"Daryl."
Hearing the whisper of his name Daryl Dixon turned to the sight of Beth Greene holding her hand over her mouth as she hurried a few steps away and around a tree.
Furrowing his brow at the sounds of her retching Daryl followed behind her to find her on her knees throwing up her meager breakfast. Fishing a bottle of water out of the pack on his back he tapped her shoulder with it as she leaned back on her knees.
Taking the bottle, she took a sip before swishing the water around and spitting it out.
"Thanks," she whispered, handing the bottle back to him before climbing to her feet.
"Ya alright?"
Clearing her throat, she nodded.
Studying the small blonde in front of him Daryl sighed, "Gotta find a place to hole up. Can't have you getting sick."
"I'm fine, Daryl."
"Yeah? Your breakfast on the forest floor says otherwise," he retorted before turning and continuing on through the forest.
Sighing, Beth rolled her eyes before following after him.
According to the pencil marks in the journal she carried it had been forty days.
Forty days since the Governor had rolled up to their home at the prison and brought death and destruction with him. Forty days since she'd had to watch her daddy die at the hands of that evil man.
Forty days since they'd lost their home and the rest of their family. People like Rick Grimes and his young son, Carl, scattered in the aftermath along with Michonne.
Her own sister, Maggie and her husband, Glenn, had been separated from her too when Beth had gone back to look for the youngest Grimes, baby Judith. The only one she'd found, however, was Daryl still fighting the Governor's men and the walkers that had poured out of the woods towards the prison.
He'd told her they had to go, and so she blindly followed him as they ran from yet another home. This time had been different from when they had lost her family's farm. Everyone had scattered into different directions and there had been no sign of anyone else for days.
The first few days together had been spent mostly in silence. That had turned quickly to anger, mostly on Daryl's part.
Things had been a lot calmer since their drunken confessions and subsequent burning of the moonshine shack, they'd been at.
In the weeks after they'd kept moving mostly through the forest which meant shelter had been few and far between.
From what she could remember it had been the second week of January when they'd lost the prison. Meaning it was heading towards the end of February now, only a few days before her eighteenth birthday.
Daryl didn't know it, but she thought of the night at the moonshine shack as a celebration of her birthday. She tried not to think about the fact that she had finally hit adulthood without her family.
Turning her attention to the man walking a few paces in front of her, she sighed. She knew Daryl was worried about finding a shelter they could stay put in. They'd spent too many nights huddled together on the forest floor in an attempt to keep warm through the Georgia nights.
Fighting the rising nausea Beth followed Daryl for what felt like hours until they came out of the woods and into the backyard of a house.
"What do you think?"
"We'll take a look around," he responded before moving between the two houses and out towards the front.
"Seems quiet," she commented as they surveyed the area.
Nodding, Daryl studied the neighborhood, "End of the street. House has a fence," he said pointing to the house at the end of the cul-de-sac.
"Could be good with the fence and the forest at our backs," Beth agreed as she followed Daryl as he turned back to head the way they'd come. Using the surrounding forest as a cover they walked down to the back of the house he'd pointed out.
"You feeling up to clearing this?" he questioned as they approached the back gate.
"I said I felt fine," Beth reminded him.
"You can't see how pale you are."
Snorting, she pulled her knife out, "I'm always pale," she retorted before motioning towards the gate.
Rolling his eyes, Daryl unlatched the gate before walking into the yard with Beth following behind him. Making their way to the back door he tried the doorknob cursing quietly when it came up locked.
Glancing around Beth noted a rock that wasn't really a rock sitting amongst the dead weeds and flowers next to the small back porch. Crouching she overturned the fake rock and smiling stood back up with a key in her hand.
"I believe you're looking for this," she laughed holding the key out to Daryl.
"Where'd ya get that?"
"Mama and Daddy had one for any of us kids who forgot their key," she replied, pointing down to the overturned rock that was hollow inside.
Taking the key without comment Daryl used it to unlock the door before slowly pushing it open. Banging on the door jamb they waited to see if anything was moving around inside.
"Stick close," Daryl grumbled as he moved into the house. Clearing the first floor they walked up the steps to the second floor.
"It's empty," Daryl announced after checking the two bedrooms and bathroom.
"Looks like they left in a hurry," Beth commented walking into the largest bedroom noting the closet door hanging open with empty hanger inside.
"That or someone's been through here," he replied, "I'm gonna head down and see what's in the kitchen."
"Okay, I'm gonna poke around here and bring anything useful down," she told him walking towards the open closet.
After gathering everything useful from the rooms and the bathroom Beth took several trips up and down the stairs bringing everything into the family room. Dumping the armful of blankets she held onto the couch she went in search of Daryl.
Walking into the kitchen she smiled at the small collection of cans lined up on the counter. Glancing around for a clue as to where Daryl had gone, she looked out the small window above the kitchen sink and found him digging through a small shed in the backyard.
Yawning, she headed back into the family room and was pleasantly surprised to find the couch had a sofa bed inside. Squealing, she pulled the bed out and set about getting it ready for them.
She was just bending to pick up another blanket when the room began to spin. Blowing a breath out she blinked rapidly as she lowered herself to the bed.
"Thought you were fine," taunted a voice from the archway.
"I am," she responded, stubbornly opening her eyes to glare at the smirking man.
"Right," he said, clearly not believing her, "I'm gonna head out and check a few houses. Got no fireplace or anything. Need to find something to cook over."
"Ya can't go by yourself," she told him as she began to rise.
Scoffing, he rolled his eyes, "You're no good out there when ya don't feel good, Beth. Just lay down and get some sleep. Ain't going far."
Feeling her fatigue hitting her she sighed before nodding.
"Come on. Get ya tucked in," he said, striding into the room and picking up the blanket.
"I can't lay down like this. I'm filthy."
"Looks like you found some clothes," he said, glancing at the coffee table covered with things she'd brought down from upstairs, "Can get cleaned up later and we'll burn the blankets you ruin," he told her with a shrug.
Laughing, she kicked off her boots before crawling onto the bed. Yawning again she closed her eyes, "Be careful," she whispered.
"Be back before you know it," he responded, covering her with the blanket he held. Taking a moment to study her pale face, Daryl noted the dark circles under her eyes. She wasn't getting enough sleep and they sure as shit weren't getting enough to eat.
Determined to change that, even for one night, he turned and left her to her nap while he went to search some of the nearby houses. She needed food. And if she was getting sick, she needed medicine.
They'd lost their entire family.
He'd be God damned if he lost her too.