Once A Dixon, Always A Dixon (Daryl Dixon)

Search For Carol

We're eating breakfast at the table outside of Cell Block C. Carl looks miserable. So does Daryl. He plays with his oatmeal. Suddenly, the door opens.

"Everyone okay?" the person says. It's Rick.

"Yeah. We are," Maggie says.

"What about you?" Hershel asks.

"Cleared out the boiler block," Rick states. He cleared out an entire block all by himself?

"How many where there?" Daryl asks.

"I don't know," Rick starts. "A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl."

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies," Glenn says. "You don't have to!"

"No, I do," Rick snaps. "Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

"Yeah," Daryl says. "We're low on ammo, though."

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run sometime this afternoon. We're look for some more baby formula," Glenn says.

"I was gonna check out the generator room," Daryl says. "Axel's in there, tryin' to fix it in case of emergency. We wanna sweep the lower levels as well."

Rick nods. "Good," he says and walks off.

"Rick," Hershel yells but he ignores him and storms away. I turned to Maggie and Glenn.

"I'll come with you," I announce. Daryl's eyes protest.

"Thought you were gonna help us in the tombs," he mutters. I sigh and walk to him.

"Listen. I technically killed Lori. The least I can do for her is make sure her baby survives," I say. "Take Carl and Oscar with you. Those two could use some excitement."

He nods. "Just be careful."

"Hey. I always come back, don't I?" I say and peck his cheek.

---

*A couple hours later*

*Daryl's POV*

Carl, Oscar, and I are in the tombs. A door starts moving.

"Check it out. Must've missed it," Oscar says.

"Probably just one or two of them. Don't look like they got much fight," I say and poke the door. "They ain't goin' nowhere. We'll take care of 'em on the way back."

I walk over to Carl and whistle. "C'mon," I say. We go in one direction and Oscar goes in another.

"Y'know, my mom, she liked her wine," I start. "She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims. I was playing out with kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens gettin' louder. They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, hopin' to see something worth seeing. I ran after 'em but I couldn't keep up. I ran around the corner and saw my friends lookin' at me. Hell, I saw everyone lookin' at me. Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. That was my mom in bed. Burnt down to nothin'. That was the hard part. Y'know, she was just gone. Erased. Nothin' left of her. People said it was better that way. I don't know. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, y'know?"

"I shot my mom," Carl says suddenly. "She was out. Hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real. I'm sorry about your mom."

"I'm sorry about yours," I say. I pat the kid's shoulder and we push on.

---

*Nico's POV*

Glenn, Maggie, and I had left the prison about an hour ago. We pull up at a small store. I get out of the car and scope around.