Chapter Seventeen – Drinking Game

There was no way around the herd that they had found. Snow was going to start falling soon. They had raided as they searched routes, and they had enough food to last them several weeks. "There are still two options we could try… When the snow lets up." Riley nudged him.

"Snow makes uhm slow. We could move when it's not too deep, but deep enough." Riley nodded. Daryl stroked the fire, and pushed the wooden table against the front door. There was only two windows in the cabin, and one door. The motorcycle was situated against the wall, and the bathroom was sealed off.

"Your right." This was the first place they had holed up for more than one night since the incident in the woods. They had moved slowly and painstakingly each day, far from the memory of what had happened to her. He had no clue exactly where they were at first, so they made their way back to Jupiter, then headed west.

"No need for watch tonight." Daryl sighed. "With the snow can't see anyway." Riley nodded. The large bed in the one room cabin was in the middle of the floor, near the fire that he kept feeding.

"Lay down," Riley patted the bed. "Please."

Daryl sized her up. They barley talked most days, and hunted together as needed. He was weak and tired, so was she. The bed looked beyond comfortable. He slipped his boots off, and then his vest. Pulled his thin shirt over his head and jumped onto the bed.

"Now that you're here, let's drink the last of the moonshine we took from Jupiter, and play a game." Riley sounded so like Beth at that moment he cringed. She had unrolled her leggings, and slipped them off. She had a long sleeve flannel button up on and thick socks. This was comfortable between them.

"What game?" He prayed for the first time in a long time that she would say anything other than 'Never Have I Ever'. She returned to the bed, mason jars tucked under her arms.

"Something like 20 questions. And throw the blanket on us." Riley smiled. "I'll ask you something, when you answer, I answer too. Then it goes back and forth."

"Ok al'right ya." Daryl looked up at the wood roof.

"How old are you?" She was propped up on her right side looking at him.

"I think I am about 29. Six years since the turn, and I was 23 then. You?"

She smiled. "23. I had Otis, then the world went to shit."

"You delivered the twins in this world?" Riley looked at him, hard.

"My mom was an EMT, one of the men in our group, my best friend for life, I fell in love with him, we got married – my dad is a pastor, and the day after we welcomed the twins he was bit." Riley looked at her hands. Daryl hurt for her. He had no clue where his emotions were with her. They had spent the better part of thirty five days together, and somewhere along the way his indifference turned to something else.

"My turn," she perked up, "Got a girl in your camp?"

Daryl laughed. "The closest I came to that was Beth, and she…" He trailed off.

"The girl you were alone with, on the road that was taken from you?"

"That's two missy." Daryl paused. "Yea, Bethy." He was quiet for a moment. "You got a man?"

"No." She smiled at him. They both drank from their mason jars. "Ever been to jail?"

How could this woman echo Beth so much, it cut at his heart. "Is that what you think of me?" He snapped. For a moment she looked confused.

"No, I just… I spent the night in jail once, when I was about 13…" Her voice trailed off. It was an innocent question.

"I never got caught, don't make me innocent though." Daryl looked at her hard, these were the moments he had wanted to pull her into his arms and stroke her hair. He wanted to make her feel alive, make himself feel alive. He felt frozen, they shared the bed only on nights they could not have a fire, until now. "My turn, tell me about your tattoos?"

"Well, that's a bunch." She unbuttoned her shirt, letting it fall to her reveal her chest piece, peaking out under her bra. "My dad, the preacher, ran with a motorcycle gang in Kentucky where we lived, my mom rode with them too. So when I got about 14, before I got pregnant, I met one of the sons of the leaders – Mason, he was 19 and all sorts of trouble. He tattooed my wings on," she tilted so he could see them on her back, "Then he did this one," she pointed to her left shoulder, which had a dream catcher about four inches in diameter, from it birds and wolves ran across her chest, and feathers ran down her back over the shoulder. "It was 'sposed to remind me that I'm Cherokee… Then there is this one," she pointed to her rib cage, where a pin up girl was smiling at him, "And this one," she pointed to her right him, where a phoenix dipped below and into her underwear, its head on her hip bone. "This last one was before we found out I was pregnant, hell it's probably the night I got pregnant. He split for a bit after that. But there was code of honor among his family and mine. He came back and married me. Otis was born, then the turn happened. Mason ran with the rest of them, who knows where he is."

"You now." She said after a bit.

"You saw the one on my back, its and angel and a demon, two halves of a whole." He looked at her for a brief moment. "These two are names of important people." He pointed to his chest and his arm. "And this one is my personal demon. Your turn."

"You were falling for Beth weren't you? You act so cold and heartless but…" She fell silent when she saw his face.

"I'm going to check the perimeter." He looked sullen and surly as he stood and stomped out of the house, flinging open the door hard, lantern under his arm, tugging his boots on as he went with his crossbow around his neck. She felt the tears sting her face, then. And whimpered. She stood, pulled on the first pair of pants she reached in the pack, which were apparently Daryls, she belted them to her hips, and then tugged her boots on.

She found him on the dock, looking at the water. "Daryl."

"What do ya want from me?" He snapped at her, whirling at her, grabbing her shoulders hard. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" He screamed at her.

She looked at him hard. "What do you mean?" Her voice was even, calm.

"I can't… look, I am just redneck white trash that's all…" His voice tumbled. "I CAN'T BE ANYTHING TO ANYONE." She looked at him, for a long moment, pausing to decide her course of action. She flung herself at him, much like the first day in the house. She fought to get her arms around him. "Yes, I loved her, or at least felt something for her." He mumbled into Riley's hair.

"Come on." Riley tugged on him, as she saw a lone walker making its way toward them.

He fought her at first, then lost all his patience. He flung himself at the walker, stabbing and panting. He was angry and it was her fault. "Daryl…" She drug him up from the Walker, and started to lead him towards the house.

He pushed her, hard into the snow then rounded on her, "I can't…" He started but lost his momentum, she stomped up the stairs to the cabin entry and went in. She followed him. Once inside she sealed the door, and pushed the table infront of it once more.

"I didn't mean…" Her voice dropped off as he gulped down the last of the moonshine, he turned on her, similar to the first day in Jupiter, and he grabbed her shoulders, slamming her against the wall. His hand slipped up her neck, choking her at first. She covered her hands with his, and just looked at him. He released her and started pacing. She moved away slowly, to sit on the bed, "I am sorry." He looked at her, and saw how fragile she looked. Just like the day he carried her back from that man hurting her. So innocent.

He lost any composure he had, in that moment, and tackled her body back on to the bed. He was holding her in more of a bear hug, his face in her neck, sobbing. She stiffened at the touch, but cradled him the best she could. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, not really. His hands rested on her hips, as he pushed himself further up her, he looked down at her, smiling, "It's ok." He captured her lips then, crashing into her, kissing her letting the darkness consume him. At first she was startled, but she knotted her hands in his hair and kissed back, nipping his bottom lip with her teeth, as he opened him mouth to moan from the bite she slipped her tongue in. He broke the kiss for air, then climbed off. Looking at the ground, he stiffened "Sorry." He mumbled it, then turned away. Once again he was making his bed on the floor. She sighed. She hadn't wanted him to stop.

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