In the months that she has been alone, Beth thinks that she's gone wild - feral even.
She catches a glimpse of her reflection in a storefront window as she's creeping through town. It pulls her up short because, for a moment, she actually doesn't recognize herself. Her blonde hair is matted with dirt and blood; her face is marred with scars.
She's almost glad that she doesn't look the same anymore. It somehow makes it a little bit easier to acknowledge the changes she's had to make in order to stay alive.
She can't even remember the last time she spoke to a human. It must have been before she ran from the hospital. Beth had stayed there for ages - long enough for her bullet wound to heal and then some. She had kept thinking that maybe the group would come back for her again. It'd taken weeks for her to wrap her mind around the idea that they weren't coming back.
They'd seen her get shot in the head.
They thought she was dead.
Why come back to rescue a dead girl?
She sings herself to sleep sometimes, quiet enough not to attract any walkers, but just so she can remember what it used to be like to feel safe and joyful.
Beth can feel her last can of food shifting around in her almost empty backpack. She's been putting off a run into town for as long as possible, hoping that her traps will start producing some food again. It seems like the walkers have sunken their teeth into anything with a pulse, picking the forest clean of any animals that might have wandered into Beth's snares.
She needs to move on from this place. Her campsite is a few miles out of town, by a small stream. It's set up perfectly in Beth's opinion and she's reluctant to leave. But she knows when the battle is lost and she's not about to starve herself to death for the sake of a stupid campsite.
Her one can of food isn't going to last her long though. She has no idea where the next town is or how far away she'll need to get from here before game starts appearing again. There are signs leading to a big superstore in the middle of town, but Beth knows better than to head there. She's certain that place will be teaming with walkers.
Going in there alone would be like serving herself up to them on a silver platter.
There are a few smaller stores on the outskirts that she feels safer checking out. It shouldn't be too difficult clearing out any walkers that might be trapped in there.
The sun is beating down hard on Beth's already sunburnt neck by the time she reaches the first store. What she wouldn't give for a bottle of sunscreen or even some moisturizer, but she hasn't seen anything like that for almost a year. She can dream though.
One of the windows has been shattered and the shards litter the ground. Beth tries to skirt around the glass, but its everywhere and some of it is still crunching underneath her feet. She freezes. The sound seems loud enough to attract every walker for miles.
There's no movement in the store.
Beth climbs through the broken window, narrowly avoiding the jagged edges of broken glass, instead of going through the door. She doesn't want to risk the chance that there is a bell on the other side.
The store has been mostly cleared out, but her heart soars when she sees a few fallen cans that have rolled beneath the shelves. It's not a lot, but it's better than nothing. It'll be more than enough to keep her going for a week or so. Maybe more if she finds anything else in the other stores. She quickly shoves the cans into her backpack.
A noise in the distance makes Beth whip her head up. There's some sort of commotion going on in the street, not too far from the store she's in. Beth presses herself into the back corner of the store, cursing the lack of other exits. The sound of pounding feet and the crunch of gravel gets closer and closer.
Then the door is shoved open, someone runs in to the store, and the door is slammed behind them.
For a moment, Beth's mind is laughing at the person. If they wanted a place to shelter from incoming walkers, they chose a pretty poor place to hide - the front window is blown out.
But then Beth realizes that she is trapped in this store with an unknown and, if there is anything that she has learnt since this whole ordeal began, it is that people are far more dangerous than walkers could ever be.
The person's breathing is ragged, savagely breaking the silence that Beth has grown to love. She knows that she needs to get the upper hand here. If the other person sees her before she has the time to get a weapon on them, it could very well be the end for her.
Her footsteps are almost silent - Daryl had taught her how to be light on her feet during their time together.
She knows she's only alive right now because she got out of the prison with him. She wouldn't have lasted a week on her own after she fled the hospital without the skills that he had taught her. Sometimes she even hears his voice in her head, giving her pointers on how to aim her weapon as she's about to shoot a hare, reminding her how to read tracks properly when she's on a hunt.
Despite her almost silent tread, the person - a man - seems to hear her approach. He spins around to see her and his weapon is raised fast, but she is faster and her gun is pressed against his forehead before he has a chance to do anything.
"You really want to risk that?" Beth snarls in reference to the tip of a knife that she can feel pressing against her stomach. "A stab wound won't kill me, but it will definitely give me incentive to plaster your brains against the wall."
Beth knows that she wouldn't kill the man, except as a last resort.
But he doesn't need to know that.
"A gunshot would bring every walker for miles straight here. They'd be all over you. You wanna risk that?" The man's voice is almost mocking her.
Mutually assured destruction.
Until one of them lowers their weapon, there's nothing they can do, but Beth is as sure as hell that she isn't going to be the first one to move.
