My new Bethyl One Shot. There are a few changes from the show in parts that are familiar, I needed to make it my own. This is purely fluff and intended to be light and airy. There are also time jumps in here. They are very easy to notice though. Hope you enjoy. Let me know what ya think.
I just came back from my hunt in the woods surrounding the prison, the early morning sunlight made the world seem more peaceful then it actually was. Normally people would be up and milling about the yard as the day started, however today all was quiet. I crept into cell block C to find everyone gathered around in the makeshift kitchen area, words were hushed and whispered. "Ain't nobody on watch?" I asked pulling them out of their own little world. They jumped up looking shocked as I spoke.
"Oh Daryl we were not expecting you for a few more hours." Hershel announced standing from his spot at the table. He wobbled a little as he tried to get used to the new prosthetic leg we found a few weeks ago. I shrugged my shoulders as I walked past the huddled group in into the cells. I found mine easily and lay down on my cot to catch some sleep.
When I woke up a few hours later Carl was standing near my door. "What?" I barked. He took off running towards the door to the cell block. Unsure of what was going on I followed him out into the yard.
"Surprise!" Everyone yelled as I emerged into the sunlight. I jumped back slightly as everyone rushed forward towards me.
"What the hell?" I asked to no one in particular.
"Happy birthday brother!" Rick said clasping a hand on my shoulder.
"How in the..."
"I'm sorry, I saw your drivers license in that wallet you keep. It was in your pants when I washed them a few days ago." Carol announced from behind the group.
"Why are yall yellin' surprise?"
"We are throwing you a birthday party." Carl said.
"Ain't no need for a birthday party." I mumbled. I looked over to see Beth setting candles into something, her long blond hair down around her shoulders. She looked up and met my eyes with a small smile. "Thanks." I muttered realizing how rude I was being.
"Come on we have cake. Kind of." Michonne added. They led me over to the table where Beth and the 'cake' was.
"Happy birthday Daryl." Beth said low enough that only I could hear. I looked down at the plate of girl guide cookies we had found a few weeks ago. Beth had placed and lit little candles between cookies to give it the birthday cake look.
"Thanks." I said again before quickly snuffing out the candles and grabbing a cookie. Everyone dug in after that and broke off into separate conversations. I stayed sitting at the table enjoying the stale cookie. "You a girl guide?"
"No, didn't have time for anythin' like that. I had church three days a week and then study group another two days a week and on weekends I had equestrian classes."
"Horse ridin'?"
"Yeah, I was supposed to be headin' to a national competition the summer the world went to hell." Beth told me. I couldn't help but sit and talk to her. She was the only one not makin' a big deal outta the birthday thing. "I'm sorry about everyone finding out."
"You knew?"
"I had seen the wallet a few times before when doing your laundry. Figured you probably didn't want anyone to know so I didn't say anythin'."
"Thanks Beth."
"Don't mention it." She got to cleaning up after everyone like she always did. Nobody stepped in to help so I stood up and grab some of the empty boxes that were laying around. "You don't..."
"Meh." I shrugged it off and followed her to the bin we were keeping cardboard and other garbage. She remained quiet the entire time which was confusing as hell. She always struck me as the kind of girl who would talk constantly. I had the sudden urge to ask her why and the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Why don' you talk much?"
She looked up at me with those bright blue eyes, she didn't say anything for a few minutes and the silence kept on. I thought she was going to avoid answering altogether when she finally replied. "Don't need to. Besides no one here wants to hear what I have to say anyway. I'm just a dumb kid to everyone. Why don't you talk more?" Her question surprised me, I wasn't expecting her to ask it back.
"Can't get in trouble if I don't say nothing." She nodded her head to let me know she heard me. "Ya ain't a dumb kid Beth." Her blue eyes shot up to mine again. They held many questions that she didn't voice. "If ya got somethin' to say ya should say it." I finished.
"What?"
"You are part of the group too." I told her.
"I spend my days watching Judith and doing laundry. I asked Maggie to teach me how to fight in case we end up on the road again and she looked at me like I was crazy which I guess is better than the rest of the time when I am invisible to my own sister. No one notices that I am even here. It doesn't matter though because my mama taught me to be strong and brave and do the job I was given. I don't know why you are all of a sudden talkin' to me but thanks for listening." She said and tried to walk away. I reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her around to look at me.
