Chapter 8
The group walked for miles on end, stopping for a few days here and there. It seemed like Rick could never find a suitable place to stay for longer than five days or so. Despite their nomadic lifestyle, things were relatively good. Beth always tried to find the positive in their situation as was her nature. She never felt as close to anyone like she felt with Daryl and another day with him was always going to be another day to be grateful for. They were still very aware of how their relationship could potentially impact the group so they maintained a low profile. At least they tried; others in the group would likely disagree. Beth and Daryl were always looking out for each other, watching each other, smiling at each other despite how tired or hungry they were. If she wasn't leaning her head against his shoulder he was staring into her eyes and speaking to her in whispers. They had developed a way of communicating without using more than a few words when around the group. They were in their own world but at the same time extremely devoted to the others and always thinking of the safety and security of the group.
On another fairly ordinary day the group stumbled upon a highway littered with cars. They began looking for anything that would be useful from the abandoned cars when the rain began. The dark clouds came on suddenly and with little warning. Rick, Daryl, and Abraham all gave each other the nods and segments of each group dove into the cars for cover. Daryl and Beth found themselves in an old rusty sedan. Daryl quickly checked for any dangers then gave the Beth the okay. He jumped in the front seat while Beth jumped in the back. They both quickly rolled up the windows while the rain pelted the car. It was raining so hard the Beth couldn't see any of the other cars. Daryl was now fixated on the dash trying to see if he could get the car to start. After a couple of minutes of the pouring rain and Daryl busying himself looking through every hidden and not so hidden compartment the car could offer an idea began brewing in Beth's head. She smiled at him and Daryl stopped what he was doing to look back at her. "What?" he said, a little confused as to what she had to smile about when they were stuck in a car in a rainstorm. She didn't answer him so he shrugged his shoulders and turned back to what he was doing.
Beth wasn't going to let him fail to see the irony of the situation. They were stuck in a car again but this time they weren't worlds apart emotionally. They weren't still suffering from the shock of losing the people that they loved and being mad at fate for putting them together when they had little more than a handful of conversations since leaving the farm. At the prison they were more like strangers who respected each other's position in the group and Beth stayed out of his way, even when he obviously looked for her to check on Judith. Practically all of the women fawned over Daryl and he seemed to steer clear of them; this didn't go unnoticed by Beth. She found it amusing. A few times he offered to watch Judith so that Beth could take a break. One of the women noticed Daryl doing this and made their assumptions that Beth and Daryl were a thing but Beth wouldn't say differently fearing that denying it would blow his cover. She didn't see the harm because she knew that he simply preferred being alone and if the women thought that he was with her, which Beth could not imagine, or with Carol, then they would leave him alone. Now these several months later here was the same man sitting only inches away yet seemed to have no clue as to when to take advantage of a situation when it was clearly right in front of him. He was hers and she was going to remind him of that.
Beth jumped behind him and wrapped her arms underneath his and began to drag Daryl to the back seat. Obviously she didn't have the strength to really drag him but he didn't resist. "Hey"! He yelled. Beth pulled him towards her and spun him around. Daryl looked at her very seriously with his stern eyes and cold stare only inches from her face. She smiled even bigger and began kissing him passionately. He quickly loosened up and placed his arms behind her back and met her eager kisses with such intensity it almost scared her. The rain continued to pour down as the windows in the car began to fog up. Beth was grateful for the privacy. They rarely had privacy. The rains in the south can stop as quickly as they start and Beth knew that they likely didn't have much time on their hands. Luckily for them, the weather was kind to the lovers. They took advantage of all the time that Mother Nature generously gave them.
Later, as Beth lay in the corner of the backseat with Daryl resting on her stomach and her hands slowly running through his hair she began to think of the time that one of the women at the prison tried to corner her and get her to talk to Daryl for her. Beth adamantly refused. This was after Zach was killed and before the sickness. Beth felt bad for Daryl who couldn't help who he was no more than she could but she knew that he wasn't the type of guy who merely wanted sex. If he did the women wouldn't have to try so hard to get his attention. Beth figured that she didn't know it then but after she hugged him in her cell, she began to think of him differently, not in a romantic way but just in a different way. He had feelings and he was simply tired of losing people. He wasn't just a killing machine that she was glad that was on their side. He was real and he was sharing his thoughts with the last person in the prison that anyone would guess he would confide in. At the time she felt special, like he could trust her not to treat him like an object to be desired or feared. She instinctively hugged him only wanting to share her sorrow with him and comfort him a little. They just didn't abandon the prison when it was attacked; they abandoned what small innocent comfortable bond that they had created. It took guts to take the leap forward that they did. If not for his drunken behavior he might not have ever gone back to seeing her as a friend to be trusted and not simply as a reminder of what once was and all that they had lost.
Daryl stirred from his short nap and rose to kiss Beth's neck. He continued kissing her neck as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back in delight. The rain suddenly stopped and Beth slowly opened her eyes. Suddenly she saw a walker staring straight at them with only the glass between the walker's gnawing teeth and Beth's face. Beth shrieked and Daryl looked up to see not just that walker but several more surrounding the car. Beth jumped back to the center of the car but there was nowhere for them to go. Beth wondered what was happening to the rest of the group. Were they trapped in their cars too? Everything happened so quickly earlier, did the others see them dive into this car? Daryl couldn't use his crossbow to kill them, not this close. They were trapped.
The walkers began pushing at the car and the sounds they were making were deafening. Beth looked at Daryl wondering if it was going to be for the last time. Tears flooded her eyes as she hugged him. He couldn't save her from this. Daryl grew angry and yelled at her saying that it was not going to be it for them. "We're getting outta here" he yelled. "No…we can't!" she screamed. "We'll die". He stopped to look around and then set his eyes on her. He grabbed her and kissed her hard before letting her go. "You're gonna stay put. I'm gonna to draw them away" he yelled at her as he turned and put his hand on the car door handle. "NO!" she screamed. He gave her one last look. "I love you Beth".
