THEN
"We're going to Morning Glory." Daryl demanded as Merle revved the engine of his truck.
"Uh uh. That's 8 miles in the wrong direction." Merle shot him down, as he shifted into drive.
"Too bad. I ain't leaving without her."
Merle's eyes swung over, and stared at his brother hard. "We go back there and we're dead men, little brother."
Daryl could feel himself starting to shrink under Merle's gaze. Emotions boiled under the surface- anger, fear, love. No. He was tired of his brother always calling the shots. Not this time. Not with Katie on the line. He pounded his fist on the dashboard.
"Dammit Merle. I love her!" It was the first time he'd acknowledged his feelings, and the words came out of him in a rush.
He expected Merle to laugh, poke fun at him for being pussy whipped, but instead his brother surprised him and his eyes turned soft. "Then it's probably best you don't see what she's become."
"No. No. She's tough. She ain't one of ….. them." Daryl yelled.
"Listen to me." Merle's voice was stern. "I drove past there. Trust me. You don't want to go back there."
Daryl let Merle's words sink in, but wouldn't believe them. Katie was tough, if the dead had gotten into Morning Glory he was sure she had been able to make it out, or barricade herself somewhere safe until help came. "You risked our lives, dragged me all over the damn place looking for your fucking stash! But ya didn't think ta stop and look for her?!"
Merle lifted his foot off the brake and began to drive towards Atlanta. "I'm sorry, brother."
Daryl wasn't going to let Merle win this time. "Let me out."
"No can do, Darla." The truck began to pick up speed.
"Fine." Daryl muttered and opened the door. He'd just jump out and go on foot.
"Whoa!" Merle slammed the brakes, causing Daryl to lurch forward.
His shoulder smashed against the dashboard sending a sharp pain down through his elbow. He gritted his teeth, but didn't let Merle see the pain in his eyes. "Take your bike." He growled at his brother. "I'll meet up with ya at Jake's when I find her."
"Have you lost your damn mind?" Merle hollered at him. "Those dead things are crawling all over. That's suicide, brother."
His cries fell on deaf ears. Daryl was already hopping out of the truck and stalking towards the bed to unload Merle's bike.
Merle sputtered, "Hey- get back in the truck you fool!' He rolled out of the driver side door and lumbered back to Daryl who was unclipping the Triumph from its hold. "We have ta get to that evacuation site! Get the hell outta dodge!"
"Merle, shut up! Either you with me or ya ain't." Daryl yelled. He freed the last clip on the bike. "Help me out, will ya?"
With a huff, Merle steadied the front end of his motorcycle as Daryl rolled it off the truck bed. "This is a big mistake."
"I'm gonna go check it out. If it looks dicey, I'll meet ya at Jake's. If I ain't there by night, leave without me."
"Nah. No way."
"Do it, Merle!" Daryl shouted over his shoulder as he stalked back to the cab of the truck. "Just fucking do it!"
"Whatever man." Merle mumbled, clearly upset about the turn of events. "Catch ya on the far side."
His brother had been right. The dead fuckers were crawling all over the parking lot of Morning Glory.
"Shit," Daryl muttered while pulling his truck over. His eyes quickly scanned the corpses as they stumbled towards the sound of his idling truck. Katie's face wasn't among them. He breathed a small sigh of relief. But his relief didn't last long, he still had to get in that diner and make sure she wasn't trapped inside.
Although it was useless, he checked his cell phone sitting in the center console. Flipping it open, he scrolled to Katie's last text. Underneath it was his unsent response.
Where are u? coming to get u.
MESSAGE FAILED taunted him. The stupid thing was a paperweight now. With a frustrated growl, he tossed it on the passenger floorboard.
The dead were closing in on his truck and he threw it into reverse, deciding to drive around back and try to get in through the employee entrance. As he turned the wheel to round the corner of the building a large walker threw itself onto the truck. Daryl would never admit it but the sound of the body hitting his hood made him jump. "Fuck."
