Daryl still felt like he was dreaming. Like he'd wake up and Rick wouldn't be grinning at him like a fool. But so far the dream continued and as the minutes ticked by without Daryl waking up he allowed grains of hope and excitement fill him.
Rick smiled broadly at Daryl. His eyes alight with joy. Daryl felt his own heart start pounding in response to the man's delight. Rick looked like he was on top of the moon.
"I didn't think you'd be willing to hear me out. Especially after you took off yesterday." Rick leaned forward and put his head on Daryl's shoulder.
"Sorry." Daryl murmured. Rick shook his head, the soft hairs tickling Daryl's throat.
"It's fine, like I said I could have explained myself better. I was too fixated on the emotions. I forgot to think."
"But yer thinkin' now?" Rick smiled against his neck.
"It's hard but yeah what brain processes are left I'm using them to think." Daryl enjoyed the warmth from Rick's body for a moment before reminding himself that they hadn't really talked about any of this. How was it going to work? Why should it?
"So…" Daryl mumbled. Rick pulled back and exhaled. That small smile was still there as he looked at Daryl.
"So?"
"Ya still haven' explained anythin'." Daryl reminded the man when he gave Daryl a puzzled expression.
"Sorry. I keep getting distracted." Rick grinned sheepishly. "I guess we should clarify some stuff huh?" Daryl nodded. "You don't really think this is a mistake do you?" Rick titled his head towards Daryl.
"No." He whispered. "I figured ya would though."
"What? Why?"
"Cause ya have a wife? Kids?" Daryl looked pointedly at Rick. "Cause ya don' seem the type to pitch for the same team? Cause this might not be somethin' worth tryin' for when there are more walkers every day." Cause you could do so much better than me? Daryl didn't dare voice that concern. He didn't want an answer to that just yet. Mostly because he knew it was true. There wasn't much more bottom of the barrel than a redneck like Daryl Dixon. Rick rubbed his neck after Daryl had finished.
"Sounds like we have more to talk about than I thought." Rick sighed. He gazed at Daryl hard. "First when it comes to Lori, I don't really consider her my wife anymore."
"Ya still wear yer weddin' band." Daryl mumbled looking at the gold ring.
"Yeah I do." Rick said twisting the band around his finger. "More out of habit than anything else. If I'm honest with you, things were going bad before all this happened. Had the world not ended I'm not sure we'd still be together. We just… drifted you know?" Daryl nodded but he honestly didn't, he'd never had anyone (besides family) close enough to him for them to drift away from him. "But after I got to the quarry it felt like things were back to how they were when we first got married. But then at the farm they got bad again and have just continued to get worse."
"Because of Shane?" Rick shrugged he had a far way look in his eyes.
"Maybe. I don't know." Rick sighed and looked at Daryl. "It's complicated. I love her but I don't think I'm in love with her. I love her because of who she is not what our relationship to each other used to be. She's the mother of my children. That's a whole mess of complex emotions right there. I don't know if I could even explain it." Daryl nodded. He understood that on some level. It felt like Rick considered Lori first in his heart. That was fine with Daryl, he didn't expect things to suddenly change between Rick and his family. He would actually be pretty mad if Rick suddenly stopped helping his family because he wanted to spend time with Daryl.
He was fine with being a pleasant distraction for Rick. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been that for someone. If Rick still loved Lori, Daryl could deal with that. They were a better match than he and Rick was anyway. So he knew where he stood in this 'relationship' which made Daryl feel considerably better.
Rick waved his left hand in front of Daryl's face. "If you want I could take it off." Rick was watching him closely, Daryl shook his head there was no point. He wasn't asking Rick to leave his family so they could have a few pleasurable moments together. He just didn't want Rick to feel like he was betraying everyone by spending time with Daryl.
"Are ya sure ya want this?" Daryl asked looking up at Rick. The man had given him an out, it was only fair he returned the favor.
"I want to see what we can make of it." Rick said without hesitation. He touched Daryl's wrist gently. "And since you asked, I think with this world going to hell we should be allowed to find something special that we cherish and want to protect. Otherwise we're just going through the motions of surviving."
"When ya have somethin' to protect that's not yerself ya get weak." Daryl mumbled looking at the way Rick's fingers kept running circles on the soft inner part of his wrist.
"Another Dixon family lesson to live by?" Daryl nodded. "Well in that case is it okay if I include you in the things I have a weakness for?" Rick questioned bringing his lips to Daryl's ear where he could whisper in the hunter's ear and send a bolt of lightning through Daryl's body. "Along with chocolate and a Sunday nap." Rick grinned and Daryl couldn't help but chuckle softly. Rick's words flowing into his body put him at ease, like there was nothing to worry about but the moment in time they found themselves in.
