RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

forever

(This chapter contains some mature/smutty content. If you are not comfortable with reading it, please pay attention to where I insert the asterisks *** before the scene so you can skip over it. It is at the end of this chapter.)

18 months since the fall of Negan and the Saviors.

THE TIRES OF HER BIKE squealed against the asphalt as she drifted and came to a stop. She let her feet hang down and touch the ground to stabilize her as she looked up at the large building. A museum that has been standing for years, no doubt filled with artifacts and heirlooms that were centuries old. Some of the countries most prized possessions, now so easy to be taken by anyone who came along and paid a visit. 

She looked over her shoulder when she heard the rumbling of Daryl's bike come up beside her own, and the galloping of a few horses that carried the rest of their group as they approached the building.

They had been into DC once before a few months back. It wasn't as bad as Atlanta, but there were definitely swarms of walkers that they had to fight through to get anywhere in the city. 

She swung her leg over her bike and stood up, letting her legs stretch as she pulled the sword from her back- courtesy of Wells and his first visit with the Kingdom's people to DC. There were many museums around, all containing different things. He just so happened to come across one that had a vast variety of different weapons- the sword being one of them. 

She still trained with him when she could. He was back at the Kingdom most of the time, and he'd pay her a visit a few times a month to train with her, or vice versa. It took about 6 months for him to feel confident enough in her to move on to weapons. That's why he had given her the sword. When things first started, he had one, too. He learned how to wield it quite fast, and he said Willow, to his surprise, did too.

She turned it in her hand, her eyes trailing down the long silver blade and around the thick silver and gold handle. She laughs every time she looks at it. She's only ever seen things like it in stories or movies. To have it in her hands now- it felt like pure power. 

"You're givin' me a run for my money on that thing." Daryl said as he shut his bike off and patted the seat of hers.

She tilted her head and stepped to him with a smile, pulling the bandana down from his face and kissing him once. "I learned from the best."

He bit his lip as he looked her up and down. If he didn't hear the horses closing in with their people...

"Focus." She snapped her fingers in his face when she noticed them lingering too low. As much as she loved his eyes on her, and as much as she wanted to drink him in too, what they were there to do was important. 

He smirked and turned his head, watching the horses and wagon come to a stop. "Yes, ma'am."

A few of them did a quick perimeter sweep before they all met by the front doors. There were three sets of them, but they took position by the middle set that were already slightly ajar.

"We're good for now." Michonne whispered over her shoulder as she peered through the crack. "Sweep protocol when we get in."

The nodded silently and followed her and Rick into the building. It was dim and musty in the first room they entered- the lobby. The only light that was allowed in was through small, half-circle windows above the front doors and a frosted glass dome that encircled the roof of the lobby. 

Papers were thrown across the entire room- maps, brochures. Cobwebs clung to the check-in desks and turnstiles, thick with dust. It was a beautiful building, even abandoned and unkept.