The bed wasn't a success.

The mattress that Glenn and Maggie had put on the bed was an air mattress that was in some ways better than any of the prison mattresses, but it turned out to have one huge drawback. Maggie and Glenn had insisted the new couple try out the bed and Beth had crawled on first, lying on her back near the wall and saying how comfortable it was; however, when Daryl had flopped down next to her in his customary fashion, things had taken a turn for the worse. The air mattress reacted like a springboard and catapulted the tiny blonde into the wall, face-first like she'd been thrown by an angry bronco.

Under any other circumstances, Daryl's first instinct would have been to exclaim in distress and cuddle his new fiancée, but the whole thing was so unexpected and her limbs and hair had gone in every direction as she'd flown into the air and before he knew what had happened, a huge and uncharacteristic bellow of laughter had erupted from his mouth and melded with the chortles from Glenn, Rick and Carl as well as a shocked snort from Maggie, that was quickly choked off. After Beth had landed back on the mattress and squirmed around to sit up, though, Daryl had seen the blood running down her face from under the hands she had crossed over her nose and tears of pain were streaming from her eyes. Everyone had immediately stopped laughing and Maggie had reached quickly for her sister.

Daryl had barely had a chance to sit up when Beth had scooted past him and was being guided out of the cell by her sister.

"Addhoed" and a bright blue death-glare at the hunter and her brother-in-law were all the little blonde managed before her sister got her out of the room.

o))O((o

Daryl was a little worried. Before that day he'd never fully realized how efficiently Beth and Carol worked together to get things done around the prison, but Carol had effortlessly distracted Maggie, Glenn and even Daryl himself while Beth had moved her pillow and night things back to her old cell and one of them had somehow managed to destroy the ugly wedding gown. The problem for Maggie was that nobody could prove anything. By the time the brunette's outraged cries rang through the prison, her sister had been outside tending to Judith and the other children for a couple hours and Carol had been outside mending and nobody could prove who'd hung the dress under the pipe rapidly dripping rusty water that had proceeded to stain the entire front of the dress beyond repair.

Beth had somehow actually managed to tear up and appear upset at the loss of the once-white horror and Maggie's accusations had diverted from her little sister, though everyone else was certainly feeling her suspicious, heavy gaze upon them, including Daryl himself, at least until he produced Rick as his alibi since he'd followed Carol's suggestion that the two men go walk the fences together.

The hunter could only hope they'd use their powers for good in the future.

Unfortunately, he was pretty sure from Beth's badly bruised nose and eyes that some kind of vengeance for both the mattress and the completely unintentional (albeit loud) laughter was going to be considered "for good" by both his favorite women.

He was absolutely positive that the (again, completely unintentional) bursts of laughter at the memory of his fiancée flying into the wall weren't helping his case.

o))O((o

Back on another run the next day with Mike as his partner, Daryl was hoping that - if he could make it through without actually killing the loudmouth – people (Beth and Carol) would notice his penance and have mercy on him.

This run was really just exploratory and Daryl would usually have done such a thing alone or with someone much more experienced at stealthy exploration (or at least capable of stealth, which involved shutting up), such as Glenn or Michonne; however, not only were they truly trying hard to integrate the newbies, but everyone was happy to see Mike leave the prison with someone other than themselves. Most places in a five-mile radius of the prison, especially toward the west and south, had been pretty well picked-over, so this run was going a bit further out and heading northeast when a crossroad met the only usable one that ran to and from the prison. Daryl had used one of their precious maps to do a hand-drawn map of the routes he wanted to take and they could add on other roads, note the towns and stuff on the hand-drawn page since they were trying to keep the maps in good shape.

After only about thirty minutes of Mike's nattering, Daryl was more than ready to toss the loquacious man to the next group of walkers he saw and speed off as quickly as possible, but he just sighed, ran a hand through his hair and kept going, making it almost another hour of cautiously driving down back roads while Mike noted all their turns and landmarks, the houses, stores and towns they went through on their handmade map, until another vision of Beth flying off that damn mattress appeared before his eyes and he snorted again with quickly-suppressed laughter.

Mike stopped mid-sentence and just looked at the hunter for a split-second before saying, "Maybe you should just let it all out, man."

"What are you talking about?" Daryl growled in response, ears turning pink in embarrassment.

