I am going to be practicing my Beth POV writing and will have this story alternate between Daryl and Beth with each chapter. The next one will be from Beth's.
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Chapter Two. Yarn.
There was a time not that long ago where most of these people would hurry to the other side of the road if they saw him coming their way and now, when Daryl walked into the kitchen in the morning, they all looked to him, waiting to see if he had anything to say because suddenly, anything he had to say was important.
Daryl didn't say anything though. Hardly looked at any of them. He went to the counter where there were bowls of cereal laid out – Frosted Flakes and fresh milk from the cows in the barn – and Carol handed him a spoon and still without saying anything, he headed back outside, sitting himself down on the top step of the porch. He barely said ten sentences a day and he sure as hell didn't say them in the mornings. T-Dog and Glenn were morning people in an annoying way and were already talking too much to give Daryl a headache.
He ate his cereal and looked at the farm that laid quiet and undisturbed. A cold breeze was blowing that morning just serving as another reminder that winter was definitely coming and with it, they would have their share of problems. There were fences already but there needed to be more of them – especially nearer to that creek in the woods. He'd talk to Rick about that. Rick seemed to be listening to him more and more; more than anyone and it wasn't as if Daryl was glad Shane was dead. More times than not, they agreed on things. But with him gone, Rick was listening to him and Daryl wasn't going to lie to himself. It felt good to feel important.
He didn't sleep inside with the rest of them. He probably would when it got to be the coldest nights but for now, he was sleeping out on the porch even if he wasn't on night watch. The youngest Greene had read his mind. Sometimes, it was just too damn hard to breathe in there with so many people. The house wasn't small by any means but it sure as hell felt like the size of a shoebox with so many people living on top of each other.
He thought of the girl now. How young and small she was. In ways, she seemed younger than Carl and he knew the reason for that. Carl was already getting used to this world. He could aim and fire a gun but that girl in there, she flinched any time a gun went off. When Shane and T-Dog had given firing practice, he remembered Shane reporting back to Rick about it and overhearing him say that about her. Hell, the girl didn't even know about walkers until just a month before when her dead mama and brother poured out of that barn with the others and he had been the one to shoot her mama in the head. Her entire world came crashing down in a single afternoon.
She still wore the white bandage wrapped around her wrist even though it had been a couple of week since she had made a cut at it and he didn't think she'd need that anymore but he wasn't a doctor like her old man so it wasn't like he knew anything about it. The only knowledge he had was from giving himself medical attention with his own cuts.
The first time he had ever talked with her had been that night when she had slapped her little boyfriend's hand away and hurried outside to get away from them all. Daryl had never talked to her before that night but he could imagine what she was feeling. He was observant towards everyone on that farm and he saw the way her family was always watching her. She now lived under their microscope and he was surprised she was able to take a piss without them making her leave the door open.
He didn't blame them – not exactly. After what she had tried to do, he could see why her family worried about her. Girl was lucky to have a family who cared about her so much. But he knew that they weren't really doing anything except driving her crazy and if Shane had showed them anything, it was that going crazy was a dangerous thing – especially now.
He heard another door open and footsteps came onto the porch and he lifted his head to see who it was. He wasn't really that surprised to see that it was her. Beth. He had never said her name before. Had never had a reason to. Had never even really thought it before. But that didn't mean he didn't know it. And he watched now as Beth came out of the front door and she stood there on the top step for a moment, taking slow, deep breaths. She didn't look towards him and she didn't seem to even be aware that he was sitting just a few feet away at the side door.
Daryl couldn't help but frown to himself over that. Girl needed to be a hell of a lot more observant if she was going to make it.
With one more deep breath, Beth stepped off the porch and headed towards the horse barn and he watched her go. A second later, the door opened again and it was that kid, Jimmy. His eyes fell on Beth walking away and he didn't hesitate in taking off after her. Daryl would have said something to get the kid to leave her alone but it wasn't any of his business. They were just kids having a lover's spat or whatever they called it. But he couldn't stop himself from watching and he couldn't hear but he saw the way Beth turned on him and started yelling something, her hands knocking his away when he tried to touch her and whatever Jimmy was saying, it just seemed to make her angrier.
Absolutely none of his business.
He finished the cereal and drained the milk from the bowl before standing up and heading back into the kitchen. Rick was down there now, speaking with Hershel about something, and when he saw Daryl, he jerked his head to the side, signaling for Daryl to come over.
