Zedler, M.D. // Daryl Dixon

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Exploring

"Trixy," Daryl warns, and I know he doesn't want to talk about it, but I do.

"It's okay, Daryl," I lower my voice and take his hand in mine. "Do you think I'm going to judge you? I'm not. It doesn't matter to me that they're there. I would just like to know."

"Not the time for it, Trixy," Daryl shakes his head and places a soft kiss to my forehead. "I'll tell you soon, I promise."

"Okay," I nod, accepting his response. "Come on, let's go pick out a room."

"Didn't they check to see if it was safe first?" He questions, staring at Merle standing on the porch. "We're surrounded by gates, but what about the inside?"

"They checked while you were asleep. I didn't want to wake you up. You looked too peaceful," I smile and pull him close for a kiss. He doesn't let it last long though—everyone's outside around us.

"You go on in and pick out where ya wanna' sleep. I'll bring our shit in," he replies before walking off to the trailer, and I make my way inside.

"Rick," I call for him inside of the hotel. The inside is really fancy, not really something you'd expect a drug deal to go down at, but I guess maybe they just didn't want to cause suspicion.

"Yeah?" Rick replies, stepping from behind the check-in desk.

"What exactly is the plan?" I ask.

"We'll stay here as long as we can. Good thing Merle brought us here," he says, rubbing his hand over his beard. "We're all gonna' stay on the bottom floor in the left wing. The even numbers have double beds and the odd numbers have a king bed. You can go find one for you and Daryl. Since there's no power, the lock that requires a room key doesn't work. Come find me when you get done."

"Okay. Thanks!" I smile at Rick and take off in the direction he pointed me to.

There are about twenty rooms to choose from, which is more than enough for us. I look to the left side of the hallway, seeing as the rooms on the left are the odd numbers. After opening two doors with people inside—one was Maggie and Glenn's room and the other was Merle's— I decide to skip two doors and take the fifth one, room one-thirteen.

It seems really nice. Obviously a king bed is sitting in the left corner of the room, while a small couch takes up the right corner. Across from the bed is a dresser with a TV on it, though that won't be any use to us, and there's a desk with a rolling chair in front of the couch. There's also a small bathroom to the left when you first step in the door, but I don't think that'll be any use to us either. As I walk into the room farther, I can tell that the window behind the curtains is actually a door that leads out to a small patio outside.

Deciding that this is the room I want, I flip the door stopper out to prop the door open before going to find Daryl. It doesn't take me too long, though. He's waiting for me in the lobby with our bags, letting a hint of a smile tug at his lips when he sees me.

"Where we at?" He asks, shifting my bag on his shoulder.

"One-thirteen. Let me carry nine," I offer, reaching for the bag, but he jerks away from me.

"Not a chance," he smirks before heading down the hall with me right behind him. "This it?"

"Yeah," I smile and hold the door for him as he brings the bags in and throws them down by the couch. "It's cute. There's even a little patio for you to smoke on. No smoking in the house," I joke, sticking my tongue out at him.