Daryl ran out to the road to meet Beth, there she was sitting on the pavement right where he told her to. "I'm glad you're okay, I thought I lost you." He sighed. "You are okay right?!" Daryl grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him and check her over.
"I'm alright, I got away. That was crazy I can't believe there was so many of them all of a sudden," Beth gasped, "maybe they followed the dog."
"Jus' a small herd passin' through. I think if we board up the windows and doors we should be safe here for a while, but there might be a few walkers left in the basement yet." Daryl said. They walked back to the funeral house, ran into one walker on the way but Daryl quickly put an end to him with one strike of his knife.
They slowly entered the main doors of the funeral home, Daryl with crossbow ready to fire and Beth with knife in-hand ready to strike. They cleared the main floor, no walkers there, but Daryl knew there was a few in the basement. "There's two or three in the basement, you stay behind me with the flashlight and I'll take 'em out with my bow, a'right?" Daryl said. "Stay behind me."
Beth nodded to Daryl and they quietly edged their way down the stairs. They could hear the quiet snarls of a couple walkers. Beth shined the flashlight on the head of one and Daryl quickly killed it with the pull of the trigger on his crossbow. The other two walkers heard this and came towards Daryl and Beth on the stairs. Daryl quickly reloaded his bow and stuck an arrow into the head of one, it fell down in front of them and the last walker came at Daryl pushing him down onto the stairs. Beth swiftly jabbed a knife into its skull and Daryl threw it off of him.
"That should be all of 'em, if there was anymore they woulda come out from the commotion." Daryl said.
They made their way back up the stairs and closed the main doors, making sure to lock them. They covered all the windows with curtains and blankets, and only left one candle lit for light.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been playing the piano, they probably heard it." Beth said.
"Nah Beth, don't blame yourself, it was probably that stupid dog." Daryl replied.
"He's not stupid Daryl, he's just a dog, probably looking for a safe place, just like us." Beth looked at the floor.
Daryl now knew that probably wasn't the best thing to say, a knot formed in his stomach, recently he didn't like when Beth was mad at him. He really regrets everything he said to her at the old shack they found when he was drunk. He was harsh, really harsh. Beth was always so positive about everything, she had hope no matter what happened. He hadn't even seen her cry since her dad died, she was strong. He wanted to comfort her because he knew she was still numb on the inside from it, but he didn't know how.
"I'm sorry Beth, I shouldn't have said those things at the shack. I was drunk, blame the alcohol. I'm sorry," Daryl stammered, "about your dad."
"It's nobody's fault Daryl, I could have shot the Governor just as easily as anyone else. We didn't know he was going to kill my dad." Beth's eyes filled with tears and she walked away and went into the other room. She found herself crying uncontrollably and yelled in her mind, "I DON'T CRY ANYMORE!" But she couldn't stop, she thought of her dad, helplessly kneeling in the grass, head chopped off mercilessly. Maggie not knowing where she is or if she's safe, if she was even alive. Beth knelt down at the piano bench and put her face on it and sobbed.
Daryl heard her and quietly went to her and knelt down beside her and put his hand on her back, "it's okay Beth. I'm here. We'll find Maggie and everyone else."
Beth turned around and put her arms around Daryl's neck and sobbed into his chest. Daryl was glad he found a way to comfort Beth. He'd never been the "touchy-feely" kind of guy, but he realized Beth probably was, growing up so close to her family and all. He put his arms around her back and squeezed her gently. He realized he probably cared more for Beth than any other person on the planet right now. He didn't want to do anything to ruin that either.
Daryl woke up on the floor where he had been holding Beth the night before. Had they fallen asleep in each other arms? He brushed off the thought and slowly got up and stretched. Boy was he stiff from sleeping on that hardwood floor. He walked into the kitchen area and seen Beth preparing some food.
"You'll never guess what I found!" She set two full bowls on the table. "Oatmeal!"
Daryl smiled. "Well I'll be, this'll be the best damn breakfast I've had in a long time." He sat down across from Beth and took a big mouthful. "Mmm maple."
They ate in silence and after Daryl told her his thoughts. "I think we could make this place work for a bit, Beth." She looked at him. "We could board up the windows, and there's only one main door, we can secure it enough so it can only open from the inside when it's locked. We could scavenge supplies around the area, and look for the others, and always have a safe place to come back to."
Beth looked away, she'd been thinking about that too. "What if the person who was staying here comes back?"
"If that happens, which I don't think it will, then we'll ask if we can stay or leave if we have to." Daryl responded. "I think we are safe here, there's a thin layer of dust on everything, nobody has been here for a while."
