Howling at the moon

Daryl had never told anyone about what he was. He didn't want to face the judgement or the risk of being killed or exposed. It was in his blood; he was a Dixon. Merle was also a wolf and they were in the same pack. But now Merle was dead. So he was the last wolf standing that he knew of. He tried to stay away from people as much as possible; but this became difficult once the world turned to shit. Back at the farm, he would stay as far out into the wilderness as possible and at the Prison, he would turn when he hunted. Now that the prison was destroyed, it was even harder to transition because all he had was Beth and they couldn't risk leaving each other's sides.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Beth said between laughs.

"Not fast enough" he replied and lifted her into his arms, bridal style.

The door slammed open and she giggled, had a toothy smile on her face as she was carried through the kitchen and set down in a chair. Daryl moved around the table and sat opposite her.

"Alrigh' lets eat" Daryl said as as the both started on their pots of peanut butter and cups of diet soda. Beth was smiling, once again. She had changed Daryl, she called him up on his bullshit which no one ever had. He had to try and control himself before he decided to shift into his wolf form and did something he regretted- not hurting her, but exposing himself. She had made him have the slightest bit of hope in finding their family.

After a pause, Daryl spoke. "Gonna hafta go huntin' b'fore we run outta food." He stated, looking at her briefly. "You need ta stay here and rest tha' ankle." He said, gesturing to her injured foot.

She nodded slowly and Daryl could sense her unease at him leaving her. "Don't worry, I'll be back." He said reassuringly.

She smiled softly, "I know... It's just-I.. what if something happens out there." She stumbled.

Beth had no idea what he was capable of. "I'll be fine, Don't gotta worry 'bout me."

She nodded again. They sat and finished their white trash brunch in silence. Once completely finished, Daryl was preparing to go out and find some food for them. He grabbed his crossbow, even though he wouldn't need it. He would hide it so that it looked like he was taking it. They were both stood in the hall of the funeral home.

"I'll be back in a couple hours"

"Be safe, Daryl."

He nodded in her direction before opening the door and leaving. Beth was concerned about Daryl going out there alone. She tried to think positive thoughts. Daryl is strong and will always come back, she kept repeating to herself. Rather than worry, Beth decided to try do something useful which she hoped would also keep her mid off of Daryl and the fact that she was now alone. In a zombie apocalypse. With a broken ankle.

Beth cared about Daryl. She wasn't sure if she cared about him as a friend or in a brotherly way, or in a deeper, more intimate way. She froze for a moment. There was no way she had feeling for Daryl Dixon, right? His piercing, stormy blue eyes, shaggy hair, broad shoulders. His calloused hands... Yeah, she was screwed. But there was no way she would ever feel the same way about her. He didn't see her that way, she just relied on him too much because she couldn't defend herself. The thought made her angry at herself for being so useless.

When Daryl left, he placed his crossbow behind the house and checked around for any sights of Beth, walkers or people. Seeing no one, he started to remove his clothes and started to feel his bones crack and pop into place before he fell on all fours as a wolf. Daryl was a mousey brown colour, the same as his hair and his eyes were the same colour, except they stood out more against his furry form. He stretched slightly, not having shifted into a wolf for some time and started to run slightly through the woods.

He couldn't deny that it felt great, refreshing almost. The breeze brushing through his fur and his ears. The feel of his paws on the ground. He had missed it. He started to wonder if there was any more wolves that existed apart from him. Merle was dead, he never got to grieve for him as a wolf without his howl waking everyone in the prison. He missed Merle. He was his brother. But especially so when he was a wolf. It would be just them, going around the peaceful forest at night, howling up at the moon in the starry sky. But now, it was just his other family. Hell, he didn't even know if they were alive. Beth had hope, but he wasn't so sure. The only thing he had now was Beth. He cared about Beth. There was something about her that made him see life in a different way. They were brought up in completely different backgrounds and he was a wolf for christ sake. But when she called him up on his bullshit like no one else would dare to do, he saw her in a different way. She was definitely not the scared girl who tried to kill herself at the Prison, she was more than that. She was a woman, a survivor.

