I really HATE to resort to this level but...if I don't get a few reviews for this chapter I will discontinue writing it and delete it from the website. I'm not going to write something that you guys aren't enjoying. Please don't let me down.


Chapter 7

When the calendar landed on Day 29 people at the farm began preparing to make the trip back to the house outside of Langston with plans to scavenge the library for survival books before heading to the next small town to scavenge for supplies. "You're coming, right?" Maggie asked as I sat on the doorsteps of the porch.

I shook my head as I wrapped my arms around my knees while looking out at the group who was checking the vehicles for preparation of the trip. "No."

"Why not?" She asked as she sat beside me on the steps.

I simply looked at her like she was crazy. "After what happened last time, I don't think I'll ever leave this farm again."

"That is the exact reason why you need to go on this run with us. You can't be afraid to leave the farm, Beth. That's dangerous. That's how people end up dead." Maggie ranted while waving her hands around wildly.

I glared out at the group of people working on the vehicles until my gaze landed on Daryl Dixon who had his hands on his motorcycle but his gaze was dead set on me and Maggie. "I would rather be scared in here than dead out there." I muttered sullenly.

With a huff Maggie got up off the steps and made a beeline to Daryl where she ranted to him, her hands once again. I turned my attention from them to glance around the farm I had spent my entire childhood running wild on. The cows in the back pasture. The big barn and corrals in the middle of the pasture. The peach orchard. The chicken coop. The huge oak tree I fell out of when I was seven breaking my arm. The house my father, sister, and I was born and raised in. "Are you jus' another dead girl?" an angry voice barked at me, interrupting my perusal of our farm.

Looking up I saw Daryl standing in front of me wringing his hands in the red bandana he normally wore in his back pocket. "Do I look dead to you? And why do you care whether I'm dead or alive?"

"You're going. End o' story." He barked at me with a growl and a glare.

Shaking my head I stood up from the steps, stalking down to where he was standing. "I'm. Not. Going. End of story." I snapped before turning and walking away from him towards the barn without a backwards glance. When I opened the barn door Nellie immediately stuck her head out of her stall. "Hi girl." I whispered to her as I walked over to rub the end of her nose. "I wished we could go for a ride through the trees to feel free but it's too dangerous." I whispered to her softly. Before the world became the way it is I used to take Nellie out for runs through the woods to work out her excessive energy and to work out whatever menial problem I had at the moment. "There's nothing like feeling the breeze fly through my hair while I feel the power of your muscles between my legs as we run wild and free."

A groan from behind me had me whipping around so quickly I stumbled into Nellie's stall door. "What are you doing here, Daryl? Didn't you get the point that I'm not going? Or do you need me to spell it out for you?" I snapped irritably as I turned around to calm my antsy horse down.

"I ain't got a horse but I got a bike if ya' wanna ride." He grumbled from where he stood propped up against the barn door.

~*~LUCKY~*~

"Ya' ready?" Daryl asked as I gripped the sides of his angel wing vest and flannel shirt at his waist.

I couldn't help but be nervous of what was to come but I wasn't about to chicken out now. "Yeah. Let's go."

"Wrap ya' arms 'round me." He groused as he kicked the kickstand up on the bike while balancing it between his legs. "Hol' on tight." He growled tugging my fists from his sides until they wrapped around his waist. "Like tha'." He said before taking his hands from mine to start the engine of the motorcycle which made talking near impossible.

I was extremely nervous, squeezing Daryl's waist tightly, when we first took off but by the time we got off the gravel and onto a paved highway my grip had loosened and I was truly enjoying the wind blowing against my face. "This is amazing." I said against his ear as he dodged and weaved around random walkers in the road. I felt his grunt vibrate against my chest as it rested against his back. Riding on the back of Daryl's motorcycle was so much better than riding on Nellie's back. It allowed all of my anxiety and problems to just fly away with the wind as it flowed over my face and neck. Thankfully Maggie had the mind to braid my ponytail when she found out I was riding on the motorcycle with Daryl. We had picked Denton to scavenge before making our way back to Langston to see if Kayden and his sisters were there. "We're almost there." I said loudly against Daryl's ear.