"Okay, let's do this then." Beth agreed. "Can we start by taking the body's out? It's starting to stink something awful in here." She scrunched her nose.
They hauled the body's out of the house together and put them in a pile out in the graveyard. "We'll burn them one at a time. We don't need a huge fire attracting other walkers." Daryl said.
Beth nodded. After they set one of the bodies on fire they found a pile of scrap wood behind the house and boarded up all the windows. Daryl rigged up the main door so when they slid two boards in it would be secure and locked tight.
"As much as I don't want anybody coming back here, I hope whoever was staying here is alright." Beth said.
Daryl met her eyes and then looked at the floor. He didn't think of it before but she was right, he hoped nobody came back, but it's not like he wished they were dead or something. He just didn't want anybody wrecking the sanctuary they have right now.
"Well, , what do you want for supper? We've got oatmeal, noodles, Cheerios or crackers! Good selection tonight!" Beth laughed.
"I'll take me some of them noodles there. And a Caesar salad on the side with light dressing please." Daryl laughed.
They weren't silent while they ate this time. Daryl and Beth shared small jokes, and talked about nothing in particular. For the first time Daryl noticed how beautiful Beth's eyes were, they were such a light but bright pale blue, almost translucent but as dark as the sea. Indescribable really. He tried to think of something to compare them to but couldn't. Beth caught him staring and smiled, Daryl looked down at his plate.
"What are the odds I get stuck with you, Daryl Dixon? Escaping the prison attack only to end up alone with you, I'm one lucky gal." Beth quietly said that last part. Daryl wasn't sure what to make of it. Beth cared about everyone, he assured himself he wasn't special, it's just the way she is. She's a nice, caring person.
"When you said I'm gonna miss you so bad when your gone, you were wrong." Daryl said. "I won't miss you at all."
Beth looked up at Daryl and frowned.
"I won't have to miss you cause you won't be gone, never. I won't ever let anything happen to you, ya hear?" Daryl said.
Beth looked down at the table and her eyes began to fill with tears. "Wow, somebody cares about me", she thought.
"Thank you." Beth said, and as she looked up at Daryl tears ran down her cheeks.
"C'mere girl." Daryl pulled his chair back and opened his arms. Beth got up and went over to Daryl to sob into his neck as he wrapped his arms around her.
Beth woke up in the coffin, feeling refreshed and energetic. They'd been taking turns sleeping in it but Daryl let her have it the last two nights, heck it was the comfiest bed in the place. She didn't see Daryl sleeping on the floor so she got up and walked down the hallway into the kitchen. Daryl was sitting in a chair reading an old newspaper he'd found.
"Hey Daryl," Beth started, "I think we should go look for the others today."
Daryl looked up from his newspaper at her. "Okay." he said.
Beth prepared some more oatmeal for breakfast and they ate in silence together, Daryl chuckling at the little comics in the newspaper. "I haven't read a newspaper in years, makes me kinda miss the old world." Daryl thought. Then he realized no, he didn't miss his old life. He didn't miss running around with Merle, one crack house to the next, bar hoppin' and drug dealing; he didn't miss that life at all. For the first time in his life he actually felt like he had a purpose. Like he meant something to someone. Like if he suddenly disappeared someone would miss him. He didn't know what kind of relationship he had with Beth. He cared for her more than anyone in the world. He didn't even think of an intimate relationship forming between them but he certainly didn't rule it out. He thought of her more as a sister or daughter, even though he'd never had those kind of relationships with anyone. He wondered what she thought of him. It's not like there's many people to choose from anymore. Maybe it would just be a bigger burden to care for someone this much, always almost getting your ass bit trying to save them. God forbid anything happened to her... He shook the thought got out of his head.
Daryl and Beth locked up the house and headed back in the direction of the prison. They weren't going to get too close, as when they left it was completely overrun with walkers. Beth was armed with a loaded handgun and two knives, Daryl had a rifle, 2 knives and his crossbow. They never let their guard down, the walk wasn't all peachy and carefree. They were looking for signs, anything that might lead them to Maggie or the others, they were keeping one eye in all directions at all times.
Beth thought of Judith, and how much she hoped someone got her out safe and sound. She missed her badly, Beth had all the traits and motherly instincts you could ask for. She truly was a caregiver. She thought of Maggie and Carol and wondered where they were and if they were safe. She thought of Daryl and realized if she hadn't of escaped with him she wouldn't be alive. She hoped the others were stronger than her and survived too. She knew Maggie was stronger than her and that's what gave her hope.
