Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 32

Author's Note: 100 reviews! SWOON! Keep 'em coming! I'm mentally preparing myself to write Dale's death. Seriously mentally preparing…I know it'll be a bit but yeah! And Lizzy is giving me the creepolas! And seriously what happened to the razor Michonne gave Rick. Jewel was cheering….she may use it on him while he's asleep.

Summer and Daryl's POV:

Daryl glanced over at his niece after they had moved campsites and moved over to her. "He asleep?"

Summer nodded as she wiped her eyes. "I promised him….I promised that we'd find him, that he would be alive. I broke my word," she told him.

"Summer, this isn't your fault, a'right?" Daryl asked as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Dixon's don't break promises, even Uncle Merle said that. When your break your word, you break who you are," Summer told him.

Daryl sighed. "Why can't you be like every other teen and not l'ten to what we say?" he told her. "I was out there lookin' for him, Sum…I feel like I let that kid down. But right now, he isn't the kid I'm worried bout."

"I'm not a kid, Uncle Daryl," Summer protested.

Daryl sighed as he kissed the top of her head. "No you aren't," he told her. "There's something' about bein' a Dixon female and 15. Your mother had you and you…."

"The dead come back to livin' and want to eat me? Yeah I'd think I'd want a kid before that," Summer answered honestly.

Daryl had to laugh as he kissed the top of her head. "Yeah I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'd chose that too."

"Is it bad that right now I was thinking' how hard being a teen was back in the real world? How I'd give anything' to be arguing' with mom how I NEEDED a cell phone? Or thinking' Joey London turned into a hunk?" Summer admitted.

Daryl arched an eyebrow. "The same Joey London you punched when you were six?"

"Yeah…that one," Summer admitted as a blush came onto her face.

Daryl kept a straight face as he looked at her. "Good thing I didn't know that, or I would have punched him myself."

Summer had to give a small smile. "Doesn't matter now, he's probably dead…or one of those things."

"Sum…it isn't wrong that you want those things," Daryl told her. "Hell, I want those thing's for you. Merle and I always teased that we'd be standin' on the front porch of Jane's house with a shotgun when a boy came to take you to your first dance."

"You wouldn't?" Summer asked.

"Oh hell yeah, we would've. Scared him real good too," Daryl told her. "Then we'd let Jane come out, give one of her famous stares, you know the one."

Summer laughed. "Yeah the one that could make Uncle Merle stop in mid racist slur."

Daryl laughed. "Never saw a woman make your Uncle Merle almost piss his pants like Jane could."

"You know, I would never had made it to that so called first dance if the three of you did that," Summer told him.

"You thin' we would have let him turn around? Oh no, he would 'ave taken you, he would 'ave just had the livin' crap scared out of 'im so he wouldn't 'ave touched one 'air on your head," Daryl teased as he kissed the top of her head. "It's alright to want to be normal, if that keeps you sane, hold on to it."

"Carl, Sophia and Mitch, they're 'ounger, especially Mitch," Summer told him.

"Yeah, so we try to make normal times. Mitch is a Dixon now," Daryl told her as he kissed the top of her head.

Summer got the sneaky Dixon grin. "So you think we should hold guns on Rick and give 'im the talkin' too."

Daryl laughed. "Your mother would kill us."

"Actually, no she wouldn't, she wouldn't want us to turn into one of those things," Summer pointed out the grin getting bigger.

Daryl laughed more. "Never thought that would work to our advantage. I'd blame it all on you."

"So is that a yes?" Summer asked with a grin.

Daryl laughed. "Let's say that's a lets see what kind of mood your mom is in when she gets back."

Jewel's POV:

Jewel turned her head to the sound of the door opening as two men stepped in, her hand going immediately to her side to where she could grab her knife easily. Rick gave her and Herschel a worried glance.

"Son of a bitch, they're alive," the thinner of the men said as he sat down at a table. "I'm Dave. That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony," he introduced as Tony sat at the bar.

"Eat me, Dave," Tony told him.

"Hey, maybe someday I will. We met on I-95 coming out of Philly," Dave told them as he glanced at Jewel. "Damn shit-show that was," he said.

"Rick Grimes," Rick introduced.

