Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

14: Not the First Time

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For awhile, Carol, Carl, and I just sat in the farmhouse and played Uno. We were joined by Beth and Maggie before it was over, and all of us were having a great time together. I think it almost made us forget the event that happened earlier.

That was, until Rick appeared in the doorway, asking for me to follow him outside.

I excused myself from the game, and walked outside with Rick. Before he could even get one syllable out of his mouth, I was quick to ask the question that had been swimming in my mind for hours.

"Is my dad okay?"

Rick sighed, and squatted down so he could be eye level with me. "That's what I came to talk to you about... I'm sorry Shane said what he did to you and Daryl. It wasn't right, but he was angry. He didn't mean it. Okay?"

"Yeah, I know. It's okay... it's not the first time I've heard somethin' like that."

Rick frowned over at me, but before he could show me any sort of sympathy, I changed the subject.

"Where's Dad at?"

Rick let out a quiet breath. "He wouldn't stop; we had to restrain him... but, I think he's calmed down enough now. I was gonna go cut him loose, and I think you should be with me when I do."

I nodded my head. "You want me there to make sure he won't try anything on you, cause he wouldn't do that in front of me, right?"

"No," Rick said, shaking his head.

I raised an eyebrow, and gave him a look.

He smirked slightly, chuckling, before standing up to his full height.

"Maybe that is one reason why."

It took a little bit of walking before Rick and I reached where Dad was.

On the edge of the farm, he was restrained to a large oak tree, with a piece of tape stuck to his mouth. His arms were handcuffed in front of him, and I immediately got scared.

"Rick, please tell me y-..."

"Don't worry," he said, jingling a handcuff key around in his right hand. I let out a breath of relief.

Dad's eyes went stone cold as Rick approached him, bending down so they were on the same eye level.

"Daryl... I know what Shane said was wrong, and cruel, but it didn't give you the right to stab him. I can't have you getting fired up like that, especially around Hershel. He's already told me that us being here isn't permanent; I don't want to shorten our time here under any circumstances... Are we clear?"

Dad didn't give any sort of response for a moment, until he looked over at me. He moved his head to the right slightly, indicating for me to look there. I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked, but didn't see anything. A second later, I heard Rick scoff.

I turned back, and saw Dad tucking a particular finger back into a closed fist.

"Did he just flip you off?" I asked Rick.

Rick laughed, looking over at me with raised eyebrows. "How do you even know what that is?"

"Um... he's my Dad, that's how. It's not the first time I've seen him do it," I answered sarcastically.

Rick laughed once again, somewhat incredulously. After a minute, he simply shook his head, smiling slightly over at Dad. Then, he displayed the handcuff keys to me, which I gladly took.

"We can't keep him tied up all night. Come on back to camp when you're ready," he said, standing up.

I watched him as he walked away for a minute or so before turning back to Dad. I sighed at his disapproving expression before stepping over and grabbing the duct tape stuck to his mouth.

"Should I do this slow, or just yank it off?"

He does a quick jerking motion with his hands, so I guessed that meant he wanted me to just get it off as quickly as possible.

I shrugged before ripping the tape off in one, swift flick of my wrist. Dad grunted, tensing up as the pain hit him.

"Sorry," I told him, wincing as he hissed.

He shook it off, looking down into his lap. "Just get these damn things off," he muttered, holding up his chained hands.

I quickly unlocked the handcuffs and tossed them aside, then went around the opposite side of the tree to untie the rope holding Dad to it. It was triple-knotted, so it took me a minute to get it undone. Once I did, though, and the rope dropped to the ground, Dad didn't move. He didn't even get himself free of the rope; he just stayed still.

I walked around to face him, and saw that he was looking into his lap, almost unwilling to make eye contact with me.

"You okay?" I asked, sitting down on the ground beside him.

He seemed to realize what he was doing, and looked over to me like I had asked a dumb question. "Yeah... why?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, you've been restrained here for awhile, and when I untie you, you don't move a muscle to try and get up."

He looked at me for a moment longer before shrugging his shoulders, and looking back into his lap.

"Wait... Dad... you don't actually think what Shane said was true, do you?"

That got him up. He immediately scoffed, and threw the rope off him in one movement. He stood up and dusted off his pants before speaking. "Hell no, I don't think it's true! Why would it be? That asshole doesn't know what the hell he's talkin' about!" He was yelling, really loud, and I could tell he was angry. Although, I knew it wasn't with me.

"Come on, let's get back to the farm," he growled, turning around and beginning to walk away.

"Dad..." I said, a warning tone in my voice. "Stop. Don't be like this, not again. It's gone on for too long. Now, I'm your daughter, and whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me, we're family. So, either you tell me what's wrong, or I'm not movin' a step."

I crossed my arms over my chest to prove a point, and suddenly realized how stubborn I sounded. Although, my Dad was the most stubborn person I knew, and sometimes he needed a taste of his own medicine. It wasn't the first time I'd had to use that tactic against him, and I knew it wouldn't be the last.

I saw his shoulders rise and fall in an uneven breath. He stayed still for a minute, his back to me. Soon, though, he turned around carefully, his head hung low. His eyes darted up to meet mine, and just as he opened his mouth to speak, a noise stopped him.

A gunshot.