Pandemic [DISCONTINUED]

Two - No Hello

The firetruck had fresh blood on it and crashed through trashcans as it arrived. Beth briefly looked up at Daryl, who was looking at the truck. As they separated, they caught each other's hand, and Beth gave it a sqeeze.

She sped her pace up to a jog, leaving Daryl behind her. When the doors of the firetruck opened, Maggie was the first to get out, and she screamed as soon as she saw Beth. Beth did the same, and they collided in a hug of tears and I'm so happy you're okay and I missed you.

The rest of the day went fairly well. The group all rode in the firetruck to a nearby stream, deeper into the forest that surrounded Grady. They made a campfire and Daryl and Rick went hunting. That was the first time in a long time they had enough to eat; rabbit, quail, and even a fish. As the sun set, a watch routine was created.

"I'll go first." Michonne volunteered. "I'm not tired."

"I'll do it too. Two's better than one," Rick said.

Everyone else went to sleep in the soft, green grass. Except for Beth, of course, who was thinking everything over, isolated from the group against a tree. She always had a bit of trouble sleeping since she and Daryl had been separated from the group, but that night was different. She couldn't sleep at all.

She was deep in thought about what was going to happen to the group. She also thought of Daryl, who she'd strangely thought about a lot around that time. It was always 'Daryl would be so proud.' or 'I wish Daryl was here.' Beth didn't really understand that. The first thing she thought about was if she had feelings for him, but that was immediately dismissed. She did know that she wanted to talk to him, though. They hadn't talked much since her arrival.

Michonne and Rick traded off with Maggie and Glenn, who eventually traded with Daryl and Abraham. Daryl was thinking of Beth as well. He was wondering about the way he felt about her, and why that was. He didn't know why he was so protective, or why he got excited every time they touched. He wanted to know, but didn't at the same time. The feelings were new and intimidating.

Daryl picked up a medium sized stick and poked at the flames. When he pulled it back, the end was ablaze, illuminating and warming his face. He then blew it out and leaned back against the tree that was behind him. Out of nowhere, he heard a twig snap, followed by a familiar voice.

"Hi," Beth simply said, her voiced hushed.

"Shit," Daryl breathed. "You scared the hell out of me. Why aren't you sleeping?"

Beth shrugged casually and carefully sat beside him, staring into the fire. She pulled her legs up to her chest. They didn't speak or look at each other for quite some time, though their arms were touching, and she eventually reached for his hand. Daryl seemed surprised and looked down at their hands, then at her, then back at the flames when she didn't look back.

"Where's Abraham?" Beth sweetly asked asked after a very long period of silence.

"Asleep." Daryl grunted. Their eyes stayed fixed on the flame. After another long period of silence, Daryl looked to his left at Beth and realized there were glistening tears on her cheeks.

"Beth?" He sighed, adjusting his position. She didn't look at him.

"I'm fine."

After that, no words were spoken the rest of the night. Their hands remained intertwined and they rarely changed positions. Beth might've dozed off a few times, though Daryl stayed wide awake. He looked over at Beth quite often, but he noticed that the tears he once saw quickly dried and no others appeared. This continued until sunrise, where Glenn was the first person awake.

Glenn rubbed his eyes as the leaves carelessly crunched beneath his moving feet. He had a groggy swagger about him as he came into Daryl's sight, greeting him with a good morning. Daryl replied with a quick upward thrust of his head. Beth had fallen asleep.

"I'm about to go hunting." Glenn slurred, plopping down in the place where he was standing. He quickly decided to do no more plopping; the ground was hard.

"You takin' anyone?" Daryl questioned. He looked up at Glenn for the first time that morning and saw dark bags under his eyes, though barely noticeable.

"Just Maggie," Glenn replied, then looked at Daryl and Beth's hands. He gave a slight grin. "You and Beth?"

Daryl was taken aback by his assumption, but didn't pull his hand away from Beth's. He simply said no, and Glenn knew by the tone of his voice that he didn't want the conversation to continue. The rest of the morning went slowly. Maggie and Carl woke up and immediately wanted to join the now more awake Glenn in hunting. Eventually, Beth came back into reality and decided to go, and Daryl did as well. Tyreese also wanted to come, and told Rick and Michonne to stay and look out for the group.

They split up into small groups and made a game out of it - every edible animal killed is one point, and every walker is two. The teams were Maggie and Glenn, Tyreese and Carl, and, of course, Beth and Daryl because it gave her an excuse to talk to him without anyone around. The groups were to return to their little camp when the sun was the highest with their prizes.

After a short while from the time the pairs separated, Beth and Daryl were looking down at the ground. Neither of them had spoken since the morning. They stood in a line, Beth behind Daryl. But she eventually sped up to stand beside him and reached for his hand. It was a habit she'd grown used to; it comforted her for a reason she was too young to understand. Daryl immediately pulled his hand away and slowed to a stop, rubbing his eyes.

"Daryl-" Beth began, now standing in front of him.

"Why d'ya keep doin' that?" Daryl muttered, cutting her off. She shrugged.

"Well, stop." He said. He didn't like the way it made him feel. It was distracting. It was confusing and foreign and strange. Her touch made him suddenly feel so protective of her. Daryl was in denial about it. He told himself that it didn't mean anything and that it was just because he was stronger than her and felt responsible. He didn't want it to be anything more than that, for Beth's sake.

Beth suddenly looked offended and hurt and embarrassed. "You didn't even say hello." She was talking about her rescue.

"Yer right, I didn't. I saved yer fuckin' life." Daryl was moving again, more quickly than before. Beth was struggling to keep up, though she trailed a short distance behind him.

"I'm just scared." Beth said quietly after a long period of irritated silence.

"I don' care. Hold Maggie's hand."

They were silent after that for a few seconds. Little did the two of them know, there were many walkers in the forest they'd entered, one of which clamped its fingers around Beth's shoulder and tumbled down on top of her.