Choices {Daryl Dixon} Prologue
Summary: Earning Daryl Dixon’s trust for the most part was harder than surviving the end of the world. For you, though, all it took was one trip gone wrong into Atlanta. Safety is never guaranteed.
T/W: this series follows the story of TWD (the show, not the comic) and will contain: strong language, violence, depictions of gore, depictions of vore, major character death, spoilers (if you haven’t seen the show before), sexual themes, drug use, heavy themes (will be trigger warnings for those scenes). Read at your own risk, I am not responsible if any content upsets you, you have been warned.
There was a low, somber air around the farm. It had been quiet for the most part of the week. Most had been snappy, and Carol… well, it was easy to imagine how a grieving mother was to be. Especially given the circumstances.
Daryl Dixon, it seemed, though, was highly affected by what had happened. He had fought with Shane over looking for Sophia and had spent so long tracking the forest - hell he’d even almost killed himself with his own damn arrow looking for her. He had hope. He had given Carol hope. Yet… she had been in the barn the entire time, locked up like cattle. She had been in there. She had been a walker for god knows how long and… Daryl had been looking for her.
There were footsteps, but Daryl sat still. He didn’t care for people. He hadn’t ever since Carol had pushed her way out of his arms and stormed back to the farmhouse. It was soul-crushing finding Sophia there. It truly was. Daryl felt defeated.
Usually, that voice would bring him so much comfort but Daryl would not look over, not even when he felt you plonk down beside him.
“Daryl, look… about Sophia…” you were slow with your words, quiet. You didn’t want him to explode on you. You knew that out of everyone, you were the least likely to get any aggression from the younger Dixon brother, yet you couldn’t help but be cautious around him.
The sun was setting nicely, an amber glow falling amongst the trees. There was a chill in the air but neither of you minded. It was kind of nice compared to the blistering heat that had been present earlier in the day.
You took in a breath. It wasn’t easy to talk to Daryl when he was upset, but he had blown up on just about everyone lately and you had kept your distance. But you didn’t want to anymore. You knew why he was acting out and… you didn’t want him to push everyone away from himself.
“...Daryl,” you began with a sigh, “what happened to Sophia wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault….”
Daryl didn’t answer. He didn’t even acknowledge your words. He was starting absentmindedly towards the farmhouse.
“I know you blame yourself, you think you could have done more for her but… Daryl, she was in the barn. She was bitten a long time ago…”
“That doesn’t help.” He replied gruffly. At least he wasn’t screaming at you.
“I know…” you sigh again, stretching your legs out in front and placing your hands on your lap, “but… she was only twelve, Daryl… I hate to say it but Shane was kinda right, she didn’t stand a chance.” You scoffed. Daryl made a grunt in response, “She was only a kid… in a sad kinda way, death was probably a good thing for her. She was growing up in a world full of death and decay. Death was a kind outcome for Sophia.”
“...try tellin’ Carol that…”
“... yeah, maybe we keep that between us, huh?” You knocked your shoulder against his.
It went quiet for another moment. You took the pause to think about what you were going to say next.
“This ain't a world for kids to be growing up in Daryl, you know that, right?”
“Yeah..” Daryl scoffed.
“I mean… I know I sure as hell don’t wanna bring kids up like this.”
“... so that’s it, huh? All we do is bump uglies?”
“Daryl…” you sighed, “that’s not what I meant.”
“No, go on and say it, cause I thought-“
“Daryl,” you cut him off, “I don’t wanna raise a kid in this world. Look at how much it changed Carl. If, and when, I have kids, I wanna… I wanna be able to bring them up in some sort of stability. I wanna be able to let them learn how to ride a bike in the middle of the street, or to play kerby for hours on end, I want my kids to have a childhood, not what Sophia or Carl have to endure.”
It was Daryl’s turn to sigh. He plucked up the courage to finally look over at you. Your side-profile was blooming with the golden hue from the sunset. It cast a kind of angelic look across your face. You weren’t looking at him, not even with your eyes. Daryl’s gaze lingered only for a moment before he turned his head.
You were right. Sophia’s death was a tragedy. It shouldn’t have happened but… this was no world for a kid to be living in.
“So, what, you wanna build up some kinda civilisation? You wanna rebuild humanity?”
“I guess…” you chuckled lightly. You knew how crazy it sounded, “you think I’m hoping for too much?” You looked over at Daryl and for a moment, your eyes met.
“Girl, I think you’re batshit crazy. You’re hopin’ for something’ way outta your zone. Try hopin’ for a rabbit for dinner.” He was joking, but the seriousness in his voice would throw someone less familiar with him off.
“Yeah… I guess I am hoping for too much. But you gotta have hope, right?”
“Yeah… it drives ya forward… gives ya something - anything - to cling on to… I… I hoped Sophia was alive… not just for my sake, or for Carol, but for everyone… cause if that little girl could outsmart all the geeks in the woods, we mighta stood a chance.”
You looked over at Daryl. He was staring at the ground. He was blinking a little too often and you knew that if you were looking at him head-on, you’d find tears in his eyes. Rick, Shane, Lori, Dale, everyone else, they didn’t see Daryl for who he truly was. He was a very broken man, but you saw beneath his hardened shell. It hadn’t been easy breaking him down, it had taken you since the start of the outbreak to get this far.
Daryl was a good man. People never even tried to see the good in him, though. They saw a hot-headed redneck and… well, they didn’t want to look after that. You saw him, though. You saw Daryl and he saw you, too.
“I kinda blame your old man for all this.” Daryl broke the silence, “he should not have left her alone.”
“... I kinda blame him, too.” You agreed, “but he didn’t have any other choice. If he did, I know he would not have left her like that. I’m sure he feels guilty enough without us pointing fingers.”
“I suppose…” Daryl took a breath, “what took ya so long to come see me, anyway?”
“I don’t know, maybe the fact you’ve been kinda rude to everyone else? I didn’t want you breaking up with me over this.”
“Nah, I’d never do that.” He managed to shuffle a little closer before slinging his arm over your shoulder. You melted into his touch. You had missed him.
“Will you come back, now, angel?”
“Will you move your damn tent back to camp, Daryl Dixon?”
“I don’t think you’re leavin’ me much choice, are ya?”
You pushed yourself up and out of Daryl’s touch. He wanted to grab you back but you had already taken a couple of long strides forwards to get out of his reach.
“I am sorry about Sophia, Daryl. I know finding her meant a lot to you. At least you got your closure.” The golden glow was engulfing you now and Daryl really didn’t know how he’d been so lucky to land someone like you.
“Can you come back? You gotta shower- don’t look at me like that!” You chuckled, “come on, I’ll make it worth your while.”
Well, you didn’t need to say much more for Daryl to be pushing himself off of the log he had been perched on.
