The Dance Chapter 1: The Dance, a walking dead fanfic

I own nothing but this idea I had on a whim. The Walking Dead would have had a lot more Bethyl if I did own it.

"Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it."

- Steve Jobs

Beth had always been on the cusp of life and death. From the day she had been born, her mothers umbilical cord had wrapped snugly around her frail neck, suffocating her. They had told her she almost died while she was born. That she would have died had it not been for the immediate action of the hospital staff.

She was silent as she entered the world, pulse and breath absent. But death gave way to life when a sharp cry left her little mouth, tiny lungs straining to procure air. Her dad said that he had cried when that had happened; humbled by the miracle of life that she was. And that was the beginning of Beth's dance between life and death.

"Maggie, we going to the creek today?" Little four year old Beth beamed at her older sister, showing off her two missing front teeth. It was a hot Summer's day in Georgia and people were parading in thin cotton tanks and shorts to stave off some of the heat. Even staying indoors didn't give reprieve to the hot waves of humidity that passed throughout their little town.

Maggie fanned herself languidly, sweat dripping down the nape of her neck as they sat on their front porch.

"I don't know Beth, daddy told me you're my responsibility today and I think it'd be better if we just stayed home."

"But it's hot Maggie!" Maggie sighed at the whining of her little sister. She knew that if she denied her anything at this point Beth would just putter into a ball of tears.

"You can't even swim Beth and I know you're not going to use your floaties."

Beth puffed her cheeks out mulishly, annoyed that Maggie would bring up her inability to swim. All the other kids her age could at least float but she had always struggled and having to use floaters just stung her delicate pride even more.

"I'll wear the stupid floaties if we go," She bargained softly, her desire to cool off in the creak far outweighing her embarrassment of wearing her little orange floaters. Maggie agreed readily.

The walk to the creek wasn't that far away from their house, but it was situated in the denser part of the forest. It was also a popular social spot in their town and the next town over, so it wasn't that surprising that when they got there it was already crowded with a lot of people they knew and a lot more that they didn't. Maggie spotted a group of her friends and they waved at her joyously to which she responded with equal happiness.

"Here Beth, make sure you put these on," Maggie said before unceremoniously dumping Beth's orange floaties at her feet. "I'm gonna hang out with my friends. Just holler my name if you need anything." And with that she took off.

Beth scowled at her retreating back, angry that her sister left her to herself. Feeling particularly rebellious, she decided that no, she wasn't going to put on her floaties. Walking to the edge of the creek, Beth edged one toe into the icy water and squeeled in delight at the cold sensation ran up from her toe to the top of her knee. She quickly waded in the creek until she was up to her waist.

People ran back and forth in front of her, some of them floating around serenely while others splashed water at one another. She spotted one man at the other side of the creek just sitting at the edge and scowling at everyone as he let his legs hang in the water. No one dared come by him and Beth laughed thinking that he reminded her of a disgruntled stray dog her dad had treated once.

The man turned and caught her mirthful eyes and heat immediately creeped up her face at being caught. She immediately looked away and waded farther away to escape his notice. At this point the water reached her chest and Beth decided that at this would be a good time to try floating.

And so she closed her eyes and swung to her back, arms bobbing softly next to her. She kept perfectly still, even as the water began to flow into her ears. And as minutes ticked by Beth realized that she had finally mastered floating. She couldn't quite stop the proud grin that split her face. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, just floating on her back, the gentle ripples of water swaying her back and forth. She felt serene.

That was until she could hear the frantic cries of her sister yelling her name. Jolting up in surprise it took her a second to process that she had somehow drifted to the deepest part of the creek. And in her surprise she found herself sinking, even as she desperately fluttered her arms and legs in an effort to keep afloat. Her vision sunk beneath the water where she could see Maggies little legs furiously pumping to reach her. But she was so far away and Beth choked on water that she inhaled in fear and a desperate need for air.

Her vision began to blacken around the edges, and Beth felt herself hit the floor of the creek. Looking up she saw someone dive into the water, their expression angry and disgruntled like the dog her daddy treated. And then she passed out.

Beth…

Someone was calling her name. She couldn't see who, as it was too dark, but the voice was soft and wispy, almost carried away in the wind.

What she could see was that she was somewhere in the woods nearby her property. And in the far distance there was a small beacon of light, almost like someone was flashing a light at her. She quickened her pace, thinking that it might be Maggie. But before she could reach the light a hand snatched at her arm tearing a frightened scream right out of her.

Beth

Someone was calling her name more loudly but all she could focus on was the hand clutching her arm. Soon more hands joined, each one finding purchase on her and dragging her farther away from the light until suddenly she was drenched in nothing but darkness again.

"Beth!"

Beth bolted up quickly, water spewing its way out of her system as she coughed uncontrollably. There was an arm behind her back, steadying her into a sitting position and much too large to be Maggie's. Looking up she saw the disgruntled man from earlier, his eyes narrowed in concern and hair a sopping mess. A much older, haggard looking woman stood behind him, her face creased in a sad frown. But she wasn't looking at her, but at him. And she was saying something so softly that she strained her ears to hear her.

"Daryl," Beth repeated softly and he looked at her sharply, suspicious and she realized that was probably his name. "She says she's sorry." The woman was looking at her now, and her eyes expressed such gratitude that Beth just knew that she had done something good right then.

Before the man could open his mouth and ask who 'she' was, Maggie had thrown herself onto Beth sobbing hysterically. Thin arms wrapped around her like a vice and she felt the man calmly disentangle himself from the two sisters.