"S' gonna change." I said before walking off myself.
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The sun had yet to shine through the windows the day after my birthday party in the prison yard. I climbed out of bed and stretched my aching muscles. After dressing quickly and strapping my weapons on I left my cell and took off to Beth's. I slipped in silently so as not to wake anyone else. "Beth." I whispered. She whined a little and rolled over. "Beth get up." I said a little louder than before. She turned her face towards me and squinted into the light my flash light was shining at her.
"What?"
"Come on girl get up we got some training to do." I told her leaving her with a bewildered look as I walked out of her cell. Five minutes later she was walking towards me in our makeshift kitchen area. "Already talked to Rick, he knows you are comin' with me. Got yer weapons?"
"Always." She replied as she followed me outside. It was still dark as I waved at Rick to open the gate for us. "Outside the gates?"
"Ya, we are goin' hunting." She followed along silently as we crept through the forest. I stopped every now and then to instruct her on how to keep quiet so nothing could hear her. "Beth?" I asked after a long time. I hadn't heard her in a while and concern rippled through me. I turned around and found her staring at me. She was right behind me like a shadow in the early morning light.
"Yes?"
"Good job."
She smiled slightly as we continued on, a few feet later I held up a hand to stop her. "See that?" I asked, she followed my gaze down to the tracks in the dirt below our feet.
"Deer tracks." She replied quietly. I gave her what I assume was a puzzled look because she spoke again. "I grew up on a farm, I know deer tracks when I see em." I nodded my head as she moved in front of me and started to follow the tracks. About two yards away she stopped and pointed in front of her. I spotted the deer and handed her the crossbow quietly. She looked at me with a confused and slightly scared look before I showed her how to aim and shoot with it. She got in the ready position and stuck her tongue out a little. I tried hard to keep in my laugh as she pulled the trigger sending a bolt straight into the eye socket of the deer. I stood there stunned in place. "It's fighting and walkers I'm not good at."
"So you know how to hunt?"
"My brother Shawn used to take me when I was a kid. He always said not to tell daddy and that it was our little secret. This bow however I have never used anything like it before. I like it though, very powerful yet still quiet."
"Alrigh' lets get the deer back to the prison then and start on fighting skills."
"You sure you wanna teach me in front of the others?"
"To hell with the others." I told her. "I would rather teach ya behind safe fences than out in the open, if you wanna find some place else fine."
"Let's hunt a bit more than go back." She said as if it was the most normal thing in the world for us to be doing. I followed her this time.
"If you been huntin' before why were you so noisy when we started?" She chuckled a little before her quiet reply filled the air.
"You got me out of bed really early and I was tryin' to see what you were planning. I figured I could play dumb for a bit and see what you were up to." She shrugged. "Thank you by the way."
"For what?"
"Takin' time to teach me."
"Ain't nothin'."
"It is somethin' Daryl, to me it is somethin'." She said just before picking up the trail of a rabbit. She tracked it for a while before catching it with her hands and snapping the neck. She tied it to her own belt before walking away again. The woods were pretty clear of walkers for now which was nice, to just be with the animals instead of snarling dead ones was amazing feat these days. A small clearing emerged ahead of us and Beth took to the trees for cover as we inched closer to it. A small little cabin sat in the middle surronded by wild flowers. "Let's clear it." She said holding her knife in her hand tightly and walking cautiously into the open space. I followed suit, dropping the heavy deer from my shoulders. The cabin was empty of live people and dead people. We stashed the kills in the front room as we went back out into the yard. "Let's practice here."
"Alrigh'." I agreed getting ready. I set the cross bow on the ground next to us. "Fists up." I helped correct her fists so she wouldn't get as hurt when hitting something. Next up was her stance. She was a quick learner I will give her that. "Punch me." I instructed. She did just that. Punching at my hands as I showed her. We kept that going for about an hour, she never stopped, didn't complain either. Who is this girl. "Well girl you ready for a break?"
"Ain't no breaks when you are in a battle. Let's keep going. Show me somethin' new." I did as she asked, getting her ready to use her legs and feet. She took a little longer to pick up on the moves that would incorporate that but it still didn't take as long as when I tried to teach Merle anythin'. "You need a break Mr. Dixon?" She asked with a giggle.
