have to double up on fence duty the next few days to get on top of it."

"I'll head over now and clear some out." Michonne offered.

"I'll come too." Sasha said. Always looking for an occupation, the two women headed towards the fence.

"I think there is a little stereo in the library. Might need batteries, but we could probably find some for the special occasion. Maybe we could move inside?." Kate said.

"Great. Cafeteria is probably big enough. I'll send Carl in to get that going."

Rick walked over to Maggie and Glenn to explain the new plan. Kate watched them both look to the fences and shake their head in agreement. Rick hopped back into the bed of the truck.

"Sorry everyone. Change of plans. We didn't anticipate, although we probably should have, the amount of walkers being drawn by the music. We are going to move inside, to the cafeteria, and continue this celebration in there. We could also use a few more people helping out on the fence, so if you get a few minutes tonight and you want to help down there, that would be great."

The group slowly broke apart, most headed up to the prison for more fun. A few others walked to the fence, grabbing aprons and weapons. Kate began collecting dishes that had been left behind while Daryl talked to Patrick while the teenager was gathering the CDs. The only other people left in the yard were the half dozen or so that were at the fence and they were working a spot near the gate.

As she grabbed the last dish the truck's speakers came alive with the soft opening piano notes of "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" and Elvis's unmistakable voice drifted through the air. She turned to see Patrick had left and Daryl stood leaning against the truck. His eyes were fixed on her and his arms were crossed over his chest, but as a smile broke out on her face he took steps towards her and extended his hand.

She took it and he gathered her to him, his hand pinning her's to his chest and the other wrapping tightly around her waist. She slipped her other hand around his neck.

"I ain't any good at this." He apologized.

They stood there, swaying to the music, barely moving their feet. It was more like a drunken hug than actual dancing, but she didn't care whether he was a good dancer or not, she was just thrilled they were dancing at all. She knew this wasn't easy for him. She closed her eyes, resting her head against his shoulder and pressing her face into his chest. She felt like she was on a date instead of dancing in a prison yard.

The song ended, too soon for her, but she didn't miss the look of relief on Daryl's face.

"Thank you. That was very romantic."

He rolled his eyes, "I don't know about that." He mumbled, walking to the truck to turn off the music.

Once the speakers fell silent the growl of the walkers could once again be heard and she looked towards the fences where some more people had joined the fight and caught sight of David watching them. She felt a twinge of guilt for not explaining to him further why she didn't dance with him and promised herself she'd explain when she got the chance.