"I guess that'll be okay."
"Good." Rick pulled away from Daryl. He had a boyish look in his eyes. "So is that all your concerns?" Daryl nodded but in reality there were still a hundred questions buzzing in his skull. But he could wait, he at least had a ground to stand on in whatever they were building together. That was a start that Daryl didn't usually get.
Rick's eyes drifted over Daryl's face watching all the little movements the hunter made as he considered the conversation they just had. "We should probably get back huh?" Daryl pushed off the tree to stand besides Rick. "Daryl. I'm glad we talked about this. It's good to know how you feel about this."
"Yeah same here." Daryl said in agreement. It felt really good to know that Rick didn't think it was a mistake and even better to know that they had a least a few more times together, to look forward to.
"Oh before I forget." Rick grabbed Daryl's arm and pressed into him. He met Daryl's lips with his own. He held them together in place for a moment before releasing him. "Didn't want to let you go without that." Daryl's cheeks warmed and his heart started going a million miles a minute. Rick grinned at Daryl's expression before leading them back to camp. They separated at the camp but not before Rick gave Daryl a smile and a quick wink then he moved to help load the cars.
Daryl finished his packing in a daze. Only partially aware of what he was doing. His mind was still back at the tree thinking about what had happened. It didn't seem real, like he'd been dreaming and would wake up confused and disappointed. But on the off chance that it wasn't a dream and did actually happen…
Daryl smiled to himself. He couldn't possibly guess how long this would go on but for however long it lasted, Daryl was content to enjoy it. He felt happy. Happier than he'd been in years. He could only hope that for once he didn't screw up the good things going in his life.
Rick called for everyone to pile into the cars and Daryl turned the triumph on. The caravan followed him out as he led them away from the campsite. They drove most of the afternoon and well into the evening before Daryl found a neighborhood he deemed secure enough for them to stay in.
The group settled in quickly with everyone taking rooms and setting up the watch rotation. Daryl had hoped there would be time to talk to Rick but things kept them both busy and Daryl went to bed without seeing Rick again. Despite that, a smile and a warm feeling entered him. Daryl slept for the first time in a long time without nightmares. He felt like things were actually okay for once.
When morning broke Daryl was one of the first up. He checked out the supplies to see how their food stores were holding up. If they were low they would need to loot the nearby houses or go on a supply run. Otherwise, they could last a while with his hunts to keep them fed.
They were lucky there was still plenty of food left over including his last few catches. He could probably get away with just setting some traps today. Things really were looking up, Daryl noted. He was humming lightly to himself as he cut pieces of meat and nuts to bait his trap with.
"You're in a good mood." Carol said smiling as she walked into the kitchen. Daryl shrugged but he knew she was right. "I'm glad I was worried about you yesterday."
"Why?"
"Cause I didn't think you'd be coming back with us. I'm glad I was wrong."
"I'm sorry." Daryl mumbled knowing he hadn't been the nicest to her yesterday.
"It's fine." Carol waved her hand. "Just don't make me worry like that again." She wagged her finger in his face. "Otherwise you'll have me to answer to." Daryl chuckled at her.
"Okay. I won'. Don' want ya comin' after me with yer sharp stick." Carol smiled.
"It's a rebar thank you very much. Does better than some wimpy arrow ever could."
"Oh I'd love to see ya toss that bar over a hundred feet and still get yer target between the eyes." Carol and Daryl laughed enjoying the easy moment of peace.
"Well it seems like it's a good morning." Daryl felt his heart skip a beat as he inhaled deeply, the rush of warm summer and rivers tickled his nose.
"Good morning Rick." Carol greeted.
"Morning." He returned but Daryl could feel Rick's eyes glued to his back. "Morning Daryl." He said softly. Rick had said Daryl's name like a caress. Daryl had to resist the urge to shiver.
"Mornin'." He grunted not turning to face Rick. He could feel his cheeks burn and hoped they would stop before he had to face the other man.
"Are you going hunting today?" Rick asked stepping closer to Daryl who barely managed a nod. "Mind if I go with you?" Daryl gave a noncommittal grunt. "Let's go now." Rick said already heading out the door.
"He must be really excited to learn today." Carol smiled innocently. Daryl nodded as he gathered the traps up.
"We'll be back." He told her.
