A new flip side to the story. I realize Beth's death is still fresh, and hurtful but just give it a try and who knows you might enjoy it. Just let me know what you think.
Never gave much thought into why I stayed. I remembered seeing the white light, and hearing my daddy's voice calling me to go to him and I took one step in that direction when I heard a whimper come from the man picking up my body and then my sisters strangled scream, and I stopped. Couldn't get myself to move away from my living family as they froze around my lifeless body. I knew it was pointless, and I should be listening to my father, but I couldn't move and then the light was gone and I was left to watch my family suffer their loss. I tried to tell them that it was okay, that I was fine and standing next to them but they didn't hear me. Didn't even acknowledge my presence and then his voice rang out in the silence.
"Give it up, Jailbait, all we can do is watch and send them hints here and there. Hoping their dumb asses are paying attention."
That's when I turned my attention over to the older form of Merle Dixon, who stood with one leg propped on a walker with both hands folded together between his legs and it only took a moment for us to stare each other down before a silent agreement passed between us.
Three months later
"Come on, Jailbait, they ain't slowing down for us." Merle hollered over his shoulder as he reached the top of the hill. When he looked back down a disgruntled looking Beth stared back up at him from the bottom. She gave him one final eye roll before disappearing and reappearing just behind the group with a triumphant smile on her face.
"Hate it when you do that shit," Merle muttered, running to catch up to her. She gave him the sweetest smile she could muster and turned to continue her journey with the rest.
Despite being invisible to them, it soon became obvious that she wasn't allowed to just wander this earth all on her own. No, if she wanted to stay on this plane of existence and not get sucked into the black hole that constantly followed Merle and her, then she had to stay within sight of her family. And sometime that wasn't always the easiest thing to do when they continued moving north. Always on the move, always on the run from one thing or another.
Merle eventually caught up with them and he gave her a nasty snarl as he passed by her to lean against the tree next to his brother as the group stopped in the clearing.
"Shit ain't fair," he muttered, moving his gaze away from her.
Beth shrugged. "Ain't my fault you weren't a better person in life."
Merle turned his angry gaze on her again and grunted. At the moment it was the only response Beth was going to get from the older Dixon brother and Beth shrugged it off as she leaned over Carl's shoulder to wave at a smiling Judith.
The little girl giggled and laughed at Beth, making Carl turne to see what was so amusing only to find never ending forest spreading out behind him.
"What you smilin' at, huh, little ass kicker." he asked, shifting his sister so that she faced forward. Judith twisted until she could see Beth again, and Beth winked at her before backing off.
"You really shouldn't do that," Merle said, sliding down to sit on the hard grass.
Beth narrowed her eyes at him, but otherwise ignored his words. He said the same thing every time she played with the little baby, and every time she simply shrugged him off. Judith was the only one that could see her and she responded so happily that Beth couldn't stop herself from making the child smile.
"Maybe someone's there making her smile," Michonne said, making Beth and Merle turn to face her. Of all the people to say something, it didn't surprise Beth one bit to hear it be Michonne. Carl rolled his eyes, and watched as Carol came forward to take Judith from him.
"She's right, maybe Beth is there playing with her." Carol smiled down at the baby, then over to the Daryl who sat glaring at her.
"Stop," he said, not bothering to utter another word as he stood and took off into the woods with his crossbow slung over his shoulders.
"Shit," Merle said, standing up and following his baby brother.
Beth looked at the living redneck with sadness in her eyes, and a dull ache in her heart. She wished she could tell him, tell everyone, that she was fine. That she was here by their side, but no amount of screaming could get them to hear her, and so she was forced to watch them from the sidelines. A part of their lives, but not. It was a hard road, but one she couldn't think about giving up at the moment.
