Big Yellow Taxi

Chapter 37

"It's like a romance novel," Beth sighed. She tried not to stare at Daryl, who was standing near the bus waiting on his much more flamboyant friends to get done hugging everyone goodbye for what seemed like at least the fifth time. Beth nibbled at her bottom lip. Finally she couldn't help herself any longer and she rushed in to give the man next to her a hug. His body stiffened and he patted her on the back awkwardly. "Good luck," Beth said, "I hope you find her." She also hoped Daryl and his wayward girlfriend lived happily ever after but decided to leave that out.

"Thanks," Daryl said. And he meant it. He could feel the small crumpled up wad of cash the girl insisted he take from her. After Eric and Aaron spent all of dinner regaling the Greene family with the details of his love life, Beth dragged Daryl upstairs to her room. She pried open her piggy bank. It was literally a piggy bank in the shape of a fat pink pig, which for some reason hit Daryl right in the funny bone. She shook the shit out of the poor thing, scattering change and crumpled up bills out onto her bedspread. Then she picked out all the cash and shoved it at Daryl. He refused the girl at first. Daryl didn't take handouts. But she was quite persistent. He took the gift with the promise that he would stop and visit again. On his way back. With Rowan so that Beth could meet her.

"Y'all take care now," Beth's mother called down from the porch.

Since they had more people to help push start the bus, Daryl hopped up into the driver's seat. Lily leaped into the passenger seat and barked out her willingness to act as his copilot. Once the van got rolling, Daryl jerked the engine into gear. Eric and Aaron leaped inside, pulling the doors shut behind them. Daryl could see all his new friends in the rearview mirror, waving like crazy until the bus was out of sight.

Daryl was relieved not only to be driving. Eric drove like an eighty year old woman. But also that it was getting late enough in the day that there was less traffic on the highway. Daryl drove until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He pulled off onto the next exit ramp that advertised a twenty four hour gas station. Eric and Aaron were both asleep in the back of the bus, cuddled up with the dogs crowding in on either side of them like bookends. The only one that woke up was Tank. The large dog clambered to his feet and climbed out after Daryl. He wasn't really sure if having the large dog loose in a gas station parking lot was the best idea. But there wasn't anyone around. And Tank seemed content to sit nearby while Daryl pumped all the gas he had money for into the tank.

Daryl headed inside the small store to pay for his gas with Tank trailing behind him. The clerk was a pretty young hispanic woman. She was perched on a tall stool behind the register, bouncing a tennis ball against the wall and catching it. The jingle of the door alerted her to Daryl's presence.

"Okay if I bring my dog in here?," he asked. The woman favored the large beast with a glance and shrugged.

"As long as he doesn't take a big ass dogshit in here it's all good," she said, tossing the ball against the wall again with a snap and catching in her right hand. Tank heard the audible slap of the ball hitting the tile wall and hurried over, sitting down in front of the counter and wagging his tail. He looked up at the women with a hopeful expression on his face. She smiled and held the ball up for his inspection. Then she tossed it down the candy aisle. It hit the glass door of the beer cooler and bounced. Tank jumped in the air, catching it in his mouth before rushing back towards the woman. This time he darted around the back of the counter and dropped the ball at her feet. Daryl shook his head as he counted out his rumpled money, trying to smooth the bills out as much as he could before he set them on the counter.

"Bathroom?," he asked. The girl nodded.

"You can use the employee one in the stock room," she said, pointing towards a door with a sign that said EMPLOYEES ONLY. "Someone flushed an entire roll of toilet paper down the outside bathroom and flooded it." Daryl nodded his thanks and slapped his leg, calling Tank to come with him. The woman called after them, telling Daryl that he better put the seat down when he got done.

The employee bathroom was tiny. So Daryl left Tank outside the door while he quickly emptied his bladder. When he swung the door back open, he had a moment of panic. Tank was not sitting where Daryl left him. But the large dog had only moved over near the door that led into the stock room. The dog issued a low warning growl from deep in his throat. His short coarse black hair was sticking up like a mohawk down his back. And his teeth were bared. His nose was pointed towards the closed door.

