A/N Thank you all so much. Whaddya say we drink a little moonshine.
Shine
There are no tin cups for these beverages. He hands her a Mason jar nearly half filled with moonshine. She thinks that seems like a lot, but then watches him pour his own glass a little fuller.
Back when Daryl furnished the small cabin it never occurred to him he might need more than one easy chair, but now that she's here, yeah, hmm, he suggests, "How 'bout I help ya over ta the bed so I can sit in my chair."
"Oh, yeah, sure."
Once they're situated, he takes a swallow from the jar and Beth takes a small sip from hers and smiles, "It doesn't taste quite as terrible as I thought it would be."
He almost smiles himself, "Yeah, well, ya gotta be careful. This shit starts goin' down real easy after the first sip or two. And ya need water, lemme get ya water." He gets up again, pours a cup of water, scoots the small end table close to her and sets the cup down, "You'll be glad ya drank this."
She takes another small sip of the liquor, and agrees, "You were right Daryl, the second sip is better."
He scoffs, sits back in his chair and has another swallow from the jar, then puts the question to her, "So just who the hell are ya Beth Greene? Where'd ya come from and how'd ya end up on this mountain?"
Before responding she takes a deep breath and another small sip, "Okay, that's a lot, but here goes. I left the family farm for college as soon as I graduated from high school…"
He interrupts with, "I shoulda known you're one a them college girls."
She shrugs, "What? Do you have something against college for gosh sakes?" She doesn't wait for his answer, "For your information, I got my bachelor of science in nursing and I'm a licensed RN."
"Well okay then, and pardon the fuck outta me."
Even though she kind of wants to laugh, she sounds a little stern when she replies, "It's not always easy to pardon you Daryl, but I will. Anyway, I went right to work as a nurse at a hospital in Atlanta."
"I was really hoping to move up to Rosewood and work at the regional hospital, so I just kept my resume updated and I'd call the lady in HR every couple of months and remind her I was available. It was just about 9 months ago one of the nurses at Rosewood retired. I interviewed and got the job." Another sip, and she adds, "A friend of mine helped me move and everything was going great until this new disease seemed to take over the world."
"Yeah? What new disease is that?
She's noticed how his narrowed eyes never leave her as she speaks. She'd be flattered by that if she didn't think that for some reason he doubts her honesty. Well if he does, that's his problem, she goes on with her story, "That's just it Daryl. It's some kind of mystery illness that no one knows how to treat. It's never been seen before, there's no vaccine, no one really knows what to do except to try and keep the patients comfortable, and people are dying all over the place. I mean it's bad, so many have died." She shakes her head, takes another sip and says, "The crazy thing is, when people die they don't stay dead. They come back to life, but they're gross versions of themselves. They growl and their eyes are all glazed over and creepy looking, and all they seem to want to do is eat anything that's still living."
Shit, maybe he shouldn't have let her drink, "What the fuck are you talkin' about girl? You better slow down on the shine."
"No, really Daryl. I know it sounds crazy and I wouldn't believe it either, but I swear, it's true and it's the scariest thing I've ever seen." Then she starts at the beginning and tells him the whole story, starting with the elderly couple who were first thought to have the flu.
His eyes are riveted on her as he listens to everything she says, while wondering if maybe she takes hallucinogens or some other mind-altering drugs. Then again, he remembers when he saw that chupacabra a few years ago and made the mistake of telling Merle, shit, he never has heard the end of that.
"So anyway, after weeks of dealing with all that and working so many hours at the hospital and seeing such terrible things, well I probably lost my good sense. I mean, I hike on the mountain a little, you know, a day walk for a couple of hours on a Sunday or something. I bring a picnic lunch, and then go home, but that day, it was different. It was like I was just walking and not really thinking or even paying attention to where I was going. I guess I was just trying to mentally escape from everything." She shrugs, "Honestly, I think that was my plan, to just not think, and boy, I didn't. I know it sounds stupid now Daryl, but I just wanted to be out in the peace and beauty and forget everything else."
"No, yeah, I get that part."
"It was a lot of fun at first…" She tells him about following the bunny and giving her lunch to a squirrel, and he does his best to fight a smile. Yeah, from what he knows about her, he can picture her doing those things.
