Chapter 14

Maggie and Glenn had the first two driving shifts and it was going agonizingly slow. They had to keep getting out and clearing the road. Daryl was starting to think that they might be better off going on foot. They were planning on stopping in the next town and seeing what they could find. Being on the main road made everyone nervous and they needed to get some guns and ammo if they were going to survive the trek North to the Alexandria Safe Zone that Maggie and Glenn had filled them in on. It sounded too good to be true to Daryl. A place where they might be able to find an end to this mess and an added bonus that it was a safe place to just be.

After all the events over the past few years, it was hard to imagine being able to go back to not having to kill walkers everyday, worry about food and shelter; the basics that they had always taken for granted before the turn. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and trying to concentrate on the hand he had just been dealt. He and Beth were playing poker and he was pretty good at it but what surprised him was that she was pretty good too.

It was annoying that they kept getting interrupted but he figured it was probably for the best. Money was useless now and Beth had wiggled her eyebrows suggestively when he was trying to think of another thing they could play for. He had just narrowed his eyes at her and chuckled lowly. Now they were playing for favors of the winner's choosing, nothing really sexual, just having to skin the next rabbit or squirrel they caught, a kiss, a hug; innocuous stuff really. So far he had placed two bets and she had raised him and now it was his turn to place his bet or fold. He was pretty confident that he had a winning hand. The likelihood of her having something that would beat his straight flush was extremely unlikely.

"I see you and raise you one favor," he said as he held his cards with one hand and chewed thoughtfully on his thumbnail waiting for her to make her move.

Beth was trying so hard not to show the glee as she drew her next card. A ten of hearts to go with her King, Queen, Jack and Ace of the same suit. She looked at him seriously and directly in his eyes. Her Daddy had always told her she had an excellent poker face and she was doing her best to put it to good use right now. "I see you and raise you two favors."

Daryl swore softly under his breath. She either had the best poker face in this world or she was holding a hell of a hand. "Okay, I'm callin' it". He laid his cards out then. "Read 'em and weep, Princess." He laid out his straight flush on the table.

She looked at him and her eyebrows raised in surprise and he felt a brief flash of satisfaction. "Ha, you owe me some favors now. This is gonna be interesting. I'm thinking I might go catch me another mud snake and have you skin that," he said almost gleefully. He sat back in his chair at the table and waited for her to lay down her hand.

Beth glared at him. He knew full well how she had felt about the snake he had caught, stripped bare of skin and roasted over the fire. The worst part was that he had sat there and ate like an oversized chicken leg; so disgusting.

She thought about keeping him going for a little bit so she could really rub it in, but instead she sat back too, observing him and suddenly the corners of her mouth turned up like a Cheshire cat. "Oh I think it's your turn to cry, darling." She said as she laid out her royal flush. She flashed a little look of satisfaction his way.

Daryl's jaw dropped open. He had just been hustled. By a girl, no less. "You little minx. Remind me not to play poker with you again." He muttered. But he had a hard time being really upset; she looked so damn cute with that self-satisfied smug look on her face.

"I gotta admit, that was a fun thing to watch," Maggie called from the front seat. She had turned in her seat to watch the last part of the game. "Bet she didn't tell you she can beat anybody literally hands down, did she?" Maggie gushed, shooting a prideful look at her sister.

Beth smiled back at Maggie and gave her that "thanks for not ratting me out" sister look.

Daryl looked from Beth to Maggie and back to Beth again. "You really did hustle me," he said incredulously, smiling at her. Maybe it was because he was surprised. Or maybe because he was happy doing something as mundane as playing poker with her. Maybe even because she had beat him at poker. He leaned over and impulsively pressed his lips to hers, placing one hand on either knee.

Beth was surprised when Daryl met her lips. It took her a moment to steady herself. He deepened the kiss slightly then all too soon, he dragged his mouth from hers and sat back. "That's for hustling me, ya wench." He said, his eyes still dark with passion.

"Doesn't seem like much of a punishment to me," she whispered. She was deliberately baiting him.

Daryl didn't bite; maybe if they were alone he would have accepted the challenge that her eyes seemed to beg for. Instead he sat back. "So I guess that means I owe you some favors, huh." He said low so no one could hear him but her, squeezing her knee with his hand.

"God, will you two get a room!" yelled Glenn from the driver's seat.

Lucky looked up from beneath the table and let out his little ruff as if trying to get his two cents in.

"Man I warned ya." Daryl yelled to the front. ""Sides we had a room, somebody defiled it." Daryl bit back, looking over to Beth who was laughing openly.

