Warning – This chapter contains the threat of aggressive, non-consensual sex.
Daryl woke up from a restless sleep with sweat dripping off of his face. He looked at the small watch sitting by the pile of blankets in his tent. It was only 5:00 a.m. The thought of walking in and finding Beth cowering and shaking in tears on the floor had been the only thought on his mind all night. His heart shattered into pieces seeing a young woman who normally was so happy and full of life broken in a matter of minutes. He felt the strongest urge to protect her. To wrap her in his arms and tell her everything would be ok, and then to go find Shane and give him the beating he deserved.
At 6:30, after laying there pondering what he was to do with the whole Shane situation for an hour and a half, he decided it would be best if he went out hunting. Normally a good hunt in the woods calmed his nerves and temper when he was on edge. Daryl got up and put his boots on and grabbed his crossbow. Merle was snoring loudly on the other side of the tent on his own pile of blankets.
Daryl kicked the mattress.
"Watcha want?" Merle yawned, still half asleep.
"I'm going hunting. Be back soon."
Merle grunted his response and was snoring again before Daryl even made it out of the door.
/ / / / / / / / / / / /
"Anyone seen Daryl?" Beth asked as she walked into the kitchen a little after noon. She hadn't seen him all morning and was getting a little worried.
"No, he didn't come in for breakfast this morning." Rick said looking from person to person for confirmation. "Maybe you should go ask Merle?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Beth said as she headed towards the door.
"I'll go help you look for him." She heard someone say behind her. She turned and looked Shane straight in the face as he got up and started walking towards her.
"I don't need your help." Beth replied as she squared her shoulders and stood her ground. She refused to become a blubbering mess around this man. If they were going to be living in the same house, she needed to let him know she was in no way and never would be interested.
Shane grinned. "Suit yourself sweetheart."
"I'm not your sweetheart and you would do best to remember that." Beth said, the venom dripping in her voice.
Shane nodded and headed back to the kitchen table where several questioning eyes looked at him.
/ / / / / / / / / / / /
"Stupid piece of crap ain't worth the dirt it's sitting on." Merle mumbled under his breath as he tinkered with something on his motorcycle.
Beth was worried about disturbing him while he was so frustrated. She had only known Merle a short while, but knew that he was a bomb ready to explode at any time. "Hey, sorry to bother you." she said as she walked over to Merle.
He looked at her.
"I was just wondering if you knew where Daryl was."
"Probably hiding in to woods rubbing one out for you princess." Merle said as he went back to work.
Beth rolled her eyes. No matter how many times Hershel offered to let the men come in the house, Daryl refused. She understood though. It was crowded in the house with the new group staying there.
"Well when you see him, tell him I was looking for him."
"I ain't your messenger boy or his babysitter. Tell him yourself." Merle answered as he kicked the motorcycle to the ground.
/ / / / / / / / / / / /
Beth was lying on her bed reading a book. It had been another two hours and Daryl had still not been seen. Beth was really worried now. She was trying to relax though and not get so worked up over him. Why was she so distraught anyways? It's not like she really had known Daryl long. He was just some man who brought a hurt dog to her home. He felt obligated to look out for her because her daddy had asked him too. Plus, he was a grown man who knew how to defend himself. He'd be ok. Unless he was surrounded by a group of walkers and couldn't get away. What if she was lying here reading while Daryl was being torn to shreds?
She suddenly jerked up and chucked her book across the room. Her nerves were getting the best of her today. She had to find something else to distract her until he got back. Jumping out of bed, she headed towards the door. She was about to yank the door open when she heard a small knock.
"Bethy, can I come in?" Her sister asked.
Beth opened the door and was greeted with a giant plate of her mama's homemade chocolate chip cookies and some ice cold lemonade. She breathed in the familiar scent and found herself tearing up. Maggie was the only one who knew her mama's secret recipe.
"I brought you a snack," Maggie said with a smile. "and thought maybe we could have some sister time."