Several hours later the group managed to make camp. The every day noises easing Beth's tension a little bit and she moved over to Maggie's side and watched as the woman boiled another can of water they managed to collect from the stream not too far off. Beth was growing bored, especially since Judith had gone to sleep, and Merle had yet to return, which meant Daryl was still off sulking and there was nothing she could about it. She tried a few times to follow after Daryl when he took off like this, but she always wound up being forced back by that gaping black hole that threatened to suck them in if she got to far from Maggie. After a while, she figured out that it was her blood keeping her on this plane, and though she loved Maggie, she would have loved to see what Daryl did when he was away from the group for so long.
So she sat in silence, staring into the flames of the fire, waiting for the redneck asshole to return so that she could have someone to converse with when shouting caught her attention.
"Walkers!" Merle shouted just before he came into view. He stopped just at the edge of the camp, and leaned forward like he was out of breath before looking back up at the blonde.
"Walkers, a whole herd, getting close!" he repeated.
Beth jumped up, looking behind him for another redneck that shouldn't be too far from his brother.
"Where's Daryl?" she asked, not seeing any sign of him.
"You get this lot moving, I'll worry about him," Merle explained, turning back. It took him a few tries, but he managed to do the disappearing act that Beth had made look so easy earlier that afternoon.
Sending a prayer up above that he would keep his word, Beth spun around looking for something, anything that would get this group to quickly pack up and head out before the herd reached them. She took a look at Tyresse, who was on watch for the night, and cursed when she realized that he was facing the wrong way to notice anything coming for them. Letting out a frustrated grown, she used every bit of strength she could muster in her state, and picked up a branch to throw it in the direction Merle appeared from.
Tyresse turned, gun raised, as did a couple other people that hadn't fallen asleep yet and looked toward the sound. When another branch slide across the grass. Rick, Glenn and Maggie stood up to inspect the sound. Beth threw her hands up in the air in frustration, but followed along. When they were several yards from the camp, the sound of fighting could be heard, and a few more steps revealed a walker pinned to a tree with a bolt straight through his head.
Beth sent up a silent thank you as the two men came into view. One of them with his knife flashing left and right as he stabbed walker after walker, and the other doing what he could to hold back the other walkers so they wouldn't all converge on Daryl at one time.
"Shit," Beth hissed as the others took in the scene and quickly rushed to help. Within moments they were standing back to back, stabbing walkers left and right. Continuously moving away from the camp so that they could herd them away from the others still waiting there. Beth and Merle did what they could to help them in the chaos. Going behind the walkers, and using what strength they could muster to hold the things back so that the others could bring them down before they were bitten, or shoving the walkers away from their family, and sometimes their family away from the walkers.
When Rick lost hold of his knife, Merle grabbed hold of the back of the walker that was trying to attack him, and with their conjoined force they were able to smash his head against the tree. Beth made a quick sweep of the foreset floor, and made sure to kick Rick's knife back toward him. It was several more minutes before the group was able to stop fighting and start running with Beth and Merle right behind them. Rick went running into camp, dousing out the fire, and grabbing up the packs as he ordered the rest to run.
Sleep filled eyes quickly turned into panic as they made quick work of picking up their belongings and disappearing into the night. The two ghosts never far behind them, though they were both having a hard time keeping up. Using their strength to grab items, and people took a lot out of them, and it was by pure luck that they didn't fall too far behind before the group crossed a river and was able to stop for a breather.
Across the river, they could still see the walkers coming for them, their loud moans and shuffling feet echoing through the forest as they attempted to cross the river for their prey. Luckily, the river was at a steady flow, and the walkers were so decomposed it didn't take long for the water to wash them off their feet and away from the small group, A collective sigh rang throughout as they turned away from the sight and continued further away from the water. None of them speaking as the adrenaline faded away, and their exhausted bodies began aching for somewhere to spread out.
Morning found them holed up in an abandoned barn, laying across the cold hay as they slept off the late night run. Beth and Merle sat on the stairs, staring at their collective family with a hint of sadness in their eyes.
"They can't go on like this," Beth said, reaching down to push the hair out of Judith's face. The small girl rubbed her face, and turned so that she was snuggled into her brother more.
