The word that came to mind was quaint when Beth looked at the cabin. It was almost pretty. Well it had been. She and Daryl had been hammering wood over the windows, rendering them useless. It would stop walkers from spotting them but it would also keep the cold out.
Beth was still struck by how small it was. If a herd the size of the one that had come through her farm decided to attack the cabin, they'd tear it out of the ground.
Daryl had plenty of ideas though.
"Did you see what that woman had with her?" He asked as they took a break to drink some water. Beth's hands were raw from the hard work and her skin was going pink in the sunshine.
"No, you pretty much blocked my view of everything," Beth pointed out as she took the bottle from Daryl.
"Yeah, you're welcome," Daryl said wryly. Beth poked her tongue out at him before taking a sip.
"She had walkers on chains," Daryl said and Beth spluttered on her mouthful.
"Why?" she demanded, aghast.
"I think for camouflage. They didn't have no arms or teeth," Daryl recounted thoughtfully.
"So what're you thinking?" Beth prompted, already not liking the sound of it.
Daryl shrugged. "We could do that too. Tie 'em up to trees and posts. Create a ring around the cabin."
Beth shuddered at the thought. She didn't know how Daryl could so calmly sit there and talk about doing that.
"Wouldn't they try and get us?"
Daryl shook his head. "Don't think so. They just stood there in that shop. I was thinkin' 'bout it and I'm pretty convinced that made 'em tame."
"Where we gonna find walkers with no teeth and no arms?"
Daryl glanced at her.
"Oh,' Beth said. "We weren't gonna find them. We're gonna make them."
"It'll mask us from other walkers and hopefully it'll keep people at bay too."
It was a good idea, Beth reluctantly decided. A disgusting, skin crawling idea, but practical.
"What else were you thinking?" Beth struggled to keep her tone free of revulsion. Daryl seemed genuinely interested in the topic.
"We should also dig some pits, just in case. Maybe the whole way round except for some space to get the car an' bike through."
Beth liked that suggestion more. Less body parts involved at the very least.
"When do you want to go walker hunting?" Beth asked slowly.
"Whenever. Already got the rope."
Beth raised her eyebrows. Clearly Daryl had been thinking about this for some time. She didn't have a single logical reason to object beyond feeling squeamish.
"You don't have't help," Daryl offered slowly.
Beth squared her shoulders. Lately she had been letting Daryl shoulder too much of the responsibility and she was determined to change that. "No, I wanna help."
That's how she ended up trailing Daryl through the forest a few hours later. Daryl had led them in there, casually saying, "No sense puttin' off what you can do today."
"You read that on a fortune cookie?" Beth had grumbled behind him but Daryl didn't answer. He liked being in the woods, that much was obvious. He was more relaxed out in the middle of nature than Beth had seen him elsewhere. She figured it was because he felt in control out here.
They were being loud through the underbrush. She could tell Daryl had to fight his instincts to actually make the noise but the prey they were hunting today would come towards the sounds.
They didn't spot anything for a long time. Beth was getting happier at the idea they might avoid the whole situation for a while longer while Daryl became increasingly agitated.
Beth's luck didn't hold and a walker was spotted through the trees. Daryl threw a stone at it, making it sway in their direction. They didn't want to yell at it to draw it in; they only wanted to have one at a time to cope with.
Daryl moved forward to deal with the walker directly. He had forgone his crossbow and brought the axe with him. Arrows were only good for death blows. They wouldn't slow a walker down if they landed anywhere else.
Beth was responsible for holding the length of rope while Daryl awkwardly wrestled the thing to the ground. Her heart leapt into her mouth as Daryl neatly dodged its snarling mouth. If things got out of hand, Daryl promised he'd just kill it. Beth would have done so by now but Daryl didn't look phased.
He got the thing on its stomach and Beth hastened to help. She put pressure on its back, keeping the thing face first into the ground. It struggled against her and her eyes widened as she felt its strength.
Daryl didn't hesitate, drawing its arm out along the ground. He swung with the axe and Beth found herself sprayed with blood. She hastily shut her eyes as bone and tendons were separated under the bulky blade.
Daryl quickly switched to the other arm and hacked it off with equal precision. He gestured Beth away from the squirming walker. She knew they couldn't really feel pain but the sounds it made still chilled her.