"That sounds perfect." Beth said as she rubbed away the tears that were threatening to flow down her cheeks. She missed her mama so much.
Walking back to Beth's bed, Maggie jumped on it and patted the space beside her. Beth sat down and took one of the cookies that Maggie offered. She bit into it and closed her eyes. The cookie invaded her senses. The soft, chewy texture with the giant chunks of chocolate took Beth back to a simpler time. For a brief moment, everything was perfect and back to normal. Then thoughts of Daryl jerked her back into reality. She looked down at the half eaten cookie and the realization that nothing would ever be the same caused her to sigh. She set the rest of it down.
"What's on your mind?" Maggie asked her little sister.
Beth just shook her head and looked at her knotted finger in her lap. "Just worried about everything. That's all."
Maggie picked up a cookie and crammed the entire thing in her mouth. "I'm sure he's fine." She said with her mouth full. Bits of crumbs falling out with every word. "The Dixon's look like they can handle themselves."
Beth laughed. "Sometimes I think you have been around the barn animals too long Mags."
Maggie laughed and shoved another cookie into her now empty mouth.
"That new guy seems pretty nice. Gary? Or was it Gus?" Beth said.
"Glenn." Maggie corrected.
"That's right, Glenn. He sure seems to be following you around like a puppy."
"He's alright." Maggie said with a sigh. "Not really my type though."
"Not your type? Does your type happen to be a certain older Dixon?" Beth asked with a giggle.
Maggie's face turned beet red. "NO!" She said in defense.
Beth laughed. "Then why are you blushing?"
"Because it's so dang hot!"
"Mmhm, sure Mags."
/ / / / / / / / / / / /
After Maggie left, Beth decided to get up and go look for Daryl herself. She couldn't just sit here and wait for his shambling corpse to come traipsing through camp. Her mind was made up.
Beth walked out to the tent where Merle was earlier. She needed some weapons, and she knew he had some. He was nowhere to be seen though. Beth sighed and looked at the motorcycle Merle had been working on earlier. She had always wanted to ride a motorcycle, but never knew anyone who had one, until now. Beth wanted to sit on it. but she was afraid she would knock it over and decided against it.
As she was getting ready to head out without anything, she noticed a wood handle sticking up from the saddle bag of the motorcycle. Beth looked around to make sure no one was watching before she grabbed the handle and lifted out a very old, but very sharp looking hunting knife. The handle was an old dark brown wood with the initials 'R.D.' carved into the side. It was the only thing that she could find to defend herself with, so after an inner battle on whether it would be right or wrong to take it, she put the knife and holder onto her belt and took off into the woods.
/ / / / / / / / / / / /
It was eerie in the woods. Growing up as a child, Beth used to be terrified to come out here on her own. She was afraid something dark and evil would pull her into the shadows. Now that there really were things going bump, she was even more frightened. She had to do this though, for Daryl. Beth walked a little further. Hearing a twig snap, she jumped behind the nearest tree and looked around the corner. She was expecting to see a corpse walking around, but what she actually saw made her blood run cold. Shane was standing a few feet from her starring right into her eyes.
"Don't fight me and I'll make sure you enjoy it." he said as he walked up to her and grabbed her by the arms.
Beth shoved Shane away and took off running. She didn't get far though when he tackled her to the ground. Sitting on her waist and pinning her arms.
"Help!" She screamed
"Feisty, aren't you. No one can hear you scream sweetheart, and I'm gonna enjoy this."
His other hand went to his belt. As he was working on removing it with one hand everything went into slow motion. One minute he was on top of her, and the next he was on the ground with a dirty and bloody Daryl on top of him.
Daryl slammed his fist into Shane's nose over and over. Shane hollered in pain before he used his feet to kick Daryl off of him and then tackled him into a tree.
Daryl roared in anger. He grabbed Shane around the neck and wrapped his legs around his body until he had him in a choke hold. Daryl used all of his muscle to squeeze as Shane clawed at his arms and squirmed to get free. After several minutes of fighting, Shane's body finally went limp.