He nodded as he slowed the motorcycle down and guided it to the side of the road. "Wave at them." He called back to me as he walked the motorcycle to a stop. I waved my hand out to the side as he had instructed me to do. The rest of the group pulled to a stop in the middle of the road while Daryl climbed off of the motorcycle. "Your legs are prolly gonna to be shaky when you first stand up." He warned me as he offered me a hand so I could hike my leg over the motorcycle.

Placing my hand in his I gripped his hand as I swung my leg over where he was previously seated before sliding both booted feet to the ground and putting my weight on them. "Oh!" I gasped as they trembled beneath my slight weight. I attempted to take a small step but ended up stumbling instead. Daryl caught me by my elbows, righting me back to a standing position.

"Take it easy. Lean on th' seat for a bit." He told me as he nodded towards our friends and family. "I'ma go talk to e'erbody."

I nodded as I leaned against the motorcycle shaking my legs out attempting to get the shakiness out of them. Looking down at me feet as I shook, twisted, and stomped my feet I failed to notice my audience that came in the form of my sister. "You okay, Bethie?"

Jerking my eyes up to hers I saw her and Carol standing there with smirks on their faces. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

Carol smiled over at me from where she stood next to Maggie. "I have rode with Daryl before and I know how wild he can drive."

I shook my head at her. "The ride was fine but my legs are shaking from it." I said with a chuckle.

Maggie and Carol shared a look before looking back at me but we was interrupted before they could say whatever was obviously on the tips of their tongues. "Ya gonna ride wit' me into town?" Daryl asked as he nudged Carol in the shoulder, their typical greeting since Daryl wasn't one for general conversation.

With a nod I stood from the motorcycle on semi steady legs before looking at Daryl. "If you don't mind, I would like to. It's exhilarating."

"Don' care." He said as he walked over slinging his leg over the motorcycle, balancing it between his strong legs. "Hop on."

I threw my leg over the motorcycle with a groan while Carol and Maggie laughed while they headed back to their vehicles. "I think I'm going to pay horribly for this little adventure tonight." I mumbled as I got settled into my seat wrapping my arms around his waist tightly. "We're headed for the library first, right?"

He nodded as he fired up the engine. As he took off down the road I sighed heavily and laid my cheek against the sun warmed leather vest he wore over his long sleeve flannel shirt remembering the last time I traveled these roads. It was a family outing a few years ago to a huge auction that was happening in Denton. After being bored for hours I began bugging my momma for some ice cream and burgers before we began the trek back home. I was 14. If I could go back in time I think I would stand right next to my momma and just take in her smell that faded a little more as each day passed. Taking a deep breath I lifted my head up to take a look around and realized we almost to the edge of the town that was twice the size of Senoia, my hometown. "The start of the town is just around that curve." I told Daryl as I pointed to the curve in the road up ahead.

When he started slowing down I raised my arm up and waved at the vehicles behind us like Daryl had told me to do last time we stopped. I already knew that we were most likely going to be spending the night in this town somewhere tonight. This time I was prepared for the shakiness in my legs so I gingerly climbed from the bike shaking my legs as I did so. When I finally got the feeling back in my legs I took a deep breath and chanced a few steps. My legs were still shaky but I could walk into town with everybody with no problem. "Ya okay?" Daryl asked as he shouldered his crossbow he had attached to the front rack of his motorcycle when we left the farm earlier.

I nodded as I slid my knife sheath forward now that I wasn't riding on the back of a motorcycle. "I'm fine. Let's get going." I told him with a firm nod of my head.

"Stay alert." He growled before leading the way over to where our group was gathered. This run was expected to be bigger than the last one so there was more people with us, especially after what happened last time. This time around it was Maggie, Glenn, me, Daryl, Rick, Tyrese, Sasha, Michonne, Carol, Rosita, Abraham, Aaron, Jesus, and Tara.

As we walked through the woods to approach the town from a different direction than the main road in and out I felt my anxiety pick up. Daryl glanced back at me as he and Rick led the way through the woods. "I'm fine." I whispered as I chanced a glance at him.

He stopped all of a sudden and held a hand up halting everyone else in their tracks. "Ya breathin' is all wrong. Why?" He growled as he took a step towards me.