They got closer to the prison and started coming across walkers. They quietly killed them as not to attract attention to them. They surveyed the prison yard and realized there was no chance they'd get anywhere in or near it with just the two of them. Beth seen the tank and all the other vehicles that came with the governor and caught a glimpse of a body in a white shirt and hoped it wasn't her dad. Her eyes filled with tears but she quickly changed the topic in her head, she had to keep her guard up and not get distracted.
"There's no chance we're getting closer Beth, I don't wanna risk it, we'll never make it in and out alive." Daryl said.
"It's okay, let's go east a bit, maybe we can find a trail or something." Beth said and started in that direction. Daryl quickly followed behind her. He wasn't letting her get too far away from him.
"Remember what I taught you about tracking?" Daryl asked. "Look for broken twigs, branches, turned over mud, stones, footprints." He continued.
Beth determinedly stared at the ground, she'd hope they'd find a clue that they'd been around here, anything.
Daryl could see the sun would be setting soon. "We should head back to the funeral home, Beth. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow. Maybe we could write notes and leave them on the trees, too." Daryl said.
Beth nodded and started heading back with Daryl right behind her, "Let's not call it 'the funeral home', Daryl, that sounds like a death sentence. Let's call it our home. It's all we got right now anyway." Beth said. "And the notes are a good idea." She looked her bright blue eyes up at him.
They walked mostly in silence on the way to the funeral home, Daryl caught himself looking at Beth once and realized he let himself get off guard and shook his head.
They arrived back at the funeral home and it was still locked up just like they left it with no sight of walkers around. "Hey," Daryl said, "there's that dog again." He seen it dart into the bush.
Beth looked over but it was too late, the dog was out of sight already. "I hope he comes back." She said.
They securely locked the doors behind themselves and went into the kitchen to look for some food. "Noodles for supper tonight." Beth quietly said as she started preparing them. Daryl sat at the table and continued reading his newspaper.
After they ate Beth went into the main room, and sat at the piano bench. She missed practice and her recitals and performing. Music had always been a passion of hers. She had even wrote a few of her own songs.
Beth started playing ... ?
"It's unclear now what we intend,
We're alone in our own world,
And you don't wanna be my boyfriend,
And I don't wanna be your girl,
And that, that's a relief,
Well drink up our grief,
And pine for summer,
And we'll buy, beer to shotgun,
And we'll lay on the lawn,
And we'll be good."
Daryl quietly walked down the hallway to the main room as he heard Beth playing the piano and singing. He stood in the doorway and listened.
"You don't wanna be my boyfriend,
And that's probably for the best,
Because that, that gets messy,
And you will hurt me,
Or I'll disappear,
So we will, drink beer all day,
And our guards will give way,
And we'll be good,
And we'll be good."
Beth's voice was so soft and innocent. She stopped playing and turned around and saw Daryl. "How long have you been there?" She asked.
"Long enough." Daryl replied with a smile. "That was really good, did you write it?"
"Yeah." Beth sheepishly looked away and smiled.
Daryl went to the spot on the floor where he'd been sleeping. "No, Daryl, you can have the coffin tonight, I had it the last two nights." Beth said.
"Nah I'm fine." He said.
"Daryl!" Beth pleaded. "I'm not gonna let you sleep on the floor when there's a perfectly good bed here." She grabbed a pillow and laid down on the floor a couple feet away from Daryl. "I'm sleeping here so you might as well take the bed." She said sternly.
Daryl said nothing and just closed his eyes. He was laying on his back with his hands behind his head. Beth looked at him and frowned. She closed her eyes and wondered why he was being so stubborn. They both fell asleep on the floor.
Beth woke up in the middle of the night with a panic in her chest. She swore she heard something, or maybe it was just a dream she was having that woke her. Her heart was racing, she whispered, "Daryl."
He didn't move or say anything. For some reason she wanted him to know she was scared, and comfort her. She scooted a little closer to him so she could feel his warmth and tried to go back to sleep.
Daryl woke up when he assumed it was early morning. Beth was still laying beside him, a little closer than when he fell asleep. She was facing him and he could feel her breath on his arm. He wanted badly to put his arm around her and pull her close. He looked at her soft, pretty face for a bit, then quietly got up. He tried to come up with a plan for today. They needed to get some more food eventually, so maybe they could find a place to scavenge while they were out looking for the others. Maybe he'd even be able to get a bird or squirrel for tonight.
Beth noticed Daryl wasn't on the floor beside her anymore and woke up. She walked into the kitchen and found him.