"Yeah, let's take 10 and then we can start to spare." I said plopping down on the ground with my bottle of water. I pulled some rations I took with me this morning and passed her half. "Thanks." She said quietly as she started chewing on the jerky. We sat in comfortable silence for a long while. Neither needing to speak to fill the time.
"Let's get back to it." I said grabbing her hands and pulling her to her feet as I stood. Her face went bright red the moment our hands connected. I ignored it though, pretending to notice nothing. She nodded quickly as our hands fell back to our sides.
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"Where the hell have you been." Maggie demanded once we were back inside the gates. Rick arrived to take the deer that was slung over my shoulders and the three rabbits Beth had tied to her belt.
"We went hunting." Beth said simply. Her voice flat.
"You shouldn't have left the prison. Dixon you should..."
"No Maggie don't blame him for teaching me how to take care of myself out there. You don't need to protect me all the time. Hell you don't even realize I am here most of the time so stop acting like you care so much." Beth yelled at Maggie. Hershel stood by watching his daughters fight. I walked past them to head to the shed we were keeping the meat.
"Didn't think Maggie was gonna flip like this." Rick said walking out of the shed.
"You told Hershel right?"
"Yeah I let him know you had taken her out hunting and were gonna try and train her." He told me. "How's that going by the way?"
"She's a real quick learner, plus she already knew how to hunt." I told Rick. "Listen man, everyone needs to pay more attention."
"What do you mean?" Rick questioned.
"Come on man everyone walks around here with their heads up their own asses, ain't no one paying attention ta her. She is feelin' ignored even by here own damn family."
"Why didn't she say something?"
"Like what?"
"What should we do Daryl?" He questioned leaning against the wall of the shed. The sun was quickly setting and casting an eerie glow around the landscape.
"Don't know. Figure it out though man." I said before walking off towards the showers. The luke warm water rained down on my tight muscles, the stress of the last half hour getting the best of me. How can Maggie be some dumb as to believe everything is fine.
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The next morning I took off into the woods on my own. It took three days before I rejoined the group, the light was still shining brightly and the Georgia heat was starting to get to me as I called out to Glenn to open the gate. "Welcome back man." Glenn said clapping me on the shoulder. I nodded my head before walking back into the cell block.
"Daryl can we speak for a moment?" Hershel asked as I opened the door into our kitchen area. I nodded to him as I shrugged my shoulders. I followed him down to the old admin building, sitting down at on a hard wooden chair as he did. "Thank you for taking care of my little girl."
"Ain't nothin'." I mumbled looking down at my hands on my knees.
"It is something." He repeated Beth's words from days before. "The world has already been uncertain and now that the world has basically ended it is even more so. My daughter has never been the strongest, she has always been quiet and preferred books and music to the things Maggie liked to do."
"You're wrong."
"Am I? About what?"
"Beth is strong she just never gets a chance to show it because no one is looking." I told him, the anger in me rising.
"You are looking."
"Don't matter if it's me who's lookin, it matter's that the rest of you ain't." I replied. "You all gotta pay more attention, she has opinions on things and she is an adult now. She can't just keep getting cast to the kiddie table while the rest of us plan shit."
"Well Daryl I don't think I have ever heard you speak so much at one time." He said lightly. "You are right though about my little girl being a grown up now. I suppose it is time to start treating her like one."
"Good glad ya understand." I said standing up. I walked back to the cell block and plopped down on my cot hoping no one would bother me for the rest of the day. Sleep was almost taking over when the smell of strawberries filtered through my senses. "Beth?" I said not opening my eyes or moving.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine why?"
"You were gone for a long time, do you have your laundry, I am going to do a load in the morning." She said. I looked up at her through my long dark hair. "What?"
"You still doin' laundry?"
"Well I have only had one day of lessons on fighting and such so I'm not really ready to go and do anything else." She said her voice light.
"We'll pick up more tomorrow, you'll be ready soon." She smiled at me as she gathered the clothes from the floor of the cell. The wallet I keep with me fell from a pocket, she picked it up in her small pale hands and placed it on the little table.
