Trust Me | Daryl Dixon

Part 56

"Rick said you and Daryl are going on another run today," Rosita began as we both stood in the armory, rifling through boxes of bullets, "You feeling good enough around a herd of them now?"

I nodded, sliding the now full clip into my gun, "After what happened, I don't think there's anything left out there that could surprise me."

She chuckled, "You'd be surprised-"

"Ya ready?" Daryl asked as he walked through the door, unintentionally cutting off Rosita.

"Yeah, I think so." I nodded, sliding the handgun into the back of my waistband before giving Rosita a slight odd and following Daryl out.

***

I watched as the gate was being pulled open in front of us before Rick came over to Daryl's window, leaning in slightly, "Aaron said that if you head East, about 20 miles, you'll hit a road called Atlas that hasn't been checked out yet." He informed, "There's a few rundown buildings but they look intact; that's probably your best bet for now."

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, we'll check it out."

Rick nodded back before glancing over at me, "You sure you're ready for this?"

I smiled at his concern, "I'm ready."

"She is," Daryl added, "I know she is."

"I trust you-- both of you." Rick nodded before standing back up, "Just keep your eyes open; we don't know who's left out there."

And with that, he banged on the side of the car twice, signaling for us to head out.

***

As we drove down the road, a slight breeze flowing in from the cracked open windows and Daryl's hand intertwined with mine, my mind felt at ease.
I always thought that feeling comfortable in a world like this was so rare, but the more time I spent with these people who have now become my family, I've realized that it's still possible. It's still possible to be happy and safe and it's still possible to live. I'm the happiest I've been in years and I know it can only go up from here.

"Ya said ya drove 'round the country with ya friend, right?" Daryl asked, distracting me from my thoughts.

"Yeah," I smiled, memories flooding back, "Just for a little, though."

"And ya never tried drivin'?" He asked.

I shook my head, "Never seemed to be the right time," I shrugged, "We were always on the move; excited to get to the next place-- wherever that place was gonna be."

Daryl nodded slowly before glancing over to me, "What happened to ya friend?"

"I don't know," I sighed, "When I first heard what was happening, we weren't together. We were gonna crash with these guys that she knew, so she dropped me off, because I was exhausted, and when I woke up the entire neighborhood I was in was like on some type of lockdown." I explained, scenes of confused families all standing outside their houses replaying through my mind, "The guys in that house were really paranoid about what was happening though, so that night, they cut through the fencing that was put up and we left; never saw her again after that."

"These guys," Daryl started lowly, "They the ones from ya old group?"

I hesitantly nodded, "I regret following them.." I said quietly, "They just kept telling me that whatever was going on was gonna end in something bad if we stayed; it was a lose lose situation but I just didn't want to be left alone."