~~Daryl's POV~~

I picked the small blonde girl up off the ground yet again, pushing her forward as the sound of walkers got closer. We'd been running for what felt like ages, a big herd of them snuck up on us in the night, to many to fight off. I watched her closely in front of me, struggling to hurtle over bushes and small stumps. The path we'd been following suddenly opened up to a random road, a small white car beaten to hell crashed on the side. Beth ran over to it, quickly looking inside for anything useful as the growling noises got louder. Not sure what else to do, I popped the trunk and ushered her inside, climbing in after and trying to shut the top but the trunk had been damaged and wasn't locking. Beth took my bandanna from one of my pockets and tied it shut just as one of the walkers banged against the side. She jumped back, both of us watching as dozens of them  from the cracked trunk hobbled by. I held my bow at the door, as if I'd be able to fight them all off if they somehow opened it, when in reality they'd tear us to shreds if the bandanna didn't hold.

We listened for hours throughout night as they growled and banged against the car. My body was stiff, not once looking away from the opening with my bow trained on it. It was cramped and boiling inside the small space. Sweat was soaking my clothes and dripping down my face. We'd been in here so long, the sun was up and heating the trunk up even more. It's been a while since we heard any more growls though, maybe the geeks found something better to do... Beth was the one who finally reached over me, untying the makeshift knot and opening the top, cool air blowing through and the hot humid air finally lifting off my skin. I took in a cold deep breath and scanned the area, they'd all wondered off, nowhere to be seen.

We'd barely said a single word to each other the rest of the day, building a make shift camp with spare parts of the car and setting a fire. I tried hunting, but the only squirrel I found got away, breaking one of my very few arrows left in the trunk of a tree behind it. I found a snake instead, using a stick to pin it's head down so I could cut it off and peel its skin to cook it. It came out a little charred and over cooked but it was the closest thing to meal we'd had in days. Beth was staring down at her piece of food, picking away at it with a sorrowful look. I tried not to be bothered by it as I took big bites out of the snake, licking my fingers afterwards.

"I need a drink..." Beth sighed. I through a half empty water bottle at her, but she chucked it back with a annoyed look on her face. "No, I mean a real drink, as in alcohol. I've never had one, 'cause of my dad... but he ain't exactly around anymore. So I thought we could go find one," she told me.

I only looked at her for a moment, before returning to my meal. She had to be damn joking. No way in hell I'ma go out there looking for booze. Part of me hoped if I ignored her long enough she'd drop it and sit in silence. She stood up from her spot, picking up my knife that was way to big for her small hands and huffed like a child.

"Okay, well enjoy your snake jerky. Jerk," she spit at me. Beth turned and trudged into the woods. That girl was gonna get herself killed with how stubborn she was.

I tossed the rest of the snake into the bushes and got up, following after her loosely. When I found her, she was tossing a rock off to the side to distract a small group of walkers while she hid behind a tree. She jumped when she saw me, but let out a breath of relief and kept walking.

"I think we made it away. But I'm pretty sure we got to go that way to find the booze," she whispered to me.

Nodding my head, I lead the way. It sure as hell wasn't to go find booze though. I slowly turned us around without her knowing and took her back to camp. I wasn't dying over her wanting her first drink. To say she was pissed when we got back though was an understatement. I grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the camp.

"I'm not staying in this suck ass camp!" She yelled, breaking her away away from me.

"You had your fun alright!" I hissed at her. I was getting fed up with all the attitude. Why couldn't she just be grateful I kept her alive this long?

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you feel anything? Yeah, you think everything's screwed- I guess that's a feeling. So you want to spend the rest of your life in the woods eating mud snake? Screw that! We might as well do something. I can take care of myself and I'm getting a damn drink!" She tore into me.

She took off yet again, leaving me sitting there and thinking about what she'd said. She really think this was what I wanted, to be stuck out here with her of all people? Sometimes I wonder why Willow ever came back around after she left... I never did get to ask her why. That along side with why she hated Merle so much, I knew there was more to what I was being told. I could tell from the way he looked at her, I'd never seen that look on my brothers face before. I sighed, god I wish she was here...

I followed Beth to some golf course, a massive resort or something surrounded by dead grassy hills and tipped over golf carts. I didn't see a single walker anywhere. What may look like a break to some was nerve racking to me. Maybe somebody was living here, killing all the dead. Maybe they were friendly, but maybe they weren't.

"Golfers like to booze it up. Right?" Beth asked, looking over the dead hills at the fancy worn down building.

I shook my head, following behind her as we found an unlocked door around back. I handed her a spare flashlight as we wondered down the dark hallway, so far it was quiet. We walked into what looked like a store, clothes still hanging on racks and folded in shelves. Then in the middle, dead bodies littered the floor on top of moldy sleeping bags and empty cans of food among other trash. They'd been dead a really long time, the only ones moving were hanging from the ceiling, a rope tied around their neck. They reached down towards us, making a muffled growling noise as they swung back and forth. They all were wearing fancy clothes and pearl necklaces or gold watches. Beth came back around, a new yellow collared shirt on with a white jacket buttoned around her. She looked ridiculous. I rolled my eyes as we kept moving.

