Soon after leaving the city they came across a small town.

Rick pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall where 9 cars were still parked neatly in their spaces. Daryl drove in behind him and swung around, facing the car toward the road in case they needed to make a quick exit.

Everybody got out to walk around and decompress after the tension of the last hour except Eugene. He was still laying inside the truck, his head propped up on a towel, face swollen. Rick stepped around him to grab three large gas jugs and a plastic hose, calling out instructions as he came back out. "Sasha, Abraham, you two take watch, one on either end of the parkin' lot. Tyreese and Noah, you're with me. I want to siphon as much gas out of these cars as we can."

He looked over the run-down storefronts of the mini mall. "Everyone else, have a look inside and see if there's anythin' worth takin', but let's be quick. We'll make one more stop in town, if it looks safe, and see if there's any food before gettin' on the road again."

Carl held on to Judith and stayed close to the truck while the rest split up to investigate. The end unit was empty, and next to it was Danielsville Plumbing and Heating, which didn't seem like it would be a jackpot but Michonne and Rosita decided to check it out anyway.

Beth eyed the window next to it with some excitement. It read PJ's Quality Used Clothing and she glanced behind her at Maggie and Tara, still wary of opening up to her sister after the words they'd exchanged, but deciding she should try. "Help me find some new clothes?"

"Hell yes." Tara grabbed her by the shoulders and started steering her toward the door. "You're like the apocalypse's version of What Not to Wear. Maggie and I can definitely do better, can't we?"

Beth looked back at Maggie, who rolled her eyes but smiled at her sister tentatively.

While Tara banged on the glass to see if any walkers were inside, Beth looked over, seeing Daryl and Glenn doing the same next door, and she stepped back to read the sign…Edgar's Hunting and Fishing Supplies. She giggled and looked over at Daryl, "Say hi to Edgar for me."

Daryl snorted. "I'm hopin' he ain't home."

She was still smiling when Tara hauled her through the door, Maggie following and raising an eyebrow at her sister. "Stop flirtin', Beth."

Beth shrugged and didn't say anything, instead walking up to a bin of clothing to start sorting through it.

Maggie leaned against it and rifled through the different T-shirts. "You're not bein' very responsible."

Beth threw down the ugly shirt she'd been looking at and eyed her sister. "This comin' from a girl who had sex with a complete stranger in some dirty old pharmacy."

Maggie's jaw dropped open in anger. "Glenn is a good man."

"So is Daryl." Beth was getting more violent with the clothes as she went through them.

Her sister growled out her next words. "He's twice your age. You should know better."

Beth looked up with a surprised expression. "Oh, it's just his age that's the issue?"

Maggie nodded haughtily, so Beth braced her hands on the side of the bin and stared across it. "So, you must have a huge problem with Abraham and…." She snapped her fingers, unable to think of the name.

Tara called it out from across the room. "Rosita."

Beth stabbed her finger in the air. "Rosita! Yes, thank you." She turned back to Maggie with great interest. "So do you have an issue with Abraham and Rosita? Because he's gotta be more than twice her age, too."

Maggie folded her arms and wandered over to another bin with a sour look, but Beth followed her, unwilling to let it go. "Because if you're not bothered by their relationship then you need to ask yourself what the difference is."

Beth came to stand beside her sister, giving herself a moment to breathe and calm down, and spoke quietly. "Look, Maggie, I don't know if anythin' is even gonna come of me and Daryl. Nothin' has happened yet. But if you have any respect for me at all, then you have to let me make my own decisions, and if need be, my own mistakes."

She suddenly became very emotional as she considered the weight of what she would say next, and her voice cracked. "I want my sister back, but if you don't respect me then I really don't know where we can go from that."

Maggie looked down at her hands, and when she turned to face Beth her chin was trembling. She opened her mouth, struggling with the words until they came out in a faint whisper. "I already lost you once. If I lost you again…" She sucked in a ragged breath and took Beth's hands in hers. "I'll try be more understandin', Beth. But if he hurts you in any way he's gonna have to answer to me. Okay?"

Beth smiled back at her and squeezed her sister's hands. "Okay. But he'd have to answer to me first. I'm not sure he'd survive two Greene sisters rakin' him over the coals."

Maggie laughed at Beth, and Tara walked over with a pile of clothing in her arms. "Alright alright. Your sisterly bonding is messing with the mission here. Time's a tickin' and we still have nothing for Beth, and she is not walking out of here in those scrubs."

