Beth slung the hand-carved longbow over one shoulder as she fastened her knife to her belt. The bow had been a gift from Carl, and the metal arrow tips on her bolts a gift from Rick. Beth had planned to leave at dawn, and found Merle leaned against the gate with a gun on his hip. She had begrudgingly agreed to let him come along at the request of the younger Dixon on the condition that Merle would be the one to carry their supplies over the course of the two-hour-each-way hike that came with restocking the cashe.

The cashe system was one that Rick had suggested after arriving in Alexandria. There were two: a northern one, and a western one. He had explained to Dianna that should the settlement fall, survivors of the attack would a place to find each other again and gear up with life-saving food, ammo, and bandages. The buildings themselves were easily-looked over sheds built deep in the woods and had the words: 'Don't open, dead inside,' a warning that Rick had unquestioningly taken to heart upon waking up alone in the hospital alone, spray painted on the doors to deter any looters that might stumble upon the buildings. The settlement had been doing well, and they could afford to leave some things behind for emergencies now that they were all able to eat at least twice a day on a regular basis.

Beth walked over to the gate, Merle watching her every step of the way until she stood next to him.

"Daryl told me you was goin' on a run or somethin'."

"Yeah, we're going for a restock. That's the bag behind the gate," she said pointing a a black duffel," Probably best you know where the place is if you plan on staying here a while."

"Well, y'all planned out such a nice welcome for me, I figured ya were tryin' ta butter me up into doin' your dirtywork."

"Well we ain't doin' none of that today," Beth said sternly, "We're just makin' a delivery and fixin' a couple of tiles."

Merle scoffed, "So y'all dragged me outta bed to be your mule?"

"Look, I don't need you here for this. I'm plenty capable of takin' care of this myself. So you can either shut your mouth so we can go, or you can go back off to bed. It's your choice."

Merle stared down at her surprised, and she stared right back defiantly. She might have been eight inches shorter and likely only two-thirds of his weight, but she wasn't about to spend the whole day being talked down to. It wouldn't be the first time she'd made this trip solo, and while having him carry her stock might have made the trip faster, it certainly wasn't necessary for her.

She raised her eyebrows before asking, "Well?"

Something in his expression changed, and if she hadn't known better she might of mistakenly thought he was impressed.

"Well...alright then..."

"Get the bag," Beth said pointing behind him.

He slung it over his right shoulder and rested his prosthesis on top of the zipper and said a, "Yes Ma'am," with that signature Dixon smirk.

It was a full hour before any words other than 'walker' or 'got it' were spoken, and Beth was surprised that the elder Dixon was the one to break it.

"So, when was it you learned to shoot that?"

"After the prison, before here. I found a compound bow in a sport shop while we were on the road. Lost it to a bastard we met on the road before we found the the others."

"Daryl tell you how to shoot it?"

"Yeah."

"'n' how long was it jus' the two o' you?"

"I don't know. Probably a couple of months at least."

Merle snorted, "Should o' known tha' little brother didn't have the balls for it."

Beth rolled her eyes, "We did just fine on our own..."

"Tha' ain't what I meant."

"So...what?"

"You're tryin' to tell me that you an' Daryl been on the road, alone, for months..."

"What about it?" Beth asked, beginning to feel defensive.

"A couple o' months on the road, with some pretty little thing like you, and both o you thinkin' everyone you knew was dead. And you're tryin' to tell me he didn't make a move?"

It took her a second to respond. Since when did Merle Dixon think she was pretty? She wasn't quite sure what to do with that new information...

"Well, he didn't. You don't believe me, you can ask him yourself."

"Just suppressed is all. All that high-and -mighty self-control sounds real borin' if you ask me. It've been you an' me on the road, I bet you we could've had some real fun eh Blondie? Nothin' like the end o' the world to get you in the mood for some real good lovin'."

Beth tried to force the flashbacks from that night; the night she had her bow taken from that man on the road...

Daryl unconscious on the pavement only a few feet away as her head collided with the concrete...

She couldn't think about it here and now. She shook her head violently side-to-side, trying to will the memories to fall out of her ears and into the forest somewhere. Beth wished it was only that simple; that she could cast away all of her bad memories and leave them to be lost in amongst the trees.

"I go you thinkin' about it huh? You an' me, rollin' around in the bush? Bet I could make you feel real fine Honey."

Beth was quiet for a moment, and she rubbed at the scar on her cheek before muttering, "Ain't no one out here that'd bother tryin'. The people out here; they don't give half-of-a-damn about anything for what they want..."

She had expected something disgusting, or at least insulting in response, but she got nothing from him. For several minutes the only sound between them was footfalls in the underbrush. He said it so quietly Beth almost didn't hear him, "My Momma had a scar like that one on you're cheek. Got it when our Pa beat her head into the counter."

Beth paused to look over her shoulder at him.

"Didn't know what was goin' on...too young I s'ppose. Was 'fore Daryl came 'round. Might o' even been why Daryl came round actually. Momma sent me out o' the room. Heard her makin' all kinds of noise, even all the way out on the porch. Lookin' back on it...I know why...I-I know what he did. Nine months later I was holdin' my baby brother."

"Does he...?"

"No, no. Ne'er told 'im. Ne'er thought he should have to know 'bout it...'bout how he came into this world. Just wish...guess I just wish it were'nt my first memory o' her is all."

Beth was horrified, and it finally occurred to her why Merle was always layering some sort of disgusting innuendo into everything he said.

"Ain't like 'im...you know? Ain't ne'er gon' be like 'im..." Merle said, averting his eyes from her.

Beth noticed the way his southern drawl became intensified, if that was even possible, as he recounted the horrific tale. Beth wasn't sure why she did it. She found herself often curious about her actions nowadays, but it didn't stop her from wrapping her thin muscular arms around his neck and pulling his face down to hers. She wished she could have blamed on alcohol again. She wished she could blame it on trauma, or pity, or even an excuse to shut him up, but that wasn't the feeling that bloomed in her gut. It was affection; affection for their sheer hatred of the ugliness that existed in both the old world and this new one.

He gracelessly dropped the duffel bag and his arms wrapped around her as her mouth found his. He walked her backwards until she felt her shoulders hit the bark of a nearby tree. The feel of his rough hand trailing up and underneath the back of her shirt made her fingers curl around the material of his collar as she opened her mouth for him; inviting him to explore her with his tongue. Merle graciously accepted her invitation. He traced a line inside of her bottom lip before giving a light suck at it. Beth's back arched as she felt the his bottom teeth accidentally graze at the skin, and her hips collided with is, and she could feel the stirrings of his arousal through the fabric. It should have deterred her, but it didn't...

She wanted to feel the warmth of him. She wished she could silence the voice in her head that told her he wanted to force her down against the muddy forest floor and...

She couldn't help it...

She broke away from the kiss to drop her head against his chest. She tried in vain to stifle a sob as traitorous tears welled at the bottom of her eyelids.

Merle fell very still, like he was unsure of what to do. But she just continued to bury her face into his solid torso, the feel of his strong arms around her like a shield.