Light | TWD | Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

08

"What did you do?" Beth asked, stepping in tune with Juliana as Daryl lead the way, "You know, before."

"Not much," Juliana answered honestly, holding her gun at the ready in front of her as they stomped through the timber again. Daryl seemed like he had an idea of where he was going.

"Oh come on," Beth nudged at Juliana with her elbow, smiling softly, "Everybody did something!"

Sighing, she turned her head slightly in Beth's direction, "A waitress."

"Oh," Beth downcast her eyes, looking as if she had expected more of a profession out of Juliana. She forced a smile, "I mean that's not-" Juliana cut her off.

"It was a shit job, Beth. I was doing it to get through school."

"What for?"

Juliana grimaced a little at her answer, "Art." Even now, at the end of the world, her mentioning being an art major received a scoff from Daryl.

"I don't take you much for an artist," he commented, turning his head briefly over his shoulder. She caught his glance and couldn't help but smirk at him.

"You don't know a lot about me, Dixon," Juliana teased.

Beth grinned at their interaction, "I think it sounds cool!" she paused a moment, motioning to Daryl who was still ahead of the two of them, "What do you think he did?" she asked Juliana, who offered her a shrug.

"A motorcycle mechanic!" Beth suggested.

"Huh?" Daryl slowed a tad, dropping back so the two of them were able to catch up with him, each one on either side of him.

"That's my guess for what you were doing before the turn. Did Zack ever guess that one?"

"It don't matter," he mumbled in reply. "Hasn't mattered for a long time."

"It's just what people talk about, you know, to feel normal."

"Yeah, well, that never felt normal to me," he commented. Juliana glanced over to Daryl at his comment, and he must have felt his eyes on her because he shifted his gaze over to her as they continued on through the timber. She and Daryl had a strange understanding between the two of them. He had mentioned when she first showed up at the prison that he thought she was 'pretty tough' for having survived on her own. Though, in Daryl fashion, he finished his compliment by insinuating that she was probably just lucky and didn't have any actual skills. She had assumed she had ended up proving him wrong, because his comments stopped, and the two of them often paired up to scavenge. They both liked the quiet.

The trees broke out into tall, overgrown grasses finally. To her right, Juliana spotted a small dilapidated house.

"Found this place with Michonne," Daryl said.

Beth squinted in the sunlight in the direction of the house, "I was expecting a liquor store."

"No, this is better," he assured.

Coming up to the house, she couldn't help but be reminded of her mother's house. While she was a gigantic, obese woman, before she became bedridden she was quite the hoarder. Piles of junk were stacked inside and outside. Even in the ruins of the house, it looked like what she had lived in. Juliana crinkled her nose in disgust at the memory as they investigated. Behind the house, was a trailer with a shed next to it. Daryl didn't hesitate to open up the door to that shed, which held none other than an old moonshine operation.

Stepping in, he collected a few mason jars full of alcohol as she and Beth looked on from outside.

"What's that?" Beth questioned, peering inside the shed.