Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

22

Rachel

I fidgeted with compartments in the car, trying to distract myself from the knots in my stomach. The first few minutes or so were filled with an awkward silence. My hand reached for the glovebox and I opened it without much thought. To my surprise, there was a fat cd case. I lightly gasped. I quickly grabbed it and unzipped the case. My eyes glanced to Daryl and he laughed lightly as I began to flip through it. The music was a bit shit as I called out different titles, "Dude they have the Bee G-" suddenly I found myself gasping again, "Oh my god." I took the cd out of the slip and flipped it to face Daryl.

Cranberries.

Daryl looked at it and shook his head as he returned his attention to the road, "I dunno who that is."

I couldn't help myself, "Really?"

He shook his head nonchalantly. I put the CD in feeling giddy. I pressed play and waited for the first track to start.

Seconds after, Daryl looked to me in disbelief, "You can't be serious."

I grinned and shook my head lightly, "It's so good Dare, just listen."

Dare. My stomach turned and I felt my cheeks flush. The nickname rolled right off my tongue without a second of a thought.. After that, I couldn't bring myself to look at him until it finally ended. I told myself that it was okay, that it would've started eventually if we were to be friends.. As the track faded away, Daryl finally broke the silence "Alright it wasn't bad, the beginning threw me off."

I laughed at that through my nose. And took a deep breath, not trying to over think anything. I reached over and skipped a few songs ahead, "I think you'd like this one."

I looked back to the map that I had set on the dash and gave some brief directions as the song played. I finally allowed myself to steal a glance at him as his thumb beat against the wheel for a moment. With each good breath in, the tingling of my nerves throughout my body began to dissipate.

When the song ended, he dipped his head in approval, "That was pretty good." His voice sounded so light and casual.

The corners of my mouth tugged upwards, feeling satisfied to have won him over, "Right?"

The rest of the drive was fairly quiet and I took in the warmth and quiet company I had. That edge I had been on suddenly seemed to fade. The sky was crazy blue today with the slightest breeze passing through the car, every now and then, I'd catch the slightest hint of whatever Daryl used to finally clean himself up. It had been a while since I felt this relaxed on a drive. Rather than thinking back to the last time we were in a car alone together, my mind flashed to one of the many drives we had done. And for the smallest of seconds, I let myself feel like no time had passed.. We listened to 2 more tracks before we arrived.

Everything was pretty empty in town. Not a whole lot of damage seemed to be done. Everything was left as it was. It was a trip to see a place so untouched by the destruction of it all. The grass was long and cars were low and slightly rusted but everything else looked clean. There were only a few cars in the parking at the Library. We were able to drive right up, everything in was so clear.

I turned down the volume and we took a quick look at the building before getting out. It was so quiet.

"Alright.." Daryl started, "Should be clear, but we play it like normal. "

I nodded. "We'll be in and out."

We got out of the car, both carrying small empty duffle bags. We walked up the steps, armed and ready. I was holding my breath.
The door opened right up. And there was plenty of natural light coming through the dusted windows. It was decent sized library.