Her fingers were stiff from scrubbing but she kept reminding herself that it would all be worth in in the end. That included ache in her back and the likely bruising on her knees. But if they were going to make this a permanent place like she hoped they would, then the remnants of this cell's former occupant needed to be washed away thoroughly.
"I don't know if you're gunna to get that one out," he drawled, startling her.
Beth straightened from where she was crouched on the cement floor to see the gruffest man she'd ever met cradling the sweetest bundle of joy she'd ever seen. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to that paradox. "It's going to have to. I refuse to look at that stain for the rest of my life." She lifted the corner of her mouth at him as she couldn't completely stifle the amusement at the sight despite the fact that she was still mad at him for leaving with his brother. Her anger was fading though, considering he did come back.
He mimicked her expression as he just barely swayed with the baby in his arms. He'd been tiptoeing around her just as much as she'd been avoiding him, and she assumed Carol had mentioned her little outburst while he was gone to him. Daryl had no issue with confrontation when it came to fighting, knives, and survival. Angry teenage girls were another thing entirely. "Nah," he disagreed. "That's leaked into the stone. Need a pickaxe to get it out."
She looked back down to the copper colored splotches in the middle of the floor and sighed. He was right. The last 10 minutes of direct cleaning didn't seem to have any effect on the blemish. Sighing again, she dropped the scrub brush into the small bucket she'd filled with soap and brushed her wet hands against her legs. "Did you need me to watch her or something?" she asked looking back at the man in her doorway.
"If you can," he said gently. "Was gunna take Carol out on the bike, see if we can find some more formula."
Beth nodded again as she stood. "Let me get cleaned up and I'll take her." She and Caroll had been rotating Judith duty for the most part. Maggie took her every now and then, and her daddy wouldn't mind holding the little one while the others ran around trying to make the prison a home. But Rick was…still grieving Lori and whatever else. He didn't hold the baby very often and looked at her even less.
Daryl took a few steps back as Beth moved to walk out of her cell, then followed her down the gangplank to the makeshift washbowl they'd set up there. She quickly washed her hands and arms before drying them off with a towel laid nearby before holding out her hands for the baby. Judith cooed as she was transferred between them but settled quickly in the familiar arms of the blonde.
The two stood in a comfortable silence as they watched the little girl slowly drift to sleep. "You need anything?"
She shook her head without looking away from Judith, but then had a second thought. "Just a pickaxe," she joked, as she turned to grin up at him. He snorted and shook his head at her lame joke before he turned to saunter down the stairs.
Later that week Beth carried Judith back to her cell after helping with the wash so that the little one could take a nap. She stopped just as she turned to go into the room, startled to see the fuzzy mint green rug covering the floor. Not only was it perfect for the baby to lay on for tummy time instead of the hard concrete, but it also happened to cover all of the blood stains she hadn't been able to wash away.
She smiled at the sight. Not a pickaxe, but it would do.
NowHer heart stopped beating as she watched the deranged walker try to tear Daryl apart. It only took Carol seconds to grab a discarded gun from the ground and fire at the best, but it may as well have been eternity. The older woman was at his side by the time Beth remembered how to breathe. Even so, she pushed past the screaming pain radiating throughout her body and tried her best to crawl her way towards him.
He, of course, was fine.
"Beth–" he said as he sat up and started looking for her frantically.
If she wasn't so worried she might have laughed. "I'm fine," she said, huffing and puffing. "Are you?" He nodded his head as the pair of them scanned the other for any additional injuries.
"I'm fine too," Carol said cheekily. She was far too amused for the situation but her tone pulled their gazes away from each other. "You wanna see if any of these vehicles are still running?" she asked Daryl. He dipped his head in agreement before quickly flicking his eyes at the blonde and moving towards one of the blood covers cars. Then the grey-haired woman turned her sights on Beth. "How's standing sound?"
"Awful," she replied instantly. But she still stuck out her hand for Carol to pull her up. The older women knelt down and twisted so that she could get under the extended arm and they could rise together. Beth grunted at the strain on her injuries and tried to find balance on her shaky legs. Carol continued supporting the majority of the blonde's weight as she adjusted before releasing her hold. The young woman immediately stumbled and shook her head as the elder quickly replaced her hold. "It's worse than I thought," Beth admitted through gritted teeth.
Carol bowed her head in acknowledgement as the pair lowered back to the ground as gently as possible. "I'm going to see what I can scrounge up," the older woman explained as Beth tried to find a comfortable position to sit. One woman nodded to the other as the latter wove in between carnage in search of supplies.
The blonde scanned the area for any additional movement. The last thing they needed was another one of those souped-up walkers to sniff them out. Fortunately all was quiet. It gave her time to inventory each of her wounds; easy, as every breath she took seemed to ignite one of them.
There was the punctures to her leg of course, and she was pretty certain that a couple ribs had been cracked when that fat fuck had sucker punched her. Then there were the fingertip bruises all along her arms from being held and held down. The split lip from being hit, and a concussion, probably, from the same blows. Had to be, with the way her head was beginning to throb from an oncoming migraine. She'd been getting more of them lately with all of this going on. They hadn't been as prevalent back at the Civic Republic.
It wasn't long before an engine started nearby. Carol walked back with a pack stuffed full and arm full of guns just as Daryl pulled a truck with more than a few bullet holes into park in front of her. He jumped out of the cab and rounded the front to stand with the two women. "Siphoned enough gas off the others to get us back. Should keep running," he reported. "Need help?" he asked, looking at Beth. When she confirmed, he all but lifted her with his one good arm and helped her over to the passenger door and onto the bench seat. Her ribs twinged at the movement but she was reluctant to complain. The faster they could get moving the better.