Three hours had passed and Daryl had managed to find six squirrels and a rabbit. That was the perk of being a wolf in the zombie apocalypse. He could fend for himself, for Beth. Didn't need to rely on anyone for anything for anything. He did though. He did trust people more now. Rick, Beth, Carol, Glenn, Michonne, Maggie, Tyreese, he thought Carl was a good kid. He didn't trust Bob. He was still pissed at him for the alcohol incident. He trusted Merle, Andrea, Lori even though they are gone now. Just a memory.

Back at the Funeral home, Beth was getting anxious. She had just finished looking around for things that could be useful to them. She found some first aid bandages in the bathroom. She found some packs of beans and more jelly in the lower cabinets in the kitchen. He should be back by now, she thought. Pacing around the hallway, she opened the door so that a sliver of daylight poured in and made sure there were no walkers around before she opened the door fully. Seeing nothing, she stepped out onto the porch of the house.

"Where are you Daryl?" She asked, quietly to herself.

Walking further out of the porch, she saw what appeared to be Daryl's crossbow lent up against the wood of the side of the house. Her eyebrows furrowed and she started to panic. Why would he leave his crossbow? She then started to worry, imagining the worst case scenarios in her head about what has happened for him to be gone for so long. Fearing the worst, she went back inside the house and retrieved her knife before making her way out into the woods. It was nearly dark but Beth couldn't lose Daryl. She couldn't be alone. She knew he would definitely protest against her wandering around the woods with her sprained ankle, but she had to fund Daryl.

Daryl had taken much longer that he would have liked because he had sniffed out a herd that was pretty large and did not want them to make their way to the funeral home. Being a wolf, he could run fast and be light on his feet. He thought quickly and had to direct them away from the direction they were currently going in. He dropped the squirrels and rabbit by a tree and made his way in front of the walkers. He growled when they saw him and he ran around them and in the other direction that they were going. He moved slowly enough for them to still see him and follow him. Once they were a aafe distance away, he turned and hid in a bush before they continued in the way that he had led them. He returned back for his squirrels and rabbit snd started to make his way back before the sun set completely.

Wandering through the woods, Beth could see some tracks but they were not Daryl's. They appeared to belong to an animal of some kind, but she had no idea what. She stopped following them.

"Daryl?!" She half whispered and half shouted out. There was no reply. She started to get frantic. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and it stung. Her vision was going blurry and she tried to call out again. There was still nothing, not even the sound of movement nearby. By now her tears were streaming down her face and she decided she would have to go back to the funeral home and hope that he returned. Just as she turned around she could hear rustling, followed by low moans.

She swiftly turned around and faced two walkers coming her way. She managed to lunge her knife into the head of one walker but it got stuck. She frantically tried to pull it out but the other one had grabbed her. She tried to get out of it's grasp but she got pulled down to the ground. She was crying hysterically now; the walker inches from biting her arm.

Suddenly, the walker was being pulled off of her and when it was off of her, she saw a huge wold that was a beautiful brown colour and had beautiful bright eyes. She was transfixed by this animal that had just saved her. The wolf ripped the head off of this walker and it was finally dead. Slightly scared, she looked up at the animal who seemed to have calmed down instantly. She looked into it's eyes and the wolf seemed to have a concerned look on it's face. The eyes of this beautiful creature looked very familiar. As it was standing over her, she slowly, tentatively reached out her hand to touch the wolf that seemed almost afraid of her. It clinched at her touch and she couldn't help but notice how familiar the animal's reactions were to a certain redneck that she was looking for. She shook her head, thinking she was being ridiculous.

She was gazing up into it's eyes and then she froze. She was hit with realisation. This creature couldn't possibly be Daryl, could it? But it makes sense, Daryl being a hunter, being so reserved from everyone else, the flinching and most importantly, the eyes. She was having a mental debate with herself. The dead roam the earth these days so she figured that this could be a possibility.

Confused Beth stuttered. "D-Daryl?" she wiped her tears away with her sleeve as she sat up. The wolf backed away from her to give her some space and strangely enough, he lifted his head slightly almost nodding. Before she knew it, she felt dizzy and everything went black.