His face broke into a smile then, knowing he had been bested in every way.

Daryl groaned. "I knew I'd live to regret playing poker with you," Daryl muttered but Beth knew he was only kidding. He suddenly thought to when they had drank the whiskey that night and she had asked him to play strip poker. He wasn't sure if he was glad or not that they hadn't played; if she had beat him then, who knew. He tabled the thought for later.

They didn't have a chance to further the discussion however because Glenn had sworn and come to a stop. They were right before an exit on the highway. The highway was completely impassible ahead of them, walkers and dead bodies littering the road and a wall of cars for as far as the eye could see. Their only choice was to head down the exit. Daryl got up from where he was sitting and grabbed the map off the table. They had scavenged the check-in office when leaving the campground and found a few more flashlights and batteries along with several maps of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

He spread the map out on the table, while Glenn tapped on the steering wheel. Maggie was turned in her seat. "What's our best bet?," she trusted Daryl's judgment. Since she had known him, he had gotten them out of more scrapes than she could count. He had excellent instincts; if she had to choose between a GPS and Daryl Dixon, she would pick him every time.

Daryl traced his finger up the map, trying to decide on a good route. "If we take this exit towards Lincolnton, we can find the 504 up to Salisbury. I'd like to steer clear of any of the bigger cities if we can, even though it's temptin' to head on to Greensboro. I know they got a big tank farm there." He finished.

Glenn put the camper back in gear and made the rocky way down the exit ramp where it was surprisingly clear. There were fallen walkers all along the side of the road. It told Daryl that somebody had put them down. The thought filled him with dread. The only thing worse than walkers was people they didn't know. Strangers who could end their life at any moment. People like The Governor, he thought with a shudder.

He kept the map on the table and directed Glenn which way he should turn next. Glenn turned the camper to the left when he got to the end of the exit ramp. The sign pointed to Lincolnton and there was a green sign that denoted fuel and lodging. With any luck maybe they could find someplace to get supplies. He just didn't want to risk going into an insanely large town to do it.

"What's a tank farm?," Beth asked, genuinely curious.

"It's a place they keep huge tanks of gasoline. It's part of the pipeline that runs through the eastern seaboard," Daryl knew it would be too risky to try to maneuver the large city surrounding it no matter how tempting it was to refill all the gas cans they had and maybe even add to it, ensuring that they didn't at least have to worry about that on their way to D.C. Of course that was even provided that they got to keep the camper. They had lost more vehicles than they could even remember. Of all the things they had lost, Daryl would be lying if he didn't admit that he missed his bike the most. "Don't matter none though, it's too dangerous."

Beth nodded and looked out the windshield. They drove for twenty more minutes before seeing the sign for the small town of Sassafras. It wasn't much as far as towns go, but it was bigger than her hometown of Senoia, Georgia. Glenn carefully pulled the Airstream onto the main street of the town. She felt nervous all the sudden. In all the months they had been on the road since the prison or even before, they tried to stay away from towns except for supply runs.

Daryl pointed ahead. "There's a Gander Mountain up there." With any luck at all, they could pick up some more gas cans and guns and ammo. He was hoping that no one else had totally looted the place.

Glenn nodded and steered the Airstream ahead until they reached the desolate parking lot. Whenever it had hit bad here, it must have been at a time they were closed. There were no cars in the parking lot at all. The town actually looked a little deserted and almost unaffected by the turn. Something in Daryl's gut clenched then. Nothing seemed quite right. There were no walkers ambling about at all. He reached for his crossbow and made sure his bolts were loaded, feeling his fingers twitching at the thought of having to use it. He had never been afraid of a fight before, but with Beth beside him and everything at stake, he was more than a little nervous thinking about her getting hurt. He looked at her to see that she had unsheathed her knife from its holster. Something like pride washed over him then; he kept forgetting that she was pretty good at taking care of herself. He had witnessed it on more than one occasion.

Beth felt Daryl looking at her and smiled at him softly. He had gotten his bow and was fingering the bolts like he always did when he was contemplating something.

They all headed for the door of the camper and stepped out onto the pavement. Daryl made to shut the door and saw Lucky standing there wagging his tail expectantly. Daryl reached down and pat his head. "Not this time, buddy. You stay here and guard the camper," He closed the camper door and turned to join the others to find that they were all staring at him, except Beth. Hers was more of a loving gaze.

"You're talkin to a dog?" Maggie asked. "Didn't peg you to be the dog whisperin' type," she said, tongue in cheek. Glenn chuckled a little bit.