Totally unphased by the impact, the dead man stumbled backwards and then turned his half eaten neck towards Daryl. Its gray eyes focused on him and slimy teeth snapped. A smirk hit Daryl's lips when he recognized the decaying face before him. Red, the dipshit that had made a pass at Katie, was pressed against his window and trying to claw his way in.
"Not today mother fucker." Daryl used his body weight against the door, shoving it open and sending Red backwards. Fueled by disgust for the dead man, dispatching him was easy. Daryl's knife slurped as he pulled it out of Red's skull.
"Fuck you, asshole." His boot stomped the man's face one last time for good measure.
He got in and out of Morning Glory quickly. There was nothing inside but a couple dead and an empty cash register. Sullenly, he started the truck and drummed his fingers on the wheel anxiously. "Where the hell are ya, Katie Cooper?"
NOW
The journey to the Kingdom was less than a day's ride, but Daryl had made sure to pack more than enough supplies. Just in case things went sideways. His worn map marked with the waypoints between the communities was folded neatly in his saddlebags surrounded by food and a few canisters of water.
They'd been on the road for only a couple of uneventful hours when he felt Katie tap his chest twice. He immediately began to slow the bike. It was muscle memory. Two taps had been their signal all those years ago.
The bike coasted to a stop and he cut the engine. Daryl's eyes quickly scanned the horizon before he looked over his shoulder, "Ya good?"
"Gotta pee."
His lips twitched. "Figures."
She playfully pinched his side as she threw her leg over the bike to dismount. "Shut up."
He unsheathed the knife on his thigh and handed it to her. "Here."
Their eyes met as she grabbed the knife by the hilt. God, his blue eyes still made her stomach feel like a million butterflies had been released inside it. "Thanks," she mumbled before trotting off a few feet to a grove of bare trees and crouching behind one.
While keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings, Daryl took the break to steady his own emotions. The chill in the air had caused Katie to seek warmth by nestling into his back. The closeness from her body was doing funny things to his heart. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not- the way his heart and body responded to her. His mind was screaming at him to keep his distance, but they were betraying him.
"Ya hungry?" He asked when Katie emerged from the trees.
"Not yet. Just thirsty."
Daryl tossed a canteen her way.
"Thanks." She uncapped the water and took a hearty swig. "How far are we?"
"'Bout 50 miles. As the crow flies."
"As the crow flies?" She rolled her eyes.
"We should be there before sundown."
She nodded and capped her water before tucking it back into the saddlebag. Her limbs were aching from the ride and she reached up, stretching out the kinks and knots in her muscles. The stretch caused her shirt to ride up and Daryl caught a peek of skin just above her jeans. His eyes rested there and he groaned inwardly. Such a small sliver of skin shouldn't have such power over him.
His jaw clenched. He just needed to get through this ride to the Kingdom and then keep his distance. Distance was the only thing that could save him right now. Otherwise he might do something neither of them were ready for. Something they'd end up regretting. The only way to protect Katie (and his own heart) from being hurt again was to push her away. Maybe, once Lydia and Katie were settled, he'd go back out to his camp for a bit. They'd be safe with Carol and Ezekiel. He wouldn't have to worry and he'd be able to visit whenever he needed to.
He realized that distance wasn't going to be easy when she reached over and casually touched the ends of his hair. "It's so long."
He looked away sharply and ground his teeth. "It's just hair." He gritted out.
She shrugged and dropped her hand. "Yeah, but I like it …" her voice trailed off like she wanted to say more, but stopped herself.
Daryl cleared his throat and scrambled to change the subject. He pointed upwards. In the distance, the sky had started to darken, gray clouds were rolling in quickly. Daryl watched them, noting the direction they were moving and realizing that they were heading right into what looked like it could be a gnarly storm.
"We're gonna need to wait that out." He mused. "Let's roll. I know a place."
"What is this place?" Katie asked as they entered an old barn through a side door.
"Waypoint." Daryl answered, rolling the motorcycle into the barn and securing the door behind them. "We got them here and there. Rest stops for anyone traveling between the communities."