"Goodnight Daryl." She said disappearing out from behind the curtain. I fell into a dreamless sleep.
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"Get up." A small quiet voice rang in my ear. Their was only the light from a flashlight shining in the tiny cell. I mumbled a few profanities as I rolled over to face the intruder. "Mr. Dixon get out of bed."
"Beth what the hell?" I said opening my eyes only to find her face inches from mine. I pulled back quickly nearly hitting my head on the wall behind me.
"We are training again today and I wanna get a jump start on it so we need to go before Maggie wakes up and pulls me into some other task. Hurry." She said leaving the room. I pulled myself from bed and tossed on my jeans. I stumbled out into the prison yard and found Beth standing by the gate talking with Tyresse. She had knives straped around her waste and one on her leg. I met her by the gate which Ty had opened up for us, we walked in silence.
"I thought we were going to the clearing to train?"
"We will be but first we need to make a stop. There is an old sporting goods store about two miles out that I wanna check."
"You wanna clear a store of that size?"
"I have an item I am looking for so yes." I scoffed slightly before stopping my movements. "Why are you stopping, if we hurry we will make it there by daylight and then we can move on to the clearing for more combat training."
"You sure yer ready to go in, there could be walkers in there."
"Well what better way to learn than experience."
"Beth if somethin' happens to ya I am a dead man." I reminded her.
"Nothin is gonna happen to me Daryl I promise. Let's just get it done." She said, her voice serious. I stared at her for a minute trying to read her mind.
"You can't promise that ever." I told her. "Let's go. But first what is this item you are looking for that could get us killed?"
"A compound bow. While you were gone I was researching them in the prison library and I think with a little practice I could get real good at it."
"You'll be like a real life Robin Hood." I smirked, we began walking again and she was right. We made it to the big box store by daylight. The Georgia heat had yet intensify as we banged on the main door and waited for the sounds of the dead. A few stragglers piled against the door, snarling with their gross yellowed and rotten teeth. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be." She answered as I pulled open the door. The stumbled out quickly, some falling as the weight of another took them down. Beth deftly slammed her large hunting knife into the skull of a walker as I aimed the bow at another. Quicker than I thought possible she had moved onto the next walker and then the next. Soon all the dead ones were dead again and piled at our feet. Her shirt was stained with the black goo of walker blood but the smile on her face was blinding. "Wow, it is so much more of a rush when there inst a fence between you and them."
"Yeah, lets go." We walked in silently and quickly, scanning the area for any walkers that didn't hit the door. None could been seen or heard as we found the archery section of the store. I found a bow locked behind a glass cabinet. Finding the key under the open and raided till I popped the lock and pulled the bow from its holder and tested it out. The resistance was in good condition and it looked and felt secure in my hands. I passed it to Beth who looked at in in awe. I quickly found a few arrows and a quiver that would fit on her back nicely. "Here, try this." I said handing her the bow. The wood was nice and smooth. "It's a Bear Archey Supermag, should handle alrigh' for ya."
"It's beautiful." She said pulling back on the string. I handed her the quiver filled with arrows and let her figure out how to strap it on correctly so she could reach the arrows when needed. "Let's get going we got a lot of practice ahead of us today." She said making way to the exit, I watched as her eyes darted around the room, watching.
"I'll show ya how to load it properly and quickly, today we are gonna work on speed." I told her entering the woods. The store was growing distant as we walked at a brisk pace towards the cabin we had found before. As we walked she pulled an arrow from the quiver and lined it up, getting a feel for the weapon. I didn't think anyone could really surprise me but Beth Greene was sure full of them. Not only was she a fairly good hunter but she was also a fast learner, picking up combat fighting tricks with ease. Now she was teaching herself how to use the bow by getting comfortable with it. She turned to face me and was speaking before I could even register she had stopped.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"What. Oh um." She just smiled at me, her smile was bigger and brighter than anything I have ever seen in my life, and it was aimed at me. "You jus' surprise me is all."
"I do? How?"
"Never mind let's keep going." I said averting my eyes. She didn't say anything else as we went back to our quiet walking. We made it to the clearing within an hour, having walked at a pretty decent pace. Beth didn't even look tired or ready to break. I got to work setting up a target for her to use as practice, the boards went together easily and I managed to find red paint in a back cupboard in the cabin. "Use this." I instructed as I sat down on the steps to watch. She was quick to fire a bolt, working on her speed. An hour later she was working on her aim which was better than you would expect. "Your brother teach ya to aim to?"
