"This one." Beth said, stopping in front of unit number 57. It had been her turn to pick the next three storage units they would be searching through that day and to say things weren't going well was putting it nicely. The first one literally had two boxes inside and some garbage, along with mouse traps and rat poison. The second one she picked was completely empty other than an old fast food receipt laying in the corner and now they were at number three. She really hoped it wasn't going to earn a big black 'X' through it's number like the rest.
Since they had started their routine of searching the units they devised a system of marking the doors to keep track of what they'd already gone through. Units that were useless got an 'X' over their number and units that held items they were coming back for got a 'circle' around them.
Beth was biting her lip at this point as Daryl cut the lock and started sliding the door open, if they were walking into another dud she knew Daryl wouldn't let her choose ever again. Once the door clicked and latched into place her mouth fell open when boxes were almost tumbling out by their feet. The unit was literally stocked all the way to the ceiling.
"'Bout time we had some luck." Daryl smirked, bumping her shoulder with his.
Beth smiled and leaned against him. "Where do we even start?" She asked. It was going to be like playing Jinga trying to pull boxes out to make room for them to step inside and not get crushed to death.
"Move back." Daryl instructed and when she did he grabbed a hold of a box and jerked it free, tossing it to the side. As soon as it hit the cement several other boxes and plastic bins fell and scattered across the ground in front of them.
Beth shifted out of the way when one came too close for comfort and giggled at the mountain of stuff still packed inside. "Whoever put all this crap in here must of had one hell of a day." She could only imagine how long it took them to keep everything from falling while trying to get the door shut.
Daryl just shook his head and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Start goin' through these. Ima climb up and try ta move some of this around. Maybe we can make a dent before it gets dark."
Beth gave him a nod and slid some boxes over while finding a spot to sit in the shade beside the open unit. This was her favorite part of the process, well... the surprise of seeing what could lay beyond the door was always interesting, but actually getting to see what was hidden in the boxes is what got her excited. It was like being able to go shopping at the mall, but at the end of the world where money was pointless and new things were hard to come by. It didn't matter to her either way though, just being able to have anything at all these days was like winning the lottery, so each new article of clothing, or something as simple as the deck of cards they'd found were cherished as if they were the best things she'd ever owned. It made her feel somewhat normal again if that were possible.
"Hey." Daryl called from above, poking his head out to look down at her.
Beth lifted eyes and held her hand up to block the glare from the sun.
"Got somethin' for ya." He told her and tossed a plastic bin down that landed a few feet away with a loud smack.
Beth crinkled her forehead. "What is it?"
Daryl chuckled. "Bunch of girly shit." He shifted his bow around that was strapped over his shoulder and jumped back down into the hole he'd made in the far right corner. There was one other thing he wanted to give her, but it was too big to move and he still needed to clear some more boxes out of the way. His main reason for doing this was to find more weapons or gear to help them survive, but if he could offer her anything to make that beautiful smile spread across her face he was going to give it to her. That's when he paused and just took a moment to look around at where life had taken him. Since when did he care so much about making her smile? or wanting to see that smile? He wouldn't deny that even before the split he thought it was one of her best features, but now he felt a need to be the reason behind it. Beth Greene was going to be the death of him.
If he thought he had it bad before he was wrong. Ever since she'd gotten into his head he had a primal urge to keep her all to himself, that she was his in some way. All he knew was if she wasn't in his life from here on out he would be devastated and just thinking of her not being there made his heart ache. In the back of his mind he wondered if what he was feeling was love, but he couldn't recall a time in his life where he'd ever experienced an emotion such as this to give it a name.
Beth was taking her time digging through the container Daryl tossed down when she thought she heard a clanking noise and looked up. Nothing seemed out of place so she went back to shuffling around the items within the box. It had obviously belonged to an older teenage girl. Probably all her items from her bathroom. There was a hairbrush, hair ties, lotions, shampoo, soap, conditioner, makeup, Nail polish, basically everything any girl could ever need.
She began setting things aside she was planning to keep when the same sound caught her attention again, this time she saw where it was coming from and stood up fast. "Daryl, there's a dog!" She squealed in excitement and without thinking started walking in it's direction.
Daryl jerked his head up at her voice and dropped what he was holding. "What?" He called out and realized that was impossible. He'd just done the normal rounds right before they entered the unit and the fences were fine. The only way a dog could of gotten in is if someone cut a hole in them or lifted it over top. That's when he started to panic slightly, climbing over boxes to get to her.
