"Ugh!" Daryl threw his weight against the thick glass door, watching the greasy hands of the walkers scratch against it futilely. As soon as he wrapped the chain around the door handles, he sprinted alongside the glass windows, looking for a spot where he could see across the street.
Rotted bodies were obscuring his sightline as he desperately searched the landscape of the high street. And then, just as his heart started to bottom out, he saw her. He felt as though he had been punched, all the exertion of the last few minutes coming back to get him full force.
But it was fine: she was safe. He could see Beth, standing in the plate glass window of the Barnes and Noble across the way. He could see his own relief reflected back at him. She rested her hands against the glass and leant forward to touch her forehead against it, giving him a shaky smile.
They might have been two inches away, rather than twenty feet, for the comfort that she managed to bestow him, as always. The herd was still clamouring at both storefronts, but a little less fervently now. That had been a little closer than he'd have liked. Splitting up was always risky.
In addition, Carl might have been right, Daryl thought. The kid had said he thought the walkers were going blind now, thanks to the decay. And this herd was slow and unfocused. They relied on their ears and noses. None of them had said it, but they had all hoped he was right. If he was, maybe one day they would rot away altogether.
When he had recovered a little, Daryl waved at Beth, gestured to the store behind him. He might as well take a look around to see if there was anything worth taking. Beth nodded her understanding and Daryl thought, not for the first time that day, just how beautiful she was.
Even dirt and blood streaked and looking about twenty pounds lighter than he'd like her, Beth was the light in his life. Maybe more than ever right now, standing in the sunset filled window, with her hair loose around her shoulders lit up like white fire. Her hair was messed thanks to the grasping hands of the walkers. She smiled at him and curled her fingers against the glass, as though she knew what he was thinking. Daryl blushed, thankful she couldn't see, and turned into the dark shop.
Daryl waded into the shadows, avoiding the counters. He had no idea what kind of store he was in. He kept his crossbow levelled, just in case, and waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. He bumped into a corner, his breath hissing between his teeth. He wiped the surface of the glass and blinked, confusedly, at the sparkles within.
It took a minute for it to register in Daryl's mind what he was seeing. In the old days, a man would have given almost anything to have been left alone in a store like this, with no company, no cameras. Daryl scanned the room. There was dozens of these glass cases. He'd guess maybe thousands of rings. Wedding rings, it suddenly occurred to Daryl.
His mouth went dry and the tip of the crossbow clinked against the hard ground. There was a responding growl from outside. Wedding rings. He turned back to see if he could see Beth, could just glimpse her bright hair in front of a bookcase. He would have to move fast, he realised. Rick and company would be coming back for them soon, in the new bearcat that Abraham had sourced.
Daryl dropped the crossbow and pack. He was wiping down countertops with his forearms, years of thick dust smearing with his sweat. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, just hoped he would know it when he saw it.
He and Beth had been together for a year now. It hadn't been an easy one, by anybody's count. The two of them had faced scorn and hurt and they had lost people along the way, including Maggie. Beth still couldn't quite talk about losing her sister, but having her nephew helped. But now, for the first time in forever, Daryl was really part of a family, and he suddenly knew he had to show Beth just how seriously he took it.
He was on the fourth countertop by now. So far everything had been too gaudy, too flashy. He wanted something pure and beautiful, just like her. Then he spotted it. It was a simple band of silver – or something that looked like silver, Daryl didn't know – with the gaps inlaid with blue. Sapphires, he'd guess. It was clean looking, no sharp edges to get caught on anything. This was it, Daryl knew. And God knew he only got one chance at this.
He picked up the crossbow and brought the butt of it down as hard as he could on the glass. It shattered in a cacophony and the crowd of walkers pitched into a frenzy. Daryl picked through the debris, ignoring his skin catching on the glass, until he found it. It was heavy and cool and perfect. Daryl dropped the solid weight of it into his jacket pocket, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders.
There was a roar from the street and the sound of a couple of dozen corpses peeling themselves from the glass in search of new prey. Daryl picked up his pack and bow and ran for the door just in time to see Abraham gun down a bunch of the herd. Daryl guessed they'd moved on from the stealthy approach.
He waved for Abe's attention and got a salute for his trouble. Daryl pointed out Beth's location to the older man and was relieved to see him send Tyreese out to fetch her.
Daryl unchained the doors and broke into a run, stabbing the closest walker with a bolt. He hopped up onto the vehicle and clambered around until he could see Tyreese pulling Beth out of her store, her pack under one arm and books under the other. That was his girl. But he couldn't bring himself to smile until he was pulling her up to safety, burying his face in her neck. She laughed.
"Why, Daryl, it's not like you haven't seen me lately!" She tugged on his hair and he could feel her smiling. She pulled back to take in his face. She saw his hands as they settled into the inside of the mini-tank.
"Oh, Daryl! What happened?" She wrapped her perfect hands around his scratched and bleeding ones. She frowned and fussed and Daryl's heart puffed.
"It was nuthin'. Just knocked some glass over." He said.
"You've gotta be more careful. What would I do without you?" She said, slightly sadly.
"I ain't goin' anywhere. And neither are you."
He squeezed her hands back before he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her into him. She nestled her head into her shoulder as the engine slipped into a higher gear and they sped towards home.
The sun was setting and everyone was coming down from the rush. People started to talk and laughed and compared their hauls. Daryl felt the comfort, that his friends and family brought, wash over him.
"If you say so." Beth said, sleepily.
Daryl rested his head on top of hers and let himself dream and saw his life with Beth spreading out before him. A life of surviving but remembering to live, tasting the first of the summer's fruit along with their canned goods. Picking up vital supplies but also books. Listening to Beth singing to their nephew and future, faceless children. Growing older and maybe dying in peace. Daryl surveyed his group. The men hard-faced yet kind. Michonne, steely yet smiling. And Beth, for whom there were not enough words.
One of Beth's books slipped to the floor. Shakespeare's Tempest. One of the very few things Daryl had actually read in school, before Dad had pulled him out. One line was all he could remember, but he had thought of it a lot in the last few years: O, brave new world, that has such people in it.
Beth shifted and Daryl could feel the weight of the ring in his pocket.
"I do."