There was a black bag on the ground, the only reason it caught my eyes was because it was stashed full of money and golden jewelry. It was poured out on the floor with a faded puddle of blood beside it, dried from a long time ago. I stuffed it all back inside the bag and placed it over my shoulders. Beth looked at me, a weird look on her face.

"Why are you keeping that stuff?" She asked me. I shrugged her off and kept walking. I didn't have to explain myself to her. But in all honesty I wasn't sure why I wanted it. I just did.

In the next room over, we found more corpses piled on the floor. There was even half a body mounted onto a mannequin stand from the clothing store. She had pearls around her neck, nothing on but a faded white bra and button up jacket that was barely hanging onto her bony shoulders. A paper sign was nailed into her torso, the words 'rich bitch' smeared across it. I nearly chuckled at it, until Beth started rebuttoning  her shirt and trying to take it down.

"Help me take her down," she asked me, giving me puppy eyes.

"It don't matter, she's dead," I reminded her.

"It does matter," she corrected me. I paused, looking over the innocent Greene girl. I picked up an old blood stained sheet from the floor and unfolded it.

"Here," I said, stopped her from continuing to try and take it down. I took the sheet and tossed it over it's head. Beth gave me a thankful nod and kept walking.

Further into the dark building we finally found a large open bar area. Tables were tipped over, glass from empty bottles crunched under our feet. A live walker growled, coming towards us. I picked up a golf club from the floor and kicked my boot in the center if it's chest, knocking it down so I could get on top of it. I got carried away, letting some anger out as I beat it in the chest with the club over and over but not killing it. It was the most emotion I'd shown since the prison. Beth said something behind me, reminding me she was there as I swung the club and sending blood and brains all over her new ugly yellow shirt. She gave me a pissed off look as she turned around and took off the white jacket now covered in gore and tossed it to the side aggressively.

I knew I was acting like a dick, and a small part of me felt bad, but a larger part didn't care. Everybody was gone, we had nowhere to go, we were simply just wondering. A scavenge hunt for booze was a huge waste of time in my opinion, but lets be honest, time was all we had now a days. I watched from the corner of my eyes as Beth found the last bottle with liquid still in it and take a seat at the bar.

"I know you think this is stupid. But I don't care. All I wanted to do today was lay down and cry, but we don't get to do that. So beat on walkers if that makes you feel better," She said, trying to wipe out a glass to drink from. I huffed, finding some darts to keep me occupied.

"You have your drink yet?" I grumbled at her. I threw the first dart, landing in the face of a photo on the wall.

"No, but I found this. Peach schnapps, is it good?" she asked, looking at the label on the bottle.

"No," I growled, throwing another dart.

"Well it's the only thing left. To hell with a glass," she said.

I left her to do whatever the hell it was she needed to do and continued throwing my darts into faces on the wall. Landing each one directly in the head of every photo. I stopped when I heard Beth let out a quiet sob, looking at the near empty bottle of booze she came here desperately looking for. Letting out another sigh, I walked over to her, picking up the bottle and smashing it on the ground.

"Ain't gonna have your first drink be no dammed peach schnapps. come on," I waved her over.

We we're walking through the woods again. Beth was trying to guess what I'd been before the world went to shit, her ex boyfriend Zack used to do the same thing. Gave himself one guess a day until he could figure it out. He never did know... She was guessing motorcycle mechanic, but I shook my head no as we walked up to the old run down house in the middle of nowhere.

"I was expecting a liquor store?" Beth said confused as we walked around back.

"No, this is better. Found it with Michonne a while back," I answered her. I picked up a large box full of glass mason jars filled with clear liquid. We went inside the house, the place run down probably from before the apocalypse with trash and cigarettes.

"What's that?" Beth asked as I handed her one of the jars.

"Moonshine. Now that's a real first drink right there," I smirked. She stopped and stared at the jar, hesitating.

"Daddy said bad moonshine could make you go blind," she mumbled. I shrugged my shoulders at her.

"Nothing worth seeing out there anymore anyways," I told her, going over to the busted recliner and sitting in it.

I watched as she took a small sip, her face scrunching up in disgust making me chuckle. She poured another glass, this time handing it to me. But I shook my head no declining.

"Someone's gotta keep watch," I told her.

"So you're my chaperone now?" she giggled. That was first time I think I've seen her smile so far.

"Just be sure to drink lots of water," I reminded her.

"Yes Mr. Dixon," she joked.