Daryl rolled Shane off of him and walked over to Beth who was frozen in fear. He knelt down in front of her, not wanting to get too close and scare her.
"Beth? Are you ok?" He asked in a soft voice.
"Is he... Is he dead?" She asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
"No, he just passed out." Daryl said.
Beth looked at Shane's limp body lying on the ground and then launched herself into Daryl. She buried her face into his shoulder as tears ran down her face.
"Shh...It's ok." He crooned as he stroked her hair and gently rocked her back and forth.
"I was so worried about you." She said.
"It's ok now. You're safe. I'm safe. We're ok." He said in a reassuring voice as he tried to console her.
Daryl's heart was so full. How could this beautiful woman care more about what happened to him then she did herself? How could he be the first thing on her mind after such a traumatic ordeal?
After a few minutes, the tears that Beth had been crying were dried on her face. She decided it was finally time to get up and stop embarrassing herself by hugging on this man and making him feel uncomfortable.
She lifted her head off of his shoulder and looked at him. "Sorry." She mumbled not making eye contact.
"Don't ever be sorry for that." He said as he brushed a strand of hair from her face.
Beth smiled and looked Daryl in the eyes. That's when she noticed Shane getting off of the ground and charging at Daryl full speed, knife in hand.
She didn't have much time to react. Beth shoved Daryl out of the way as Shane started to plunge the knife into his back.
"LOOK OUT!" She screamed.
There was a gun shot, and Shane hit the ground. Daryl grabbed Beth and shoved her behind his body. Beth peeked out from around Daryl and saw Rick standing there, gun in hand.
"Looked like you could use some help." Rick said in a shaky voice.
Daryl nodded his approval at Rick before turning and looking at Beth. "Why did you do that?" He asked, studying her face.
"I don't know." She said looking down at her hands. "My first thought was to get you out of the way." She finally admitted.
Daryl put his finger under Beth's chin and made her look at him. What she saw was something she had never seen on a man's face for her. Admiration. Protectiveness. Desire. And something else she couldn't put her finger on. The combination made something deep inside of Beth's body clench in anticipation of something that she had never wanted before, but she did now.
Rick cleared his throat causing both Daryl and Beth to jump.
"Thank you Rick." Beth said walking over to him and smiling.
"Yeah, thanks." Daryl said.
Rick nodded. "He was my best friend and my partner for years. He was a good man before..." He trailed off.
"I'm so sorry Rick." Beth said
"No, it needed to be done. He deserved what he got. Even though the world has turned to crap, we promised to protect the innocent when we became officers. That hasn't changed for me."
"What should we do with him?" Daryl asked as he glanced at Shane's body.
"Leave him here." Rick said as he walked back in the direction of the farm.
/ / / / / / / / / / / /
Rick, Daryl and Beth where almost back to camp when they heard tree limbs crunching and the sounds of faint moans.
"Walkers." Daryl said quietly as he put his finger to his lips and walked towards the sound, knife in hand.
Rick followed with his gun, followed by Beth and the knife she took from Merle.
When they got closer, Daryl held up his fingers, counting down from three. On one the three jumped out from behind the tree to find Maggie and Merle in a compromising situation.
"Maggie?" Beth said in surprise.
Maggie jumped away and covered herself. "Beth, it's not what you think."
"Oh sweet tits, she knows exactly what we were doing behind here. Probably got some herself."
"Shut. Up." Maggie said as she rolled her eyes and stomped back towards the farm.
"Hey! Where'd you get that?" Merle asked as he pointed at the knife Beth was holding.
She gulped. "I'm sorry. I took it when I went looking for Daryl. I was worried."
Beth held the knife out to Merle. He stared at it. "Keep it."
"Thanks." She said with a smile. "Who's R.D.?"
"Roy Dixon." Daryl said. "My grandfather."
.
this chapter submitted by DarylDixonsWife