Ten minutes later Beth pulled up a pair of black skinny jeans and took a shirt that Tara passed to her with a grin. Confused, she held it up but it just looked like a plain light grey t-shirt until she turned it around. It had Rolling Stones written on the front and an obnoxious red mouth and tongue below it. She rolled her eyes and looked at Tara with a laugh. "Really?"

"It's sexy. And the v-neck makes your boobs look bigger."

Beth wasn't going to argue with that, so she pulled it over her head, grateful that Maggie was on the other side of the store taking a jacket off its hanger and didn't hear Tara's commentary.

Tara was buckling an old sturdy leather belt around Beth's hips when Maggie gave her the jean jacket to try on. It was a deep blue color and fit her like a glove, hitting just at the waist.

Beth slipped her sneakers back on and stood in front of the mirror, satisfied, turning to get their approval. Tara stood next to Maggie and whistled. "You look hot."

Maggie elbowed her and tried to look stern. "Yeah yeah. Don't give her a big head," but winked at Beth.

Tara walked over and put an arm around Beth, squeezing her shoulders. "Stacy and Clinton would be so proud." She started to guide her to the door but Beth gasped and reached around, grabbing the leather jacket she had been wearing from the bin.

Maggie's eyebrows shot up and she looked at it, curious. Beth clutched it to her chest defensively. "It's Daryl's. I was cold so he let me wear it."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Tara grinned and nudged Maggie as she went through the door. "Isn't that sweet, Maggie?"

Tara only got a strangled groan for an answer and laughed. The two of them walked toward the truck, leaving Beth behind as Daryl came outside. He was carrying two pairs of boots and he looked nervous. "These are for you. Figured you'd want somethin' better than them sneakers you got on."

She smiled up at him, touched at the gesture as he shifted his weight, holding the boots out for her. "Wasn't sure which size you'd take, but they're supposed to be really comfortable. And they're waterproof too."

Beth took one and turned it over in her hands excitedly. They were a rich black leather, like an army style lace-up boot, but a lot more padded and with an impressive tread at the bottom. "Thank you so much, Daryl. I love them."

She set one down on the ground to try it on, but Daryl stopped her. "Got you these, too." He pulled a pair of wool socks out from under his arm. "Remembered you liked wearin' them with your cowboy boots."

Beth blinked up at him, surprised that he remembered that small a detail, and couldn't stop herself from reaching her arms up around his neck and whispering, "Thanks."

He hesitated before putting his hands around her waist, and she understood he was probably self-conscious with the rest of the group there, so she stepped back slowly and said it again. "Thank you."

Daryl shrugged a shoulder and ducked his head briefly. "S'nothin'."

Beth tilted her head and met his gaze, speaking to him very gently. "No. It's much more than nothin' to me, Daryl. Maybe some time you should give 'you're welcome' a try…see how it feels on."

He peered at her through the hair hanging in front of his eyes, nodding, and she grinned, kicking off her sneakers. Beth pulled on each wool sock and then selected the size of boot that looked right. She laced them up, walking away from Daryl and then back again, suddenly grabbing the bottom of her jacket and tugging on it self-consciously. "Does this look okay?"

Truthfully, her clothes were the first thing he'd noticed but he looked again to satisfy her and nodded, trying not to be too obvious as he swallowed nervously over how the outfit hugged her curves. And now, with her new boots on, it looked like her legs went on for miles.

Daryl drew in a shaky breath and answered as nonchalantly as he could. "Looks alright."

Beth smiled and bent down to pick up his leather jacket where she'd laid it, holding it out to him. "Here."

Daryl paused and reached inside his vest. "Found somethin' else for ya, too." He pulled it out and laid it across his hand for her to see.

It was a proper hunting knife with a 5 inch blade, but what made Beth gasp was the handle. It was a beautiful ebony with running horses carved across it. There was a barn etched into the background, too, with a small figure leaning up against a fence watching them run. It could have been her father. She picked it up, tracing her fingers over the handle, feeling tears welling in her eyes as she thought back to her Dad and the farm.

Daryl watched her, growing more anxious when she didn't say anything. He leaned down to look at her face, worried over her reaction. "If you don't like it we can go in and find you another one. S'no big deal."

Beth looked up at him, brought out of her reverie, and blinked the tears back. "Nobody's ever pryin' this outta my hand, Daryl Dixon. It's beautiful." Beth shook her head, her voice faltering when she spoke. "Thank you."

He held her gaze and nodded once, almost opening his mouth to brush it off but he stopped himself and said, "You're welcome."

