They walked through the woods in silence for a few minutes, scanning the ground for fresh animal tracks or droppings.
Daryl spotted what looked to be recent prints on a rabbit trail and pulled out a bolt to load his Stryker, raising an eyebrow at Beth. "You wanna?"
Beth grinned and started to reach for it, but then remembered the cast on her hand and looked down at it, disappointed. "Oh. I guess I probably won't be able to until I get this thing off."
Daryl watched her rub her fingers over the bandaging covered the inside of her wrist and hesitated, wary of asking a question that might bring up bad memories of her time at the hospital. "How'd that happen?"
She dropped her hand and stared at the ground for a few beats, and Daryl immediately regretted not keeping his mouth shut when he saw the tears she was blinking back. "They told me it was a fractured wrist, at first."
He shifted his weight to the other leg, not really understanding her answer. "What do you mean, at first?"
Beth swallowed nervously and met his gaze, wanting desperately to confide in him. "Daryl, I need to tell you somethin', but you have to promise me you won't look at me differently."
She looked down at her hands anxiously, worry written on her face. "When I was at the hospital, thinkin' of gettin' back to you and findin' my family was what kept me goin'. It's just...I don't think I can carry a secret like this on my own."
Daryl leaned against a large oak tree and tried to beat down the worst possible scenarios racing through his mind, but after Beth had blurted out what the scumbags did to the women at Grady, it was hard to imagine anything else. If they hurt her like that there was nothing that would stop him from returning to the hospital and ripping their corpses limb from limb, but he bit back the anger to reassure her and looked her in the eye. "Ain't nothin' you could possibly say that would make me feel any different about ya, Greene. Nothin'."
She blew out a long breath and nodded, taking him at his word. "Earlier today the doctor told me it wasn't a fracture. He said the cops that took me that night gave me a walker bite on purpose after they'd knocked me out. Said they were doing some kind of research for a cure there and I was the latest test subject he got. I don't know, he said somethin' about filtering my blood so I didn't turn, but I didn't really understand. All I know is he was gonna force me to stay and be some kind of guinea pig."
Daryl considered what she said for a long moment, then pushed himself away from the tree to put a hand on her shoulder. "Beth, you don't actually believe any of that, do ya? The guy was probably just nuts. There ain't no such thing as a cure."
Beth wrapped her arms across her middle, hunching in on herself. "No, you don't get it." She looked up at him and spoke in a whisper. "I know he wasn't lyin'."
"How?" He nodded at her bandage. "You seen a bite under there?"
She shook her head. "No, but whatever they did changed me." Beth closed her eyes for a moment." I killed people back there, and did things I can't explain."
Daryl furrowed his brow, thoroughly confused about what she was trying to say. "What do you mean?"
Beth sighed and looked around. "Just watch," she pointed her finger at him in warning," but don't scream or nothin' 'cause this is really weird. I mean, really weird. I thought I was losin' my mind, at first."
He nodded at her and waited.
She glanced at Daryl one more time before staring at a twisted piece of dead wood lying on the forest floor about twenty feet away, and as he watched, it rose up and hung in the air for a few seconds before falling back to the ground with a thud.
His jaw dropped and he staggered back a couple steps without meaning to. "What the hell?"
Beth looked back into his wide eyes. "I know. It's crazy but, I'm tellin' you, whatever they did changed somethin' in me. I killed two cops back there who were gonna hurt me real bad..." she rubbed her temples, remembering, "I killed them in ways I shouldn't have been able to."
She shuddered at the memory. "I crushed one of their skulls against a window frame, Daryl. Crushed it with one hand. How is that possible? And when I get angry it's really hard to control. Like it's inside me fightin' to get out. The doctor said the treatment he gave me might've done somethin' to my DNA."
Thinking about it, she felt panic starting to set in again. "I'm terrified I might hurt someone now without meanin' to."
Without thinking, Daryl pulled her into his arms and Beth shook against him, apologizing for falling apart in between gasps for air. "I'm sorry. I'm a mess, ain't I? My emotions are just all over the place since gettin' out of there."
He rested his chin on her hair while he tried to think of what to say to make her feel better. "S'alright. We'll figure this out."
After a minute he cleared his throat. "Y'know, some girl taught me once to see the good in things. Maybe you're just lookin' at this the wrong way."
