Daryl Dixon was deeply worried.
Everything went to shit so fast. One moment they had home in the prison and they all felt safe.
The next moment madman broke it all.
Their home changed to a war zone. And now everybody was scattered around, Daryl didn't really know who was dead and who had survived.
Hershel was dead, that he knew for sure.
And he was with Beth now.
They had run together away from the prison, away from the walkers. Finally they were so exhausted that they couldn't run anymore. By then it was evening already, and they had to find some kind of shelter for the night. It was too dangerous to start looking for the others now.
They didn't have much. Just their clothes and two weapons - Daryl had his crossbow, Beth had a small handgun and some ammo.
But at the end of that horrible, long day they finally had a little bit of luck. Just before dark they came in the residential area full of single-family houses. The houses looked like they were robbed long ago. But incidentally they found something - a big car, motor home actually. It was parked behind one of the houses so that you couldn't see it from the street. And the car was untouched.
Daryl glanced around. The car was an european model, LMC, probably made in Germany in better days. Interior was quite small but handy. Obviously someone had planned for quick departure with this a long ago, probably just before the walkers came. Cupboards were full of canned food and there were some kind of clothes in the wardrobes too.
And then there was a bed. One double bed in the back of the car with sheets and blankets on it.
Beth was so exhausted that she fell asleep at once.
The hunter was tired too but he secured the place before the sleep. He had broken in the car, but he made sure that the door was properly closed. He closed the pull-down curtains too so no one could see inside. Neither man nor walker, he thought.
He was relieved to find a few large bottles of water from the cabinets. They could stay in the car for a while, he figured.
Finally he dared to sleep a few hours too.
But now he was awake again. It was early in the morning - day one after their world collapsed once again.
And he was worried. How would they carry on now? Would they see the others ever again?
It was at that moment when Beth sighed in her sleep and turned on her back right next to Daryl. The blanket had slid down from her. The blond, fluffy hair framed her beautiful, sleeping face. In her sleep she looked just like a child even though Daryl knew for a fact that she was nineteen already.
She was wearing only a little white tank top. Daryl could see her delicate shoulders and her small, firm breasts through the thin fabric. Obviously she was not wearing a bra.
The hunter swallowed and turned his gaze away from her quickly. Once again he felt it. Desire.
It all started with that hug in Beth's cell after Zach's death, Daryl remembered. Until then he had always seen Beth as a little girl. But it all changed when she hugged him tightly. For her it was just a comforting little gesture. But for Daryl it was something else completely. It was at that moment when he realized that Beth had become a woman. He sensed her scent, her warmth and her breasts against him - and he was aroused in a second. He felt ashamed and left her cell as fast as he could muttering excuses.
He had avoided her ever since. In the prison it was easy. They both had a lot of duties.
But here and now they were all alone and they had to sleep in the same narrow bed.
This wasn't going to be easy.
She was completely dependent on him. He had to keep them both alive. So he had to put all distracting thoughts aside. And not only that. Beth trusted him - he couldn't let her know that he wanted her. A lot.
Beth opened her big, blue eyes. She looked at Daryl sleepily. Then she blinked her eyes and the hunter could see the pain in her gaze.
"Oh my God, Daryl. We lost everything", she said quietly.
She started to cry.
"And daddy… He's gone, really gone", she whispered.
And then she hugged Daryl once again. The hunter froze for a second. After that he returned the gesture a bit clumsily.
Beth cried against his chest now. Big, bright tears that wetted his t-shirt in a second.
"It's okay", the hunter said gently trying to comfort her, knowing that it wasn't exactly true.
He had to put some space between them now.
So he got up from the bed. He turned his back on her and dressed himself quickly - his worn out jeans, his vest with angel wings, his boots.
"We should try to find the others", Daryl said briefly and glanced at Beth.
He wished he hadn't.
She was still sitting on the bed, blond hair cascading on her shoulders, wearing nothing but a white top and mint green panties. She looked so young and so frail.
And so desirable.
Daryl forced himself to be stern.
"Come on, get up and get dressed. Let's eat something. After that I'll check if I can get this thing moving", he said and turned his back on her.
Beth stared at his unwelcoming back stunned. Daryl was obviously mad at her.
She couldn't understand why.