Rick passed Judith to Tyreese and spoke in a low voice over the din the walkers were still making outside. "If we keep quiet they'll wander off eventually. Might take a day or two."

He pulled out his knife and took a deep breath, peering into the gloomy recesses ahead of them. "Hopefully, we'll have somethin' to eat in the meantime."

They moved as a unit, knives raised, arms outstretched either to prepare for upcoming obstacles or to grab the shoulder of the person in front of them; stopping every minute or so whenever the faint echo of some small noise travelled through the darkness.

It was next to impossible to see anything the further they moved away from the receiving doors. The group had been walking through open space so far, but the way the sounds of their footsteps bounced back at them, Beth got the impression they were passing by rows of something.

Looking to her far left, Beth noticed a tiny sliver of light, maybe 150 feet away. She touched Daryl's arm next to her gently and whispered, "Is that daylight way over there?"

She felt him stop and turn almost immediately, calling out to Rick who he could just barely see was still leading the others straight ahead, further into the warehouse. "Hey, Rick. Go to your left, man, there's some kind of light source at 9 o'clock."

Beth sensed them change direction, and she felt the heat of the others around her as they all moved together.

At one point, Maggie gasped loudly when she ran up against something, and Beth heard Glenn murmur reassuring words to her as they continued. When she followed a few steps behind she ran her hands over the cool metal of the large object that had scared her sister. It felt like it might be a forklift.

The closer they got to the light, the faster their pace went, and Daryl was the first one to reach it. It was a door, and he turned the handle slowly, opening it a crack to look inside before pushing it wide open. It was a large office with a wall of windows overlooking the parking lot where the walkers had come from, just high enough that the undead couldn't see in.

Bright sunlight flooded through the doorway, penetrating the depths of the warehouse behind them, and they all turned to look.

Row after row of product was shrink wrapped and stacked neatly on racks before them, floor to ceiling, as far back as the eye could see. Daryl spotted three other doors to adjacent offices that he opened, illuminating even more rows of assorted pallets further along.

It was more food than any of them had ever seen in their lives.

Astonished laughter broke out amongst the group as they looked around. Abraham whooped with joy and picked Rosita up, spinning her in a circle, while Rick just stood quietly next to his son, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose and sobbing quietly with relief that his children wouldn't go hungry tonight.

Several of them were starting to rip open boxes as Beth came to stand beside Daryl. He shouldered his crossbow and watched the rest of the group celebrate, then glanced at Beth and nodded his head at the far office. "C'mon. Let's get them stitches out while we still have the light. Then we can eat."

Beth led the way into the sunlit room. Her ponytail was coming loose so she pulled on the elastic as she walked toward one of the far windows, shaking her hair out. More laughter carried through the door behind them. She smiled at the sound of it and sat directly in the sunshine on the corner of a desk, working the twists out of her hairband and looking up at Daryl as she scooted back.

He was rooted to a spot several feet away, watching the sunlight play on her blonde hair as Beth swung it over her shoulders and started gathering it up again, but when she saw the intensity of his gaze on her she stopped and let her hands fall to her sides with the elastic still between her fingers.

Daryl's crossbow dropped to the carpet, forgotten, and he took the last few steps until he was standing in front of her. Beth spread her knees apart further as an unspoken invitation for him to come closer, and he made the final step with only a slight hesitation.

Beth smiled up at him openly, feeling the familiar pang in her chest as his eyes bored into hers. She watched Daryl swallow, maybe a little nervously, as he started raising his left hand up to touch her hair but he stopped halfway and met her gaze, and she knew he was asking her permission.

She nodded quietly and his hand continued on its path, coming to rest gently on the side of her head. His thumb brushed some loose strands away from her face, and he moved his fingers back through the rest of her hair, pushing it over her shoulder with great care. Beth could feel the heat from his fingertips as they skimmed lightly over her scalp and she closed her eyes, lost in the sensation as Daryl continued to comb his fingers through her hair tenderly.

Feeling his hand fall away, Beth opened her eyes and looked up at him, watching him exhale a long shaky breath that he must have been holding in the entire time. She tugged lightly on the edges of his leather vest and smiled back at him, speaking in a hushed voice. "That felt really nice."

Daryl nodded, trying to get it together and stop staring at Beth when he saw her cheeks turn red under the weight of it. She averted her gaze and looked down at her lap shyly, playing with the elastic still there, and he touched a finger to her hand. "Leave it down…just for a minute?"

Beth grinned happily at her fingers, and nodded, locking eyes with him again; the set of his shoulders relaxing slightly as she smiled back at him. Daryl reached into his pocket and pulled out the scissors, moving in closer, and she tilted her left cheek up for him.

