"Never Give Up (On Each Other)"
Author: carmen_085
Disclaimer: I do not own any Walking Dead Characters. I do own all original characters.
Summary: In the months before the beginning of the apocalypse, Daryl finds himself homeless, alone, and with no direction. An adult Beth is struggling to balance her job, sick parents, and the farm. Feeling like the world is suffocating her, will taking a chance on a stranger change everything ? Can these two find what they need in each other before life as they know it ends and they must do anything to survive. AU but eventual ZA with full cast.
Chapter Fifteen
The farm disappeared behind Beth as she rode into the woods. The sun was now high in the sky, midday, and as she made her way toward town she kept it on her left shoulder. She briefly contemplated taking the road instead, but after what had just happened on the highway she quickly decided against it. Seemed like anywhere that people congregated was a place you didn't want to be anymore. Piece by piece Beth was tucking information into the back of her mind, hoping that maybe one day she would understand this mess.
Nelly, as in nervous Nelly, her horse…the horse that nearly ran straight through the front door the night of the accident, trotted along at a steady pace. She could feel a quiver run down the animal's spine now and then as she sniffed the air and the ground, almost innately sensing that something was terribly wrong. Thankfully they'd not run into any of the dead as the forest was quiet. Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Beth wondered if she'd imagined the last two days of her life. A little over 24 hours ago she was at work, and while things were tense, the general order of the world was still intact. And then the police at the farm…Daryl…her mama…that thing in the house. The rehab…the highway…and of course finding her daddy in the woods.
Her daddy.
He was alive and upright which she supposed was a win in itself. And she'd found him which was even more amazing but still she couldn't stop the trepidation from building in the pit of her stomach. Something was off about him, strange and different. She wasn't a fool and she could smell the booze on his breath a mile away. And even if she could have overlooked that her recently detoxed father was getting lit in the middle of the apocalypse, there was the wild look in his eyes and the insistence that the rotting corpse which had almost eaten her face off was sick man in need of care. A misunderstood disease just like the AIDS epidemic, drug addiction, or schizophrenia. What the fuck was she going to do with him when she got home ? Her mama was weak and defenseless in bed, and she would not stand for her daddy's foolish notions or designs to treat the dead like his patients. The farm was going to be a safe haven for them to ride this thing out and she would see that that happened no matter what she had to do.
The trees began to thin as Beth knew that she was almost to town and hoped that Daryl was at the police station there. If they'd managed to send him downtown she knew she would never find him. Biting down on her lips she rested a hand against the knife that sat on her hip, the knife that he had given her. She couldn't think that way, she was going to find him and everything would be ok.
Not for the first time in the last few days, Beth sent up a silent prayer of thanks for all the struggle she'd had faced in her life. She was thirty one, not old by any means but also not a girl anymore. A younger version of herself would have most certainly cracked under the weight of her own fear doing something stupid like slitting her wrists for attention. Rubbing the inside of her right forearm, her fingers lingered there for a moment under the leather bracelets she always wore. It had been stupid…so, so stupid.
Beth sat in the bathroom alone, the sun dipping below the horizon. Jimmy had broken up with her. Told her that he wasn't going to wait around until she finished college. Told her that she'd find someone else and so would he. Just like that; their entire childhood and the last four years coming down to absolutely nothing.
She wouldn't go to college, that was it…she would stay home and go to community college. It didn't matter, she'd be a nurse either way. But no, her daddy wouldn't hear of it and told her that was she was being foolish. A silly little girl, chasing puppy love and casting her future aside. Beth sat on the edge of the tub, her face in her hands. Maggie was gone, graduated college and off in her own life. Shawn was living in Atlanta with his girlfriend. Her mama was sick, her MS forcing her to stay in bed with terrible fatigue for days at a time. And her daddy didn't care, stormed out of the house and told her he wouldn't hear of it. She was alone now, nobody had time for her and nobody wanted her.
Nobody would ever want her.
It was the fatalistic attitude for a girl who hadn't yet become a woman. A girl who didn't realize that this problem would be the least of her worries one day. Still, she was eighteen and this mattered to her. It mattered more than anything else. Beth had always struggled with some level of anxiety and depression, although when she was in high school, long before becoming a nurse, no one was willing to say those words. She was just "down in the dumps". She would "cheer up" soon. And she did…she always cheered up but that didn't mean that what she was feeling wasn't depression. That the lethargy and the inability to concentrate wasn't something more than just feeling blue. She needed to talk to someone but without anyone to acknowledge it, she flailed aimlessly through the highs and lows.
