'So where have you been?'
'Here an' there.'
Beth walked alongside Daryl as they made their way slowly through the undergrowth. Beth felt bad for leaving Maggie but she was just so pleased to be beside Daryl again it hardly mattered. She took in a deep breath of the warm air, allowing it to fill her lungs that had felt so heavy and constricted since he had left.
'Everythin' okay back at th' prison?' Daryl asked as he pushed aside some branches to step past.
Beth shrugged.
'Everyone there hates me, but yeah.'
Daryl looked sideways at her, his eyes narrowed.
'Okay so they don't hate me,' she said slowly, looking away from his stern gaze, 'except maybe Carl – and Rick probably now.'
'Rick aint blind,' Daryl shrugged, 'he knows his kid can be a jerk.'
Beth nodded.
'An' yer dad?' Daryl asked tentatively, not looking at her.
'I think he's avoiding me,' Beth said slowly.
Daryl paused and looked at her then, his face worried. Beth shrugged.
'I'm sure he'll come round.' She said.
Daryl nodded slowly, but Beth could see the trepidation in his eyes.
'So,' Beth said, sticking her hands in her pockets and looking around them at the densely populated area of trees, 'where we going?'
'Head out t' the main road,' Daryl said, 'or find somewhere t' set up camp.'
Beth nodded.
'Lead the way,' she said, waving one hand ahead of her.
She followed him in silence for a little while until the trees began to thin out again and the road slowly came into view. Slowly, Daryl drew to a stop, holding out one arm to keep Beth behind him. Beth peered around him, squinting through the trees to see the road beyond. She couldn't see anything.
'Walkers,' Daryl murmured in a deep, gruff breath. 'least three.'
Beth frowned, they were out of her view. She would be dead meat without Daryl.
'Y'wanna do th' honours?' Daryl asked, dropping his arm and turning to look at her.
Beth raised one inquisitive eyebrow.
'I aint kept up much o' my promise t' teach ya to use this thing,' he said softly, his blue eyes watching her reactions.
'The crossbow?' Beth asked dubiously.
'Mm,' Daryl nodded once.
'Yeah,' she said, her lips forming into a grin.
Slowly and with care, Daryl removed the crossbow from across his shoulder and handed it across to her.
'Here,' he said. He helped lean it on her shoulder, ensuring it was balanced correctly.
Beth placed her small hands on the body of it, gently adjusting herself to its intrusive weight.
'C'mon.' Daryl jerked his head out towards the road before turning and trekking up towards it, keeping one eye on Beth. Careful not to trip, Beth followed him, her eye trained down the shaft of the crossbow.
The sunlight filtered down through the trees above them and the ground beneath their boots grew greener as they closed in on the road. Leaving the trees behind, Beth stepped out into the direct light and spotted the three walkers Daryl had noticed instantly, loitering beside two run down cars. As they stepped out, one happened to turn in their direction.
Its whitened eyes locked on Daryl and its upper lip dragged up in a snarl as it began to drag itself towards them, baring its teeth.
Daryl nodded to Beth who raised the crossbow, took a deep breath, and looked down its length. She trained it on the head of the approaching walker and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew out and knocked her back lightly. It whizzed through the air and met its target dead on between the eyes.
'Damn,' Daryl breathed, grinning. 'Reload.'
A little breathless, Beth nodded. She lowered the contraption, pulled a bolt free and tugged it in place, balancing the heavy bow on the floor beside her boot as she did so.
'Careful,' Daryl said and Beth raised it back up, noticing with a sicking jolt that the other two walkers had closed the space between them with unexpected speed. They stepped around their fallen brethren as Beth took another deep breath and fired. This bolt struck the side of the walker's head, but it made its impact, plunging in through the flesh and bone and knocking it down to the ground.
'One more,' Daryl said as Beth took a step backwards. The lack of distance between herself and the last walker was starting to make her shake.
'Yer fine,' Daryl said.
Beth nodded as she placed the bow back on the floor and pulled the string back, grunting a little with the effort. Then Daryl was beside her, his shadow falling across her. He placed his tanned hand over hers to help her keep the string in place, the steady calm which radiated from it grounding her. Beth got to bolt in place and raised it back to her cheek.
The last assailant was a couple of feet away from her, less. Beth swallowed and pulled the trigger, fighting the urge to shut her eyes.
The bolt struck gold, straight into the eye socket.
The walker went down, its head falling backwards and the rest of its body following in a strangely graceful arch until its knees gave way and it landed on the hard floor.
'Nice,' Daryl nodded, taking the crossbow from Beth and slinging it across his back.
'I got them!' Beth beamed, 'all of them! Didn't miss a single one!'