Beth wasn't paying any attention to him, she loved animals and it was the first one she'd seen they weren't planning to eat since the prison. Even before then she hadn't actually seen a dog since all this started.
Daryl stumbled out into the open finally, but Beth was already a couple units down from him. "Beth, hold on." He grabbed her arm once he caught up and she spun around with a glare when the dog ran off.
"What the hell Daryl? You scared it away." Beth huffed.
"Ya can't just run off like that." Daryl snapped.
"Its just a dog." Beth didn't understand his sudden worry.
Daryl grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to him, staring down at her. "It's not the damn dog I'm worried about. It's how the hell it got in here."
The sudden click in Daryl's ear made his heart skip a beat, the hammer of a revolver being pulled back as a gun was aimed at his temple.
"Turn around." A voice demanded and Daryl let go of Beth, putting his hands up, doing exactly as asked. He clenched his jaw when he made eye contact with the man, recognizing him instantly. It was the same asshole that shot him. "Looks like we have some unfinished business. Seems you got off easy after killing two of my men."
"Maybe if those sick fucks had kept to themselves they'd still be alive." Daryl spat, balling his hands into fist.
The man just shook his head and chuckled. "Those were good, loyal men, only playing by the rules. Its simple really, they see something they want, they take it. One word and its theirs. Which is why we've followed you this long. Len over there claimed this pretty little number after seeing her run off into the woods a week ago." He sucked his teeth, giving Beth a once over. "And now, well... he's here to take what's his."
That's when Beth screamed and Daryl turned to see someone holding her from behind. He attempted to go to her, but was kicked in the back of the knees sending him to the ground, the gun back at his temple and a hand around his throat. "One more move like that and you're dead." The man threatened. "We can be reasonable men if you play by the rules."
Daryl watched as the man, who he assumed was Len, slid a knife up Beth's thigh and grabbed a handful of her hair, jerking her back to expose her neck. He dipped his head to inhale her scent deeply, licking a trail up to her ear where he whispered something Daryl couldn't make out.
Beth winced at the painful hold the man had on her and struggled against him, reaching up to scratch her nails into the side of his neck while trying to elbow him in the stomach.
Len hissed and laughed at the girl's attempt to break free. Little did she know he fed off her fear and it only made him want her more. "Looks like we got us a feisty one here, Joe." He said with a smirk as he placed his foot in front of hers and shoved her forward. The movement was so quick Beth didn't have time to put her hands out to catch herself and ended up landing on her stomach hard, knocking the air from her lungs.
Daryl tensed and grit his teeth, the hold on his throat tightening with each move he made as he watched Beth gasping to breathe in front of him. She was only a foot away and there was nothing he could do. If he tried to get away from the man holding him, he'd be shot in the head and then he was useless to her. She'd be on her own to suffer at the hands of the man currently on top of her, digging his knee into her back to hold her down.
"There has ta be somethin' else..." Daryl said quietly at first, his mind in over drive as he tried to think of a way to reason with them. "We have food, supplies, take whatever ya want, just let her go."
Joe readjusted his gun, pressing it into Daryl's skin as he looked over at his partner. "What do you think Len? Any of that sound better than her?"
Len grinned and reached down to grab Beth's hair again, earning him a gasp at the tight hold. "I dunno." He said while sliding his blade up her arm. "Been a long time since I seen me one this sweet." He stood then, still with her long blonde curls tangled in his fingers and roughly pulled at them for her to come with. She cried out and stumbled to get to her feet while grabbing a hold of his wrist to support some of her weight.
That's when Daryl noticed her chin was bleeding, a gift from the cement when the bastard knocked her down and it only pissed him off more. He couldn't wait until they screwed up and he got a hold of them, but he had to play it smart, like he did back at the house and wait for one of them to drop their guard, even if only for a second.
"Unbutton your shirt." Len instructed as he placed the knife at her collar bone. "I wanna see exactly what I have before I decide which offer to take."
Beth tensed and lifted her shaking hands to the top button while risking a look in Daryl's direction. His eyes were dark and full of anger, along with a helpless expression in his features that caused her to look away and fight back tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.
When Len placed his free hand on her hip and pulled her back against his crotch she bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry, to not make a sound, doing anything to keep from giving them the satisfaction of watching her break. She was unaware her time spent having an inward battle with her emotions caused her to abandoned undressing and Len was growing impatient.
"Hurry up!" Len barked when she stopped at the second button, cutting into her skin with the sharp blade at her collar bone to motivate her to continue.