Daryl had to use his foot to flip it onto its back. A well placed boot on its upper chest stopped it from rising up. Daryl fit his axe in the open mouth and worked it down until flesh gave and the bottom of its jaw came off. Then he used the handle to smash out the teeth in its upper jaw.
Beth wordlessly passed him the rope and Daryl wound it around the neck of the creature, tugging it to its feet. It wasn't completely docile, gurgling noises still emerged from its throat, but it didn't lunge at them either. Beth could only stare at the transformation. Daryl had been right. His body was even more covered in blood than Beth's was.
Beth felt her stomach shift and she reeled away. She threw up into the bushes, what little she ate that day now on the forest floor.
When she was upright, she found Daryl had taken a step closer and was watching her with concern. Beth waved him back.
"I'm good," she said weakly.
"I can do this by myself,' Daryl suggested again.
"I gotta learn to do difficult things." She walked closer to Daryl and slipped the axe out of his hand. Her stomach roiled but she clutched the axe. "I'll do the next one."
...
Daryl was watching Beth carefully as she washed her arms in the river. Three walker sentries now stood out front of the cabin, tied up in the trees. They would have to find some posts to make it a proper circle but it was a start.
One of them was now short a set of arms thanks to Beth. Daryl would have put money on the fact she wouldn't go through with it but she'd done it. He could see the horror on her face after the first swing of the axe didn't separate the arm and she'd had to scythe at it a number of times but she'd eventually done it.
The jaw was the worst part. Even that had given Daryl the creeps but Beth had come through. He'd done the last one because she was too tired to do it again but he was impressed. He knew she'd thrown up again when they'd gotten back to the cabin. Daryl had tied them securely to the trees and Beth had ducked behind the cabin but his trained ears had heard the retching. But he'd honoured her wishes and pretended like he'd never heard it.
Beth retreated inside once her arms were clean. Daryl followed her example and washed his arms and his face. He was about due for a proper wash but the sun was too low on the horizon and he didn't want to be splashing around in the dark. Tomorrow, he'd definitely make the effort to bathe. He was happy to be dirty but he could see that there was going to be a lot more walker blood in his near future.
Beth had tugged her hair out of its ties he saw when he got inside. There was a fine smattering of blood in the ends of her hair but she didn't seem to have noticed and Daryl wasn't going to point it out. He wasn't the only one who needed a good scrubbing, that much was clear. He had to fight a grin at the idea he'd brought Beth down to his level.
Beth noticed his smirk and regarded him suspiciously. "What?"
"Nothin'."
Beth rubbed at her shoulder wincing. "It better be nothing. I'm in no mood for your insults, Dixon."
"What's up with your shoulder?" he asked, ignoring the red flag she'd practically waved.
"Just swung an axe through somebody's arm," Beth retorted.
"Weren't no somebody. They're just dead bodies," Daryl corrected.
"That move around?"
"Didn't say they were your typical dead body."
Daryl grabbed her wrist as she walked by and pulled her in front of him so she had her back to him.
"What're you doing?" Beth asked, sounding apprehensive.
"Relax," Daryl said, rolling his eyes. "I ain't gonna eat you."
He brushed her hair out of the way and ran testing fingers along her shoulders and up her neck. He was trying to feel if any of her muscles were strained or put out. Beth gasped as he dug his thumb into her shoulder.
"Just as I thought," Daryl murmured.
"What?" Beth asked, sounding scared.
"You actually used muscles for the first time ever."
"Ass," she snapped, trying to swat him over her shoulder.
Daryl chuckled and held her in place. "None of that foul language, there are gentleman present."
"If you're a gentleman than I'm the queen of bloody England," Beth snorted.
He could feel a knot in her muscles and he carefully increased pressure on it. Her skin was like satin under his rough fingertips. Beth moaned and stepped back a little. Daryl felt the sound she made tear through his body.
"That hurt?" he asked.
"Yeah but don't stop," Beth whispered. Daryl's face heated up. He knew how satisfying it was to have the tenseness eased out of your muscles and that's all she was referring to. But at the same time he couldn't help but imagine her arching into him, breathing those exact words into his ear in entirely different circumstances.
