Between Arrows and Hearts - Daryl Dixon

The cool ride

Hello! This chapter will be a little long. I don't know if you knew, but there is a deleted scene from the beginning of season two, where it is explained what happened with the vatos, and with Daryl's truck, T-Dog's van and Shane's jeep.

This chapter is set in that scene, you can read it perfectly without having seen it, but in case anyone is curious, I leave you the link!

https://youtu.be/JyhIlIT_0Ow?si=5l-RyK9hQn3C_t38I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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The truck rumbled along the cracked highway, the low growl of the engine filling the heavy silence. The glow of the CDC's fiery remains faded in the rearview mirror, but the weight of it still clung to the air. Daryl's grip on the wheel was steady, his eyes locked on the road ahead.

Every so often, his gaze flicked to Cass, sitting quietly in the passenger seat. Her face was turned toward the window, her elbow propped against the door, fingers absently tracing the edge of the glass. She looked lost in thought, her usual chatter nowhere to be found.

Daryl wasn't sure what to make of it. Silence usually didn't bother him —in fact, he preferred it— but this silence felt different. Unsettling. 

Cass wasn't the type to keep things to herself, always flitting around, asking questions, telling stories no one had asked for. It was one of the things about her that baffled him most. How she could always find something to say.

"There might be CDs in the glove compartment." He mumbled, barely realizing he'd spoken until the words were out.

Cass blinked, like she'd been dragged out of a dream, and turned to him. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "What music do you listen to?" She asked.

"I don't." He shrugged, regretting it immediately. He wasn't trying to start a damn conversation. "'Yer freakin' me out with all this quiet. Didn't know 'ya could even stay that way."

Her laughter bubbled up, soft and melodic. "I didn't know you loved hearing me talk," She quipped, leaning back against the seat. But the humor in her voice faded, replaced by something softer. "I don't know... just thinking."

Daryl glanced at her again, just for a second, before returning his focus to the road.

She shifted in her seat to face him. "You remember what you said that morning after the attack at camp?"

He frowned, his brows knitting together as he tried to recall. That morning had been chaos. Amy dead, Jim bitten, the whole camp reeling. He'd been shouting a lot. "No," He admitted flatly, unsure where she was going with this.

"You'd fought with Morales and Glenn," She murmured, her voice quieter now. "Said it was what we deserved. For leaving Merle behind."

His chest tightened, his hands gripping the wheel a little harder. He hadn't thought anyone was really listening to him that morning. People never did. His words were usually background noise. Anger and frustration no one cared to pay attention to. 

"Morales left, Andrea lost Amy, and Jacqui's gone," She continued, her gaze drifting back to the window. "Maybe you were right. Maybe we're paying for what we did."

The weight of her words settled between them, heavy and suffocating. For a moment, Daryl didn't respond. He wasn't good with this kind of thing. Feelings, guilt, regret. He didn't even know why she gave a damn about what he thought. But the way her voice trembled when she spoke, like his words had clawed their way under her skin, made something twist uncomfortably in his gut.

It wasn't the first time, either. Last night, she'd brought up how it bothered her that the first thing he'd asked about when they found her at the vatos place was Merle. He hadn't answered then, unsure of what to say. But now, seeing how his words still weighed on her, he couldn't let it slide.