I'm so pleased with the response I got on the first chapter! I'm glad you guys are liking this story so far. Here is chapter two! Please review! :)

Despite how exhausted Daryl was, he found himself unable to stay asleep. He kept having dreams about the car that had taken Beth speeding away from him, and he would wake with a start and frantically check the bed next to him to make sure she was actually there. After waking from his third nightmare, he decided to give up on sleep for the present moment. He really should be keeping watch anyway.

Daryl carefully crawled off the bed, not wanting to wake Beth. His eyes felt heavy and swollen, but he felt better than he had a few hours ago when he had found this place. He watched Beth's steady, slow breathing for a few moments before wandering into the main part of the cabin and out the front door.

The position of the sun told him that it was close to midday, meaning he had been asleep off and on for five hours or so. He realized suddenly that he had no idea where they were or how far away this cabin was from the funeral home where Beth had been taken. He had run after the car for so long and had carried Beth through the woods in a state of pure exhaustion, and he was completely turned around. It wasn't like him to lose his sense of direction, and he felt frustrated by it. But Beth was here, and she was safe, and that was all that mattered.

Daryl quickly ducked back in the cabin to grab his crossbow before heading back out to explore the area around the cabin. He didn't want to go too far in case Beth woke up, but he wanted to get a grasp on where they were. He squinted off into the woods and quickly spotted the trail he had left several hours before as he walked heavy-footed toward the cabin. That told him that the road was a few miles north of the cabin, since he hadn't changed direction while carrying Beth through the woods. Daryl wandered around the back of the cabin, and his ears picked up the faint sound of a stream somewhere nearby. He wished he knew what stream it was, but without a map, he had no idea.

The road the car had traveled on was heading toward Atlanta, so he knew they were probably closer to the city than they had been at the funeral home, but he wasn't sure how close. Clearly the small cabin was quite remote, as it didn't even have much of a real road leading to it, just a faint outline of a makeshift dirt road that was now quite overgrown. There didn't appear to be any walkers nearby, and he hadn't encountered any once he had started carrying Beth. That was a good sign.

Daryl made his way back inside and began raiding the kitchen cabinets for food. He found several cans of beans and vegetables, and he decided that once Beth woke up and he was sure she was able to move around on her own, he would go out and hunt something for them to eat. For now, one of the cans would have to do. He tried the tap on the kitchen sink and was pleased to see clean water emerge from it. The cabin must have had a well on the property. He cupped his mouth to the faucet and took several deep gulps of the water before switching it back off. He began searching for a pot of some kind when he heard a gasping breath from the bedroom.

Daryl hurried to the open door of the bedroom and saw Beth attempting to sit up on the bed, her blue eyes wide and anxiously darting around the room. When her eyes landed on him, her face crumbled, and tears began to spill down her cheeks.

"Daryl?" she said, her voice cracking from lack of use.

He said nothing, but crossed the room in three strides and brought her into a tight embrace. Beth yelped from the pressure on her injured ribs, but she quickly wrapped her arms around his middle and held him in place as he attempted to jerk away. He slowly placed his arms back around her and held her against his chest. Her tears were wetting the front his shirt, but as he held her, her crying stopped.

"You found me," Beth mumbled into his shirt.

"Course I did," Daryl replied, his voice rough. Beth pulled away and he quickly released her from his grasp, awkwardly taking a step back from her. "Ran after that car and didn't stop till I found you."

Beth tentatively raised a hand to her forehead and felt the rough stitches there.

"You stitched me up?"

Daryl nodded. "My first time tryin' it, so it ain't pretty, but it had to be done."

"Thank you."

Daryl moved to sit next to her on the bed, his hands awkwardly in his lap as he looked at her with concern. "What happened? When I found you the car was completely totaled . . ."

Beth took a shuddering breath, looking as though she was about to cry again, but she swallowed hard and blinked the tears away.

"I ran up to the road like you said, but before I could find you, this car just came out of nowhere. A guy jumped out and grabbed me. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong. He threw me down and kicked me in the stomach, and then he hit me in the head with the butt of a gun." She reached up and gingerly felt the back of her head, wincing when she felt the large lump there. "I must've passed out, and when I woke up, I was layin' in the backseat of the car with my hands tied in front of me. I dunno how long I was out, but the two guys up front didn't notice I was awake. I dunno who they were or where they were takin' me, but it couldn't have been good. I had to do something."

Beth lifted her gaze from her lap and saw the look of icy anger on Daryl's face. She swallowed again and continued.

"I realized I still had my knife on my belt, and I managed to get it free without them noticing. I waited till I felt us going around a turn and I sat up and buried the knife in the driver's throat. The last thing I remember is the car crashin' into a tree."

A few tears managed to escape her eyes, and she wiped them away angrily. "I knew the chances of me survivin' the crash were slim, but it was either that or end up wherever they were takin' me, and I knew I didn't want to end up there. I did what I had to do."

Daryl's expression was pained, and he wanted to reach out to her again, but he restrained himself.

"You did the right thing," he said gruffly. "Not lettin' them take you. You're strong, Beth."

She nodded, wiping her face again. "Did you see them? The men who took me? Did the other one survive?"

Daryl shook his head. "They probably saved you. Couple of biters were feastin' on them without any idea that you were still in the car."