"I like dogs; this one just had to prove himself is all," Daryl said, looking away for a moment. He was glad that shut 'em up. Despite his best intentions, Lucky had grown on him. He hadn't really been surprised when he had. He had grown up with dogs his whole life. A lot had been mutts but his old man had preferred Basset Hounds, didn't know or care why. He had loved those dogs, every one of 'em. But one in particular he had taken a real liking to and the dog had loved him too; Ivan. Had followed him everywhere and hid out when the old man was on one of his benders. One night when his father had found the two of them hiding out in the closet, he had pulled the dog out by his ear. Daryl could still hear the dog's yelps. But after that, Ivan had just stood there, haunches up as his father then dragged Daryl out by his shirt, getting his fist out to pummel him. Ivan had growled and bared his teeth. For whatever reason, his father had backed away that night. But about a week later, Daryl had come home from school and Ivan was gone. His dad had told him he probably had run away from Daryl on account he was such a bad kid. Daryl spent the next four nights crying himself to sleep silently praying that his father or even Merle didn't hear him. He shook his head to clear the awful memory.

"Lucky saved us once, didn't he Beth?," he looked to her for support. She was watching him with an intense gaze.

Beth was convinced more every single day that there were more sides to Daryl Dixon than even she knew. He had the most tender expression on his face when he had turned away from the camper. "He sure did," Beth beamed. "We were at this store on a supply run. I stayed in the car and I heard shots inside the store. Me and Lucky went in after Daryl and Lucky led the walkers off on a chase so Daryl could escape. He's an amazing dog. He must be to have survived this long on his own," Beth finished in awe.

Beth looked at Daryl and they exchanged a look. To them, Lucky would always be the catalyst that got them on this path they were on now.

"Why aren't there any walkers?," whispered Glenn as he tapped on the front glass of the place one more time. They had developed that technique for luring walkers out a long time ago. They all listened for the sound of any of the living dead.

"I dunno. I ain't got a good feeling about it though." Daryl never thought he would see the day that he was nervous about not seeing the rotting corpses that ambled about everywhere they looked. Trying his best to ignore the thought and concentrate on the task at hand, Daryl pried the sliding doors open with his pocket knife after they had waited the requisite amount of time, not hearing evidence of anything, either living or undead.

They walked into the store and Daryl let out a huff. It was nearly picked clean. "Well we're already here so let's see what useful stuff we can find. You and Maggie start here and me and Beth will start at the back." Daryl suggested and everyone murmured agreement.

His and Beth's footsteps made a staccato echo in the eerily deserted store. The shelves weren't completely bare, but it almost look like someone had backed up a truck to this place and emptied it out. They reached the ammunition case and it had been picked over but there were still several boxes of bullets. The gun cabinet was completely empty, which Daryl suspected as soon as they set foot inside the place. He had an idea though and he motioned for Beth to follow him to the back of the store to the storeroom.

"We're lookin' for the office," he told her as they entered the back warehouse of the store.

"What's gonna be in the office ya think?," Beth asked, in wonder that he just always made the best of a situation. And his knowledge base amazed her as well. He seemed to be one of those people who knew a little about everything.

Daryl knocked on the door that was labeled "General Manager". They waited, Daryl with his crossbow poised and ready to use and Beth had her knife in front of her, ready for whatever was coming. Hearing nothing, Daryl creaked the door open. He waved Beth inside the room and followed her in closing the door behind them. He got his flashlight from his pack and shone it about, surveying the room's contents.

Beth glanced about the room. It was sparsely decorated in the most basic office furniture but there were animal heads all over the walls. She shuddered. She had grown up on a farm all her life but stuffing game and hanging it on your wall was something Beth was always going to find barbaric.

Daryl looked around the room finally finding a closet door, opening it carefully in case there was something besides what he suspected lurking inside the closet. He could only hope that whatever safe they had used was the key variety and not the combination kind. He could pick most any lock but that's where his safe-cracking abilities ended.

"Ha," he said when he saw the safe in the back of the closet sitting behind stacked boxes of copy paper and other office supplies.

"What's in it?," Beth asked from over his shoulder.

"With any luck, guns. Places like this sell used guns too. I was hopin' nobody had thought to check the safe. It's where they usually kept them until they had them checked and tested before selling them back to the public."

Beth nodded and stepped back and explored the room while Daryl worked on the safe. She turned to explore the back wall where there were lots of golf trophies. As she turned, she knocked a picture frame off and it crashed to the floor, startling the both of them.