But it takes everything in her power to not take a step back out of shock when the man's eyes widen and his name falls out of his lips.
She hears Daryl's voice in her head telling her not to let up.
"How do you know my name?" Beth presses the gun harder into his forehead, her hand shaking ever so slightly.
"Beth," his hand drops the knife and it clatters to the floor. "Beth, it's me."
"Who are you?" She can feel tears heating up her eyes.
But then there's a rotting hand grabbing at the man's shoulder and the stench of decay.
A walker is clawing its way through the window. She's almost tempted to let it devour the man. He should know better than to drop his weapon. But she needs to know how he knows her name.
Her hand flies to the hilt of her knife, strapped to her belt, and she lunges forward to stick the blade into the too soft forehead of the walker.
As she turns back to face the man, she catches a glimpse of his back.
Of angel wings stitched on to a vest.
Oh.
How had she not realized?
He's looking at her like she's everything. Like she's the only patch of shade on the hottest day of the year.
'Daryl,' his name falls from her lips like rain falling for the first time after a drought.
Something is grabbing her hair and pulling her backwards. She can hear the snarl of the walker as she fights against it, but she can't see it. Beth can only see Daryl, moving his crossbow from his back and aiming it with ease.
The grip on her hair eases as soon as Daryl's bolt hits its mark.
Beth stumbles forward and suddenly his arms are around her. She tenses up, not remembering how to properly interact with humans. But his arms feel safe to her. She hasn't felt safe like that in almost a year, not since she was holed up with him in a funeral home.
The tension leaves her muscles like a flood. Her fingers grasp at his shirt as she presses her face into his shoulder. One of her hands is still clutching the knife and she knows that she's getting walker blood all over him, but she can't find it in herself to pull away. She can feel him resting his head on top of hers and, for a brief moment, she never wants to leave this place.
"Glenn and Michonne are just up the road. They went to check out another store." His voice is quiet and a little bit deeper than she remembers.
"Why did you come barreling in here anyway?" Beth pulls back slightly, just enough that she can see his face in the sunlight shining through the window.
"Got cut off by a pack of walkers just after the others left. Too many to take out on my own, better to just take shelter and let 'em pass," Daryl shrugs. His eyes flick up to the two dead walkers, hanging halfway through the window. "Guess we still make a pretty good team."
Beth pulls away from the embrace, moving towards the door, listening intently. He follows her, hand resting on the small of her back, like she'll disappear again if he's not touching her.
"I can't hear any movement. The pack must have moved on." Beth pauses, considering the options before continuing. "If we're soft on our feet, we should be able to make it to Michonne and Glenn without too much trouble. There's a way out of town not too far away from here. It'll only take us a few minutes to get out if we're quick about it. "
"You know this town well," he murmurs, his hand still pressing softly against her back.
"I've been camping out here for weeks."
He nods and Beth is so grateful that he doesn't ask any more questions. There'll be time for that later. She wants to know about the others. Is her sister still alive? What about Judith?
She's afraid to ask.
"The rest of the group's camped not too far out. Shouldn't take us long to get there."
Beth jerks her head hesitantly in what she means to be a nod of affirmation. She's scared though. She doesn't remember how to be around humans. She only knows how to be by herself now.
She doesn't know how the others will react to the feral being that she has become.
"It'll work out," Daryl is practically reading her thoughts. "There's always a place for you with us, Beth."
She'd forgotten how good they had become at reading each other during their time together.
They creep out of the store together. Beth wants to latch her hand to his, but they both need their hands on their weapons. She can see Glenn and Michonne waiting for Daryl at the crossroads not too far away. As they get closer, the look of confusion on both of their faces comes into view.
They don't recognize her.
She doesn't blame them, Beth doesn't really recognize herself.
Beth sees Glenn's expression change as she gets closer and he realizes that it's her. The look of disbelief on his face is almost enough to make her laugh.
Almost.
He makes a move to run towards her, but all of their ears are met with the sounds of shuffling feet.
Hundreds of shuffling feet.
A herd.
They have no choice but to run.
It feels like hours before they make it out of town and it seems safe enough to collapse to the ground. Beth's body is worn out from the combination of exhaustion and too little food. She stumbles over a tree root and falls to the floor. She has just enough energy to scoot herself over so her back is leaning against the tree trunk, but that's the last of what she has left in her body.
It's only a moment before a hand is cradling the back of her head and another is holding an open bottle of water up to her lips. She drinks greedily before remembering that the world ended and things like clean water can't be used up all at once.
She pushes the bottle away gently, looking up into Daryl's face. She can't quite stop herself from putting a hand on his cheek, needing to ground herself, a reminder that this is real and not a dream. He doesn't shy away from her touch; maybe he needs this just as much as she does.
"Eat," he orders, producing an apple from his pack and pressing it into her hand.
