Winter had officially hit.
The weather was not too bad. It was cold but it was not bone chilling and that made more animals stick around for Daryl to hunt.
Mother Nature cut them a break this winter because she was so ecstatic that there was no more pollution and destruction going on to her Earth since almost everyone was dead. So instead of freezing them out, she spent her time making repairs to that fucking ozone layer everyone was always talking about and minded her own business as they rest of them tried to survive through the winter season.
Mother Nature would not take her wrath out on them this winter. She already killed off ninety nine percent of the population of humans so that she could get things restored, balance them back out. He guessed that they were deserving of it, asking for it. Humans pushed the limits of the Earth too far and Mother Nature pushed back, fought back hard, furious that they had all been so selfish and greedy and disregarded the health of the planet they had been given to live out their lives on.
Yeah, Mother Nature had enough of that shit.
They should have all recycled, used solar or wind power instead of drilling into the Earth for oil, kept pollution out of the oceans, prevented massive soil erosion, stopped cutting down trees until the majority of all the rainforests were gone.
They didn't.
And they all paid the costly price.
They had slowly destroyed their planet and now Mother Nature destroyed them, the very beings that started this whole mess.
Mother Nature was the one laughing now. She wiped out the majority of humans, kept the animals safe from the virus, and watched as her planet began to take back over.
Mother Nature was cruel, but justified in her actions.
But this winter was not bad, and for that Daryl is damn grateful.
However, they were in need of stocking up on extra food and warmer clothes so Daryl was headed out on a run today with some other members of the group. Since Maggie was no longer able to go due to her pregnancy, Sasha had suggested that Beth go instead.
Daryl was not too pleased about that.
He would much rather her stay at the prison where he knew that she would be safe. But Beth jumped at the chance to go, so Daryl bit his tongue and agreed on the condition that she not wander far from him when they were out.
It was a long car ride to get to the store. About three hours north. He didn't mind it because Beth was strapped in beside him, gazing off into the distance with her elbow on the window, watching the trees and fields that they passed.
They made it to the store in good time. As they all filed out of the car, Daryl had a flashback of the last big run they went on. They lost Zach and the run had been a complete disaster. He won't lie, it gave him a bad feeling, made him on edge. They were going to do triple checks of every single step they had planned out. They had to do everything in their power to prevent another day like the last big run from happening.
Not now. Not today. Not when Beth was with him.
He wouldn't lose her.
Daryl would die before that happened.
"Stay close," he reminded her for the thousandth time as they got closer to the entrance of the store.
Nothing bad will happen.
"I won't stray far," she breathed. "Promise."
To the others it would seem like Daryl was keeping watch over the newbie to their runs. But all he was doing was ensuring that the best thing in his life didn't get jumped by a walker. He needed to be sure that he could keep an eye on her to keep her safe. That's all he really wanted to do—his life purpose—to keep Beth Greene safe no matter what.
At all costs.
Even if the cost was his life.
It was a weird feeling, knowing that he would die for someone else. It was powerful.
And he would do it for Beth. Without any hesitation. Even if that sounded like some stupid Shakespeare tragedy.
I'm not scared. You make me feel safe.
Beth's words came back to mind and relaxed Daryl. Everything would be fine.
(He had been trying optimism out lately)
Being around Beth so much had that effect on him.
They got inside of the store, Daryl going in first with the bright flashlight in hand and crossbow in the other. There were noises of growling and dragging of feet, not much, but enough for him to hold up his hand to alert the others to stop moving and to get ready for the walkers to come their way. He took a quick look back to make sure that Beth was still strategically placed in between Tyreese and Michonne before he banged the metal of his crossbow onto a nearby exposed white pipe that ran down from the ceiling.
He aimed and got ready, along with everyone else.
It was simple, actually. Eight walkers came out from different aisles, spread out so all of the group members have some space for the kill. Daryl took down two back to back while he saw Michonne slice off a head, which then went rolling in the opposite direction. He caught how Beth stuck his hunting knife right in between a walker's two eyes. In the moment, he was proud. He taught her well.
He still didn't like her getting so close to the walker, though.
—
"Look what I found," Sasha exclaimed, holding up four boxes of red, green, and white sets of ornaments. "Got them from the back room."
Beth rushed over to examine the packages. "None of them are even broken."