Daryl stopped what he was doing to send a warning glance to her. "Good thing they ain't no walkers." He said smartly.

Beth just stuck her tongue out at him. "I didn't do it on purpose," she said as she bent over to pick up the shards of glass, wondering why she was doing so. It wasn't like the former occupant of this office was really going to care. She picked up the photo that had been encased in the frame. It was a picture of a balding middle-aged man, a dark haired lady who was stunningly gorgeous and a tiny little girl, about the age of Judith. Beth felt a tug at her heart, thinking about the little girl. She didn't think there would ever come a time when she wouldn't miss Judith and her soft coos and sweet smell. She stood to get up her foot crunching on a missed piece of glass. She kicked it off her boot and glanced down to see a glint of silver with the beam of her flashlight. It looked like a key; she bent over and picked it up, turning it over and over in her hand. She glanced about, wondering what it could go to, nearly smacking herself in the forehead when she realized what it was.

She ran the key over to Daryl and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Just a minute. I'm tryin' to figure this thing out," Daryl said as he worked at the lock with his pocket knife. "Stubborn piece of shit," he muttered.

Beth cleared her throat, leaning over him from behind and holding the key in front of his face.

Daryl sat back so he could focus on the object she had just shoved in his line of vision. He opened his mouth to protest until he realized that she had probably just saved him from beating the hell out of the safe, which would have gotten him nothing but a lot of bruised knuckles. He turned on his heel where he was bent over and found himself kneeling on one knee, the other leg extended slightly behind him. He flashed her a grin. "Where'd ya find this?," he asked her. She had a pretty satisfied grin on her face.

"Good thing I knocked that picture off, it must have been inside the frame," she mused.

Daryl took the key but in an impulsive move he didn't quite think through, he also grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips as he gazed up at her and kissed the back of her hand.

Beth stared down at him, making this incredible romantic gesture and her heart nearly seeped right through her gut down to her feet.

They looked at each other for a long, lingering moment before Daryl finally smiled at her, almost shyly, and turned back to the safe.

Daryl felt the lock give way with the key and opened up, shining the flashlight on the inside, casing the contents. "Holy shit, we have found the holy grail of gun stashes!" The safe, a large four foot heavy metal standard safe was filled with guns and even some ammo.

He began pulling the guns out and reached for the pack that Beth was handing him. He marveled at the variety as he pulled each one out and placed it in the pack. The first was a Colt 45, a Kimber 1911, then three different calibers of Glocks. He paused when he found a box in the back. It was a Sig Sauer P238, 380 caliber and it didn't look used at all. It was an alloy model, small, lightweight; pretty much a perfect gun for Beth. He turned it over in his hands, admiring the rosewood grips. It had a Rainbow Titanium finish and even had Night Sights. It was a sweet gun and he couldn't really think of a better pistol for Beth to carry with her. With any luck, they'd find a holster for her too. He had already seen the contents of the ammo case and he knew they would be easily be able to find ammo for all the guns.

"This must be what it is like to have Christmas," Daryl remarked.

Beth knew he was amazed by the guns but it broke her heart every time he mentioned something that he had missed out in his childhood.

Daryl stood up then and handed her the Sig Sauer, letting her test the weight of it in her hands. "It's about time we got you a new gun," he remarked as he watched her take the gun in her hands, fingering the grips and the safety slides. She silently appraised the gun for several seconds and then held it in front of her to the back wall of the office, her stance wide and sure.

Daryl knew he had never seen anything sexier than Beth brandishing that gun. He watched her for several moments before she finally turned back around, a smile spread across her face. "It's kind of badass right?," she asked him sweetly, her head cocked to the side.

Daryl chuckled. "Leave it to you to worry about your image." He shook his head as he approached her. They were all alone back here in the office and he didn't see the harm in stealing a kiss. Or maybe two.

Beth's breath caught in her throat as she saw the look on his face. "So about those favors?" she said with a wicked gleam in her eye.

Daryl reached her and pulled her into his arms, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. He leaned back to look at her. "I knew that was going to come back to bite me in the ass." He said laughing.

Beth grinned up at him. "I think I have my first favor all lined up," she said saucily.

"Is that so?," Daryl said, his voice gruff and barely a whisper at this point. Her eyes had darkened and he didn't think it was because of the dim lighting in the room.

"I want you to make me feel like you did the other day," she breathed, glancing up at him shyly.