I smiled a little at the nickname, Willow used to call me that sometimes. I remember how mad she used to get when I call her tree girl. My smile slowly faded, eyes moving over to the pile of booze on the table. I know I shouldn't, but whats stopping me? Beth smile as I picked up a jar, popping the lid off and throwing it the side as I tasted the familiar drink. She was such a light weight, pulling out a big ashtray full to the brim. It was a bright pink bra shape vase, my dad used to have one just like it.

"It's just a bunch a junk anyways, that's how I knew what this place was. That shed back there, my dad used to have one just like it," I shared. Beth looked around the dump of a home, giving me a weird look as she pictured what my childhood must've been like. I tilted my drink back, regretting saying anything.

Next, she somehow suckered me into playing some stupid game. One person says something they've never done and if the other person has done it, they drink and if not the other person drinks. The game started off simple, she said she''d never shot a crossbow, I drank. I said I'd never been out of Georgia and she drank. Then she said she'd never done anything she regretted being drunk.

"I've done a lot of things," I grumbled, taking a large gulp and feeling it burn on the way down. What kind of question is that anyways? She's never been drunk until now.

It was my turn, so I said I'd never been on vacation. She tried to correct me and say camping counts, but that was something I just had to do. My dad taught me. Beth drank, thinking of her next question. Her face lit up, and she said that she'd never been jail. She was smiling, staring down at my cup that didn't move.

"Is that what you think of me?" I asked her. Her face was in shock.

"No, I just thought that maybe- even my daddy was locked up for drinking is all," she reeled back.

"Drink up," I frowned. So that's what people thought of me, it didn't come off as a surprise but it still stung. Hell it made me angry, she was no better than I was!

"Your turn..." she mumbled from her spot on the floor.

"I'ma take a piss," I growled, getting up and throwing the glass jar at the wall making it shatter.

"You have to be quiet," Beth said seriously, peeking outside the window. All the rage I'd been building up was suddenly starting to boil over.

"Sorry can't hear you taking a piss!" I screamed back at her from the corner of the room.

"Daryl, dont talk so loud," she told me.

"What, are you my chaperone now?" I said, buckling my belt and turning back around. She was still sitting on the ground, fidgeting with her glass as she stared at me nervously.

"Oh, wait. It's my turn right? I've never- never eaten frozen yogurt. Never had a pet pony. Never got nothin from Santa Clause. Never relied on anyone for protection before. Hell I've never relied on anyone for anything!" I screamed.

"Daryl-"

"I sure as hell never cut my wrists looking for attention!" I yelled. Her face went cold, but the sound of a walker outside banging against the door caught my ear. I scooped my bow up off the floor and looked out.

"Looks like our friend out there is trying to call all his buddies-"

"Daryl, shut up!" Beth hissed at me.

"You said you never shot a crossbow before? Come on, I'm gonna teach you right now it'll be fun!" I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

She yelled at me to knock it off and that it wasn't funny. I dragged her to the door, kicking it open and pushing the one walker back. Whistling for it follow me, I shot it once in the shoulder, pinning it to the tree so it was stuck. I put Beth in front of me, shoving the bow in her hands and holding her there. She struggled a bit as I pulled the trigger for her, landing an arrow in its leg. She was telling me to kill it, that we could practice later, but I kept going. I let her go so I could reload the bow but Beth went forward, killing it with a knife.

"The hell you do that for? I was having fun!" I said, pissed off and drunk.

"No, you were being a jackass!" she screamed at me.

"What do you want from me girl! huh?" I asked her, throwing a hand in air.

"To stop acting like you don't give a crap! Like nothing we went through matters, like the people before don't matter?" she said.

"Why? Ain't never gonna see um again! Rick, Michonne, Maggie, Glenn, they're all gone," I reminded her.

"Daryl, just stop," she begged me.

"No! The governor rolled right up to our gates. Maybe if I hadn't of stopped looking. Maybe if I hadn't of given up- That's on me. And your dad, maybe- maybe I could've done somethin. But Willow, that's definitely on me! I should've protected her," my voice broke.

I bit the inside of my cheek, feeling my eyes start to water as I turned around not wanting her to see. But out of nowhere she came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me tightly, resting her head against my back not letting go.

"I didn't protect her..." I stuttered again.

A while later once I was done with my small breakdown, we sat outside on the porch in the middle of the night. A layer of grief had been wiped away, but I still didn't feel any better. Maybe just a bit drunk still...

"We should go inside," I suggested.

"We should burn it down," Beth smiled.

Looking back at the run down hell hole, I nodded my head. It brought back to many bad memories, it shouldn't get to stand here contently. We started opening the rest of the moonshine bottles, throwing them everywhere and breaking the glass. Back outside, I lit a wad on money from the bag I'd found at the gold resort and chucked it into the broken house, throwing the bag in afterwards. I didn't need it. The house was fast to burst into flames, sending a mass of black smoke into the air. Beth lifted her middle finger up, and I soon copied her. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all...