"Uh…it's just sometimes the more you try to not laugh the more you want to do it. Just let yourself laugh and get it out or it will just keep on coming up."

Daryl sat still for a moment, stunned that the other man had actually offered what could be a good suggestion, but his instinct to bluster came to the forefront, "You don't know what you're talking about, Mike. Hey, while you're talking, just keep an eye out for anything that may be good."

"What about that place?" Mike asked immediately, pointing off toward what looked to be just a grove of trees. Daryl glanced over and saw a quick flash of white amidst the gray trunks. "Looks like a big house back behind that stand of trees," the talkative man added.

"Missed that," Daryl grunted in admission, slowing the SUV, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Looks like someone blocked off the gravel driveway and ran stuff through those trees to hide it." Pulling off the road slowly, he carefully drew closer to the wood, inspecting the dense trees and those running across the drive before exclaiming, "Well, look at that…it's damn Christmas trees! Smart." He watched carefully as they pulled in closer and didn't see any people, trip wires or anything else alarming. "Shut up just a moment, okay?" The hunter considered the situation, then said, "They went through some trouble to hide it, whatever it is…could have booby traps and everything."

"You want to split up?" Mike asked. "I'd be willing to…."

Daryl cut him off brutally, "Hell, no, I don't want to split up, but I don't want to get the SUV stuck somewhere either. I'm going to get out and move some of the trees in the track and look for traps. You're going to get behind the wheel and pull through when I signal you that it's safe and then I'll put the trees back to hide where we are again."

Mike looked wide-eyed for a moment, "Okay…uh…okay, I can do that…Daryl, the thing is that I…."

"I don't want to discuss it, I just need you to drive this car about twenty feet through the gap I make in some trees when I signal you to, okay?"

"Uh…Daryl?"

"Can you drive or not?"

"Well, yeah…."

"Okay, then, you get over here and drive it through when I signal it's okay," Daryl said once more and slid out onto the gravel drive.

He scouted thoroughly as he walked up to the fake trees, looking all around carefully as he walked. Not seeing anything alarming the bow man carefully moved aside three of the trees to make room for the SUV. They'd been placed directly into cups in the dirt of the driveway to keep them upright while still allowing the trees to be moved when necessary. Daryl took several steps down the drive, squatting down to get a closer look at the vague tracks there to try to tell the last time someone passed this way as he noted it was a long way to get to the large, white house at the end. A bee buzzed around his head and his waved a hand to brush off the pest as he straightened.

The next thing he knew, he heard the rev of the SUV's engine, then he was flying through the air, only to land in gravel at least ten feet from where he had been seconds before. Hearing the engine rev again, Daryl panicked and pushed off the ground to roll into the grass at the side of the drive just before the SUV went careening past and on down the long drive. There was a boom as the vehicle hit something and Daryl cursed as he brushed gravel off his arms as best he could, though he was thoroughly scratched up and some gravel had embedded into his flesh.

Daryl forced himself up and glared toward the vehicle, wondering what the hell had ever inspired him to try to be nice to that imbicle in the first place. Cursing, he grabbed up the trees and shoved them in the cups, then stalked toward the house, which was down a long drive, planning ways to do away with the moron behind the wheel. A couple walkers in the yard allowed him to get out some of his aggressions as he stabbed the first one quickly through the temple, angling his blade downward to get the part of the brain supposedly affected by the virus, then hitting the second walker a couple times before he stabbed that one too.

Walking and stabbing had loosened him up a bit after being hit by the SUV and he was feeling ready for battle as he approached the SUV. Mike's scared face stared at him, bug-eyed as the hunter stalked toward him for just a moment before the newbie grabbed for the far door and tried to get out of the vehicle, forgetting to put it in park or anything and Daryl was glad for a moment that the engine was apparently still working as he grabbed the driver's side door and snatched the key out of the ignition while grabbing Mike by the waistband of his pants with the other hand.

The guy was so dumb he hadn't even locked the doors in the world they were in and Daryl didn't know whether or not to be happy about that fact.

He decided on happy as he dragged the other man out of the SUV and into the lawn.