Daryl was glad she couldn't see his expression. It was with great effort that he kept his administrations localised. He didn't think he could explain it if he started stroking her entire back.
"Where'd you learn all this?" Beth asked breathlessly.
"A fat, hairy hunter named Bob," Daryl answered. Beth laughed but Daryl wasn't joking. Somewhere in his teenage years he'd crossed paths with Bob and he'd taught Daryl everything he needed to know about hunting. Daryl had suspected that Bob was half insane but what he'd taught him was useful. It didn't matter so much to Daryl now with years of practice under his belt but he knew to take care of muscles as they adjusted.
"Y'need to be able to do it all again tomorrow," Daryl explained. Yeah and like you weren't looking for an excuse to touch her, his brain mocked. It was harder than he'd like to confess to step away from Beth.
"I'll get some food," Beth offered with a smile. Her arm brushed his as she walked past him. Such a minute touch but Daryl was still aware of the contact. Considering there was a time when Beth had gone out of her way to ensure there was always some kind of physical distance between them, it was a huge change.
Beth moved around the space like she'd lived there for years, she was obviously more comfortable in this cabin than the old one. While they ate, Beth asked him a few hundred questions about crossbow maintenance and plans for the safety of the cabin.
"Y'don't let me eat, we won't be gettin' nothing done tomorrow," Daryl said shaking his head. Sometimes there were moments when he missed Beth being so scared around him that she barely spoke.
Beth pressed her lips together but there was a gleam in her eye that told him she wasn't taking what he said to heart. Daryl was relieved when her head started to nod. She was falling asleep where she sat.
"Go to bed, Beth."
"You're not the boss of me," Beth protested sleepily.
"The hell I ain't," Daryl retorted. He'd found some sharpening tools for knives and he wanted to see if he could use it on the axe before tomorrow.
Beth rolled her eyes but she got in to one of the beds without much argument. Daryl had to admit the peace and quiet was nice. They'd shut the windows up pretty tight, so he felt pretty comfortable no one would see the soft glow of the candles. There was a tiny fireplace in the corner and if they got desperate during some of the coming nights, they could stoke that up and let it smoulder through the night. The smoke would be too much of a giveaway during the day.
With only Beth's deep breaths filling the cabin, Daryl patiently worked with the axe until he was sure the blade was at least a little bit sharper. His eyes felt heavy and he got to his feet. His eyes fell on Beth in the bed by herself. For a whole week, they'd been sharing one bed and now it was almost strange for him to go the empty one.
He was glad of the room and knowing he wouldn't wake up with Beth entwined around his body. At least he should have been. He was too tired to dwell on just how dangerous that line of thinking was.
Daryl couldn't have been asleep very long when he was jerked awake by screaming. It was disorientating and he swore when he realised it was Beth. He thought she was past the nightmares. Daryl threw the covers back and stumbled across to her, still half asleep himself. The floor of the cabin had gotten cold.
Beth was thrashing in her sleep, her eyes clenched shut. Daryl lifted her covers and got in beside the girl. He wrapped his arms around her, stopping her erratic movements. If he was more aware he'd probably think climbing into bed with the sleeping teenager was very creepy but his only thought was stopping the screams. He tucked her tight against his body and ignored his own sense of contentment. Beth stilled against him and there was silence once more. Daryl fell back asleep to the slow rhythmic beat of her heart against his chest.
AN: I liked this chapter. I just hope it wasn't too much for the characters. Also just caught up on 3 and 4.
*Spoilers*
When Carol kicked the water cooler over, my household was all like, "She did it!" She definitely went too far but she's had creepy eyes since the start of the season, almost fanatical now about surviving. I'm not surprised he asked to leave actually. I legit thought killing her was on the agenda for a bit. I thought Mel just played it so damn well though. I think the biggest obstacle to Deth just got removed, for now. She'll be back. Just like the Governor, mid season final yo. But I also appreciated the show down with Daryl and Bob, hot damn that man is sexy when he's mad. It's also shown his evolution that he didn't just throw a loud temper tantrum. Also Michonne used a line I wrote in Damaged Heroes word for word. Not mentioning it to imply that it was a copy (obviously it wasn't), just think it's awesome. – "Stupid get's you dead." Boo yeah!