She goes on to tell him how she spotted what she was sure was a big mountain lake in the distance, and she just kept walking and walking for what seemed like forever, but she never got any closer to it. Then she told him of the excruciating pain when she stepped in the leg-hold trap.
"At first I just cried and I tried so hard to get out of the darn thing, but I couldn't make it spring back open."
"Nah, no way ya could have, shit, I had ta work on it and could still barely spring it."
"I even tried pulling the stake out of the ground. I imagined I could hobble back down the mountain dragging the whole thing with me."
"Yeah, that mighta worked except that stake ain't goin' nowhere unless someone digs it outta the ground."
She tells him how she was going to ration her food and water in hopes she could survive until someone came along, but then the raccoons stole everything. He nods, "Yeah, them little bastards are even better thieves than Merle."
That makes her smile, this brother of his must be something else, and although he sounds a little dangerous, she'd kind of like to meet him.
Then her story gets dark, "At first, I prayed to God that someone would come along and I'd be all right, but after a couple of days I was so weak and so thirsty and my prayers changed. I begged God to just take me, and to please make it fast. I swear Daryl, I was wishing I had a gun so I could just put myself out of my misery."
Her words disturb him, shit, it hurts to think how bad it must have been for her. So bad she wanted to do herself in.
She goes from completely serious, to smiling, "Then I felt the hot breath in my face and the tongue licking my cheek, and there was my savior, Jack, and you of course."
"Yeah, well, it was all him. That was the first time Jack ever disobeyed me. He started running off, I told him get back, he looked at me like, 'I can't do it man' and he just kept goin'. I followed him and that's when I saw it was you. Well I didn't know it was you, but I knew he found someone."
"I'm so grateful Daryl, of course to Jack, but also to you. I know house guests are probably not your cup of tea, you wouldn't live all the way up here by yourself if they were. And you've had to take care for me, you gave up your bed, and dealt with the absolute fiasco it is every time I have to use the bathroom. Then the shower, oh my gosh, that was so kind and so amazing. All of it is way more than I have any right to expect, and I will always be grateful."
She can see him actually start to squirm with discomfort, "Yeah, well you're here now and we'll get ya a little bit stronger, and able ta walk a little, then I'll be taking ya home. I know that'll make ya happy."
Beth makes a big admission then, "Yes, well you're right, I will be glad to get home, but I do love this place Daryl. It's amazing what you've built here, and I admire your determination to be 100% self-sufficient. I know it hasn't been easy."
Now he's even more uncomfortable and he changes the focus of the conversation completely, "So tell me more about these dead people walkin' around."
"It all just seemed to happen so quickly, once the first two people died it was like suddenly this sickness just exploded. It moved so fast through the population, not just people around here, the whole world. People died, but then a while later, like maybe it could be two minutes or 10 minutes, their eyes fly open and they just…well they reach out their arms and start clawing toward whatever warm-blooded thing is anywhere near them so…so they can, well, they eat people, pets and stuff too. Our first patient who died bit his own daughter and she ended up dying a couple of days later, and then she turned into one of those things too."
"Can't the cops or the army or somebody just shoot em all?"
"We've waited for help to arrive, but the government won't even share what they know or give us any answers, much less actually show up to help. We had to learn on our own that the only way you can kill them is if you shoot or stab them right in the brain. One of our hospital orderlies was the one to figure it out. He stabbed that first man a bunch of times and it didn't even slow him down, but when he stabbed into his brain he died instantly, for the second time. For good."
He's still not sure if any of this shit really happened, or if she had some kind of mental breakdown, but he's going along for now, "So the government's not sayin' anything about any a this?"
"Oh my God Daryl, the army dropped Napalm on Atlanta."
"The fuck you say."
"I'm not kidding. They said it was only aimed at killing the…the…walking dead I guess you'd call them, but you know there were living people still in the city too."
"Shit, so are these dead people walkin' around everywhere?"
"It seems like it, and there are more and more of them every single day. At first I'd see one or two on the street, but within days one or two of them suddenly became dozens. I was zigging and zagging all over the place to avoid them when I rode my bike to the trailhead."
"Your bike?"
"Well yes, my bicycle. I didn't want to take my car and waste gas. Gas is in very short supply, everyone is hoarding it, stealing it, they're just desperate to fill their tanks so they can leave town. Food too, everyone is looking for food. The grocery stores are empty. Believe me Daryl, you're living like a king up here with your fresh meat and delicious canned vegetables and fruit."
