A/N: First The Walking Dead fanfic so I hope I did it justice! It's slightly AU as in this Hershel is still killed by the Governor but it wasn't at the prison, the prison was found after the shootout and after everyone wandered off in separate groups and so is where Daryl is currently located. Same people are dead and alive.
/
It had been four months and he had still not given up hope. Four months since the day that she had been viciously taken from him and he had been unable to save her. He remembered the moment like it had happened only yesterday; the memory, so vivid in his mind, would not stop playing over and over every time he shut his eyes. It only took a minute.
One minute and all the walkers turned their sanctuary into a wasteland as they barrelled in through the door, shattering the illusion of faith which he had foolishly constructed when they found the funeral parlour. One minute and he had told her to go, to save herself, that he'd be right behind her and look what had happened. One minute and she was lost, locked up in the back of a car which he could do nothing to stop, watching as she was driven further and further away and he was left alone.
But it only took a single second for each moment of that fateful night to flash through his mind in a taunting rerun.
He had failed her. She had trusted him with her life and he'd let them take her. The possibilities of what could have happened to her plagued him but he could not dwell on them for long as they were too horrifying. She was a young girl - a pretty one at that and he knew the effect which the outbreak had caused on people, especially men.
They were depraved, ruthless and morals were long gone. Four months was almost an eternity in this world.
No one had told him directly to give up but they didn't need to - he could see it in their eyes. No one believed she was alive; Rick, Glenn, Carol, Michonne, Tyreese, Sasha, Carl - hell even Maggie had given up hope.
But Daryl Dixon didn't give up on people, despite the vast number who had given up on him. He vowed to find her and even if he had to search everyday for the rest of his life, he would find her and he would bring her back home.
He owed her that much.
/
She'd lost count of the days, her time spent in the cell had merged all in to one horrifying blur; the screech of the handcuffs around her wrist as she tugged until she was certain her bones were about to tear out her sockets, the pain: the sharp, merciless, agonising pain that swept over her until she felt numb:
Void.
Empty.
Lying on that battered mattress she found her mind frozen, the horror of the ordeal rendering her incapable as she fought to keep her eyes open in fear that the images of their faces would flash across her vision the second they closed.
She couldn't escape them no matter what she did. They plagued her reality, her skin, her mind, even her dreams were cut short as their leering grins and skin crawling voices crept into her only escape and made it a prison.
She didn't know how long she lied there unmoving as she waited for death to take her, to put her out of the unrelenting misery that had become her life. They had taken everything from her, the three of them, successfully destroying the one thing which even the apocalypse was unable to take from her.
Her innocence.
She was no longer the Christian doctor's pure and sweet daughter, little Beth Greene who loved animals, country music and Jesus. No that girl was gone.
What was left in her place was a broken girl who had lost so much in the past year. She had lost more than her way in life, she'd lost herself. Beth didn't want to fight anymore because she no longer knew what it was she was fighting for; so she closed her eyes, grit her teeth and held back the sobs day in day out just waiting silently for the moment that her world, or more appropriately her nightmare, cut to black.
But then everything changed. She glanced upon her wrist by accident; at the silver scar which ran across it and even though she tried not to think of him she remembered his deep, gruff voice telling her how stupid she was for doing that to herself.
She remembered the anger she felt and suddenly, without even realizing it, the part of her which was consumed by its misery gave way to a seething rage.
Beth was no longer waiting for death, she was hell-bent on destruction. Those men- those monsters were going to see that nobody fucked with Beth Greene and came away unscathed. The loss which had once made her weak fuelled her, like a sick toxin was running through her veins. She was unfeeling and cold-blooded… she was unstoppable.
/
It was the crack of dawn, Daryl could tell by the streams of bright light splaying through the bars in the prison windows. He didn't waste a second before hauling himself out of the bed and making his way languidly over to the map which was pinned on the opposite wall. There were dozens of red crosses dotted across it to remind him the areas which he had already searched, to no avail.
Daryl familiarised himself with today's route as he tugged his heavy boots tight around his ankles and picked up his crossbow. He ducked out of his cell and moved silently down the block, careful not to wake anyone.
Today could be the day that he'd find her. Maybe finally today he could bring her home - back to her sister and her friends but more selfishly, back to him. Before she had been kidnapped and he had found the rest of the group at the prison, it had been just the two of them. They had spent weeks relying solely on each other despite the long days and even longer nights proving to be a strain on them, both physically and emotionally.
They covered exceedingly large amounts of ground everyday and he knew she was tired, he could see it in the way her boots scuffed the ground slightly as she walked and by the way her large, expressive eyes never seemed to be fully open. He pushed her to the brink but she never complained, she just pushed on and followed his lead.
Truthfully he could tell that she considered herself a burden to him. He was an experienced tracker after all and was used to going on excessive hunts but she was a sheltered young girl and did not match his pace. Now looking back at it he couldn't help but feel guilty.