Beth nodded proudly at him and giggled, snapping the sheath onto her belt with great care.

As they started walking back to the truck he said something in a low voice. "There's one more thing I got you, but it's a surprise." He saw the way her eyes got big again and held up his hand. "It's nothin' huge, so don't get too excited about it."

She looked down at her new boots as they walked, smiling and peeking up at him. "What is it, Daryl? Come on…."

He just shook his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Nah, not tellin' ya. All I'm gonna say is it'll make you look badass. That's all you're getting' outta me."

Beth was still puzzling over it when they reunited with the group, and Rick did a head count to make sure everyone was back. "Alright. We caught some luck with the gas. A couple of the cars had full tanks so we're good for a while. Let's make a quick stop in town and see how we make out with findin' food."

Everyone got back in their respective vehicle, Beth coming around to the passenger side again and reaching for the back door but Maggie got to the handle first, and with a defeated sigh bumped her hip against her younger sister's to push her toward the front door. Beth mouthed 'thank you' at her with a grin and got in beside Daryl.

A few minutes later they coasted to a stop at one end of the town, sitting in their vehicles and looking down the main street, watching for any suspicious activity or walkers. Several bodies were scattered on the pavement, some half eaten, but there were no other signs of the living or the undead.

Rick drove past the small shops slowly, keeping an eye on the rooftops, and pulled up onto the sidewalk outside a small grocery store.

Daryl parked behind him and got out with his crossbow, waiting for Beth before he approached Rick, who was already checking the door. Still locked. Daryl banged his fist on the front window and turned around while they waited for any walkers inside to make themselves known, tapping Rick's arm and nodding his head at a pharmacy across the street. The windows were broken but there was still some product visible inside.

The rest gathered around Rick, waiting to hear the plan, and he called out his orders, "Carl and Sasha, take watch, both directions. Tyreese, can you stay with Judith?"

The big man looked relieved and hung his hammer back on his belt, taking the little girl from Carl.

Rick went on. "Michonne and I, Beth and Daryl will take the grocery store. Abraham, you take the rest over and check out that pharmacy."

Weapons were pulled out, but before Glenn followed the others across to the pharmacy Daryl said something to him in a low voice. Beth saw Glenn look over at her before nodding at Daryl, and she watched him walk away.

Curious, she turned to Daryl as they walked into the store. "What was that about?"

Daryl lifted his crossbow and positioned himself ahead of her as they started a sweep of the store. "Tell you later. Stay focused."

There were only five aisles, and Beth drew her knife, scanning the shelves as they went. The cleaning section was the only one that remained untouched. Everything else was gone except for the food left to rot in the freezers and the meat case.

Rick and Michonne joined them at the front, shaking their heads, and Beth walked by the two checkouts that were splattered with dried blood, trying to imagine what must have gone on here. Why was the store locked if all the food was gone?

Beth put a hand on Daryl's arm, gesturing at the door she saw at the back, and he nodded, taking the lead.

It was a single swing door, and he looked through the cloudy window into the store's back room, pushing through slowly.

The smell hit them first. There were three decomposing bodies on the floor wearing what must have been store uniforms once, all shot in the head. Beth put her hand over her nose and watched Daryl reach down to take a gun from one of the corpse's hands.

He checked the chamber, finding 3 bullets left, and tucked it into the back of his pants. "Must've killed themselves. Didn't happen that long ago, neither. Still don't get where all the food went, though."

Beth spotted a couple opened cans over by the large door where they would have received their deliveries and unwrapped the chain from the hook on the wall, pulling it down so the door rose up.

Outside, there was a mountain of empty cans and packages, and in the corner against a cement wall, the withered body of what looked like an older man dressed in a shirt and tie. He had a bullet hole in his forehead.

She let the door drop down, feeling nauseous, and walked briskly past the bodies to knock on the door marked Office. Beth held her knife up and pushed it open, looking around the room until her gaze came to rest on a wire cage against the far wall.

She laughed and looked over her shoulder at Daryl. "If we have bolt cutters, you're going to be one happy guy."

Daryl came over to see what Beth was looking at, and she pointed at the cage. It was stuffed full of cartons of assorted cigars and cigarettes, but upon closer inspection, there were also cases of chocolate bars stacked along one side.

"Jesus Christ." Daryl walked over and looked at the lock. The scratches and damage around the keyhole suggested the employees must have tried to get in, maybe even shot at it, but the lock and cage were meant to deter theft and proved too much for what other meager tools they had.