Daryl racked his brain. He knew exactly when she was talking about. The thing that had his heart hammering in his chest and his breathing turning ragged was wondering which moment it was that had made her feel something. He needed more information. "How did you feel?," he asked her, unable to resist. He had a feeling he was going to regret continuing the conversation along this vein, but he found he wanted to know even if it meant he would walk around with wood the rest of the day.

"When you kissed my neck," Beth moved one hand up to her neck, moving her hair to the side, exposing her hairline where his lips had been. "I felt something….delicious." She said, trying to find the right words.

Daryl chuckled at her choice of words. "Delicious huh?," he murmured as he dipped his head down and kissed along her jaw for a few seconds before pulling back again. "Just what was that delicious feeling." He asked her, looking into her eyes that were now dark pools of desire.

"I felt aroused. I wanted you to touch me." Beth had his attention now, she could tell. His breathing was coming in soft pants. "There." She murmured the one word as she glanced down.

Daryl's eyes followed her gaze and his eyes widened at the realization of what she was asking him. He took a ragged breath and pulled her roughly against him, bringing his mouth to hers. He kissed her slowly, his tongue dancing with hers. He could feel himself harden instantly at the thought of putting his hands on her where she was asking. God help him, this girl was going to be the death of him. He finally broke the kiss and looked at her.

"Beth, there's nothing I want more than to touch you. And we'll get there. I promise we will. But if I make you feel that feeling again right now, all it's going to do is make me want to clear everything off that desk over there." He gazed at her pointedly and nodded his head in the direction of the desk.

Beth gasped a little and her mouth formed an oh at what he was hinting at. "Then do it," she said bravely, all rational thoughts replaced by the burning need that had pulsed downward to where her thighs met.

Daryl groaned. "You're killin' me, you know that?," He said gruffly. "I'd really love to, Princess, but your first time should be better than something quick and dirty on an old office desk."

Beth sighed then, all her arguments suddenly deflated. "Dammit, why are you always right about stuff." She pouted.

Daryl chuckled and planted a kiss on her lips, their lips smacking as he pulled away. "I'm gonna have to get that in writin'. I'm sure it will come in handy down the road," he joked. "Seriously though, we'll get there Princess. When the time is right, we'll know it." He said gently.

She looked up at him, knowing that the full light of love she felt for him was showing in her gaze. "There you go again bein' all chivalrous." She said.

He pulled away from her and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. Daryl leaned slightly into her and whispered in her ear, "I figure a Princess deserves some chivalry."

Beth thrilled at his words as much as she did his warm breath at her ear. She squeezed his hand and she was pleased when he squeezed back.

He hated to leave but they really needed to finish up at this store and get the hell out of dodge. The whole town just gave him the creeps.

"Let's go see what Maggie and Glenn found. Bet it's not near as good as what we have." He patted the pack at his side and slung his bow over his shoulder.

As they left the office, Beth wondered at the man walking beside her. He had the best reason of anyone in this world to have turned out bad, but instead he was good. So good her heart ached. She wanted so badly to tell him that she loved him. He knew. She knew that. But it wasn't the same as saying the words. She figured he was right about there being a right time for them. She thought it might be the same way about saying those three words to one another. When the time was right, it would just spill out of them, just like everything else had so far. Being with Daryl was a little like riding a roller coaster. All ups and downs and curves and fast movement; then every once in a while you had a corkscrew and you were upside down. You either enjoyed the ride or screamed the whole way through. Beth knew which one she was; loving Daryl Dixon was the ride of her life and she never wanted to get off.

First off, I have to say thank you to all my reviewers, favoriters and followers and also PM'ers. You all are the absolute best, have I told you that lately?

So how was this one? It took me a friggin long time. I am not exactly well versed in guns, so please excuse any mistakes I might have made. I even had to look up the safe because I am pretty much clueless. Overall, I was pleased with the chapter. Some adventure; some humor; and of course a little Bethyl fluff because it's totally necessary! So please let me know how I did. I am STILL responding to reviews individually. I have had a ton of guest reviews lately so I have to give you all a shout out. There are several that I would really like to reply to because you are so great, so if you want log in and review the next time so I can shoot you a thank you and what not. I am super duper excited about where they are heading. It's kind of unheard of but it's an excellent place for them. I need to hurry up and write it, huh? Gah! I think you all will love it. Well hope you enjoyed this installment. I am going to try to update tomorrow but it depends on how things go. I have to work tomorrow night; silly real life getting in the way again. Okay, so read, review, and all that jazz. Until next time, xoxoxoxo