"Stay safe." She waved as Daryl followed Rick into the trees. Rick shadowed Daryl closely as he set the traps up in various places on the ground and in the trees. When he had finished he turned to tell Rick that they could head back to the house. Rick however seemed to have other ideas. He took Daryl's hand and led him deeper into the woods.
After a few minutes Rick pulled Daryl to a tree where he sat down and rested against the trunk. Daryl pulled his crossbow off and took a seat next to Rick. They sat in silence while Rick laced their fingers together and bumped his shoes against Daryl's playfully. The breeze and sun kept everything at a comfortable temperature. Daryl felt relaxed, happy, and content. He was willing to let this moment of peace go on for as long as it could.
"Can I say that starting the morning with your laughter has got to be one of the best ways to start the day." Daryl blushed at Rick's words. Rick glanced at him and smiled.
"Yer weird." Daryl mumbled but he squeezed Rick's hand tighter.
"So should we continue where we left off yesterday?" Daryl arched an eyebrow.
"Meanin'?"
"I don't' know we could talk, relax, and have a moment just for us?"
"Ya mean getting' to know each other better or somethin'?"
"That's sort of what being in a relationship is about." Daryl's heart jumped at the word, relationship. He still wasn't certain what kind of relationship they really had to look forward to but the word was not a displeasing one.
"Okay where do ya wanna start? Yer favorite color? Yer favorite activity besides killin' walkers?" Rick laughed.
"Maybe we can skip those parts." Daryl nodded. "I was actually hoping I could ask you about something you said yesterday." Daryl nodded again. "You said that I didn't seem the type to pitch for the same team. But I could easily say the same about you." Daryl turned red; he didn't think he'd be going over his past experiences so soon.
"I've just never really cared about that sort of thin'." Daryl shrugged trying to sound nonchalant.
"So you've been with guys before?" Rick whispered like he was worried that someone would overhear them.
"A few times." Daryl shrugged. He didn't often find someone who he liked or liked him back, so he wasn't really picky about gender when he did find someone. Though to be fair, he never got very far with the guys he'd been with. They mostly wanted to use him for their pleasure but wouldn't do anything that he could find mutually enjoyable. It was more of a use you and leave you sort of thing. "How about ya?" Daryl shifted back to Rick. He couldn't help but wonder if the man holding his hand had a greater depth of understanding about this stuff than Daryl himself did. Rick bit his lip.
"I had some crushes on other guys when I was in high school but never really moved beyond that. Kinda lame huh?" Rick grinned at him. "I once thought I kind of liked Shane for a while there. Though that was before I figured out what a narcissist he was." Rick laughed. That had surprised Daryl he'd always wondered if they'd been closer partners than normal. Like those trashy dime store novels always focused on. But then he'd seen how they'd fought over Lori so he had decided he must have been wrong. "Does that bother you?" Rick asked softly.
"Nah." Daryl shook his head. Rick knocked his foot against Daryl's again.
"Okay. So now it's your turn."
"For?"
"Asking a question. Or telling something. I don't mind either way." Rick smiled watching Daryl. Daryl thought hard, wondering what he could possibly ask Rick.
"What's your favorite flower?" He asked the first thing that came to his mind. Rick looked at him in shock.
"You always manage to surprise me you know that?" Rick smirked. "To answer your question, I have no idea if I'm totally honest. Never really paid much attention to flowers. Didn't the have time. Now I wish I'd made time." Rick sighed. "My turn?" He asked Daryl who nodded. "Boy there's so many things I want to ask." Rick mumbled much to Daryl's embarrassment. The idea that someone found him interesting enough to ask questions about him was something he wasn't used to in the least. "Will you answer no matter what I ask?" Rick teased.
"Maybe." Daryl shrugged.
"How like you." Rick laughed. "Did we need to go hunting today?" Rick asked suddenly.
"Nah our supplies are holdin' up pretty well. We've been lucky the last few days."
"You mean we've been lucky to have you around." Daryl shrugged.
"We've all been collectin' supplies."
"True. But all of our fresh meat comes from you."
"Well if I let ya hunt for us we'd have starved in the first week." Rick chuckled. Rick's foot tapped against Daryl's a few times.
"You still haven't managed to get that cheese burger I keep asking you for."
"Buildin' is still on goin'. Have to finish Daryl's burger joint first, then ya can yer burger." Daryl said not missing a beat.
"Hope the grand opening is soon. I want my milkshake and burger." Daryl smiled lightly until a rustle echoed in his ears. He pulled away from Rick and slowly rose to one knee, setting the crossbow scope to his eye. Rick pulled out his knife waiting for Daryl to give him a sign.