"And I'm pretty sure I saw a menorah back there, too. I know I few people back at the prison celebrate Hanukkah." Sasha looked to be quite pleased with herself. "We might actually get to celebrate this year."
"Wow," is all Beth said.
Sasha smiled and laughed. "You know, every year after our mom died, Tyreese and I would drive all the way to Massachusetts from Florida to visit our aunt for Christmas. Tyreese would drag me out into the woods in the freezing cold weather and in the snow for hours trying to find a—" Sasha put up her fingers to do air quotes "—perfect tree. We would pass hundreds of all these trees that were around and he could never find a single one that he liked until he came across the one."
"Sounds like fun to me," Beth replied.
Sasha shrugged one shoulder and grinned. "It was. I hated it at the time because my eyes were frozen and I couldn't feel my legs. But…it's a nice memory."
"Maybe we can make more nice memories," Beth added, flashing a smile.
"Yeah, maybe. I'll go load these into the truck before I forget."
Sasha slipped the boxes into her bag and went off to go find Tyreese and to go grab a new unused bag from one of the cars to put more products in.
"Maybe we will have to enlist Tyreese to take down another tree this year," Beth said to Daryl.
He hadn't listened. His mind was still on the previous thing she had said, the one about making more nice memories.
Nice memories.
More memories
More nice memories with Beth.
He didn't have any good holiday memories. He only remembered a handful of times when he was very young that his ma put a tree up in their small house and decorated it. His old man would complain that the lights sucked up all the electricity as he watched the TV for hours on end. Several times he had shot at the ornaments on the tree for target practice when he was drunk off his ass and his ma stopped putting one up after that incident. After she died, not a word was spoken about Christmas except curses from his dad about the 'motherfucking elf and reindeer commercials' that didn't stop playing.
When Merle was around and not in juvie he would get Daryl the hell out of that shit hole and they would escape into the woods together, where they would hunt for a few days and stay out in the wilderness camping. Away from the noise and away from the bullshit of their father.
That was about as good as his memories go for Christmas.
Daryl felt the pressure of Beth tenderly squeezing his hand. She must have known what he thought in that moment, she always seemed to be able to read his mind. No one else was around to see the exchange between them. He wished they were. He wanted them all to know that Beth was his.
He kept that to himself. Probably just a moment of insanity.
"I'm gonna go look for some of the things Maggie told me to keep an eye out for. Baby stuff. I think she's getting the urge to start to nest," she laughed. "I guess all expectin' mothers do. Even if they are livin' in a prison during the apocalypse."
"Just—"
"Keep close," Beth imitated his voice. "I know, Daryl. I will be right over there. Alright? No need to worry."
He reluctantly grunted and watched her go into another aisle where Glenn was.
Daryl perused through the aisles and picked up anything he thought would be of value to the group. His bag is almost full twenty minutes later and they were all about to get ready to leave, already heading for the door to get out of there before their good luck ran out, when he stumbled upon something on a shelf.
Condoms.
Part of him knew he should have them to be on the safe side but the other part made him think that he didn't want it to seem like he expected anything.
He did a quick glance down the aisle he was in to make sure that he was alone, then Daryl picked them up and stashed them away into the bag that he carried. Better to be prepared than to not be. It was the responsible thing to do, he told himself. He just wouldn't tell Beth about it. It's not like he had to go wave condoms in her face to let her know that he had them.
—
They go off course by a few miles on the way back and raid some houses that had been left untouched since they were down a dirt road and hidden back in the woods. Whoever lived there must of had a big chunk of change because the houses are large, fenced in, and had a lot of property. Daryl, Beth and Michonne took one house and the others took a second neighboring one. Daryl felt a bit awkward at first, because hello, no one was going to bring up the fucking elephant in the room.
Michonne knew about Daryl and Beth, and Daryl and Beth knew that Michonne was aware of them secretly being together. He was sure he was the only one who felt weird about the three of them being stuck together, the one who thought about the knowledge they all shared. Michonne and Beth went about digging through the house without a single sideways glance, focused on the job they had to do. There was no look from Michonne that said 'I know what you've been up to and I know you followed my advice'.
Beth went up the staircase that was off to the side of the house and Daryl followed a few steps behind her. The idea of an entire level of the house being between them was not one he was fond of. He wouldn't be able to get up the steps in time if something happened. Because shit happened. Walkers came out of now where. People were unprepared. People got bit.