He'd treated her like a child when he knew that she was so much more than that. She was caring and she actually gave a shit about him, he'd opened up to her like he'd never opened up to anyone else. Daryl could recall their conversation at the house with absolute clarity; the way her eyes had locked onto his as she told him that he would be the last one standing after all of this with such certainty he couldn't help but believe her.
He could still remember how his heart had clenched when she told him how much she doubted her own survival. They had made a good team and during those weeks he had become increasingly convinced that the two of them would make it as together they appeared to be an unstoppable force.
But look at them now. He was surrounded by their makeshift family in a prison which had quickly become his sanctuary while she was out there somewhere. Alone.
The thought alone caused his legs to move at a faster pace as he crossed the courtyard and approached his bike which was left near the guard tower. Once sat, his hand briefly moved to his torn jeans to check that his weapons were all accounted for - he wasn't taking anymore risks. Daryl's gaze flicked to the guard tower, his hand covering his eyes against the harsh glare of the sun. Michonne was stood on watch, her thorough gaze scanning the area for potential dangers with a fierce intensity.
She caught sight of Daryl immediately and opened the gates after a slight nod of her head in acknowledgement, knowing without asking exactly what he was doing. He returned the sentiment before he started the engine and rode through the gates down the path which he knew better than a hunting trail. He was heading west today and he planned on going out further than usual to scope out one of the deserted towns.
Maybe she was being held there or, if she had by any chance escaped, maybe she would have the sense to find shelter. He was sure she would, after all, in the short time he'd got to know her she'd picked up every bit of information he fed to her like a noble student.
Daryl just hoped that his lessons had paid off and that he wasn't too late. He didn't know how he would ever live with himself if he was too late.
/
The pain would be excruciating but she would not allow her movements to falter.
She took a moment to compose herself and listened out for the sound of her captors. By now she knew their schedules to perfection and knew each man merely by the thud of his boots on the floor above her. Beth knew she did not have much time, one of them would be coming soon.
Even though she was filled with a steely, newfound determination she was still conscious that this was do or die.
There was no way she could take another day and night of this. Her body was aching and the bruises which had not had a chance to heal were making her agonizingly sensitive to the slightest touch, littering her body in a constant purple reminder of what she had been through. Another day of this and she was certain that she would succumb to death, it was a wonder to her that she was still breathing now.
Her eyes raked down her own body slowly and she felt hot tears spring to her eyes at the sight: but she swallowed them down with a vicious intensity, her adopted slogan weighting down on her relentlessly.
We don't get to cry no more.
We all got jobs to do.
Not allowing herself to dwell on the emotions which she had been choking down for months, she pushed on with the task at hand.
The handcuffs were unbearably tight around her wrist and it showed by the way her delicate skin had been rubbed raw by her constant struggling against them. Beth sucked in a desperate breath and slammed her eyes closed, bracing herself for the upcoming pain, repeating the same mantra over and over again in her head until it began to swim:
What would Daryl do? What would Daryl do? What would Daryl do?
What would Dar-
She let out a wild cry into the silence of the room as her left thumb cracked out of place, blood trickling down her arm as her hand finally slipped though their restraints. It had been the only way to free herself and she forced herself to push the sharp shooting pain to the back of her mind. She had tried to muffle the cry by turning her head into the mattress but it had barely made a difference, she knew she had to hurry.
Now with her weaker hand free she was able to swing her body to the right of the bed as she fumbled with the cuff on her right hand. The shift in position had altered the angle of the cuff and she almost let out a smile that the second one came off without as much of a struggle - only leaving a red mark where the harsh metal had scraped across her skin.
She pushed herself off the bed and was surprised when her legs buckled from under her, the months of disuse wearing away her muscle tissue. Steadying herself on the bed, she willed her legs to cooperate, aware that her time was vital and fleeting. Thankfully after a few moments of panic, adrenaline set in and she could feel the familiar sensation returning to her legs.
Beth's eyes darted around the room as she hunted helplessly for a weapon, her hand unconsciously reaching down to her jeans which had been rashly left around her knees, pulling them back around her hips. There was no time to dwell on that now, she needed a weapon and fast.
The footsteps were fast approaching now, no doubt stirred by her outcry and for the first time since she had put her reckless plan into action did she fear that this could be it.
Any second and he would walk through the door and catch her; defenceless and powerless against him.
And then it would start all over again.
No. There was no way she was giving in. Her adrenaline fuelled search led her eyes to fall upon the small, dingy window at the far end of the room. It was far too small for her to fit through but the glass shards could be her only weapon in the room which was virtually bare. She didn't waste anymore time.
