Daring Dixon (A Daryl Dixon fanfiction)

Chapter 49

"Missy. Get up. Officer Friendly wants you," said a voice. It took me a moment to realize it was Merle.

"Go away," I shot at him.

"Can't disappoint Officer Friendly now can we?" Merle asked sarcastically. I sat up in the bed and rubbed sleep from my eyes.

"How long have I been out?" I demanded.

"All night. Musta needed it," Merle told me. I shot out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes.

"Out," I ordered. Merle smirked but did as I told him.

I changed my clothes quickly, ran a brush through my hair, and then rushed out into the living room, pulling my boots on and stumbling down the hall as I tried to do too many things at once. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Daryl sitting on the couch opposite of Merle, eyeing me. I laced up my boots and then calmly made my way into the kitchen, grabbing a granola bar from one of the cupboards.

"Where's Rick at?" I asked.

"In his cabin. The way it sounded he needed you right away," Merle replied. I nodded and then took off out the door.

It didn't take long to get to Rick's cabin, and I rushed up the steps, knocking quickly. Lori answered the door. "Rick needs to see you," she said. I nodded. "He's in the back bedroom."

I made my way inside and down the hallway to the back bedroom of the cabin. Rick was indeed inside, sitting on the side of the bed with a TV tray siting in front of him while pouring over a map. I knocked on the door frame and Rick's head shot up.

"Rosaline. Come in, close the door," he ordered. I nodded, a bit scared as to what was going to happen next.

"I need your opinion on something," Rick said, taking me aback. I came all this way that frantically so he could get my opinion?

"Rick, I thought something was wrong. What is so important?" I demanded.

"There's a town about 100 miles from here. It's a slightly smaller town with the exception of a shopping mall and a large cluster of apartments on the outskirts of town. My theory is that because it's a small town, there will be less walkers in the area. We could move into a section of apartments and seal off all the entrances but one. What do you think?" Rick asked me.

I stared at him, slightly shocked that he would even consider leaving this place. We had everything we needed here. "Rick, I don't know. It's an awful long way to travel, especially on a hunch. And what about this place? I thought we were good here?" I asked him.

"When we rolled up here there were walkers everywhere. What happens if we get overrun and Lori is in labor? Or if we loose someone else? We can't afford that," Rick said.

"I understand where you're coming from Rick, but can you honestly that having us travel a hundred miles is a good idea? Lori is in no state to travel and right now I feel like what we have here isn't going to change any time soon. Besides, what happens when we get there and there's nothing there for us? Then what?" I demanded.

"You're right, I guess. But I still think it's our best shot out there," Rick said. There was silence for a moment as I contemplated what to say next. Rick was pouring over the map. He startled me a bit when he snapped his head up. "You, Daryl, and Merle could go ahead and scout it out. The three of you could take a car and check everything out."

Now Rick was talking crazy. First off, I really didn't want to go anywhere with Merle. Second, it would be a waste of gas and other valuable resources. And third, we'd be taking three people who could easily fight a group of walkers if it came down to it. I mean, without us, the group would be weaker.