Beth pulled back a little to look up at Daryl, her hands sliding over the wings of his vest. "What do you mean? Nothin' good could ever come outta this. I just wanna forget."
He pushed her back at arm's length with a determined look. "Nah. You just need to practice and then you don't need to worry about lettin' it get away from ya."
She folded her arms and looked up at him, annoyed that he didn't seem to understand how serious this was. "Practice? What are you talkin' about? This ain't a game, Daryl."
Daryl bobbed his head in agreement, his expression turning dead serious. "Damn right this ain't no game, Beth. It's life or death out here in the blink of an eye." He snapped his fingers and pointed at her with the bolt still clutched in his hand. "This thing, is it hurtin' you?"
Beth shifted her gaze to her feet, chewing on her lip and answering him with some hesitation. "Well, no. If anythin' I heal faster now. Yesterday I had a black eye and banged up shins from trying to get out, and that's all gone. They even shot me in the arm and I barely feel anythin' for pain in it now."
Daryl started to pace back and forth as he listened, wanting to punch the nearest tree hearing how they hurt her, but that wasn't going to help Beth so he swallowed the anger. "See, that's good. An' there ain't no point in worryin' about stuff before it happens, you hear me? Best you can do is be prepared. So if you practice on gettin' a handle on this other stuff...movin' shit or whatever it is you can do, then you'll be one step ahead."
"One step ahead of what?" She cocked her head at him.
He shrugged at Beth. "Don't you get it, Greene? Don't matter if you're scared of it or not, this thing you got is an advantage. And any advantage you got in this world means a better chance of savin' yourself or someone you care about."
Daryl tapped the feathered end of his bolt against his head. "Just think about it. Say lil' asskicker was in danger, and usin' this made the difference between her livin' and dyin'. Wouldn't you wanna do everythin' you could to save her?"
Beth sighed, putting her hands on her hips, thinking over what he said and knowing it was true.
Finally, she looked up at Daryl with a reluctant smile, starting to feel more like herself again. "You know, you're pretty smart for an old fella."
He snorted, swiping his bolt at her but missing when she dodged away with a giggle. "Old, huh? We'll see about that."
Daryl loaded his crossbow and motioned for them to start tracking the rabbit again. As they walked in tandem, he glanced over at Beth. "I figure you don't wanna tell anyone else back there about this whole thing."
Beth shook her head. "I'd rather just keep it between us for now. Not sure everyone would take it as well as you, and I don't wanna scare anybody."
Daryl nodded as he walked. "So we'll just do your trainin' out here, then. Nobody needs to know."
She nudged his arm and laughed quietly. "Guess you're stuck with me, . I almost feel sorry for ya."
He just grunted as they kept following the trail they were on. "Mmhmm. You are pretty annoyin'."
Beth shot him a dirty look but noticed his lips were twitching in the barest hint of a smile, so she elbowed him in return.
Daryl accepted the little push and nodded at the rabbit tracks that were looking more recent. "Alright, we got some supper to catch so quit your jabberin' about bein' Superwoman and help me."
An hour later Daryl had two rabbits tied to his belt, and they decided to head back to the church. There hadn't been any walkers spotted the whole time, but they still spoke in hushed tones as they moved through the woods.
After several minutes walking he came to a stop, nodding at a spot further up the path where a rabbit was sitting, and raised his crossbow to take the shot. Beth put her hand on Daryl's shoulder to stop him, mouthing the word 'practice' and raising her eyebrows. He nodded and lowered his weapon, waiting to see what she'd do.
The rabbit sat about 30 feet away, chewing something quickly in its mouth, and Beth blew out a quiet breath. She focused her gaze on its head, and suddenly feeling squeamish, squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away before reaching out with her mind and snapping its neck with relative ease.
Beth opened one eye to take a peek at the rabbit that was now lying motionless on its side and then looked over at Daryl. His blue eyes bore into hers for a few seconds, and he swung the crossbow strap over his shoulder. "Remind me not to piss you off."
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Very funny, Daryl."
"Pfft. I ain't kiddin'."
He walked over to the rabbit and picked it up by the hind legs, taking a good look around for any signs of walkers. "We should clean these. Don't wanna leave the innards too close to the church an' this is as good a spot as any. Besides, I wanna see how good you remember what I taught ya."