"Daryl and me can handle it," Rick was saying. "Maybe Glenn. He's been on enough runs." Rick then looked to Daryl as he came to stand with them. "Hershel says there's a few farm houses around here that might still have plenty of supplies stocked up."
"Those who lived there…" Hershel trailed off and visibly swallowed. "They were in the barn," he said, almost reluctantly.
Rick nodded and looked to Daryl. "It's definitely worth checking out."
Daryl nodded in agreement, seeing no reason to argue. Hershel was a well-prepared man with a well-stocked farm but with so many people here, they would need more and they had to get it while they still could. He was already thinking of the baby and everything that kid would need. Rick had told them all that Lori was pregnant and the baby would be here in the spring. Hershel would be performing the delivery and he didn't seem nervous about it at all, telling Lori that he had brought his fair share of calves into this world, and she had laughed at that though she was obviously still nervous.
"Maggie and Bethy will both be helping me," Hershel had said as he patted her hand. "Those two have helped me enough times with the animals."
It was easy to imagine Maggie helping with an animal birth but Daryl couldn't picture Beth getting her hands dirty.
"When you wanna head out?" Daryl asked, finally speaking, looking to Rick.
"The sooner, the better," Rick said. "You'll tell us where to go?" He looked to Hershel.
"I'll get you a map," Hershel said.
"Alright," Rick spoke louder, gaining the attention of everyone in the kitchen and adjacent dining room. "Daryl, me and Glenn are going on a run this morning. T-Dog and Andrea, you're in charge of keeping everyone else here. You can finish fortifying the windows and helping Hershel with supplies in the basement. Patricia has some canning to do, too."
"You want us on patrol?" Andrea asked.
"Not now. Wait until Daryl gets back so he can go with you. The fences need to be checked."
As everyone finished their breakfasts and began helping with cleaning up, Daryl went to the corner of the kitchen where he kept his meager amount of possessions.
"Do you have to go?" He heard Maggie ask Glenn in a soft voice and Daryl nearly snorted.
Those two had just met each other a couple of months ago and were already attached at the hip. Daryl knew it was the end of the world but damn. It was like they couldn't breathe without the other being right there. It was actually kind of disgusting in Daryl's opinion.
"Rick and Daryl need me," Glenn said softly in return.
"Rick and Daryl are the two most capable people on this farm," Maggie pointed out.
"Are you saying I'm incapable?" Glenn teased and she laughed.
"You're very capable where it counts," Maggie teased back and Daryl's face screwed up in disgust at that as he continued loading his crossbow with the few extra bolts he had left.
He needed to find more. He only had so many arrows but maybe these farmhouses would provide something to him. He wasn't the only guy in the state of Georgia who had hunted with a crossbow and people, in their panic, had grabbed bullets and guns first. Most didn't think of grabbing the crossbow. Most didn't even know how to work one.
Making sure he had his knife hooked to his belt, he swung his crossbow onto his shoulder and headed outside again. Rick was already standing at the pickup truck, checking the air in the tires and the gas in the tank, and Carl was with him, pleading with him to let him go.
Daryl's eyes scanned across the land as they always did when he was outside but still, everything was quiet. It almost made him nervous – how isolated the farm seemed to be. This place almost seemed too good to be true and nothing good lasted anymore. Hell, nothing good lasted even before the world ended.
"'m thinkin' we need to build more fences," Daryl said, turning his head to look at Rick.
"Yeah?" The man asked.
Daryl nodded his head once. "Make the ones we already got stronger and add to 'em."
Rick nodded, too. "I've been thinking the same thing. This farm needs to be a fortress."
"Dad, please," Carl went back to begging and Rick's attention was on him once more.
Daryl saw a figure step from the barn and it was Beth, walking back towards the house. There was a basket in her hand and he figured she must have gone to collect fresh eggs. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen and not that Daryl really cared but he wondered where the kid was. It was obvious to all of them that she wasn't interested in him anymore and Daryl wondered when he would finally take the hint and leave her the hell alone.
As she got closer, Daryl couldn't help but frown. Damn girl didn't even have a damn weapon of any kind on her. He knew the farm seemed pretty safe but still, she had to be prepared. What if a walker had gotten through like the one who had gotten to Dale?
He was scowling by the time she got near to them.
"Hi, Beth," Rick greeted kindly.
