Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

Leaving The Camp

They burried the dead near the quarry, and Parker stayed with her family as she watched Andrea struggle to lower Amy's body into the grave, denying Dale's help until she finally accepted it to carefully lower her body into the hole. As he watched his friends being buried, Rick made a solemn promise that he would never leave his family again. Ever. Promising his son, his wife, and his sister that they would be safe. The atmosphere in the camp had changed a lot in such a short amount of time. Everyone had become more subdued, and Parker could no longer hear the sounds of Carl and the other children playing or the casual conversations that easily flowed through the camp. 

They were grieving, recovering from the shock of the previous night's attack, and everyone was worried about Jim. Shane and Rick, who had ventured into the woods, returned after a while. Shane was the first to speak. 

"I've, uh.. I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now, look, there are no... guarantees either way. I'll be the first to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stick together. So, those of you who agree, we'll leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" They spent the rest of the day packing their belongings, packing their suitcases, and loading their cars. The tents were the last to go, as they were dismantled the next morning. At the fire that night, Parker went and sat next to Daryl, who simply nodded as she sat down.

"Are you coming with us?" Parker asked, imagining that her fingers were crossed.

"Yeah," Daryl answered. "Better to stay together, right?"

"Well, yeah." Parker agreed, fighting to keep a smile off her face. "And I think you should come with us. Rick could use a friend like you."

"A friend?" Daryl asked. "He don't trust me."

"Yeah. I wouldn't be so sure." Parker said, her gaze shifting over to Shane, "But I don't know, there's something about Shane... he's just been angrier since Rick came back."

"What?"

"He's different," Parker whispered. "I think something was going on between him and Lori, and now Rick's back and I guess Shane feels that he... I don't know. But he's different."

"Well, that's your problem." Daryl replied, "Not mine." Parker shook her head, covering her mouth as she thought of the right words.

"It's really hard to talk to you, you know? Would it kill you to be a little more open with people?"

"Maybe." Parker left him alone after that, spending another sleepless night in her tent. When morning came she had to take down her tent. Shane helped her with that because she had struggled a little. Once the tents were removed, the group gathered to receive instructions.

"Alright. Everybody listen up." Shane gathered everyone's attention. "Those of you with CB's, we're going to be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all. You're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're, uh.. we're not going to go," Morales said hesitantly.

"We have family in Birmingham." His wife said. "We want to be with our people."

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane explained, just letting them know the risk they were taking.

"We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"We talked about it," Morales responded. "We're sure."

"Alright." Rick muttered, "Shane." The two rummaged through Rick's bag, pulling out a gun and a box of ammunition. Rick held out the gun as Shane handed the box to Morales. "The box is half full."

"Thank you all..." Morales' wife said. "For everything." Everyone said goodbye and Parker hugged each member of the Morales family, wishing them a safe trip to wherever they were going. As the family headed to their car, Shane turned to Rick. 

"What makes you think our odds are any better? Come on. Let's go! Let's move out!" Parker realized that there wasn't going to be enough room in Rick's car for her too because Carol, Sophia, and Carl were in the back seats. She would have sat in the back, but it was full of their belongings.

"We can find another place." Carol offered, moving to get out of the car.

"Don't be stupid," Parker responded, rejecting her suggestion. "I'll travel with someone else." She walked to the back of the procession, where Shane pointed to the free seat next to him.

"You're welcome to ride along with me."

"No thanks," Parker shot down the offer. She did not want to spend hours on the road with Shane. "I'm gonna go with Daryl."

"Your choice." Shane started up his car. Parker walked to Daryl's truck, leaning on the passenger side window. "Do you mind if I join?"

"What's wrong with Rick?" Daryl asked.

"Full," Parker replied with a shrug. "And I really don't feel like going with Shane."

"Sure," Daryl said, leaning over and pushing the door open. "Come on." Parker smiled as she climbed into Daryl's truck, and before she had closed the door they were already driving back towards the main road from the quarry, leaving the camp that had brought them all together. Daryl didn't talk much, and Parker realized it was probably a losing battle trying to get a conversation out of him, so she rolled up her sweater and propped it against the window, using it as a pillow. Daryl looked at her from the corner of his eye, and when she was asleep within minutes, he wondered how she managed to do it. It took him a long time to fall asleep, but as soon as Parker closed her eyes, her breathing pattern changed and she went unconscious like a light switch had just been shut off in her head. They drove for about half an hour before Dale's vehicle stopped. Daryl nudged Parker's leg to wake her up and she woke up instantly on high alert. 

"What? Are we there yet?"

"No." Daryl pointed ahead of them. "The RV stopped."

"Great," Parker whispered. "Let's find out what's going on." Smoke billowed diligently from the front of the RV, and when Parker saw it she sighed. Rick and Dale were standing nearby trying to find a solution, but there didn't seem to be an immediate one.

"I told you we wouldn't get far on that hose," Dale huffed, angry about everything at the moment. "I said I needed the one on the cube van."

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick offered up the suggestion.

"That's all it's been so far," Dale responded, motioning towards the front of the RV. "It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see something up ahead," Shane announced, looking through his binoculars. "A gas station if we're lucky."

"You all, Jim...!" Jacqui exclaimed, getting out of the motorhome. "It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore."

"Hey, Rick, you wanna hold down the fort?" Shane asked. "I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring."

"Yeah, I'll come along too." T-Dog offered. "I'll back you up."

"Y'all keep your eyes open, now." Shane reminded the group. "We'll be right back."