I Need You

Story

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Finally getting a moment to get this chapter typed out. To be honest I have been struggling a little to figure out a direction for this story. I have ideas but figuring out which ones to use has been the struggle. This chapter is a filler and fluff chapter. Daryl and Beth just became official and the next couple of chapters will be them navigating this new aspect of their relationship. Also, all the tracking/hunting stuff in this chapter is me guessing how it is done. So let's just pretend my tracking/hunting logic is sound. Thanks y'all. Leave reviews. I love hearing your feedback.

"Well this place was a bust." Glenn says as we search the empty food bank.

"It was worth a shot." Daryl replies.

"Whoever was must have made out like bandits." Glenn says from behind the counter looking at a clipboard.

"What makes you say that?" Maggie asks as we all make our way over to where he is standing.

He wiggles the clipboard. "Found the inventory list." He hands the clipboard over to Daryl. Maggie and I peek over his shoulder to get a good look.

"By the looks of it, whoever was here made out with at least half of what is on here and not that long ago either. If we were here six months earlier, we'd be the ones making out like bandits." Daryl states.

Maggie looks at him, "There is no way you could possibly know that."

"Yes, there is... all the signs are there, you just got to know how to read them." I say before Daryl can respond. "Every place has a story to tell."

Daryl studies me and I know what he is about to say next before he says it, "So tell us a story, Evergreen."

Months earlier...

"I don't know how you can do this all day. Don't you get bored?" I whine as Daryl and I follow a deer trail we have been tracking all day. He has been teaching me to track and he has been making me take the lead on this trail. I have a feeling if he was the one tracking then we would have already caught up to the deer by now.

"Quit your complainin' woman. You said you're sick of squirrel and snake meat. If you want fine dinin' you have to work for it. Now get back to trackin'." He says playfully. "And to answer your question, no, I never get bored."

"Of course you don't." I mumble begrudgingly.

"You have to stay focused. You're doing good, just keep at it." He encourages as we see some fresher tracks.

"I have been focused. I just... it is hard to do this all day is all."

"When I's learning to track with Merle, I had a hard time staying on task for long periods of time too. You have to find a way to concentrate. I use to count the number of tracks we came across until we found whatever it was we was trackin'. After a while I didn't need to do it anymore. You just have to find what works for you."

I have always been the type of person to multitask. When you are tracking, that is it you are tracking. After a while your mind begins to wander... or at least mine does. Daryl Boone over here, on the other hand, apparently never has that problem. Well not anymore. I start counting the tracks and pray that it helps.

After another hour of tracking we finally bagged the deer. Counting did help. A lot. But after a while that got old too. I guess he is right, I will have to find what works for me. I tell Daryl my suspicion from earlier that if he were the one hunting it, we would have been eating much sooner. He simply nods but tells me how good of a job I did as he hands me some meat. It is delicious. Way better than squirrel or snake. "C'mon let's find a better place to make camp for the night." As tired as I am, I am happy I get to follow him now.