This was a low….an unbelievably dark and lonely low. And that was why the mirror hadn't been that hard to break. Really, she'd hardly felt a thing as the glass embedded itself in her knuckles. It actually felt good in a strange way; a physical pain to numb everything else. She honestly didn't remember dragging the shard of glass down her forearm. It didn't hurt, at least not like she thought it would, and she didn't know how long she sat there staring at the blood dripping onto the white tiled floor. Into crevices of the grout where it would stay forever; a constant reminder of how stupid and weak she could be.
She flexed her arm and that was when she saw her tendons gleaming like pearls in the late day sun. That was all it took for Beth to snap out of it and jump to her feet. Grabbing a washcloth from the rack she pressed it to her forearm as a sob rose in he throat. What had she done? What the fuck had she done ?
Beth ran from the bathroom, her frantic footsteps thundering down the wooden stairs. "Daddy ! Daddy !" He had left though, she saw him go, getting in his truck and saying he had more important things than listening to this childish nonsense. Her mama was upstairs in bed, in no condition to help her much less drive her to the hospital. Beth spun around in a circle, anxiety causing her heart to beat wildly in her chest. She'd just done something incredibly stupid and now she was alone.
Her wrist began to ache as the initial surge of adrenaline wore off. Running from the house her eyes landed on Otis down by the barn. Vision clouded by tears the only thing Beth remember from that moment on was laying against Otis's soft chest as he drove her to the hospital. His arm protectively around her shoulders she listened as his voice rumbled in his chest.
'It'll be alright honey…everything'll be alright.'
She was still a kid then. A stupid, reckless teenager; weak and petty and pretty much hopeless against anything stronger than a light breeze. If this had come any sooner in her life Beth wondered if she would have been able to even get out of bed. Adulthood had toughened her like it did to everyone, but the challenges she faces with her family and the farm had made her ready, if it was even possible for a person to be ready for something like this, which she doubted that it was. Still, adversity had made her resilient and ready to fight for herself and who she loved.
Coming up behind the buildings in downtown Senoia, Beth gently pulled back on the horse's reigns. The police station was near the edge of town and not knowing what she was about to find she stuck to the woods line. Somewhere in the distance gunshots echoed as Nelly twitched beneath her. For the sake of the horse, Beth forced herself to remain calm. If she wanted to get to Daryl and back to the farm she would need Nelly and the animal could read her like a book. If Beth became tense the horse was sure to follow.
She'd expected to find the town in the throes of chaos; people running here and there, loading up cars and boarding up businesses. But instead it was quiet, deserted, and eerily calm. Only a few days had passed since everything began careening out of control. Highways jammed, power down, and cable and internet long short circuited, but still she expected to find people here and there. It seemed, however, that everyone had packed their bags and headed for hills. Beth wasn't sure that was the answer but really she had no idea. The farm was in the country, but it wasn't totally isolated like the mountains of Georgia, maybe it was safer there…maybe that's where everyone went, maybe she should be headed there right now. Beth quickly sighed, the farm wasn't just her home it was her whole life, her family's whole life. Not to mention that her mama was practically bedridden and her daddy was clearly teetering on the edge. No… she didn't care if there was someplace safer, some place that everyone had gone. The farm was her home and she was going to defend it or die trying.
"Someone help ! Oh God…HELP ME !" Beth's jumped, distracted by her thoughts as her heels involuntarily dug into the horse's flanks. Nelly, reared back whining anxiously as it took everything Beth had to hold on. The screams were coming from around front, on the main street. For a moment Beth contemplated just turning and going the other direction. She wasn't here to help anyone, just to find Daryl and bring him home. That wasn't her, though, and every inch of her being felt like a piece of shit for even thinking it. Clicking her tongue gently she relaxed her heels and nudged Nelly toward the street. Beth was no fighter, she'd fought with patients who were out of their mind and delirious- trying to get out of bed or rip out all their lines. But that was different, it wasn't like this; fighting hand to hand for your life. Out of everyone she knew she was probably the least likely to actually be able to help this woman and not turn into a victim herself in the process. Maggie would be so much better than her; she was taller and stronger and has always been so much tougher. A slight smirk came to her face as she remembered the fist fights Shawn and Maggie used to get into, most of the time her sister winning.