Don't be paranoid.
He tried not to be until the smell invaded his nostrils when they got to the landing of the upstairs. Beth's hand promptly smacked over her face as she covered up her nose. She choked out, "Oh my God. Where is that coming from?"
The scent was nothing short of disgusting. Smelled of death and decay. The kind of smell that stayed with you, one that would never be forgotten.
He fucking hated that repulsive odor.
Beth coughed because of the strength of the smell and Daryl fought back the urge to do the same. He moved down the narrow hall that had framed family pictures lining the walls (which he and Beth both tried not to look at) until he got to the very end of the hall.
Daryl yanked open one of the big windows that was in the back of the hallway, a window seat right below it. They desperately needed some fresh air in the house, even if they would only be there for no more than ten more minutes rummaging through the items. The chilly wind blew in without any trouble, the curtains blowing back, forcing the December weather into the house. The outside air made it more bearable to breathe.
Daryl stood in front of the door where the smell was coming from. He was positive that it was this one due to it being the place where the smell was strongest out of all the doors they passed on the way to the end of the hall. He didn't really want to know what was behind the door, but figured he should take care of it if there were walkers in there in case someone stumbled across the house sometime in the future and decided to stay the night.
It was the least he could do.
He motioned for Beth to turn the knob of the door for him. She slowly turned the door handle until it was unlocked and cracked open. She stepped back behind him and Daryl kicked the door the rest of the way open and he aimed his crossbow, ready to shoot an arrow.
That would not be necessary.
He wanted to block her from seeing but it was too late. Beth saw. She stared dead ahead into the room. Daryl turned his head back to look inside the room again, the room where the horrendous smell leeched out of. There was a family in there. Two little girls and a mother who were lined up on a king sized bed in white dresses, the mother in between the two now very decayed girls with her own decayed and bony arms around the small children. A man, who he assumed was the father, sat against the wall slouched over. Old brain matter and blood was smeared on the wallpaper behind him, and a gun was on the carpet next to his decomposed corpse.
The woman and children must have been poisoned. It was less messy that way.
The father must have waited until they were asleep and his wife and children stopped breathing, their hearts stopping as well, until he turned a gun on himself. There was nothing left in the world for him to live for once his family had moved on to a better place.
They took the easy way out.
Escaped the madness.
Daryl grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door shut so Beth could not see inside anymore. The few seconds that she had were enough. Probably too much.
"Sorry you had to see that," he muttered. He should have been better prepared for something like that. He should have thought to send Beth in the other direction before he took a look inside the room instead of exposing her to the grim and harsh reality of what had gone down in there most likely months ago.
Surprisingly, Beth smiled up at him, the look in her eyes unchanged. "It would have happened sooner or later." She inched closer to put a hand on his cheek. "You don't need to protect me from the kind of stuff that is in that room."
He wanted to. Daryl wanted to preserve some sort of innocence in Beth. But in this world that was damn near impossible.
"I'm not a china doll. Seeing something like that isn't going to break me."
"Okay," he replied, believing her. "Let's check the other rooms."
"Preferably downstairs," Beth added, still bothered by the decayed smell that lingered in the air, seeped into the walls and surroundings.
"You go. I'm gonna check up here real quick."
Beth agreed and headed back down the steps. Daryl went through the rest of the upstairs, going through four bedrooms and one office, gathering a collection of clothes and some other various household items.
In in last room something caught his eye. He turned to go back out the door to go regroup with Beth and Michonne when he saw a white jewelry box that was open on the dresser. There was a silver chain necklace with a silver heart attached at the bottom inside the jewelry box that was left opened. It was the only necklace that wasn't gold in the entire thing. Looked expensive. Also looked like it had barely been worn. It was simple and elegant and Daryl thought that it would be something that Beth would like.
Hopefully. He didn't know anything about jewelry and what women liked.
Daryl didn't think twice about it when he took the necklace and put it into his pocket before he shut the box and walked out of the room.
A/N: I posted another Bethyl oneshot today (smut, of course) so go read it if you would like ;)
I'm going to be honest here and say that I'm pretty sure I edited this chapter but I'm not one hundred percent certain that I did. And I'm too lazy to go back and reread again. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I already read through it a second time and forgot to mark that I did :)