Ch. 3
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The moment after she accepted his help, Daryl slung his arm over her shoulder and turned her back to face the camp.
"Won't no one hurt ya here," he said like he knew what she was thinking. "Not as long as ya stick with me."
Beth nodded, but her skin still crawled at the idea of what was happening inside the camp, and how it just wasn't right. These women were being abused and their fears were being preyed upon. It wasn't a choice they were given. Most of them would die on their own, so it was the lesser of two terrible things.
She remembered the look on the girl's face from earlier and shook her head. Maybe it would be better to die on your own terms than have these slimy bastards kill you slowly.
"I don't wanna stay," she said and leaned a little closer to him. He offered her a little strength to draw from, and maybe that's what some of the women here did, too. It was confusing and the lines weren't as straight as she had grown up thinking they would be.
"S'fine with me. I don't mind leavin'."
She turned her head and looked up at him to see he was already looking down at her. "I know what you're thinkin'," he said quietly. "Prolly ain't fair what's goin' on, but there'll always be people that take advantage of a situation."
"Did you?" She asked before she could stop herself.
Daryl snorted and shook his head. "Nah. I ain't a ladies man."
Her eyes widened at his words and she asked, completely shocked, "Are you gay?"
He laughed then, loudly, and hugged her tight to his side. "Nah, girl, I ain't queer. I just—I'm not good with women."
"That's unbelievable considerin' how you're actin' right now," she mumbled and shook her head. "Ya don't have to lie to me. I'm not gonna run away 'cause ya took part in the same thing other people are doin'."
Daryl sighed and shook his head. "I didn't," he said quietly. There was something in his eyes that softened and he gave her a tight smile.
"When can we leave?" Beth asked, changing the subject and looking away.
"Now," he said and dropped his arm from her shoulders. "No reason to stick around and make ya violent."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked and cocked an eyebrow.
"Means that ya ain't nearly as stone faced as ya think. That knife's too little to start a fight with, though, sweetheart."
Beth's cheeks flooded with heat. "It's what I got."
"Well, now ya got me," he said like it was the simplest thing in the world, and maybe it was.
The leader hadn't been too concerned with Daryl leaving. He gave him a pat on the back and wished him luck. "Ya watch yaself out there. She looks pretty green, and ya don't wanna get eaten by rotters."
"Nah, Joe. I'll get her up to speed in no time." He squinted up at the old man who's back was to the sun. "Merle come around again tell him I said 'fuck you', okay?"
"Will do, son," Joe answered with a harsh laugh then walked back toward the middle of camp.
With that settled, they turned and set off down the gravel path. Daryl stopped by a cabin he had shared with a couple of other men and grabbed a pack then he led them out into the woods.
"Never stayed there really," he said as they walked away. "Don't even know their names."
"It's prolly best not to get too attached now-a-days," she said with a half-hearted smile. "So, what's your story?" She asked as they made their way through the trees. "You're brother really leave ya?"
Daryl looked over at her and his brow was furrowed. "Why the hell would I lie about that?"
"Sympathy," she answered obviously.
"Don't need your sympathy. Ya already think I'm nice lookin'." She opened her mouth to say she didn't, but he kept talking. "He really left me. He's seven years old than me, and we ain't never been close. Think he was gettin' restless and didn't want me holdin' him back. Merle's always gotta purpose in mind. I like to meander."
"Meander?" She asked with a little bit of a laugh in her voice.
"Yeah, just take a slow pace, look around." He made a few exaggerated steps in slow motion with that same damn grin in place. "What the fuck have I got to do now that the world's over?"
"What did ya do before it ended? Were ya still meanderin'?"
For just a moment, a shadow crossed his eyes before he pulled it all back together. "Depended on what I had to do for my old man."
"Oh, so you worked for your dad?"
Daryl shook his head. "I can't remember that asshole ever holdin' down a job. Hurt his back and got disability when I was eight. Left him plenty of time to sit around tha house, drinkin' all his money."
Beth nodded and looked over at him. "I guess it'd be nice to get away from that."
Daryl shrugged, going uncharacteristically silent. She had only known him a few hours though, so maybe he was crazy and had ups and downs. That would be her luck.
"What about you?" he asked. "You finishin' up high school or somethin'?"
Beth nodded. "Yeah, but I never really liked school to be honest. I was goin' to Atlanta on the weekends to sing at open mic nights at these dingy little coffee shops." She smiled at Daryl. "I wanted to see my name in lights, ya know?"
Daryl looked shocked for a moment. "Your family all on board with that?"
"Not really. I still lived at home with momma and daddy, and they would give me some looks when I left on Friday afternoons. My sister, Maggie, lived in the city, so I'd stay with her until Sunday then I'd head back. As long as I kept my grades up, there wasn't a problem. They didn't exactly support it, but they were open-minded enough to let me try."
He grunted an acknowledgement then said, "Sing somethin'. I ain't never had a big star walkin' beside me before."
Beth felt her cheeks heat up. "I'm not a big star. I barely had anyone pay attention to me really." She paused and bit her lip before whispering, "The week before everythin' got terrible, and we had to stay put, an agent called me. She was lookin' for new talent, and I was supposed to email her a few of my songs. That obviously didn't pan out."
"Go on," he said and waved his hand for her to start singing.
She started singing the first song that popped into her head, an original one she had written after she had listened to Maggie sit up all night, talking about some guy she was in love with that was way older than her.
By the time she was done, Daryl's ears were a little pink, and he was staring straight ahead.
"S'good." He cleared his throat. "Ya got a real nice voice."
"Thank you," she said with a grin. "My sister really didn't like me usin' her stories for inspiration. Especially when she took a guy to one of my open mics, and I sang a song that I'd written about him, my sister, and his girlfriend."
"How'd he know?" Daryl asked in a gruff voice as he fumbled with his lighter and tried to light a cigarette.
"Pretty sure an audience shoutin', 'Take home, Julie!' and referencin' the one romantic encounter he had with my sister clued him in."
Daryl snorted and took a deep pull from his cigarette before blowing out little rings. After a few seconds, he said, "I like ya. You're cool as hell."
"Not really."
He shrugged and pointed through the trees at a small cabin. "We'll stay here tonight. I used it when I needed to get away from everyone over in Locust Grove."
"Locust Grove?" She asked as she walked behind him to the little log cabin. It couldn't have been bigger than the living room at the farm.
"That's what they call that place 'cause that's the name of the nearest town," he said and pulled open the door.
Beth started to walk through the moment a walker staggered out. She yelped and fell backward.
"Fuckin' hell," Daryl groaned. "So damn sorry, girl. Shoulda checked."
He didn't move fast at all just walked right up behind the walker that was fixated on her, wrapped a forearm around its forehead and pulled it back, slamming his knife in through the back of its skull.
When he let go, the walker fell with a thud beside her on the ground. She stared up at him, wondering just where the hell that had come from.
"How'd ya do that?" She asked as he helped her up.
"What do ya mean?"
Beth shook her head. "I've never seen someone use a knife to kill 'em before until after they've already been shot and taken down. Ya just put your hands all over one and didn't even hesitate."
"He was comin' at ya," Daryl said after he took a drag from the cigarette that hadn't even fallen from his lips.
"Wow," she said quietly. "Just wow."
Daryl followed her inside the cabin, shaking his head. "Ya act like I did somethin' amazin'. I killed a rotter. Pretty standard now."
The sizing of the cabin was about what she estimated, maybe just a hair bigger. There was a cot along one wall and small table with a chair. That was about it.
"You can have the cot. I'll sleep by the door to keep an ear out. Tomorrow, if ya want, we'll go to your farm and see what we can find out."
"They all left," she said. "I don't have a clue where they went."
"I'll look for tracks," he said and pushed the chair up under the door handle then took off his pack.
"You can do that?"
"'Course I can. What kinda hunter would I be if I couldn't?"
Beth shrugged. "I've never known a hunter before."
His grin turned suggestive. "What other things haven't ya known before?"
"Oh, Lord." Beth rolled her eyes and started straightening the blanket on the cot, so he wouldn't see her cheeks turn red. "There's a sweet boy named Jimmy that had those honors."
He tilted his head and shrugged. "I ain't sweet or a boy, so I guess I got that goin' for me."
"Whatever." She huffed and laid back on the cot.
"Sugar, I've known your ass less than half a day, and I bet ya walk all over 'sweet' anythin'."
"Ya didn't know me before all this."
Daryl opened the pack and pulled out a can of beans and can opener. "Might not've, but I can sure as shit guarantee people don't change all that fast."
Beth sat up on the cot and fiddled with the bracelets that covered her scar.
"I've changed a lot."
He snorted. "Sure."
When Daryl walked over and sat down on the floor of the cabin beside her feet, Beth split the bracelets to show her scar and moved it in front of his face.
"I did that after."
Daryl froze and stared at the pink line of raised skin. "After what?"
"After the walkers. After my momma and brother got shot in the head." She paused. "Nearly three months ago?"
Daryl nodded. "Ya seem a lot better now."
"I didn't wanna die."
"What did ya want?" He asked quietly then spooned some beans into his mouth.
"I thought I wanted to die until I saw tha blood then I got scared. I wanted more time."
"Ya ever think people do that and realize they want more time, but they can't go back?"
Beth pulled her arm to her chest. "Probably."
They ate in silence, and once they were finished, Daryl took the can and walked to his pack.
"Ya got that fire," he whispered. "Just chalk full of piss and vinegar. Never woulda guessed."
Beth shrugged. "We all hide things. It's why I wear tha bracelets. I ain't weak. I just had a weak moment."
Daryl hummed and checked the door. The sunlight coming through the window was dwindling, and Beth laid down and closed her eyes.
A little while later, when the room was fully dark, Daryl cleared his throat and said, "When I was ten, my momma burned the house down. Merle was seventeen and off on his own, and I was out with the neighborhood kids. They said it was an accident. That she'd fell asleep smokin', but I don't think it was. Our old man had been home, drunk as a skunk, prolly passed out.
"The firemen got him out, but they couldn't save momma. I don't know why she'd do it, but she'd never have left me on my own with him. She was tryin' to take 'em both out."
"Why?"
"She wanted better for me than how he'd done Merle and her."
"What did he do?" she whispered, her chest aching for him.
"Got some marks of my own," he said and got real quiet.
"Why ain't ya meaner?" Beth asked after a few quiet moments.
She could hear him moving around in the dark. "Don't wanna be nothin' like him. I got his name and his eyes. That's enough."
They stopped talking, and Beth laid there thinking about the day's events.
She might not have known him well yet, but Daryl was someone she could trust. For the first time in months, she slept through the night.