Beth gasped softly as her eyes fell to a woman in the street. She was slight with pale, skinny arms and a shaved head. Even from a block away, Beth could see that she had a black eye. She was pinned against a red jeep, two of the dead coming at her. One she was fighting off, the other was desperately trying to crawl its way inside the car through a partially open rear hatch. Beth had the machete and the bat and nothing more; no gun, no bullets, and certainly no idea what she was doing. Inside the Jeep a small head of blonde hair poked up, screaming and pounding on the windows the little girl was hysterical with fear.
Any doubts that Beth might have had about intervening quickly dissipated. The horse was already galloping when she realized she'd made her decision. Taking the bat from the sheath she held it in her right hand and the reigns in the left. She didn't even know if this was going to work, didn't know what she was thinking in fact. All she knew was that she had to try. The closer she got the more battered and fucked up the woman looked. The corpse had all its weight pinning her against the car as its rotting teeth snapped just a few inches from her neck. The horse has broken out into a run as Beth squeezed her thighs to stay upright. Drawing back she kept her eye on one thing only.
'Gotta be the head….' Daryl's rough voice echoed in her mind as a lump of emotion rose up in her throat. She was going to find him and when she did she was going to tell him how she felt. She promised herself that right here and now. Beth wasn't going to let another day go by without telling Daryl that he was the most important person in her whole life.
'Eye on the ball sis…' Shawn's sweet face and Georgia drawl replaced Daryl as a memory of the two of them playing softball in the field popped in her mind. She was so awful, always swinging and missing, but he never lost faith in her- always patient and encouraging. 'Just keep your eye on the ball..'
The bat made solid contact, maybe a little too solid, as the sudden impact wrenched it from her grip. The corpse immediately collapsed as its head exploded with a wet thud. Beth, too slow to regrip the reigns, felt herself sliding sideways as Nelly thrashed with anxiety. She hit the ground with a hard thud and a gasp as searing pain radiated through her shoulder.
For a moment she was too stunned to move. Faintly she became aware of the sound of hoofbeats galloping away. The horse was gone, if she found Daryl she was going to need to think of another way to get him home. Shit. Rolling onto her side Beth held her shoulder tenderly as her eyes landed on the woman stunned and covered in rotting black blood. She sat trembling against the side of her car as the other corpse tried feverishly to get to the little girl. The bat was laying in the street but she still had the machete. Pushing herself up Beth hobbled toward the Jeep, she would need to get close for this one-like last night in the house. Casting a momentary glance toward the woman on the ground she felt sorry for the little girl, this lady needed to get her shit together. Her child was in danger and this woman was a quivering, pathetic mess.
Beth's own hand was shaking as she cocked the machete back before burying it in the freak's head. When the thrashing, hissing, and growling stopped she was just as surprised as anyone. She'd actually done it. The freak slid off the back of the Jeep collapsing at her feet inertly. The little girl inside the Jeep stared at her with red swollen eyes still whimpering for her mama.
"Oh my God ! Thank you ! Thank you !" The woman snapped out of whatever daze she was in as she scrambled to her feet.
The surge of adrenaline that had gotten Beth through the last two minutes wore off as she began to violently tremble all over. What had just happened ? What had she done ? Clenching every muscle in her body she fought the natural response although she couldn't keep her legs steady if she tried.
"Are you alright ?" Beth stared at her as she nodded her head automatically. Pushing the hair out of her face she reassured the woman she was fine.
"I'm fine…You should get out of here, though. More of those things are sure to come. They're attracted to noise…or at least it seems they are." She wasn't sure when she picked up on that, maybe it was when all hell was breaking loose out on the highway this morning.
"Oh…"The woman looked right to left, working her lower lip her face screwed up with confusion. "I was in Atlanta with my daughter when everything broke out…the highway was jammed so I got off hoping to find a back road to take me around it…" Straightening herself, Beth picked the bat up off the ground. "My husband, Ed, he's always preparing for this sort of thing. I never should have left in the first place.." Beth swallowed hard, what bad luck. Finally decide to leave your abusive husband and the zombie apocalypse breaks out. "You should come with us, you clearly know what you're doing. We have food…lots of food and ammunition, guns."
Beth shook her head… "No." Her tone left little room to argue and the woman took the hint rather quickly.
"You won't make it alone…" Beth met her eyes briefly before looking down.
"I'm not alone." They both fell quiet, the little girl whimpering and sweating against the heat of the locked car. "I live on a farm…not far from here. You could come with me. You would be safe there." She had no clue what made her extend the offer to a total stranger but in that moment she felt like it was the only right thing to do.