"Oh, stop your yelling," he growled at Mike as the other man babbled at him. Daryl reached back in the vehicle and slammed the automatic shift into park just in case, taking a few deep breaths as he did so before turning back to the asshole. "What the fuck did you think you were doing?" He was trying to keep his voice down and it came out as a cross between a snarl and a growl and he felt a moment of satisfaction at the look of horror on the other man's face.

"I tried to tell you…I tried…" Mike took a breath then ploughed ahead. "I can drive, I really can, but I get nervous behind the wheel."

"So, you can't drive," Daryl stated flatly.

"I can! I just don't do well under pressure!"

"What pressure?" Daryl asked incredulously, running one of his hands through his hair. "There's no fucking traffic, there were no fucking walkers, no other fucking people we can see…just you and me. Why the hell panic?"

"Well, I was waiting for your signal and I saw you signal and I know you like people to do things when you tell them to and then I stepped on the gas and the car I used to have wasn't very fast or anything." He flapped his hands a bit helplessly, "It just all got away from me."

"Fuck..." Daryl really couldn't think of any other word for it and was no longer sure if he was furious with Mike any longer or himself for trying to be generous and bring this idiot along for what should have been a peaceful outing. He glared at the other man, "I was waving off a bee. Why the hell would I want you to move forward when I wasn't even looking at you or getting out of the way?"

"You waved your hand," Mike offered, weakly.

"Well, God forbid I do that around you again! The bee would have just stung me, not driven a damn car into me." He gently kicked the other man who was still laying down in the yard, which felt just a little too good and he had to force himself not to do it again, harder. "Get up and let's see if there's anyone or anything here worthwhile."

The men walked cautiously up the front steps and onto what was still a large and luxurious porch. Not only were there a couple large porch swings and rockers, but there was a gazebo-like structure at one corner of the porch with a table and chairs on what was now a rather musty carpet. Daryl turned slowly, noting that it must have been spectacular at one time. He could see a horse barn and another structure for working out horses and the outlines of fences around the property. Yeah, it must have been quite a place just a couple years ago.

They tested the door and found it locked, naturally, and Daryl ended up going back to the SUV and digging out the tire iron to use to pop the lock out and get in. At one time both he and Merle had had bump keys to get in to locked places, but his had been lost one of the times they'd run and he'd never found out what happened to Merle's...it sure hadn't been on the key ring for the motorcycle. A set of lock picks or implements fine enough to use for lock picks was always on his wish list when they went out.

When the door opened, Daryl unslung his crossbow from across his back and checked it over, (how it wasn't hurt when that idiot slammed into him he'd never know), and they entered cautiously, rapping on the wall near the door to try and attract any walkers in the house. They were rewarded with growling and three figures coming toward them from one of the other rooms. Daryl took out two of them while Mike did manage the third. At least he didn't panic or hesitate anymore when it came to stabbing a walker, Daryl thought with some grim satisfaction that all the work they were doing with these people might be doing some good since many of them, including Mike, had been surprisingly useless when they'd arrived at the prison.

Well, not everyone was lucky enough to have been raised in the country by an asshole who wouldn't even feed his own kids and who was faster with his fists than with a kind word.

Having dispatched the walkers, the men did a quick circuit through that level of the house, every bit as refined and lavish as the front porch must have been at one time, even the room that had been messed up when the man in it had obviously shot himself through the head, probably after he'd shot the others through the chests or somewhere else stupid in some idiotic murder-suicide. The men didn't stop, though, and soon went up the stairs to clear the next level where they found one walker and finished it.

The second floor had some surprises, including a room that had what was obviously a recording booth and equipment for recording and re-arranging music that must have been the envy of many at one time. Another room was full of guitars, some of which were electric and useless in their lives now, but even had a ukulele, a mandolin and a steel guitar. Daryl almost ignored it until he suddenly remembered Beth singing several times and her blushing admission that she'd learned how to play the guitar from the Greene's dead hand, Otis. These looked like fine guitars, even if he didn't recognize all the names or symbols on them.

One of them looked plain, but there was something about the beautiful wood it was made of that Daryl liked the look of and he plucked it off its stand carefully.

"That's a Taylor…that's a good guitar," Mike stammered out like a peace offering. He flushed when Daryl eyed him in an unfriendly way, "Uh…my brother-in-law, he played and he loved those guitars. Not the most expensive thing out there, but not cheap either." Looking around quickly and opening some drawers, he pulled out some boxes. "Uh, these are strings for all the stuff here…we could take some of them, maybe find some picks and stuff if you wanted to take one back to….well, to anyone," he finished lamely, just having remembered Daryl's injunction about mentioning Beth.

