Daryl woke her long before the sun came up. In silence, they got their gear together and left camp, slithering their way around the walker alarms. He had her take the crossbow again, throwing her right back into point, while he stayed a few steps behind.

"It's so dark, I can hardly see anything," she confessed. They'd tracked when it was this dark before, but she hadn't been any good at it. She needed more experience. The world looked different in the dark, but it wasn't impossible to find the same trails and signs of disturbance that simply stood out more under the light of day.

Daryl didn't even comment, but pointed up to the sky.

Following the line from his finger up past the trees she could make out a full moon. Without words, his meaning was clear; it could be worse.

"I hear water."

"Uhum,"

She followed the sound of the trickling stream uphill. It wasn't a lot of water, but it sounded steady. It could be a frequented spot by a lot of animals.

"They know we're here, and they're scared," murmured Daryl, "They got every right to be."

Any prey nearby would bolt, that was why tracking was so important. Initially the animals would have enough energy to run far away from them, but they would get tired, or complacent or they would get to a place where they felt safe and they would have to stop running eventually. That was when it was time to fire a bolt.

"Deer pellets," she stepped around them, eyes searching for a trail.

"Not fresh," Daryl pointed out.

It wasn't until the sun did finally come up that they were able to begin an earnest stalk. From the hoof stride and shape, Daryl could tell that it was a wild pig.

"We're getting close, aren't we?"

"How can you tell?" Daryl asked with a tone of voice that she recognized from before the world fell.

With a little grin she glanced back at him, "You askin' me to show my work?"

"Sometimes it's instinct, but sometimes you'll find you can actually explain what you're seeing. Why do you think we're getting' close to miss piggy?"

"When the pig stepped here, it pinned the side of that leaf into the mud. It's still all slick with dew. I don't think this happened longer than a half hour ago, otherwise it would have started to dry in the sun."

"Decent, Greene. Keep going."

In less than an hour they'd caught up with the pig. It was bigger than Beth would have guessed from the stride, but not too big for her to carry. For a moment she felt too nervous to fire. The pig was foraging beside a large tree. She and Daryl were still a good twenty feet back, but every time she tried to get any closer she felt like she was making too much noise, alerting the pig to their presence. She briefly considered handing the crossbow over to Daryl and asking him to finish it off for her. Now that she saw how big it was and was thinking about how much the meat would be appreciated by their group she wasn't sure she wanted to risk her amateur skills scaring it off.

Lips tight, she glanced over at Daryl.

'Go on,' he mouthed, nodding towards their prey. It was just the encouragement she needed; he had confidence in her to be able to do this.

Beth took aim and fired.

The pig squealed and broke into a frantic run, the bolt jutted out of its side, bobbing awkwardly as it stumbled into the trees.

"Come on!" Daryl clamped a hand down on her shoulder before he leapt up to chase down the injured pig. It didn't get very far before he caught it and finished it quickly, retrieving the bolt.

She'd done it. Beth hadn't realized she was holding her breath until Daryl handed her the bolt back and she released a lungful, the scent of blood was strong as she inhaled again. She'd never much liked hunting. She used to complain when her daddy wanted her to kill their chickens, but now, she couldn't talk against it. It was a skill that she needed to pick up. Initially, before she even got to know him, she'd always respected Daryl for his skills.

Daryl lashed the pig's legs together and slung it over his shoulder, refusing his crossbow when she tried to give it back. "Nah, I'm just pack-mule today. Come on, we can keep huntin' while we circle 'round to take a look at some of the traps."

Because they already had the pig, tracking kept slipping from the forefront of her mind so that a couple of times, Daryl had to remind her to keep an eye out for more trails to follow.

As the day wore on, she found her mind wandering back to their time together, before she'd been kidnapped by Brady. It felt like they were back there right now, except sweeter because her mind didn't turn to worry about or mourn their lost companions so much. She could enjoy the peaceful, unchanging nature of the woods and Daryl's comforting presence.

"It worked out," Beth hadn't meant to say anything out-loud, the thought had crossed her mind and almost as if she were trying to convince herself, she said it out-loud.

"What?"