The woman appeared to consider the offer for a moment before shaking her head. "Thank you but I couldn't…I have to get home, back to my husband." She bit her lip. "He's going to be so angry with me." Beth studied her for a moment, before nodding slowly.
"There won't be anyone to help you…you'll be alone with him." The woman looked at Beth as the realization dawned on her. Quickly looking away she opened the driver's side door of the Jeep.
"Thank you but I need to go." The door slammed, the engine roared, and within a few seconds the woman and her little girl were gone. Beth stood on the street watching her go; a bat in one hand, machete in the other, and a spray of rotting blood across her face. Anxiety began to bubble inside her as her insides shook; the realization of her own situation fully dawning on her. She was alone, with no way home and no idea where Daryl even was. It was her first lesson….hard lesson…in the cost of helping a stranger in this new world.
Daryl's head was throbbing as he came to, the police station a hazy mixture of humidity and late afternoon sun. Something was digging into his back and it took him all of five seconds to realize that he was laying on his crossbow. He'd recognize that shape and those hard angles anywhere. Problem was he was behind him and not in front of him where he could actually use the damn thing. Daryl's chest was heavy and he could barely move, pinned to his crossbow and the ground by the weigh of two full grown corpses. Both of their heads were leaking rotting black blood all over him, and he wondered in that moment, how on earth he'd managed to kill them when the last thing he remembered was his head hitting off the edge of the desk.
Grunting, Daryl's arms shook as he tried to push the bodies off of him. He was dehydrated and weak, and had he not already been flattened to the ground he doubted that he would have the strength to even lift himself up. Feeling dizzy Daryl closed his eyes willing the room to stop spinning long enough for him to figure this out. Like the rest of his life, nobody was coming out of left field to save him. He had to do this on his own, he had to find a way to survive. Using all the strength he had Daryl managed to roll the two corpses on top of him off just enough to wiggle out from underneath them pulling his crossbow around to the front. Feeling a surge of relief shoot through him, his head spun and his legs shook as he fells backwards the world descending into blackness just as a hissing was at the door.
The police station was at the edge of town with a small lot in the front and an attached Magistrate's Office on the side. Beth had seen the inside of the police station once…only once…when she had to go down there to pick up Shawn's belongings; the ones he had on when he died. It wasn't much- a shattered iPhone, a pair of cracked ear buds, and a wallet flattened to hell. She slipped them in the top drawer of her dresser quietly. Her mama and daddy had been through enough.
Licking her lips, Beth recalled that the whole station was one big room, two desks to the right just inside the door, a desk in the back, and a holding cell dead smack in the middle. She hoped that Daryl was here, that she wouldn't have to look any further, and that they could go home and forget that this fucked up world even existed. Crouching down behind a car Beth studied the building for a moment before she approached. There didn't seem to be any signs of life and the police station looked just as abandoned as everything else in town. Squinting her eyes, she noticed that the door was wide open. If any place in town were to be secure she would assume the police station a sure bet. Instead it looked like one of the first places to be breached.
Beth had no idea what she was doing. No idea if this was the right way to go about it or if she was putting both her own life and Daryl's at risk. One of the dead shambled around the corner of the station clearly attracted to the inside. Beth watched it from behind the car, the place was quiet and yet it wanted to go in there for some reason. Maybe someone was in there, someone alive, and that thing could sense it. But how? Beth readjusted herself as she tightened her grip on the bat. What if someone was alive in there and what if that someone was Daryl ?
She crossed the street quickly and quietly, remembering the way Daryl had taught her to walk in the woods. Light on her feet and quick she pressed herself against the brick facade of the police station. A few feet inside the door she could hear the dead hissing and moaning, getting louder by the second. Her heart was pounding as she swept inside the door, bat high and ready for whatever she might find.
Daryl felt something heavy land on top of him, the crossbow pressing into his chest. Blinking his eyes he forced them open. Rotting, snapping teeth right in his face sent a jolt of lightning through him as he gasped. Pushing the bow up he held it between the dead and himself. The only thing separating them was the metal frame of the Horton and the last ounce of strength he had left to his name. Kicking his legs weakly, Daryl's arms shook as he pressed up.
The first thing Beth noticed was the sound of hissing and growling, one of the dead locked onto its next meal. The next thing she heard was grunting, struggling, and a desperate whimpering that was entirely human….and entirely familiar.
