Welcome To The Apocalypse.(Daryl Dixon)

Loner.

After being on the farm for a few hours, I reluctantly got to know everyone's names. There was Hershel- who owned the farm. His daughters, Maggie and Beth, Beth's boyfriend, Jimmy, Patricia, Shane(he kinda creeped me out), the sheriff- Rick, his wife Lori and their son Carl, Dale, Glenn, Andrea,  Carol, and the Daryl guy that saved me. Daryl doesn't really hang around the group much though. He sticks to himself, mostly. I could understand that.

It was about 10:30 in the am and all the women, excluding Andrea were in Hershels lovely kitchen, preparing lunch. I did my best to help with what I could while attempting to not talk much, but the ladies continued to ask me questions. "So, how have you survived so long on your own, Zoe?" Lori asked, shaking her head in disbelief. I chuckled slightly. I thought about the question for a moment, trying to not go in to too much detail- not only did I not want to get attached to them, I also did not want them getting attached to me. "Just learning day by day what and what not to do. Taught myself a lot of things I never thought I'd need in life and have kept it pretty low key." I chopped peppers and onions, and threw them in a oiled pan. "Did you have any family?" Beth question with a soft tone in her voice. Too far. "I gotta use the restroom" Excusing myself, I walked out of the kitchen, down the hall and to the small bathroom. After locking the door, I leaned against the sink, staring in the mirror. I choked back a few tears and brushed the loose hairs behind my ears. I took a deep breath and walked back out.

I avoided the kitchen, walking outside. I saw Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Andrea all crowded around a picnic table, staring down at something. I guessed a map. Dale was on top of his RV, looking through binoculars, I followed his gaze to Hershel and Jimmy at one of the barns, saddling a horse. I smiled. I loved horses. Couldn't believe there were actually still some alive. My eyes averted to a far away pasture. I squinted when the sun hit my eyes and noticed Daryl, pacing back a forth. I was interested.

I made my way out to Daryl, and walked with caution when I got close. He hadn't noticed me so I didn't want to startle him... although, he didn't really seem the type to get startled- he seemed like more of the type to shoot first then slow his heart beat. Either way- I wasn't just going to run up on him. I cleared my throat to make my presence known. He stopped for a moment, stared at me, scoffed and continued pacing. "Can I help you?" he asked. "Again." he added. I grinned a little at his asshole comment. "You're kind of a dick, aren't you?" Shrugging his shoulders, he stopped again. "And?" "And... I can tell you're in to the whole 'loner' thing like I am" I paused and he started pacing again. I swore he was going to run the ground down. "...but being an ass about everything ain't gonna bring your brother back."

He stopped, this time in front of me, his fists clenched with anger. I knew I struck a nerve and I smiled widely on the inside. "How do you know about Merle?" he asked, almost shaking with anger. "Someone in the group told me, I'm not telling who..." "Look, bitch! You need to mind your own damn business!" he yelled, flailing his arms when he spoke. "Probably should... but just like you- I can be an ass." I smiled. Daryl stared in disbelief for a moment. "Just get out of my face, lady!" He stormed off towards his tent. Not exactly the conversation I planned but he asked for it. You're not going to be a dick to me without getting some in return. 

I walked back to the house. Everyone had plates of food but no one really sat and ate. Everyone seemed to just stand or multitask by walking around talking to other folk. "Oh! Zoe, foods done. Grab yourself a plate, girl." Maggie insisted. I smiled as she walked up to me. "Hey... I'm sorry about just leaving the kitchen earlier. Just hit a subject that I don't care much for talking about." I said in a low voice. "Don't worry about it, we shouldn't have pressed you with questions like that." I smiled and walked in the house to grab a plate. We had sausages with peppers and onions on them. It amazed me how much food that had stored in the house. I fixed my self a plate and gulped down my food. It was delicious. So much better than canned beans and vegetables.