"Let's get a couple, just in case, the uke and the mandolin too, and all the strings and picks we can find." Spotting a sheaf of hand-written music and some blank pages with lines, Daryl grabbed that up as well and looked around until he found an old messenger bag he could shove it into before he started pulling out guitar cases to find one that fit the first instrument he'd picked up.

"You know anything about these others?" Daryl reluctantly asked Mike as they worked to package up what they wanted.

"No, just that one brand. Tim, now, he knew them all and could have tested them for you...man, I miss him!"

It was the first time Daryl could really remember Mike expressing grief over anyone he'd lost and made a grunting sound of encouragement before he could stop himself, sighing a little when the other man started talking about his one-time brother-in-law, who'd apparently been some kind of paragon who could do anything at all he put his mind to whenever it was needed.

"You remind me of him," Mike confessed, abruptly jerking Daryl's attention back to his companion. "I mean, not physically…he was shorter than you and blonde and all, but you're really smart and you either know how to do stuff or you figure it out. You…don't panic." He flushed uncomfortably, "I'm so sorry about hitting you with the car, Daryl."

Embarrassed at this awkward display of bromance, Daryl grunted, "You try to hold my hand or anything you're going to think I hit you with that Jeep."

o))O((o

Except for a few cotton shirts, a man's leather jacket and a couple real shearling coats, most of the clothes were too fancy to be useful, though Daryl had grabbed all the boots he could find too, even if most were the fancy English kind. Also, most of the food in the house had spoiled. Whoever had been there hadn't been into canning or keeping things long-term. Probably some of those fancy people who wanted it all fresh and organic and thought bacon and pickles were the work of Satan or something. Why you'd have all that land and not a garden or even fruit or nut trees in sight was beyond him. He stopped Mike from playing with the knobs and switches on the fancy stove just as he'd played with other knobs and stuff throughout the house, and they headed outside.

It probably wasn't a place to which they'd ever come back and Daryl was frustrated by the fact that they hadn't found more useful stuff especially after all the nonsense with the trees and nearly getting run over and all that nonsense, but he was hoping Beth would at least like the instruments and they might soften her up enough that he could apologize properly.

If he could ever stop laughing inappropriately.

The engine seemed okay when Daryl started up the SUV and he was about to get out of the vehicle to look under it when Mike asked, "You think we should look in the barn or that other building?"

His instincts were telling Daryl that there wouldn't be anything good in either structure and to just forget trying to find anything else, but Mike had been trying hard since almost running him over and the hunter was trying to get along, so he drove over to the barn since the engine was already going even though there was only about twenty yards between the house and the barn.

There was some banging coming from inside the barn and Daryl was approaching the whole thing with caution, the debacle at the Greene farm not being far enough away in his memory for carelessness (he wondered sometimes if it ever would be) and the other man paced along beside him until they were pressed up against the barn doors, which weren't chained.

Just as they were leaning up against the doors so Daryl could listen there was an almighty roar of sound from the house, which suddenly exploded, sending a fireball and bits of wood and debris shooting off in all directions, including some in theirs. Both men startled and Mike banged into Daryl, knocking him into the dirt, before the panicked man grabbed the barn door and hauled it open impulsively seeking shelter from any further bits of debris.

Of course, no sooner had Mike opened the doors than the characteristic groaning and hissing of walkers became immediately apparent and, though Daryl knew he couldn't see all of them, he counted at least twelve off the bat, which was highly motivational for getting off the ground. Daryl moved without fully thinking about it, standing back up and yanking his knife from its sheath before using it to stick through the temple of the first walker that reached him.

The next few moments were a blur of stabbing and hitting and pushing one walker into another to give himself a few seconds here and there. He pulled a walker off Mike who was being overwhelmed by more than one and finally got his partner out of trouble. They managed to run back to the SUV and Daryl shoved the garrulous fellow into the vehicle, made it around to the driver's side while stabbing two more walkers and then managed to get in himself. There weren't many walkers left and Daryl managed to run over a couple of them as he revved the engine and got them out of there, not bothering with the trees, but driving back to the road through one of the empty fields. They bounced back onto the asphalt and Daryl raced down the road back in the direction of the prison. They were only about a mile from one of the towns they'd passed when the vehicle made a choking noise and they coasted to a stop before the engine gave a death-rattle and stopped completely.

