"Hold it higher." Daryl instructs, stepping closer to adjust the bow in Beth's arms. He stands behind her so she can't accidently fire on him, while she doesn't seem like the trigger-happy type, he doesn't want to take any chances.

Beth adjusts the bow as she peers down the sight. "Where's my target?"

"Fence post. Six o'clock."

Beth lines the object in her sights and fires, the kick pushing her backwards into Daryl. He resists the urge to steady her as Beth's arrow lands true and she turns to look up at him with a grin. Seeing how close they are standing she takes a quick step back and Daryl crosses his arms over his chest awkwardly.

"Gotta practice on moving stuff." he says instead of encouragement. Beth rolls her eyes and goes to retrieve her arrow. He's been training her on the bow for little over a week now, she's figured out how to find praise in what he isn't saying.

It's been ten days since San Francisco and they've barely covered roughly 800 miles. They're on the outskirts of some little town in Arizona and Daryl wants to get some more training in before the sun rises. Beth has taken to the crossbow easily enough although he can see how she has to strain to load it. He's hoping time will toughen those muscles up.

Daryl still has them sticking to the main highways as they travel but he has a feeling that won't last for much longer. He'd had to take them several hours out of their way to avoid Flagstaff. They want to steer as clear of big cities as possible. They still see other cars on the road but there are fewer every day. Daryl doesn't know if it's because there are less people around or more people are hunkering down, hoping to wait this whole thing out in one place.

They've run into three living people in all this time. One had fired a shotgun at them when they tried to get gas. Daryl had wanted to go and fire back but Beth shoved him back onto the bus and they drove off as quick as they could. The other two were inside the grocery store they were looting and let them take food in exchange for information. They were the ones that told them to stay away from Flagstaff. The city hadn't just been overrun by the dead, a few days before the military had dropped bombs on it.

Beth had gasped when they heard this news, her hand covering her mouth in horror. Daryl hadn't been surprised at all. The people in charge had always been more than willing to take out as many people as they had to if it meant they were protecting the 'greater good'.

The bombs proved one thing; cities were officially a dead zone. If one city had been bombed, they needed to assume that all cities have been. It made their route more circuitous than Daryl had been hoping for but they had to avoid major areas. They had to backtrack often because the roads they turned down ended up being unpassable due to all the cars stopped on it or in one memorable case, because it was crowded with dead people milling around.

The bus shows signs of wear and tear now, there are scratches over most of the sides. Some from cutting too close to other cars, some from things grabbing at them with claw like hands. Daryl and Beth are showing signs of the road too. The bus has a shower but it only works if it's hooked up to a water line. It is useless to them now although the sight of it often causes Beth to sigh in longing.

They still have a long way to go and Daryl is having to accept the reality that this will not be a short trip. What he had originally hoped might take them six or seven days was looking like it might take them several weeks. He isn't sure if he can handle the thought of being alone with Beth for that long but they've come too far to separate now. Besides, he'd miss her too much if she was gone.

The thought is unsettling and Daryl tries to ignore it but every time Beth sends a smile his way it comes right back to the forefront of his mind. He isn't sure when she managed to worm her way under his skin and he doesn't have the first idea how to get her back out again. Caring for other people has always been hard for Daryl, people have a way of disappointing you, leaving you behind. He reminds himself everyday that caring for Beth is a dangerous idea, even more so with the state of the world around them. Daryl's certain that one way or another things will end badly for them.

XxX

"I got you something."

Daryl turned around to see Beth standing behind him nervously. They were about to board the bus to head to the next stop, some other big Florida city where the crowd would scream themselves hoarse along to her songs. Beth's own voice was a little rough as she handed him a brown bag.

"It's probably stupid." she mumbled shyly as Daryl curiously opened the bag and pulled out a small map of the United States and a black marker. "I thought this way you could mark off all the places we go on tour. So, you can keep track of where you've been."

Daryl didn't say anything for a long moment, he couldn't seem to find the words. He couldn't remember the last time someone had given him anything.

"Why?"

Beth flushed. "I just thought-never mind. It's stupid." She moved to take the map from his hands but Daryl pulled it against his chest.

"Thought you didn't like me." It's a rude thing to say but Daryl doesn't care. He was pretty sure Beth tolerated him at best and that was only because she was too polite to do anything else.

Beth flushed deeper but she didn't look away. "I'm still not sure I do. But we're stuck together so we might as well make the most of it." she reached out to tap the map once, Daryl felt the pressure of her finger against his chest through the paper and felt his face begin to flush at the contact. He also couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him without its purpose being to hurt. "Consider it a peace offering."

Daryl nodded a thank you and watched her smile at him stiffly before heading into the bus. His chest felt uncomfortably warm where her finger had been and he clutched the map closer to him in the hopes it would burn the feeling away.

XxX

"Where'd you learn to do all this?" Beth asks as Daryl finishes teaching her how to clean and cut a rabbit. The rabbits in Arizona are bigger than what he's used to hunting but cleaning them is all the same thing.

