Chapter 3 –

The night had been a rough one. Daryl was exhausted but he kept his face neutral as he stalked quietly through the trees, his eyes on the trail on the ground in front of him. Beth's hand was tight in his, his concern for her safety and well being leading them to hunt for breakfast together. A sense of pride bloomed in the hunter's chest as Beth moved stealthily behind him like he had taught her, despite her injuries and exhaustion.

Daryl had refused to sleep the night before, keeping watch on Beth, cleaning her injuries with what little water they had found (after they had drank some of course), and waking her frequently to make sure she could do so when she finally fell asleep. Joe had been very specific with his men when they had entered the warehouse the night before. No one was to go near the girl, but the look some of them had on their faces had kept Daryl up all night, his crossbow up and ready to fire at anyone who dared get too close to their corner. Daryl squeezed Beth's hand as he stopped walking and he felt her shift to look over his shoulder at the rabbit that would be their breakfast. He leveled the cross bow and fired it right as an arrow flew past his cheek and hit the rabbit.

"What the hell?" Daryl asked angrily before stomping over to the rabbit and yanking his bolt and the dumbass's arrow out of it and carrying the body back to Beth, who took it in her hands so that he could deal with Len if it came to that. "We've been tracking this all morning."

"The rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here," Len told Daryl with a smirk, his eyes leering at Beth briefly. "Now that rabbit you're holdin' is claimed. Claimed whether you like it or not. So if I was you, I'd hand it over, now, before you get to wishin' you didn't even get out of bed this morning." Daryl said nothing but put his hand to Beth's lower back and gently pushed her to start walking back to the warehouse so that they could cook it and eat.

"You know, I bet this bitch is just usin' you. She's got you all messed up over a piece a tail. She must be a good'un for you to be hangin' all over her like that. Why don't ya share her? If she's good enough to make you all pussy whipped, maybe she'll be good enough for the rest of us." Len sneered and Daryl moved quickly, his knife coming out of its holster, his body whipping around to defend Beth's honor before his brain had even thought about the potential consequences.

"Whoa, easy there, Daryl," Joe interrupted. Daryl barely heard him over the sound of his racing heart in his ears. Truth be told, it was Beth's hand and her quiet voice that made him stop.

"It's not worth it," she told him softly before she tossed the rabbit to Len. "He's just tryin' to get ya to do something so that he can retaliate and bring the group down on ya with him." Daryl took a deep breath and put his knife back in its sheath, his eyes moving to Beth's. "Come on, we can find another rabbit."

"Just make sure you claim it, Sweetheart," Joe called after them. Daryl cursed under his breath, earning his hand another squeeze from Beth's. Beth pointed out a set of squirrel tracks, saying they looked fresh and Daryl nodded, his lips quirking slightly as another bloom of pride swelled in his chest.

"You can shoot it, I'd probably miss if I tried. My head's still…woozy sometimes…but I might as well work on my tracking skills while I'm out here," she told him and he grunted, his thoughts first drifting to her head injury, his eyes taking in where her hair was still pink tinted from the blood he had attempted to wash out the night before and the visible wound she had. She had carefully pulled most of her hair back into a ponytail after he had cleaned up what he could, but putting the hair around the wound in the elastic band had hurt more than leaving it down so she had left the hair around the wound free and loose down her back. Anger at her kidnapper boiled every time his eyes took in her injury and stained hair. His thoughts then drifted back to Len's words, making his anger seethe under his skin.

"Daryl," she turned and faced him, her face stern. "You need to let go of what he said, ignore it. He was just tryin' to get you in trouble with Joe. Lord knows what would happen if you had actually hit him or worse. Joe would probably have you beaten or killed in revenge and we both know that I'm near useless right now with this ankle and my head." Daryl nodded, understanding what Beth was not saying aloud. The petite blonde was a fighter and had been working on self-defense with the hunter whenever they could, they both knew that, but she would not be able to do much against all of the men of Joe's group, especially not all at once. She lacked the skill and physical strength. No, she needed Daryl to stay safe to help keep her safe against them.

"He had no right," Daryl growled. "You ain't a bitch or a piece a tail. You're…" Daryl stopped and looked at the ground in front of his boots, watching as Beth's boots came closer until they were toe to toe. He raised his eyes to meet hers briefly and he felt himself stiffen fractionally when her lips met his cheek softly. His brain automatically compared it to the last time someone had tried to kiss him on the head. He had unconsciously flinched away from Carol the one time she did it but his body didn't do that with Beth, he had only stiffened in surprise (and maybe uncertainty). No, he trusted her more than he had ever trusted anyone before.

It almost scared him to think of how much he trusted and cared for the young woman in front of him. Yes, he cared for her; he had figured that out as he lay in the coffin at the funeral home when she sang for him. He couldn't figure out how he cared about her, though. It was more than the familial feelings he had for Carol and the others from their prison group, but he couldn't tell exactly what it was with Beth. He had never felt like this for anyone before. It was new to him and he couldn't figure it out to save his life.

He was brought back from his thoughts when Beth stepped away slightly. The kiss had been chaste and it warmed his skin like it was fire but his brain instantly filed away the feeling of her cool, slightly chapped lips. The feeling of them made his heart jump and he felt that strange, tumultuous feeling in his chest again. He got the feeling a lot around the blonde. When he held her hand (like he still was right now) or saw her smile. The feeling made his heart light and his lips urge to lift in a smile. He allowed a small grin when he saw her smile as she leaned further away from him. His hand moved slightly, an urge to fix the piece of hair that fell across Beth's forehead overcoming him but he settled for squeezing the hand he held. "I ain't gonna let anything else happen to ya, Greene."