'I saw,' Daryl chuckled, 'not bad.'
'Shut up I was awesome,' Beth grinned, flexing her arms out either side of her.
Smiling, Daryl shook his head.
It was then that Beth felt the first cool drop of rain on her exposed skin. She looked up at the sky, squinting at the pregnant grey clouds that were floating infront of the sun.
'It's raining,' she said as another droplet his just below her cheek, followed by another and then another.
She looked down to see Daryl looking up at the sky too, and was suddenly struck by the ethereal beauty of him. The world around them had taken on that other-wordly grey of a storm, the light becoming a silvery sheen as the wind picked up, lifting his dark hair and waving it around his features. As he looked up, his throat was exposed, and Beth was taken aback by the sight of it, the tanned skin, the light stubble, the way it bobbed as he swallowed. Her breath caught in her throat.
Daryl looked back down at her, his eyes narrowed through his hair which beginning to dampen.
Beth wanted nothing more than to close the space between them, tear off his clothes and pull him to her.
Instead she said 'we should find shelter.'
Daryl nodded.
'The cars,' he said, glancing towards the two cars left abandoned at the side of the road before returning his gaze to Beth.
Beth nodded.
Together, they headed towards the closest car and Daryl pried open the doors. He checked the interior and the back seats before letting Beth climb in, shutting the door behind her and heading around the front of the car to the drivers side.
Beth sat in the passenger seat, listening to the faded, tinny sound of the rain hitting the exterior of the car. The car was warm and smelt stale, but it was a lot better than some of the vehicles they had found. It looked like no-one had died in this car.
Daryl climbed in beside her with a grunt, letting in the cool air before he too slammed it out.
Biting her lip, Beth turner her head to look at Daryl, who was adjusting the seat so he could lay back. She could feel her heart beat pick up.
Leaning back, Daryl lay his crossbow across his lap and closed his eyes. Beth allowed herself to look at him for a while.
'M'skin's burning.' He murmured.
'Huh?' Beth frowned.
Daryl opened one eye and looked at her, a smile playing on his lips.
'I can feel ya starin'. What d'ya want girl?'
Beth blushed and ducked her gaze down to her own lap.
'Sorry,' she said, 'I just – I missed you.'
'Mm,' Daryl sat up with a grunt and placed the crossbow on the dashboard behind the wheel.
Beth watched him, admiring the way the muscles in his arms moved.
Get a hold of yourself she scolded herself, shaking her head.
But her mouth was dry when he turned to look at her again, catching her gaze and holding it with his intense eyes. Beth swallowed, then found her tongue quickly leave her mouth to moisten her lips. Daryl's eyes glanced down to her lips as he drew his own bottom lip in between his teeth.
Her heart in her throat, Beth leant across the space between them, her eyes on his until she was too close to keep his gaze, there she dropped it to his mouth. To her glee, Daryl closed to space between them, enclosing her mouth against his, his beard scratching her soft skin.
Beth's hands moved to capture his face, one stroking across the contour of his cheekbones and the other entangling itself in his shaggy hair. Daryl wrapped one strong arm around her and pulled her close as he kissed her, the pair of them losing their selves in one another.
'Ow, ow,' Beth gasped, breaking away from him with a gasp.
'What?' Daryl breathed.
'Gearstick,' she said, chuckling lightly. She moved herself back onto her own chair, taking her thigh away from the stick digging into her supple flesh.
Daryl huffed out a laugh and leant back himself.
Sighing, Beth leant her head back against the headrest and smiled. They were hiding from the rain in an abandoned car that smelt like mould and dust and the road beside them hosted three rotting corpses, but she was happy.
Feeling content, Beth clicked open the glovebox in front of her, curious to see what might be in it.
'Oh look,' she said, fishing out a well preserved box of cigarettes.
'Score,' Daryl grinned, catching them in one hand as she chucked them to him. He opened it and grinned as he saw it was almost full.
Beth pulled out a sleeve of CD's and began to flick though them.
She pulled one out and went to put it in the player.
'Don't,' Daryl said, watching her.
'Why? It's been too long since I heard real music.'
Pursing his lips, Daryl nodded.
Beth pushed the CD into the slot and pressed play, not expecting anything to happen. Instead, it whirred to life and little red lights flickered into existence. The CD spun and then, low and behold, the music began to play.
Beth turned to grin at Daryl.
'We're gonna draw out every damn bastard f' miles,' he grunted.
'They wont hear it over the rain,' Beth said.
'They might,' Daryl said.
'Then drive.' Beth said.
Daryl frowned at her.
The music on the CD kicked in and Beth, her heart light and fluffy, began to sign along, her soft voice filling the car around them.