"What is it boy," Daryl whispered, "someone out there?" Daryl pushed the dog back, easing his body closer to the door. He twisted the knob slowly, easing the door open just a crack. He couldn't see much. But he could hear the voices of at least two men. Open it! Hurry up! There has to be more money than this! Open the safe! Daryl could hear the cashier. Her voice was high and frightened as she tried to explain to the men that she had no way to open the safe. Only the day manager had a key.

If the men had just taken the money in the register and left, Daryl would have let them go. What little cash was in there wasn't worth dying for. But then he heard the distinct slapping noise that he knew was one of the men hitting the girl in the face. The sound of cloth ripping came next. Get her arms. And then a scream of pain and terror from the girl.

Daryl grabbed Tank's collar to keep the dog from charging out. Then he eased the door the rest of the way open. He used as much sleath as possible. But once he had a better view of what was happening, he knew there wasn't much risk of him being seen. The two men had all their attention focused on the young woman. A younger man with a bandana on his head was pinning the girl's arms behind her back while an older man with shorter gray hair ripped at her clothes, trying to yank her pants down. Both men had guns.

Tank issued another menacing growl. Daryl hissed at the dog to keep quiet. He grabbed a large can of soup from a nearby shelf. The girl screamed again. It was more than Tank could take. He shook himself loose from Daryl's grasp and charged down the aisle. Daryl ran after him. He threw the soup can, hitting the gray haired man hard in the back of the head. The man dropped to the floor. The shock of seeing his friend knocked out scared the other man enough that he let go of the young woman and took a step back. He got a grip on his gun, pointing it in the direction the can was thrown from. Since his focus was on Daryl, he didn't see Tank coming at him until it was too late. The giant dog leaped at the man. He squeezed the trigger of his gun but it fired off harmlessly into the ceiling. Tank knocked the man down and held him there, his giant paws pressing into the man's chest. The girl moved quickly, stepping on the man's wrist and snatching up his gun before he could do any further damage with it.

Tank stopped barking and growling into the man's face for only a moment while the young woman ran her hand gently over his head.

"Good dog," she murmured, buttoning her pants back up.

The man on the floor was whimpering, a large puddle of urine rapidly spreading out under his ass. Daryl grabbed a roll of duct tape from the aisle next to the candy. He taped up the man he knocked out with the soup can first. Then he dragged the piss soaked one up off the floor and slammed his head down on the counter. Then he taped his wrists behind his back. And to make sure he didn't get any ideas about running off, Daryl secured his ankles together.

"Thanks," the girl said, offering Daryl her hand. He shook it. Her grip was firm despite what these men had just been trying to do to her. "Rosita Espinosa," she said with a half smile.

"Daryl Dixon." Daryl ticked his chin towards the giant black dog at his side. "This 'ere is Tank." The woman leaned down and gave the big dog an affectionate scratch on the head. "Can you do me a favor?," Daryl asked. The girl nodded, looking at him curiously to see what his request would be after saving her from being raped and possibly killed.

"Can you wait until me and my friends are outta here before ya call the cops," he asked. Rosita laughed. She wasn't sure what sort of robin hood petty criminal she had just been saved by but she had no problem letting her hero make his escape before she called the police.

"I'll do you one better," she offered, "I'll let you top off yer gas tank and take whatever you want from the cooler for free. And when the cops get here I'll tell 'em I don't remember what you look like and didn't see your car either." She smiled before she added, "...but there's something else you gotta do for me."

"What's that?," Daryl asked. She reached for his hand, grabbing a pen from a small cup on the counter. Holding his hand steady with hers, she wrote out her phone number on his palm in small even script.

"If things don't work out with your girlfriend," Rosita suggested, "...give me a call." Daryl laughed, looking down at the number on his hand and wondering how this woman knew he had a girlfriend. "Guys like you always have a girlfriend," she teased as if she could sense his question. Rosita grabbed an empty plastic bag and ticked her head towards the cooler. Daryl took it, grabbing as many caffeinated beverages as he could fit in the bag before he headed for the door. The woman called after him one more time.

"Daryl!"

He turned. She had the tennis ball in her hands. She tossed it over for him to catch, smiling down at the dog by his side. Daryl smiled at her one more time before he hurried out to the bus to top off his tank and wake up Eric and Aaron. They were already well on their way out of town when Daryl heard the police sirens.