"Hi," she said quietly, almost shyly, giving him a soft smile but when she looked to Daryl and saw the way he was frowning, it disappeared from her face. She was quick to look away from him and back to Rick. "Are you going somewhere?" She asked, trying to make polite conversation. Girl was probably raised to do nothing else.
"Your dad told us about a few houses around here that might have supplies. We're going to head over and check it out," he said and Beth nodded.
She tightened both hands around the handle of the basket hanging in front of her.
"Be careful," she then said in a quiet voice and walked past them towards the porch. On the second step though, she stopped and turned back towards them. "If you go to the Walter farm, Mrs. Walter was always knitting. She had baskets of yarn. If you're able to bring those back along with her needles, I can knit us scarves and hats for winter coming."
Rick smiled. "That'd be great, Beth."
She didn't say anything before turning around once more, heading into the house.
Daryl looked after her for a moment. It seemed stupid – knitting – but he supposed it was good if it could get them warm stuff for the winter; if she was actually able to make those things. Unfortunately, it was obvious that Beth was nothing like her older sister and knitting just might be the only thing the girl could do that would be considered useful.
…
Hershel's map was easy enough to follow and Rick, Daryl and T-Dog found all of the houses easily. Daryl had almost snorted when Glenn said that he would like to stay behind and T-Dog had volunteered to take his place instead. The guy was already pussy-whipped to the extreme but Daryl kept that comment to himself.
Hershel had been right. The farmhouses were pretty stocked and it seemed as if the owners had turned pretty early, winding up in Hershel's barn before much of their supplies could be used. They spent the day loading up the bed of pickup truck and the back of the other car they had brought with them with anything that might be considered useful.
Daryl had been the one to find the yarn.
They had been in one of the houses and T-Dog and Rick were in one of the bedrooms, stripping the bed of the blankets and raiding the closets, and Daryl had cautiously opened the closed door to a room at the end of the hallway. It was a tiny room with a rocking chair and a couple of bookshelves and a record player. There was a Rubbermaid container in the corner and Daryl approached it, knocking the lid off. Inside, it was filled to the brim with yarn and a couple pairs of needles and he wondered how much Beth would be able to kit with all of this. He still didn't know if he really believed that the girl could knit anything but if she said she'd could, he'd take all of this to her.
He swung his crossbow onto his shoulder and then lifted the container, which was a bit heavier than he had been expecting it to be since it was filled with nothing but yarn. On his way out the door, a framed picture on one of the shelves stopped him and he couldn't help but step towards it to get a closer look. It was a picture of two girls in formal dresses, probably going to a school dance. One girl had black hair and was wearing a black dress to match. The other girl was Beth, her hair in some fancy twist and her dress dark green and the biggest, brightest smile across her face.
He had never seen her smile like that in all of their time on the farm. Not that there was much to smile about anymore.
He wondered if she would want this picture. And no sooner did he wonder that that he was knocking the picture into the container and leaving the room. He had no idea why he cared whether she wanted it or not or even why he had been searching every one of these houses for stupid yarn and needles. The only explanation he could think of was Rick was looking to him more and more and Daryl was helping him take care of all of these people on the farm. And Beth was one of those people on the farm. She was one of his responsibilities.
"Find anything?" Rick asked as they all met in the hallway again.
"That yarn Beth was tellin' us 'bout," Daryl said and Rick nodded.
"The sun's getting lower and I don't want to be here when it's dark. We'll head back now and hit up the rest of the houses tomorrow," Rick said and Daryl and T-Dog didn't argue.
Rick and T-Dog drove the car and Daryl drove the pick-up truck, following him down the road back to the farm. He saw a few rambling walkers, stumbling down the road or through the fields of overgrown wheat and grass and Daryl kept a sharp lookout for more. It made him nervous – not seeing more. The Greene farm was pretty isolated and quiet but he didn't know if it could stay like forever. Eventually, someone or something would stumble upon it and then what would they do? Daryl already knew the answer and he knew what Rick would expect them all to do.
When they pulled back in front of the house, everyone came out to welcome them back and help carry their loot back inside. Carol and Patricia were in the middle of making them dinner and stayed in the kitchen and Daryl could smell the scents wafting outside, making his stomach grumble. The last thing he had eaten that day was the bowl of Frosted Flakes hours earlier and he was starving.
