Home Sweet Hell

Chapter Nine

Daryl made his way out of the house, and into the forest. He needed to do what he did best; hunt. 

Daryl had no idea what he was getting himself into. It was like he was a completely different person. The ruff redneck was gone, and someone who cared replaced him. Daryl worried about Beth a lot, which scared the hell out of him. He didn’t even know who he was anymore. And what kind of relationship did he even have with Beth? Daryl cared for her. But, what just happened in his room? What was with all of the dramatics and the looks they gave each other? With every question flooding his head, Daryl shot squirrels, bunnies, and anything else he could find. Did Beth even feel the same?

Daryl was exhausted by the time he finished hunting. He slid down the bark of a tree, deciding to rest for now. This was quickly interrupted by the footsteps of a walker. Daryl stood up quickly, but not quick enough. A walker was already on top of him, chomping its mouth together, trying furiously to sink its rotted teeth into Daryl’s neck. “Fucker!” Daryl shouted, shoving the walker off of him. He grabbed his crossbow and loaded it up. The walker dragged itself off the ground, and headed straight towards Daryl. 

An arrow dug deep into the walkers left eye, causing it to collapse. Daryl walked over to it and smashed his foot on the walker’s skull, finishing off the job.

He retrieved the arrow from the walker’s eye before making his way back to the house. 

When he walked in, everyone was already packing. As soon as Rick saw him, he gestures for Daryl to come over. Daryl drops the squirrels and bunnies by the kitchen and then walks over to Rick. “Leavin’ soon?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, Glenn saw a herd coming right at us when they were out” Rick looked like he was directing traffic by telling where supplies should go. Weapons went in one truck, food in another. Then if anyone wanted something else, they would have to carry it.

“Sucks, hopefully we find a place before night” Daryl grunted, knowing that he might have to spend the night in a forest, which wasn’t so bad after a while. “Exactly, last thing we want are a bunch of walkers sneaking up on us”

Daryl nodded in return.

~~

“Nothin’” Beth shifts uncomfortably. “Are y’all- close?” Maggie walks over and sets a tray of food in front of Beth; apples with some smaller berries were mixed into a cracked bowl. Beth picked up a berry and plopped it into her mouth, her taste buds exploding. “We’re friends” She knew that, but only that. Beth’s heart had sped up when Daryl’s face got close to hers. And she also blushed whenever he made the smallest smile. She still hadn't figured how what that meant. Or maybe Beth just didn't want to admit that she liked Daryl.

And not just in a friend way, but in a romantic kind of way. But the age difference is what sort of freaked her out. All of a sudden Beth felt dirty. Innocence shattered, if it hasn't already.

“Eat up, we’re leaving soon”

After Beth ate the rest of the fruit, she eventually made her way down stairs. People were already loading the trucks and getting ready to leave. She heard Daryl’s voice towards the living room, but decided not to bother him. Beth walked into the kitchen, nearly gagging at the sight of dead squirrel and bunnies. She knew it was Daryl though, since every animal had an impact wound in its smashed up eye. Beth cringed again, turning around and walking in the opposite direction. She ran into Michonne, who told her to take two rifles to the truck.

Beth did what she was told, happy that she didn’t appear too weak to help. Beth carried the rifles on each shoulder, struggling as she made her way outside and over to the car. Her hand throbbed profusely, but she pushed away the pain. Daryl was already loading guns into the truck, carrying much heavier weights than Beth. She blushed as he lifted a bag of ammo, muscles defining themselves. 

“Here” Beth handed the two rifles to Daryl, which he took rather harshly out of her hands. He threw them into the truck. 

“That’s it?” Daryl grunted.

“I don’t know, Michonne just-“

“I don’t need no story, it’s a yes or no question” Daryl interrupted her coldly.

Beth felt a pain in her heart which distracted her from the pain in her hand. “R-right” She stammered. Daryl took one look at Beth and knew that he made a mistake snapping at her. It looked like she was on the verge of tears, and he did not know how to fix it. 

“Fetch some more supplies” Daryl demanded, trying to be as gentle as possible. Beth nodded, quickly running into the house, any excuse to get her out of that conversation.

Beth ran past all of the packed supplies and rushed into the bathroom. Tears rolled down her cheeks seconds before the door closed. She let the tears fall, not having to hold them in any longer. One thing was for sure, she liked Daryl, and hated the fact that he was mad at her.