An encounter during movie night at the prison reveals a softer side of Daryl…
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from The Walking Dead; they have just been 'borrowed' for my own amusement.
Rick looked down from where he had been stationed on watch duty in the tower and noted the excited crowd gathering around a smiling Michonne and Tyreese. The pair had just returned from a supply run to a small strip mall a few miles west of the prison that they had been calling 'home' for the past six months. Excited chatter rose up from Carl, Beth and Glenn and they huddled closer to the tall woman and started to rummage through the carrier bag that she held tightly onto. Rick looked over to where Daryl was walking the perimeter and the other man shrugged his shoulder to indicate that he had no idea what was going on. Rick motioned for Daryl to take over in the tower and then descended the staircase and entered the yard to see what had been causing all of the ruckus.
Tyreese had the boot of their lime green Honda lifted wide open to reveal the stacks of bags heaped up inside. He saw Rick approach and turned to rummage inside for a few seconds.
"Hey, Rick heads up!" Rick instinctively raised his hand up and caught the package that Tyreese had thrown. He opened his hand to see a package of raw corn kernels and raised an eyebrow in question. Tyreese nodded his head over in Michonne's direction. "Goes perfectly with what she found today – Michonne, show Rick what we brought back." Michonne shoed the younger members of the group aside and walked over to where Rick was tossing the corn between his hands.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you…..Movie Night!" Michonne revealed the contents of the bag to be a battery operated portable DVD player along with an assortment of movies. "Glenn said that we could hook up one of the TV's in the recreation room to the smaller generator – we've got plenty of fuel now that we've got the showers running off solar panels."
"Okay, I'm not gonna argue with you on this one, it will do us all good to have a bit of escapism for one night. Where did you come across them?" Rick agreed with the plans willingly and was met with smiles of excitement all around.
"We found a little entertainment store just on the outskirts of town, I went in there originally thinking I could score some more comics for my main man, Carl; but came across this little beauty instead. I wiped out the whole stock of batteries and Tyreese just grabbed what he could from the racks. Didn't want to spend too much time in there, as the hoots of excitement from the big guy over there could've brought an entire army of Walkers inside."
"Hey! Can I help it if I love spaghetti westerns?" Tyreese made an exaggerated drawl and mimed twirling a six shooter in the air. Rick, on the other hand looked worriedly across to where Michonne still held the movie collection.
"Please tell me that's not all you managed to bring back? I was hoping for at least a bit of Bruce Willis or something made within the last twenty years…"
"Haven't a clue, I just kept an eye on the doors and left Tyreese in charge of the entertainment." Michonne rummaged through the bag and brought the movies out for inspection, Carl and Glenn leant in closer as well.
"Hmmmm…. 'Fistful of Dollars'; 'For a Few Dollars More'; three 'Django' movies…Tyreese, did it not occur to you that not everyone might share your dubious tastes in light entertainment?" Michonne stopped looking through the bag to glare at the hulking man next to her.
"There might be something else in one of the other bags, I just emptied out whatever was in the clearance racks."
"Yeah well, I can see why." Glenn muttered sarcastically. He turned to face Rick, "I think I might volunteer for extra watch on movie night."
"Me too." Carl chipped in, disappointment etched on his lean, young face.
"We haven't decided what night it will be yet, or got to the bottom of the bag!" Michonne rustled the bag invitingly and laughed at the look of disgust on their faces.
"If it's anything like has already come out of the bag, I think I'll pass – thanks all the same." Glenn didn't hold out much hope for a blockbuster hit to appear and sure enough when Michonne revealed the last two DVDs he was proved right.
"Oklahoma and Dirty Dancing! Nice, Tyreese, real nice." Carl smirked at the choices and looked over at Glenn. "Think we'll be taking those extra watches, Dad."
"Think I might join you, son." Rick shook his head in disappointment and threw the bag of popcorn at Tyreese's head. "Knock yourself out, big guy. You may just have the room all to yourself. I'll spread the word around that you'll be setting up in the rec room for around seven thirty tonight, but I'm not sure you'll get too many turn up." He spun on his heel and headed back to the watch tower, it had seemed a great idea when Michonne first presented the player but he could see many people being disappointed in the selection on offer. Rick looked back over his shoulder to see Tyreese cradling the bag of movies and the player close to his chest protectively. Glenn walked slightly ahead of the other man and looked across the yard to where the generators were housed, he sighed heavily.
"Well are you coming Tyreese? Might as well get the cables in place and the TV hook up in place. I suppose I could force myself to watch one of them. I think Maggie would want to watch Dirty Dancing, we could pretend like it's a real date."
"Can't remember the last time I went on a real date; before the world went to shit, I mean." Michonne trailed behind them carting in a few bags of tinned food. "The whole process was stupid really, dressing up pretty; having a nice meal then seeing a movie and if you were lucky a kiss goodnight to round off the evening."
"Michonne, I would be pleased if you would accompany me to the movies tonight. I'll even spring for dinner in return." Tyreese gave a mock bow and held out his hand in invitation. Michonne gave a light laugh and set down the bags on the floor so that she could take his hand.
"Oh, kind sir! How could I resist such a heartfelt invitation?" She swiftly planted a loud, wet kiss on his cheek before lifting the bags back up into her arms to carry on into the kitchen. "You can pick me up at my cell around seven…and don't be late!"