Got Bit, Fever Hit, World Gone to Shit
He winced as he pulled his vest a little closer to his body, trying to hide the obvious as he walked back into camp. Rick met him first. "What happened?" Daryl just pulled his vest away and showed him. "She's in your tent."
Daryl nodded his head and clapped him on the shoulder, walking to his tent. She was inside, folding clothes. Tears pricked his eyes. Fuck he was going to miss her. "Beth," he rasped out. He was out of breath, sweaty, the fever already setting in.
She looked up at him and he knew the second she realized what had happened. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she shook her head slowly. "No," she whispered, dropping the clothes in her hands. "No." She got up, going to him. He slowly peeled his vest away, showing her the spot where a chunk of his flesh was missing. Sobs shook her body as she stared at it. Daryl slowly hit his knees. She helped him to the ground. "You can't leave me," she whispered, running her hands through his hair.
He smiled a little and cupped her face, pulling her down and kissing her. "I love you. I'll always love you." He coughed, his body already starting to shut down. Everything hurt, but nothing hurt more than his heart. It was shattering piece by piece.
She griped his shirt, her nails biting through the fabric into her palms. "I love you too," she choked out. She shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head. "You were supposed to be the last man standing," she whispered, tears hitting his chest as she cried. He wanted to hold her, wanted to comfort her, tell her it was all going to be okay. But that was a lie. "Damn it, Daryl, don't leave me."
He swallowed hard; it was getting harder to breathe. "Beth, baby, go outside," he told her. God, if he came back and bit her…he couldn't let that happen.
She shook her head. "No." She wiped her eyes on the backs of her hands and grabbed his knife, putting it to the side. "I'm not leaving you, not until I have to."
"The baby," he rasped out before choking on blood.
"Will be fine." She took a deep breath, staring down at him, her storm blue eyes dark as a storm raged inside of her. "I'll make sure they know all about their daddy, and how much he loved us." She smiled through the tears, cupping his face and kissing him again. "I love you, Daryl Dixon."
He nodded. He could handle that. Beth was strong; she was going to make it. She'd be okay. As he closed his eyes, for the last time as a human, he realized that she'd been wrong. He wasn't going to be the last one standing. She was.