Beth shifted over as best as could to settle into the middle seat. The needle marks on her legs ached, and so did her lungs every time she took in a breath. Both things she could brush off, but it was the slowly growing tingling feeling just under her skin that she tried her best to will away. A migraine was growing and it was going to be a bad one. "I don't know about you, but I could use a fucking break for once." Daryl huffed out his agreement and took a step back to let Carol climb in the cab.
"Why don't you let me drive?" the woman offered. "You two can nap, I'll wake you up if anything exciting happens."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't know where we're going." Carol pursed her lips before opening her mouth to speak, and then closing it again. Daryl sighed, realizing where this was probably leading. "What?"
His best friend gave a hesitant smile. "We have to get Ash," she admitted.
"Ash?" Beth asked.
Carol turned towards the young woman. "The pilot who flew me over here," she explained, turning back to Daryl. "I can't just leave him."
The blonde fought back the urge to roll her eyes and closed them instead as she mumbled. "It's like a never ending game of Where's Waldo."
Daryl's eyes cut to her. "What?"
"Nothing," she breathed out, eyes still closed. "I have a migraine coming on and I have no idea where my pills went. We should go, anywhere that's not here preferably." She leaned her head back against the seat and started convincing herself that she was comfortable.
The pair of friends finished their conversation quietly, and a few moments later the truck jostled slightly as they both climbed in to take their seats. She wasn't sure who was where, and it didn't really matter. But she figured it out pretty quickly when fingertips tapped near her knee.
She turned her head to the driver's seat and opened her eyes to blue. His lips twisted like he was finding the right words to say. "You can use my shoulder," he settled on. She blinked at him and furrowed her eyebrows before glancing at said shoulder. She didn't have to ask–he knew what she was asking. "Popped it back in, it's fine."
Beth hesitated for just a moment before gently laying her head against him. With his fingers fluttering against her knee, she fell to sleep with ease.
When she woke, it was still light outside but just beginning to dim, and the truck was stationary once again. She'd shifted at some point, to be less in the middle and leaning more near the driver's side, but that was likely because she'd been leaning that way. She must have been really out of it for Daryl to have sneaked out from under her without her noticing.
She was alone in the cab, but could see Carol in the distance through the windshield, arguing with a man she didn't recognize. They must have been parked there in the sun for a while as the interior of the truck was warm enough to make her somewhat uncomfortable.
She turned her head to look for Daryl, who she found standing off to the side between the truck and the pair arguing. Further confirming that he must have eyes in the back of his head, as soon as her eyes landed on him he spun around to look right at her. He glanced back at Carol and the mystery man before apparently deciding that all was well, and stalked back over towards the truck. He opened the driver's door and leaned half in. "Hey," he said softly with a small grin.
She returned it. "How long have I been out?"
"Few hours." He shifted on his feet and brought his bottom lip into his mouth to bite on it. "How's your head?"
Beth gave him another small smile. "Better. Is there any water?" He nodded his head before moving out of the doorframe to the truck bed. She heard him rifling around for a moment before reappearing, hand outstretched with a blonde took the handoff and a few big gulps of water as he crossed his arms and they lapsed into an awkward silence. They used to be good at this. Could go hours without saying a word to one another and not have it feel so loaded. But now…
"You going to kiss me again?"
Daryl stilled and blinked at her. "You want me to?"
She thought it over for less than a second. "Mhm." He shuffled on his feet before uncrossing his arms and leaned towards her. She hadn't meant right that second but she wasn't going to stop him now. God knows how he'd take that. He was just a breath away from her slightly puckered lips when he squinted at something and changed trajectory, instead pressing his lips to her forehead. "Hmph."
He pulled away. "What?"
Beth shook her head. "Nothing." But then she decided it might be fun to mess with him a bit. Maybe It could get them back to normal. "Just hoping you'd throw me up against a wall or something," she said, fully smiling.
"Pff," he sputtered just as she thought he would. "This ain't no damn romance novel," he grumbled.
She simply shrugged, still smiling. "Could be."
Daryl stared her down as he tried to figure out how serious she was and at what level she was messing with him. "There ain't no walls around," he supplied, deciding to play her game. Beth shrugged again. She watched as he rolled his tongue around in his mouth and shifted on his feet again. "We both just got stabbed and your forehead feels warm…"
The blonde kept her grin and shook her head at him. "Keep making excuses Daryl, it doesn't hurt my feelings at all," she teased.
"Stop."
She smiled even wider, if it was possible. "You could always make me Mr Dixon."
Daryl's eyes flashed as he growled. "Woman—"
They both jumped as a hand knocked on the hood of the truck. Carol and the mystery man were standing near the front of the truck, one cheerfully smiling and the other brooding. "We're ready to go now if you two are done flirting," the older woman said with a knowing look. She then focused her attention. "I mean really Daryl," she said as she gestured towards the blonde. "She's injured."
His eyes flickered between the two women, and if Beth looking closely, he seemed to be blushing. "She started it." He all but rolled his eyes as he turned to the stranger. "You squeezing in here or jumping in the back?"
Carol answered for him as she moved to the truck bed. "We'll ride back here, give you two some space." She gave a knowing look at the pair before honing in on the younger woman. "You ok? You seem flushed."
Beth grinned at her. "I'm fine, just feeling…cheeky," she admitted.
"More like delirious," Daryl mumbled low enough that only his passenger could hear. She turned her glowing smile on him as he ducked his head to hide the blush still lingering, as he slammed the driver door shut and turned over the engine.