Oh snap a wild Daryl POV chapter appears.
Those guys beat the hell out of me. I don't know what was worse, the fact I couldn't do shit about it, or the fact Beth took a few hits from them too. She never told me, but when she dropped an arrow earlier I saw the bruises on her back, in the shape of a boot tip. Terminus being cannibal city didn't surprise me- hell nothing surprised me in this world anymore.
I looked at Beth, who had put my crossbow on the ground and was now playing with Judith. Her innocent giggles filled the quiet air, mixing with a few of Beth's own laughs. Half of the group went on a supply run, the other half staying behind with most of the weapons in case Terminus found the camp. I sat down beside the laughing girls with a small huff of pain, smiling down at Judith.
"Hey little ass kicker.", I greeted. She had her tiny fist in her mouth, chewing on it while Beth tickled her. They both looked happy despite having been held captive not almost a day ago. Beth looks between Judith and I, before plopping her in my lap. I don't wince despite the slight pain that shoots up my bruised leg, and awkwardly place my arms around her so she doesn't fall forward. Beth is still wearing my vest.. not that I'm complain'.
"Am I ever gettin' that thing back?", I ask, reaching over and jiggling the fabric. My arm returns to Judith, where I lift her and put her on my shoulders. She began drumming on my head, and tugging my hair, making Beth grin.
"No.", She said curtly. "I wish I had a camera.", She sighed, but I couldn't tell why. Judith kicks her small legs and I wince as her heels hit my sore shoulders. I look up to see the little girl on my shoulders staring at me. She grabs my nose and grins, kicking her legs again. I shake my head gently, getting free of her hand. Pretty much everything on my body was sore, but I couldn't let the group know that. I assumed Beth knew, she offered to do most things for me today like crossbow duty and some of the hunting. At least I assumed that's why, unless she got a pleasure from killin' things now. I glanced to the others in the group, no one was watchin' us but Carl, and he was focused on little ass kicker who was now moving her hands over my hair and tangling it. Beth's smile widened.
"Good to be with everyone again- isn't it?", She asked me. One thing was for certain, she was back to her old never shuttin' up self. Being with everyone meant less being with her, which I wasn't super excited about.
"Yeah.", I agree dryly. She gives me a worried look, but doesn't say anything again until the others get back.
Rick looks tired when he joins the camp along with the small portion of our group that ran along on the supply run. He smile's in Beth's direction, probably because Judith was sleeping on her. He sets something down between us- a stroller. Beside me, Beth moves carefully as to not wake Judith while she sets her in the slightly dusty stroller, and fastens her in with the belts. He looks over everyone in the camp with weary eyes.
"We need to get movin'.", he tells them. He's been on edge since we got away from Terminus, and I didn't blame him. This was their territory. They knew the area well and if we were going to survive we had to get far away from here. Some of the newer people in our group were going to Washington for some reason related to the outbreak. I didn't hear the exact reason because Beth had been wearing a low cut top and dropped her knife. I stood up, biting the inside of my cheek to stifle the groan that wanted to help soothe my pains. We walked. With the large group like this it seemed like we were an army storming down the road, different people walking and talking next to each other. Any time we came across a walker it was easier now that we could work together to kill them like in Joe's group. Joe.. she'd killed Joe. I know she thought about it when her eyes lingered on a distant tree for too long or when she shook in her sleep beside me. Nearly every night she'd crawl over to where I laid and stayed next to me for a while. I never pushed her away, though I wanted to so the group wouldn't see us. I couldn't deal with Maggie's protective shit with everything else going on. Since Beth pushed the stroller, I slung my crossbow over my shoulders, and whittled some arrows out of sticks as I walked by her. The whittling gave me an excuse to stay behind with her and the other slower paced people in the group. Rick almost detours off into the woods until I remind him it's harder to track people on the road. We stay on the road instead, being cautious as we go through different neighborhoods. It's strange to have a group this large- hasn't been this way in a while. Hours later, it's getting dark and it's time to eat the small game Beth and some others managed to catch. To feed fourteen people is ridiculous and three of them shouldn't even be our problem.
However, miracle boy and the other two new to our group take their share of food and the rest of us do the same. No more than a bite or two and multiple parts saved for Judith and the whole group finished off the couple of rabbits. Beth sits next to Maggie, they talk briefly about something and Beth glances in my direction. I hold her gaze for a minute until her cheeks turn pink and she plays with her knife, cleaning it. Maggie holds Judith, who sleeps in her arms. Everyone else is propped against trees or whatever else there is to offer some support, some of us stay awake in case walkers appear. Beth, myself, and Rick are the only ones awake by the end of the night. We all sit around a small fire buried into the ground so no one's able to see it. I glance to Rick.
"I've got it. Get some rest.", I tell him, the guy looks like hell. He didn't get any shut eye after the semi-successful run earlier. We got a few cans of fruit.
"Can't. Not with them out there.", Rick nods in the direction of Terminus. Beth gives him a sympathetic look and rests her hand on his shoulder. I shoot her an annoyed look she doesn't see.
