Li'l Sparky // [Daryl Dixon]

Run

Season: Two

Episode(s): Better Angels - Beside the Dying Fire

"Dale could-- could get under your skin," Rick started. "He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us-- the truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety... our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." 

---

"Gonna be tight, fourteen people in one house," Rick pointed out. My family decided to move Rick's group into the house. 

"Don't worry about that," Daddy said. "With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up..."

"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell," Maggie added. 

"She's right," I said. "We should've moved you you in a while ago."

"Alright, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out toward the road," Rick commanded. "We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines both sides of the property. T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going."

"What about standing guard?" T-Dog asked.

"I need you and Daryl on double duty," Rick explained. 

"Gotcha," T-Dog nodded and walked off. 

"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be," Daddy said. 

"What about patrols?" Andrea asked. 

"Let's get this area locked down first," Rick said. "After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose."

"We're back to that now?" Shane asked. 

"It was the right plan first time around," Rick said. "Poor execution." 

Shane laughed, "That's a slight understatement."

"You don't agree, but this is what's happening," Rick pushed. "Swallow it. Move on."

"You know that Dale's death and the prisoner-- that's two separate things, right?" Shane scoffed. "You wanna take Daryl as your wingman, be my guest."

"Thank you," Rick said.

"You got it," Shane muttered. 

I noticed Daryl getting on his motorcycle. He turned to me. I gave him a knowing grin. After a while, he rolled his eyes.

"Get on," he muttered. I clapped my hands and got on the back of his bike. He turned the ignition on and we sped to the front of the house. When he stopped, I hopped off and cheered.

"Whoo!" I exclaimed. "Best ten seconds of my life!" Daryl smirked and clapped me on the shoulder. 

"Hey, if you want, you can stay in my room," I suggested. "I can pull out an extra mattress, but it's not like we haven't shared a bed before." 

Daryl thought this through, "Yeah. Why not?" A small hand grabbed my wrist. Carl pulled me to the side of the house. 

"What's up, bud?" I asked.