Daryl listened closely the wind was rustling the trees overhead and Rick's foot kept crunching the soft dirt below him. It didn't sound like footsteps so not a person and the heavy plodding of a stumbling dead feet was missing ruling out walkers. It sounded smaller closer to the ground. Daryl turned his bow slightly downward where he could hit whatever was approaching. When it was twenty feet away Daryl recognized the sound of the animal through the leaves. He inhaled and exhaled slowly. Steadying his body until his blood slowed to a crawl and his muscled locked in place. Daryl's body was practically frozen in place. He held his breathe and slowly squeezed the trigger. The arrow shot off silently leaving nothing but a small kickback in its wake.
"It's safe now." Daryl whispered to Rick as he shook his hands lightly to work the blood flow back into circulation.
"What did you get?" Rick asked when Daryl stood to his full height.
"I think it might be a Copperhead." Rick's face paled considerably. "Let's go check."
"What?" Rick gasped. "Shouldn't we leave it?!" His eyes were wide and his voice had a strangely strained quality to it.
"Um no?" Daryl creased his brow at Rick's expression. He looked beyond alarmed at Daryl's words. "We can eat it and use the skin for stuff. Bones also make good bait." Daryl explained starting to stride towards the spot where his arrow was stuck fast in the ground.
"Daryl wait!" Rick cried rushing to follow. When they neared the snake Daryl saw he was right and it was indeed a Copperhead. The kill was clean right through the thick part of the neck. Daryl moved a step closer before sticking his crossbow butt first into the ground where he cold lean against the frame and consider the best plan of action. He was in the middle of figuring out the best way to get the snake back to the house when Rick's hands wrapped tightly around his bicep. Daryl glanced behind him to see Rick's eyes were pinched shut and he had pressed his face into the broad part of Daryl's back.
"Er…Ya okay?"
"Fine." Rick's voice had a distinctly higher pitch than usual.
"Ya sure?" Rick nodded against Daryl's back. "Are ya scared of snakes?" Daryl tried to keep the amusement out of his voice. He didn't succeed. Rick squeezed Daryl's arm tightly in retribution.
"They're evil." Rick muttered bitterly. His words were slightly slurred by trying to say them against Dary's vest. The man seemed to refuse to take his face away from Daryl's back, even to talk.
"The stuff we've seen and done hasn' bothered ya at all. But a snake bothers ya? That's…surprising."
"When I was a kid my dad's friend bought a boa. They put it on my shoulders."
"Sounds like somethin' most kids do." Daryl shrugged missing the point.
"Yeah well most kids don't have the giant boa start wrapping around their throat as it tries to eat them." Rick trembled slightly at the memory.
"Holy shit. Yer kiddin' right?" Rick shook his head. "What the hell did ya do? Rub bacon grease on ya before puttin' a snake around yer neck?" Daryl asked slightly horrified that could happen. It seemed like something that wouldl happen in a horror movie not real life. But at the same time it was… a little funny not that he would ever tell Rick that. Clearly, Rick was terrified but the way he was hiding behind Daryl's smaller frame just made it all the funnier.
"I didn't do anything! They're evil like I said." Rick grumbled increasing his pressure on Daryl's arm. Daryl sighed softly and patted Rick's hand gently hoping to calm him down enough to get the man to let go so he could finish collecting the snake.
"Look I won' make ya carry it back okay?"
"Wait you were going to earlier?" Daryl shrugged. "Great thanks." Rick grumbled bitterly. "That makes me feel so much better."
"Look I'll handle it okay? Ya just stay here and then we can finish talkin' or whatever ya want."
"I'm not doing anything as long as that thing is near us." Rick mumbled retreating several steps away.
"Okay then we'll drop it off at the house. Didn' realize ya would turn into such a baby." Daryl teased as he worked some of the blood back into his numb arm.
"Shut up! We all have things that bother us. Just cause I haven't found yours out doesn't give you the right to make fun of me." Rick reminded Daryl of a cat being tossed in water at the moment. His whole body looked ready to explode with anger and fear. Or maybe shoot off like a bullet from a gun and run all the way back to the house. Either way it was funny but not enough that Daryl wanted to risk upsetting Rick more. He'd actually been enjoying getting to know Rick better and didn't want to risk losing that privilege because of his teasing.
"Sorry." He said. "I didn' mean to make fun of ya."
"I'll get back with you one day." Rick grumbled from near the tree. The closer Daryl moved to the snake the more Rick seemed to retreat.
