The girl gave a soft groan as she began to stir awake. Her body felt sore, like she had just been hit by a bus. Without thinking she attempted to roll over only to find herself pausing in mid roll. Her sleep ridden mind had finally caught up to her present situation, she was on a bed, not the ground outside. Panic and surprise shot through her and she sat up so quickly she wound up hurting her leg again. Memories of what had happened the night before flooded her mind.
"Beth?" The name slipped her lips as she looked around the room for her friend. Some small part of her had hoped her friend would have tracked her down to this place, wherever this place was. Instead she was greeted by blue eyes that watched her every move.
"You're up." He spoke in a soft low voice as to not startle the girl. But she seemed to still be on alert and untrusting. He watched as her hand moved to her hip, but upon finding her blade missing she just gripped the bedsheets.
"You took my knife." Isabel stated the obvious with a slight frown. A frown that only seemed to humor the man watching her.
"Only as a precaution." He smiled warmly at the girl as he leaned back to sit on the edge of the desk opposite the foot of her bed.
"You're the one who shot me." Her frown deepened as she watched him get more comfortable. His calm demeanour only made her feel more uneasy because he was obviously in charge in this situation. And she had no control.
"Correction, Joe shot you." His smile was smaller this time, and was that remorse in his eyes she saw? She couldn't be sure. "But we patched you up." He gestured to her thigh with a smile that said he hoped that was enough of an apology.
"Well then Joe better hope I don't return the favor." She huffed. "Have you been watching me sleep this whole time? Gotta say that's kinda creepy." She gave him a sarcastic smile, but he still laughed.
"No I just started my watch, Joe was in here before me and Tara before him. The name's Jesus." The bearded man introduced himself.
"Jesus.." She echoed the name with a soft laugh."Jesús" She repeated in a Spanish accent. "I was 'saved' by Jesus, and he brought me to a camp of creeps that watch people while they sleep." It was his turn to frown and to this she gave a small smile
"That's not-"
"Am I being held prisoner?" She cut him off, uninterested in what he had to say. She didn't care for it. This chat was wasting her time, she needed to head back to Beth. And since she had no idea where she was she needed all the time she could get to figure it out soon.
"What? No." He shook his head at her assumption, though it wasn't completely off the mark.
"Then I can have my stuff back and go?" She pushed, and he realized she wouldn't make things easy. Though he should have figured that when she tried to walk off on Rick last night.
"Its not that easy." He began feeling a bit at a loss for words.
"But you just said I wasn't a prisoner. Tell me am I being held against my will or not?" Her frown was back. And the glare she gave him actually made him feel uncomfortable.
"Of course not we just-"
"Just what? Took my things and any way of defending myself to keep me here, even though I'm not a prisoner?" She cut him off again, not letting him get a word in. By now she had thrown her covers off and was getting ready to stand up when she noticed her pants. "My pants are missing a leg... "
"We had to cut the pant leg off to be able to get to the wound." Her head snapped up at the new voice that joined them. It was another blue eyed male with brown hair, only this time she recognized this man. He had been the one to talk to her last night before she blacked out.
"Rick.." She heard Jesus address the man.
"..." Isa bit back what she wanted to say. Somehow she felt like this guy here was the leader, and the last thing she wanted was to upset him.
"So, Isabel was it?" The man pulled a chair up to the bed and sat on it. "Tell us again what were you doing outside our walls last night?"
"..." She glanced at Jesus before looking back at Rick. The way he carried himself and questioned her made her feel like she was being interrogated. Maybe he was once a cop. Which didn't help her feel more at ease whatsoever. After all where she came from she was more likely to get judged and harmed by a cop then by a civilian.
"Well?" He probed her to continue.
"If I'm free to go like Jesus here says," she gestured to the other man with her head, "then why am I being questioned." She asked.
"We just need to make sure we're safe here." Rick countered. Which she figured was reasonable and fair enough.
"I was traveling with a friend." She began, deciding to be careful of how much info she gave. She didn't want them to wind up being psychos and then they go and find Beth too. "She got separated from her family a while back, so we were trying to find them."
"She got separated, not we?" Rick asked and Isa instantly frowned. There goes the first slip up. So much for being careful.
"Yes, she. Her and I didn't meet up until after she got separated." She answered with a frown.
"So she was a stranger up until recently?" He continued his questions, and she was right to feel like this was going to be an interrogation.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She countered, she could feel her anger building up but she rarely ever acted on it. "She was a person in need who showed me kindness in this godforsaken world. So I figured I'd help her and we could keep each other company. Keep each other safe.." Her voice cracked on the safe part.
Please be safe. She sent a silent prayer out to anyone or anything that would listen.
"We're all each other has right now. So please, just let me go find her, I promise we won't come back and be a bother." She tried to reason with him.
"Don't see nothin' wrong with helpin' the girl find her friend." Isa blinked as she looked up to see a man standing at the doorway with a crossbow slung over his back. His crossbow reminded her of Beth, it was one of her go to weapons. But what caught her attention more was that even though he looked overall resigned to this world he still had a fire within.
