Daryl POV.
"You should go on a run soon," Rick told Daryl the next morning. "We're running out of supplies..."
Daryl grunted. "I know. I'll head out today, find somethin'."
"Alright. Wanna take someone with ya for backup, feel free," Rick told him. "Glenn or Maggie'd probably be your best bet."
"I'll get someone and go," he gruffly replied.
He walked back into the prison to grab his crossbow and a knife for his run, when he spotted Beth taking care of Judith. He paused, then walked over to her, making sure not to scare the girl. "You wanna get out of here for a bit?" he asked her.
She looked surprised at the offer. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Goin' on a supplies run soon. Figured ya might wanna get out a the prison, see a change in scenery," he said. "You in or what?"
Beth now smiled, and accepted his offer. "Sounds perfect. Just let me tell Carol to watch the baby...oh and I gotta tell my daddy I'm goin on a run!" She set the baby down in her crib and went off to find Carol, then Hershel. She returned in a matter of minutes, with the pistol she'd seemed to have claimed as hers, and a machete.
"You ready?" Daryl asked her. She nodded. "Let's go."
They took one of the vehicles from the prison, instead of Daryl's motorcycle. It would be faster to have the motorcycle, of course, but they wouldn't be able to carry many supplies back with it. If they found any, that was.
They drove for about two hours, in comfortable silence, until they came to a small little town. "Let's check the stores 'round here," Daryl said, stopping the car and pulling it over. They walked into the first store, which looked like a small convenience store. "First rule of goin' on a run: make sure the place is clear of walkers. If it's not, and the walkers are manageable, take care of them, then proceed. If there's too many, head out before they notice you." Beth nodded, making a mental note of this.
He looked in the window of the small store, as it provided a clear and safe view of inside. "Looks like there's no one here," he said, motioning towards the door. Beth opened it, then trailed after Daryl as he entered the store. "Second rule: get the important stuff first; in our case, that would be baby food, medical supplies, and food and water for us."
"Got it," Beth replied, and the pair began searching through the shelves. They didn't find much left in the store; a can of baby formula, a first aid kit, and some bottled water. They leave the store. Beth scans the street for walkers, and notes a pack of roughly 10 heading towards them. "Looks like we've got company," she mutters to Daryl, and the two bring out their knives, each taking out walkers until none of the pack are left standing.
They leave the bodies in the street, and begin scavenging the rest of the street. They run into a house that proves to have plenty of packaged goods, bottled water, and best of all, baby formula. It was essentially a gold mine for them.
"Alright, looks like we've got all the important stuff," Daryl says. "Now we get to snag some luxuries, stuff that ain't vital to us survivin'. Stuff that gets left behind if it weighs us down." He picks the lock to a house and lets Beth in, making a 'ladies first' gesture with a motion of his arm. They take a few things from the house—pillows and blankets to make the prison more comfortable, mostly, and Beth manages to find a mobile toy in an abandoned nursery room—then begin packing everything in the back of the vehicle, and starting off for the prison once again.
Beth POV
Beth wondered why Daryl had asked her to go on a supply run with him. She wasn't exactly the toughest member of the group. She certainly hadn't killed as many walkers as the others, nor did she have as much experience as them.
She accepted his offer, of course. She was secretly dying to get out of the prison for just a while, and she was glad she'd been given the opportunity. She wasn't complaining about killing any of the walkers either. She'd become restless in the prison, and was glad that she could help kill the small pack of walkers they'd encountered. It was different killing them without being restricted by a fence.
They returned that night just after it had turned dark. The others were pleased with the load they had come back with. It was better than anyone could imagine. None of them had expected that they'd come back with as many supplies as they did.
Judith seemed utterly fascinated with the mobile toy Beth had found for her. Miraculously, it still worked. She was attaching the toy to the giggling baby's crib when she heard someone come into the cell. "She sure seems to like it," Daryl commented.
Beth wasn't sure why he'd been popping up all the time now, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed the rednecks company. "Yes, she does. I'm real glad it still works," she said, glancing up at Daryl, who smiled down at the pretty blonde.
"Y'know, you seem to be pretty useful on supply runs," he commented. "Might have to take ya along with me again sometime."
"I'd like that," she told him. It was a daring move, she knew, but she wrapped her arms around the redneck. It was daring because he seemed indifferent to any sort of affection, but he responded in turn by squeezing his arms around her.
"I would too," he said, stepping out of the embrace. Without much hesitation, he stepped forward again and gave Beth a small, hesitant kiss. "Goodnight Beth," he said, leaving her cell and finding his way up to the perch.
Beth's head was reeling. What had just happened? She knew, of course, that he'd kissed her, but was uncertain of why. Had the seemingly unapproachable redneck developed some sort of attraction to her? Beth wasn't complaining, of course, because she felt the same attraction towards him.
Both of them fell asleep with a smile on their faces that night.
A/U Hope you enjoyed this slightly longer update! Beth and Daryl are off to a really slow start, I know, mostly because I wasn't sure how I wanted it to play out, but I've got a fair idea of where I want it to go now.