Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

26-Season 3

Luke has a gun now. I'm 10 now mom. I should know how to defend myself. That's what he said to me. He's not afraid of much anymore. It's good that he's not scared, but I still miss when he would hold onto me so tight I thought I would burst. Now, I'm lucky if I even get a hug. He helps us clear houses we stay in for a few minutes before we have to start moving again. Like this one. It had probably been nice before the world ended.

We cleared it fast, ushering in everyone else. Lori is gonna pop any day now. We need to find somewhere safe for her to give birth. Somewhere a baby can cry and not be heard. We all sat around the living room. Daryl walked in with an owl, pulling the feathers out. Carl came in a short time later with two cans of something. He grabbed the can opener, twisting off the top. My face fell. Dog food, Carl was gonna eat dog food.

Rick walked over and picked up the can, reading the label. I flinched as he chucked it into the fireplace. The quiet was interrupted as T-dog hissed, signaling walkers. We left out the back door and just like that, we were back on the road.

~*~

We stopped in the middle of the road, pulling out our map covered in red pen. "We got no place left to go." T said.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south."

Daryl stood beside me. "What would you say? That was about 150 head?"

"That was last week." Glenn said. "It could be twice that by now."

"This river could delay them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there."

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way."

I sighed, rubbing my tired eyes. "So we're blocked. That's great."

"Only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing toward Greenville."

"Yeah, we picked through that already. It's like we spent the whole winter going in circles."

"Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. Need to find someplace to hold up for a few weeks."

We put the map away and Daryl tugged gently on my shirt, signaling me to follow him. "Wanna go hunting?"

I smiled. "Hell yeah."

"I'll ask Rick." He bent over, loading a bolt in his crossbow. "Hey, while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt. That owl didn't exactly hit the spot."

We walked through the woods, coming across train tracks and deciding to follow them. We came across a prison in the distance. The walkers were all in the same blue prison jumpsuits. This place fell fast. "That's a shame." Daryl mumbled.

After a few moments of silence, Rick nodded. "It's perfect."

~*~

Rick cut the fence with some wire cutters as we took care of surrounding walkers. Rick let us all slip inside and Glenn tied the hole shut with some wire. The walkers on the inside all lined along the fence, snapping their jaws at us.

We ran to the gate, rushing in and closing it behind us. "It's perfect." Rick said for the second time. "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by night."

"So how do we shut the gate? The field is packed." I asked.

"I'll do it, you guys cover me." Glenn offered.

"No. It's a suicide run." Maggie objected.

"I'm the fastest."

Rick started giving orders. "No, you, Maggie, Luke and Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop 'em through the fence. Daryl, Lottie, go back to the other tower. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot. Take your time. We don't have a lot of ammo to waste."

The three of us went to the guard tower, taking out walkers that got in Rick's way. They fell fast. Carol almost shot Rick in the foot. Scared the hell out of me. Rick managed to shut the gate, closing himself in a guard tower. "Light it up!" Daryl shouted.

We emptied the field quickly and before we knew it, we left the guard towers. I gasped when Daryl smacked my ass lightly. "Nice job." He winked.

"Oh!" Carol laughed as we entered the field. "We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!"

Luke fell into step beside me. I smiled and put an arm around his shoulders. "Pretty great, huh?"

~*~

We all sat around the fire contently, finally able to get some proper rest. Luke was sleeping comfortably beside me. I glanced at an extra plate, looking over to where Daryl was keeping watch. I picked up the plate, walking over. I set the plate on the bus and started climbing. Daryl helped me up. He picked up the plate. I smiled. "I knew that if I didn't bring you something, you'd never eat."

Daryl nodded, eating. "I guess little Shane over there has got quite the appetite."

I chuckled. "You don't have to be mean. Rick got us a lot farther than Shane ever could've." Daryl nodded.

I sighed. "How long has it been? Since we've had sex?"

Daryl chuckled and shrugged, setting down the now empty plate. "The day Dale died. We haven't really stayed in one place long enough."

I walked closer, rubbing my hands over his chest. "Well, when we go on a run, we should get some condoms. It's been too long."

Daryl nodded in agreement. "We should get back." He got down off the bus, helping me down. When we got back over to the fire, Beth was singing The Parting Glass, one of my favorite songs. Daryl and I sat next to Glenn and Maggie, hand in hand. Luke was awake and sat next to Daryl.

Glenn nudged my shoulder, urging me to join in. He knew I could sing. I sang for him one day at the farm when it was just the two of us sitting beside the fire. I rolled my eyes and both Maggie and I joined in.

Oh, all the comrades that e'er I had
Were sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
Would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls into my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rises and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all
Good night and joy be with you all

"Beautiful." Hershel smiled.

"Better all turn in." Rick said, ending the peaceful moment. "I'll take watch over there. Got a big day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked.

"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we've got to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact. They'd have an infirmary, a commissary."

"An armory?" Daryl asked.

"That would be outside the prison itself but not too far away. Warden's offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine. This place could be a gold mine."

"We're dangerously low on ammo. We'd run out before we make a dent."

"That's why we have to go in there...hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance."