The sign on his right read Palmer Springs—15 miles.
Truthfully, he was starting to get nervous. The probability of Beth not being there was high, but even for Merle, this would be cruel; to lie about something this huge. His brain was a ping-pong ball, going back and forth. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, but the chance of his Beth, his person, being alive made it hard.
They drive along, the soft sound of Stevie Nicks voice carrying through the RV. Merle had disappeared again, so it was just Aaron and Daryl.
"You gonna tell me about her?" Aaron asks, glancing over at Daryl.
"What about her?"
"Anything."
"She sings. Better than this broad."
Aaron smiles. "Normally I would be offended, but I'll let it slide. What does she sing?"
"Anything." Daryl fiddles with the hem of his jacket. "Plays piano, too. While we was separated from the group we found a funeral home and she played the piano in the viewing room for hours. I sat in the casket and listened the whole time. I can't remember the song, but the piano part it replays in my head sometimes."
Aaron is kind of speechless, he's pretty sure this is the most he's ever heard him talk at once. "I hope I get to hear her sing."
"Me too." Daryl chews on his fingernail. "You're gonna like her."
They set up basecamp a little ways off from the main road. They don't leave anything of value in the RV just in case there's a group around here that wants the RV more than they do.
"We'll make our way east first, then come back for the night. Got six hours of light left, I'd say." Aaron looks over at Daryl while he adjusts his crossbow on his back. "That okay with you?"
"Yeah." Daryl nods as Aaron checks his rifle for rounds.
Aaron can tell Daryl is off, whether he's sad or anxious or both, he's not sure. "If she's out here, we'll find her. We can't stay forever, but I want you to know this is mostly in your hands, okay? You're in charge." Well, he was in charge until Aaron decided he was a risk to their safety. He was hoping it wouldn't come to that, Aaron having to take over, he wanted Daryl to have some control.
Of all people, Aaron knew what it was like to have things out of his hands, and while being force-fed applesauce was, in fact, traumatic, he can't even imagine what Daryl has been through, to have someone like Beth, whatever he was to her, ripped from his fingers twice in a short amount of time.
He hasn't prayed in a while, since middle school, probably, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't ask whatever deity there was watching over them to allow this Beth thing to be true.
"Thought you said I was in charge?" Daryl asks as Aaron takes a seat on a rock.
"Hydration is important, Daryl. We'll keep walking in a minute." Aaron grabs his water bottle out of his pack and takes a drink. "You should take a drink, too."
"I'm fine." Daryl shifts on his feet and looks around. "There's a couple houses 'round here, we should check 'em. Might be holed up in one."
"Good idea. Might find something good."
Daryl didn't really want to turn this into a supply run, he was here for Beth and Beth only, but he supposes it wouldn't hurt to kill two birds with one stone.
The first house they come across is a huge farmhouse off a back road. It's white and immaculate, exactly the kind of house Beth would be drawn to. In a way, it reminded him of Hershel's farm with the wrap around porch and the large weathervane a couple hundred feet up from the house.
He follows Aaron up the driveway, passing the weathervane and a discarded tractor, when he sees the familiar sight of his brother sitting in the aged rocking chair on the porch. It has to be a sign.
"I knew you'd come here, baby brother." Merle smiles once they get closer. "She ain't here."
"Where's she at, Merle?" Daryl asks, causing Aaron to look back with confusion on his face.
"Can't tell ya. You have to find her. Ain't my rules. I'd take a look around inside though, might find something."
"Is he here?" Aaron asks quietly, looking back and forth between Daryl and where Daryl's eyes are pointed. "Ask him if we're close."
Merle laughs. "Go inside, little brother."
"Let's go." Daryl lightly pushes Aaron towards the door. "Bastard ain't helping."
They head back to basecamp when the light in finally started to fade, making the trees on either side of them feel like they're caving in, moving in on them. It doesn't bother Daryl, these woods are no different than the woods in Georgia, where he feels most comfortable. Aaron, on the other hand keeps looking behind him and to his left and right, Daryl can't help but be annoyed, there's nothing worse to him than a fidgety person, someone who just won't calm the fuck down. It reminds him of Beth, how scared she was after they left the prison. He was such a dick to her, he regrets it now. He should've tried to comfort her, somehow.
There was no trace of her, at least on this end of the road, they searched a few houses and didn't find much other than a few cans and a sign Aaron was taking back to Eric to put with the rest of their crap collection. The house was a bust, he should've known. Merle was the least helpful person in the universe, probably. Daryl can't even imagine one time where Merle went out of his way to help him with something. He didn't help him in school, didn't help him when it came to William Dixon, and he sure as hell didn't help him when the world went to shit. The only thing he's ever done for Daryl was convince to try and rob that Atlanta camp, where he met Rick, which in turn led him to Beth was the only thing worth writing home about Merle ever did. And he fucked that up, too.
Aaron roasts a couple squirrels that Daryl caught while they were out over a low fire, while Daryl starts to dig a hole to put the stuff they found in it, so they didn't have to pack it around. The RV was big and hard to miss, so it could easily bring out people who wanted to steal it.
"Squirrel's ready." Aaron calls, barely above a whisper. They're lucky, they've barely seen any walkers out, except around the houses.
Daryl stabs the shovel in the ground behind the RV and heads over to the fire, plopping down on a piece of wood.
"I hope you aren't discouraged." Aaron tells him, passing him a plate. "We've only covered one half of the road, tomorrow we'll have more time."
Daryl nods and takes the plate, poking at the squirrel with his finger.
"Can I ask you something?"
"You're gonna do it anyway." Daryl mumbles back.
Aaron gives a small smile while he picks the meat off the squirrel's bones. "What was she to you?" He stops and looks at Daryl. "I know she's Maggie's sister, she was with your group for a long time, but you don't seem to be as…devastated over Tyreese. Or even your brother."
"My brother's a dick." Daryl lightly sighs. "She's just…" He trails off, not good at words, not sure how he's going to explain it because even he's not really sure. He loves her, he's pretty sure, he's never been in love so he doesn't exactly know how that works, but he was ready to have a future with her at the funeral home, so he supposes that's what love is. "she's home." That's all he can think of, the only way to describe her, when he's with her, he's comfortable, he's fine. She is easily his living room; making him feel alive in a way he's never felt before. She's his kitchen, filling him with warmth and goodness. She's his attic, making him feel high and free. She's his bedroom, making him feel wanted and at ease. And dammit, she's his basement, because as soon as she left him, he's been cold and isolated, damp and disgusting.
Aaron nods. "I understand."
They sit there, eating their squirrel, the only sounds coming from the forest around them.
Daryl takes first watch, mostly because he can't sleep. He probably won't be able to sleep once Aaron wakes up and relieves him from next to the fire. Part of him wants to go off on his own and see if he can find any clues, but he knows if he did, Aaron would get mad at him, and since he's the only person stupid enough to come out here with him, he's stuck. Besides, Aaron is the closest thing he has to a friend right now since everyone at the Safe Zone is doing their own thing. They still care about each other, sure, but Carol is off trying to pull the wool over people's eyes, Rick is trying to bed the wife of the man he just killed not too long ago, and he can't look at Maggie or Glenn without guilt falling over him. Aaron and Eric, right now, are all that he has.
Things have got to change if Beth is alive, if he brings her back to the Safe Zone, they have to.