"I was thinking maybe we could scavenge some more food today while we are out looking for the others." Daryl said when he saw her. "Maybe hunt a squirrel or some thin'."
"Sure." Beth nodded. "I'm gonna make some signs and hang them from the trees today." Beth went and found some books to tear the pages out of to use for the signs, and wrote on them, 'WE ARE SAFE, FIND US WEST AT A FUNERAL HOME - BETH & DARYL'. She made 10 signs and folded them and put them in her pocket.
Beth and Daryl headed out for the day, Beth had a back pack on to use for whatever supplies or food they found, and was armed with a knife and gun. Daryl was packing his crossbow along with a gun and knife as well. They only kept their guns on them for emergencies; rarely did they use them. The noise attracts walkers. Daryl either used his bow or they got them with their knives. They started off going east this time, and when they were a ways away Beth hung one of her signs on a tree by a branch. Daryl stopped when she did, he wasn't letting himself stray very far from her anymore.
They got into some dense bush so Daryl took out his crossbow and they walked quietly, incase they seen an animal that could be supper tonight. Beth kept her eyes on the ground for clues or signs of the others. They came to a road so Daryl put his bow away and they picked up the pace a bit. They seen a sign advertising a town was 1 mile ahead. It was already late afternoon and Daryl wasn't sure if they should go all the way into town and scavenge, and risk travelling back in the dark.
"Maggie could be there." Beth said.
"It'll be dark on our way back." Daryl replied.
"We have to at least check."
"I dunno, it's risky Beth, we could come back tomorrow, or we could put a note up on this sign. If they come this way they'll see it."
"I'll put a note up here and we'll just quickly look in town to see if they are there. We can scavenge tomorrow." Beth said.
"We need supplies and food, and this is quite a ways away from... home, we don't need to come back this way if we scavenge now." Daryl replied.
"Maybe we can find a place to hole up in for the night."
"There's no guarantees we'll find some place safe, and we don't even know if the towns overrun or not." Daryl frowned.
"What if Maggie's there? Judith? Please." Beth looked wide eyed up at Daryl.
Daryl sighed. "Alright, but we hurry, in and out quietly, grab what you can and look for signs of the others. No leaving my sight. I wanna be back before dark."
Beth nodded and they hurriedly headed down the road toward the town.
They reached the outskirts of the town and hadn't seen any walkers yet, so they assumed the town was fairly safe.
"Dang it, if this towns cleared all the stores have prob'ly been raided." Daryl frowned.
"Maybe the others are here." Beth was hopeful. She walked in front of Daryl eyeing up all the stores and buildings for gins of Maggie or the others, her knife and gun still in their holsters. She was so positive, Daryl thought her positivity was going to get her killed one day. He had his crossbow loaded and ready to fire at all times in the town. Rarely did Daryl ever let his guard down.
They walked down the main road that led them into town, passed several gas stations and businesses and a couple houses. Still no sight of walkers, but Daryl didn't believe a town this big could be completely cleared. "Beth, take the safety off your gun, and get your knife out. We're deep in the town now." He said.
Beth obliged and did as Daryl said, firmly gripping her knife.
Finally, a walker straggled towards them from an alley, Daryl's assumptions were right, and the town wasn't completely cleared. Daryl put his bow up to his shoulder and walked towards it, swiftly shooting it directly in the eye. He put his bow down and pulled the arrow out of it's head, wiping off the guts before reloading his bow with it again. "There's likely to be more where he came from." Daryl said.
Beth and Daryl continued down the street and found one of the things they were looking for; a grocery store. "I'm not gonna tap on the windows to see if there's any in there, will attract more than we're looking for. Store ain't that big, if there's any in there, we can take 'em on." Daryl said. He looked in the window but couldn't see much through the dusty glass, and motioned for Beth to have her knife ready to strike before slowly opening the door. He put his crossbow up to his shoulder and quietly entered, with Beth right behind him.
They slowly walked down an aisle while scanning the whole place with their eyes. About halfway down the aisle they noticed a walker at the cash register in a clerks uniform. He had a huge bite out of his left arm, when it noticed them it got up and walked towards them. Daryl lined up his eye in his scope and put an arrow in his head. He fell to the ground with a thud and they waited for any other walkers to come out. Daryl quickly reloaded his bow and they were silent for a minute.
Nothing came. They assumed he was the only one in here. When they realized they were momentarily safe, Beth holstered her knife and took her knapsack off and opened it, heading to the canned food section. She filled it with several cans; beans, corn, fruit, vegetables, and some more. Then she grabbed some dry pasta and instant noodles. Her knapsack was nearly full already and she regretted not bringing more bags. This was a great score!
