Chapter 2

Daryl's POV

I had just finished getting ready for bed, which for me means cleaning my arrows and wiping off my crossbow, when I heard her call.

"Daryl?!"

I walk from the living room to the bedroom where Beth is. She had changed into the set of clothes she sleeps in and had redone her ponytail. There weren't any walkers in the room and she looked fine. Why did she just yell for me? What's going on?

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Beth doesn't answer. Instead she looks at the bed. What? So? It's a bed. A bed. Only one bed. Shit.

"So what are we going to do?" she asks me.

I sigh. I really wanted to sleep in a bed tonight. I'm tired. It doesn't matter how tired I am. Beth deserves the bed. I can always sleep on the floor. Nothing new for me.

"You can have the bed. I'll be fine on the floor."

"Daryl, you can't sleep on the floor,"

"I can and I will,"

Beth puts her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes.

"Daryl,"

"You get the bed," I say putting the conversation to an end. I could never sleep in a bed while I knew Beth was sleeping on the floor.

"Fine," she says. She walks across the room and blows out the few candles that were lighting the room.

I set my bag on the floor and my crossbow beside the bag. Then I lay down using my bag as a pillow. Not the most comfortable pillow but it was better than nothing. I hear Beth shuffling with the blankets and pillows on the bed. She gets all of the blankets and pillows and sets them on the ground beside me. What the hell is she doing?

"If you're sleeping on the floor so am I."

"You're not going to let this go are you?" I ask.

"Nope." She says I can hear the smile in her voice. "There are enough pillows and blankets for the both of us so we can share"

"Thanks" I said taking a pillow and blanket from her. I gotta admit the pillow is a lot comfier than my bag.

Beth lies down next to me. I can't see her in the dark but I can imagine how she looks right now. Pretty as always. She's beautiful with her creamy white skin and stormy blue eyes. Her blonde hair is shiny and always a little tousled. I can't think of her that way. She deserves better than me. I'm just a dumb, worthless redneck. Everyone has always told me that. And they are right. If it wasn't for the end of the world I would probably be sitting in a jail cell right now, because of some stupid shit Merle and me would do. But I'm not. I'm lying on the floor of some farm house next to a beautiful girl and dead people are walking. Yeah, definitely not where I thought I would be.

I sigh. I don't want to fall asleep, but I need to. I could have a nightmare tonight. If I have a nightmare I'll wake up Beth. I hate nightmares. They just keep reminding me of things I've been trying to forget. I close my eyes and fall asleep to Beth's even and restful breathing.

I open my eyes and see the early light of dawn through the windows. I look over and see Beth Greene resting her head on my chest. She must have moved during her sleep last night. I smile. I wish it could be like this but it can't. She's too good for me. I stop smiling and gently move her head back on to her pillow. I brush some of her wild bedhead hair out of her face. What the fuck am I doing? I need to snap out of this crush or whatever the hell this is. I slowly get up and grab my crossbow. I need to get outside. Fresh air will help me clear my head; this farmhouse smells like musty old grandma perfume anyways.

I go down the stairs and through the kitchen to the back porch. The sun has just come up and the ground is covered in dew. The farm yard is quiet except for one walker just wondering around. It's about fifty yards from the house. I load an arrow, aim, and pull the trigger. The arrow sinks into the walkers foreheads, making it drop to the ground. I walk off the porch to retrieve the arrow from the walker's skull. Why can't all things be as simple as killing walkers? I wipe off the arrow with my red handkerchief I always carry in my back pocket and start walking back to the porch. I sigh as I go up the steps and lean on the railing, looking out at the acres of farmland. I hear footsteps from inside. Beth must be awake.

"Good morning, Daryl" she says as she comes out onto the porch. She walks over beside me and looks at the farmland.

"Mornin" I reply.

"You hungry? I think we have some canned fruit in the kitchen."

I nod. "Sounds good to me"

We go back into the kitchen and look over the cans of fruit. It's mostly fruit cocktail and peaches. I grab a can of peaches and open it with my knife. Then I open a can for Beth and hand it to her.

"Thanks" she says with small smile.

I nod then sit down at the table and begin eating.

"So, Daryl what's the plan for today?"

I hadn't really thought about it. I could keep teaching Beth how to track, but she already had the basics down. We could start looking for the rest of our group, but I had no idea where to start. Too many people and walkers came through the prison, trying to find our group's tracks would be impossible. I don't want to go far from the farmhouse today. It's a good place to stay until we decide where we want to go next. I don't want to leave until Beth has more training. If we run into trouble there are only two of us and she needs to know how to defend herself.

"Training" I answer.

"Training? What kind of training?"

"Strength and some self-defense. You need get build up some muscle and know how to fight."

"Okay. When do we start?"

"No time like the present." I say, getting up from the table to go outside.

We walk outside to the yard. It's still morning, but it's already hot as hell.

"You know this training is going to be torture, right?" I ask.

"Bring it on" she replies with a smile.