Last One Standing ~ TWD Daryl Dixon

20

Jo

I came out of the prison with my empty backpack in my hand. I was glad Rick agreed to let me go on a run but I didn't want to go with Daryl. Everything had been going fine and all of a sudden he decided to start acting like an ass. I was still fuming over how he acted in the field, first manhandling me into the gate and then telling me I had made the wrong call by throwing my knife. I had saved his life, the least he could have done was show a little appreciation.

When I crossed the courtyard he was already sitting astride his motorcycle. There was no way I was going to ride on the back of that thing. He looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes were intense and he still looked mad.

I licked my lips and opened my mouth to argue but he turned and kick started the engine. The bike roared too loud for him to hear me. I sighed and approached the bike. He glanced at me, arching a challenging brow and I shook my head. I opened my mouth to argue again and he revved the engine.

"Get your ass movin Barbie!" Merle hollered from the gate. The Walkers who were left in the field had started our way drawn from the noise of the bike. I glared at Daryl and swung my backpack across my shoulders. I hadn't ridden a bike in years, I climbed on behind him but there was no place for me to hold on. I ground my teeth and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Go!" He called to Merle. Merle slid the gate open and Daryl gunned the bike. I leaned forward, anticipating his move which pressed my face against the back of his vest. I felt him tense beneath me but it was his own fault choosing to take his bike. We could have been cheerfully ignoring one another in the comfort of the air conditioned car.

Daryl stayed tense beneath my hands as we roared down the road. I remembered he didn't seem to like to be touched but I never knew why nor had it ever seemed to apply to me. But then I had never had him mad at me either.

We rode for almost half an hour before he slowed and turned up a long tree lined driveway. At the end of it was a huge house, with a large detached garage and a pole barn. There were a lot of cars parked around the house and buildings. Behind the house, just visible through the overgrown lawn were two archery targets. It suddenly made a lot of sense why Daryl wanted to check out this place. He parked the bike and held it up while I climbed off. Then he put down the kickstand and followed. He pulled his crossbow from the handlebars and spoke without looking at me.

"Let's do the out buildings first." And he started moving towards them without looking my way.

Sighing I pulled my knives out and followed.

Daryl tried the side door of the garage but it was locked. He kicked aside the mat in front of the door and the small gnome sitting beside it, I was assuming all in the quest for a key and not just because he was upset. He swore when he didn't find anything.

"You going to kick it in now?" I asked sardonically. The door was a steel door with a steel frame and deadbolt.

"Pull a muscle doing shit like that," he muttered moving around the side of the garage. I circled the other way. I was trying to lift the garage doors when Daryl came around from the back.

"Locked up tight," he reported, though he had brought his crossbow up and had it tucked into his shoulder. I frowned at him and then looked around behind him. I didn't see anything that would have made him tense but with so many cars parked there was a strong chance of a large herd someplace. I turned in a circle, straining to see if I could hear anything.

"Hey," he called.

I turned back to him and arched a brow. He jerked his chin up and motioned to three square windows along the top of the garage above the door. It was hard to tell from here but they were for sure less than two feet across. There was no way he was fitting through and it would be a tight squeeze for me. I looked up at it speculatively. He would have to boost me up and hold me while I broke the window and then I would have to figure out how to get myself through.