Beth filled her bag the rest of the way and then seen something great! A stack of reusable grocery bags hanging on a hook! She grabbed 4 and filled them to the top with food and juices as well. Daryl seen her and went and grabbed two more bags and began filling them with pop and chocolate bars. Beth slyly grinned at him.
"We got ourselves enough to throw a damn party!" Daryl said sarcastically.
"I wish we had enough people for a party." Beth looked down.
They finished stuffing their bags and Beth put on her backpack and grabbed two of the grocery bags. Daryl had two bags in each hand, knife in his mouth. They quietly went back out the front door and headed back the way they came. The sun was already setting, they knew they wouldn't be back before dark. Beth was sad they didn't find anyone else. Before they left town she ran and put one of her notes on a door.
It was just getting pitch black with only the moon for light when they reached the trail in the forest where they turn off the highway. Daryl was contemplating what to do; continue on home in the dark, or risk camping out with no protection? Thoughts were running through his head about what to do and he couldn't take it anymore so he got Beth's opinion. "Do you want to wait until the first light or keep going in the dark?" He asked.
"I don't wanna stay in the forest all night, we've gotta be halfway there at least?" Beth asked herself. "But I am getting tired carrying all this food."
Daryl felt guilty. He should have made a better decision about going into the town that late into the day. He questioned his leadership skills. He wanted to make the best decision to keep Beth safe.
They continued walking for a bit, until they heard the low growls of a nearby walker. Daryl quickly threw his bags down and loaded his cross bow. He examined the area and seen a thick tree with low branches that looked climb-able.
"Beth, up there." He said as he motioned for the tree. "Put your bags down and get up there. Could be a herd." Daryl instructed.
The walker still had to be about 100 feet away as the growls were fairly distant yet. He watched Beth scramble up the tree and disappear into the dark branches. He followed her up and sat on a branch just above walker-grabbing height, and put his bow up to his eye and looked for the walker.
As it came into view he lined the scope up to his eye and fired an arrow into his brain. It fell with a thud.
Daryl and Beth sat in the tree for a few more minutes. Just as they were contemplating crawling back down they heard a distant buzzing. Daryl realized what the sound was. "Higher." He instructed Beth.
She climbed as high as the branches would allow her and found a thick branch to rest on. The herd was now passing the tree they were up in. A loud growling filled the air. Daryl followed Beth up the tree and stood on a smaller branch just below her.
The branch Beth was on was fairly wide and she could sit cross legged on it. She covered her ears and put her head down, she hated this sound.
Beth felt the soft touch of Daryl's hand on her back, comforting her. She looked at him and noticed he was standing. There wasn't a branch big enough for him to sit on. Except for the one she was on.
"Here, you sit there." Beth said. She got off the branch and moved beside Daryl. The tree didn't allow for very much moving around so she was squeezed quite close to Daryl.
As much as he didn't want to take the spot from Beth he knew she wouldn't let him say no. He stepped up and sat on the branch.
"There's room for both of us, isn't there?"
Daryl was cross legged on the large branch, and there was little room in front of him. He knew there wouldn't be any way for the both of them to fit on it without touching. Daryl didn't answer Beth but instead squeezed himself closer to the tree to make himself take up as little room as possible and hung his bow on a higher branch.
"The herd doesn't sound like it's slowing down yet, and I don't wanna chance going home in the dark, we might as well get comfortable and spend the night up here." Beth said as she climbed up onto the branch with Daryl. She sat in front of him, further down the branch, with her legs hanging down. "Do you think they are safe?" She asked.
"I don't know," Daryl paused. "But I like to think positive. They are strong, especially your sister." He said reassuringly.
"I can't imagine what she's going through... thinking... I'm gone ... " Beth trailed off. "I wonder if she's alone." I wonder if she's alive. She thought.
Beth pulled her legs up and tried to balance herself. Daryl was sitting cross legged leaning against the tree.
"Can I...?" Beth whispered. She looked wide eyed at Daryl and scooted closer to him, resting her head on his arm and her body sprawled across his lap. One leg dangled below them but they were high enough they didn't need to worry about the walkers.
Daryl felt his heart beat faster at this moment. He lay still for the first few minutes, he wanted badly to wrap his arms around Beth's waist, but didn't know if it was appropriate. When he was sure she was fast asleep he put his arms around her and pulled her close, making sure she didn't fall.
This was the moment Daryl knew. He knew all his mixed emotions and complicated feelings, anger and frustration with this girl, guilt and temptation, was nothing but love. He irrevocably and indescribably loved Beth.