She takes another sip of the moonshine and tells him about her trip to the grocery and Target when it all first started. Admitting to the case of ramen, all the granola and energy bars, and even the peanut butter. She doesn't bother to mention the toilet paper and tampons.
It is a lot and Daryl's having trouble digesting it all, "So, I mean, I don't get it. What are people doin' about all this? What's the point of just leaving town?"
She shrugs, "It's weird because the sickness and the walking dead are everywhere. The last time I was able to get any news on the radio, TV went out a while back, they said it's in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, everywhere. What I heard from another nurse is, most of the living think they'll be safer if they leave the towns and cities and set up camps of healthy people in the country, but those dead things are everywhere so what difference would it make?"
She lowers her voice when she speaks again, like she thinks someone might be listening in on their conversation, "What I really think has people scared is, everyone is pretty convinced that if the government would napalm a city like Atlanta, they won't stop there. No city or town is safe." Then she sounds downright conspiratorial as her voice drops to almost a whisper, "A lot of people even think the government might have had something to do with the sickness, you know, like they were conducting some crazy experiment that backfired."
She's really got him thinking now. Fuck, what about Merle? What the fuck is happening at the prison in Chester? Could this disease thing be in the prison? Shit, his only comforting thought is he knows his brother. The guy is as tough as nails, shit, tougher, and Daryl's sure if anyone can survive some weird ass shit like this, it's Merle. In fact, he's been convinced for years, the only thing that can kill Merle, is Merle. Still, he'll go after his brother if everything she says is true. As soon as he gets her home.
There's something else he's worried about though. If what she says is true, how long will it be before someone shows up here. He's got to make sure when they do, they can't get anywhere near his place or him and Jack.
He takes another long hard look at this woman, wondering if she's for real, or just plain crazy. He wishes he didn't think it, but yeah, she could be telling the truth. She looks like she's completely worn out too, and more than a little buzzed. They can talk more tomorrow. So, he offers, "Why don't I take ya to the bathroom, then we can hit the sack. I got a big day of butchering and canning tomorrow."
"You're right and I'm exhausted, but gosh, this moonshine did make the pain go away, and I kind of liked how it made me feel."
He nods, "Yeah, that's why ya gotta be careful with it, it's easy ta get hooked." She expects him to help her walk there on her own, like he's done before, but no, he lifts her in his arms and says, "C'mon now."
She's had a little too much to drink and the words come out with a smile, "I love it when you hold me this way Daryl. It's very comforting and sexy at the same time." His only response is a grunt, and she realizes, uh oh, she's embarrassed him again. Well too bad, it's the truth.
Shit, why the fuck did she have to say that? He's been trying so fucking hard not to think of her that way. Not to have those thoughts about her and the ways he'd like to hold her, and the things he'd like to do with her. Shit, now he'll be thinking about that stuff all night.
He's up early, so Jack's up early too. He whispers to the dog, "C'mon, we'll let your lady friend sleep while we go outside and make a fire."
Daryl grabs his coat hanging by the door, but that's not all. He gets his notebook and pen from the kitchen drawer. He needs to make some notes.
There are still some warm coals and embers in the fire, and once he adds more logs it gets going good. Thank God, because man, there's a helluva chill in the air. He grabs the lantern and lights it, setting it close to the big round tree stump he calls his chair, then gets the coffee going and some water boiling for grits, and when he sits himself down Jack lays right in front of him.
As the fire warms them, Daryl begins to look through the book, all of it. He refreshes himself about all the things that Erma told him, and that he so carefully wrote down. There are several pages of notes and suggestions from Dale too, and plenty of Daryl's own notes and drawings.
He takes a good long look around as he considers all the things he planned to do with this place. He also thinks about a few extra things he'd like to do. There's more though, if everything Beth says is true, he'll also have to fortify the property against those dead things, or more likely, the ones still living. So, now that's in his head and he starts trying to figure just how he'd go about doing that. How can he keep it safe from those walking dead things and the bad actors. Something like what she's talking about would have every asshole in the world acting up.
