Between Arrows and Hearts - Daryl Dixon

Little brat

The truck went silent after what T-Dog said. Cass couldn't stop thinking about Merle. Sure, he was a asshole, and he almost killed T-Dog. But the thought of Dixon dying after the whole group left him behind was eating her up. 

Jesus, what would they even tell Daryl? "Sorry, we were too focused on saving ourselves, so we left him handcuffed on the roof." Cass ran her hands over her face in frustration.

"Best not to dwell on it. Merle got left behind". Cass wanted to hit Morales. How could he say that so calmly after a man was left to die? "Nobody's gonna be sad he didn't come back..." He couldn't finish his sentence when Cass interrupted angrily.

"Daryl is." She said looking at the back of the truck, where Morales was sitting with the rest.

"Daryl?" Rick asked looking at her.

"His brother." Feeling guilty, she kept talking. "A few days after we got to the quarry, I ran into Daryl in the woods. He's good at hunting, he usually brings in some squirrels or rabbits for us to eat". After a short pause, she added, almost ashamed, "I was the one who brought them to camp".

A car alarm snapped her out of it, and she looked out the window to see a flashy red car speeding past. Inside was Glenn, screaming like he was having the time of his life. —So this is what Rick meant— The sight of her friend having fun made her smile a little.

"At least somebody's having a good day." Morales said.

Before silence filled the truck again, Cass looked at Rick and spoke. "Have you ever been to Bistro Huddy in Atlanta?" She asked, curious.

The sheriff just looked at her, a bit confused. "No, why?"

"I worked there for a while... I don't know. I feel like I know you from somewhere." She shrugged her shoulders.

Not sure how to respond, Rick decided to take the chance to ask about her. "Where are you from?".

"Chile". She answered quickly. "I'd just finished college and decided I wanted to travel and see the world. I found one of those programs where they send you places if you work for them, so I went with the first one that accepted me, —waitressing in Atlanta—". She explained, feigning excitement. "Three months later, the world went to hell. T-Dog and Glenn found me in the city when they were about to leave, took me with them, and well... here we are." She waved her hands like she'd just told him the best story in the world.

Rick nodded at her story. For a second, he thought about his own situation —he'd lost his wife and son but still held out a sliver of hope he'd see them again.— But Cass? With no transportation or communication working, her chances of seeing her family again were close to zero. She was alone on the other side of the world, yet she still smiled, even shared her story like it didn't faze her.

After a while, they finally got back to camp. Cass saw everyone waiting, most of them probably got worried seeing Glenn come back alone. Speaking of him, he looked thrilled next to his new car.

"Come meet everybody". Morales said to Rick, giving him a light punch on the arm. Cass nodded, smiling.

'You'll like them." She said. "There's even another cop like you." With that, she hopped out of the truck, heading straight over to his friend.

"Second time you've scared me today, Glenn. One more and I'll dump you in the lake". Cass said, laughing.

Glenn slung an arm around her shoulders. "Sorry. But hey, got a cool car." He said, grinning as if that explained everything. Cass looked down at the sports car,  the driver's window had been smashed open. "You steal a car and choose this one?" She said raising an eyebrow, judging the car. "Red's a little tacky, don't you think?".