Daryl leaned in, lips pressed together in concentration, and cut the stitches carefully, one at a time. Beth tried not to move, but she could feel his breaths on the side of her neck and it tickled.

She shifted in her seat, rubbing the inside of her thighs against his legs unintentionally, and he finished with her cheek, pulling back to look at her with an eyebrow raised and the corners of his mouth turned up in amusement.

Beth looked up at Daryl sheepishly and whispered, "Sorry."

"Quit your squirmin', girl."

Something about his choice of words made her thoughts go down a different route, and she blushed even harder as she tilted her head forward for him to get the stitches on her forehead and found herself looking down at the front of his pants.

"There." Daryl dropped the last bits of black suture on the desk beside Beth and she raised her hand, running her fingertips over the scar on her cheek self-consciously.

She looked up at Daryl, worry etched on her face, and asked him, "How bad is it?"

His eyes took in the faint pink scars that were a couple shades darker than her pale skin, and shook his head firmly. "Ain't nothin' that won't fade with a little more time."

"Really?" She searched his face, hoping he wasn't just trying to spare her feelings.

Daryl saw her doubtful look and scanned the room, his eyes coming to rest on a chrome plaque hanging on the wall across the room; an award for someone's long forgotten achievement. He strode over and yanked it from its hook, bringing it back to Beth. "Here. See for yourself."

She held it up and examined her reflection carefully, frowning at the unfamiliar marks. It was jarring to see them on her face, and she looked up at Daryl with some reservation.

He'd been watching her closely. Beth wasn't a vain girl by any means, but it was only human to be bothered by someone leaving their mark on you. Of all people, god knew Daryl understood that.

Seeing her concerned expression, Daryl met her gaze and spoke truthfully, "Ain't what I see when I look at you, Beth. Ain't what I see at all."

Beth took a moment to process his words, then nodded, setting the makeshift mirror down on the desk beside her without another look. She started to push herself off the desk but he touched her shoulder lightly. "Hold up. Ain't done yet. That cast is comin' off, too. I'm getting' tired of lookin' at it."

She glanced down at the bandaging that was covered in dirt and flecks of blood. Before she could object, Daryl started cutting it away, unravelling the filthy layers of gauze from the outside. He got down to the last layer and Beth realized that it was her turn to hold her breath.

She'd never seen the bite mark, and as the last little bit was unwrapped she stared at the newly exposed skin.

There was a jagged set of scars, clearly inflicted by human teeth, on the side of her wrist. Although the wound seemed to stand out sharply to Beth because of its implications, she could see the marks were healed more fully than the ones on her face, and would likely be difficult to distinguish at a glance in the future. Nevertheless, she felt embarrassed and disgusted by the sight of it, and tugged the cuff of her jacket down, not noticing Daryl was pulling something out of his vest pocket.

He used his knife to cut a small piece of plastic off whatever he was holding before passing it to Beth.

She turned the items over in her hands, surprised. It was a pair of fingerless gloves; rich leather on the palms, and a combination of nylon and breathable mesh on the back. Beth grinned and looked up at Daryl, pulling them both on. The glove on her right hand covered the bite mark perfectly.

Flexing her fingers to get a feel for them, Beth admired the way they clung perfectly with her movements without feeling too tight, and breathed, "Thank you, Daryl. I love them."

He watched Beth spread her hands out before her, pleased that she seemed to like them so much, and said, "Saw them at that huntin' store we was at, grabbed them for you."

She pushed herself off the desk and smiled up at Daryl, hands on her hips. "Do you really think they make me look badass?"

He couldn't stop himself from looking her up and down to take in her new outfit, his eyes finally rising to meet Beth's, and nodded. "Mmmhmm."

Beth stepped even closer until she was almost pressed up against his chest, smiling at him affectionately. "You know, you better be careful. All these nice things you keep givin' me…the boots, the knife, now these," her gaze dropped to her new gloves and then back up to Daryl's face," I might get used to bein' spoiled."

He shrugged a shoulder and the usual words of "ain't nothin'" almost passed his lips, but he saw Beth start to raise a playful eyebrow at him, and he changed his answer. Daryl reached his left hand out and twined a couple fingers in between hers. "Guess you'll just have to get used to it, then."

Beth caught herself grinning at him like a fool, and slid the palm of her other hand up over Daryl's chest to his shoulder, rising to give him a kiss but a knock on the doorframe interrupted them.

Rick stood in the open doorway, having the good grace to look embarrassed for walking in on a private moment. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, saying," Sorry. Just wanted to let you know we've got a bit of a feast prepared. Didn't want you to miss out."

