roots | daryl dixon

2 | campfire stories

Lou-Ann finally felt relief upon seeing Glenn come out of the sports car he'd driven back to camp in. She ran forward, wrapping her arms around the Korean man, and then he was bombarded by the others with shouts and questions. Lou stepped back, watching as a large cube van crawled up the hill towards them. The group members began jumping out of the back, but Lou noticed that there was someone missing. Then, as she was expecting him to come out of the van and make some offhand comment about her body, but he didn't. Instead, a new member came around the corner, and Lou could hear Carl's excited shout. "Dad!"

Oh, shit. Lou glanced over her shoulder as Carl and Lori ran forward to jump into the man's arms. She saw Shane behind her, looking agitated, to say the least. He glared her way, and Lou returned her gaze towards the reunited family. She wasn't so sure about anyone else, but the scene caused a tear to roll down her cheek. Quickly and discreetly, she wiped away the wetness on her face and shuffled awkwardly, looking for any excuse to leave the area. Thankfully, Glenn approached her at this moment, asking for help carrying some of the things they'd looted in the city.

"So," she began, grabbing one of the duffel bags from the back of the van, "what happened to Merle? Not that it matters to me, but we both know what the Dixon men are like. Daryl is going to be insufferable when he finds out his brother is dead."

"Actually, he's not dead. At least, not that we know of. He was being an ass, so Rick handcuffed him to a pipe on the roof." Glenn explained as they laid the two duffel bags down.

"No keys?" Lou asked, bewildered that they'd just left a man trapped like that.

"T-Dog dropped them down a drain." He said, and then realized how that sounded, so he added, "not on purpose, though. Oh, and he chained the door so no geeks could get on the roof."

"He could still die up there. Sure, he's an asshole and a racist, not to mention incredibly sexist, but nobody deserves to die like that. It's not right." Lou muttered, realizing no matter how wrong it was, there was nothing she could do about it. 

Seeing the expression on Glenn's face, Lou said, "I'm sorry, Glenn. I didn't mean that in a mean way." 

"No, you're right. It was wrong to leave him there, but we had to go or all of us would've been goners."

Lou-Anne nodded. The two decided to head down to the quarry for a swim, something they hadn't done in a while. Sophia joined them shortly after they arrived, and she assured them that her mother said it was alright. They played around in the water for a while, then eventually headed back to camp just before dark. 

The campfires were lit by the time Lou had changed into dry clothes. She pulled on a sweater as she walked to sit beside Glenn on a log. It seemed they were all listening to Rick tell the story of how he got here. Lou settled and accepted the plate Carol handed her, fish being the meal for tonight. She ate quietly, listening to Rick's terrifying story. She couldn't imagine what she would've done if she'd been in his place.

After that, she went to her tent, glancing over to Daryl and Merle's tent as she went to zip the door closed. She didn't sleep well that night.