The Last of Us

The cabin they had found ended up having a huge surprise, like Daryl had promised. As Noah and Beth boarded up the windows and set up a parameter, Daryl was in a shed looking for something. Once the small cabin was safe and they found dinner, Daryl took out a crate that looked like mason jars filled with water. Both Noah and Beth looked at him in confusion as Duane went off to the bedroom to get some sleep. "Moonshine." He explained as he opened a jar and sniffed it. "Perfectly aged." He told them and Beth smiled as he handed her the jar and took a sip, cringing from the taste.

"My daddy used to say that bad moonshine could blind ya." Beth said as she picked at her fingers

Daryl handed Noah a jar and shrugged his shoulders. "Ain't nothin' worth seeing in this world anymore."

"I can drink to that." Noah muttered and they all raised their jars and clanked them together

XxX

The candles illuminated the small cabin as Daryl sat up against the wall, Beth's head was resting on his thigh as they both listened to Noah talk about his childhood. About his dad, Morgan and his mom. They listened to his dreams of becoming a doctor, it was all happy memories. They were all pretty much drunk by now. "What about you Beth, you have any talents that we don't know about?"

Beth let out a drunken giggled and she smiled up at Daryl when Noah asked his question. "Well-" she began, raising a finger. "I'm an amazing singer." She slurred. "I was in the choir from the time I was six till the shit hit the fan. But I still sing."

Daryl raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He looked up at Noah and smirked. "Then why don't ya sing fer us and prove your ah-mazin' talents."

"Fine- whatcha boys wanna hear?" Beth asked, her head still on Daryl's thigh. It wasn't something he'd allow he if he was sober, but he wasn't and Beth was just so…he couldn't think of the word in his hazy mind.

"Somethin' that ain't some Brittany Spears or pop shit." Daryl commented, getting a nod of approval from Noah.

Beth faked a gasp. "You both underestimate me!" She pouted before pausing to think. "S'okay, I got one." She flashed another smile up at Daryl before she started to sing. "Big wheels keep on turning /Carry me home to see my kin/ Singing songs about the southland/ miss alabamy once again/And I think its a sin, yes."

"Get the fuck outta here." Daryl's mouth dropped, not only for her song choice but her voice. It was the most beautiful thing he had heard in a long time. "Girl, you need to turn that to Sweet Home Georgia."

Beth laughed, her cheek's flushed from the alcohol rushing through her system before singing the chorus and changed it just like Daryl asked. "Sweet home Georgia Where the skies are so blue/ Sweet home Georgia/ Lord, I'm coming home to you." After the turn, Beth had scrounged for any type of music and this song, this one song made her feel as if everything was okay and that nothing changed. Right now, she felt normal even as Daryl and Noah joined into the old song. For that one moment, all their fears rushed away and they allowed themselves a good time

XxX

"Oh sweet baby Jesus." Beth grumbled as sunlight flooded into the room. She pried her eyes open and gagged on the cotton like feeling that took over her mouth. Once her eyes adjusted, she looked up to see that she had fallen asleep pretty much cuddling with Daryl. Beth sat up quickly, waking the archer up in the process. "Oh my head." She moaned as Daryl chuckled at her. "S'not funny, you're hungover too."

"Yeah, but not as bad as yours, princess- that was your first drink so now you have your first hangover." He stood up as Beth leaned her head back on the wall. "Now c'mon, songbird let's get some food. I'll get Noah up and you get the kid up and ready."

Beth stood up and took a moment to gather her footing. "Never drinkin' again." She spat as she stepped over Noah and headed to the bedroom. "You're a terrible influence, Mr. Dixon." She added as she knocked on the door and waited for a response.

That earned a laugh from Daryl "Mhm, and you are a freakin' light weight." Beth glared at him. "And a happy drunk, but a pissy morning person."

She scoffed at him and turned her attention back to the door, giving it a knock again and let a few seconds go by. When Duane didn't answer it, she gently called her name before opening the door. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Duane standing in a corner with his head against the wall. "Duane." She called again. The boy quickly turned around and Beth's face paled as he let out an un-earthly screech. Black fluid dripped from his mouth and his eyes were ghostly white as he charged at Beth. "Daryl!" Beth screamed, but he was already there behind her with his finger on the trigger. Noah came running up behind them, yelling out a no, but Daryl already pulled the safety off and a bullet embedded into the dead child's forehead, making him fall to the ground right in front of Beth's feet.

"No!" Noah screamed. "No, no, no!" He pushed past Beth and Daryl and knelt down in front of his little brother's corpse. "Nonononono," He sobbed. "Duane, c'mon buddy, Duane!" Noah looked up at Beth and Daryl, his whole body shaking. "You- you son of a bitch!" Noah shouted. "You killed him like some fuckin' animal." Noah took out his gun and pointed it right at Beth and Daryl. "You killed him!"