"Where did you get this?" It's been ages since she's had fruit.
"We're camped by some apple trees. Plenty of them there."
There's a crashing noise as Glenn and Michonne come running into view. Beth hadn't realized how far ahead she and Daryl had gotten.
Glenn looks at her like he can't believe what is right in front of him and Michonne is hovering a little bit behind him, a faint smile tugging at the edge of her lips.
"Hey guys," Beth waves awkwardly. She's not sure what the protocol is for reuniting with family after being presumed dead for months.
That seems to break Glenn out of his trance and suddenly he's on his knees next to her and is throwing his arms around her shoulders.
"Glenn, don't choke her. How would you tell Maggie that her sister came back from the dead only for you to suffocate her?" Michonne teases.
Something stirs in her stomach at the mention of her sister's name - something that she hasn't felt for ages.
Hope.
"Maggie? She's alive?"
Glenn nods, "She's at the camp. She was so angry that Rick wouldn't let her come on this run. She'll be even more livid when she realizes that she could have been with us when you showed up."
She wants to know about the others but she is afraid. So completely afraid of what she might find out.
"Carol, Sasha, Ty, Noah, Rick, Carl, and Judith are all with us." Daryl's hand finds its way to hers and squeezes gently in reassurance.
"Judith?" Beth can feel the hot tears in her eyes.
"You forgot Tara, Eugene, Abraham, and Rosita." Glenn chimes in.
"She doesn't know them." Daryl's tone is sharp.
"Oh." Glenn pauses, "the days have kind of blurred together. I forgot how long you've been gone."
Daryl looks like he wants to pull out his crossbow and shoot Glenn.
Her stomach is in knots as they walk back to the camp. Daryl said there would always be a place for her, but what if he's wrong? What if they just see her as a burden? Maybe she can test the waters, and then sneak away in the middle of the night if it's too much.
Daryl reaches out a hand to help her scramble over a fallen tree. His hand is warm in hers and her eyes rise up to meet his. He's looking at her the same way as that night on the porch when they were drunk on moonshine.
For a moment, it's just the two of them again. The nerves in her stomach calm and everything is okay. She has a place, she has a reason to keep moving, she has someone to be with.
And then Michonne moves into her sightline and the spell is broken.
"Almost there, Greene." Daryl drops her hand as they start walking again. "Your sister will be pleased to see you."
Beth doesn't miss the way his shoulders tense up and the annoyance flowing under his voice when he mentions Maggie.
"Did you and Maggie have a fight or something?" Beth looks at him expectantly.
Daryl stops walking. "Why'd you think that?"
Beth shrugs, "It was just the two of us for a long time, I know how to read you."
Daryl looks away for a moment. When he looks back at her, his eyes seem darker. "I don't like the way she handled something."
"Handled what?"
"Not now, Beth."
"Why not now?" It's clear that a lot has happened since she last saw the group.
"Because I don't want you to be angry when you finally see your sister again." Daryl rubs the back of his neck, looking at the ground and not meeting her eyes.
Beth's taken aback, but doesn't press it any further. There'll be time for that later.
"Group's back!" Beth can hear Rick's call even though she's not quite at the camp yet. His voice cuts through the trees. "Find anything good?"
"We ran into a heard, couldn't get more than a few cans of food," Glenn's voice answers.
"Found something better though." Even without seeing her, Beth knows that Michonne is almost laughing.
The group falls silent when Daryl and Beth break through the trees.
Beth's eyes survey the group in front of her. Judith looks so big in Rick's arms. Carl is probably taller than she is now. Maggie's hair is so much longer than she remembers.
Maggie.
Her sister leaves Glenn's side, staggering towards her.
"Beth?" Maggie chokes out in disbelief.
"Hey," Beth swallows the lump that is rapidly growing at the back on her throat.
And then Maggie is throwing herself at her, just like Glenn had, and sobbing into her shoulder. Beth tenses up again, not enjoying all of this sudden contact. It's too much for her. She keeps waiting for the tension to release, to get used to it just like she had with Daryl earlier, but the relief doesn't come.
Beth is aware of other members of the group surrounding them, all trying to hug her and tell her that they can't believe she's back, but Maggie won't let go.
Maggie's babbling through her tears and Beth can't quite make out everything she's saying. There's a stammered apology over and over though. Then Beth realizes that Maggie saying sorry for not looking for her after the prison fell.
That she thought Beth never made it out alive.
Beth raises her head and meets Daryl's eyes over her sister's shoulder. She sees the look of sorrow in his eyes.
Author's Note: This story will be 8 chapters long and each chapter will be loosely based off of a lyric from the chorus of the song "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap (check the chapter name for the lyric!). Thanks for reading, lovelies. I hope to hear your thoughts on here or over on tumblr (fireandflood). Have a beautiful day!