A/n: I'm back! Thank you to all who have reviewed. After my knee injury, I went right back to working close to 80 hours a week and haven't had the time to write. But here is chapter 5. And once again, italics are flash backs. In this chapter, I really wanted for Daryl and Ronnie to have a heart to heart and to learn more about their pasts. Hope you guys like it!
Chapter 5
He smiled at me, that was the first time we met. He smiled and right away I felt something for him. But when I left him, I knew my father was right. He always told me that no man would be good enough for his daughter, and the one that I would end up with, would prove that he deserved me. The day I left Mike, I thought I was going to be sitting at my desk on the phone with my father, the one man I could trust in this world. He would have calmed me down, make me think clearly, then would tell me to go out and have fun. It wasn't the end of the world. Once again, he was right, that wasn't the end of the world.
I had always been worried about when my parents would get so old, I would break down every night before and after they died. I never thought my father would die from a zombie. I pictured my father dying in his bed, at the ripe age of 95, smiling at me and my sisters. But here I was, no father, no sisters, no mother. I had felt lonely when I went to college in Georgia, but nothing was worse than this. I watched as Daryl and a few of the other guys began to dig holes. For my father, Amy and the rest that we had lost in the attack on the camp. We thought we were safe up here, and I began to see Rick deep in thought, knowing that he was thinking of where to go next.
I stood back, almost near the tree line, watching everyone like I was watching through a camera. This couldn't be real. I was waiting for my alarm to start going off, and I would wake up, in my dorm. I would get ready for school and head there, then head to work. After that I would come home and if I remembered this dream, I would sit my ass down and right a killer book and become a millionaire like J.K. Rowling. But it wasn't going to happen, this was our reality now. I had to live with this one way or another. Once I knew that they were finished burying the bodies, and burning the bodies of the walkers, I headed over to my father's grave. Kneeling down, I held a sob back. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out one of the pictures my sister had taken of me and my parents at my high school graduation. I put a corner of it under the stone that was used for a grave marker.
"If any one sees your grave, they'll know that you had a family that loved you very much. I'll see you and the rest of the family soon dad, I promise," I whispered before standing up and joining the rest of the group.
"Ronnie, we're leaving. Going to head to the CDC. You're welcome to join us," Shane explained. I nodded, crossing my arms across my chest, "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
"Then start packing up. We're leaving soon," Lori said, placing a hand on my shoulder, "Do you need help?"
"I'll be fine," I snapped before shrugging her hand off. I turned in the direction of mine and my father's tent. It felt like every step I took, the tent kept moving away from me. Finally I reached the tent and hestitantly reached for the zipper to the flap. Unzipping it, I glanced around before stepping inside. I immediately started packing my things, just throwing whatever I needed into my duffle bags. As I brought them out, I noticed Rick walking by.
"Rick!" I called out to him. He turned to face me and I tossed him a set of keys, "It was my father's truck. He never let me drive it."
"Ronnie, are you sure?" Rick asked, "Where are you going to ride?" I shrugged, heading in the direction of Dixon's truck, "I'll find a ride." Rick smiled, "Thank you," and he turned and walked away.
When I got to the Dixons' truck, I slowed my pace. Daryl was throwing his bags into the back of the truck, next to his brother's motorcycle. He turned around, reaching for another bag before he saw me.
"Throw 'em in th' back," he said, without ever stopping to look at me.
"Thanks," I said as I tossed them into the back.
"Do you nee' my help to take th' ten' down?" Daryl asked. I turned to see him staring at my campsite. I shook my head when he glanced at me.
"Nah. It's not worth it. I don't need it," I said, turning away, "Too many memories."
"Al'igh', then get your ass in th' truck," Daryl said, opening the drivers side door, "We're almos' ready to leave." I walked around the back of the truck, jumping into the passengers side. We waited until we got the signal from anyone, before driving. As I was staring out of the window, I knew that Daryl kept glancing at me. Finally I turned to face him.
"Can I help you?" I asked, crossing my arms, leaning back against the door. Daryl glanced at me, "Nah. Jus' wonderin' why you been so quiet. Ya never shut up."
"I'm fine Daryl. Really I am," I said, "Why are you being so nice to me. You're an asshole to everyone else." I sat and stared at him, waiting for a response.
"Fine, whatever. Don't talk to me. I don't give a shit," I snapped after five minutes of silence. Daryl glanced at me again.
"Ya remind me of some one I used to know," he admitted, his voice husky, like he was forcing himself to say it.
"Who?" Daryl glanced at me again, "My mom."
"What was she like?" I found myself asking. Staring at the road ahead, he shifted in his seat.
"She was a good woman. Quiet, but could be fiesty like you. My dad used ta' beat her. One day, when I came home from a bad day at school, she was gone," he glanced at me again, "She couldn't take it anymore. She broke."
"Were you close to her?" I couldn't believe it. Daryl fucking Dixon was opening up to me. I never expected this day, ever. He was a quiet, reserved red neck, unless you set him off. But here he was, opening up to me.
"Yeah. Merle was always in and out of jail. My dad was a drunk, always beat on Merle until Merle got locked up at the age of 16. I was only 9 at the time. I had tracked mud into the house. Came after me with a belt. My mom stepped in front of him. After that, any thing I did wrong, he went after her. She left when I was 15," he explained, his knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel too tight. I couldn't imagine the flash backs he was having while telling me this. He glanced at me again, and his grip on the wheel relaxed.
"Everytime I look at you, I see the same attitude my mother had. Always a postitive one." I nodded, letting everything sink in.
"A few years ago, I was supposed to get married." Daryl looked at me, and that's when I realized I had said that. Now I was opening up to him. What was this, some fucking counseling session.
