A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for leaving all of your kind reviews, follows, and favorites. I'm so happy that you all seem to be enjoying my story so far! Sorry that this update wasn't as quick as my last one, but I want you to know that I have quite a few scenes already mapped out. Granted, they're kind of scattered and not at all in order, but nevertheless I have a plan! Anyway, I hope you like this installment, we're at the prison now! I do not own The Walking Dead.

Enjoy!

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Chapter 4: Contemplations

The fuck was that about? Daryl thought as he tried to make himself comfortable by the small fire crackling softly. For as long as he'd known Carol she'd always been this shy and soft spoken woman, almost matronly. Not… whatever the hell that was. She'd been kidding of course, when she'd uttered her proposition, cocking her hip and smiling coyly at him. At first he'd snorted and shook his head, she couldn't have been serious. Screw around- what were they? Fifteen? She'd laughed off his less than eloquent decline, even teased him about it. Yet as he stared at the flames licking away at a log, he couldn't help but wonder how much of what Carol said had actually been a joke.

It was unsettling.

Carol was a beautiful woman, anyone could see that. Even him. She was smart, kind, and... Hardened. In the end her eyes said it all; she'd seen too much, been through too much. The most tragic part was, the turn hadn't caused half of the damage. If anything, it was what saved her. Daryl remembered when he'd first met Carol and that sack o' shit husband of her's. He'd known men like that his whole life, hell he'd grown up with one as a father. Just from one glance, he and Merle had a pretty good idea of what happened behind closed doors right away. Merle just shook his head and went back to whatever the hell he'd been doing beforehand. "Pathetic," he'd called her as she'd walked timidly from her tent with a freshly red cheek and her little girl in tow. Daryl had agreed, scowling at Ed Peletier who'd followed his shaken wife a few seconds later. He'd sworn long before that moment that he'd never hit a woman, and meeting the Peletier family had only fortified that promise.

He didn't judge Carol on her past. How could he when he'd been just like her not so long ago? He understood more than anyone what she'd gone through, what she'd overcome. Just like him, she'd been through the ringer long before the world had fallen apart. In a way, he and Carol were almost identical. And to see a good woman like her go through the same shit he'd dealt with all his life was just plain sad.

Which was exactly why he needed her proposition to be a joke. When it came down to it, he knew her too well as did she with him. Their scars were too similar and the memories behind their eyes were too familiar. If they were to pursue… whatever that was, it would be dangerous. Who was to say that they wouldn't learn from their past? Who was to say that she wouldn't go back to that timid woman she once was? Who was to say that he wouldn't end up just like his daddy? That last question alone was the real kicker.

And it fucking terrified him.

The soft whisper of grass being stepped on snapped him out of his thoughts of Carol and back to reality. Shit, did they miss an opening in the fence? Or worse, did it fail? Instantly, Daryl grabbed his bow and leapt to his feet. Rick had been right about it being a good win today, but that didn't mean that the threat of walkers disappeared. From the sounds of the steps, it was a straggler- and a small one at that. Silently, he crept towards the noise with his bow in his hands. He knew that with just the one, his knife would've probably sufficed. However, it was dark and there wasn't much of a way of knowing how close those flailing arms and rotting teeth might be. These days, he'd rather not risk being careless. A few seconds later, the silhouette of his target came into view. He raised the bow and aimed it at the figure with careful precision. However just when he was about to pull the trigger, another sound flitted through the cold night air.

Humming.

Humming that got progressively louder as the silhouette drew closer.

Humming that had stopped abruptly.

"Hello?" Beth's timid voice asked.

Oh for the love of God, Daryl thought as he lowered the weapon.

"The hell you doin' out here?" Daryl demanded as he walked up to her.

"Oh, it's you."

"You expectin' someone?

"No, I was just- you know what? Never mind," She tried to brush past him before he put a hand on her arm.

"Ain't nobody supposed to go out on their own, you know that."

"Of course I know that! I had to pee, Jesus!"

"That's no excuse, 'sides even with the fences, how're you supposed to know if there ain't holes?"

"'Cause we checked them!"

"Don't mean that they're full proof!"

"Alright fine, sorry! I won't do it again, can I go now?"

"Uh uh, I ain't done with you yet. Look, I get that you wanna make everyone feel happy by singin' campfire songs and like some girl scout, but you ain't doin' anybody no favors by doin' it all the time. Especially when you're alone and doin' it just for shits and giggles. It's careless and all that noise you're makin' is just gonna attract walkers,"

"Makin' noise? That's what- actually forget it. I don't need to explain myself to you." She yanked her arm back and stormed past him.

Daryl rolled his eyes. Women, he thought disdainfully. First he'd had to deal with the thing Carol had said and now Beth was all up in his ass again. Things had been strained with the two of them since the trailer park and they'd barely spoken a word to each other. He wasn't a fool to think that he hadn't hurt her feelings after what he'd said to her that day. If he were honest, he actually felt pretty shitty about it. A better man would've apologized by now. After all, it wasn't like she knew about Merle or anything. She'd just asked 'cause that was her nature. But then he'd gone and yelled at her and made her cry like the asshole he was.

And now, she hated him.

Granted, he knew he wasn't particularly helping the matter by picking on her like he had tonight. But that didn't mean that she hadn't been careless. She knew better than to walk off on her own like that, didn't she? Especially at night. If she'd known how close she'd gotten to a bolt in her head- fuck, I almost killed Beth Greene, Daryl realized with a start.

On second thought, maybe he shouldn't've given her shit about humming.

A/N: I know this was a short chapter, but there is plenty more to come (hopefully soon!). I'm not going to lie, it was harder for me to write from Daryl's perspective (probably because I'm an 18 year old girl so writing from Beth's POV comes a bit more natural for me) but I still want to hear your thoughts on how I did. Also, I just want to point out that I actually love Carol to bits (she's who I relate to most throughout the entire series) so I do not mean her any disrespect in this installment (in case it wasn't clear). I recently rewatched "Seed" (1st episode of season 3) to get my inspiration for this chapter and the scene where Carol jokingly suggests that they "screw around" stuck out to me. The first part of this chapter was my interpretation of what Daryl thought about it and in no way shape or form dogging Carol or Carylers… Does that make sense? Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and please make sure to leave a review , even I you hated it Thanks!