Never Had A Dream Come True

Reunion

And then she was there and her arms flew around his neck and just for a moment he allowed himself to close his eyes and shut out the hostile world around them to only feel the warmth of her living body against his, her racing heartbeat within her chest, her hair that was tickling his chin.

She was alive. Against all odds. And this felt better than anything he had encountered in a long, long time.

Now, where the adrenaline was wearing off quickly, he realized that he was totally and utterly exhausted on numerous levels. He knew that his body would give up on him very soon but the emotional strain of the last few days was taking a toll on him, too. He knew that he'd collapse right here on the spot and never would be able to get up again if he didn't lie down and sleep soon.

He remembered a little semiderelict cabin he had come across earlier. It wasn't too far away and it would provide at least some shelter from the zombies. He suspected that Beth was at the end of her strength as well. They needed to get there and get some rest.

He mumbled something incomprehensible and reluctantly ended the embrace. For the first time, he looked at her face properly and didn't liked what he saw. Daryl was not the most educated or talkative man but he was very observant. Always had been. To be able to read in someones eyes or to interpret body language had saved his ass so many times in his life already that he had mastered this skill, even before the apocalypse had started.

When he looked into Beth's eyes now, he immediately knew that something really bad had happened to her and he felt hot anger rising again. But he knew that it'd have to wait so he only clenched his jaws in frustration and then suppressed the emotion again – for now.

„I need rest,“ he then only said, knowing that if he'd even remotely looked as he felt he'd more appear like a zombie than a human being right now. He knew that they had a lot to talk about but they needed a safe place first, where they would be able to crash. Survival first, everything else came later. That was the first rule in this world now.

Without awaiting her answer he retrieved his arrow, took her by her hand and led her back to the trails and over them, to the cabin he had seen earlier.

When he broke the embrace she watched as Daryl looked her over and when he stated he needed rest she nodded, it felt like it had been weeks since she had actually slept, she was exhausted and her body felt like it would give in at any moment. "Okay..." pocketing placing her knife back in it's sheath her fingers entwined with his and she followed him as he led her away. Beth kept her eyes trained on Daryl's wings as she followed him through the rough undergrowth of the forest, she could practically read his stress level through the set of his shoulders. Daryl was someone who responded to everything physically, and she was learning to use it as a form of communication she couldn't remember the last time he'd seemed so exhausted.

She moved her hand to the knife strapped to her hip when Daryl stopped walking and saw a run down cabin set up a few hundred feet away, she walked up to stand next to Daryl "What do you think?" she asked, careful to keep her voice low "Might be some supplies." As they approached the front door, Beth was surprised to find it still closed and waiting she allowed him to enter first before following closely. Finding it safe enough she headed to the kitchen to search for food and water.

The kitchen was pretty bare it looked as if whoever was living in the house had eaten everything they could find in the pantry, and Beth didn't even bother to check in the fridge. The drawers produced a long knife and a pack of matches, and she managed to find a dusty can of pork and beans in the very back of the last cabinet. After figuring that it wasn't going to get much better, she returned to the main hallway to see if Daryl had found anything more exciting in the bedrooms. She smiled sadly at the dusty picture frames in the living room, they showed a smiling family that she was sure was no longer intact.