A/N: Hi! This is obviously a Coda fix which starts off in the actual episode of Coda. If you're new to me, I have a ton of other stories that I write. If you follow me andd know my work, HI! Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this new story. The chapters will probably be 1.5K to 2K words per chapter. PLEASE REVIEW, FAVORITE, AND FOLLOW! HAPPY READING! :)
"I hate goodbyes."
… "Me, too."
Beth carefully wheeled Carol down the hallway. All of the officers surrounding her made her incredibly tense as she gripped the handles on the wheelchair so hard that her knuckles were white. The scissors in her cast felt so much heavier than they really were. The cool from the metal touching her skin made a shivers run unconsciously down her spine as she looked ahead with her head held high.
The rounded the corner to where her family was waiting behind a door. That was all that was separating them. A lousy door.
As soon as Beth saw her family, a huge weight had lifted off of her shoulders. She counted everyone there, but quickly wondered where everyone else was. Where was Maggie? Where was Glenn? Those questions in her mind just drove her further down the tiny hospital hallway. Her eyes landed on Daryl and her mind slightly wandered off into an area of when it was just them together after the prison. She was extremely relieved to see that he was definitely okay, though Carol had still reassured her.
Daryl met her gaze and gave her a small nod of reassurance. She gave him the tiniest smile that she could muster up in a situation as dire as this. When Beth heard Dawn speak into her radio on her shoulder, her heart started beating even faster when the big door opened and her family walked in to get Carol and her out of the wretched hospital. She was just waiting to feel the cool breeze hit her face as she walked out to freedom.
"They haven't been harmed." Rick spoke. Beth could remember that gruff voice anywhere. His eyes were cold, though. She remembered how warm they were when he spoke to her all the way back at the farm. It had been a while since she had seen that.
"Where's Lamson?" Dawn spoke beside Beth and Carol.
"Rodders got him. We saw it go down." another officer spoke. Beth had recognized him from around the hospital, but she couldn't put a name with the face. He had always ignored her, and she steered clear of any other cops around. Beth also wasn't familiar with the "Lamson" they were talking about, but she didn't care much, either. It wouldn't matter in a few minutes when they were out of there.
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Beth almost scoffed, but held it back for her and Carol's sake. "He was one of the good guys." Dawn narrowed her eyes slightly at the group. "One for yours for one of mine."
"Alright," Rick grunted out. He glanced at Daryl, who pushed forward the male officer.
Someone took Carol's wheelchair from Beth's grip as they did the first part of the trade-off. Beth found herself wanting something back in her grip to center her to the earth at that moment. She just took a deep breath and squeezed her fists closed while she waited.
She watched as Daryl wheeled Carol over to Tyreese and Rick pushed forward the other hostage. At that moment, Beth almost jumped as she felt a rough hand push her forward. At a few steps, she was in front of Rick and the trade was done. She let go of most of the tension in her shoulders as Rick embraced her shortly before gently waving her forward.
Beth immediately walked over to Daryl, who placed a warm hand at the top of her back. It made her relax even more. She was finally getting out after what felt like years. She shot him a quick glance as they walked forward towards the door.
"I'm glad we could work things out," Dawn said from behind them.
"Yeah." Rick grunted out, before turning around and following his group. Just as Beth thought that everything was done, something in her mind screamed that something would go wrong. She tried to push it down as much as she could, but it stood out so much. She knew at Dawn's next few words that Beth wasn't wrong about it.
"Now I just need Noah." The words hit Beth like a brick. The whole group seemed to freeze, as if knowing something was going to go wrong. The hairs on the back of Beth's neck raised in anticipation as her whole body locked back into that tense feeling she had the past few weeks. "And then you can leave."
Rick turned around sharply to face the hospital crew and Beth turned and stepped forward as well. She felt Daryl's presence right next to her. "That wasn't part of the deal." Beth stepped up closer to Rick, standing by him. She was terrified of what this would lead to on the inside, but on the outside she hid it well.
