And here's chapter 32! Please review!

Beth jolted awake suddenly, her abrupt movement jostling Daryl awake as well. She couldn't remember when either of them had fallen asleep. Judging from the light outside, it looked to be around early evening, which meant that she and Daryl had been asleep for most of the day. Beth moved to sit up, but a sharp pain from her wounded shoulder reminded her of her dire situation, and she suddenly regretted wasting so much of her precious time left sleeping. She looked to Daryl, who was watching her with a wary look on his face.

"When did we fall asleep?" Beth croaked, her voice scratchy from sleep.

"Not sure," Daryl replied.

He looked terrible; his eyes were swollen and red, and despite their long nap, he still looked exhausted. She suddenly wondered how horrible she herself looked. She remembered how awful it had been when her family members had gotten sick after being bitten, and how she had wished she could do something for them to ease their suffering. With the aid of modern medicine, Beth had never seen anyone so sick before the outbreak. She remembered how high Shawn's fever had gotten before he finally passed; it had seemed like he was so hot that he could heat an entire room.

Suddenly the realization dawned on her: she didn't feel feverish at all. In fact, aside from the throbbing pain in her shoulder, she felt fine. She whirled around to face Daryl, who looked confused by her sudden movement.

"Feel my head," she demanded. "Do I have a fever?"

He narrowed his eyes and placed the back of his hand to her forehead. He frowned when he pulled his hand away, but shook his head.

"No. No fever."

"How long does it usually take for the fever to take hold?" Beth wondered. She couldn't remember how soon after being bitten her family members had started showing symptoms. It had been such a stressful and confusing time, and sometimes the details seemed to blur together.

"Usually just a couple hours," Daryl said. "It varies. But I don't think I've seen it take longer than half a day."

Beth bit her lip and gazed outside again.

"We left here this morning around 8 or so. We were probably back here by 9. Now it looks like the sun will be going down in an hour or two, so it's probably about 4:00. That's seven hours. Why don't I have a fever yet?"

Daryl frowned and studied her with a piercing gaze. He raised his hand to her head again and shrugged.

"Maybe it's just takin' longer than it does with other people. You got any other symptoms?"

"No," Beth shook her head. "Aside from the pain from the bite, I feel fine."

"No dizziness or nothin'? Nausea?"

Beth slowly stood from the bed, but her feet felt steady beneath her. She took a few steps, but her gait didn't falter.

"No, no dizziness," she said. "And no nausea, either. In fact, I'm starving. We haven't eaten since we had those peaches for breakfast."

Daryl looked at her thoughtfully. "Well, okay. Guess we should eat then."

"We should probably change this bandage, too," Beth suggested, looking down at the gauze that showed spots of blood that had seeped through.

"Thought you said it didn't matter?" Daryl said quietly.

"It probably doesn't," Beth agreed. "But it can't hurt. Maybe my immune system is stronger than most or something. If I have more time left with you, I'm certainly going to take advantage of it. And making sure this wound doesn't get infected will help me do that."

"Okay," Daryl said simply. He stood from the bed and stretched before grabbing the first aid supplies that were still on the kitchen counter. Beth sat down in the kitchen table booth with her injured shoulder facing him. He carefully peeled away the gauze, prompting Beth to wince from the pain. She glanced down, but was unable to see most of the wound due to its placement near her neck.

"Wait," she said. "In the drawer with my clothes, there's a small pocket mirror. Bring it to me? I want to see the damage."

Daryl hesitated as if he was unsure whether letting her see the wound was a good idea, but he gave in after a moment and fetched the mirror for her. He handed it to her and she held it up with her good arm. She hissed in a slow breath as she examined the injury in the mirror's reflection. The puncture marks made by the walker's teeth were obvious, but it appeared that Daryl's arrow had downed the biter before it had a chance to tear the flesh off her body. The wound certainly wasn't pretty, but Beth knew that it could have been a lot worse. She grimaced and set the mirror down on the table, a silent go-ahead for Daryl to resume cleaning and bandaging the wound.

Beth wasn't sure why the fever hadn't yet overcome her, but she was thankful for the extra time she had been given. She knew her time would come eventually, and probably soon, but for now, she wanted to focus on the blessing that was her body's delayed response to the bite. Every moment she could spend with Daryl was precious, and she didn't intend on wasting any of it.

She wasn't as afraid of death as she thought she would be, now that it was fast approaching. And it wasn't because at one time, she hadn't wanted to live anymore. It was because she knew she had lived, and had lived well. Despite the end of the world and her young age, she had been blessed with a wonderful life. It was more than a lot of people had ever had. She knew what it was like to be loved, and to fight for something she believed in.

