Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

Audition

When morning came, they all piled into the RV and continued driving. Parker sat at the table with Carl, Eugene, and Tara. Eugene was shuffling a deck of cards as he explained the rules of the game that Parker and Carl already knew pretty well.

"Seven-card stud," Eugene explained. "Stares and squares. It's aces, cuatros, neeners, and two-eyed jacks."

"So there are fourteen wild cards?" Tara asked, confused. "Are you serious?"  

"Serious as two copulating dogs," Eugene confirmed, the other three sending him weird looks. Parker looked at her cards and caught Carl peeking over her shoulder at them.

"Hey! Keep your nosey little eyes off my cards."

"But you have the one that I need," He pointed at the one of the cards in her hands.

"And you have the one I need," She muttered, chewing her bottom lip as she thought things over in her head.

"Shall we trade?" He asked in a fancy accent, Parker laughed at him.

"Of course." They swapped cards with each other and Eugene stared at them, upset.

"Those aren't the rules of the game."

"This is how Carl and I play," Parker countered, as she sorted her cards into runs.

"Yeah, we're a team," Carl added. Eventually, after a while of driving, the RV died on them and they ended up stranded on the road. It wasn't a particularly pleasant situation, as it brought up many memories that the group as a whole was trying to forget. Specifically...  from the last few weeks. Daryl headed to the roof to keep watch and Parker followed him up there after they had finished the final match in the card game. She climbed up the ladder while Glenn and Abraham attempted to repair the RV. Daryl raised an eyebrow when he saw her head pop up.

"You sure you should be up here?" He asked her.

"I'm not stupid," Parker deadpanned, walking over to him. "But don't worry, mom. I won't wander too close to the edge."

"Just makin' sure," Daryl told her, raising his hands in fake surrender. "I gotta take care of you."

"And I appreciate that," Parker responded, hugging him from behind. "I hope this turns out to be something good. We need a win."

"Me too," Daryl nodded. "And hey, I'm sorry. I've been havin' a hard time lately. But I'm tryin'."

"Don't apologize," Parker muttered, shaking her head. "You never need to apologize for how you feel. You loved Beth like she was a little sister. Because she was. For a lot of us, she was like an annoying little sister." Daryl placed his hands over hers.

"It sucks that she's gone," He sighed. "She didn't deserve any of this."

"No," Parker said sadly. "She didn't. And I wish I could have been there with you. I wish I could have helped."

"You help me by bein' yourself," Daryl assured her. Letting her know she did help and still was. "I don't think I would've made it this far. Sure as hell wouldn't have come back after leavin' with Merle that time."

"I'm glad you're back," She said, and she was grateful every time he came back. "If you hadn't, I would have lost it a long time ago. I would have been alone."

"What are you talkin' about?" Daryl looked back at her. "You would've had Glenn."

"Yeah, but he's got Maggie. And I'm not positive but I think something is going on between Abraham and Rosita." Parker listed off, looking at the split-up groups amongst them. "And I think Rick definitely has feelings for Michonne."