Katie nodded her understanding and Daryl watched as she looked around the old stables. "It's safe here?"
"Safe as any place, I guess." He leaned his crossbow against the wall before pushing a stack of logs aside to reveal a hidden door in the floorboards. Underneath was a small cache of supplies in case of emergency.
"Nice." Katie nodded. "Smart."
Daryl grabbed a couple sticks of jerky and handed her one before covering the hiding spot back up. While they ate, he walked the perimeter of the small space, checking windows and making sure doors were secured. Once he was certain they were okay to relax, he pointed Katie up to the barn loft. She dutifully climbed the rope ladder while he held it steady from below.
In the distance, thunder rumbled as Katie settled in against the wall. She folded into herself, wrapping her elbows around her knees. Foolishly, she hoped Daryl would come sit beside her to help ease the chill. But after he pulled the ladder up behind him, he posted himself beside the old hay door and watched as the storm rolled in. Rain started to pat lightly against the roof and despite being cold, Katie found herself beginning to relax. This was nice- just her and Daryl- it felt right. Like it always should have been.
"There was another guy." She said abruptly and then inwardly groaned. What the fuck was she doing? She just ruined a really nice moment with her stupid mouth.
Daryl glanced over his shoulder at her. She saw a crease form in the middle of his brow, but didn't say a word.
Instead of just stopping and leaving it at that, she continued on, trying and failing to smooth things over. Rambling and regretting the words as she spoke them. The floodgates had opened and she couldn't stop. "About two years in, before I joined up with Alpha. I was with this group. Good people. We had a house just north of Atlanta. There were six of us there for a while. I never meant to hook up with anyone. It just kinda happened, ya know?"
She trailed off and looked at him, hoping he'd say something to save her from herself. She had no such luck. His back was still to her as he watched the storm. When he didn't speak, she continued to try to salvage things, figuring he was listening in his Daryl way.
"Justin. He was really good to me. You actually would have liked him. Maybe? But, it was never right. It never felt like it should have. I didn't love him. I wanted to, but never could." She closed her eyes as she spoke, lost in the memories. "I didn't even cry when he died. I don't know if I just was out of tears or if it was because I was kind of relieved. I always felt like I was cheating on you when I was with him."
Daryl's heart squeezed and he whipped around. "Why ya telling me all this?"
Katie stammered. "I don't… I don't know?"
Daryl huffed. He didn't like hearing about another man touching her. But, he had his own secrets too and couldn't fault her. "I was gone. Ya shouldn't feel guilty."
"Did you ever…" She stopped mid- sentence, afraid to know the answer to her own question.
"Ever what?" he asked, his voice soft but abrupt. He knew what she was going to ask him and he wasn't happy about it.
Katie swallowed the lump in her throat. "Find someone else?"
She couldn't see Daryl's face, but she watched his back go rigid.
She knew the answer without him having to speak it. "Oh."
"Why's it matter?" His tone was cutting and Katie hung her head.
"Oh God." She groaned. "I'm sorry. Fuck." She rubbed her face with her hands, trying to erase the words that had come out of her mouth.
"Can we talk 'bout something else?" Daryl's voice was pained. He hated this conversation on so many levels.
"Yeah. Sorry. I'm not trying to start something back up here. I just-" she just what? She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just needed you to know."
"Start something back up?"
"Like us." Katie clarified.
Daryl turned and his eyes pierced her. "Did you really think we'd find each other and it'd go back to how it was?"
Katie bit her lip and shrugged. "Maybe? No? No, I don't think so."
"Cause it ain't."
She nodded and tried to hold her head up high. "Yeah, of course."
Daryl nodded and turned back to look out the door. His shoulder leaned into the doorjamb, as he hid the pain in his eyes from the girl behind him
"You always told me not to expect any of that romantic shit anyway." She teased, trying to lighten the mood.
Daryl grunted and the conversation was over. Katie wished she could melt into the floor and disappear. She willed the storm to pass over them quickly so they could get out of this stuffy barn and back on the road where they didn't need to talk.