Beth shuddered at the thought and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt a sick feeling of satisfaction that her kidnappers had ended in such a way, and she felt ashamed of such a thought almost immediately after. She sighed and looked around the bedroom in an attempt to focus on something else.

"Where are we?"

Daryl shrugged. "Some hunting cabin in the woods. Not sure exactly where. The road's a few miles north of here."

"You . . . you carried me that far?"

Daryl nodded and looked down at his hands. "Had to get you somewhere safe."

"Thank you," Beth said. "If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be alive right now."

"Stop," Daryl said quietly. The thought of Beth dying had crossed his mind a few times while he had chased after the car, and it pained him too much to think about. Beth gave him a smile that came out as more of a grimace.

"I'll make us somethin' to eat," he said. "There's a couple of cans of stuff in the kitchen. Thinkin' I'll go out huntin' later to get us somethin' better."

Beth nodded and made an attempt to climb off the bed, but she inhaled sharply when pain shot through her side.

"Can you help me stand?" she asked. Daryl nodded and stood from where he was seated on the bed. He delicately grasped one of her arms and put his other hand on her back, gently helping her to her feet. He removed his hands once she was standing, but stayed next to her in case she fell. Beth slowly peeled her shirt up and examined the dark bruises around her ribs.

"D'you think you broke any?" Daryl asked.

Beth took a deep breath and winced, but shook her head. "No. It doesn't feel that bad. But it certainly doesn't feel good, either."

She took a tentative step forward, limping on her still-injured ankle. Daryl quickly wrapped an arm around her to help support her weight.

"Place has got runnin' water," he said. "Gotta have a well on the property or somethin'. If you wanna clean up, bathroom's to the left."

"That sounds amazin," Beth sighed. Daryl helped her into the bathroom, and she hopped over to the sink and gave a little squeal of delight when water came out of the tap.

"I'm gonna make us somethin' to eat," Daryl muttered.

Beth nodded and glanced at herself in the mirror. She was a mess. She splashed the cold water from the sink on her face, enjoying how refreshing it felt. She glanced back at the shower behind her and decided to try the taps there, too.

"Yes!" she exclaimed as water came out of the showerhead. It was terrible water pressure and cold, but it was a running shower nonetheless. Beth closed the bathroom door behind her and began to peel the filthy clothes from her body. She noticed her skin was littered with bruises, some more severe than others, but aside from her ankle, ribs, and forehead, she seemed to be mostly okay. She limped to the shower and carefully climbed inside, gasping as the freezing water hit her skin. She grabbed the bar of soap that was already in there and began washing away days' worth of dirt, sweat, and grime. She noticed with another leap of excitement that there was a bottle of generic men's shampoo in the shower as well. She couldn't remember the last time she had washed her hair.

After she was clean (and sufficiently freezing), she climbed out of the shower, only to realize that there was no towel hanging on the towel rack next to the shower.

"Shit," she muttered, pulling open the cabinet doors beneath the sink to find no towels there, either. She sighed and opened the bathroom door a crack.

"Uh, Daryl?" she called. He was in the hallway in an instant, meeting her eyes through the crack in the door. "Are there towels around here anywhere?"

Daryl turned and opened the door to the linen closet across from the bathroom. He grabbed one of the folded towels and handed it to her through the door, his eyes trained purposefully on the floor so as not to accidentally get a peek at her.

"Thanks," she murmured, closing the door again and toweling off. She wished she had clean clothes to put on, but until she could find new ones or wash the ones she had, her current clothes would have to do. She dressed and hobbled out into the kitchen to find Daryl stirring a pot of beans over a wood stove.

"This place is nice," she commented as she looked around the room. Daryl scoffed and she shrugged. "Nicer than a lot of places, I mean."

Daryl watched her as she limped into the living room and gingerly sat on one of the couches. With the state of her ankle and ribs, she wouldn't be fit to travel for several days. He found two bowls in a cabinet and poured the beans into them, grabbing two forks as well and going out to join Beth in the living room. He sat down on the other couch and set the bowl in front of her on the coffee table. They began eating in silence, and Daryl couldn't help noticing the far off look in Beth's eyes.

"Thinkin' we should stay here at least a few days, till you're healed up," he muttered.

Beth nodded and looked up from her food, her expression a little hesitant. "What happens after I'm healed? Where will we go?"

Daryl shrugged. "Where do you want to go?"

Beth sighed, thinking about Maggie and Glenn and the other members of their group, but realistically she knew they were probably far away by now. She wanted to remain optimistic that they would find the other members of their group, but at the same time, she was so damn tired and just wanted to stay in one place for a while. She tentatively glanced at Daryl, who was watching her and waiting for her response.

"Maybe . . . I dunno, maybe we could stick around here for a while," she said softly.

"Whatever you want," Daryl replied with a nod.

"I want to find Maggie, and the others," Beth said, her voice wavering slightly. "But it's startin' to seem so unlikely that we will. And I'm so tired, Daryl. We've been runnin' from place to place for a while and I just want a place to call home. Even if it's only for a few weeks."

Daryl nodded in understanding. He looked around the cabin and gave a shrug. "Home sweet home then."

Beth smiled. Even if it was only temporary, having a place to call home made everything seem better. She just hoped they could make it last.