"Because, you said nobody can kill a Dixon but a Dixon and this didn't kill Merle, or you would've found him. So you will see him again" "And you Dixon's are pretty tough"
Oh why did she say all of that to him? When she did, he felt a tightness form in his stomach. She sounded so sure of herself, so confident that he would see Merle again. And her singing! Her voice sounded like the birds during springtime, when he would sit out in the woods and just listen. Her voice filled him with a peace, just like those birds used to do. It was a peace he had not felt for a while. And the fact that she had defended him, defended Merle, nobody had ever done that for him before. This girl sitting beside of him, in her faded jeans and worn cowboy boots, was doing things to him that he had never experienced before, and he was not sure how to handle it.
He could hear Merle's voice in the back of his head telling him to "bang 'er already Baby Brother. I bet she is as juicy as a peach" and he didn't doubt she would be, but Beth was better than that. He could tell that the first time he ever saw her, even before Merle started remarking on her resemblance to their Momma's angel. This girl deserved respect, to be treated with affection! Not some redneck asshole pawing all over her like an animal in heat. And even if he did think he had a shot with her, which he knew he didn't, he would have no idea how to even go about it. He had never had a real relationship before and all of the hook-ups he ever had were pushed on him by Merle, or from sitting in some backwoods bar drunk off of his ass.
He would have no idea how to even bring something like that up, and it's not like the end of the world were the dead are coming back wanting to literally rip your ass apart was the time to think of things like this. He needed to keep them safe! But dammit, when did he become them?
"Oh my god Daryl, look at that!" she exclaimed, her voice hitching, as he broke from his thoughts and looked ahead of them. Atlanta lay in ruins as they started to drive in. He realized that this must have been the first time she was back since she ran in the beginning. No matter how many times he came back, it still struck him too.
"They bombed everything" she mumbled as she wiped a stray tear off of her cheek.
"Hey, it's ok. I'm not gunna let anythin' happen to ya" he said firmly as he gripped her hand and squeezed it. "Where in the hell did all of that come from?" he thought to himself but he didn't have a real chance to second guess what he did as she squeezed his hand back, intertwined their fingers and gave him a faint smile, then turned her head back toward the windows, still taking in all the carnage in front of her. He watched her for another moment, wanting to see something beautiful, probably the most beautiful thing he had ever seen before he turned back around to look at the wreckage himself.
"You stay here" he growled out as they stopped a little ways away from the CDC building. He walked up to Rick, Shane and Glenn who were standing a good way away from the barrier that he assumed the govt put up. He could see a few walkers coming toward them, but nothing they could not handle.
"So what's the plan?" Daryl asked, throwing a glance back over toward Beth, who was watching them intently.
"Guess we just go up and ring the front door bell" Shane said as he grabbed his bag out of his jeep. Rick nodded in agreement and then they all turned to grab their stuff.
"All of us are going in, so stay right beside me ok?" He told her as she started to roll up his window and he grabbed their bags out of the back seat. He adjusted his crossbow on his back and opened the car door for her, making him the receiver of one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen.
"Chivalry isn't dead, even in the apocalypse" she said sweetly, her eyes gleaming
"Yeah yeah, 'ere" he mumbled out as he thrusted her bag toward her. She took it as she chuckled at him. He could feel the tips of his ears going red as he motioned for them to get going. "member, stay beside me" he whispered as they walked up to the front of the CDC, his crossbow loaded and ready. He looked down and smiled slightly when he saw Beth had the gun he had given her in her hand.
"COME ON! LET US IN!" Rick screamed at the door as he banged and banged, with no use. Daryl turned around, watching all of the walkers start to notice them.
"Rick, we gotta go man! This is a lost cause. How bout Fort Benning?" Shane said as he tried to pull Rick away from the door.
"That's 60 miles in the other direction, we barely had enough gas to get here" Lori stated.
"How 'bout my Daddy's farm?" Beth spoke up, causing Daryl to turn and look at her. So she was going to give this one last ditch effort. He knew she liked most of the people, and wanted what was best for them and she thought the farm was it.
"We are not going to your farm, Beth!" Shane growled out, turning his attention back to Rick. Daryl saw Rick glance at Beth one more time as her face fell slightly, like he was taking in what she had said, and then he went and banged on the door again.
"YOU'RE KILLING US" he yelled as Shane started to pull him away. "Wait! Wait, the camera moved! Hey please, please let us in" Rick begged as Daryl started pacing behind them, watching the ever growing amount of walkers.
"Hey, we gotta either get in or get goin' cuz they are comin'" Daryl exclaimed as he locked eyes with Beth. Her nod at his silent question was enough to know she was ready to go. If they were not going to follow to the farm, that was on them. Just as she got up beside of him again, the doors of the CDC opened in a glow of bright light.
"I'm Dr. Jenner" the blond haired man said as they entered and he slid the doors back on the opening. It made Daryl feel trapped, and when they found out they were going underground, he tried to brush off the enclosed feeling. He heard Carol mention something about it too and felt a little better it wasn't just him.
"It was nice of ya to offer the farm again" he whispered out to her. She smiled slightly at him and then sighed with a shake of her head.
"I don't know what Shane has against it." She said sadly as she watched the Dr lead them down a long pathway.
"I don't think he is against it. He just has somethin' up his ass about Fort Benning" Daryl said, causing Beth to let out a chuckle that sent warmth thru him. He will have to find a way to get her to do that more often.
"Don't turn on the video games, and if you take a shower don't overuse the hot water" Dr. Jenner said from the front of the group.
"Hot water?" Beth breathlessly said as she looked up at him. He nodded in reply, secretly ecstatic about the shower. Normally being dirty didn't bother him, but for some reason he wanted to be clean right now.
Jenner had showed everybody to their rooms, till it was just Beth and Daryl left.
"This is the last room we have, but it's got two beds. Is that ok?" Jenner asked them. Beth looked at Daryl, and he just looked back at her. This was going to be her decision; he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. She watched him for a moment, and then turned to Jenner with a sweet smile, that caused him to smile back at her.
"Its fine, thank you so much for your hospitality" she said sweetly, her southern charm shining thru.
"Nothing to thank me for" he mumbled as he turned and walked away. Daryl watched him go as Beth walked into the room and sat her back down beside one of the beds. There was something about this Doctor that rubbed Daryl the wrong way. But his thoughts were broke when he felt Beth touch his arm and say she was going to go find the showers. From that moment on, his thoughts were filled with Beth being in the shower. Even when his shower consisted of hearing Rick and Lori going at it in the next shower over, his thoughts stayed on Beth.
And he thought they might be permanently stuck on her when he walked back into their room to find her sitting on one of the cots, legs crossed under her, brushing that beautiful hair of hers. It was falling into loose, wet curls down her shoulders and back. And the shirt (if you could call it that for as tight and thin as it was) that she had on sent his blood rushing to his lower half. All of that mixed with the smell of vanilla that hit him when he walked in and the beautiful smile she flashed him was enough to make him second guess everything he ever thought in life.
"Wasn't that amazin?" She asked with that same smile on her face. His brain could not function enough to speak, he wasn't sure it ever would again so he just mumbled out a "mmhmm" to her question as he sat his stuff down on the other cot. He smiled just a little when he saw that she had placed the crossbow right in the middle of the bed, like it was prized. He took a minute to compose himself, before he turned back around to her to speak, but he didn't get a chance as she jumped up off of the bed and headed for the door.
"Come on Daryl, drop your stuff off! Jenner said he is willing to share his food. Let's go get something to eat" she said sweetly, her smile bright. And he just nodded in reply and followed her out, because how could he deny the promise of food and to be in the presence of Beth Greene?