"It's nice to meet some new people," Dave said as he poured himself a drink. "What about your sweetheart? Care to share a drink with me? I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't throw it," Jewel answered. "I quit havin' drinks with strangers in bars a long time ago. They all seemed to be douche bags."

Rick gave Jewel a glance, one that could have easily been either 'Seriously turning me on,' or 'Keep your cool,' which it was, she couldn't tell.

Dave laughed. "Now that's a feisty one, I think we'd get along good," he said as he turned to Herschel. "How about your pal? Have one?"

"I just quit," Herschel told them as he handed Jewel her coin back.

"Jewel," she answered. "And I seriously gave drinkin' up a long time ago," she answered as she put it back in her pocket.

"Jewel, now that's a fine name for a pretty lookin' girl. Your parents must have the foresight of how pretty you'd be."

"My parents had the foresight of naming me after two dead aunts," Jewel answered.

Dave laughed as he looked at Herschel. "You have a weird sense of timin' friend."

"His name is Hershel, he lost people today. A lot of them," Rick told them.

Dave lifted his glass. "I'm sorry to hear that, to better days and new friends. And to our dead, may they be in a better place," he said as he didn't take his eyes off Jewel. He noticed Rick eyeing his gun. "Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop."

"I'm a cop," Rick told him.

"This one was already dead," Dave simply told him.

Jewel bit the inside of her lip to keep from saying that she seriously did not believe that. "Philly huh? That's where you said you were from right?"

"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia," Rick stated as he agreed with her.

Dave sighed. "It feels like we're a long way from anywhere," he admitted.

"Well, what drove you South?" Rick asked curiously.

"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped 30 lbs. in sweat alone down here," Dave answered.

"I wish," Tony mumbled.

"This heat doesn't seem to be botherin' you sweetheart, can't imagine you needin' to lose any weight," Dave told Jewel.

"I'm a Georgia girl, Dave born and raised. Can't you tell by the accent?" Jewel asked as she kept her hand tragically placed on her hip.

Dave laughed. " You sure got a mouth on you, I like that. No, first it was D.
C. I heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close," he told them. "We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing. One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the Gulf, sending ferries to the islands," he informed them.

Tony let out a small sigh. "The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country," he said.

"Kansas, Nebraska," Dave finished.

"Nebraska?" Jewel questioned.

"Low population, lots of guns," Dave responded.

"Kinda makes sense," Jewel admitted as she cast a glance toward Tony. She didn't want either one of these douche bags to get out of her sight. She could see Rick doing the same.

"Ever been to Nebraska, sweetheart? A reason they call 'em flyover states," Dave chuckled.

"Names Jewel, not sweetheart," Jewel warned him.

Dave laughed. "You just need a guy to show you what it's like to be treated nice, even in this hell hole of a time. You'd be getting' used to being called sweetheart real quick."

"Yeah, I haven't got laid in a while, could use some cooch," Tony said as he turned his attention to him.

"You remind me of my oldest brother Tony. He got handcuffed to a roof and left, I'd seriously hate for you to receive the same fate," Jewel warned Tony.

"I'm the one that did it," Rick told them.

"Tony, now behave. How about you guys?" Dave questioned.

"Fort Benning, eventually," Rick answered.

"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but We ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains," Dave informed them.

"Lamebrains?" Jewel questioned. "Fort Benning is gone? That can't be right."

"Sadly, I am. Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks - doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep," Dave told them.

"If you sleep," Tony said as he got up. Jewel kept her eyes on him until he went to the corner and started pissing.

"Real nice," Jewel hissed to herself.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?" Dave asked.

Jewel turned her head to speak directly to Dave. There was no way these assholes were getting anywhere near her daughter or Beth. "No, we're just passin' through."

"Those your cars out front?" Dave asked.

"Yeah why?" Rick asked.

"We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean," Dave told them.

"That's me, I'm a neat freak, got to be cleanin' everything. You just caught me before I started takin' out the trash," Jewel told him.

Dave laughed. "I like you. Really. Quick wit. He was a sheriff, what were you?"

"Nurse," Jewel answered.

"Now that comes in handy doesn't in Sheriff?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, she comes in pretty handy. When she isn't demanding to take out the trash," Rick told him.