"You-you stopped breathing Beth, you stopped breathing!" Beth reached up to pat Maggie's back in an almost detached manner as a group of people began to crowd around the two young girls. The man named Daryl had retreated in the crowd and Beth watched the wings on his back as he walked away. Her small thank you was carried away in the wind.

I don't want to die

Beth looked to her left discreetly, frightened by the figure huddled in the corner of the hospital room. She had been climbing the old oak tree near her elementary school in an effort to impress her classmates when the branch she held onto broke. Her dad had been called to collect her and he drove them to the local clinic. Taking her in, he told her to wait with Dr. Marco while he went to grab her medicine from the pharmacy in the clinics lobby.

She broke her arm Dr. Marco told her, before leaving her alone to collect the plaster and make a cast. And that was when she noticed the boy to her left. His head was covered in so much blood, hair matted to his face and giving him a wild look. He looked to be maybe in his mid to late teens. Much older than her nine year old self.

I don't want to die

He was rocking back and forth, frightened by the thought of dying. But Beth had been able to see spirits for a while now, and she could tell that the boy was already dead. Was just a spirit who lingered because he didn't know that he already left this world. So with some effort she let herself down from the bed, careful not to jostle her broken arm, and sat next to the boy.

"Hi, there," The boy stopped mid chant and hesitantly looked to her.

"I know, you're scared right now," She spoke softly and the boy continued to just stare at her, amazed that someone could see him, let alone hear him. "But I just want to let you know that there is a better place beyond here for you."

I don't want to die

He repeated brokenly and Beth frowned sadly.

"We all die someday. Sometimes sooner than we want. But we can't stay where we don't belong." Tears fell from his eyes, clearing away the blood in its path and Beth hesitantly reached out to hold his hand.

"I'm Beth." The blood began to clear away, leaving only the pale features of a young brunette boy.

John

He said softly before he quietly faded into a soft glow of light and then disappeared.

Beth only wished that all spirits were this agreeable. Because there were those that were much less willing to leave.

When Beth was eleven, she discovered that she was able to see people's life energy as well as their spirits. Chakra's, aura's, or whatever people called it. She could see them. And she found that spirits that stayed on Earth acquired a grey tinge in their aura that steadily grew darker and darker the longer they lingered until there was nothing but pure black.

These spirits became twisted, and corrupted until they became angry poltergeists that hassled people of the living. These were the ones that Beth shied from because they took particular delight in harassing her. Human's carried a white light at the top of their heads, a signifier of their life. They carried a multitude of other colors throughout their body that Beth had to carefully decipher. Different shades and hues that gave her headaches for months until she finally learned how to shut that aura part of her sight down. But it was useful.

"Hey there," Beth looked up from the notebook she was writing in to a pair of sharp green eyes and pearly white teeth.

"Peyton," Beth greeted softly, recognizing her school's resident heartbreaker. The teen's smile widened and he ran a hand through his tousled raven hair. A group of his friends stood some ways behind him, not close enough to intrude but not far enough where they wouldn't be able to eavesdrop.

"Beth Greene, right?"

"That's right." She responded, growing suspicious with his question. Beth Greene wasn't by any means ugly, but she was certainly no where on Peyton's radar. Peyton lived a fast paced life of drugs, alcohol, and parties. And Beth Greene was the quiet, religious girl who rarely, if ever went to any social outings.

He shuffled closer to her, his denim clad knee brushing against her own and Beth subtly shifted her leg away. Peyton didn't seem to notice and if he did he was unaffected.

"So there's this party next weekend…and I was just wondering if you wanted to come to it." His smile was charming, too charming if Beth was honest with herself. And that was when Beth spotted it, a pink tinge to his aura, too dark to be love and too muddy to be just lust. And suddenly his charming smile seemed too sinister for her liking.

"No thanks," She said easily, once again lifting her notebook to her face. His smile fell from his face quickly.

"I—what was that?" He asked in disbelief.

"I said no thanks." A shock of red ran through his aura; anger. He huffed and then walked back to his group of friends where she could clearly hear them make fun of him.

It wasn't until next year that four girls would testify that Peyton had raped them and Beth would silently thank God for her gift of sight.

When the dead started to rise again, Beth wholly believed her father when he told them that it was a test from God. That these people, her family and neighbors were just sick and had no idea what they were doing. That they would find a cure for them.

But it was getting harder and harder to ignore the black aura seeping from the cracks of the barn. And the voices, the voices kept her up all night until black smudges began to creep under her bloodshot eyes. And throughout the day she would always find herself standing before the old barn, their moans and voices drowning out any rational thought.

Food…

Hungry…

Food…

Kill…

And then she would reach out, to do what, she never knew because Maggie or Patricia would always come across her and pull her back to the house. They didn't know about her gifts, her abilities, but they sometimes had suspicions, which was inevitable after all this time trying to keep it a secret. They didn't know that she could hear the voices of the dead, of these zombie people.

They didn't know that she shouldn't, wouldn't be able to hear them unless they were absolutely, without a doubt dead.

Kill…

Me…

Kill…Me

Kill me.

And Beth would clutch the sheets even tighter at night, unable to fall asleep with the combination of voices and unending guilt that would consume her. Because she knew what she would have to do and she knew that it would surely break her father's heart.

"…we can't stay where we don't belong."

Because I felt like Beth needed some badass powers for the zombie apocalypse.