"Don't have much of a choice do they," Merle replied, continuing to scratch at the wooden stairs. Beth wished he would stop, no doubt someone would hear him, and the last thing she wanted was the group moving on because they thought something was wrong with this place.
"If they could find somewhere safe, a sanctuary or something." Beth looked down to her sister, thinking about all the possibilities that would be opened to her with a new home.
"There you go, hoping again," Merle said, giving her a side glance. "Don't know how baby brother even put up with you always going on about the impossible."
"Please, your brother loved listening to me," Beth said, nudging his shoulder before searching out the man in question. He slept sitting up, with his back to the farthest wall. He was supposed to be keeping watch, but at some point had drifted off. He looked so peaceful that Beth ignored Merle's groaning about sloppy work, and placed herself on the watch duty. No doubt between the both of them, they could alert the group of danger should the need a rise.
"Oh, it wasn't your voice that he loved," he replied, catching Beth's attention again. She turned to see him looking her up and down to let her know his meaning.
Beth rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just go to hell," she muttered, wiping at something on her jeans.
"Already am, Jailbait," Merle replied, scoffing at her statement. Beth peeked over at him in disbelief. "What? You think following my pussy whooped brother around is my idea of heaven?"
"Then why are you here?" Beth asked, feeling irritated that the man couldn't be grateful for one small thing.
"Why are you?" He shot back, staring her down. Beth shook her head, but refused to answer his question.
"I know why," Merle continued, leaning closer as Beth shifted under his gaze. "Because you didn't listen to daddy, that's why."
"Shut up, Merle," Beth said, jumping from the stairs and moving toward the door.
"That's the problem with all you girlies. You don't ever listen to your father, and look at the trouble it get's you in." He pointed around the room, and Beth looked over her sleeping family. She didn't know where she would have been if she'd listened to her father, but she didn't like to linger to long on what could have been. Instead, she rolled her eyes at Merle and turned to peek through the cracks in the door.
"I'm right, and you know it," he continued stepping off the stairs to follow her.
"Just shut up, Merle," Beth said, pressing her forehead against the wood.
"You started-" Merle started to say when another voice piped up.
"Just do as the girl says, and shut up."
Beth and Merle, both looked up to the lofts to find another woman sitting up there with hay hanging from her brown hair, and a sour look spread across her face as she glared down at the both of them. Beth's eyes opened wide as her mouth hung open in shock. The girl continued glaring at them, and Beth moved to speak, but it was Merle that asked her question first.
"Who the hell are you?" Merle placed his foot on the first step and jammed his finger in her direction. He was trying to look intimidating, and to anybody that didn't know him it should have worked, but the girl at the top squared her shoulders and crawled to the edge of the loft to get a better look at him.
"I should be asking you that question. Barging into my home, and acting like you own the place." She pointed her finger right back at him while Beth continued staring at her disbelief.
"You can see us?" she asked, the question slipping from her lips before she could really think about it.
"Screw that, she can hear us," Merle exclaimed, taking another step toward the girl. The girl's eyes grew wide as her their words registered and she quickly disappeared into the loft once again. Beth could hear her mumbling various curses over the sounds of what could have been a bag being hastily packed up.
When she reappeared, she had a large hiking bag slung over her shoulders and a machete at her side as she started moving down the stairs.
"Where the hell-" Merle started to say, but was stopped short once again as the girl pointed her finger in his face, and then toward Beth.
"Don't talk to me, neither of you. Just leave me the hell alone." She pushed her way through them, unphased as she passed right through Merle's shoulder and started unlocking the door.
"Wait," Beth said, rushing toward her, hoping to convince the girl to stay and explain some things to her. "How can you see us?"
"Just go away," the woman replied as she let the board slide to the floor and walked out of the barn. Beth moved to follow her, and was stopped short by a hand on her shoulder. When she looked back, she noticed the ever present black hole beginning to form.
"Damn it," she muttered, stepping back into the barn. She lingered in the open doorway, unable to tear her eyes away from the retreating figure with a million questions running through her mind, and a wish that the group could catch up with her.