I raised an eyebrow at him in amazement. "You know how I breathe? I'm flattered that you've paid such close attention to me." I teased instead of just admitting that I was nervous after what happened last time. The jeans I wore today were skin tight as were most of my jeans except my pajamas but it's not as if I could go out and buy a whole new wardrobe and that is what Dick kept pointing out was how nice my ass looked in my tight jeans. I had stolen a big hoodie from the pile of clothes we had scavenged last time but I couldn't help but still fell nervous about walking into the unknown.

"Why?" He pressed again with a raised eyebrow.

With a heavy sigh I admitted to my defeat. "I'm nervous. Happy now?" I asked as I stomped away from him. Making my way towards the buildings I could barely see through the foliage I paid little attention to the unusually loud footsteps sounding behind me. I was mid-step over a fallen branch when a tight arm banded around my waist lifting me off my feet. "Daryl." I growled as his familiar scent reached my nose.

"Stop." He growled back as he sat me back on my feet. "Ya makin' too much noise wit' all that stompin'." He said with a shake of his head.

Huffing out in annoyance I placed my hands on my hips. "Why ya' care?"

"Jus' do." He growled at me as he looked around the woods at us. "Why ya nervous?"

Rolling my eyes at him I looked down and began kicking at the fallen leaves around us. "Is it really so farfetched that I would feel nervous after what happened last time?" He shook his head but otherwise remained silent. "You and Maggie basically badgered me into coming on this trip."

This time he rolled his eyes at my words.

"Oh ho! Daryl Dixon stooping so low as to rolling his eyes like a rebellious teenager? Thought I'd never see the day." I said with a teasing smile.

Again, he rolled his eyes before shaking his head. "Ya ready ta go now?" He asked while one side of his lips lifted in something resembling a smile or smirk.

I nodded. "Thanks." I whispered as we once again joined our family to resume the back way into town.

~*~LUCKY~*~

Once we broke into the library, thanks to Sasha's lock picking skills, we broke into groups to clear it. A short while later I followed Daryl back up the aisle with a smile on my face because Daryl had stood back and let me put down the two walkers we had encountered in the back reading area. "We need to find an old fashioned card catalogue." I said as we approached the rest of the group as we all converged back at the front entrance of the library.

"Already a step ahead of you, Bethie." Maggie said with a smile as she pointed to the massive desk along the far back wall. "It's in the office back there though it's probably out of date a good ten years or so."

I nodded. "I don't need an updated catalogue. We can find similar books to what we need and just search from there." I said with a smile. Libraries made me happy. I had spent a good amount of my childhood with my head either stuck in my journals or in a book. My momma and I had regular dates that consisted of going to the library before grabbing a milkshake on our way home.

"You always was the nerd of our family." Maggie said with a chuckle.

I simply shrugged my shoulders as I fiddled with my fingers nervously. "Well hopefully being a nerd will pay off now." Sasha quipped with a smile on her face. "How about we scavenge the surrounding buildings before settling back in here for the night?"

We all agreed on that plan fairly quickly. Unsurprisingly the surrounding buildings and houses had mostly been scavenged over but we kept our hopes high as we ventured farther and farther from the library. So far we had only encountered a stray walker here and there but no living people as of yet and nothing stood out as suspicious. "Eyes sharp. Weapons out." Rick said lowly as we rounded a corner and realized we had finally reached the main strip of the town. "Two to a building. Be quick but thorough." He said as he looked over each of us who had unintentionally paired off already. Me and Daryl. Glenn and Maggie. Rick and Michonne. Tyrese and Sasha. Rosita and Abraham. Aaron and Jesus. Tara and Carol.

"Can I pick which store we clear out?" I asked Daryl as we headed across the street together.

He shrugged and kept walking. I took that as all the incentive I needed so I sped up ahead of to peruse the stores on our side of the street until I spotted one that seemed promising. 'Apothecary Shoppe' seemed the most promising for the things we were needing to stock up on during this run. We could always come back at a later date for the clothes or shoes or furniture that was sure to be found in the second hand stores. "This one." I told Daryl as I came to a stop in front of the store window, seeing that the store looked mostly undisturbed.

He wrinkled his nose as he took in the store window that displayed the name. "Why? Ain't nothin' but a buncha hippie bullshit." He said with a shake of his head.