"You don't seem the type to get married," he said, a smirk on his face. I reached over and slapped him arm, "Asshole."
"No, but seriously, what happened?" he asked, his smirking disappearing. I leaned back against the door.
Shrugging, I admitted, "One day, I came home from class. I walked in, called out to Mike. Just to say hi. And there he was, sitting on the couch, a bottle of rum in his hand." Daryl's stare lingered on me for a few seconds before he turned his head back to the road. I took this a sign to continue, "He mentioned something about my friend. I forget what I said, but it set him off. A few minutes later, we were in each other's face screaming. You know me, I'm not one to back down in a fight, even against you brother." Daryl laughed, "I know you don't."
"Well, he took me off guard. Let's just say, he had a nasty left hook," I sighed, glancing out to the road in fornt of us.
"He hit ya?" I glanced at Daryl to see he was staring at me. Nodding, I turned back to the road.
"He broke my jaw. Had to get it wired shut for a few weeks," I started.
"Son of a bitch, I hope he got what he deserved," Daryl muttered before glancing at me, his knuckles tightening on the wheel once again. I ignored his comment and continued, "I moved out and in with one of my friends. At that time, I hadn't spoken to my father in almost a year. When I called him, he took two weeks off of work. If you knew my dad before this shit happened, he had never missed a day of work in about 15 years. Well, he came down, advised me to move onto campus and get a restraining order against Mike. I did. According to Dale today is the 15th. Today was the day I was supposed to get married. My dad was going to walk me down the isle at 6 o'clock," I took a deep breath, "I don't care about breaking it off with Mike. I just can't believe that now, if the world was to ever right it self, I won't have my father to walk me down the isle at my wedding."
"Ya father was proud of ya. Ya could tell just by the way he talked to you," Daryl said, "Were you the only one?"
"No. I have two sisters. They were nothing like me. They were both the shy quiet types, I'm the complete opposite. Plus they were really close to my mom. I was a daddy's girl," I smiled proudly. Daryl laughed, "I could tell the day you an' ya dad came to camp." I rolled my eyes, before I shifted in my seat.
"Wake me up when we get there," I said, sighing as I got comfortable in the seat.
"What ever you say princess," Daryl said, smirking. I returned the smirk, "Shut up and watch the road, red neck." I heard his chuckle before I began to doze off.
My eyes felt like weights, it felt like it took all my energy just to open them up. I heard beeping and as I gathered my bearings, I realized I was in a hospital.
"Oh honey, you're awake," I heard a voice say. I looked over to see a nurse hooking up a fresh bag of saline to my IV. I tried to talk, but it felt like my jaw was sealed shut. Reaching up, I felt the wires. My body began to panic before I even realized it. The beeping got louder and the pace sped up. I felt the nurse grab my hands, holding them in hers.
"Honey, it's okay. Your jaw is wired shut," she explained. "Here, you can use this to write." I looked down to see what she had placed in front of me. A white board and a marker. I picked it up and with shaking hands, wrote out
What happened? She read it before looking at me, pity in her eyes.
"Honey, you were found in your apartment. Someone hit you in the face pretty hard. Broke your jaw." She moved her hand to push my hair out of my face. "Would you like for me to call someone?" I nodded frantically, writing under my previous question
Call my father. 617-302-9990 She nodded, "Okay honey. I'll call him now and let him know." I tried to smile, but realized I couldn't.
"You have a visitor. Do you want me to let them in?" she questioned. I noticed, hoping to see someone I could trust. She stood up and went to the door, calling someone in. I was busy erasing the board, and when I looked up, I jumped wanting to scream.
"Hello sweetheart!"
"Wake up Ronnie," I felt someone shaking me. I gasped for air, jumping. Looking around, I realized I had fallen asleep with my head on Daryl's leg.
"Ya okay? You look like you saw a ghost," he laughed, looking down at my head on his leg. Quickly I sat up and moved to the other side of the truck.
"I'm fine, just a bad memory," I whispered, curling up into my self, staring out the window.
"What ever you say sweetheart," Daryl laughed. I felt everything in my body snap and before I could stop myself, I said threateningly, "Don't call me that." Daryl glanced at me.
"Okay darlin'," Daryl said before staring back at the road. That was the thing that I loved about him, he didn't question me. When I said I didn't like something, he didn't question it. He just knew not to do it anymore. I sighed.
"Sorry," I whispered. Reaching up to my face, I wiped the tears away. "I just never liked being called that. Call me what ever you want, but that." I knew Daryl had the hint of a smile on his face.
"You got it babe."
"Are we almost there?" I asked. Daryl nodded, "Yeah only like ten more minutes." I turned to watch out the window as we got closer to the CDC. The bodies began to pile up the closer we got. Finally we reached the desolated area. Bodies were piled up everywhere and I noticed most of cars surrounding the CDC were filled with walkers.
"Ronnie, get away from the door," Daryl growled lowly. I knew not to agrue with him and slid right up beside up him. Finally we reached the entrance of the CDC. It was a good 20 feet to the main door from where our cars were parked and the walkers were already beginning to head towards the cars.
"Ya ready for this?" Daryl asked looking at me. I shrugged, "As ready as I'll ever be." I grabbed my father's gun and my backpack.
"Then let's go!"
A/n: Wow, I didn't think this chapter was going to be this long. I got most of this from a dream I had and being down in North Carolina. Hope you guys enjoyed it and hope you didn't think that Daryl was too OOC. I just imagined if someone reminded him of a loved one, that he would be more likely to be comfortable around that person. I really hope you all liked it!