He saw Beth standing at the bed of the pickup truck, folding blankets that had been tossed in carelessly so it would be easier to carry inside and Daryl didn't know why the hell he felt as if maybe he was nervous walking up to her but his stomach was doing some sort of weird flipping thing as he approached her. She lifted her eyes and looked at him. He was a quiet guy – always had been – but Beth being quiet unnerved him a little. He didn't know the first thing about her, had barely exchanged words with her, but there was something about Beth. He remembered the girl in the picture he saw. This girl wasn't the type of be quiet and he wondered if anyone else found it to be as unsettling as he did.
"Gotcha that yarn you asked for," he said in his gruff voice and she jumped slightly, obviously in surprise that he had spoken to her.
He ignored her reaction and reached into the bed, pulling the container to the edge.
Beth opened one corner of the lid and peeked in. She then looked to Daryl and gave him a small smile. "Thank you," she said softly. "I'll start right away."
"Gotcha somethin' else," he said and she looked at him curiously.
He reached into a nearby gym bag and dug around for a moment before pulling out a small hunting knife in a brown leather sheath. He had found it at the first house they had stopped at that day and the second he found it, he thought of her. The girl needed a weapon and the knife was the perfect size for someone with small hands like hers.
"Can't be walkin' anywhere on this farm without this," he said, thrusting it out towards her for her to take. "Can't be stupid anymore."
Beth slowly took it from his hand and she didn't say anything as she looked down at it for a moment. She then pulled it from the sheath so she could look at the blade. It only made him frown though. She was looking at it as if she had never seen a knife before let alone held one. There was no way this girl would ever survive if they had to run away from her. She'd be dead as soon as she saw her first walker.
She slid the knife back into the sheath and he watched as she hooked it around one of the belt loops of her jeans so it rested against her thigh.
"Thank you," she said in that same soft voice of hers.
"I'll show you how to use it," the words left his mouth before he even realized it or could stop them and her eyes snapped to him, slightly wide with surprise.
He just stared at her though. She was obviously waiting for him to take them back but that wasn't going to happen. He hadn't been expecting him to say that to her but he wasn't going to pretend that he didn't. This girl was damn defenseless and it was his job now to keep them all safe. He imagined how torn up her family would be if anything happened to her and grief made people do stupid things.
None of them could afford to be stupid.
Keeping this girl alive meant that they would all stay alive.
"What's your favorite color?" Beth then asked and it was his turn to stare at her in complete confusion because what the hell kind of question was that?
But he heard himself answering anyway. "Green," he grunted. He actually didn't know if he had a favorite color though.
Beth nodded her head and her eyes finally fell away from his. Her hands curled around the handles of the container and was about to pull it off the bed but Daryl stopped her before she could. He knocked her hands away and she took a step back as he hoisted the container up himself. It was heavy and Beth looked like a too-strong breeze could knock her over.
She didn't say anything as he carried it up the steps and into the house but he knew she was following after him. He figured her bedroom was upstairs and that she would want it up there but he wasn't going to carry it there. He didn't want to go upstairs at all. Hershel might have opened his home up to all of them but that didn't mean that he would ever feel as if he actually belonged here. And the second floor was off bounds in his opinion – at least to someone like him.
He set it down at the bottom of the stairs. Someone else could take it up for her. Maybe her boyfriend could actually be useful to her instead of just babysitting her.
"Thank you, Daryl," Beth said.
He looked at her. It was the first time she had ever said his name and for some reason, he hadn't even imagined her to know it. It was stupid, he knew. Of course she knew his name. There were only so many people around anymore and they had been here for a while and they were all living on top of one another now.
That last thought made the tips of his ears turn red and he mentally kicked his ass. This girl was exactly that. A girl. No older than seventeen and it didn't matter if the world was gone and even if it wasn't, sixteen was considered the legal age. He wasn't going to look at this girl and think of her as anything but that. Beth Greene was nothing more than a girl. He was a sick pervert to even be looking at her.
Besides, if he ever thought of a woman – which was rare to happen even before – she wouldn't be the kind he would think of. Too skinny and small and so weak, it made him angry when he thought about it. He looked to the bandage on her wrist. So fucking weak. Old man used him as whipping post for years but he never thought of opting out. Girl's mama had died. Big deal. Everyone's mama died nowadays.
Feeling his anger grow – more directed towards himself for his earlier thoughts than her – Daryl's face twisted in a frown and without looking at her or saying another word, he turned and headed back outside.
Damn near impossible to breathe in that damn house.
…
Thank you very much for reading and please review!