Daryl didn't know how much longer he could hold this thing off. Normally he would have tossed the freak to his side, scrambled to his feet, and put a bolt right through its head. But he was just so damn weak and he had no idea why. He'd been lost out in the woods as a kid in the Georgia heat going a few days without a proper meal. Of course he'd had water, always water. He didn't care if he had to suck the dew off a leaf he always kept himself hydrated. One of the few useful lessons Merle had imparted on him from his time in the military.
'Can't go without water little brother…no siree…seen a man damn near lose his mind once. Drank his own piss he was so desperate for a drink.'
Daryl hadn't had a a drop of water in the last day, and if he thought about it very little before then too. He was so damn busy building that fence, looking after Annette, and making sure that Beth was safe he'd forgotten about himself. If Merle saw him he'd probably laugh, boy lost his goddamn mind over the first piece of ass he seen. Wasn't like that though, wasn't like that at all. He cared about Beth so much that even if he died right now because of her, he would be alright with it. If he was being completely honest with himself right now, he loved her and he would do anything to see her just one more time to tell her just that.
That was why when she appeared standing above him, covered in blood and looking like a badass action movie heroine he thought he was hallucinating. Or maybe he was dead already because this couldn't be happening. She couldn't be here in the exact moment when he wanted….needed…her the most.
Beth audibly gasped as she laid eyes on Daryl struggling for his life under a full grown corpse. Even in the dark, hazy light she could see how pale he looked with dark circles under both eyes. Clenching every muscle in her body, she brought the machete up and with all the strength she had buried it in the back of the dead's rotting skull. The growling and hissing immediately stopped, the only sound left their shared heavy breathing. Beth, so overcome that she had found Daryl and that he was still alive, leaned against the desk, her back to the door. She couldn't stop herself from trembling as tears came to her eyes. It was another hard lesson that she would need to learn. Letting our guard down before the buzzer went off. As long as she was out here, in this newly broken world, she would need to stay on the ball. Emotion had no place out here and giving into it could easily get you killed. Beth didn't hear the shuffling feet, all she could hear was her own gasping sobs of relief.
Every inch of his body ached and spasmed, his head spinned and his vision blurred. He heard the rushing of blood in his ears, Beth's quiet sobbing, and something else. Forcing his eyes open Daryl saw the shadow come through the door, the smell of rotting death not far behind. He hated himself in that moment. So pathetic and weak sprawled out on the ground, helpless to do a fucking thing about any of it. From the deepest part of his being he summon every last ounce of strength he had left. Pushing up to his feet he swayed precariously bringing the crossbow up and level before pulling the trigger, saying a silent prayer of thanks that an arrow was nocked and ready. God knows he wouldn't have had the strength to do it otherwise.
Beth gasped seeing Daryl rise up like Lazarus. The arrow loose and whizzing past her ear before she even knew a flesh hungry freak was right behind her mouth agape and ready to sink into the back of her neck. She screamed, she didn't mean to or want to but she did. A loud, high pitched welp that felt like it could have been heard for miles. The corpse collapsed backwards the arrow buried right between its eyes. Dropping the bat her attention immediately turned back to Daryl who stumbled backwards into the wall. He inhaled sharply pinching his eyes shut and opening them again.
"Beth….you came…" It was halting and broken and higher pitched than anything else she ever heard him say. And it broke her heart into a million pieces, shattered it right there on the floor. Of course she came, did he think that she was just going to abandon him ? The way he slid to the floor, crumpling in on himself, it snapped her out of the daze she was in as she ran to him. Putting her hands under his arms she eased him down so that he wouldn't fall hard against the filing cabinet. Their faces mere inches from each other his eyes closed as his chest heaved. He had nothing left…absolutely not a single thing.
"Of course I came…" Her voice broke as tears rolled down her face. After everything it couldn't end like this. Daryl didn't have the strength to open his eyes anymore but in her lap his hand found hers and he squeezed. A warmth bloomed in Beth's chest as her lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. Exhaling a shaky breath she leaned forward resting her forehead against his. They were ok…they were going to get out of this and back to the safety of the farm. They stayed that way for a moment just breathing, hands clamped together so hard it hurt. "Daryl…we need to get out of here, can you walk?" There was no response other than the abject silence of being completely alone. Pulling her face back, Beth looked at him. "Daryl ?"