"Nah, I used to sneak out of the house at night and meet up with my friends to play darts."
"You used to sneak out?" I asked incredulously.
"Why are you so surprised?"
"Jus' thought you were the goody-two-shoes type." She laughed a full belly laugh at that.
"It's only because Maggie has always overshadowed me. I used to be able to get away with anything because no one was watching for me. They were to preoccupied with Maggie and the crap she did or Shawn trying to sneak girls into his bedroom at night. Sometimes being invisible has it's perks."
"I guess that makes sense." I replied. She turned back to the target and took aim this time her arrow went straight into the center of the red dot. She jumped with glee and flung her arms around my neck in a hug. My whole body froze at the contact. She jumped back alarmed.
"I'm sorry, I don't know..."
"S' alright."
"Do you think you could ask Rick if I could go on the next run?" She asked nervously, biting her bottom lip.
"Yeah." I took the bow from her and handed her a bottle of water. "Rule one you gotta stay hydrated it ya can." She gulped greedily from the bottle, the heat was intense as noon time neared.
We stayed out in the clearing for a few more hours, switching between hand to hand combat and knife training to working with the bow. It still amazed me how fast she picked things up and how quick her hand was when reaching for an arrow and sending it flying into the red dot.
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"How was practice Bethy?" Hershel asked as we walked back into the gate.
"It was good." Came her quiet reply.
"Whatcha got there?" Glenn asked hopping down from the guard tower.
"Supermag bow. Spread the word that nobody is to touch it with out strict written consent." She replied walking off to the cell block with Hershel following behind.
"Wow she is turning into the female you." Glenn commented as his wife approached. "Hey Mags."
"Hi Glenn. Daryl."
"She's fine Maggie."
"My dad said you talked to him before you took off for a few days, said she feels invisible."
"Ain't my business Maggie, you wanna know whats goin' on with her you talk to her, just know that she won't be content sitting behind fences forever doin' laundry and watching babies that ain't even hers." She took a step back as if I had slapped her. "What is really buggin you Maggie?" I questioned not really wanting to know the answer.
"I should have been the one to see it."
"Well ya didn't yer too busy with yer head up Glenn's ass to see anything else."
"Thank you for taking care of my baby sister." She said ignoring my last comment. "She should know how to be strong."
"You don't realize that she already is she just needs to be given a chance to show it." I stormed off towards my cell hoping to get some sleep. First though I had to check on Beth. "Tomorrow, first light."
"I'll be ready."
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Woodbury fell and we took in the people of the town. The Governor was in the wind and we had no idea if or when he would strike back. The group was growing with all these new people and so was our need for food. Rick had his gardening down pat, growing different crops while Beth and I took to hunting. We never said much but we really didn't need to. We kept up a steady stock of rabbits and deer and squirrels. Her new boy friend Zach wasn't very fond of the idea of her leaving the gates, him and Maggie got on really well.
"You gonna say goodbye?" Zach asked Beth as he pecked her on the lips. He was going on the run today while she stayed behind. Judith was teething or something and she didn't want to leave the little girl.
"Nope." She smiled as she turned away.
"It's like a damn Romance Novel." I muttered as I placed a bag in the back of the truck. The run didn't go as planned. The roof was full of walkers and an old helicopter. The placed collapsed killing Zach in the process. The rest of us managed to make it out and back to the vehicles. "Gotta tell Beth." I mumbled to no one in particular.
We pulled back into the prison and I headed straight to her cell, she was lying on the bed writing in that little green book of hers. She looked up as I leaned against the door frame. "Is he dead?" I nodded my head as she closed her book and stood up. "I don't cry any more Daryl." She went on. "Are you okay?" I don't understand how she can be asking me that, I mean it was her boyfriend that died.
"Jus' tired of losing people s' all."
"Me too." She replied. "I'm glad I didn't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes." Her slim pale arms wrapped around my middle. I could feel myself flinch slightly before I let myself relax, my hand landed on her elbow in what I could only hope was a comforting act. I never have been good at comforting people. I retired to my cell shortly after that, sleep taking over my mind as dreams of walkers and Beth filled me.
