Prison Era. Beth volunteers to help Daryl with something in the tombs and they get locked in and at first Daryl is grumpy but then Beth makes him smile and that makes being stuck not so bad - sumitted by Abelinajt

Rating: T

Thanks to arrowsandangels for taking a read through this.

"What chu doin' down here?" Daryl grunted as he noticed the young blonde coming down the dark hallway.

"Rick said you needed a hand?" She replied, using her flashlight to light the way.

"Why ain't he down here then?"

"Everyone else is busy at the moment and he thought I could be helpful."

Beth could hear Daryl mutter under his breath about what kind of help she would be but chose to ignore it. He had been in a sour mood with the rain today and she didn't want to cause him any more grief.

With the rain, there was nothing they could do outside so everyone chose to focus on the inside. Beth had been taking care of Judith but Carl wanted to spend some time with her.

She passed Rick who was headed down to another block and asked him what she could do with her time. He mentioned scrubbing down the bathroom or helping out Daryl. It was an easy decision in her mind.

She knew she wasn't the strongest physically but she could still hold her own when the time came. She had gotten better at facing walkers one on one (with a fence between them) and she had been learning some self-defense from Carol on some afternoons while the baby slept.

"What are you up to down here?" she asked politely. He groaned and looked towards her.

"Tryin' to get this door unlocked," he replied. He turned back around and was fiddling with the lock again while Beth looked around.

"So why do you need a hand then? Seems like you got it under control."

"Need someone to watch my back." Beth understood. He was transfixed on the door in front of him and wouldn't be able to tell if something was creeping up behind him. She grabbed the knife, that she had placed in her back pocket and turned her back to him, keeping an eye on the hallway in front of them.

Daryl didn't take much longer and he soon stood up when the door was unlocked. Beth turned towards him, ready to back him when he put his hand up.

"I'll clear it before I let you in. Stay here," He stated. Beth nodded her head, which he probably barely noticed because he slipped through the door before she could answer him. The door was heavy but stayed open on its lock as he carefully used his flashlight and knife to check out the place. It was another generator room, just like he hoped. This would hopefully power these hallways and they could start clearing out more space over here.

Beth was still watching down the hallway, straining to hear any noises that weren't normal. Groaning from a dead walker was at the top of that list but she was also keeping an ear out for Daryl should he call for her.

Within the quiet of the tombs, she heard some buckets being knocked over and a groan as something hit the floor. Beth moved her flashlight in front of her to see where the noise came from but it became clearer it was from behind the door that Daryl had disappeared into. She heard another groan and Daryl begin to curse as more things fell over and she quickly panicked, thinking something bad was happening down there. Without a second thought, she pushed the door opened and ran into the room to see what happened.

In a matter of seconds, she heard the loud bang of the metal door behind her and Daryl looking up at her from the floor where he was picking up some sheets of plywood. Her face turned from concerned to anger and she looked behind her to see that the door was now closed shut.

"Told you not to come in here!" Daryl growled as he pushed the wood boards up against the wall and walked past her to see if it was completely closed. "Door doesn't open from this side."

"I thought you were in trouble," she tried to explain but Daryl wasn't hearing any of it. He was looking around the room trying to figure out what their options were. "And what kind of door doesn't open."

"An emergency exit, that's what." Beth could tell he was livid as he was pacing, trying to formulate a plan on what doors they could go through. There were some windows higher up in the large room that gave on some light but probably had a huge drop underneath them "There're two doors to get out of here but they both lead outside where walkers are probably built up."

"So we're stuck in here?" Beth questioned.

"No thanks to you," Daryl muttered. Beth huffed and finally had enough.

"What is your problem, huh? I get I'm not your number one choice, but I'm still capable." Beth yelled. Daryl turned and looked at her wide eyes, clearly taken aback by her outburst. "And you make it sound like I'm the last person you would want to be around. I'll have you know that I'm super useful and fun!

"You done?" Daryl questioned.

"You know what, I don't even know why I bothered to help you down here. The bathroom toilets would be more appreciative of me than you are."

Daryl sighed and hung his head in guilt. He didn't mean to be an asshole but that is obviously what she thought of him. He stepped back towards her and could see the fire in her eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered, not quite sure he liked the taste of apology on his lips but it was the best thing he could do in this moment. Beth regained her composure after a few breaths. They remained quiet while they both thought of a way out of here.

"Why don't we work on the generator and then maybe someone will come looking for us eventually?" Beth suggested. She walked over to the machine and started moving her flashlight to take a look at the motor. "Oil probably needs to be changed, and it might need some new spark plugs."

Daryl was a little taken back by her knowledge and went to stand by the machine. Sure enough, he could see the same issues that she had brought up and he agreed. He looked over at her to see her eyes still taking in the machine.

"You know the difference between a Phillips and a Robertson?" he asked.

"Ever since I was six years old," She beamed at him. She could see a little smirk forming from the corner of his mouth.

"Guess I was wrong about you," he said. Beth smiled wide and knew that maybe she could change his mind after all.

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