Daryl shrugs, wiping his blade clean before he sheaths it. Beth already started a fire; they'd learned in the first few days that it took her less time to start fires than him so she's in charge of them. Daryl watches the flames dance across her face as she looks over at him curiously. It's gray outside with dusk and it's probably too late to start a fire but the rabbit won't keep in the heat and it's been so long since they saw any sign of civilization Daryl is willing to risk it. Better a fight than starvation.

He shrugs in response to her question. He's known how to hunt for so long he can no longer remember who taught him. It was probably Merle; Daryl can't remember either of his parents ever bothering to teach him anything except how to make their drinks and lie to child protection services.

"Will you teach me how to hunt?"

Daryl looks up from spitting the rabbit over the fire to find Beth watching him curiously. "Ain't I teaching you enough?" The words come out before he can think them through. In truth, he doesn't mind the thought of teaching her how to hunt. It's a useful skill and it is better if she doesn't need to rely on him, or anyone. You had to be able to take care of yourself, now more than ever. He's already teaching her how to use the bow, won't take much more to teach her how to track and hunt.

Beth rolls her eyes at his question. She is either used to or unfazed by the gruffer aspects of his personality. Daryl has always thought of himself as an acquired taste, when he has bothered to think of himself at all. He's never really been around anyone long enough for them to get used to him. He wonders if it will ever stop bothering him that Beth seems to be.

"I can teach you something too if you want payback." Beth runs a stick through the dirt, drawing squiggly shapes. "I can teach you how to play guitar, or ride a horse if we ever found one. Oh, or I could teach you how to plant a vegetable garden."

Daryl raises his eyebrows and Beth looks up at him with a grin. He shakes his head and focuses on the rabbit; he's not used to people joking around with him. They sit in silence for several minutes, Beth shuffling restlessly before she asks innocently, "Where does Merle live?"

Daryl freezes, looking up at Beth cautiously, she is still focused on her drawing. He'd forgotten he'd ever even told her about Merle.

"You've never told me; I was just curious how far away he is from the farm."

He stays quiet as his mind races. He knows he should tell her the truth, that Merle was halfway through a five-year sentence for aggravated assault but it feels like the time to have mentioned that has passed. Maybe he should have even told her when he was hired what seemed like a lifetime ago. Her family didn't seem like the type to judge someone by another person's sins but Daryl has kept this close to his chest for a reason. He doesn't want to see the calculating look Beth will get, doesn't want to catch her looking at him thoughtfully wondering if he had ever been the clink. She is one of the few people who looks at him and sees him as a person, not just some dirty redneck asshole. Sure, often when Beth looks at him, she looks like she can't stand him but she still sees Daryl like no one else does. If he tells the truth about Merle, that might change. Too much has changed already, Daryl needs some things to stay the same.

"Bout a hundred miles." Daryl fusses with the fire before gesturing towards the dirt around them. "See if you can find something else to burn, fire's getting low."

Beth nods, tossing the little stick in her hands into the flames as she raises. Daryl sits and watches it burn in silence.

XxX

He folded the map into careful creases so it fits into the pocket of his vest. He had already marked three states off of it which is two more states than he thought he'd ever see. He had thought he would live and die in Georgia like the rest of the Dixon clan. Having the map, having tangible proof he could hold in his hands that he had gotten out does something to him he couldn't explain.

He forces himself not to look at it when Beth is around, to not run his fingers over its edges until they are smooth. He didn't need her knowing how much that stupid piece of paper meant to him, especially when it seemed like nothing had changed between them.

The first time she rolled her eyes at him after giving him the map Daryl was relieved. He had been afraid that the map would make things different between them and he felt like he was only just starting to get his feet under him.

"Do you tell your friends the truth about your job or do you make it sound more exciting?" Beth asked curiously one night on the bus, looking up from the notebook she was scribbling in. She was laying on the couch across from him, her socked feet tapping to a melody in her head.

Daryl frowned at her, closing his book on his finger to hold his place. "What's the truth?" he asked because it was easier to focus on that than to admit that he doesn't have any friends to tell it too. He'd never been one for friends, he had acquaintances at best and most of those were because of Merle and wanted nothing to do with Daryl once his brother was out of the picture. One of the few who still talked to him after Merle was gone was Caesar and even then, Daryl didn't consider him a friend. He wondered for a moment what would happen if he called Caesar out of the blue just to talk to him. He didn't have his number to try it and even if he did what did people talk about when they were on the phone unless they needed something? He overheard Beth's conversations with her family all the time and it seemed like they just told each other rambling accounts of their days. He didn't know who would want to hear that from him.

Beth propped herself up on one elbow and surveyed him. Daryl wondered if she could read his worries on his face, he wasn't used to being around one person for so long that it unsettled him sometimes the way she looked at him like she understood him better than he did.

"That your job is awfully boring."