"I know. Now come on, Mr. Dixon, we've got a squirrel to catch."

The group moved on after breakfast, following the tracks to catch the killer of one of Joe's men. Daryl felt something sit uneasily on his stomach when Joe explained that to them and he began walking towards the back of the group, whispering his concerns to Beth as he gave her another "serious piggyback" as she jokingly called it. Daryl figured that if they fell back enough from the group, they could slip away more easily and things could go back to it just being the two of them in the woods, the way he liked it.

"Daryl, look," Beth whispered, sending a shiver down his spine as her air brushed against his ear. She moved her arm and pointed at something written on the side of a building.

Glenn, go to Terminus – Maggie, Sasha, Bob

"I knew she was alive," Beth muttered, her voice teasing as she pinched his arm lightly. Daryl glared at her over his shoulder but he knew she could tell it was a harmless gesture. His lips lifted into a smile when their eyes met, his fake annoyance over her teasing and pinching lifting at the sight of her bright smile and hopeful eyes. Beth's smile dropped slightly as she looked back at the sign. "She must think I'm dead. Or maybe she just thinks I'm with Glenn."

Daryl's eyes went back to the sign and he couldn't help but feel a slight annoyance at the older Greene sister. Beth squeezed his shoulder and she gave him a slight smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Think about it, Daryl. It makes sense. I could barely protect or feed myself when we ran from the prison. Your hunting kept me from starving to death and all I had was a gun with no ammo. I would've been walker food shortly after leaving if you hadn't been there and given me your knife to use."

"You stole it, I recall," he grumbled as he continued walking, his hands adjusting her on his back and tightening their grip on her thighs slightly at the thought of her being "walker food." He could hear his crossbow bounce against Beth's back and their trash bag of belongings with his jostling of her body and felt a pang of guilt and concern that the weapon might bruise her. She had offered to wear his crossbow on her back and even used the strings of the trash bag as backpack straps so that he could focus on carrying her. Beth had made sure to adjust the knife and its holster so that he could grab it, drop her, and protect them if needed. She didn't complain or say anything about the weapon's movement on her back. Instead, she chuckled at his accusation, the adjustment, and his grip and Daryl felt his agitation at Maggie wane slightly at the sound and feel of it through his vest and coat.

"I didn't steal it. You left it in the ground at our camp…"

"The suck ass camp, yeah, I remember."

"I only called it that because you were being impossible, near mute. I didn't mean to offend you or anything…I also didn't understand what you were thinking or feeling…I just thought you didn't care and were feeling burdened by me…"

"I know. I'm a dick sober too," he muttered and he felt Beth shake her head, some of her hair tickling his neck and falling over his shoulder with the movement.

"No, you had the weight of everything that happened on your shoulders. You had the feeling of needing to be strong and help me survive on your mind. I didn't know that at the time…I couldn't read you as well as I can now." Beth's arms looped loosely around his neck again, her fingers idly messing with the buttons on his coat and her chin rested on his shoulder, her temple leaning slightly against his head as he walked. This piggyback felt much more…intimate than the first one he had given her. Not that Daryl found himself complaining any, he found he liked the feeling of her draped over him like she was, though his legs and back were hoping for a break, a chance to stretch and pop.

"We're gaining on him, boys," Joe announced and Daryl looked at the footprints he could see between the boards of the train tracks. They were fresh, perhaps only an hour or so old. "Let's stop and eat, we'll be caught up with them tonight!" Daryl sighed and followed the group to an area off the tracks. He eased Beth down to her feet and twisted his back, which gave a loud pop.

"I could have walked, you should have said something," Beth chided him. He shrugged before gesturing for her to follow him into the trees near by to see what food they could find and to "take a piss," he told her. He could see most of the guys from Joe's group had the same idea, though they stayed away from Daryl and Beth as they hunted, Joe's warning still hanging in their minds, though Daryl was starting to wonder how much longer they had until one of them tried something.

Beth managed to find some berries and they munched on those as they looked for any animal tracks. They had to give up after a while and returned to their bag at the campsite, only to find Len yelling at Joe that someone stole his rabbit.

"I bet you two did it," Len accused. "Dump your bag!" Daryl growled and picked up their bag, staying between Len and Beth in case he tried anything. Joe approached them and took the bag from Daryl.

"Did you steal his rabbit, Daryl?"

"Hell no," he replied, glaring at Len. Beth shook her head when Joe glanced back at her before he sighed.

"Well see, now we've got a conundrum. Let me see," Joe dumped their bag and Daryl felt his anger steep into rage when the rabbit fell out of their bag. He also felt concern for Beth as Joe glanced from the rabbit's body to Daryl's eyes.

"You musta put that in there when we all left to hunt," Daryl told Len who stepped forward, his fists clenching and a sick smile covering his face at the idea of punishing Daryl for his thievery.

"Now, wait a minute here, Len," Joe put his arm in front of Len and he glanced back at the rest of the group as they returned to see what the fuss was. "Now, Len, Daryl's saying he didn't steal it."

"So, he's lyin'. We need to teach him to follow the rules!"

"No, see…I saw you put it in his bag. Teach Len, boys. Teach him all the way." Daryl stared at Len and watched as the other guys surrounded him and began beating him. Daryl turned back to Beth and turned her around.

"Let's go hunt or somethin'." He told her, not wanting her to watch the beating Len was receiving. She nodded numbly and grabbed his hand tightly in hers. "We're leaving them, today."