Thanks everyone for the reviews and support :) I'll be going away for a week and leaving Friday. I'll have no internet access so I won't be able to post until the 10th, but while I'm away, I'll be writing in a notebook so when I get back I can just type it out and post it.
It was burning out again. Heat radiated off the cement and the sun beat down on her head, making her hair hot to touch and her neck sweaty. They had been walking for an hour now, Beth had already drank two bottles of water and they had to keep refilling it in whatever clean body of water they could find. Her feet hurt, her head hurt, she needed a break, but she knew Daryl was eager to keep going so she kept her mouth shut. They had yet to find a town or even a house, they were surrounded by dense forest. She took a sip of water which had become warm. Daryl turned around to check if she was keeping up. He must of seen her red, over-heated face and said
"We should probably take a quick break, fill up on some more water." They got off the road and went over into the trees. It didn't take them long to find a stream. Beth dumped the hot water from her bottle out into the river and then re-filled it with fresh, cold water. After Daryl was done filling his water Beth kneeled down in the river. The water felt amazing on her skin. She lay down on her back, soaking herself in it, forgetting Daryl was there. She heard him laugh. She opened her eyes to see him standing on the river's edge, looking down at her.
"This feels amazing," she said. She rolled over onto her stomach and dipped her face in. She looked up to see Daryl sitting with his shoes off and his feet in the water in front of her. "I wish we could just lay here," she said.
"If we wanna find someplace to stay by nightfall we better get goin'." He stood back up to put his shoes on. Feeling playful and wanting to stall and stay longer, Beth splashed him in the back of the legs as he turned around. She laughed when he looked back at her with a smile but didn't retaliate.
"Get on your feet girl, let's go," he said.
"Aww come on," she said, "we can't stay for five more minutes?"
"Alright," he said, "only five more minutes."
When they got back on the road Beth was cooled down for only a little while, then the water seemed to turn to sticky sweat. It was late noon and the sun had gone down some which made things a bit better. Daryl had since taken his shirt off which had been covered in sweat. Beth walked behind him, looking up at the deep scars that crossed his back. He had told her he had an abusive childhood, and she had no right to continue to ask him for more information about it. He must of sensed her watching him and turned around.
"Sorry," she said, putting her head down.
"It's alright," he said, "Everyone's got their own scars and stories to tell." Beth looked down at her wrist, remembering when she tried to kill herself back at the farm.
"What did you do before this?" she asked. "Like for a job?"
"I did some construction stuff and worked as a mechanic a bit. Nuthin' official, just jobs here and there, enough I could buy what I needed and live off the land at the same time." It was what Beth had expected him to say.
"Do you miss the old world?"
"Not much," he said "Too be honest, I have more motivation then I did before to go on livin'. There wasn't any space for someone like me in society." It bothered Beth and she said
"But we all like you,"
"But would your daddy and Rick have accepted me 'fore all this?" Beth didn't answer. "The end of the world got rid of social boundaries," he said. Beth remembered going to high school and all the cliques and bullshit drama her classmates would get themselves into. She was never part of the 'popular' group. She had been shy and focused on her school work. She almost laughed thinking about all the sleep she'd lost staying up late to study for tests, her mom telling her that in order to go to college she had to keep her grades up. Now none of it mattered.
"I remember school," she said, "I miss that sometimes, as much as I didn't like it when I was there." The day the disease had broken out her daddy had insisted she'd stay home from school. To her it had been a nice day off. But the next day the school was shut down and things were far worse. Her father had assured them that nothing could get to them in the big farmhouse with wide open fields. But then her mother and brother had been killed when they'd gone outside to get eggs from the chicken coop and feed the horses. Her life had spiraled downward in the short time of a week. Daryl laughed and said
"I sat in on the first day of class and never went back,"
"What'd you do all day when everyone else went to school?" she asked.
"Hunted, hung 'round with the other kids who didn't go to school. If you didn't like it you coulda just left," he said.
"I could never," she said, "My mom and daddy would of been horrified. I was already looking at colleges with them before all this happened."
"Well what didn't ya like about it?"
"Getting up early mostly," she said laughing, "and there was always that group of girls who would go around and make fun of me and my friends." She felt Daryl wrap his arm around her shoulders and say
"Well look where they are now, probably dead, still roamin' around the school." Beth smiled and said
"Ya I guess."
"And you're here with me, survivin'." She blushed a little and said
"I'm glad I'm with you." Not only did she have to admit she might have a crush on him, he was also the best survivalist out of the group besides Michonne.
The sun was setting and they knew they weren't going to find a house by sunset. They needed to find a place to settle for the night before it got to dark. They turned off the road and headed into the forest. They came across a densely packed area of bushes and trees and made there way to the middle of it. The leaves above provided somewhat of a roof for them and they were surrounded by branches and foliage that acted as walls. Beth unzipped the bag to find two cans of soup left. They better hunt down some squirrels or something before they starved. She tossed one to Daryl who didn't catch it.
"It's yours," he said.
"You need to eat," she said, "I'll be fine with just one,"
"I've gone longer without food," he said, holding it out to her. She shoke her head and said
"I'm not eating it."
"Goddamn girl, why you gotta be so stubborn," he said. He cracked open the can and tossed it back. They had just finished up eating when Beth heard footsteps outside of the bushes.
"What was that?" she asked. Before she knew it Daryl was on her, his hand over her mouth, shushing her. She listened again, there seemed to be more then one person. The footsteps were definitely those of a walker as they were slow and off pace. She squirmed under him uncomfortably. He held her down tighter. She felt his belt buckle pressing painfully into her lower back and tried to ignore the fact his crotch was resting on her ass. She made a sound of discomfort and he shoved his fingers in her mouth to shut her up. It tasted like dirt and she wanted to turn around and yell at him. The footsteps faded in the distance but he still remained on top of her.
Daryl stayed on Beth, listening and waiting. He wanted to absolutely sure they were gone. He was having a hard time keeping himself in control. He could feel her round ass with his dick through her tight jeans. He had to get off of her before she noticed. He leaned in and said
"Don't talk loud, they could still be around." He got off of her and she sat up, looking pissed. He shushed her again.
"Was that really necessary?" she asked.
"Just want to keep you safe," he said. She rolled her eyes at him. He hadn't touched himself since they left the prison. He had his private cell to do that in before, now he had no walls. If he could get away for more than ten minutes he'd feel so much better. He leaned against a tree trunk and tried to think of walkers rather than Beth's body.
It was dark out and Daryl sstill sat up against the tree. Beth was asleep across from him, her head resting on a soft patch of moss. As tried as he was he couldn't sleep. There was nothing but leaves protecting them from the outside world. He needed to keep Beth safe and stay on guard.