"Where's all your gear?" Dave asked.

"We're with a larger group out scouting, thought we could use a drink," Rick answered.

"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit, and Jewel here you don't drink," Dave told them.

"Well, we're thinking of setting up around here," Hershel responded. "I kinda made them stop, just needed one for the road."

"Is it is it safe?" Dave asked.

"It can be, although I have killed a couple of walkers around here," Rick admitted.

"Walkers? That what you call them?" Dave asked.

"Yeah," Rick responded as he kept his eyes on them.

"That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains," Dave complimented.

"More succinct," Tony said as he moved his eyes down Jewel's body.

Jewel gripped her knife handle through her shirt. "Succint?" she asked.

Dave laughed. "Tony went to college."

"Two years," Tony answered. "So what so what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development?"

"Trailer park or something? A farm? ? Old McDonald had a farm?" Dave asked.

"You got a farm? ? E-I-e-I-o," Tony said. "Is it safe?"

"It has to be," Dave answered. "Food and water?" he asked.

"You got some cooze, beside this one," Tony said as he nodded toward Jewel. "Like I said I haven't had a piece of ass in weeks."

"Surprising," Jewel told him.

"Pardon my friend, he's got no tact. City kids," Dave explained.

"No disrespect," Tony said.

"None taken of course," Jewel told him as she kept her eyes on them.

"We've said enough," Herschel told them.

"Well, hang on a second, this farm it sounds pretty sweet," Dave told them. "Don't it sound sweet, Tony?"

"Yeah, real sweet," Tony agreed with his friends.

"How about a little Southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time," Dave told them.

"Southern hospitality died when the dead came back to eat us," Jewel responded.

Dave laughed. "I can see how you'd feel that way. But I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We can pool our resources, our manpower," he told them.

"Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option," Rick told them.

"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem," Dave said.

"He didn't say it was a problem, said it wasn't an option. Sorry four years of nursing' school," Jewel explained as she glanced at Tony.

Rick had to fight back a grin at that. "I'm sorry. We can't. We can't take in any more," he told them.

"You guys are something else. I thought I thought we were friends," Dave told them.

"We got people we gotta look out for too. We don't know anything about you," Rick told him.

"No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do," Dave told them. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same," he told them.

Jewel glanced at him. "Then you understand why we just don't take home guys that we pick up in bars. I know from past experience not good idea."

Dave laughed again. "So come on, let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other. I can promise you I will keep Tony away from you Jewel."

Jewel raised an eyebrow. "Oh I can guarantee you that he wouldn't get a foot from me before he lost an important part of his anatomy. My brother Merle taught me how to skin a deer at age five, first thing to go was the balls."

"That's not gonna happen," Rick told him.

"Rick this is bullshit," Tony said.

"Calm down," Rick told him.

"Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down. I'll shoot you two assholes in the head, show the bitch here what a man is and take your damn farm!" Tony told them.

Jewel pulled her knife slightly out of the case from underneath her shirt. She made sure that no one saw this brief movement.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa," Dave said as he tried to calm the situation. "Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody," Dave told the group. "Right, Rick? Look. We're just friends having a drink, that's all. Now where's the good stuff, huh? Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff," Dave said as he jumped behind the bar. Rick's eyes immediately went to the mirror in front of him so he could see what he was doing behind him. "Let's see. Hey, look at that. That'll work. You gotta understand we can't stay out there. You know what it's like," Dave told him.

"Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry, you'll have to keep looking," Rick suggested as his hand steadied right above his gun. Jewel kept her eye on Rick waiting for a sign.

"Keep looking? Where do you suggest we do that?" Dave asked.

"I don't know," Rick answered honestly.

"Nebraska is pretty nice may want to try there," Jewel suggested.

"Nebraska, you are something' else Sweetheart," Dave said.

Rick saw a movement of Dave's hand in the mirror and pulled out his gun and spun around and fired killing Dave instantly. In that moment, Jewel had her knife out and threw it, it landing right between Tony's eyes.

"Nice shot," Rick told Jewel. "You OK? Herschel?"

"I'm alright. I'm glad Jewel is on our side," Herschel admitted.

Rick smiled as he kissed her. "So am I."