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The sickness spread quickly, people died and Beth and the kids were locked away in the admin building to keep them from getting it. I made sure to send Beth her bow so she wouldn't be without it, Maggie thanked me for checking in on them while she tried to get to Glenn who had come down with the flu. I took a team out to an old vet school to get medicine to keep our people alive.
The next thing I knew the Governor was attacking and the prison was gone. Hershel lay dead on the ground after Michonne's sword took his head clean off. The Governor was a ruthless man who quickly took everything away. The fences were all down and there was nothing left for me to do. I thought I had seen Beth get on the bus with the others until her foot steps thundered in my ear. "I was looking for the kids to get them on the bus." She said out of breath. Her Quiver and bow strapped on her back.
"We gotta go Beth. We gotta go." And so we ran, we kept running until we couldn't go any further. Falling down into the dirt we tried to catch our breath. Silence stayed around us as we made camp, the guilt of everything sat heavily on my shoulders. Every once in a while I would look up at her and see her watching me with curious and sad eyes. After all we just watched her father die. I'm surprised she hasn't broken down yet.
Within a few days she went on a crazy mission to find booze. It turned out to be a lot harder than I ever thought it would be to find it. In the end we found a moonshine shack, like this old place my pa used to live in. She got me drinking and playing stupid games and I yelled at her, she held her ground though never backing down.
"I know you look at me and just see another dead girl." She barked back. "I'm not Michonne, I'm not Carol. I'm not Maggie. I'm not like them or you and you don't get to treat me like crap just because your afraid."
"I ain't afraid of nothin'." I hollered back.
"Prove it." She challenged and before I could stop myself I leaned forward and crashed my lips onto hers. She stood there frozen under my touch for the briefest of moments. Her lips began moving against mine quickly, matching my pace. Her hands rising up and clutching at my dirty hair. She yanked on my head pulling me closer to her body as he tongue snaked out and licked my bottom lip asking for entrance. I granted it easily. Moments later we pulled apart breathing heavily. "Wow." She breathed out.
"No more drinking." I said. She nodded her head furiously. We ended up drinking more anyway and burning down the shack. Burning down my past and all the pain that comes with it.
The next morning was interesting, Beth sat by a tree throwing up the contents of her stomach. "Is it always this bad?" She asked through ragged breaths as she tried not to toss her cookies any more.
"Nah get's easier with time."
"I'm never drinking again."
"Probably a good plan."
"Where are we going today?" She asked re-adjusting her bow on her back. I sat down next to her on the hard ground and passed her a bottle of water and a few Advil I found in the shack.
"Well ain't goin' nowhere with you down for the count so we stay here for now."
"No Daryl it ain't safe and I can keep going." She told me, within a few hours of walking we came across this big beautiful funeral home. The grounds were lined with old head stones marking the graves of people long dead. Back when funerals and marked graves were a thing. "Don't you think that's beautiful?" Beth asked me as we looked around the building. Bodies that had been made up and placed in coffins were a stark reminder of the past.
I grunted and shrugged my shoulders never taking my eyes off her. She looked up and met my eyes. "If you keep looking at me like that I won't be able to control what happens." She said to me in a low voice. My face heated as she took a step closer to me. Her hands reached out and grabbed my belt pulling me closer. We were stood in a room with chairs and a piano, the candles she lit burned bright as the sun disappeared for the night. Her lips found mine quickly, all thought vanished from my mind as my hands landed on her hips holding her in place. "Mmmh." She moaned against my mouth. The world fell away in that moment as our bodies connected in a way I have never experienced before. It wasn't just sex with Beth, it was something more, something I have never had before in my life. "Let's stay here for a while. If the others are out there we can find them eventually." She mumbled as I held her close. Cuddling was never something I did or wanted to do but with Beth it just seemed natural.
"M'kay." I replied.
"I'm glad it was you." She said a little louder.
"What was. Oh good this wans't..." I panicked.
"No no, god no. I'm glad I got out with you, sure I wish I knew where Judith was. If she is okay but I am glad it was you and not Maggie or Glenn that I got out with. You let me be me and no one else does."