"Don' ya wanna watch? Learn how to hunt snakes and all?" Rick paled again at Daryl's suggestion.
"We don't have to hunt snakes! Do we?!"
"We might. If food supplies dwindle." Rick swallowed heavily and stepped closer to Daryl. He was still a few good feet from Daryl but close enough that he could see.
"Okay… I can see." Rick mumbled his feet shifting nervously.
"Good. Now see while we've been talkin' the snake hasn' moved. Meanin' it's a good bet it's dead."
"You weren't sure before?!" Rick's voice reached that slightly panicked and higher tone again.
"It's always hard to tell with snakes." Daryl explained. He pulled his knife out of its sheath and slowly started creeping closer to the reptile.
"Be careful."
"Always." Daryl mumbled taking a step forward. There wasn't any movement triggered from his approach. The Copperhead didn't try to move away from the hunter as he approached. Further proving in Daryl's mind that the reptile was in fact dead. But as he had learned the hard way when he was a child, a dead snake could be just as dangerous as a living snake. Daryl pulled one of the arrows out of his crossbow holster intending to use it as a stick to hold the head down. "Do ya have a bag or somethin'?" Daryl called to Rick.
"Yeah I do actually." Rick said inching forward. He kept trying to stretch his arm out to hand the bag to Daryl without actually getting too close to him or more specifically the snake.
"Well give it here." Daryl waved his hand keeping his eyes on the reptile. Rick managed to half throw half give it to Daryl before hastily retreating. "Wait, ya probably wanna watch this. It's important to know how to do this." Rick trembled slightly but he held his ground. Which impressed Daryl greatly. "Okay now I don' expect ya to be able to do this right away but better ya at least have a basic understandin' of how it's done."
Daryl moved closer to the reptile putting his arrow in his left hand while keeping the bag and hunting knife in his right. He didn't bother taking the arrow in the snake's neck, out just yet. The hunter quickly put the arrow against the back of the head where he held it down firmly. He made a strong fast slice with the blade and cut the head off. Rick made a soft moan at the motion. "Now see, I cut the head off right?"
"Yeah." Rick groaned. His face almost paper white at this point. He was wobbling slightly like he might faint at any moment.
"Problem is it doesn' really care that it's head is gone see?" He held up the wiggling reptile body. Rick retched in response.
"Why is it doing that?" He moaned putting his hands on his knees trying to stop himself from fainting or worse vomiting.
"Cause for most reptiles it takes a long time for their bodies to shut down completely. Part of it is because they're cold-blooded. They just don' realize they're dead."
"Like zombies." Rick grumbled. Daryl quirked an eyebrow, his mind turning to the walkers their world was infested with. "Okay maybe a bad analogy." Rick shrugged.
"Anyway it just means the body will keep moving." Daryl explained putting the still shifting body into the bag using only his right hand. He tied the knot using his teeth before tossing the bag to the side. The hunter kept his left hand unmoving on the base of the snake's neck. Daryl repositioned his body to focus on the dangerous head. "This is the important part." He glanced up to see Rick watching him even though the man looked severely uncomfortable. "Remember how the snake's body kept movin'?" Rick nodded. "Well the same thin' is true of the head."
To show an example he pulled the arrow from the neck of the snake and put it in front of the mouth. The Copperhead made to attack and bite the arrow as it neared the mouth. Normally that was alarming enough, Daryl nearly jumped out of his skin at the shriek that came from Rick's mouth. Daryl's eyes shot up in fear. Not entirely, certain such a high-pitched sound could be coming from Rick. Rick's whole body was on the verge of trembling and his face now had green tinges to it now.
"What the hell?!" Rick yelled. "I thought that was just a goddamn myth!"
"What was?" Daryl asked watching the snake try to get a good angle on his arrow. It was really pretty interesting to watch. Even dead and without a body the Copperhead moved to attack whatever it perceived as a threat. Watching the snake snap and try to bite the arrow reminded Daryl of walkers. They attack without sense but unlike the snake walkers attack not out of seeing humans as a threat. No, they attack because they have no sense. It's not a matter of self-preservation or warning. It's mindless hunger driven by mindless husks that can't recall even the simplest of things.
"That snakes bite after they've died!"
"Actually it's completely true. My uncle used to tell me that a dead snake is even more dangerous than a livin' one. There's nothin' more embarrassin' than gettin' sent to the hospital from a dead snake bite. Sides livin' ones ya can usually frighten away. A dead one ya never know when those lights in the brain stop tellin' the jaw to bite down on whatever gets too close."
"Synapse." Rick mumbled.
