Hi everyone. I meant to get this story up prior to the mid season premiere but life seemed to get in the way of that. I wrote a previous Bethyl fanfic, Hell Just Ain't the Same Without You, but this is in no way a sequel to that. I'm still feeling the devastation from the mid season finale and wanted to write my own alternate ending (Mostly to remain in denial Beth no!) I left this open ended because I do have a plan for a multi-chapter story, however I cannot guarantee I will be able to make the time to finish this story. Let me know what you think, feedback always welcome :)

The cold metal of the gun fit perfectly in her hand. Her finger latched the trigger as if it had always been there. Blood stained the walls faster than the recoil and a chorus of horror from the frightened onlookers leapt up around her. Noah's lifeless form lay distorted on the ground, slightly perched up against the wall. Dawn's body seemed to slump down in slow motion. Even in death her stubborn arrogance kept her upright and her eyes remained open, fixed on some chink in Beth's armor she wasn't aware of. Beth continued to hold her breath until two strong arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her into them

She caught Sheperd out of the corner of her eye holding the rest the force back shouting out for a truce. Beth let Daryl grab the gun from her hands, she wasn't sure she could put it down on her own. Rick began to utter something about taking with them whomever wanted to go, but his voice cracked and betrayed his lingering human weakness. Beth's thoughts continued to swirl around in her head in no definite direction. She closed her eyes, resting her head back against Daryl's chest hoping for some kind of reprieve. She felt his arms tighten around her and relaxed enough to open her eyes and reassess her surroundings.

Despite Rick's enlightened pleas none of the hospital staff took a step forward to join the survivors. They remained stiff and stayed behind the wall Dawn had built for them.

"Well I guess that settles it. We will be on our way then." Ricks' voice cracked again. What should have been an assertive statement now sounded only like defeat.

Beth found a tendril of strength. "Wait! We can't leave Noah here like that." She pleaded to Rick, desperation evident in her voice.

Sheperd spoke first. "Don't worry, we will take care of that."

"No!" Anger boiled up in Beth and she saw Dawn's cold eyes flash in front of her. "Take care of it!? What ya mean throw em down the elevator shaft with the rest of the dirty laundry."

Sheperd looked as if she was going to protest but Daryl cut her off before she could.

"We'll take em. Give em a proper burial. Away from this place." Beth turned to face Daryl and silently thanked him. He squeezed her hand and guided her back towards him. Beth's mind still felt foreign to her as if someone else inhabited her body forcing her through the motions. She squeezed Daryl's hand harder, refusing to part with her remaining link to reality. The rage in her didn't subside, instead it took a back seat to the grief she now felt as she watched Rick lift Noah's body.

I don't cry anymore. And that was the worst part. When she spoke those words to Daryl back at the prison they had an entirely different meaning. It was out numbness, a complete emptiness towards this new world. Beth said them to Dawn out of defiance and anger. She wouldn't allow her enemy the satisfaction of seeing her tears. Those were reserved for a better time, away from the stale lighting and hollow faces.

Beth allowed herself to flashback to a memory from her childhood. She had found a baby bunny with an injured leg that had attempted to find shelter in their barn. She whisked him up and brought him into the house, determined to save him from the outside world. Despite all of her good intentions the bunny died a few days later. She remembered finding him still and lifeless in the makeshift habitat and had cried for what felt like an eternity. Desperate for answers on why life was so unfair to him she asked her mother what she had done wrong.

"Nothing honey. You did all that you could. Life isn't always fair though, it's how you react to it that matters."

Beth's 7 year old self was never fond of this answer, she threw a tantrum and earned herself a week's worth of chores. Her current self may have been less fond of it however. Life was more than unfair. It was so unfair to the point that she did not think fair could be be used an an applicable word in today's world. It had lost its meaning. Noah was the last person that had deserved this fate. Beth's mind continued to race and attempted to pull her into oblivion it was only the feel of Daryl's hand in hers that kept her on the ground. She walked next to him like an inmate on death row.

Daryl felt her stiffen and without provocation whispered into her ear "she deserved much worse than a bullet to the head." Beth looked up into his eyes and saw only comfort and understanding there. She had missed Daryl more than she would even admit to herself. There had been a hole inside her ever since she had been whisked away to her prison. The walls she had built for herself while under Dawn's oppression kept even the most overwhelming emotions at bay. Beth glanced at Daryl again, feeling her walls weaken.

The group walked for miles, no one expressed more than a sigh or a few words to fill the silence. Beth's gaze remain fixed on the form in Rick's arms. She watched as he began to struggle against the weight, his arms visibly shaking.

"I think here is nice to stop." Beth suggested looking around seeing an almost untouched field to the right. Rick followed her eyes and nodded. He gently lay Noah down on a patch of grass a few yards from the road. Tyreese set to work automatically with the rusty shovel he picked up along the way.

The group fell into a robotic step behind Tyreese as they buried their dead like they had done too many times before. The bullet had pierced Noah right through the skull, saving them from the now monotonous task of having to destroy his brain to prevent him from rising again. Beth silently scolded herself for even thinking that last thought. Shoving a knife through a human beings skull should never become just a chore.

She chased away the dehumanizing thoughts and focused all of her attention on the patch of disturbed earth in front of her. Noah now lay under the ground, far away from where he came from, and the home Beth assumed could at best be in ruins. For Noah's sake Beth had hoped he had accomplished more in his short life than just moving the dirt used to bury him. She stopped there. She couldn't bear the thoughts that would come after.

Daryl must have been able to sense her internal struggle, he grabbed her hand and squeezed before any more demons could emerge.

Beth spoke without ever looking up. "We should go there." Daryl shifted his eyes on her. "Go where?"

"Noah's home. We need to go." She broke from her reverie and made eye contact with Daryl who nodded in understanding.

"Anywhere."

Daryl only spoke the one word but had Beth heard much more.