Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

Family Reunion

The car alarm had everyone worried because it echoed through the mountains. Dale, who was standing on top of the RV, had his binoculars raised and was scanning the area for the cause.

"Talk to me, Dale," Shane demanded, quickly getting out of his seat.

"I can't tell yet." Dale returned to trying to find the source of the alarm.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked.

"I'll be damned.." Dale muttered, tracking something as it moved up the path.

"What is it?"

"A stolen car is my guess," Dale informed the group. Parker smiled knowing the only person stupid enough to do that would be Glenn.

"I bet it's Glenn." Glenn pulled up in a red sports car, a smile on his face that suggested he was very happy to have such a nice car, but the alarm kept ringing. Parker ran to him and hugged him tightly, fearing that she would never see him again.

"You're okay," Parker whispered.

"Holy crap! Turn that damn thing off!" Dale shouted.

"I don't know how." Glenn threw his hands in the air.

"Open the hood, please," Shane said.

"My sister, Andrea?" Amy asked.

"Pop the damn hood!" Shane shouted.

"What? Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Glenn responded, getting bombarded with questions.

"Is she okay? Is she alright?" Amy asked.

"Open the damn hood, please!" Shane shouted.

"Is she alive?" Amy asked.

"Yeah!" Glenn shouted, raising the hood and getting out of the car, "Yeah, okay!"

"Are they coming back?" Amy continued, as Shane turned off the car alarm.

"Yeah!" Glenn responded, sounding exasperated.

"Why isn't she with you?" Amy asked. "Where is she? Is she coming back?"

"She's okay, she's okay!" Glenn repeated.

"She's okay?" She continued to ask.

"Yes! She's fine!"

"Amy, just give him room to breathe," Parker yelled over the panic. "Andrea will be back."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Glenn said. "Everyone is. Well, Merle not so much."

"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here?" Shane asked. "You trying to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're okay." Dale looked around to double-check.

"You call being stupid okay?" Shane asked.

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills," Dale explained. "It would be hard to pinpoint the source." Shane stood to his full height, hands on his hips, giving Dale a disapproving look. "I'm not arguing, I'm just saying." Dale then turned to Glenn. "It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

"Sorry." Glenn apologized, before pointing at the car. "Got a cool car" He offered lamely. Parker laughed. Glenn still sounded excited even after potentially attracting all the walkers in the vicinity to them and, on top of that, Shane yelled at him and Amy bombarded him with questions. Nothing could stop his enthusiasm for having a new car. A truck stopped just after a silence fell over the group. Parker looked at Glenn.

"What did you mean about Merle?"

"Uh... I'll tell you later," Glenn replied, trying to brush off the topic. Parker grabbed him by the arm.

"No, you'll tell me now." Andrea jumped out of the truck.

"Amy?" Amy let out a sob.

"Andrea!" The two ran to meet and hugged each other as Parker turned once more to Glenn.

"Speak. Now."

"We left him on a roof," Glenn replied. "The new guy handcuffed him there because he was going to put us all in danger."

"The new guy?" Parker asked. She was trying to distract herself from seeing the families reunited because she knew she would never have that chance with Rick again.

"You are a welcomed sight." Dale pulled Morales into a hug. "I thought we'd lost you folks for sure."

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked.

"The new guy," Glenn answered for the returning group. "He got us out."

"New guy?" Shane asked.

"Yeah," Morales responded. "Crazy Vato just got into town. Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello." He looked at Shane. "This guy is a cop, like you." And that's when Parker swore her heart stopped beating for a moment. Coming out of the truck, was a very alive, Rick Grimes. Parker's knees almost gave way with the shock of realizing that Rick was alive, and before her brain could process her actions, she was running full force toward her brother. 

"Rick!" Parker shouted, and without realizing it, she was crying. Rick saw his sister fly towards him and barely had time to say her name.

"Parker?" She launched herself straight into his arms and the force knocked Rick down. He made an awkward turn to avoid falling on his back, and they fell to their knees, clinging onto each other, tears in their eyes. Parker clung onto her brother as she sobbed into his shoulder, and that's when she heard Carl calling for his father. 

"Dad! Dad!" Rick saw his son run towards him and couldn't help but sob as Carl crashed into him and Parker. Parker, Rick, and Carl stayed there for a moment, holding each other, before Rick stood up and walked over to his wife. Lori looked like she had just seen a ghost, and as Rick held Carl in one arm and had the other around Parker's shoulders, he pulled his wife towards him, and their family was reunited once again.

"We thought you were dead," Parker said, tears in her eyes. "Shane told us.." Parker became angry with Shane, and although she was angry with him at the time, she wasn't going to ruin her reunion with her brother by letting her anger with Shane get the best of her. Carl was now squashed between his parents and Parker, and when he looked at his aunt, she smiled at him. "I told you, didn't I?" Parker said with a light laugh. "I told you nothing was going to stop Rick Grimes from finding us." Rick let go of his wife and looked at his sister.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Parker answered quietly, before hugging her brother again, her eyes closed tight as she tried not to let a sob escape. "God, I thought I'd never see you again."

"I didn't think I'd find you," Rick replied quietly. "But I did. And you're all here. And you're all safe." She placed her hands on his cheeks and tilted his head from side to side. 

"I still can't believe you're here. We thought you were dead."

"Yeah, I thought the same about you for a while." Rick responded, "But you're here." Parker couldn't stop crying and was a little embarrassed by the fact. She wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"I'm so sorry for everything I did to you since we were kids. I'm sorry for arguing with you." Rick almost laughed.

"What are you saying?"

"I thought you were dead," Parker said again. "And then I started to think, and I realized that I was never able to apologize for everything, and now I can." She punched him on the shoulder gently. "You better not leave again."

"I'll never leave you again," Rick promised, and he wasn't just talking to Parker. He was speaking to his son, who put his arms around his father's waist and hugged him tightly, and to his wife, who had her hand on Rick's shoulder as if she were waiting for him to disappear again. "I promise." Parker could only nod, hugging Rick again as she was finally reunited with her brother.