"Be right there." Daryl nodded at the other man.

Rick turned to leave and Daryl started to let go of Beth's fingers to follow him but she held on and cleared her throat. He looked down at her, puzzled, and she didn't say a word, just placed a soft kiss on his mouth, holding her lips there for a brief moment before pulling back and grinning. "Now we can go."

Daryl shouldered his crossbow and followed Beth back out into the warehouse area, only making a half-hearted effort to hide the smile on his face.

A half hour later the sun was low in the sky, and everyone was sprawled out in a large circle, sitting on chairs pulled out from the offices. Beth set her empty can of ravioli on the floor, licking off the plastic spoon while she leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh. "That was so good."

She laughed when she looked across the circle at Carl. He'd claimed one of the cushier computer chairs, and was using his feet to push himself around in it while he ate. He was lifting another spoonful to his mouth when Beth called over to him. "Good cereal, Carl?"

They'd found several pallets of a wide variety of cereal, but it was only when Michonne had found cases of shelf stable milk that Carl got excited. He'd combed through the aisles until he found plastic spoons and cardboard bowls, then rushed back and poured himself serving after serving of cereal and milk. He was on his eighth bowl when he finally put a hand on his swollen belly and gave up, answering Beth with a lazy grin. "Yeah. I'm really full now, though."

Rick was holding Judy on his lap, giving her some of the milk in a small cup. He chuckled at his son, saying, "I remember you used to live off that stuff, Carl. I swear, it was the only thing we could get you to eat half the time. Used to drive us up the wall."

They both smiled at the bittersweet memory until Judith brought them back to the present with her laugh as she tried to blow bubbles in her milk.

Tara was working on finishing her chocolate pudding cup but she kept folding her hand up to her nose and looking at what the person next to her was eating with disgust. "Oh my god, Eugene. What the hell are you eating? It stinks."

He fished a small, dark object out of the tin he was holding and put it on a cracker before popping it in his mouth. "Canned smoked oysters. They're delicious."

Tara mimicked a gagging noise and scraped her chair over the floor, a bit further away from Eugene.

Beth giggled at Tara and toed the cans of cat food at her feet, looking around. "I wonder where Buddy is? I hope he's okay."

As if on cue, the cat come trotting out of the darkness up one of the aisles with something swinging from his mouth. It was a large mouse, and he settled on the floor behind Beth to eat it. The few outward groans of protest got even louder when he started crunching through bones, and Beth couldn't help but giggle at their squeamish stomachs. Thankfully he didn't take very long to eat it and the group was left to digest their meal in peace while Buddy cleaned himself.

"I don't know about you all," Abraham stretched his legs out in front of him and folded his hands behind his head, "but I think we'd be some kind of crazy to think about leavin' here to go on some wild ass goose chase, lookin' for some place in DC we may never even find."

The small amount of chatter amongst the rest of the group died at his suggestion, and he looked around at them. "We got shelter. We're safe from the dead and the living. And we've got more food and water than we can shake a stick at. Doesn't get much better than that."

Beth looked around at the walls of the warehouse and wondered if they could actually make it a home.

Nobody objected, and Rick looked down at the little girl in his arms, saying, "You might have a point. We'll give it a couple days and then take it to a vote."

The sun had just dipped down below the treeline, bringing darkness back to the inside of the warehouse. Maggie turned on a couple camping lanterns they'd found and shut the doors to the offices so the light couldn't be seen from outside, while Glenn and Sasha passed out brand new sleeping bags.

Beth unrolled hers and chose a spot against a wall just on the outskirts of the glow from the lamps to spread it out. Daryl dropped his several feet away, not wanting to crowd her, but she put the toe of her boot on it and dragged it closer to hers.

She sat down and ran her hand along the cat's back as he went by her, calling out to him softly as he walked away. "Don't let any mice get me through the night, Buddy."

Daryl snorted and stretched out alongside her, folding an arm under his head, crossbow still at his side just in case. She laid on her side facing him and smiled. "What?"

"You kill walkers but you're afraid of a little mouse?"

Beth flicked his sleeve and rolled her eyes. "It's not the same. Walkers don't crawl up my pant leg while I'm sleepin'."

Daryl huffed with amusement and closed his eyes, and the last thing Beth saw before she fell asleep was Judith laughing and petting the cat with wonder. Maybe things will be okay here.

Ugh, thank god those stitches on Beth's face are finally gone. The ones she had on her cheek and forehead on the show were the gnarliest looking ones I'd ever seen. And Daryl, slowly coming to realize that he's allowed to touch Beth intimately, and that she welcomes it. Don't tell my husband, but Daryl can comb his fingers through my hair any day.
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