Beth rolled her eyes and dropped a knee to the ground, folding up the sleeve of his jacket and holding out her hand for his knife. He slapped the handle in her palm and leaned back against a tree to watch as she held one of the rabbits, making her cut at the neck and pulling the fur back just like he'd shown her.
She opened up the belly and reached in with her left hand, squeezing her eyes shut again and gagging as she pulled out the entrails. Daryl folded his arms and watched closely. "Make sure you don't rip any of that stuff open. It'll taint the meat."
She sighed at the reminder and dropped the bloody mess on the ground. "Yes, Mr. Dixon."
By the time Beth was on the last rabbit she wasn't sure she was going to want supper anymore. The skinning she didn't mind. It was having to touch the insides with her bare hands, made worse knowing she wouldn't be able to wash up unless they found a stream on their way back.
She looked at the last handful of intestines, making a sour face and adding it to the pile by her feet. "Ugh. So gross."
Beth heard a chuckle that Daryl tried to mask with a cough, and looked up to see him brush a hand across his mouth, failing to hide the smirk there as she eyed her bloody fingers with disgust. She struggled to her feet, shaking her wrist to flick something off the end of a finger. "Glad you're findin' this entertainin'."
Daryl rubbed the whiskers on his chin and motioned at the guts next to her. "Yeah, well. I coulda helped, I guess, if I wasn't so old."
As he walked over to the carcasses, Beth narrowed her eyes and scolded him. "Daryl Dixon!"
He just shrugged, looking very pleased with himself, and Beth broke into a wide smile.
She couldn't hide the overwhelming sense of affection she felt for Daryl as she beamed up at him. When he looked over to see her expression, Beth swore she saw his breath hitch for a brief moment before quickly looking away.
He bent over, busying himself with picking up the rabbits and kicking a pile of leaves to cover what was left behind, before straightening and glancing over his shoulder. "C'mon. We should be gettin' back."
Daryl started walking, leaving Beth trailing behind him, confused over the sudden change in his demeanor.
On a hunch, Daryl took a different route through the woods on their way back and they stumbled upon a shallow brook. Pulling a bottle off his belt, he walked over to fill it where the water gushed down over some rocks.
Beth picked a gravelly section just downstream to wash up, but leaning down and dipping her hand in the water she didn't have much luck getting it clean without having both hands to scrub. She huffed with frustration, not wanting to get her cast soaked and have to sleep with it wet all night, and started to call out to Daryl for help but he was already by her side. "Here, let me."
He took her hand in his and brought it down to the water, rubbing a thumb across her palm and massaging his fingers over the back of her hand with care, trying to get the blood off.
Beth crouched next to the brook as he leaned over her, growing a little embarrassed when her heart started beating faster at how good Daryl's hand felt on hers while he continued to knead each finger between his own.
It shouldn't have been a big deal, they were close after all, but his touch felt more intimate to her since they'd been reunited. Like it came easier to him now, at least with her.
The possibility of becoming more than just friends flashed through Beth's mind, and she glanced up at Daryl's lips, briefly wondering what they would feel like against hers but then looked away.
She couldn't deny that what she felt for him now was different than what was once an innocent crush, but she didn't want to jeopardize their relationship if he didn't feel the same. He meant too much to her.
Beth suddenly became very aware of how close he was, and shut her eyes as a new kind of warmth rushed through her core, but Daryl was so intent on his task he didn't notice the effect he was having on her.
He ran his fingers up her wrist gently, checking to make sure he got everything, and goosebumps rose on her skin from the contact. He saw them and glanced over at her questioningly just as her eyes opened and stared back into his. He held her gaze for a moment but the close proximity seemed to unsettle him, and Daryl pulled himself away to help her to her feet.
Beth blinked a couple times looking up at him, her cheeks flushed, and spoke in a soft voice. "Thanks."
Daryl ducked his head, still fixated on her, until realizing he was still holding Beth's hand and let it go so it fell back to her side. He swallowed nervously and looked away, the first to break eye contact, bending to pick up the rabbits and adjust his crossbow. "Ready?"
Beth nodded and fell in beside him, butterflies raging in her stomach, wondering if it was only her imagination that something had just shifted between them.
Oh , Daryl. You're making this harder than it needs to be. And damn you and your sexy hand massaging.
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