"Noah was my ward," Dawn explained. "Beth took his place and I'm losing her, so I need him back." One of the hostages spoke up behind her with a pleading voice to stop, but Dawn just cut her off, not giving up on her statement. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died."
Beth was staring ahead at Dawn with narrowed eyes before Daryl cut in front of her vision, pushing Noah back. "He ain't staying." Daryl spoke up. Beth almost looked over at the man, remembering his rough voice clearly in her mind.
"He's one of mine. You have no claim on him." Dawn argued smoothly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Rick stepped forward a few steps more, his hand unconsciously reaching for his gun on his belt. It went surprisingly unnoticed by the hospital patients and crew.
"The boy wants to go home, so you have no claim on him." Rick argued validly. Beth suddenly wished she had some sort of weapon besides the scissors in her cast on her arm and the small amount of courage that she had brought out from deep inside of her. She felt almost useless standing there behind Rick, nonetheless.
"Well, then we don't have a deal." Dawn protested.
"The deal is done." Rick almost exclaimed, reminding Beth of the hardness that he had developed.
"It's okay," Noah spoke, hobbling to the front. Beth had almost forgotten about him in the rush and feeling of getting to go back home. She watched reluctantly as he stepped forward and reached behind his back to get the gun from his waistband.
"No." Rick stated. Beth was right along with him. Rick stepped up next to Noah, shaking his head. Noah kept arguing, though.
"I gotta do it." Noah spoke. He took the gun out of his waistband and reluctantly handed it over to Rick, before crossing over the invisible line between safe and danger.
Beth mustered up everything she could inside and spoke in the smallest whisper. "It's not okay," she whispered to nobody in particular. She thought he had been free. She never would have agreed to this if she knew that Noah would have to stay.
"It's settled." Dawn said. Noah limped forward to the cop, his leg dragging him back.
Beth didn't realize that she had done this until she felt her feet pushing forward. Her whole body was almost numb. "Wait!" She yelled out. She wanted a goodbye from her only friend there, even if it was in front of everybody and was 30 seconds.
Nonetheless, Beth wrapped her small arms around Noah's shoulder blades, squeezing him tightly. "It's okay," Noah said in her ear. She tried to believe that the harder she hugged him, the more strength he would gain from staying here.
"I knew you'd be back." With those words, Beth felt something snap inside of her. She was done being the weak little girl. She wanted to show Dawn that she wasn't weak. She wasn't going to leave without getting the last word. She released Noah from her tight grip and took a step forward, anger fueling through her.
"I get it now." The blonde stated, standing closer to Dawn. She was incredibly aware of the scissors under her cast. Her fingers reached inside of it and slowly pulled out the blade while staring eye-to-eye with Dawn. Next thing she knew, the scissors were out of her hand and into Dawn's shoulder blade.
A single shot rang out. That's all it took for Beth to fall backwards, her eyes squeezed tightly as she wished for the horrible pain to leave her stomach. Her hands went down to her abdomen where the bullet flew into. Her ears were ringing and all she could see were her eyelids.
Beth thought that she heard her name get called. One more gunshot followed right after that, and Beth braced herself for the pain to come. But, it never did. Instead, she lay with her back against the cold, tile floor, gasping for breath.
She felt warm hands grasp her arms, and she blinked open her eyes to see the person. She was relieved to see that it was just her comrade, Daryl. Somewhere deep inside of herself, she forced her voice out of the thickness of her throat. "Daryl," she gasped. "It hurts."
Daryl's face looked completely pained. He felt horrible that he couldn't do anything. That was his worst fear. Not being able to do anything while his loved ones died in his arms.
Beth heard yelling down the hall, though it was very muffled. She felt her eyelids get exceptionally heavy. She wanted to close her eyes, though she knew what it leaded to. The heaviness overpowered her, though. The last thing she saw was the Daryl's face hovering over hers before darkness.