Cursing again, Daryl gave Mike another stern warning to stay where he was and not touch anything, then popped the hood and got out of the vehicle so he could take a look and try to get the beast running again. What he saw wasn't encouraging and leaving the vehicle seemed like the only option. He was relieved to spot another house not too far away that could have something they could use. The hunter went back to get the key and tell Mike to get out of the car and come with him before collecting his bow and heading toward the house.

Mike fell back to his normal jibber-jabber as they walked and Daryl wished desperately that he could tune the guy out because apparently Mike was actually talking about a time he'd taken his car to the dealership to be fixed and he was sure he'd gotten ripped off after the guys had found out he didn't know anything about cars.

Making it to the house, Daryl peered through the windows to the garage and spotted a shiny, fancy SUV in there before seeing the regular side-door that the folks had had to allow them into garage from the yard or driveway. Breaking the window and getting inside was the work of a moment and then they were inside and checking the vehicle. Someone had left the electronic key in the console and Daryl was able to push the button, start the engine and see that there was still about half a tank of gas. He'd never been able to afford a Lexus in his previous life and the hunter took a moment to admire the leather seats and beautiful console and the silence before he got back out to open the garage door. The men got into the fancy vehicle and Daryl had pulled quickly out onto the road and back to their broken-down SUV so they could transfer all their stuff from one to the other.

Lucky. Daryl couldn't believe how lucky they'd gotten with the new vehicle. Stuff like that never happened anymore – at least not to him - and after everything that had gone wrong that day he was amazed they hadn't had to walk all the way back to the prison, camping overnight and hiding out until they'd been able to get back to the others. Just trying to imagine days on end walking with Mike in the heat of summer while trying to hide from walkers and other people gave him a headache and Daryl was sure he'd have ended up committing some act of violence of which Beth wouldn't have approved.

Taking a slightly different route on the way back to the prison, Daryl was gratified to see a number of farms and a grove of pecan trees that would be good for later in the year and a couple small towns that each had one or two small restaurants, a pharmacy and some shops that looked like they might have a few things left along the new path. They stopped at a gas station in one of the towns because there was actually a propane tank that looked unused in the rack outside, so Daryl decided they should grab that and then go in to check out the store since they were stopped anyhow. He grabbed the electronic key he'd seen and shoved it in his pocket but left the doors unlocked in case they needed to make a quick exit.

Whoever had owned the gas station appeared to have simply left the doors unlocked and Daryl was grateful for small favors. They stopped and banged on the glass, then killed the two walkers that came up, making it inside before attracting the attention of anything outside. There was hardly anything on the shelves, but Daryl scored a few basic car parts and a box of headache powders that had gotten kicked under some shelving and seemed unopened. Nothing else that was left seemed worth much of anything to them and the men headed back to the doors, only to discover that there were now several walkers milling around the SUV that they'd have to kill before getting back into the vehicle.

Three walkers wasn't that many at all. Daryl had regularly killed more than that all on his own and there had been far more than that back at the farm, so there was no reason for him to think that Mike wouldn't be able to handle his part either. It took him by surprise, then, when his shoulder was suddenly jostled as he raised his arm to stab the closest one and he completely missed the walker's head and stabbed it in the neck as Mike suddenly ran past him and jumped in the SUV, apparently trying to start the vehicle.

Daryl found himself cussing again as he wrenched his blade back out of the walker's throat and stabbed it again, while trying to keep it from biting him before it died, again. By that time the other walkers had gotten closer and he shoved the closer one down to the ground and went after the further one before going back to take out the one that was still trying to get up. He stalked back toward the Lexus, glaring at the man who seemed to have lost his mind again. Mike seemed to be frantically trying to lock the doors or start the car as Daryl approached, things he couldn't do because Daryl had the key (thank God he'd never gotten out of the habit of taking keys with him), and the redneck hauled open the driver's side door and dragged the other man out by the collar of his shirt.