"They won't catch us in the night.", Beth tells him. "Most people don't go out at night, too risky. Get some rest you've been out all day and you have kids.", she reminded, giving him a sideways hug and a kiss on the cheek. A tinge of jealousy filled my stomach, twisting it in a knot. I felt my jaw harden and my teeth grit together. I didn't say anything, just tossed sticks into the fire. Rick fell asleep.
The next morning I ignored her. Our group was busy, I had my crossbow in hand and the pain in my side dulled. Maggie pushed the stroller ahead, and I tried to stay with the group until Beth pulled me aside, coming to an abrupt stop.
"What is with you?", she hissed, her nails barely grazing my skin under her fingertips. I looked down at her and shrugged. She looked to the group to see how far they were. "You haven't talked to me all mornin' Daryl. Or looked at me.", I instantly feel guilt.
"I'm sure there's other people you'd rather be talkin' to.", I said under my breath, beginning to walk again now that I was out of her grasp. She grabs my arm and digs her nails into it, pulling me back.
"Hey, is this about kissin' Rick last night?", she frowned. "It was friendly."
"Didn't look that way.", I glance down at her. She doesn't bother to look at the group again before she pulls me down to her by my shirt, standing on her toes. Our lips meet softly at first, and one of my hands press her against me on her lower back. I feel someone walk past us and know it's Michonne, she usually stays astray from the group. I try to pull away as she walks past, but Beth doesn't let me go until seconds later. She stares at me and the group is near the end of the road and about to turn. The look of her eyes was like her scoldin' a puppy, and she simply turned away from me and half jogged to catch up with everyone. I match her pace, getting a glance from Michonne. I know she won't tell anyone, she kept to herself and generally stayed out of group affairs. Maggie would kick my ass if she knew, and the Korean would be right behind her with the husband brainwash effect. A while of walkin' and the group stops to rest.
"I'm goin' to hunt.", I tell Rick. Beth says she'll go with me. "Teachin' her too.", I explained, as if I needed an explanation for Rick- he always understood. Beth and I started out into the woods, my footsteps were quieter than hers.
"So.", Beth begins after a while. I hush her and she shoots me a narked look, but continues her sentence. "Back when I found you, you said somethin'.", shit. "You said claimed right? What was that about?", she asked. I didn't answer for a minute and she raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well?", she asks. I look at her and lower my crossbow to point at the ground.
"When we saw something we wanted we claimed it.", I felt myself say. Her cheeks warmed significantly. "I didn't want them touchin' you, so.", I raised the crossbow and put a finger to my lips, hearing a noise in the forest. A doe nibbled on the tall grass yards away. I pull the trigger and land a killing blow. Beth smiles widely beside me and we walk over to it. Kneeling down, Beth is watching me from above while I pull out the arrow.
"Daryl?", She says as I wipe the bloodied arrow on my pants. I look at her expectantly. "I would'a claimed you too.", she said quietly, her pink cheeks now red.
I wanted to kiss her, but I don't deserve to.
"We need someone to help carry this.", I feel myself say, looking from the doe to her. She sighs in frustration and begins walking off to where the others are, and I follow. We return to the doe with Tyreese who helps us get it to our camp. Sasha cuts the animal and gets the good parts of the meat. Carl watches, probably makin' notes for when he's on his own one day. Beth is with Judith and Rick while the others are talking to Abraham and Rosita. I can hear Beth speaking from my seat of grass.
"She looks like you.", She was saying to Rick. He smiled at her, despite everything going on he could still smile. His smile was strained however.
"Thank you.", he said with honesty. "Means a lot to me.", he kissed Judith's head and Beth sat down beside me, her knees tucked to her chest. On her wrist I see the one feint cut on her wrist from the night she tried to kill herself. I didn't pay attention to it back then, she was acting like a kid. Maybe she was a kid still, even so I still wasn't good for her. I was like Joe and the others, not pure like her. She's killed people. I remind myself. She can't be that pure, but she is to me. Without thinking about it, my hand closes over her wrist where the scars are, and we exchange a long look. Tyreese is coming toward us. I drop her wrist and he sits by us.
"Rick told me about Carol.", he said. "She sacrificed herself for Judith.", we hadn't been told this yet, I assumed Rick would've explained if I'd of asked. I didn't want to know, hell, she was my friend and all. Beth's hand went to Tyreese's knee.
"She was a good woman.", Was all Beth said, sounding older than she was. I counted to three, after three I'd take her hand off of him. When I got to two her arm lowered. Tyreese and Beth exchanged a few of Carol's advices and jokes, then he broke away from us again. Beth looks solemn, and I feel the same way. My hand finds hers, and we stare at each other for the longest time until a voice clears.
Maggie.
[A/N: Ayyy it's 2am here so don't blame me for any mistakes made. I figured I should do a full Daryl POV chapter instead of that awkward 3rd person writing I started off with. It might flip flop or go to someone else in the group's completely but I don't know how that would turn out. Hope you're enjoying the chapters :) Trust me terminus hasn't been forgotten, this is only the beginning. Also hugs to the people in other countries reading this :D Awesome to know people everywhere are reading this. Thanks again for all of the reviews I really appreciate them and all of the other feedback too :) -Sam]