Shaking his head, Daryl sighed, but Beth could see he was smiling.
Beth's voice grew louder as she sung, excited to have accompaniment to her singing and to have found music – and music that she knew, too!
Suddenly, the engine of the car jutted to life.
Beth turned to look at Daryl, who was smiling, pleased with himself.
'How did you-' Beth said, glancing down to where the wires of the car were now exposed.
Daryl just offered her his half smile and chuckling, Beth shook her head.
Daryl slowly pulled the car away from the edge of the road and started off down the road.
'Where we going?' Beth asked.
'Nowhere, jus' wanna drown out yer singing,' Daryl said, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of them, but glancing sideways at her to see her reaction.
Beth pursed her lips.
As they drove, Beth began to sing again, only this time louder, and aimed directly towards Daryl. He grinned, but Beth caught him tapping his fingers atop the wheel as he drove.
Beth beamed at him as he drove, mesmerised by the man who had taken the time to invest in her, something she thought she would never understand.
'Y'wana learn t'drive?' Daryl said.
'What?' Beth chuckled, breathless.
'Drive,' Daryl said, 'I'll show ya.'
'I don't-' Beth said, but he had begun to speed up.
'Daryl,' Beth said, glancing across at the speedometer which was nearing 60mph.
Daryl ignored her and instead accelerated.
'Daryl!' Beth gasped, looking around her and out of the rain smattered window as the world dropped past them.
Suddenly, Daryl turned the wheel and spun the car around.
'Hold on!' he shouted as the car suddenly began to skid out of control, its wheels billowing up clouds of dust as the wheels screamed.
Beth shrieked as Daryl drove the car around in a giant circle, skidding its back around on its screaming tires.
'What are you doing!' Beth gasped, grabbing hold of the dashboard. Her heart was thumping in her chest but she could not stop herself from laughing. The surly man beside her was like a gleeful, mischievous child as he spun the car round and round in circles. Beth felt herself leave the seat as she jutted to one side, her hair wildly whipping about her face, her breath leaving her lungs in sharp, exhilarated bursts. Daryl leaned into her as he kept the wheel turned, keeping control over a car that seemed, to Beth, so completely out of control.
Whilst everything was going at breakneck speed, Beth felt like the world had slowed down. She could see her hair as it floated out before her, could see the whites of her knuckles as she held on for dear life, her necklace which seemed to be frozen in place before her nose, could feel the heat from Daryl as he leant into her, feel his breath, the tickle of his hair.
Then he straightened the car back up and Beth felt herself fall back into her seat, her heart hammering away in her chest. She fell forward, bracing herself with her hands, and breathed out an excited laugh.
'S'the redneck way,' Daryl said, somewhat breathless himself.
'Damn Daryl you're gonna kill me,' she gasped.
'Nah,' he shook his head.
Beth turned in her seat to look out of the back window as he drove away, craning her neck to see the deep black marks they had left all over the road, circular and surrounded by dust.
She laughed loudly and heartily as they drove away.
It wasn't too long before Daryl pulled up beside an apartment complex.
'Look,' Daryl said as he turned in through the open – or rather fallen – gates. 'They got a pool.'
'Wonderful,' Beth said sarcastically, looking past him, 'looks beautiful.'
The pool in question was swollen with rain water, the droplets leaving ripples across the murky surface, littered with rubbish and rubble. It was a sorry sight that made Beth's heart sink. She drew her eyes away from it as they drove past it.
'What are we doing?' she asked as Daryl cut the engine.
'Need a place t'bunk down.' He said.
'Here? Is it safe?' Beth frowned.
'Guess we find out,' Daryl said, opening the car door, 'keep quiet.'
The inside of the complex was dingy and run down, with sodden red carpets that looked like they had seen better days long before the fall. They encountered few walkers, all of whom they took down with very little struggle. They made their way to the third floor where they found an open apartment, the door inviting them in with a ray of light that fell through it from the window and into the dark hallway.
'Keep behind me.' Daryl said as they entered it.
It's inhabitants, Beth assumed, must have fled, because they found no threats within, only an abandoned house that was little more than an open spaced kitchen, diner, lounge and two bedrooms beyond, separated by a little bathroom. The sitting area opened onto a small balcony that overlooked the pool and their parked car. In the light of day and after a good scrub, it would probably have been nice enough for a small, starter home, but now it was run down and smelt like decay.
Beth idly walked around the open planned area whilst Daryl ensured it was entirely safe, then set to work blocking the door with the kitchen table, just incase. There were a white, peeling set of garden table and chair on the balcony that were gathering the rain at a steady pace. Beth looked at the through the smeared glass of the doors.