Beth hurried up to the window, leaving a trail of blood in her wake before she braced herself once again. Gathering up every morsel of strength in her body, she slammed her elbow against the glass of the window. It hit with a sickening thud and her elbow throbbed with agony but the glass did not break. Her eyes widened in horror when she realised just how close the footsteps were now; they were thudding along the corridor which led to the room, only a matter of a few more steps and that would be it.
Struggling to keep her breathing under control, Beth pressed her lips into a thin line as she curled her fingers into a hole at the shoulder of her shirt and tore the fabric. She had to admit she was impressed at how nimbly her hands worked in this circumstance as she wrapped the fabric around her elbow for protection.
Beth was abruptly brought to a stop when she heard the rattling of the doorknob followed by a gravely curse as the man outside the door realised it was locked. She silently prayed that he had forgotten the key but knew that she had no such luck when the next sound was the jangling of several keys.
Sucking in a final breath, Beth steeled herself; slamming her eyes shut and clenching her jaw as she crashed her elbow hard into the centre of the window. Her heart leapt into her throat as she heard the melodic shatter of the glass shards as they tumbled out of place.
The key sliced into the lock.
She reached for the pointed shard that was still stuck in place in the bottom corner of the window.
The bolts in the door clicked.
Beth grasped at the sharp glass and tugged it vehemently, slicing her palm into an ugly gash as it fell free.
The door swung open, revealing the snarling monster which had held her by the throat as he pushed through her barrier, claiming her as she choked on her own screams.
She didn't think. She moved on pure, fierce adrenaline using his surprise to her advantage as she flung herself at him, ducking at the last possible moment to avoid his grasp before she lodged the shard into his stomach and yanked it back out with brute force.
"You little bitch!" he barked as his body innately hunched over from the wound. Beth seized the opportunity and sank the glass into the side of his neck letting out a primal scream as it sliced through his skin, pushing the blade as deep as it would go before pulling it out so that the blood spurted out, all over her.
His hand went up to his throat in an attempt to stop the blood but they both knew it was no use. His legs packed in and he dropped to his knees with a dull thump, his menacing eyes locking on hers for a moment which to her went on for eternity, before finally, his body gave a final jerk and his eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed onto the wooden floor.
Beth stood motionless above him, watching as the blood and life poured out of him like a river flow, spraying the walls and forming a gleaming puddle on the floor. She'd just killed a man - not a walker - a man, a living and breathing human.
She had to remind herself that he wasn't a human. He was an animal and he deserved the death which he got. Beth's lips twitched as she fought the smile at the thought that the last thing he saw before his eyes had fallen back into his own skull was her eyes, looking back at him, the same way which he had forced her to do so many times before.
Yet it was different this time. This time it was her who had had the satisfaction of watching the dawning in his expression as he realized that this was it: this was the moment he died.
Beth's entire body shook and before she could register what was happening she felt tears running tracks down her cheeks and her legs could no longer hold her up - she fell to the ground and ignoring the stinging sensation from the cut on her hand she clutched at the bloodied shard once again, covering her slashed hand with her other injured hand.
Slowly she lifted the weapon above her head and brought it down with her full body's force, slamming the shard through his vest until it punctured the skin and his blood spilled out. Over and over and over again, increasing speed each time; throwing every bit of anger, resentment, hurt, embarrassment, fury and helplessness which she had felt at his hand into the swing.
The final blow came to his forehead. She hated this man with emotions she had not believed to be possible when he was alive the first time - there was no way she wanted him coming back a second.
The glass clattered to the floor as she dragged herself to her feet, stabilising herself by holding onto the doorframe. She knew that the other two men would either be passed out drunk or out hunting as otherwise they would have appeared during the commotion.
Beth wiped the tears from her face covering herself in blood in the process but she did not care. She just wanted the tears gone, she didn't cry anymore, she had to remind herself that.
Not daring to look back at the room, Beth staggered down the corridor and followed the easy route down through the house until she came to the front door, the door which she had been dragged through four months ago, back when she still believed that she would be saved - that he would come for her.
Pushing the thought of him to the back of her mind, her hand reached for the door and just like that, Beth Greene slipped into the night, away from the horrors of that house and back into the horrors of the outside world.
The two men awoke hours later to the sound of the door slamming against the frame in the vexed wind and small bloody footprints leading from the cellar, out of the door and disappearing without a trace.
Like she said - pure and sweet Beth Greene was history. They wanted a monster?
They got one.
/
A/N: So that's the first chapter done and personally I think it went better than I first thought it would. Like I said this is my first Beth and Daryl fanfic so opinions would be appreciated!
I have a specific scene in mind between Beth and Daryl which this story will lead up to, so I know roughly which direction this will be heading in! Please leave a review if you can cause I'm not sure if maybe this was too dark or too out of character but I tried to think how Beth would react if she had to really go through that and I pictured the results being quite violent. That said, please leave a comment if you disagree or think I should tone it down at all.
-LD