In The End | Daryl Dixon

Chapter 40: Persuasion

I leaned my head against the window watching the trees blur by, the wind from the bus moving the long grass along the road. 

"Hey, maybe Rosita can give you a trim while she's at it." Tara's voice snapped me back to reality, and I realized she was talking to Eugene, "Party's getting a little long in the back. Or is it your source of power?" 

I chuckled behind them, staring at Eugene's mullet. "As along as they stay away from yours." I said quietly, looking over to Daryl who sat beside me. 

Daryl chuckled, shaking his head.

"I ain't slayin' a lion anytime soon." Eugene responded, keeping his eyes trained on the road ahead of us. "I wouldn't be placing any wagers on seein' me dispatch a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass." 

Sometimes when Eugene spoke, it always took me a minute to process what he's saying. Other times, I never understand a single word. This was one of those times. 

"Oh, so you'll just settle on saving the world, right?" Tara joked. 

"Yeah." Eugene said blandly. 

Maggie and Glenn turned in their seats, looking to Eugene. "How long will it be?" Maggie asked. "After you get on that terminal and do what you have to do?" 

I rested my arms on the seat in front of me, now listening to what Eugene has to say. Clearly I wasnt the only one on that bus, as now everyone's attention was on him. 

"Depends on a number of factors including density of the infected around target sites worldwide." Eugene said simply. 

"Target sites?" I asked from behind. "Are you talking about missiles?" 

Eugene stiffened, "That's classified." 

"I thought we were over that." Glenn said, starting to get a little impatient. 

"What if we all live?" Eugene asked. 

"The secrets will matter then?" Glenn retorted back. 

"They might." I could tell Eugene was getting a little irritated of us asking him so many questions, but he tried his best to keep his head and to give us the answers he could. "Anyway, the speed with which things normalize depend on a number of factors including worldwide weather patterns, which were modeled without the assumption that cars, planes, boats, and trains wouldn't be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere this long. Changed the game quite a bit when it comes to transmissible pathogens." 

Based on the silence, he lost everyone. I knew I was indeed lost. 

"Why the hair?" Glenn asked with all seriousness. 

"Because I like it." Eugene responded, "And no one is takin' a scissor or clipper to it anytime soon. Do you hear me, Miss. Espinoza?" 

Rosita laughed, "Yes, loud and clear." 

We all laughed too at how serious he was about his hair. 

"Y'all can laugh all you want. The smartest man I ever met happened to love my hair. My old boss, T. Brooks Ellis, the director of the Human Genome Project. He said my hair made me look like, and I quote, "A fun guy," which I am. I just ain't Samson."

"Bitchnuts!" Abraham yelled from behind the wheel after a loud bang.

The bus began to swerve all over the road, I held tightly onto the seat in front of me trying my best to brace myself. Abraham tried to keep the bud steady on the road, but with a popped tire, there's only so much you can do. I watch in slow motion as the bus slammed into a car sitting in the road. The bus caught the corner of the car, causing the bus back end to raise up, and slam back down.