"Help me?" Isabel asked incredulously.
You shouldn't judge a book by its cover..
Beth had been hesitant about falling asleep in a room with a complete and utter stranger. With someone who's name she had barely learned, and someone she had mistaken for someone else. But after some long awkward chats sleep had eventually won and claimed her. Dwight had told her that he knew a Daryl, but he wasn't sure if it was the right Daryl. That Daryl was from a community that he wasn't part of. One that was currently at odds with another. Which meant they were currently on guard so it would be wisest to visit them during daylight hours. And they had both agreed to do so after she had found Isa.
When she woke up she was pleased to see that Dwight had kept his promise and remained on his side of the room. Far away from her. He had fallen asleep sitting next to the desk they had propped against the door to secure them in, and any rotters out. She didn't mean to be rude, she just wanted to keep herself safe.
"Dwight?" She called out to the man to wake him up. When he didn't respond she walked over to him and kicked the bottom of his boot with her own. She had startled him awake and in the process something had slipped from his hand. "Whats this?" She asked as she bent over and picked up what turned out to be a small carved figure.
"Its nothing. Just a hobby." The man stood up as he watched her look over the figure in her hand.
"Can I keep it?" She smiled at him, and he found himself nodding. Unable to tell the girl no. He watched as she walked over to a discarded shoe on the floor, its companion nowhere in sight, picked it up and pulled off the shoe lace. She wrapped the lace around the upper half of the figure's head, he had meant to carve out a small hat but hadn't, so there was currently an uncarved section on the figure. Once satisfied with her knots she let the figure hang around her neck.
"How long will we wait here for your friend?" He asked once she looked up and noticed him watching her.
"..." Beth was conflicted with that question. Yes she and Isabel had agreed to wait 24 hours before moving on. But if she was injured than those 24 hours could be vital. "We'll wait until midday, if she doesn't show we'll go look for her then come back here at night."
"Sounds good." He nodded. It was a smart move on the girl's behalf. Looking out at the sky he saw that it was still early. "I need to go check in so they don't worry." He bended the truth a bit to the girl. He needed to return to the compound before they noticed he had snuck out. It was times of war, he didn't need Negan getting suspicious.
"Of course." Beth nodded. That sounded reasonable, but she worried that while she waited he'd come back with more people. Of course if that were so he could have done it last night while she slept.
"First let's get you some breakfast." Was all he said as he grabbed his crossbow and pushed the desk out of the way. Cautiously he opened up the door and they both stepped out.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Dwighty boy." Negan flashed his usual overly confident, albeit creepy, smile at the other as he pulled into the camp. Dwight didn't answer, he knew to only speak when asked to. "You know, no one noticed you leave this morning. Mind explaining what that was about?" His smile was gone and there was Dwight's green light to talk.
"Hunting." Dwight answered as he walked his bike over to the other. "Figured you'd like meat for you meals today." He gestured to the dead young buck draped over the seat of his bike.
"My, my," that smile was back, "how thoughtful. Carson, why don't you take my gift here and have one of the numbers prep it up nice for me." As he spoke his smile and eyes never left Dwight's face. The other simply stood there and kept eye contact. "Walk with me Dwight, Eugene has some fun ideas to tell us." Negan draped his arm over Dwight's shoulder and steered the other male in the direction he wanted him to go.
"Alright," Rick spoke to Joe as the small group gathered by the gates. "Now ya don't have to go with Daryl, but we appreciate you doing so. This is just a quick drop off, but remember to be careful."
As Rick addressed Joe, Maggie walked over to Daryl. She had heard about the girl last night during the commotion. And had gathered some intel about this morning's conversation from Joe and Jesus. The boy felt bad so he had hoovered around the room and listened in. She had thought nothing of it until they had mentioned the name of the girl's friend she wanted to go in search for. She didn't see why they needed to risk their people for some stranger. After all it could very well be a trap.
"What is it?" Daryl spoke up in his usual gruff voice. He seemed to be wary about the reason Maggie came to see him. And she figured it was because he guessed that she didn't want him or Jesus to go.
"You don't have to do this." Maggie whispered as she came to a stop in front of him, but when he didn't respond she continued. "You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened to Beth." It had been forever since she used that name. And even now it still stung, but she had to be strong. She was strong.
"I know that." Daryl spoke, but before he could say any more they were cut off by a shout from Joe. Looking up they saw the boy leaning against the car holding what appeared to be a busted nose. The girl Isabel stood in front of him with a satisfied grin on her face.
"That's for shooting me last night." She spoke as she cradled and massaged her left hand. Jesus stood behind her laughing. Rick simply shook his head at the two. The girl and her story seemed genuine enough, but even so he didn't want to chance it.
"You think you can survive these two?" Rick asked as Daryl joined him, a not so pleased looking Maggie not too far behind him.
"Yeah.." Daryl nodded as he watched the girl smirk at the boy. Finally sensing she had drawn a crowd she looked up and met Daryl's eyes. She kept giving him a strange look ever since this morning. Ever since she had learned his name.