Beth put her knife back in her sheath and stared in at the chocolate. It wasn't proper food, but she couldn't wait to get them out and show the rest of their group, knowing they'd go nuts for a treat like this.

Daryl left to go see what tools they had in the truck, and while Beth waited she realized Rick and Michonne must have gone outside, too.

She wandered through the small back shop on her own, looking up at the racking extending all the way to the ceiling that once held pallets of stock. As Beth got to the farthest corner she squinted up into the darkness, seeing one pallet left at the very top, fifty feet above. As her eyes adjusted to the low light, Beth made out the shapes of the 5 gallon jugs of water that were sold for water coolers.

Beth examined the metal racking, trying to figure out how to get them down. Even if someone were able to climb up, the jugs were far too heavy and cumbersome to carry one handed. They'd probably get hurt trying.

She spotted the small forklift and tried the key, but the battery light didn't come on.

Rubbing her hands on her jeans nervously, Beth looked around, making sure she was still alone.

They needed that water. What little they'd brought with them from the church was almost gone, and it wasn't something they could go without for days.

Keeping her ears peeled for the sound of anyone returning, Beth tilted her head and watched the first jug lift up while she concentrated on it, carefully lowering it and setting it at her feet before going for another. Her fifth jug was still in the air when she heard voices from the front of the store.

Beth started to panic as they grew closer, abandoning her careful approach and bringing it down too fast, holding her breath and willing it not to crash into the concrete floor. The jug landed with a bounce and she grabbed its top, just bringing it to rest as Rick and Daryl came through the swing door with bolt cutters.

Beth shoved her hands in her pockets and gave them a tight-lipped smile when they saw her and walked over, saying casually. "Found some water."

Daryl looked up at the pallet high above and then at Beth, who was biting her lip.

Ricked hooked his thumbs on his belt and cocked his head, looking back at the bodies on the floor. "Huh. Weird they didn't drink it."

"Yeah. Weird." Beth tugged on her earlobe and grabbed the handle of a low flat cart nearby, wheeling it over and loading the water on it. "I'll take it outside. Now, go get us some chocolate."

Beth smiled as she pushed the cart through the door, blowing out a long breath as she left them, hating the lying that went hand in hand with this thing she could do.

She had a sudden revelation while walking up the aisle, though. This thing, what was it…telekinesis? Beth shook her head and snorted at the term. She'd never been one for sci-fi stuff like that, so she wasn't even sure. But what gave her pause was how it was starting to feel normal to her. That she almost used it now without thinking. It didn't frighten her, she just knew she needed to be careful.

What frightened Beth was what happened when she got angry. The rage she felt, and that terrible heat that always started in her hands. It didn't really seem to serve a purpose, but she was glad she'd been able to reel the anger back in each time if only because the feeling of losing control did scare her.

Beth wheeled the cart out to the sidewalk. Abraham and his group were back so she left it to them to load into the truck and went back inside, taking a grocery cart with her for the contents of the cage. Rick and Daryl were just pulling the door open when she returned.

They passed the chocolate to Beth first, smirking at the way she bounced with excitement over it, and then the tobacco. Daryl ripped a case open and tucked a few cartons inside his vest before they left the store.

There were a lot of smiles when they revealed their findings. Abraham opened up a pack of cigars and dragged one underneath his nose, inhaling deeply. "Come to Daddy." Everyone else dug down to get at the chocolate.

Maggie laughed and reached in, pulling out a Hershey bar and tossing it to her sister. "Here, Bethy. Your favorite."

Beth caught it with a smile and held it under her nose just like Abraham, closing her eyes and breathing in the sweet smell. Nearly everyone was opening their own, but she put it in her jacket pocket, noticing Daryl was watching her. "I'm gonna save it for later. Make it last."

She looked in the back of the truck to see what Michonne was doing, and smiled even brighter when she saw the woman was looking over a few cases of baby food and diapers they must have found in the pharmacy. Maybe their luck was finally turning.

Everything was loaded and Rick was calling for them to move on. Beth got back in the car, smiling up at Daryl as he carefully tucked his crossbow in next to her legs.

She leaned her head back against the seat as they pulled away, and the comforting sounds of her family softly bickering in the back seat over whose chocolate bar was best lulled her into sleep.

So we have a tentative truce between our sisters. I didn't want to drag the tension on for too long, Maggie just isn't a bad person, but I think if they'd had an actual reunion on the show there likely would have been some issues, if only Maggie feeling guilt over assuming Beth was dead.
Please leave a comment. I'd love to know what you thought of the chapter!