Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

Guys Meet Randall

The next morning Daryl returned to the farm to help in the search for Rick, Hershel, and Glenn. While they were discussing their plan, a car came down the road and Parker watched it stop and Rick got out. Carl smiled, running towards his father. "Dad!" Parker was right behind him, hugging Rick tightly when she reached him.

"I'm glad you're okay." Lori hugged him last, a look of relief on her face. Hershel got out of the truck.

"Patrica, prepare the shed for surgery."

"Are you hurt?" Lori asked Rick when she heard Hershel, scanning him over for any injuries.

"No, but what happened to you?" Rick asked, noticing the bruises on Lori's face.

"I was in a car accident," Lori responded.

"Accident?" How?" Rick stressed, his finger running over a scratch on her face.

"I went looking for you," Lori explained to him.

"She snuck out on her own," Shane said. "Brought her back."

"Are you crazy?" Rick asked. "You could've.."

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog questioned, noticing the boy sitting in the back of the car.

"That's Randall," Glenn answered as if the two were best friends.

"Jeez, what happened to him?" Parker mumbled, as she approached the car and saw the boy blindfolded and knocked out.

"He got stuck on a fence," Rick explained. "We have to get him inside. Hershel is going to operate on his leg. See what he can do." Later the group gathered in the Greene kitchen, sitting around the table. No one was thrilled at the idea of allowing a complete stranger to join them, and even Rick could see the discomfort the boy's arrival had caused. "We couldn't just leave him behind," Rick said. "He would've bled out. If he lived that long."

"It's gotten bad in town," Glenn added quietly.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked.

"I repaired his calf as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage," Hershel announced walking in and cleaning his hands on a rag. "Won't be on his feet for at least a week."

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way," Rick told everyone his plan.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him with the walkers?" Parker asked. "I thought we didn't kill people. You said so yourself, we don't kill the living. How is this any different?"

"He'll have a fighting chance," Rick said when Parker noticed Daryl coming through the door.

"Leaving him with water is just to make yourself feel better Rick. Unless we keep him here, we're practically giving the walkers dinner."

"Now is not the time, Parker." Rick gave her a warning look.

"No, it's the perfect time actually." She retorted, mirroring him, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Just gonna let him go?" Shane asked. "He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here," Rick said. "He's not a threat."

"Not a threat?" Shane repeated in disbelief. "How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they ain't just gonna come looking for him?"

"They left him for dead," Rick said coldly. "No one is looking!"

"We should still post a guard," T-Dog recommended.

"He's out cold right now," Hershel replied. "Will be for hours."

"You know what? I'm going to go get him flowers and candy," Shane ground out through his teeth, bitter that Rick wasn't following along with him. "Look at this folks! We're back in fantasyland!" He scoffed walking off.

"Shane how about you keep your opinion to yourself for once. Ain't nobody here asked for how you felt on this situation." Parker spat, watching him walk.

"You know we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet," Hershel said, stopping Shane since he was about to leave. "Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all, this is my farm. Now, I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean i have to like it. So do us both a favor. Keep your mouth shut." Shane didn't say anything but sigh before leaving the room.

"Look," Rick spoke up eventually. "We're not going to do anything about it today. Lets just cool off." Parker noticed Daryl's eyes watching her, and as she stood up to leave he walked away from her, walking out the door. Rolling her eyes, she followed him, jogging to catch up.

"Hey!" Parker shouted, causing him to stop. "Can I talk to you?" Daryl turned to look at her.

"What?"

"What's the matter with you?" Parker asked. "Just yesterday, you wouldn't shut up, but suddenly you're acting like you can't stand to see me. Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Daryl responded, looking at the ground, and kicking a random stone.

"No?" Parker repeated, not knowing what could have possibly made him act like this. "What's wrong then?"

"Just leave it," Daryl grumbled. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Somethings bothering you," Parker quickly said when he turned to leave. "Carol told me how you yelled at her. It's about Sophia, right?"

"I was out there looking for that little girl every single day!" Daryl snapped as if something had clicked in his brain at the mention of her. "I took a bullet and an arrow in the process. Looking for some dead girl in the woods for some corpse. Hoping that maybe I'd find her."

"I know, but it's not a bad thing," Parker said. "Having hope is not a bad thing. It's the only way you'll beat this world."

"It is a bad thing!" Daryl yelled at her.

"No, it's not," Parker replied calmly. "But something else is bothering you. What's wrong, Daryl?"

"Nothing," Daryl scoffed. Parker realized she wasn't getting anywhere with Daryl, so she sighed in defeat.

"Okay. When you want to talk... come find me. You know where I'll be. But before you do, why don't you lose this little attitude you've got going on? Quite frankly, I'm sick of dealing with it." As she walked away, Daryl sighed. He didn't mean to be rude or push her away, but after she left him last night, he started thinking, which was normally never good. He wondered why she even liked him at all because, at the end of the day, he wasn't very good to anyone. He didn't get along with people like Rick or Glenn easily, he didn't make friends easily, and he certainly didn't love anyone, except maybe Merle. 

He didn't know how to process his feelings for Parker because every time he looked at her he felt the need to protect her. He didn't want to have that kind of connection with anyone, but Daryl wasn't good with feelings, so in his mind, he thought that if he pushed her away, the feelings would go away too. What he didn't realize was that it only made him feel even worse, seeing the dejected expression on her face when she stepped away from him, turned on her heel, and walked away. It also hurt him to see her hurt, especially knowing that he was the cause, and no matter how much he tried to deny it, the fact was this: Daryl Dixon had found something special in Parker Grimes, and it absolutely terrified him.