"I'm glad yer here Greene." She smiled that brilliant smile of hers as we drifted off to sleep on the carpeted floor of the funeral home.
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"Let's move out Greene." I called from the bottom of the stairs. Beth moved as quickly as she could considering the small child she now carried in her arms. Five years ago had you told me I would lose my home at the prison run away with Beth Greene and then fall in love with her I would have called you crazy. Then if you had told me we would welcome a daughter I would have shot you on the spot for being ridiculous. But that is exactly what happened, Beth Greene changed my life. She gave me everything I never knew I was looking for, love, a child, support no matter what. We made that Funeral home our home for years. The walkers began to pile up more and more as the years went by deeming it unsafe to stay. So now Beth was strapping our daughter into a makeshift backpack on my back for our journey.
"Ready?"
"Yeah let's get going. Maybe we will find someone else."
"You think they are still out there?" She questioned.
"A short blonde once told me to have faith that our family was still alive so that's what I'm doing." I told her with a smirk. She playfully punched my arm as she made sure everything was strapped in just right. "Gracie you ready?" I asked the little girl on my back.
"Yep yep yep." She beamed.
We walked for a long while, not needing to stop. We kept to the woods and we kept quiet. A very clean man appeared on the road, I aimed my bow as did Beth while Gracie ducked down hiding her head. "My name is Aaron. I don't mean to alarm you. I come from a safe community in Virginia."
"What the hell ya doin' in Georgia." I demanded. He raised his hands in surrender.
"Looking for good people to join our town."
"You alone out here?" Beth questioned from beside me. Her blue eyes were locked on him, taking note of his every move.
"No my partner is a few miles away with the vehicles. I like to approach new people alone it's less intimidating that way. Anyway the town I come from is called Alexandria. We have a large number of people with many different jobs. Children and seniors, a few years back we brought in a new group with a teenager and a baby." He explained.
"Why should we trust you?" She asked stepping closer a little. I tensed to move but the weight of my child on my back stopped me. "Why should we leave our state to follow you to this community you claim is safe?"
"Is there really anything left in Georgia, we have walls and a school, and a church. And so much more."
"Walls?" I said forming it as a question.
"Yes reinforced steel walls with a sentry in the tower near the gate. We have construction crews working daily to keep the walls standing." He said. "We also have a power grid and a hot water system." Beth's head snapped up higher at the thought of a hot shower.
"Daryl?"
"We can try, but I thought the point was to keep looking for Rick and the others." I reminded her.
"We left our home because it wasn't safe we don't even know if Rick or Maggie made it out of the prison." She added.
"Rick Grimes?" We both shot our heads in his direction at the mention of Rick. "With his son Carl and daughter Judith."
"How do you know Rick?" I asked seriously.
"He is our constable, him and Michonne the lady with the giant sword." He told us. "They are the group that came in a few years back."
"Who else?" Beth asked with tears in her steeled blue eyes.
"Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Tara although I think they were newer to the group. They are real close with Maggie and Glenn. Sasha and Carol are also with the group although Sasha doesn't spend much time with anyone anymore apparently. She lost her brother in an attack and has never been the same. I think they mentioned she lost a boyfriend as well."
"Daryl." Beth said looking over at me.
"Yeah." I said lowly. "Alrigh' we will go with you." We followed the clean man named Aaron a few miles until we came to a parked RV and car. I sat in the back with Gracie in between me and Beth. The other guy Eric, drove the RV back behind us.
The drive into this Alexandria took a few hours, with a few detours due to cities and roads being shut down we had time to relax a little. "Now you've been outta Georgia." Beth whispered beside me, Gracie had passed out with her head nuzzled into my side. I chuckled lowly so I didn't wake her up.
"I think I miss backwoods Georgia, we should go back when she's older."
"I think you are right. Find ourselves a farm and live in peace." I nodded my agreement as we passed through the gates of the community. They weren't kidding when they said they had walls. We slide out of the car, I pulled Gracie with me and held her close as she woke up.
"Daryl?" Rick asked walking out of a pretty house with a manicured lawn.
"Rick." I said back going over to him.
"Who's this?"
"Gracie can you say hi to uncle Rick." Beth said coming to stand right next to me. Rick's eyes bugged out of his head as he realized what Beth implied.