Beth groaned as she used all her strength to tug on his ankles. She was soaked in sweat, down to nothing but her thin black tank top which now clung to her body. Before she could even attempt to drag Daryl out from behind the desk, she had to move the bodies of two corpse out of the way. Inch by inch she cleared and path and now she had Daryl partially moved. Where she was going to put him and how they were getting home were two other matters entirely. Neither squad car in the lot was open and she couldn't find a set of keys anywhere. If she had any sense in her, she would have moved Daryl into the cell for safekeeping while she figured out a way home. But she wasn't savvy to this world yet and the only thing she could think about was getting the fuck out of there.
"Uh…come on…come on.." She used every last ounces of strength moving him maybe a foot. Losing her grip, Beth fell backwards onto her ass hitting the cement floor with a groan. The smell of death made her gag and not for the first time today she thanked God that her stomach was empty. Wiping the sweat from her brow she pushed herself back up wiping her hands on the front of her jeans. Latching onto Daryl's boot she tugged as hard as she could dragging him across the threshold and out the door. Beth had already made a neat pile of Daryl's crossbow, the bat, machete, and two handguns that she found on the sidewalk just outside the door. She knew how her daddy felt about guns, but this was different. The world had changed and they needed to defend the farm by all means necessary. He could hem and haw all he wanted, it wasn't optional anymore.
A growling and a hissing that started off far away, like a whisper, and then began to get louder. Beth had been so mentally and physically entrenched in the task of getting Daryl out of the police station that she hadn't noticed much else. Stepping back and craning her neck she saw one of the dead and then another and another until the entire street was full of them, coming from the highway to the west. Beth's eyes widened as her heart dropped into her stomach. They had to find a way out of here…now. In what would amount to a blind panic she took the bat and smashed the driver's side window of the patrol car. It shattered, raining tiny pieces of glass all over her feet. Yanking the door open she didn't give it a second thought as she flung herself inside the car pawing the visors, console, and glove compartment. No keys. Desperately Beth dropped to her knees, shards of glass digging through the material of her jeans as she yanked the wires out from under the dash. She'd only ever seen a car hot-wired in the movies and really had no idea what she was doing. Still…a whole herd of those things were closing in and she had to at least try. Taking the knife from her belt she scraped the coating off the wires crossing the bare ends one by one.
Nothing….nothing….and nothing.
Even if she managed to get the car started there was also the matter of getting Daryl inside it. Dragging him from behind the desk out the door had taken the better part of an hour and nearly all her strength. Now a whole herd was bearing down on them and she had nearly twice as far to go. Beth's hand shook as she crossed wired after wire with nothing. There were three bundles of wires and she had no idea if this was even the right bundle to start the car. Shit. Maybe she should drag Daryl back inside, lock the door and barricade the cell until this passed. Casting a glance toward Daryl she saw that he his breathing was steady and even. She'd been checking him every few minutes and nothing had changed, he was just completely unconscious- most likely from dehydration or even heat stroke. Biting down on her lip, Beth ripped the next bundle of wires stripping them and cutting herself in the process. Blood running down her hand she began crossing wire after wire with nothing. Fuck, maybe the car was dead and this was all an act of futility.
She felt tears sting her eyes. The hissing and moaning getting closer and closer. She wouldn't leave him, no way, even if it meant she too would get ripped to shreds. Then, just as she was about to give up all hope the squealing of tires and revving of a familiar engine caught her attention. Around the corner a familiar blue pick up kicked up dust as it swerved onto the shoulder of the road, around the two corpses she'd killed earlier and straight for her. Hershel wheeled the truck onto the sidewalk in front of the police station coming to a screeching halt.
Beth's heart could have jumped out of her chest. After all the times he'd let her down in the past year here he was just in the nick of time. "BETH !" Scrambling to her feet she began throwing the weapons into the bed of the truck as Hershel around dropping the tailgate.
"HE'S STILL ALIVE…JUST UNCONSCIOUS." Hershel nodding quickly knowing exactly what they had to do with a whole herd inching closer. Grabbing Daryl underneath the arms he took the heavier part as Beth lifted his legs and lower body. It was so much easier moving him with too people and they quickly got him to the truck, Hershel sliding this upper body in and Beth hopping up into the bed to hold his head up and her dad shoved him the rest of the way and locked the gate. One of the dead stumbled toward Hershel and without thinking Beth picked up one of the guns and shot. It was stupid beyond stupid; she'd not fired a weapon in quite some time but as she brought the sights up she locked in on the rotting skull and nothing else, the entire world falling away for just a moment. The corpse dropped and Hershel paused for a moment staring at his daughter not with anger for killing a 'sick person' but with an undeniable sense of relief. "We have to GO !" Hershel nodded as he jumped into the driver seat and pulling a fast turn gunned the engines back toward the farm.