I shook my head and pointed at the store. "We may be able to find a whole assortment of herbs and spices as well as books about herbal remedies and natural medicines. Plus there should be hygiene products in here too. It could be a great find." I argued with him as I rapped the butt end of my knife against the window to bring any walkers inside to us unless trapped in a room.

When nobody came to the window after a few minutes I breathed a sigh of relief and tried the doorknob while Daryl pouted on the sidewalk. "You ready?" I asked him as I took a look around the street to see everybody else entering their shops or killing walkers they let out.

He grunted, held his crossbow up, and nodded. "I'll go first." He muttered as I swung the door inwards allowing it to bang against the wall of the store, the bell dinging above it as we stepped through the doorway.

I forced my eyes to pay attention to my surrounding as Daryl and I cleared the whole store before heading up the stairs to the living quarters up above. "Watch my back." Daryl grunted out quietly as he led the way up the stairs silently.

When he reached the landing I was right there with him as we walked through the open floorplan apartment that was covered in dust. Opening the bedroom we came to a startling stop just inside the doorway. On the bed was two people, their decomposing bodies making the room unbearable to stay in. The couple each had a hole in the side of their skulls but their hands were clasped tightly together, even in death. "At least they went out together." I muttered as I backed out of the room, shoving Daryl out of the way as I pulled the door shut behind us.

"We need to check their room for supplies." Daryl grunted out as the door clicked in place.

I shook my head at him. "No way. Anything in there will forever carry the stench of death and we don't need anything that bad." I told him as I headed for the bathroom to scavenge for supplies. In the bathroom cabinet I found a tube of toothpaste, some used deodorant, a few disposable razors, and a tube of antibiotic ointment cream. Under the sink I found some toilet paper, cotton balls, a first aid kit, and some shaving cream. In the shower I found the usual shampoo, soap, and conditioner. Stuffing them all into my pack I headed into the kitchen where Daryl was rummaging through the cabinets. "Find anything good?" I asked him as I sat my pack on the floor next to the kitchen table.

He glared at me as he sat the three cans of food and big box of rice onto the table. "Not much. You?"

Shrugging my shoulders I grabbed the things off the table stuffing them into my pack along with my meager collection from the bathroom. "Not much. Downstairs?" I asked as I shouldered my pack once again.

He nodded but stopped to check the closet on our way towards the stairs. "Coats and boots." He said with a grunt towards the closet.

"We need those." I told him as I sat my pack down once again so I could add the items to it. "Maybe we should look for another bag or suitcase or something to help hold all the items we find downstairs. We're not leaving anything useful behind." I told him as I began folding and rolling the jackets as tightly as I could before using the small collection of rope Carol had given me earlier to tie them up. When he didn't move from his spot beside the closet I turned my eyes on him. "Can you go find some bags or suitcases?" I snapped at him as I yanked another jacket off the shelf.

With a grunt he took off towards the bedroom I had said we wouldn't need anything out of. A few minutes later he came back out with two massive suitcases with wheels and handles. "Here." He snapped before basically dumping them at my feet before going back into the bedroom.

I rolled my eyes at his retreating form as I added the assortment of shoes in the closet to my pack before looking at the top shelf for anything good. There was some photo albums and memory boxes up there but nothing that we could use. "You ready?" I asked as Daryl came out with two more bags that we could find a way to get back to the library and then back to the cars.

He nodded and led the way downstairs. Once down there I was blown away at all of the herbs stocked on the shelves both in the main room and in the store room in the back. "This is amazing." I told Daryl as I looked through the books I had found on the bookshelf in the main area. These were the types of books that Patricia had been talking about. "All of these herbs can take place of our modern medicine. We need them all along with the seeds so we can plant our own." I told Daryl as I closed the books to put them in my pack. Once my hands were free I opened the largest suitcase onto the table in the middle of the storerooms and began placing the containers in it carefully so that I could make the most of the room I had. Daryl and I quickly formed a routine and made quick work of the storeroom and the main room before heading back out to the sidewalk with our massive haul. We saw the others coming out of the stores they chose with full packs and extra bags they had found which caused some concern for me. "I wonder why this town was missed by others." I mused as we drug our bag laden suitcases towards the corner that led to back to the library. We knew that the group Kayden was with was somewhere in the area so it was strange that this town was basically missed by them and any others that was out there.

"Don't know. Keep your eyes open though." Daryl growled as he walked beside me.