"Huh?"
"They're called synapses. The lights in the brain. Basically they're electric impulses in the brain that keeps the body running."
"God ya are such a know it all."
"Sorry." Rick chuckled softly.
"Well those synapses don' stop in reptiles like they should. Makes them able to move and bite long after they're dead."
"Like walkers." Daryl nodded in response to Rick's words.
"Exactly." Daryl sighed and pulled the arrow away from the mouth. The Copperhead stopped trying to bite and settled down. It looked like a perfectly dead snake's head but Daryl wasn't ready to go picking it up or something equally stupid. One of his friends growing up had learned the hard way to never tempt fate by picking up a snake's head. Damn thing had bitten him on the nose. Lucky for the little bastard it wasn't poisonous but still not something you tend to forget.
Daryl wanted to take the head home with him but realized it would probably be smarter to just bury it. Daryl sighed and sat back on his haunches. He turned his head slightly to look at Rick who was starting to pull himself together. "Walkers and reptiles they aren' that different huh?" Daryl mumbled. "They're both dumb animals. Not even aware of the world around them. All they can think about is food. Actually, walkers have no sense of self it makes them lower than reptiles. At least reptiles can reproduce and realize when they're in danger. But walkers just keep comin'. Doesn' matter if they get killed in the process. All they care about is eatin'."
"I'm not entirely sure that's true." Rick whispered softly. Probably hoping Daryl wouldn't be able to hear what he'd said. But the hunter easily picked up on his words.
"What did ya say?"
"What you said about walkers being mindless and with no sense of self. I'm not sure that's true." Daryl gave Rick a quizzical look.
"Did a walker come and preform a tap dance for ya? Maybe bake ya a cake when we weren' lookin'?" Rick shook his head. He shifted nervously and worried his lip between his teeth.
"No nothing like that. It's just… When I first got out of the hospital I was saved by a man named Morgan and his son Duane right?" Daryl nodded, this was the first he'd really heard of it but he wanted to see where Rick was going with his story. "Well Morgan's wife Jenny had been infected. She turned." Rick stared at Daryl hard, it was almost like he was expecting the hunter to say something. Daryl had no idea what he was supposed to say so he just stared right back. "The thing about her was she kept coming back."
"What like they'd kill her and she'd get back up?" Daryl asked. "Cause that would mean they probably didn' shoot her in the brain."
"No not like that. I mean she kept coming back the house they were staying in. The house she died in."
"Doesn' sound that special to me. Walkers roam. We've see them come to houses before. Hell they've tried breakin' down the doors before."
"You're missing my point." Rick sighed and rubbed his temple before starting again. "I mean she went to the door. Seemed to stared at it before trying to open the door. As in jiggle the doorknob like she was trying to turn the knob to open the door." Rick grinned triumphantly. "How many walkers have you seen do that?"
"None but I don' usually watch them to see if they try to open doors. I usually kill them before they can get anywhere near us." Daryl said flicking his knife for emphasis.
"Okay how about this, when I was coming to Atlanta I stopped at a gas station. When I was going to refill my tank I saw a child moving. A little girl she bent down and picked up her teddy bear."
"So…? What happened to the little girl?"
"That's just it, she was a walker. But since when do walkers ever pick something up that isn't food?"
"I don' know. But again never really cared to watch them. I prefer to put them down before they can hurt anyone." Rick sighed looking thoroughly discouraged. "Look I get what yer sayin' sorta. Walkers might not be dumb animals. It was a bad analogy okay?"
"That's not it at all." Rick grumbled. "Do you remember Dr. Jenner?"
"I remember him lockin' us in a room and tryin' to kill us all." Daryl growled. If the man hadn't blown himself up already Daryl surely would have helped him to his death. Bastard.
"No I mean the video he showed us. Of the test subject."
"Sorta?" Daryl shrugged. He didn't feel like bursting Rick's bubble by reminding the man that when Jenner had been giving his little video show for the group Daryl had been suffering from a wicked hangover. The result of finally getting a moment to himself and a chance to both celebrate the good fortune (or so it seemed) that the CDC provided and mourn the loss of his brother. So while he remember the major points (mostly the bastard locking them in the room with only minutes to get away) he didn't remember all the little things.
"He showed us the brain with the synapses." Rick sighed. "The lights right?" Daryl nodded. "Then the synapses died when the person died but they came back right?"
"Sure. Somethin' about them walkin' around and eatin' but the you part not comin' back right?" Rick nodded excited. His eyes alight, his brilliance and cleverness clearly showing through. Daryl didn't consider himself a dumb man by any means but the way Rick's mind connected things, remembered things that honestly had nothing to do with the group's survival was impressive.
