Hope Lost: A Daryl Dixon Story (The Walking Dead/ Bethyl )

8- Accidents

"Hey, Daryl?" Robin's voice was once again filled with sweetness.
"What?" He replied curtly.
"Uh, I think I need another pair of these." She smiled and held up a pair of broken boots. Daryl saw her bare feet.
"I was hoping you could make a quick run into town?"
"Yeah sure."
Daryl was slightly annoyed that he was being disturbed while he made new arrows for his crossbow.
"You comin' with?" He asked Robin.
Robin cocked her head side to side and then shrugged her shoulders. "Why not."
Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder and thought for a moment.
"Wait here," he told Robin.
He entered the tent where he was sure he'd find Beth. And of course there she was, reading. She smiled at him.
"I need to ask a favour." Daryl mumbled awkwardly.
"Anything?"
"Could you lend your boots to Robin real quick?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Okay."
A week or so after their kiss, Daryl and Beth were just barely shifting to life as a couple. Daryl found it awkward at most times and sweet the rest. They weren't all about the hugging and kissing every waking moment. They both felt it a bit cliché. There wasn't time for smooching in a world full of walkers. But when he spared her the odd kiss, it was magical, to say the least. They would lay in the tent, his arms propped him up and his lips exploring the better part of her face, neck and chest. It left Beth hot and sticky and Daryl equally stirred. Although no matter how hot it became, no one mentioned sex. Daryl didn't feel it was a necessity at this moment, and besides sex was for lovers not awkward couples. However Daryl knew she felt threatened by Robin and so her name was never mentioned in Beth's presence. Beth tried her best to avoid her, which was close to impossible, since they were in a group. She kicked off her boots and handed them to Daryl. They were about falling apart. Guess he'd have to fetch two new pairs. He didn't bother to ask Tara.
The drive into town was silent. Daryl pulled in front of a department clothing store. They both got out the car with their weapons in hand. Daryl kicked the doors open and aimed his crossbow ahead. A few dead walkers lay around the store with pools of blood seeping out their head wounds. Daryl walked up to one and examined the wound. The blood was fresh, at least a day old. Which meant someone had been here not too long ago. Daryl considered what this meant and decided to mention it to Beth later. Robin was already in the store. She found a pair of brown cowboy boots and showed them to Daryl. He grunted and found a similar pair but in grey. He thought they would go well with her light pink shirt. He turned around to find Robin gone. He lifted his crossbow and scanned around. He headed for the storage room and kicked the door open. A half naked Robin stood scared in the corner. She had stripped down to her underwear and held a new pair of jeans and flannel shirt in her hands.
Her bra was a bit too small for her which caused her breasts to pop out a bit. His eyes flickered up and down her body before smirking. Daryl backed out quickly and apologised roughly.
"You shouldn't be wanderin' around without telling me." He defended his actions.
She came out a moment later, fully dressed and blushing.
"Its okay, Daryl. But what do ya think?" She gave a twirl. Her red and black flannel shirt was unbuttoned revealing a cream tank. Her jeans were tight and rolled up a bit above her brown boots. He reminded her of Lori, so Daryl just snorted.
"Real fine, Robin."
She smiled and pointed to the men's section. "Why don't you find yourself something new, Mr Angel Wings?"
"Nah." Never would Daryl part with his angel wing vest. He spotted a plain long sleeve plaid shirt for Beth. Daryl imagined Beth smiling at her new boots and shirt.
They returned to the car and before Daryl started up the ignition, Robin spoke up.
"Could I drive?"
Daryl gave her his blank look.
"I'd like to take you someplace real neat."
Daryl kept on giving her his blank look until he reluctantly un-buckled his seatbelt and slid out the car. Robin climbed into the drivers seat and started the ignition. They sped off as soon as Daryl closed the door. They drove for about fifteen minutes before Robin drove up a slope. Daryl wondered where the hell they were going. She pulled up just short of a vast lake that dipped down another slope. The crystal water was beautiful. The only thing that obscured its serenity were the rotting walker corpses. There must have been at least  thirty of them. He ignored the bodies. The creek reminded Daryl of their first campsite back when everyone was still together. This would be the place where the woman would do the laundry and the kids would play. Robin got out the car and sat down at the edge of the dirt slope and let her legs dangle over.
"C'mon Daryl!" She patted the ground next to her enthusiastically.
Daryl grunted and sat down next to her in a huff.
"Beautiful, ain't it." She breathed.
"How did you know 'bout this place?"
"My group used to stay here, back when we were bigger."
"How many of them were ya?"
"Fifteen or so. Only myself and my brother made it out alive." Robin stared off in the distance.
"What happened?" Daryl asked out of curiosity. He had a feeling her story would explain the almost fully decomposed walkers that lay scattered.
"A herd of about fifty walkers blind sided us one day. We were just messin' about in the water, having fun, when Jess came running down there," she pointed to the slope next to them. "With one arm. Her other had probably been bitten and pulled off. We didn't have time to pack anything. Most of us were just dressed in our underwear as we ran. The herd tore down the slope, sliding and tripping over each other from blood lust. I just knew to keep my brother safe. He was getting sicker by the day and I did everything I could to protect him. We ran away. That day I lost my group, my shelter and my axe. A few days-"
"Axe?" Daryl grimaced.
"Well yeah, we all have our weapon of choice. You have your crossbow and I have, or had, my axe. It was lodged too deeply in the skull of a walker and I didn't have time to pull it out."
Daryl wore an amused expression.
"I'm tougher than I look." She punched him playfully. Daryl snorted.
"Uh, a few days later Adam found us starving and exhausted in the woods."
Daryl took in what she just said. There were probably human corpses mixed in with the rest. He realised that everyone in this world had been through some tough shit. He had the tiniest bit of admiration for Robin at how she kept it all together.
"I had to kill my brother." Daryl announced. He wasn't sure why he was telling Robin this. Her presence made him want to open up and tell her everything. And so he did.
Robin watched him carefully after he finished.
"You know what I think, Daryl?"
"Yeh?"
"I think that hope has been the only thing getting you through all this."
Blind rage built up inside of him until he exploded.
"You watch your mouth bitch! Don't tell me shit about hope. I lost all hope when my mom died and my dad started beating me. My hope was long gone before this forsaken world realised it."
He stood on his feet now, cussing at himself for opening up like that, just for her to throw it back at him like that. Hope. That word disgusted him. Hope was a dumb gimmick some sorry bastard made up to lead people into false belief. The only thing that kept him going was survival. Survival for himself and no one else.
He looked over his shoulder at Robin. She sat with her arms folded and frowned into the distance. She got up in a huff and walked over to Daryl and stood in front of him. She reached out her arms and shoved him as hard as she could. Daryl stumbled back as her attack took him by surprise.
"You know what, Daryl? I'm sick of you treating me like dirt when all I do is be nice to your undeserving ass!"
She kept walking forward, forcing Daryl to move backwards until they stood at the top of the slope.
"You cut your shit now and treat me like a decent human being! Do you hear me?" She screamed at him.
Daryl stood motionless. Well, this certainly was a different side to Robin. "Well, do ya?" She yelled at him, furious that he still had a blank look. She reached out to shove him again, but Daryl side stepped her attack. Robin fell forward from the force her body exerted into nothing. She tumbled down the slope. She resembled a helpless rag doll. Robin hit her head hard as she came to a stop at the bottom of the slope. A thin line of blood trickled down her forehead.
Daryl stood frozen at the top of the slope before he sped off and slid to a halt next to Robin's limp body.