In the back Beth all but collapsed next to Daryl. Taking his hand she leaned over, whispering in his ear. "It's ok. We're gonna be ok."
The house was quiet as Beth stepped in the front door and shut it behind her. She wore a cotton t-shirt and shorts, flip flops on her feet, and her hair still dripping wet. After getting back to the farm and unloading Daryl her and her daddy placed him in his bed in Otis's old room just off of the kitchen. Laying him gently on the sheets, Beth knew that he needed more than just rest. Thankfully, she knew exactly what to do and how to do it. And because of her mama she had a decent amount of supplies on hand to get the job done. Her daddy was sitting at the table with a glass of water between his hands. When he saw her he looked up and offered her a nod.
"I checked on him about ten minutes ago, no change." Beth's nodding biting down on her lower lip. She felt bad about judging her daddy earlier today, maybe it wouldn't be like that…maybe he would be the man she remembered. "I also checked on your mama, she's clean and dry…worried sick about you." Beth opened her mouth but Hershel cut her off. "I told her you're just fine. Taking care of everything as usual." Their eyes met as something akin to pride flashed across his face. Beth swallowed hard, she didn't know what was happening right now but she was grateful as all hell that her daddy had pulled it together at least for the time being. "I'll see to her, you take care of Daryl." He studied her in the way that only a father could study his daughter. "He must mean an awful lot to you…"
Beth had no problem meeting his gaze as she nodded seriously. "Just about everything…" Hershel had guessed as much when she rode off like a wild woman to find him. He had his doubts that the young man was anything more than a drifter looking for warm bed and a meal, but then he saw the fences and the house and he knew that Beth couldn't have done all that alone. Running the farm was one thing, doing all this was something else entirely and he knew that while he was in his self induced alcohol haze that his daughter and the farm hard must have gotten awfully close. So close he worked himself silly keeping her, Annette, and this house safe for whatever was about to come. Hershel didn't know much about Daryl but he had to respect that.
Getting a glass of water, Beth walked past her daddy stopping at the top of the stairs to Daryl's room. "Daddy…how did you know something was wrong?"
Hershel took a deep breath. "Your mama told me what happened with Jimmy and Daryl. So I knew you'd gone to the Police Station looking for him…" He turned shaking his head. "And when Nelly charged through the pasture jumping the fence and damn near walking right into the house I knew something was wrong. That you needed help." Beth let out a small gasp. Nelly again saving the day when all hell broke loose. Nodding slowly she turned and descended the stairs closing the door quietly behind her.
The room was dark and without any power it would stay that way unless she opened the curtains. Cracking one just a bit, the orange light of the setting sun illuminated the room in a soft glow. Daryl's breathing was even and unlabored but she wasn't fooled into thinking that everything was alright. His lip were cracked and dry and his legs trembled every so slightly. Dehydration, extreme dehydration, she'd seen it before. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Beth ran her hand up his arm. His skin was so dry and hot, she need to cool him down and get him rehydrated. Daryl was very private when it came to his body and remembering the way Merle's back had looked she knew why. One glimpse of his own scarred and pock marked back had nearly sent him into a panic attack. Still this was necessary, not to mention that she needed to check him for wounds, bites, and scratches.
Gently, carefully she undid the buttons on his shirt working his arms through the tattered holes. Next came his boots and his pants, they were somewhat harder but Beth had experience so it wasn't entirely foreign. She stopped at his underwear, seeing no need to remove them and embarrass him like that. Even unconscious she was sure that Daryl would somehow be mortified if she saw him completely naked. Not that she hadn't already, but that was different and he had no idea…never would. He was completely helpless here and she would not totally destroy his dignity.
Now stripped down to his underwear, she uncovered him completely so that she could take a look at him. Other than the abrasions on his knuckles and the cut across his forehead he had no marks on him at all which was a huge relief. In a small crate she kept a collection of medical supplies. First she took a small battery operated thermometer and slipped it under his arm. Waiting for a few moments until she heard the beep, Beth went and collected the device confirming her suspicions. A temp of 101, not awful but certainly well past heat exhaustion and nearing heat stroke. Taking a small basin she filled it with cool water and set it on the night stand. Sitting down on the bed next to him she wrung the cloth out and gently ran it over his face and down his chest. For his part, Daryl involuntarily trembled at the chill.