"Beth you made it." He said hugging her close.
"Sure did, you know all that training we did was not for nothing." She replied pulling away from the hug. A small girl came running by with a smaller boy hot on her heels.
"Benji you have to go home." The little girl with reddish brown curls yelled. Gracie looked at the other kids with big blue eyes, longing to join them. The protective parent in me refused to put her down.
"Judith you have to be nice to Ben." Rick scolded.
"Judith." Beth said her eyes wide as tears flooded down her face. Judith looked up at Beth with a strange expression.
"Hi." She said shyly.
"Judy this is Beth, she used to take care of you when you were a baby." Rick told his daughter. I finally placed Gracie on the ground. She went over and introduced herself to Ben and Judith.
"Hi." Judith said in her small musical voice. "What's your name?" She asked Gracie.
"I'm Gracie."
"Wanna come play with Benji and me Gracie?" Judith asked her ignoring the rest of us. Gracie nodded her head and the little girls took off running with Ben following behind.
"Gracie…" Beth yelled before stopping herself. "Just let her go Beth, just let her go." She said to herself. "How are we going to…"
"We will get used to it I guess." I wrapped her up in my arms, placing my face into her hair.
"Well Deanna our leader needs to talk to you both and then we will show you to your new house. You can come and live with us however you two seem like you would be happier on your own." Rick told us.
"Let's do this quick, Aaron mentioned hot showers and shampoo." Beth said. I chuckled as Rick ushered us into that house we saw him leave. The interviews were done quickly and Rick led up to a really nice house on the other side of town. These were house I would never have even been close to were it not for the end of the world. Rick told us to leave Gracie with him and enjoy the house a little. So that's what we did, we took turns showering and then decided to shower together. The large four poster bed was cushioned softly with pillows and comforters.
"I ain't never had this kinda comfort before."
"Well get used to it because we are going to stay here with our family for as long as we can." She told me before her lips found mine in a delicate kiss. After a few hours alone we emerged from the house.
"Benjamin get over here right now." Maggie yelled from a porch across the street. We looked over to see the young boy from earlier running over to Maggie, she scooped him up into her arms and went to turn around when she caught sight of us. "BETHY." She set the child down and ran over to us, engulfing Beth in her arms. "Oh my god I never thought I would see you again."
"Hi Maggie, I missed you too." Beth said. "Gracie come on, I wanna show you your new bedroom."
"Wait who is Gracie?" Maggie questioned with a strange look on her face.
"Our daughter." I told her. She looked over at me with big green eyes.
"Daddy, there is other kids here it is so fun."
"Gracie sweet pea this is your aunt Maggie." Beth said squatting down to her level. "Maggie this is Gracie, Daryl's and my daughter. Which reminds me, now that we are safe…"
"You sure?" I asked her.
"If you want."
"I want." I replied. "Let's have more kids." She jumped up wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me hard. Maggie cleared her throat from behind us as Gracie stood by her leg giggling.
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Life in Alexandria was amazing. We had our family back and our own little family was growing strong. Beth started work at the local school teaching the kids, while I went to work on the construction crew with Abraham. Turns out our family grew after the prison fell and him and his crew became close to Glenn and Maggie. Living in Alexandria had its perks, people didn't die like they did out in the world.
"Gracie why don't you just stay home with us and play a board game?" I asked my now 16 year old daughter. Her blond hair was down her back in waves and her big blues were staring at me like I was crazy.
"Daddy it is just a date, please don't make it a big deal." She whined.
"Gracie's goin' on a date. Gracie's goin' on a date." Jack our 7 year old son chimed from the stair way.
"Jack be nice to your sister and go play upstairs, Ben will be over in a little while to hang out with you." Beth said coming over to sit with me on the sofa. "Ready for our date Mr. Dixon?" She asked me sweetly. I smiled up at her, running my hands through her hair.
"Ready Mrs. Dixon." About a year after we arrived in Alexandria I made Beth my wife at the little church in the town. Father Gabriel officiated and all of our family and friends were in attendance. "Love you Beth."
"Love you too."
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Well this is my new little one shot that has been floating around my mind for a few days. I was bored at work when writing most of it. I know it's not edited very well but I hope everyone enjoys it. Let me know what you think.