Life Goes On (The Walking Dead)

Chapter Nine

After the kiss Daryl seemed a bit more open. Well, I mean, at least he didn't ignore me this time.

The drive to the CDC was taking longer than everyone anticipated, we'd already had to stop and syphon more gas for the vehicles.

I was full of energy and feeling pretty light but I knew I didn't have a way to spend my energy so I'd have to settle for bugging Daryl. I unbuckled my seat belt and sat facing Daryl with my back against the truck door hugging my knees.

He shot me a weird look before turning back to the road.

"Get yer dirty shoes off the seats"

I rolled my eyes and kicked off my blood spattered shoes before swinging my legs back onto the seat.

He shook his head but he seemed amused.

"Tell me about yourself"

My words hung in the air a tense moment before he responded.

"Whatcha wanna know?" He spoke slowly and his southern drawl was salient.

I thought about it for a moment. What did I want to know about Daryl Dixon?

"Whats your favorite color?"

At that Daryl laughed.

"Outta everythin' ye wanna know meh favorite color?"

I looked at my hands as a blush lit up my cheeks. I didn't want to ask him something insanely personal, not yet. I nodded.

"Don't have one. That shit's fer girls"

I didn't know what else to ask, what question would be rewarded with a serious answer and what question would cross the line. Because thats the thing with Daryl, I just met him and I already knew he was a mystery and that there was a fine line between angry Daryl and nice Daryl.

"Whats yers, pink?"

I couldn't help the look of disgust that settled on my face-pink was a repulsive color.

He chuckled at my reaction and I too laughed.

"Oh ha ha. No, bright green. Blues a close second"

Daryl nodded, a slight smile still on his face.

We continued our small talk and I was suprised how....nice he was being. He was still gruff Daryl but with a little more happiness. We had alot in common. We both liked to be outside, it was our place to unwind and reflect. The woods behind my house was where I often saught refuge from my sister. She pretended to love the outdoors for my father but in truth, she hated being outiside. She would never leave the house unless my parents were home and having busy jobs, they were only home for about two hours before we went to bed. I thanked God for this. I could flee from the house, no matter the weather, to give my sister a chance to cool down and to avoid her wrath. Nature to me symbolized safety and freedom and it seemed to be something similar to Daryl.

He also liked Motorhead and Metallica, though he preferred Megadeath. The more we talked the more I was glad that this dang apocalypse had started and I had crossed his path.

"Whats your proudest moment?"

I had to admit, I was curious to see what gruff ol' Daryl was proud of. He seemed to think about it for a moment before rubbing his chin and looking at me.

"Promise ye won't laugh?"

I nodded eagerly.

"Graduatin' high school...I was in the top ten"

Holy shizzballs! Daryl Dixon? In the top ten of his class? I knew my eyes were wide but I couldn't help it.

"Thats amazing! You don't even know how hard I tried to do that!"

He seemed a bit wary, shocked that I wasn't laughing at him but relieved at the same time.

"Yeah. I spent mos' of meh time at the library, didn't like bein' at home. I was a nerd, didn't even notice til Merle pointed it out. He toughened meh up"

I smiled, imagining Daryl as a puny lil' guy. But I was wondering about what he said about not liking being at home. His voice had turned bitter at the words, it worried me.

"So what 'bout ye?"

"The day I tested for my black belt. After years of training, I had finally pulled it off. It was the most physically and mentally grueling day of my life" I smiled fondly at the memory.

"Yer a black belt?"

"Yup" I popped the 'p'.

"How come yeh didn't kick Merle's ass then that first day?"

I sighed and looked him in the eyes.

"I don't like hurting people. That and I froze"

"Hurting people? He coulda hurt ye. Hell he coulda killed ye fer all ye knew"

"I know. I'd like to think of he'd of tried anything I would've kicked into gear but....I just don' know"

"Yeh won't have to find out"

My forhead scrunched in confusion and he shifted nervously in the drivers seat.

He cleared his throat before elaborating.

"Yeh won't have to worry 'bout Merle. He won't hurt yeh"

I shot Daryl a glance, that didn't seem like what he was going to say. I decided not to question it but I got the vibe that he wasn't just talking about Merle. I got the feeling Daryl was going to make sure I didn't get hurt by anything, not just his big brother.