Beth hissed and instinctively jerked away from the pain, moving back into him more, making him moan. She had to swallow down the bile that rose when she felt his arousal pressed against her, just a tiny sample of what was to come.
"Stop!" Daryl yelled, not able to watch the sick show play out in front of him any longer. It only took him a second to make up his mind and before he could stop himself he was standing and elbowing Joe in the nose. He took his chance when he stumbled from the blow and grabbed him, snapping his neck. As Joe's body crumpled to the ground Daryl was already on his way to Beth prepared to take down the other man, but soon realized it wasn't needed.
During the distraction Daryl had created, Len made the mistake of breaking his concentration and Beth managed to grab her knife at her waist and shove it up into his throat, causing bright red blood to spill everywhere. Len's knees buckled and she was on top of him in an instant, jabbing the knife into his chest over and over until a pair of strong arms wrapped around her tiny frame from behind and pulled her away from the lifeless body.
"It's just me sweetheart...calm down." Daryl whispered into her ear as she screamed and struggled against him, adrenaline still running through her veins, making her panic.
Beth's head was spinning, all she could feel was rage and it took a moment for Daryl's voice to sink in, bringing her out of her current state. She lifted her hands and stared in horror at the red stains that covered her skin and dropped the knife she'd been holding. "I killed him..." She gasped and suddenly felt the urge to throw up.
Daryl turned her in his hold so she was facing him and held her still, meeting her eyes. "Ya killed a bastard that deserved it. Ya protected yerself." When he first saw her unleashing her fury upon Len, he felt proud. She wasn't the weak little girl that he knew back on the farm that tried to kill herself. She had grown into a strong beautiful woman that wanted to live and with his help he would show her how to survive in this hostel world.
"C'mon." Daryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her in the direction of the water pump beside the office building. He discovered it while making the rounds on their first day and after a bit of tinkering, patients and brown muck, the pipes finally ran clear and they had been using it to bathe with. Beth insisted it was fine for drinking and they had struck Gold, but Daryl wasn't going to risk it and she didn't bother to argue after that.
Daryl moved her to sit on a bench that was beside the pump and pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket to soak it briefly, then began to clean off the dry blood that decorated her face. When he came to the cut on her chin he paused, it was pretty deep and already had bruising going down the side of her jaw. "Fuckin' asshole." Daryl muttered, not understanding how anyone could do that to her. She was the kindest person he'd ever met and before today she hadn't brought harm upon anyone. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from hurtin' ya." He told her with a frown, feeling like he could of done something to prevent it from happening.
Beth shifted her eyes to meet his. "Am I a monster?" She asked, her bottom lip quivering slightly.
The whole time he'd been working to erase any physical evidence from her body that she just killed a man, she had barely moved. Not even wincing as he brushed over the cut on her chin and now she was asking him a question that literally made him flinch.
"Fuck no." Daryl growled, dropping her hand after he wiped away the last bit of blood from around her finger nail. "How can ya even think that?" He asked, lowering himself to his knees between her legs to look up at her. The height from her sitting on the bench and him on the ground, brought them face to face.
Beth looked away and swallowed hard to keep herself from breaking down. She didn't even recognize herself anymore and that scared her. Everything she was feeling in that moment was confusing and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake it. "I feel terrible..." She said softly.
Daryl slid his hands up her thighs and rest them at her hips. "It's never easy ta do somethin' like that...but ya did the right thing." He placed a kiss at her temple and she leaned into the touch slightly.
Beth sniffed and slid off the bench into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Do you think more of their group will come here?" She asked, shifting just a tiny bit to not irritate the gash on her collar bone.
Daryl pulled her against his chest and breathed her in, he'd been so close to losing her. "We'll worry 'bout that later." He moved his hands to grab the backs of her thighs and stood, her legs wrapping around his waist. "Lets find some clean clothes and get ya taken care of first."
As he carried her back to their unit she started to calm and find herself again. Might of been his scent or his touch, or the fact he just cared and was there for her, but whatever it was, she knew it was because of him that she hadn't drifter any further into the dark place she's been heading. It reminded her of the times when she wanted to end it all and she couldn't go back there, not after seeing the look of fear in his eyes as Joe placed a gun to his head and Len had his way with her. She loved him and wouldn't leave him alone and broken.
Taking a persons life had probably been the most difficult thing she'd ever done, but she'd do it again if it meant she got to live and see his face another day.