Getting supplies up here to do all those things he still needs to do, plus the things he wants to do, isn't going to be easy. Especially if it really is like she says it is. If gas is hard to come by and there's no food on the shelves, then people are going to start looking to steal what they can from private homes and places like restaurants, school cafeterias, nursing homes, anywhere that keeps a kitchen stocked with canned and packaged goods.
He's got a few ideas about where he can get some of the things he'll need, but he won't be stealing from the people, breaking in homes or anything, unless maybe they've already split and headed to one of these camps she talked about. Then he'll take all he can get. The question is, how will he transport it all?
Then it dawns on him, he knows exactly where he can get his hands on a big ass commercial flatbed truck. He could haul a lot of shit with one of those, and that construction outfit he worked for had a couple of them. Shit though, how's he going to drive two vehicles?
Fuck, and the biggest question of all is, what the hell is he going to do about her? He can't just leave her at her place surrounded by walking dead people looking for something to eat, or living people who have gone nuts and would probably hurt her. Shit. Looks like he's going to have to bite the bullet and take her to that farm where she grew up. That's probably as safe a place as any. Hopefully it's not too far.
That's when he hears a sweet voice call, "Daryl?" And Jack's on his feet heading to her as Daryl quickly gets to his feet and looks back toward the cabin. She's standing in the doorway with a heavy wool blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a smile on her face, "Good morning you two," and she bends to rub Jack's head.
Daryl's there in just a few seconds, "Whaddya doin', shit, your ankle must be better, huh?"
"Yes, so much. It still feels tender and like I don't want to put all my weight on it, but I think I'm so much better." Then she smiles and shakes her head, "Except for the fact I really need to use the bathroom."
His laugh totally escapes him, she's funny, he offers, "Ya need help?"
"How about you walk next to me and I hold your arm to steady myself. Let's see if that works."
He grabs her shoes promising, "I'll fix this one as best I can," and helps her slip them on.
"Sounds good." She raps her arm through the crook of his elbow, and Jack, of course, is right there with them. They're only walking the few feet around the side of the house to the bathroom, and Daryl mutters, "I gotta get that access door from the house built quick, before winter really gets goin'. Shit, it's cold out here."
He takes her only as far as the door, "Ya sure ya got this?"
"Yes, I'll call out if I need help. Then I want to sit by that warm fire, burr!"
He smiles again, "Yeah, okay." Shit, what's she doing to him.
It doesn't take her long and when she opens the door he hurries in and grabs the chair that's still sitting in the shower, telling her, "You're gonna need a seat."
He starts to pour himself a mug of coffee and remembers his manners, "Ya want a cup?"
"I'm not sure I'm tough enough to drink camp coffee without milk."
"I got milk right here. It's dry but I mixed it up good, and it ain't bad for coffee or for making gravy."
"Great, in that case I'd love a cup." When he hands her the mug she questions, "So you know how to make gravy?"
"Had ta learn. When Erma taught me how ta chicken fry a deer steak I had ta learn ta make mashed potatoes and gravy ta go with it. I'm not mad about that either. Every time I eat a big plate of potatoes and gravy I look up and say, 'Thanks for dinner Miz Erma.'"
"Ah, I love that, and I'm sure she does too."
He's a little uncomfortable again, "Okay, I got water here for grits, lemme get 'em goin' so we can eat, then I gotta get busy."
"I'd like to help."
"You know how to butcher a deer?"
"Not really, I could maybe figure it out, but I was thinking more about getting a big pot of stew going with some of the meat, we could keep some out for dinner tonight and can the rest."
"Sounds good, but that's a lotta standing on your feet."
"Maybe there's a stool I can sit on when I cut the meat and vegetables?"
"Yeah, yeah there is. First though, you better get dressed. It ain't much warmer in there than it is out here, but I'll get a fire goin' while you're doin' what ya gotta do."
She's ready and waiting when he comes back for her, and this time he holds an elbow out for her to take, like an old time gentleman, and says, "C'mon, and try not ta be disappointed."
She smiles and says, "I'm looking forward to seeing this outdoor kitchen where you do your butchering and canning."
"Other stuff too. I had my first shot at makin' candles a month or so ago, and I even made some soap. I ain't used it yet, I'ma use up what I already had first, ya know, the store bought stuff."