"Alright, lets get going then." Jesus broke the tension as he patted the roof of the car. The girl simply nodded as she slid into the back of the car. After their talk that morning she had handed over a map with directions of where they could find her friend. There were multiple marks along the map from where the girls had marked as a rendezvous just in case. It had been Rick that noticed the girls came from Georgia, but they thought nothing of it.
"See you guys soon." Rick spoke as he saw his friends and the girl off. He had no idea then what the universe would be throwing their way.
"You should pull over here." The girl spoke up as she began to recognize a few things. Then again it was all trees and a few signs she went by. "We'll have to walk the rest of the way."
"What, why?" Joe asked, confusion and suspicion in his voice.
"Because if we hear cars approaching we take off. Hide in the nearby woods." She answered as she looked from the window to Jesus. "And let's face it, you two aren't completely friendly looking." She smirked at Jesus. He was the one driving, Daryl rode up front with him.
"Just do it." Daryl spoke up. Jesus simply nodded and did as told. He pulled the car to a complete stop just off the road. Somewhere they could easily hide it in the bushes as another worthless unuseable car. "No funny business girl." Daryl told the girl as they got off the car.
"I'm not stupid, you lot haven't returned my weapons." She answered as she walked past him. Leading the way to the yellow run down house she remembered.
They walked in silence, and Isabel could feel their eyes on her the whole time waiting for her to slip up about the trap they thought she had set up for them. But there was no trap, there was just Beth. At least she hoped there was Beth. With a soft groan she paused and leaned against a tree.
"What is it?" Jesus asked as he came to a stop next to her. He could see the frown on her face, she was forcing herself to walk on her wounded leg. So he gestured for the other two to lower their weapons.
"Hurts more than I'd like to admit." Her frowned deepened for just a second.
"Should we stop and rest for a bit?" Joe offered up but she shook her head no to this suggestion. She needed to keep going, Beth was waiting. Taking one slow deep breath to recenter herself she pushed off the tree and began to walk again. "Or not." He glanced at Daryl and shrugged. The other simply returned the gesture before they followed her again.
After a few more minutes of walking the yellow house came into view through the trees. And Isabel's face lit up at the sight of it. Hope, that was what bloomed on her face. Hope in finding her friend again. Hope that Beth was still safe and sound.
"That's it." She softly laughed. "Beth." And without thinking, without worrying about the pain in her leg, she took off running as fast as she could towards the run down abandoned yellow house. "B-!" She was about to shout out to her friend when she suddenly felt a hand clasp over her mouth and yank her back into the trees. She would have fought it had she not heard the sound of the bike pulling up to the house.
"Shh.." Joe whispered in her ear as if she needed him to tell her the obvious thing to do right now.
Beth… She stared with wide eyes as a man pulled up to the house, his back towards them. Who in the hell is he?!
"Whats he doing here?" Daryl looked at her accusingly. Was this a trap after all? Had Eugene divulged everything about them so they had decided to play on their emotions and drag them out here.
"I don't know." Isabel frowned as she pushed Joe's hand away. But his hand didn't go far, instead it went to rest on her shoulder. "I don't even know who he is." The girl growled back, not liking the accusing tone of voice and looks she was getting.
Daryl took a step forward and the girl squared off her shoulders, but whatever argument or fight was about to break out instantly stopped. A girl's shout and the sound of a gunfire had them instantly frozen to their spots. Daryl watched as the girl's face drained of all color and tears filled her eyes. And then she was running towards the house again. Seriously she's injured, whats with the running!
"Get her!" Daryl shouted at Joe who nodded and took off after the girl. Either this was a trap or this girl had just lost her friend and wasn't thinking correctly. Daryl ran past them and towards the house. "Dwight!" Daryl shouted once he was inside the house, grabbing the other man's attention. He seemed shocked but that didn't matter to Daryl. Without thinking he swung at the other male, hitting him square in the jaw and knocking him over.
After that first hit there was no stopping him. Daryl simply kept swinging at Dwight, the other male defended himself more than punching back. Each punch was fueled with her image and the still raw pain of her loss. In their rumble Dwight's crossbow was knocked away from him and Daryl had him pinned down to the floor. Pulling out his blade he pressed it up against Dwight's neck.
"What are you doing here?" He growled at the other who simply stood quiet with the blade pressed against his throat. However his silence only angered the other but before he could react a voice had him freezing in place.
"Stop right there!" A voice sweet and low warned him. "Don't move!" It continued. He knew this voice, it had haunted him countless nights over the past 2 years. And still he dared to not hope, it simply couldn't be. Yet there was no denying that it was her voice. It was Beth.
His Beth..
Looking up he saw what he only saw in his dreams, Beth standing there before him. However unlike his dreams this Beth was standing there before him pointing a crossbow at him, and a look so fierce it told him she'd shoot if he didn't do as she said.
"Beth..?"
Alright guys... Here's the chapter you wanted.. I hope it lived up to your expectations.
