Unexpected || Daryl Dixon

[31]: Hounded

~Day 310~

Daryl sat on the steps of the cellblock, eating his porridge while the rest of the group sat at one table, eating as well. It was silent until a voice spoke out, making them all look up to see a bloody Rick.

"Everybody okay?" he asks his group, stepping into the cellblock, stopping in front of them. "Yeah, we are." Maggie replies. Rick nods. "What about you?" Hershel asks him.

"I cleared out the boiler block," he says. "How many were there?" Daryl asks making Rick look over at him. "I don't know. A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back," he explains to them making Daryl scoff. "Just wanted to check on Carl," he states, patting his son's back.

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies. You don't have to." Glenn says standing up. "No, I do," Rick says harshly walking past the group, over to Daryl. "Everyone have a gun and a knife?" he asks him. "Yeah. We're running low on ammo, though." he replies.

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon. Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula." Glenn elaborates. "We cleared out the generator room," Daryl spoke up, Rick turning back towards him. "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well," he explains to him.

Rick nods his head. "Good," he mutters before walking away from Daryl and leaving the cellblock. The group remains silent as they went back to eating their breakfast.

++++++

After breakfast, Daryl set off to sweep the lower tunnels with Carl and Oscar. The three quietly tiptoed their way down the tunnels, searching for any walkers. They round a corner where they come across a set of doors, that were slowly opening and closing.

"Check it out, man," Daryl says to Oscar as they watch the door open a bit but close again. "Must have missed it last night. It's probably just one or two of 'em." Oscar raises his knife up as Daryl then presses a finger against the door, pressing it shut. "Don't look they got much fight," he notes as the door gets push open but only to close again. "They ain't going nowhere. We'll take care of it on the way back." he tells Oscar who then lowers his knife down.

Daryl steps off to the side where Carl was standing and whistles, getting his attention. Carl looks up at Daryl. "Come on," he tells the young boy as the two slowly walk down the tunnel. 

"You know, my mom, she liked her wine. She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims," he tells Carl as they walk along the tunnel, checking the doors every so often to make sure there were no walkers. "I was playing out with the kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes. I didn't. We heard sirens getting louder. They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know, hoping to see something worth seeing. I ran after them, but I couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends looking at me," he says as they round a corner.

"Hell, I saw everybody looking at me. Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed burnt down to nothing," he turns to Carl who listened intensely to the story he was telling him. "That was the hard part. You know, she was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way." Daryl lets a chuckle loose. "I don't know. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?" 

"I shot my mom," Carl confesses the two stopping in the middle of the tunnels. "She was out. Hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real," he says lowering his head to the ground. "Sorry about your mom." He then looks up at Daryl. "I'm sorry about yours," he tells the boy.

"I'm sorry about Rebecca," Carl says next making Daryl lower his head to the ground. "She was your girlfriend." Daryl looks up at the kid again. "She was your best friend," he tells him putting a hand on his shoulder. "Come on," he tells him, leading him down the tunnel to continue doing their sweep.