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I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Chapter 3

By the time Daryl got back to the cabin, he felt like the poster boy for some freakin' romance novel, loaded down with three dead men's semi-autos, all their extra mags, his crossbow slung across his back, and tiny Beth limp like a rag doll in his arms. In what fucked up world was he the hero? When he set Beth in front of the crude fireplace, she drew up her knees and buried her head again, sobbing silently. He went to work warming the water over the fire then approached Beth with the water and a clean rag.
"Here now Beth, we need to get you cleaned up...see how bad off you are and get your hurts fixed up."
Beth looked up to where he was kneeling in front of her and made no move to protest as she had been like to do. He started with her hands, wiping each finger and her palms softly to acclimate her to the process. Daryl knew she had to be in some sort of a state of shock, and after being attacked and handled so roughly by three men, the last thing he wanted was to make her feel like he was violating her too. Beth's sister Maggie had suffered a similar assault at the hands of the Governor, and she hadn't gotten past it easily... and Maggie was the stronger of the two sisters. When he made it to her face, he left her busted lip and swollen cheek till last. He winced when she winced, having suffered similar hurts over the years. But he was a man, and that was expected. No woman should ever suffer such a wound.
"Thank you..." Beth managed, touching her hand to his against her face. Fine, delicate, gentle Beth.
"Um hmm...don't think nothin' of it." Daryl released her face and she his hand. What else was there to say in this fucked up situation? "I'm gonna go outside and get myself cleaned up." He knew he must be a bloody nightmare. "Go and get yourself a flannel from the stash in the closet. Throw your bloody shirt in the fire. I don't think you can save it."
Outside the cabin, Daryl took a bucket of cool water from the rain barrel. He splashed water on his face and through his hair, looking down and realizing his shirt was a lost cause too. Removing it, he was able to wash off the blood that had soaked through to his chest and arms. He took a deep breath, taking a moment to gather his thoughts and give Beth some privacy to change. This was rough...this must be what it felt like to have someone need you on the most essential level. Merle had never needed him, and sure, he had been an integral part of their small group and later the ill-fated community at the prison, but this was so much different...so much more immediate. Beth needed him to survive.
I need her too.
When did he realize that? Or had he known it all along? He could make it on his own, had his entire life. He would've been safer on his own, but when the prison fell, his basic instinct to survive had been overridden by his need to protect, save, and perhaps ensure that he wouldn't be alone. A slight breeze chilled his wet skin and dropped Daryl face first back into the gravity of their situation. It was fall, and the cold weather was a nice respite from Georgia summers. But it was getting too cold, too fast. The fire in the cabin should at this point be a necessity for cooking, not for warmth from the chill of night. Early fall often signaled a harsh winter for their region. Harsh winter in a normal world meant inconvenience...in their world, it could mean death. He needed a game plan and quick. Daryl grabbed his ruined shirt and went back inside with purpose.

When Daryl came back into the cabin, he was clean and shirtless. He came close to the fire near where she sat on the floor, tossing his ruined shirt in to burn.
"You okay?" he asked.
Beth nodded and felt a blush rise on her cheeks at the sight of him shirtless, why she didn't know. Perhaps it was from her tragic inexperience with boys, much less men...and she had never seen Daryl topless either. He crossed quickly to the makeshift closet where the former occupant kept his formidable collection of flannel shirts. This was when she noticed the myriad of scars across his back. She didn't know much about Daryl's past or life before the apocalypse; he had never been very forthcoming about it, but how cruel was it that life had never been beautiful for him. Perhaps that was why he was so strong, how he adjusted so easily when things went from bad to worse to a living nightmare. His life had always been cruel.
Daryl buttoned his new flannel with deft fingers as he came back towards the fire. He seated himself on the tattered remnants of the couch, leaning down, his elbows on his knees. She turned fully around to face him, the fire flickering hot against her back.
"My Daddy's dead." She didn't know if it was a question, statement, or an answer. Perhaps she just needed to vocalize it to begin letting go. Their world afforded very little time to mourn.

"Sorry Beth..." They had all lost so many that words were less than useless, but what else did he have to offer.
"And Maggie and Glenn and Rick and Carl. We lost all of them too..." Beth continued, her voice seemed a little less unsteady.
"Just 'cause somethin's lost don't mean you won't find it again," he reassured Beth and himself in the same turn. If they were alive, they could possibly come together again. And the lot she had just mentioned, if anyone could cheat death, it was those som'bithches, even the Asian who had grown a pair and turned Last Samurai on their asses.
"How will we ever find them?" Beth's voice had finally reached a tone of acceptance.
"Beth, the truth is, our top priority has to be each other and keeping alive until I figure things out. We can't be focusing all our energy on finding them until things get better for us," he asserted. He was the adult after all.
"I didn't save...I couldn't find...Judith...we just left her behind...and she...she needed me."
Lil' Asskicker. How many more people did he have to lose. The next one sure in the hell wasn't gonna be Beth. He went to his knees on the floor in front of her and took her hands firmly in his.
"Listen up. There ain't nothin' we can do about that now. We did the only thing we could." Daryl's words were reassuring, stern and certain, even if he didn't feel those things. "And the truth is, that baby wasn't yours, and you had no responsibility to her, but you probably felt like she was yours and she didn't have no other mother but you. It feels like your heart's been hacked out of your chest...I know, I've been there...but we gotta keep moving forward."
Beth looked down, away from his intense gaze. Daryl let one of her hands go and gently raised her chin again.
"Your gonna make a good mom one day." That was one thing he knew for a fact.
A small, sad smile spread across her lips.
"Daryl, our world is over. I'll never make it there..."
"Listen Blondie...this isn't how the world ends. Life goes on, and we're not going out without one hell of a fight. I think we've proved we still got some fight left in us. You do want to live, don't you Beth?" He didn't mean to be as fierce as he sounded, but someone had to rally the troops.
"I don't want to die...so what now?"
"What is it that you're always running around saying? 'We've all got jobs to do'? Well, here's the game plan. Your job is to stay alive. My job is to keep you alive, got it?"
Beth nodded.
"Good. No don't go makin' my job harder than it has to be by trying to get yourself killed."
She nodded again with no complaint or argument, but he wasn't entirely sure that she meant it.
"That means that you don't just listen to what I tell you, but you do what I tell you when I tell you, do you understand?" He was being harsh, but the gravity of their situation called for it.
"Yes, I understand."
Unexpectedly, Beth embraced him, and in a pure need for human contact, Daryl hugged back.
Please don't make me lose anyone else...her...

Notes

Comments

@Smokey85
Awww...thank you so much for coming back to read! You are amazing. I truly appreciate it!

Aireabella Aireabella
3/30/19

I am so happy you are back! I love your stories and always look forward to your updates! Thank you for sharing your work :)

Smokey85 Smokey85
3/26/19

@McDrogoInaNewWorld
So glad that you enjoyed it! It always makes my day when I can make people happy by doing what I love! Thank you so much!

Aireabella Aireabella
6/14/18

Yay!!! Another great chapter on the books, can’t wait to see what happens next!!

@blesdirishangel
Thank you so much for coming back to my fic and for your comment! I am glad that you love the update. You are amazing!

Aireabella Aireabella
6/7/18