I really miss them.
…
"You sure about this?" Daryl asked as he held the plant in his hand. He asked the question even though he didn't doubt her and he hoped Beth knew he didn't doubt her.
And now, she nodded with a small smile. "The book says it is. The young leaves, bulbs and top bulbs are all edible," she recited from memory even as she hugged said book to her chest with one arm, holding onto her own plant in her other hand.
The book in question was one she had found in a trailer they had stayed in a couple of nights before. Beth had found that it was the only thing not water damaged and she had wanted to read something and just flipping through it curiously had led to her reading the whole thing during the night by candlelight.
Daryl looked at the plant again.
It definitely smelled like an onion though these wild onions were a lot smaller than what people used to buy in their grocery stores. Beth had been on the lookout for the plant – "The book says it grows in grassy places, usually in open fields or low spots" – and Daryl could admit to himself that if he wasn't on the lookout for walkers or the random animal, he was also keeping his eyes to the ground to help her in her search.
"We're hungry," Beth reminded him just in case he couldn't feel how hollow his stomach felt.
"Starvin'," Daryl corrected her and she smiled a little wider at that. Her smile almost made him smile, too.
And it wasn't like Daryl wasn't used to being starving. The complete emptiness in his belly took him right back to when he was a kid and the only meal he could count on was lunchtime at school – which he didn't have to pay for because his name was on a list of some special program where certain kids didn't have to pay to eat. Daryl was pretty sure it was the "Poor Kids List".
Being hungry and it hurting so much, he sometimes would have to sleep curled in a ball, clutching his middle in an attempt to get it to stop aching, was all too typical for him.
And since they lost the prison and he and Beth had been on their own, trying to find their way to something – Daryl still didn't know what they hell they were doing – the familiar ache returned, never having enough for his belly to feel even slightly full.
But Beth wasn't supposed to feel that hollowness; that ache in her stomach that could be so painful, she could double-over because of it. He couldn't let her feel that. If he had to go hungry so she could eat, so be it. He wanted to eat, yeah, but his priority was getting food for her. So far though, game was scarce and Daryl tried to hide how furious and frustrating that made him, but knowing Beth, she probably knew.
They'd probably both have to eat a thousand of these little wild onion plants to feel satisfied, but Beth was right (and he was quickly learning that Beth being right was par for the course).
A little something in their bellies was better than nothing.
And there was one thing Daryl learned early on in his childhood. Beggars couldn't be choosers.
Beth was looking at him and seemed to be waiting for him. Daryl let out a sigh and brought the plant to his nose. Yeah, definitely smelled like an onion.
"Alrigh', le's do it," he decided and then took a big bite, nearly eating the entire plant in one go. As he chewed and the flavor hit his tongue, he let out a stream of air. "Oh, yeah. That's an onion," he breathed.
Beth laughed and when she took a bite of her own plant, it was a much smaller one so she could introduce her tongue to the taste – gently. She laughed again. "Definitely an onion," she agreed with a nod and Daryl's own lips twitched up into a little smile.
They finished their onion plants quietly and then each took another.
"I know there's not much around-" Beth began.
"Noticed that, huh?" Daryl cut in, chewing on the leaves now.
"But, maybe, if we're able to find something, we can cook it up with some of these onion plants. I bet that would taste amazing," she suggested.
Daryl didn't think on that. He didn't have to. It did sound amazing. "Winter's comin'. Animals should be out, gettin' themselves ready for that. I'll find us somethin'." He knew he shouldn't make a promise like that – one that he might not be able to follow through on – but he wasn't able to help himself.
He had to find them an animal – preferably some animals – to eat. They couldn't live on onions and Daryl was going to do what he had to do to make sure that Beth didn't get used to that ache in her stomach.
…
THANK YOU!
And I have never been a fan of Carol - never ever - and it's a good thing I stopped watching the show because what I have seen on tumblr and from what I have heard from a friend, my fury would only intensify.
I DID have an idea for a short story - maybe just a one-shot - for a Daryl/Beth story that would be very anti-Carol, but I don't know if I will write it. It definitely would be like a 13-yr-old writing angry-hate fanfiction instead of a grown woman lol But we'll see.
