Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

The Dead Rise

Shane Walsh knew he had to get Rick's family to safety. However, when Parker insisted that they wouldn't leave Rick alone, Shane had to make a difficult decision. After witnessing the military shoot up the hospital and kill anyone and everyone inside, he managed to get out and inform Lori and Parker that Rick was dead.

 Parker hadn't believed him at first, but as Shane's expression reflected his pain, she realized that maybe he was right. Maybe he had seen her brother die and now was doing what was best for them. So they agreed to leave. Breaking the news to Carl wasn't easy, although he handled it better than Parker imagined.

 Packing their things to leave their house was something that made them stop for a moment and wonder how the hell things had gotten so crazy. Lori packed all of her photo albums and valuables into a backpack, along with spare clothes and some books for Carl to use, while Parker returned to her own house and packed up her belongings. She lived alone, so she didn't need much. 

She had clothes, an extra pair of sneakers, and more books for Carl because if the world went to hell, she would make sure that boy lived as normal a life as possible. Or at least she hoped. They left that same day, processing their grief as Shane drove out of town, heading to Atlanta. Parker sat back in her seat, not too concerned about wearing a seat belt due to the lack of people on the roads. Most had left days ago when the news footage stopped and everything went silent. 

With one leg resting on the back seat, Parker had Carl leaning against her. She was running a hand through his hair comfortingly, her other arm draped over his shoulders as he held her hand tightly "Are you okay?" Parker asked in a low voice. Carl nodded at her question.

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound good," Parker admitted, glancing down at him. "It's okay to be sad, Carl. He was your dad."

"I still think he might be alive," Carl said sadly, not wanting to meet her gaze thinking his aunt would judge the thought. "Maybe he'll find us."

"Well, if he's alive, I promise he'll find us. You'd have to drag Rick Grimes to hell to get him to stop looking for his family." She pulled her nephew closer, she'd protect him at all costs. Carl looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Parker promised him. It was a lie. She was definitely not fine but she wouldn't tell him that. "I miss him as much as you do."

"Can you tell me about when you were children?" Carl asked, his eyes full of curiosity wanting to know about his dad and aunt's childhood.

"Not now, Carl." Lori turned to look at them, Carl sagged his shoulders disappointedly.

"No." Parker intervened, sending Lori a tiny smile. "It's alright."

"Mom said you and Dad used to fight all the time when you were kids."

"Well, that's true." She let out a small laugh. "When I was six and your dad was ten, he broke the head of my favorite doll because he was mad at me, so we had a fight. Our dad separated us by pulling us away from each other by the ears and yelled at both of us, but after he let us go, I hit your dad with a wooden sword and gave him a nosebleed and we started fighting again. At that point, Dad just left us and we gave up after a while."

"Did you get in trouble?" Carl was completely invested in the story.

"Did I get in trouble?" Parker repeated with an offended scoff, pretending to think about the question. "I didn't get in trouble. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm an angel," Parker answered, trying to hold back a smile knowing damn sure it was a lie. She was a terror when she was a kid and to most people she still is. "And angels are not scolded."

"Dad always said you're like the devil," Carl told her, not knowing who to believe.

"Sure." Parker dragged out, rolling her eyes at the thought of her brother saying that to his son. "But your dad was the worst."

"But did you love each other?" Carl asked. Parker nodded.

"Yeah. We stopped fighting as we got older, and when I had my first boyfriend, your dad was very protective. Some might say overprotective. He came to dinner for the first time and it scared him so much that the poor guy was afraid to talk to me again." Parker laughed at the old memory and how scared that guy had been whenever he had seen her or Rick around their old neighborhood.

"Did you break up?" Carl's eyes were still full of curiosity and at this point, Parker felt like it was more of an interrogation.

"Yeah," Parker answered almost instantly. "Your dad had a habit of finding faults in everyone I dated." She shook her head, a heavy sigh escaping her lips.

"And James?" Of course, he had to bring up James. "He was cool."

"Yes, James was great." Parker smiled bitterly.

"Until he turned out to be a piece of shit," Shane commented from the front of the car. Lori punched him on the arm, glaring at him.

"Hey! Watch your language around Carl!" Lori scolded, he raised his hands in surrender, quickly placing them back on the wheel, chuckling.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Shane apologized, still silently laughing. "What I meant was that he was a bit of an idiot." He gave Lori a look while he rephrased his sentence.

"Why? What did he do?" Carl laughed.

"That's a story for another time," Parker responded, caressing Carl's forehead. "What else do you want to know?"

"Did you ever beat Dad at baseball?" Carl had that one locked and loaded. "Because he said he always beat you."

"Another lie," Parker 'tsked', shaking her head and sighing dramatically. "But no, seriously, I only beat him twice." Carl then looked at his mother.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe." She told him, twisting in her seat a bit to see him. "A place where there are other people and you can go back to school.

"Can't Aunt Parker teach me?" Carl asked, looking at his aunt. "Please?" He clasped his hands together, placing them under his chin.

"Don't look at me, as far as my career is concerned, I am retired."

"So you won't teach me?" He huffed sadly.

"I never said that. I can teach you anything you want to know, within reason." She made sure to add that last part for Lori's sake.

"Where do babies come from?"

"That's a question I'm not going to answer. A good one, but I won't answer it." Parker responded. She liked to push Lori's buttons from time to time but if she answered that she'd have to have a death wish. "You can ask your mom."

"Thank you." Lori shot Parker a warning look.

"You're his mother," Parker said, raising her hands in defense. "I am the fun aunt who lets him do what he wants."

"You're the best aunt," Carl added.

"I'm also the only one you have." Parker punched him in the ribs softly. Even though they were headed somewhere they had never been, with Rick's death upon them, Parker tried to make the best of a bad situation, not only for Carl's sake but for her own as well. Life was about to get a lot crazier and they had no idea what awaited them when they arrived in Atlanta. What awaited them was worse than any of them had imagined.