"Holy cow Daryl, you really are taking this self-sufficiency all the way to the max, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I am." And if the world really is what she says it is, that might be a damn good thing.
The outdoor kitchen is not nearly as fancy as it sounds. It's an outbuilding that's really quite empty, except for the deer hanging in the back corner, a big stone fireplace with a nice fire going, and a huge wood table. There's a make shift cabinet constructed of a series of wooden boxes that holds the candles and soaps he made, and near the fireplace there are lots of knives, cleavers, cast iron pots and frying pans of varying sizes. On the opposite wall are stacked boxes and boxes of canning jars. He seems apologetic, "I ain't had time ta get this place fixed up yet. Been busy with all the other."
"Oh no, don't apologize, this is great. Perfect for what we're going to do. My gosh, you sure are prepared with canning jars, you must have cleaned out every store from here to Atlanta."
He scoffs, "Nah, that wasn't me, well I mean I bought some, but my grandpa and my old man were moonshiners. Them jars are the tools of the trade. I did buy up a lotta lids and rings though. I know ya need ta trade those out."
"Wow, well I'm impressed."
"Yeah, we ain't ever gonna run outta them, are we?" Wait, we?
He sets a stool at one end of the table for her and she sees he's brought up a wicker basket from the cellar. It's filled with carrots and potatoes and even celery, and he notes, "That's the last of the celery, but I think we got plenty for the turkey soup and your stew."
There's also some rice, she assumes it's for his turkey soup, and two jars of tomatoes. With all he brought up he's obviously planning on her making a huge pot of stew. It's a good idea really, they have the meat, and the soup and stew will be the perfect anecdote to this freezing cold weather that will soon be even colder.
He has a big cast iron pot in front of him, and before he gets started on butchering the deer he fills it with what's left of last nights' turkey, along with a roughly cut onion and the celery tops. He adds just enough water to cover it all and sets it at the back of the stone fireplace to slowly simmer.
He gets the deer down and lays it on the other end of the big table, looks up at her, nods his head and says, "Let's get this done. I'm already hungry for that stew."
She smiles and says, "I sure hope it doesn't disappoint."
"I ain't that picky."
Oh my gawd, she wants to laugh and say, "Oh, okay, then I'll just try and make it edible," but she knows he didn't mean it any way but nicely. It's just Daryl.
Her job won't really start until there's some meat cut, so all this time she's just been quietly watching him as he works. What she notices is how deeply he gets into what he's doing, and everything he does is so precise. She must be deep in concentration too because it half startles her when he asks, "So this farm your folks live on, where abouts is that located?"
"Oh, well the farm is gone. My Dad sold it three years ago and moved up to Michigan with my sister and her husband. I'm real worried about them. I've tried to call several times but the phones haven't been working right for weeks. Last time I did get to talk to them they said this sickness thing was happening there too, but that they had supplies and they were hunkering down."
He goes right ahead and asks what he wants to know, "So what about your Mom, and ya said ya had a brother. Where are they?"
She's not surprised by his straightforward inquiry, it's just the way he is, "Mama and Shawn both passed five years ago. Shawn was killed in a car wreck and shortly after that Mama got a bad case of the flu. It turned into pneumonia and…and well, I think she could have gotten better, but the fight was out of her. She seemed to have lost her will to live after Shawn died and she just gave up. Daddy hung onto the farm for a while, but he lost his heart for it, sold it, and Maggie and Glenn, my sister and her husband, moved him up to Michigan with them."
"Shit, I'm sorry for all that, really."
He hears the sadness in her voice when she says, "Thank you. It was really hard for a long time, it's still hard a lot of the time, but what can I do besides trust in God and accept it?"
"So, you don't have any other people around? Just you?"
What's this all about? She asks, "Well, no, not really. Why?"
He shrugs a shoulder. His eyes are on her and they look especially hard and blue. His brow is furrowed and he chews at his bottom lip before saying, "I'd like ta try n leave in three days. I think you'll be ready. Whaddya think?"
"Oh, um, well, yes. Okay."
00
A/N Lots of big stuff going on here. Please leave a comment, and please check out the chapter photo on my tumblr blogs gneebee and bethylmethbrick. I'll be back next week with more of The Man on the Mountain, and I hope you'll be here too. Until then remember, I love ya large! xo gneebee