"Oh, it's just…" Beth blushed, "I was thinkin' about how, if I hadn't gotten myself all kidnapped, then maybe Sasha would've died, and then how would they have gotten those weapons and been able to fight their way out of Terminus? You, probably. You could've gotten them the weapons, but Sasha would still be dead, and maybe Judith…" she shuddered to think about what might have happened to the baby if they hadn't found her. "I was just thinkin' about all that. About how badly I didn't want to leave you." She lowered the crossbow to her side as they slowed to a halt in the trees.

Taking it as a cue to take a rest, Daryl lowered the pig onto the ground and faced her.

"You remember? In the funeral home? Did you hear me yell out that I wasn't gonna leave you?" guilt crept into her as she looked at his face. She knew he remembered. "I wish I didn't have to, but at the same time, if I'd stayed… all kinds of bad stuff might've happened. It's like any way it goes, it's all bad. I know it's selfish. I just didn't want to leave you."

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Daryl stepped into her, one hand finding its place on her shoulder, "You didn't."

His gaze was so intense that she had to drop her eyes to the space between them. She knew what he was trying to say, and it rendered her momentarily speechless.

"I couldn't… all the time. Things you said, feelings and sometimes just your face or your eyes," he lifted her chin gently, "Came back to me 'long the way, when I needed it bad. You were gone, but you didn't leave." Tentatively at first he raised his hand to his chest, then pressed his palm firmly over his heart. "You didn't leave."

Propping his crossbow against her leg on the ground, she slipped her arms around his waist and felt his protective embrace close firmly around her shoulders. She'd always hoped to find someone warm and loving; he was more than that. As she drew back she felt his forehead staying close to hers but neither of them went in for the kiss right away.

"You were right," Beth told him, "I wasn't ready. I was racing. Thanks, for making us hold off."

In reply, he cupped the back of her head in his hand and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Now I… I don't know," she admitted, "Maybe I'm still not. But, I wanna be."

He nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Is that alright? I mean, is that enough?"

"Yeah. It's enough, if it's what you're really sure you want."

Rising onto her toes she pressed her lips against his.

"Come on," he hefted the pig onto his back again and she took up the crossbow. It was noon before they made it to the first trap, which was still undisturbed and waiting for a victim. They took short breaks, every hour or so, sharing what little food they'd brought with them and speculating about what they might find in DC, but mostly they simply enjoyed being together, telling stupid jokes, celebrating like fools when they did find another rabbit and a squirrel in two of the other traps.

Once they were ready to make their way back to camp, she listened to his stories, mostly about animals he'd tracked for days, sometimes he finally caught them and sometimes they got away. Fights he'd gotten into for reasons he didn't remember or had never really known in the first place. Compromising situations that his brother had constructed, and a few times when he hadn't been arrested, but probably should have been.

"When Merle was in jail, or just run off alone, shacked up or strung out… I'd usually disappear to the woods for a while. Wouldn't see people for weeks at a time. Hunt when I was hungry. Sleep when I was tired, 'casionally I'd wander back into town to get cigarettes."

"You didn't have anyone checkin' in on you? Other family or… nosy neighbors?"

"Nah. It was just me and Merle. Our neighbors kept their noses out of it."

It had always been interesting to her, how much her life had changed since the walkers showed up. "Our neighbors all rushed over when it first started to happen. Wantin' to know if we were all okay, if we knew anythin' that they didn't. Really, though, I think they just wanted to pull together. Be with people."

"Makes sense… never really felt that before all this. I'd stay away from people as much as I could get away with. Now, I get it. You need people."

"Do you ever miss being a man in the wilderness?" Beth didn't realize precisely what she'd said until the question left her mouth. She bit down on her lower lip to keep from smiling as his eyes shifted pointedly around the trees, a little smile creeping onto his face.

Together they laughed for a moment then kept on walking. They were nearing camp. It hadn't seemed like more than a few hours, but Beth could see in the distance that they sun was well past the middle of the sky. They'd been out in the woods for the whole day.

"I don't miss it," Daryl finally said. "It's better, havin' people who rely on you, who are prayin' you come home safe. Even if it means I gotta take my turn to hope n' worry 'bout them when the time comes."

Fools – Lauren Aquilina