If Daryl was honest, Rick looked really attractive as his brain was going a mile a minute, but he was slowing down to make sure Daryl stayed with his thought process. That was especially attractive most people Daryl had known only showed him something once and was pissed off when he didn't understand immediately. But Rick didn't treat Daryl like he wasn't worth the time it took to explain things thoroughly. In fact, he seemed to be making the point to help Daryl understand his thoughts.
The intelligence and patience clearly reflected in the man's eyes, made Daryl want to shove him into a tree. See if he could stop the other man from talking for a minute. Daryl licked his lip seriously considering it for a moment but he realized this was important to the officer. So he kept his focus on Rick.
"Exactly!" Rick nodded vigorously. "But I watched it closely. Dr. Jenner was right, most of the brain didn't come back. But I kept seeing little flashes of light shooting out towards the other parts of the brain. Flashes, mere seconds when they reached the other parts of the brain."
"Meanin'?"
"Meaning what if Jenny trying to open the door. Or the little walker girl getting the bear, what if at that moment they had flashes of who they were before. What if those synapses went out to the other parts of the brain just at that precise moment? Those times when they did something almost human."
"Rick…" Daryl sighed. "Look I wanna believe you really I do. But let's face it ya were alone when all those moments happened. I never saw them so I just don' think I have grounds understand like ya do. I'm a simple man, I need to see somethin' with my own eyes to believe it." Rick sighed and pressed the heel of his palms into his eyes.
"Wait! What about the church?"
"The church?"
"Remember when we were looking for Sophia, we came across a church right?" Daryl nodded. "All those walkers were sitting down in the pews right? Like they were waiting for mass to start." Daryl sighed.
"Yeah but Rick that doesn' mean much. We've seen walkers who've been in cars like they were goin' to work. Only they weren,' cause they died that way. We've seen walkers in bathtubs and in beds." Rick sighed heavily. His eyes started to lose that excited glimmer they had earlier. Rick nodded and started to walk away defeated. "Look…" Daryl exhaled deeply. "How 'bout the next time I see a walker actin' strange I'll look for the signs ya mentioned."
"Okay." Rick smiled. He stepped closer to Daryl again, obviously pleased with Daryl's willingness to consider Rick's idea. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to freak out about it. I just never connected the pieces together before." Daryl shrugged.
"It's fine. Just, next time ya go off the deep end let me know first alright?" Rick chuckled.
"Sure."
"Actually on top of that if I get any crazy ideas I wanna be able to talk to ya about them. So yer goin' to have to listen to my ideas next time." Rick's grinned widely.
"That sounds like an excellent deal. I'd love to know how the one and only Daryl Dixon thinks." Daryl rolled his eyes.
"I'm not that interestin', trust me." Daryl started back towards the snake's head and was preparing to spear it. When Rick's voice caused his hands to stutter.
"You are to me." Daryl swallowed the lump in his throat trying to pretend what Rick said hadn't made him embarrassed.
"Don' suppose ya have another bag with ya?"
"I have a plastic baggy but…wait why?" Rick asked growing wary.
"Cause I want to put the head in a bag."
"Why? Why do we have to keep heads?" Rick practically cried. "Next you'll be asking me to help you collect walker heads!"
"Now that's just crazy." Daryl laughed holding his hand out for the bag.
"At least tell me why?" Rick sighed handing it over.
"Cause we can still milk the snake get the venom. Might be handy if we come up against other survivors."
"Great now you're talking about poisoning some people."
"I don' wanna but if I have to I will." Daryl mumbled spearing the snake through with his arrow. The head clenched and unclenched a few times before Daryl pushed it into the bag and sealed it up tight. He set it and the bag with the body side by side and wrapped them both around a lengthy stick he found.
"Great now you look like a hobo." Rick grumbled. "With sacks full of snakes."
"Better be nice or I'll make ya carry them back." Daryl teased which shut Rick's mouth with a snap. They started their walk back towards the house, Daryl leading the way and Rick watching his sacks closely like they'd explode in a rain of snakes at any moment.
Daryl walked slowly thinking of what Rick had said about the walkers he'd run into. Had it just been Rick looking for some way to humanize them? Like when you give an animal human characteristics in hopes of making it easier to relate to things you can't understand on a fundamental level? But… Daryl had never known Rick to do something without reason. He was logical at his core. Could Rick be right? The whole train of thought bothered Daryl. The idea that maybe the walkers might have moments of humanity made it harder to kill them, but not by much.