Daryl's brows creased, thrown by the statement for a moment before he shook off his mopey thoughts and focused on what they had actually been talking about. He shrugged not really wanting to get into the fact that he had no one to tell about his job let alone what it was actually like. Merle called him sometimes but Daryl didn't like to talk about himself so they didn't.

"It's alright." Daryl shrugged flipping his book open.

"Careful or I'll start to think you really like it here." Beth laughed but when Daryl looked back up at her she had already gone back to her notebook and she was so focused it was like he wasn't even there at all.

XxX

They are almost at the New Mexico border when they run into another living person.

They have just finished filling up the gas tank and Daryl has found a few supplies untouched in the station. He's just finished putting them on the bus when he comes down to grab Beth and finds her talking to someone.

Daryl swings his bow up on instinct, creeping silently outside of the stranger's line of vision until he has him lined up in his sights. Beth avoids looking at him so the man doesn't look over his shoulder. She doesn't seem frightened but the stranger's hand is resting on the gun on his hip and Daryl isn't about to take any chances.

"The hell you want?" Daryl grunts as the man pauses to take a breath from whatever bullshit story he's trying to feed Beth. The stranger whirls around, brown eyes wide in panic. His hand leaves the gun, going to clutch his chest. Daryl doesn't take his eyes off of him but behind him he can see Beth pulling her knife from its sheath.

"You scared the shit out of me." the stranger gasped, now clutching at his shirt with both hands. "Damn near had a heart attack."

Daryl doesn't respond and the man flushes and gestures behind him to Beth. "I was just asking your friend here if she's been through LA on her trip."

"No." Daryl answers for them both then gestures with the bow for the man to move aside. Something about the twitch in his fingers reminds him of Merle's tweaking days. He doesn't want to be anywhere near this man if he's thirsting for a fix.

"I don't suppose you're going west?" the man asks hopefully, clearly not picking up on Daryl's unspoken warning.

"East." Beth says from behind him and Daryl watches the man's face fall. He still doesn't trust him but he seems to at least be telling the truth about where he's trying to go. That or he's very good at faking his disappointment.

"Damn." the stranger sighs. "Another dead end."

Daryl's fingers tighten on his bow at the words but the man just shakes his head and pumps them for a bit more information on the roads leading west before bidding them goodbye. The interaction passes without incident but Daryl is still jittery with nerves when they get on the bus.

Even hours later when they stop for the evening Daryl is still silently fuming. He isn't sure what he's more upset about, the fact that Beth is always looking for other people because she's clearly sick of him and wants to get away from him or the fact that she won't be outright with him and just say it. Daryl is used to getting left behind, it's no surprise to him that Beth wants to leave him too.

He knows he needs to get away from her and get off the bus, have some time to get his thoughts together. There is a lot of open space around them, he should be able to find a few more rabbits for dinner. Daryl slings his bow over his chest and is about to head out when Beth speaks from behind him.

"Do you have something you want to say to me?" she has her arms crossed over her chest and is looking at him with a look of annoyance that has long since been familiar to him.

"Why the hell did you tell him where we're going?" Daryl spits, suddenly eager for a chance to get out some of his frustration. It is easier to focus on her telling their plans to a stranger than it is to focus on his real fears and pains. Besides, it is a valid point. When is she going to realize they can't just go around trusting people with stuff like that anymore? "He could follow us."

Beth's brow furrows. "He was on foot. How's he gonna catch us?"

"He could've been lying about havin' a car." Daryl snaps, stepping back up the steps so they are on even ground, him towering over her. Beth tightens her arms over her chest and leans her head back to glare at him. "You gotta stop trusting strangers."

"There are still good people out there Daryl!" Beth snaps, and Daryl can see in her eyes she actually believes it. He huffs in disdain; he can't remember a time when he actually believed the best in people. "This is a long road we're on, do you really expect us to get there alone?"

"Been doing fine so far!"

"We can't make it out here alone." Beth says defiantly.

"No, you can't!" Daryl cries, stepping closer to her to wave his hand in front of her face. He feels all his anger and fear from the past few days starting to boil over and while Daryl doesn't mean the words he's saying he does nothing to try to stop himself from saying them. "Tell you what, you're so desperate to get away from me why don't you go find a new group and travel to Georgia by your damn self."

The words hang between them, angry and red and foolish. Daryl rocks back on his heels, hating the words, hating himself. Beth just looks up at him in sadness far too close to pity and Daryl can feel his hackles raising again.

"You don't mean that." Beth says, finally uncrossing her arms. Her voice is steady, not a single thread of doubt there.

Part of Daryl deflates in relief, he hadn't meant it but he'd been scared she'd think he had and take him up on it. That would leave him alone out here. Daryl is used to being alone, he has been for most of his life. He is getting used to being around Beth now, he doesn't know if he can handle going back to being alone.

Still, Daryl hates being told how he feels or what he means. Even he can hear the plaintive whine in his voice and it makes him cringe as he mutters, "How the hell you know what I mean?"

He swears he can see the ghost of a smile on Beth's lips. Before he can figure out what it means they are interrupted by a timid knock on the door.