Daryl quickly moved Beth behind him and raised his hands up. "Noah, he got bit- he turned into one of those runnin' things. We couldn't keep 'im…this- it had to be done."

"For what!" Noah cried. "He's all I got, he's all-" He took the safety off of his gun. "This is your fault!" He shouted "This is your entire fault!" Keeping the gun aimed on Daryl and Beth. "He was my brother! That was my brother!" Noah screamed. He put his finger on the trigger before putting the gun against his own temple and pulling the trigger.

XxX

FALL

It had been two months since the cabin, two months since Daryl dug two graves, a child sized one and a adult one. Ever since then, they just walked, killed walkers, avoid humans and survived. It took about two weeks after what happened to Duane and Noah for Beth to smile again. It was hard to grasp that the night before that they were drinking and singing and having a good time. She didn't understand how something like that could just happen with a flip of the switch. "Haven't seen any runners 'round here yet." Daryl commented and Beth looked up at him. "Gettin' cold, they're probably freezin' up like the walkers."

The runners had been a pain in their side since that day when they found the cabin. They were a new breed of walkers, they could smell, hear, and chase after their prey. It didn't help that they traveled in packs much like the walkers. Beth lost count on how many nights they spent up in a tree or covered in mud to disguise their scent. "Rick's place is only a few more paces ahead. He apparently cleared out this prison and it's safe. We can take a break there for about a week, get appropriate clothes. Daryl didn't want to tell her yet that he was going to ask Rick to take Beth off his hands.

"So who's Rick?" Beth asked him. "Is he like your bother or something?"

Daryl chuckled, if she only knew who his brother was she'd be steering clear of this place and him in general. "Naw, Rick is the leader of the group I came from. They're all good people, you'll like them."

"So why'd ya leave?" Beth asked as she played with a red leaf in her hands. "I mean if they're like family to you, why'd you leave them."

He wasn't gonna tell her that he had to leave because he chose his brother over that group and Carol had left with him because of the bond they shared. He wasn't going to tell her that Merle almost killed Rick and how Rick gave Daryl the ultimatum. But it was hard to explain, Merle wasn't a bad guy- he just made bad choices. "We got into a disagreement and I left."

"That seems to happen a lot, me and my sister Maggie-" Beth caught herself and Daryl looked back at her. "Nevermind." Maggie, Shawn, her Mama and Daddy had been a sore topic for her. Yeah, she witnessed her daddy's death but she still had a small bit of hope that the others were out there. It was a big world after all. "So how far till we're there?"

"Just gotta follow this river here and we'll be there." He explained as they trekked through the wilderness. This was where Daryl was at his best, he was pretty much raised in the woods and the woods of West Virginia looked the like the woods of Georgia, just had a different smell to it. "I used ta hunt in woods like these. My brother, he taught me when I was a kid." Daryl figured talking was better than silence at this point, especially when she figured out that he'd be leaving her with Rick once the week past. "One time, when I was seven, I was lost in the woods for a week straight. Ain't no one came lookin' for me. My brother was in juvie and my dad was shackin' up with this bar tender." He chuckled when he saw Beth's eyes go wide. "But I lived off the land, my ass itched somethin' fierce though. I had used poison oak for some toilet paper and man- did that hurt like a bitch. I found my way back to our trailer in the woods, went inside and made myself a sandwich and found powder for my ass."

Beth found herself picturing a little Daryl Dixon wandering in the woods, lost and alone and she almost found her heart breaking, until he added the part about the poison oak and she found herself laughing. "Hey, my itchy ass ain't somethin' to laugh about." He smirked at her. "What I mean is, that if a seven year old me can live in the woods, you can too."

"I have, thanks to you teachin' me." She told him, her cheeks going pink. "I mean living offa mud snakes ain't my favorite part of the trip, but it's survival, right?"

Daryl nodded his head in agreement. When he first met Beth with her pretty face and her frail looking body, he figured that she wouldn't last in this world. But she proved him wrong from time to time and now? He respected her, she could make it no problem by herself. "I'm gonna teach you how to hunt too, I mean the swimming didn't really work."

"Cause you piggy backed me over another river?" She asked with a giggle.

"Was a serious piggy back!" He argued playfully and the two shared a smile. "But you'll learn how to hunt and track, I promise."

Beth reached down and slowly intertwined her fingers with his and gave his hand a squeeze. Much to her surprise, Daryl squeezed back. She was going to say something, but Rick's prison came into view and Daryl nodded his head. "C'mon, let's go get ourselves a bed and a warm shower. Never once in my life have I been happy to see a prison."

A/N- thank you all for the positive reviews! For any of you that played the game, I'm sure you possibly knew about Noah and Duane's fate. But I had to give them a happy moment before everything went down. Next chapter will have a huge Bethyl moment in it so stay tuned!