Even if walkers had moments of humanity like Rick suggested that didn't stop them from trying to eat everyone they came across. Or if they didn't manage to eat their victim, a single bite would turn the poor sap into a walker. The infection was the real problem. Not any seconds of humanity they may or may not have. If only they could come up with a way to stop the infection … that would turn things in their favor.
Daryl stopped in his tracks. His own mind connecting things together. Rick yelped behind him.
"You did that on purpose!" Rick hissed. "Trying to make me walk into those awful things." Daryl turned around trying to figure out how to explain his idea to Rick. "You know most people wouldn't be so mean as to let others run into sacks full of snake pieces."
"I've got my own idea." Daryl said staring up into Rick's eyes. His annoyance dissipated almost instantly.
"About?"
"Walkers." Daryl shifted the stick on his shoulder. "Okay think about the bites. How it turns others into walkers right?"
"Yeah it kills them then they turn." Rick nodded. "Like Dr. Jenner said though, we're all infected. The bite just speeds up death."
"Exactly but what if we stopped the infection?"
"Unless you're able to regenerate organs to replace the infected ones. Or did you happen to bring a military lab because otherwise I don't see how that's happening."
"No." Daryl groaned. Rick had explained his idea so easily but Daryl couldn't seem to get his words across properly. "We can' stop what's already in us. But what about the infection from bites? If we could stop the infection from spreadin'. We could stop a person from dying and stop them from turnin' earlier than they should." Rick still looked confused. Daryl sighed and wracked his brain for an example. "Think of a snake bite. In the old days when ya got bit by a snake they'd cut off the part of yer body that was bit. For example if yer hand got bit they'd cut off the hand."
"That sounds…really dangerous."
"Yeah it was. Most people had a hard time livin' through gettin' a limb removed and died. But there were some who actually managed it. My point is that what if we could do the same with walker bites?"
"What cut off Jim's chest?" Rick stared at Daryl with confusion.
"No I mean if I got bit on my arm ya could cut it off."
"What are you talking about?" Rick's eyes were wide and horrified. Making Daryl realize he'd failed. Where Rick had explained everything brilliantly, Daryl couldn't string two words together without sounding like an idiot. "Why would I cut your arm off?" Daryl sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Okay let me try again. This is all just a hypothesis. That's the correct word right?" Rick nodded. "Let's say a walker bit one of us right? But they were bit on the extremities like the hands or feet, we could try and cut off the limb. It might stop the infection. Like stoppin' snake venom from spreadin' and reachin' the organs. Do ya get it?"
"Actually yeah." Rick said nodding his head. "But do you really think that would work?"
"Not sure." Daryl sighed. "It wouldn' be somethin' I'd like to test out to see if I'm right. But it's an idea. It would probably work better than tryin' to suck the poison out."
"Wouldn't the likelihood of exsanguination be really high?" Rick licked his lips.
"Yeah blood loss could kill someone just as easily as the bite. But what if it worked? What if they lived through the blood loss and we stopped the infection from spreadin'?"
"Still sounds risky. It sounds like a razors edge. Either way could kill someone. I mean even with a full team of doctors and the best hospitals people still died from blood loss. We don't have any of those. We've got Hershel and Carol. Do you really think they would be able to stop someone from bleeding to death?"
"I think they would do their best. That's all any of us can do anymore." Rick nodded his jaw set as he reached his decision.
"If you think it could work it's that's reason enough for me to consider. Though I'm going to be honest I pray we never find ourselves in the position of testing your theory out." Daryl nodded.
"That makes two of us."
First off thank you to everyone who reviewed and gave me your thoughts on continuing. (It really made my choice easy!) I'm glad to see that I'm not alone and there are others out there wanting to see this story continue into season 3. So I think I will go ahead with my plan and continue into season 3. Let me say I'm super excited about this! There's just so many great moments in 3 I'd love to flush out. The only problem I have now is that I don't really want to rehash the whole season (obviously some parts probably will be covered in this) but I'm more interested in the moments between the episodes and the Daryl and Rick moments of course! I've got a pretty good idea how I'm going to handle it and hopefully everyone will enjoy it.
Like always if you have the time please review. I'm always interested to hear what you guys think. It makes me so happy to know people enjoy the story I can't seem to stop writing. I hope you all enjoyed reading and hopefully I'll see you in CH13! Side note: I liked this chapter because it has hints of the future and some of my own theories about the walkers. (Seriously the flashes with the brain in TS-19 is crazy!)
