Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead

Chapter 4

"What we need all this shit for?"

Beth looked over at Daryl, annoyed. He'd been ragging on each and every thing that she had picked up to place in the duffle bag that they'd found. It was stretched to capacity and bulging in every which direction.

They were standing in a small corner store that the hunter had managed to find on his last run. He wasn't able to carry all that he'd seen during that initial run so four hands were better than two this time around.

There were plenty of vehicles around but they either lacked keys or had been sitting idle for too long.

"I don't want us just survivin' in the RV, Daryl. I want it to be home," Beth spoke fiercely, her annoyance on her sleeve, "That's just somethin' we have to hold on to."

He watched as she turned away to scour the store for more luxury items leaving Daryl to scoff at her words.

Daryl walked quietly towards the open door of the store they were filtering through, his hands reaching for the smokes in his back pocket that he had found beneath the counter.

He was cranky; her words from the day before regarding the lack of walkers had been weighing heavily on his mind. Lowering his crossbow and his bag that was stocked with cans and other necessities, he lit up a cigarette and leaned against the door jam before inhaling deeply. It had been a while.

The archer's narrow eyes scanned the open lot in front of him for any disturbances. Everything was too quiet. That was a problem.

There was definitely something up. He had only dropped one walker as they made their way to that little store. Someone was picking them off or someone was rounding them up.

"Those'll kill you, ya' know," he heard Beth utter quietly from behind him.

He nearly jumped at her sudden appearance. During his time alone with her he had realized that she was as quiet as a mouse and often surprised him by sneaking up on him.

Daryl rolled his eyes and turned towards the blonde girl before blowing a puff of smoke in her direction. Beth grimaced, her long nose crinkling at the odor.

"You're an ass."

"Yeah, well...You done bein' Ms. Suzy Homemaker?" Daryl questioned as he pushed the cigarette against the opposite wall to kill the light. He placed the remainder of the stick back into the crumpled box.

Beth shrugged before walking forward with only her can-laden, heavy rucksack on her back. Daryl quirked an eyebrow.

"Where's your other stuff?"

"Don't need it."

Daryl looked over at Beth to see a pensive expression and something else too, on her face. This girl. For such a stubborn hardass, she could be incredibly sensitive. Daryl sighed before turning to go get the duffle bag.

"Daryl...?"

Beth's whispered voice stopped him and he looked at her. She was focused on something straight ahead, her hand gripping her knife's handle tightly. He followed her eyes. There were three dark shapes in the distance. Daryl grabbed his pack and crossbow, his senses alert. Those weren't walkers.

"Beth, back up slowly. Don't move too fast. We'll leave through the back," Daryl spoke, his eyes still on the grey blobs in the distance. Hopefully he and Beth blended with this building well enough that they weren't spotted.

Daryl's voice was full of authority and experience instead of his normal gruffness and it made the hairs on Beth's arm stand on end.

Beth inched back until she was completely inside. She turned her large blue eyes on Daryl who had his own eyes narrowed towards the approaching figures.

"Straight back, girl. They ain't seen us yet." Daryl watched the blobs from his position at the doorway as he listened for Beth to pull the back door open.

"Daryl, let's go," Beth called out quietly.

The hunter, after seeing that the grey shapes gave no indication that they'd noticed the two, backed up and turned, grabbing the overly full duffle bag in the process, before exiting the building quickly at Beth's heels.

The woods were quiet other than the couple's quick steps over the cold, dry leaves. They didn't speak as they sprinted further into the woods to put distance between themselves and the store.

The hunter kept himself a few paces behind Beth as they jogged, his eyes on that dirty blonde ponytail that was swishing to and fro.

Just minutes later, Beth was seated on a log, catching her breath, while Daryl scoped the area to make sure that they weren't followed. He stood still, silent as ever, with his trained eyes darting this way and that to determine if something was amiss.

"Who do you think they were?" Beth questioned.

Daryl didn't respond for about thirty seconds before scoffing and turning his eyes onto Beth. She was reaching down her boot to massage her ankle that had pretty much healed but still ailed her.

"Don't know. Didn't want to stick around to find out. You good?"

Beth nodded.

"Figures though. I bring you with me and things like that happen."

Daryl tossed the duffle bag at her feet.

"You're carryin' that," he muttered. Never mind her sore ankle.

Beth looked towards the bag, shocked that he'd grabbed it in the first place.

"C'mon, we have to get back and pack up."

Panic.

"Wait, no! Why do we need to leave?! That place is thirty miles away from the RV! These people probably won't even go in our direction," Beth exclaimed fiercely as she jumped up from the log to face the older man.

Daryl regarded Beth with an expression of stoicism. He kind of liked getting her worked up and considered not answering her. Here ankle was hurting that bad.

"We ain't leavin' unless they show up. I want to make sure we have our shit straight if they do," he spoke gruffly.

Beth kept herself from releasing a sigh of relief as the man in front of her rolled his eyes, but she didn't stop the small grin from appearing on her face. She liked their home.

The couple trudged through the thick overgrowth that looked as if no human nor walker had touched it in years as they made their way back to the overgrown trailer park.

Beth pushed forward, her bags heavy, before sinking onto the steps of their RV, the bags sliding down her arms. She could feel the cold sweat running down her spine from the physical exertion of walking twenty or so miles at a fast pace. Especially with so much weight on her shoulders.

Daryl hadn't offered any help to her and she hadn't asked him for any. She watched as he set his bag down close to her feet before moving towards the side panels of their RV.

"What are you doing?"

Daryl turned his head and shot an annoyed look towards the blonde before responding.

"Makin' sure things are right," Daryl said as he kneeled down to inspect the ground in front of one of the side panels. Satisfied that he saw no footsteps other than his own or Beth's near the RV, he stood up and looked towards the young woman again noting the inquisitive glare on her face. He wanted to laugh.

"Come here," Daryl mumbled jerking his head towards the panel he stood in front of. He pulled open the panel door as Beth stood up.

Pushing all thoughts of her aching feet and back to the back of her mind she peered into the open panel.

"This is where I've been keepin' the extra ammo and bolts. I got some cans and stuff in here too," Daryl explained as he went back towards the steps to grab his bag. He pulled out a several cans and pushed them into the panel to join the stock that was already there.

Beth was quiet. He looked over at her to see that her face was tense, blue-grey eyes framed by a frown. He nearly backed up, away from her, when those large eyes flashed to meet his own.

"Why're you showin' me this?" Beth's voice had wavered.

"If somethin' happens, you grab what you can and you—," Daryl was unable to finish his explanation and he flinched as Beth pushed up on the open panel door to slam it shut.

"What are you talkin' about? You plannin' on leavin?" Beth's voice was small, yet bold.

"Nah, don't be dumb," Daryl responded almost immediately. They stood there awkwardly, Daryl chewing on his lip and Beth caught up by her anxious thoughts.

The two were silent for a beat before Beth finally cleared her throat, "Alright."

"You gotta be prepared if things go south. That's why I'm showin' you this."

Beth offered a slight nod before moving toward the steps. Daryl watched in silence as the blonde woman stooped down to collect their pillaged supplies.

"I'm goin' inside. Redneck brunch for dinner?"

And they were good.

AN:

Don't throw any tomatoes. I've actually had this written MONTHS ago but the MSF of Season 5 DESTROYED me. I'm definitely on Team Delusional though. So many theories floating around on Tumblr. And the best thing is that most seem to be reasonable theories. I'm staying strong guys.

Also! I see that I have a decent amount of followers for which I'm deeply appreciative! Please review guys! It really motivates me!