Mike was continuing to apologize, but Daryl just wasn't having any of it anymore. He hauled back one work-hardened fist and slammed it into Mike's solar plexus like a sledgehammer, listening to the satisfying wheeze as the breath left the other man's body and watched as the other man dropped to the ground as he tried to regain his breath. As the other man struggled for air for a moment, Daryl looked down at him and said coldly, "I'm done with your excuses and apologies and your fucking non-stop talking! You ever do anything stupid like that to me or anyone else again, I will kill you myself. I don't know what your problem is, but it all ends right here and right now. It doesn't and you don't get back in the vehicle again. I'm done with your bullshit."

"Can't help it…" the other man wheezed.

"Yes, you fucking can help it! We all want to panic sometimes, we all want to run away or do stupid stuff, but we don't because we can all help it. You do it too or you will either die or leave and not come back to our group." Daryl made sure he looked Mike right in the eyes and that the other man could see he meant what he said before adding, "You want to come back, get up and get in that SUV and come back, but you're going to stop all your foolishness and be a man. You're going to get others killed if you keep on like that."

Daryl felt a surge of satisfaction as the other man stumbled to his feet and to the passenger-side door. Before the other man got in the vehicle, though, the hunter stopped him and made him give up all his weapons. Daryl shoved them into the far back with the propane tank and the car parts he'd found before getting into the driver's seat himself, starting the Lexus and continuing on to the prison.

They got back later than they'd intended because of the problems they'd had and Daryl shoved the other man in the direction of the dining hall before stopping to talk with Rick and let him know what had happened that day. "I told him not to pull that shit again and get it together, but I'm not taking that asshole out again. Maybe we can use him as bait if we need to send a bunch of walkers away or something."

Rick had been leaning down and examining the new vehicle as Daryl talked and now straightened out and pushed back the sheriff's hat he sometimes wore when Carl wasn't feeling too possessive and Daryl got a good look at his face for the first time that night.

"What happened to your eyebrow?" Daryl asked with a surprised grin.

Rick grinned wryly back in response, "Uh, if Carol or Beth tells you they found some old black powder in one of the storerooms and they need you to set fire to a little of it and see if it's any good, you should know…it's good."

Daryl couldn't help laughing and Rick joined him with a shake of his head before adding, "If you're going to apologize to her again, you better have a damn good one saved up."

"Found some instruments in case she wants to play and some other stuff she might like at that house today; figured I'd give it to her when I saw her tonight and hope they have mercy on me."

Leaving the car parts in the SUV, Rick helped Daryl carry in Mike's weapons and the instruments while Daryl grabbed the tote with the music sheets, extra strings and stuff.

The hunter felt horrible when he saw Beth's poor, bruised face and no urge to laugh at all came up. Even though he knew the darkening bruises were actually a sign of healing, they looked so much worse and more painful that Daryl felt even sorrier than before at what had happened to this sweet girl and he put down one of the cases he was carrying and leaned in to give her a gentle hug and a kiss on the forehead when he was close enough.

"Thought you might want a guitar or something and these looked nice," he mumbled near her ear and handed her the one with the Taylor piece in it.

When Beth had opened the case she gave a soft exclamation and ran her hands over the smooth wood. "Daryl, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed softly. "I could never have afforded one like this before…oh, it's just beautiful!" She pulled it out and managed to tune it before playing some rich notes and adding, "It's got a gorgeous tone! I'm going to have so much fun playing it when I feel better!" Putting the instrument back, she examined the others enthusiastically, but really got excited when she saw the musical sheets. "The blank ones will be so nice…I can write out some songs on them!" Looking more closely she added, "Oh, my God, Daryl! These are from Mark White!"

Daryl looked at her blankly before admitting, "Never heard of him."

"You probably wouldn't have," Beth nodded. "He was a songwriter, but he never seemed to make it big like Chris Stapleton and some others, but he was great! I can't wait to play these when I get a chance!"

Stopping her before she stepped backwards and fell over one of the benches at a table, Daryl handed her carefully back into the aisle and handed her two of the cases to carry back to her cell as he carried the others and the music behind her.

"Even better than the ring," Beth whispered to him as she leaned up to kiss him carefully and he folded his arms around her cautiously to snuggle her for a moment.

It was absolutely perfect.

At least until the image flashed in front of his eyes again and he snorted trying to stop the laughter.

"Daryl!"