In a way, maybe the apocalypse had made her more accepting of her own mortality. The usual hopes and dreams of a young woman no longer applied, and Beth didn't feel like she was going to be missing out on much. She would have liked to grow old with Daryl, possibly in a little cottage on the beach, maybe even have a child or two if they could make it safe enough. But that dream was so improbable even without her getting bitten that it didn't seem like it was being taken away from her. Instead, she focused on the memories she and Daryl had created together, and they were more than enough.

Once Daryl had finished cleaning and bandaging her wound, he looked at her with question in his eyes, as if unsure what to do next. Beth could sense that he was on edge, just waiting for her to take a turn for the worse. She smiled brightly at him to try to put him at ease. They would deal with it when the time came, but for now, Beth just wanted to enjoy the time she had left.

"I say we get some jerky to snack on and get out that deck of cards. You promised me a long time ago that you'd teach me to play poker, and I still want to learn."

Daryl didn't say anything, but nodded once. Beth went to fetch the cards that they had taken so long ago from their visit to the farm while Daryl retrieved the jerky from the truck. She heard him stringing up the perimeter alarm outside the trailer, something they had neglected to do upon their return to the campsite earlier. After a few minutes he reappeared with the jerky and some canned tomatoes in hand. Beth sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for him to do the same.

"You'll have to shuffle," she said. "I was never very good at it, and it would probably hurt my shoulder to try anyway."

Daryl still didn't say anything, and he didn't shuffle the cards either. He just looked at her, his eyes clearly betraying the sadness he was really feeling. He looked so lost and broken, and Beth wished she could take his pain away. She sighed and reached across the table with her good arm, placing a comforting hand on his forearm.

"How can you be so . . . so normal right now?" he asked suddenly. "Any minute you could get sick, and then be gone. How can you just want to play cards like nothin' is wrong?"

"You're missing the point," Beth said softly. "You're right that any minute I could get sick, and then the clock really starts ticking. But that's exactly why I have to pretend nothing is wrong. If you knew you only had a little time left, would you rather spend that time moping and feeling sad for what you're going to lose? Or would you rather spend that time with a person you love having fun?"

Daryl shrugged, but Beth could tell he understood.

"I'm going to enjoy the time I have left," she said. "I'm not going to waste a single minute of it."

Daryl eyed her from across the table, his lips twitching a little into an attempt at a half smile.

"You're amazin', you know that?" he said suddenly.

"Of course I know that," Beth replied with a wink. "Now shuffle those cards. We've got a game to play."

Beth wasn't sure what time it was when she and Daryl finally decided to turn in for the night. It was late, that much she knew, for they had continued playing cards and just talking for many hours after sunset. Daryl had allowed one of the lights to be turned on, so long as they drew the shades on the windows. Beth knew he had only permitted such a thing because of the circumstances, but she didn't mind. It had enabled them to spend a lovely evening together.

As she had suspected, Beth was a terrible poker player, even with Daryl's instruction. After several games, she had given up and amused herself with conversation. Daryl had been quiet for most of the evening, and she could see in his eyes that he was preparing himself for the worst, but so far, she remained symptom-free.

It had been around fifteen hours since she had been bitten, and Beth didn't know why she still displayed no symptoms. But she felt thankful that she had been able to enjoy the time spent with Daryl, and if it so happened that she didn't wake up in the morning, she would have no regrets for how she had spent her last night, reminiscing about old memories both before and after the end of the world with the man she loved.

Normally, Daryl would have taken watch outside long before now. But of course, the circumstances changed that, too. When Beth finally grew tired enough to need to sleep, likely after midnight judging from how long after sunset they had been spending time together, he climbed into the small bed next to her without her even needing to ask. Beth situated herself on her good side with Daryl's warm body pressed against hers from behind, and she sighed contentedly as his arm wrapped around her and drew her closer to him. Yes, if this was her last night on Earth, this was exactly how she would want to go.

"Thank you," she murmured softly into the quiet, dark trailer.

"For what?"

"Everything."

He said nothing, but his hold on her tightened a little, and Beth knew he understood.

"I love you, Daryl. And I always will."

His grip tightened even further, but he still remained silent. He didn't need to say a word; Beth felt the warmth of his body and the tightness of his loving embrace, and she felt content. She felt at peace. She hoped she would wake again in the morning, but if she didn't, that was okay. Everything was okay. And the feeling of fulfillment slowly lulled her into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

I have already started writing chapter 33, so hopefully it won't be longer than a few days before I can get it posted. The three-day weekend should help! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend as well. Please review! :)