'kay, we're good.' Daryl said. Beth heard the soft flump of him sitting down. She turned to see him sink into the red sofa and put his boots up on to wooden coffee table.
'What's on tv?' she asked in an attempt at amusement, but it seemed to fall flat. She wandered over to stand between Daryl and the long dead television set.
Daryl looked up at her. Sighing, he took his feet down from the table and hoisted himself back up. Beth watched him as he moved to her, then allowed herself to be pulled to him, letting herself melt to his frame, the comforting, familiar scent of his leather jacket and the warmth of his body. She buried her face in his chest.
'Thanks for today,' she said, moving her head to rest her chin on his chest so she could look up at him. He peered down at her, one eye brow raised.
'It was fun. I mean, I thought I was going to die, but it was fun.'
Daryl smiled, then cupped her chin in his hand.
They looked at one another for a while, then he lowered his head to kiss her. Beth wrapped her arms around his neck.
'Does this place have a bedroom?' she asked lightly once he pulled away.
Daryl smirked.
'Mm,' he said, then in a sudden motion that mad her cry out, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her through into the back of the apartment.
Adrenaline from the day was still coursing its way through Beth's veins, and Daryl's sudden pick up only accelerated it, until her heart was pounding in her throat and the muscles of her stomach began to squirm.
Daryl kicked open the bedroom door and threw her down onto the bed, grinning at her gasped laughter. Beth watched, giddy, as he threw off his vest and then pulled his top off over his head.
'Y'can thank me later,' he said, crawling over her until he was positioned atop her. Beth bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes wide and sparkling, as he undone her jeans and pulled them down her legs in quick succession. Beth let her head fall back as her chest rose and fell with each excited breath as he pushed her knees up to her chest, pausing briefly to kiss along her bare leg, the sound of his own belt buckle undoing as he adjusted himself over her. Beth groaned as Daryl gently pushed himself inside of her, a little by little, before he took her ankles and pulled her legs up over his shoulders. Beth gasped loudly as the muscles in the backs of her thighs complained, but as Daryl positioned himself back on his heels, their bodies intimately connected as he pulled her onto him and begun to thrust, Beth felt herself mould around him, her body relaxing. Beth left her head down on the mattress beneath her and focussed on breathing as her legs burned in the position Daryl had them in, bent up further than they naturally should have been. But the pleasure outweighed the pain tenfold so she let herself go and rode through the intimacy with him as he used her, grunting. She reached up to stroke his face, letting him kiss the palm of her hand, his kisses eager and rough against her skin. Sweat began to bead across Beth's forehead, her hair matting beneath her as her body moved up and down the bed as Daryl thrust in and out of her.
After a while in which the two of them simply enjoyed the intimate company and pleasure of each other, the build up of adrenaline and emotions released through the sweat in their bodies, Daryl moved his hand down in-between them and helped guide Beth over the edge, a feeling she was still not used to. She withered beneath him, gasping and panting as he took her there, feeling completely full up and unsure as to how to fully express herself. She bit down on her lip as her orgasm mounted, suddenly arching up and gasping as it took her over the edge, her body exploding in pleasure.
Daryl paused his own movements until she was spent, waiting until she was okay before he carried on. Through heavily lidded and sweat infused eyes, Beth looked up to see the deep set concentration on his face, his tongue between his teeth. She grinned, a breathy chuckle escaping her dry lips.
Daryl swallowed. Suddenly, at the last minute as though he has decided on the spur of the moment, he pulled out of her and released himself over her exposed stomach – and some of the shirt she was still wearing.
'I'm sorry,' he gasped once he had gotten some of his breath back, 'I didn't wanna risk...'
Beth nodded, smiling up at him.
'It's okay,' she shook her head. Although she did not have another top.
Slowly, Daryl fell down beside her, breathing heavily as he pushed his wet hair up out of his face. Beth pulled off her top and used it to clean herself up. It was already ruined.
The two of them lay in a silent bliss for some time, until Beth's stomach rumbled.
'Wish there was room service,' she murmured sleepily.
'Mm,' Daryl cleared his throat and opened his eyes a fraction, on the edge of sleep. 'Hang on,' He said. Then, with a grunt, he rolled over to the edge of the bed and picked up the phone that lay covered in dust on the bedside table. He brought it to his ear.
'Yeh, room service? We wan' one giant motherfuckin' pizza – and some damn cold beers.'
Beth laughed loudly, pulling him by the broad shoulders back down onto the bed.
'You're such a dork,' she laughed.
Daryl just smiled at her.
Beth leant in and kissed him, enjoying the warmth of his breath against her skin.
'A'right,' Daryl sighed after, pulling himself up, 'I'll raid the cupboards.'