Carol and Lori walked in to the kitchen, putting their plates in the sink. "Someone should probably take a plate to Daryl. I don't think he knows theres food and he's probably hungry." Lori stated. "I'll take-" Carol started but I cut her off. "I'll take it to him." they both looked at me. "Sorry, Carol. I didn't mean to cut you off I just... I said something to Daryl earlier that I shouldn't have said. I'd like to apologize." Lori, smiled and Carol just nodded.

I fixed Daryl a healthy helping and started the long walk to his tent. As I approached the tent, I heard grunts and heavy breathing. I didn't want to just walk in, in case he was doing something I didn't want to see. He was a man after all. I tip toed over to the opening of his tent and carefully peaked inside. Luckily, he wasn't going at himself like I had worried about, he was working out- doing push ups. He was facing the opposite way of me so I wasn't worried about being seen. I watched for a moment as he effortlessly lifted himself over and over again. I could see the sweat dripping off him, he must have been at it for a while.

I'll be honest, it's had been a long since I was with a man, and his manly grunts and rugged-ness kind of turned me on. I smiled as he stopped and stood up from the floor, still facing the other way. "Like what you see, lady?" I guess he knew I was there after all. "How long did you know I was here?" I was curious and impressed. "I heard you walking up." "Good senses." I said, nodding in approval. "Brought you some food." I handed him the plate of deliciousness. "Grilled Italian sausages on a bun with Onions, Green Peppers and Mustard." He nodded. I guessed that was his way of thanking me. "Wanna sit down?" he asked, sitting on his cot and gesturing me to sit next to him. "Sure." I took a seat and watched him engulf his lunch. We sat in an almost awkward silence after he finished his last bite. I thought of how to begin my apology. My people skills weren't exactly top notch, as you could imagine.

"Food good?" I asked. He nodded, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Look..." I started and took a deep breath. He stared at me, waiting for my continuation. "I'm not good at giving sincere apologies to people... but I shouldn't have said anything about your brother. It's not at all my place nor do I know anything about either one of you." I stopped again, taking a breath while Daryl continued waiting, sensing I wasn't finished yet. "What I'm trying to say is that I am sorry for bringing... Merle?" He nodded. "...For bringing Merle up." He looked down at his hands and shifted in his seat, relaxing a bit. "You're right, it ain't your place and you DON'T know us.... but thank you." I was surprised but his response. "Well that's the first decent thing I've heard you say, Daryl." I smiled swatting him lightly in the shoulder. "Yeah, well don't get use to it, lady." he said, grinning. "Don't worry, I won't. I'm out of here as soon as the sun rises tomorrow." His grin wiped away slightly. "You're really going back out there on your own?" he asked, with a dumbfounded facial expression. "I have to." I breathed. "Okay, I'm only gonna say this here, once... I can't get attached to people. We've all already lost so many people we care about. Why the hell would I want gain more loved ones when their so easily taken away these days?" His look went from the dumbfounded expression to a slightly sympathetic and caring look but it was quickly wiped away and replaced with a hard poker face. "I can't, I just can't." I finished, feeling a lump in the back of my throat. I swallowed it and stood up.

"So, you're going to go out there all alone... to do what exactly? Find a cure? Find somewhere that hasn't been affected? Or just see how long you can last?" he southern drawl really showed itself in his slightly harsher tone. "I don't know. I'm just going to do what I've been doing- moving from place to place, and if I happened to find somewhere safe- I'll come back for all of you." He stood up from his cot and came face to face with me. His breath was hot in my face. Feeling slightly turned on again, I felt myself blush so I quickly turned away. "I gonna head back to the house" I stated, taking a few steps towards the exit. "Maybe I'll see you again someday..." I said softly. He scoffed. "You're crazy lady..." "I told you... My name is Zoe. Can you at least call me that while I'm here?" He chuckled slightly. "Fine. See ya around... Zoe." I smiled and walked out of the tent, heading back for the house- but not before sticking my head back in "Hey Daryl." He looked up at me. "To answer your question from earlier... I did like what I saw" Still smiling, I left him in his tent with a smile on his face too.