"It's alright…we need to get your temperature down." Rewetting the cloth she worked her way down his body over his hard abdomen and muscled thighs. If the situation wasn't so damn dire, she would be incredibly turned on right now. But this wasn't that and he was completely helpless right now depending on her to keep him alive. Wiping down both legs she noted the way his calfs were trembling and spasming.
Going back to the crate she gathered her supplies to start an IV and without much ado was able to insert it ins left arm using a generous amount of tape to secure it in place. This was't a hospital and they surely didn't have an IV pole so she made do with a coat hanger and a nail pounded just above the bed. Beth bit her lip as she looked at his motionless frame. If she had something to say to him this was as good a time as any.
Rewetting the wash cloth she started with his face again and began work her way downward. "There was something about you….that first night I saw you sitting in your brothers room. Something so raw and yet so vulnerable." Holding his hand in her own she carefully cleaned the wounds on his knuckles, the dirt between his fingers, and underneath his nails. "You don't know this but I saw you after, sitting out in your truck. You were crying…so sad that the only blood you had left in his world was all but gone. I wanted to come over there and sit with you…tell you everything would be ok…" She laughed a little to herself. "Hug you even thought you would have told me to get the hell away."
She again went to his legs, still shaking she ran her hands up and down them massaging the trembling muscles. "Shhh….it's alright. Try to relax, Daryl. I'm here…" Putting a heavy hand on his thigh she held it steady as she rubbed long soothing strokes over his knee and down his calf. "You know I never thought would actually show up at the farm…I hoped you would but I just didn't think you would take me up on it." Her face broke out into a smile. "And then you came and you were such a hard worker and a good worker…but you also became such a good friend." Beth shook her head a wistful expression crossing her face. "And one day I woke up and realized that I couldn't live without you anymore. That seeing you everyday was what kept me going." Moving to the other leg she did the same holding his thigh steady as she stroked long soothing motions down his calf. "Shhhh…" it was quieter this time, meant to soothe him just as much as her ministrations on his legs.
Beth needed to check his back for any injuries and she knew what she would find there would probably break her heart but she had to do it anyway. Putting a pillow on his right side she walked around the bed to the left and using her strength pushed him onto his side, the pillow supporting him and keeping him from falling off the bed. A quiet gasp escaped her lips as she laid eyes on the part of himself he kept totally hidden. Scars, some deep some shallow all crisscrossing one another…all undoubtedly made by a belt. Cigarette burns and pock marks from skin that had puckered and healed around something terrible. Her hand trembled slightly as she ghosted her fingers over the deepest, longest scar on his back. Tears began to fall down her cheeks as she took the washcloth and ran it over his back slowly and carefully. She noticed he winced and pulled away and she wondered if the skin there was more sensitive. She knew on her wrist sometimes it itched and burned for no reasons at all. Just an unwanted reminder of something she'd rather forget. Beth patted him dentist with the towel as she stepped from the room running up the stairs and into her bedroom grabbing a jar of something from her dresser. Taking the stairs two at a time she hurried back relieved that Daryl was just the way she left him. Dipping her fingers into the coco butter she smoothed it onto his back, his skin twitching at the contact. Beth took her time rubbing each scar with the tips of her fingers giving it the care that it deserved. When she was done, she rubbed his shoulders massaging the tension there. "I wish you would let me do this for you when you wake up. You deserve it, Daryl, someone to take care of you for a change." Wiping her hands off in a towel she ran her fingers through his hair checking his scalp for lumps or bumps and satisfied when she found none.
Easing him onto his back again she dried him off and knowing that Daryl would be mortified to wake and find himself naked she went to the dresser and selected a clean t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Thankfully she'd also dressed an unconscious bed bound person before; countless patients in fact, all headed to the nursing home to live out their days confined to a mattress. The shorts were no trouble but the shirt was a little different and it required some maneuvering and another roll. The IV bag finished and she hung another slipping the thermometer back under his arm. 99.5, her treatments had worked. Satisfied she emptied the basin and cleaned up all her equipment. It was almost dark now as she lit a candle on the dresser casting a flickering haze. Beth had every intention of leaving him and going into the other room, coming back to check the IV bag in a little while. But she was so tired and so much and happened today. Sitting down on the edge of the bed she held her breath as she stretched out next to Daryl resting her head on the pillow beside him. Arm resting on his chest she closed her eyes.
"You have to be ok….because I love you, Daryl."
TBC….
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