A/N: Hi everyone - just a quick shout out to anyone who's read, favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! You guys are the best and the only reason I feel compelled to continue with this! Thanks to my unofficial pre-reader, T. If anyone else is interested in pre-reading/beta'ing, anything to help me improve, I'm all for it, just give me a holler!
Quick note about the chapter: we are diving rather quickly into some plot. This will continue to be Beth/Daryl-centric, just on the slow burn side of things. I don't want to bore you with all the reasons I've chosen to go the route I have (which may seem mean, introducing the large overarching conflict, which will drive the plot continuously forward, so early), but please stick this thing out with me. It's gonna be a fast-slow, character-heavy and plot-heavy story.
If you're reading, please feel free to review! I'd love to know what you think. I'm all for constructive comments, encouragement, suggestions, anything. May have another chapter up by the end of the night.
xx
chapter 4: gave me the keys, locked every lock
The rest of the recruiting trip had been uneventful and Beth may've considered it unfruitful were it not for the multiple hunting successes she and Daryl'd had. The three of them had the game they'd killed slung over their shoulders to bring back to Alexandria, which they'd be approaching by the time the sun began to set that evening.
Daryl and Beth had taken to ignoring one another unless it came to hunting. Beth had missed a couple of easy shots, which Daryl hadn't hesitated to point out (though he didn't dare congratulate her in any way on the many more shots she'd nailed).
"Need more practice. Shot looks sloppy. Form is shit. Got lucky with the ones you managed t' get." He'd grumbled a few days prior, after one such missed shot.
Though she'd snapped her head at him, ready to tell him where he could shove his fucking crossbow, she'd managed to keep the anger and irritation and words she'd surely regret under her tongue, not wanting to damage their fragile bond any further after she'd blown up at him a few nights before.
"Well, lucky for us, I don't see me doin' a whole hell of a lot until our next trip. Surely we can find some time for practicin'." There. That was civil. She smiled in his direction and, yeah, it was a little smug.
As they continued the journey, an inexplicable feeling of discomfort started to gnaw its way into Beth, starting in her head and then expanding from the inside to the outside, growing exponentially the closer they got to their home. The three of them were spread out but keeping an even pace with one another. Beth had been eyeing the ground closely for tracks, or anything out of the ordinary, concentrating as best she could on the sounds of the forest surrounding them, wondering if it was just her fucked up brain tricking her as it often had when she'd been alone.
But, no. Beth took a moment, in between her ministrations, to look over at her companions and instantly sensed that a tense energy had fallen over all three of them; it wasn't just her. While Aaron and Daryl had earlier been talking a bit about what they'd do when they returned home and when their next trip might be, they were now so, so silent. Looked to be channeling all of their energy into their other senses, just as she was, searching for danger with their eyes and ears and noses.
As they approached the hill, just over and beyond which Alexandria would become visible and real and attainable, she smelled it. Faint, relatively new, bitter. Familiar. Smoke. Not the comforting smell of Daryl's cigarettes or the small fire they'd built each night while out in the forest. This scent was different somehow. Ominous. A warning, maybe. Something big had been swept up in flames.
Though she was sure the others could smell it, they all remained silent as they ascended the hill. More silent than they'd been any other time during this trip. She saw the worried expression that overtook Aaron's features when he briefly met Beth's eyes across the distance between them, sharing a look as they approached the top of the hill.
Couldn't see much from up there. The gates and walls were hidden by the thick canopy of trees that sloped down the hill, the leaves of which hadn't been shed yet despite the insistent presence of autumn. Faint screams and voices echoed off of the hollow walls and into the forest around and below them.
As they began to make their way down the side of the wooded hill, the gates of Alexandria just appearing in their sights, all three stopped simultaneously. Daryl, who'd been hiking just in front of Beth, shot his arm out in front of her to halt her movements, his hand latched tightly, almost automatically, to her hip—which was likely an unconscious reaction on his part but still didn't fail to send shocks of goosebumps and radicular pulses of energy from the spot where his hand made contact with her up to her skull and down to her toes. She squeezed her eyes shut, brushing off her physical reaction from her stupid fucking body.
"What in the—what the fuck?" Aaron whispered, crouching almost immediately to the floor of the forest, bracing himself against a tree and reaching around to grab an old pair of binoculars from his pack to take a closer look. The strings of their trophies, the food for their loved ones, were long forgotten, left on the forest floor as Beth and Daryl assumed similar positions, remaining close to each other and close to Aaron, to protect themselves from being seen.
A loom of the thick smoke that'd been filling their senses and speeding their paces and heartbeats billowed up into the sky over what they could see of the safe zone in their mid-descent. Again, Beth checked the ground. No tracks. Or, maybe covered tracks? No signs of forced entry, the gates appeared to be slid and left open from here.
"Anyone on the guard towers?" Daryl asked, squinting. His hand had moved down from its original position on Beth's hip but still rested lightly on her thigh, shielding her or keeping himself grounded, she'd guessed, as she stayed crouched down, facing their sanctuary with a blank expression that she'd forced upon her face.
"Not that I can tell," Aaron responded, shaking his head and whistling lowly, trying to determine if anyone from their community was close enough to catch the signal. They waited, motionless, nothing but the rising and falling of their chests evident as they breathed.
The screaming had stopped, Beth noticed after a few moments had passed. The smoke continued to float thickly into the air, black and curling, eventually dissipating when it was high enough above the earth. Beth wondered if someone had come and lit the rows and rows of houses on fire, knocked down the shitty walls, overtook the people that (as she'd known deep down since she'd stepped foot inside the community) wouldn't have had a clue how to defend themselves against a horde of walkers should they invade, let alone more dangerous threats, such as other humans.
"Don't see nobody out here. We gotta get in there. Find the others." Daryl said simply. To them, to himself, to no one. No chance that they wouldn't follow him.
In a distant corner of her mind, Beth wondered if she should feel something more at this moment. She was amped up, ready to fight, blood pumping fast and hard in her chest and the vessels of her neck, but none of her family members had crossed her mind as they'd carefully and slowly descended the hillside. No sense of fear had crept its way up her spine or into her core. Maybe her flight-or-fight response had dismantled along with the damaged lobes of her brain.
They reached the expansion of the wall near the gates quickly, bracing their backs up against it, out of the view of anyone—friendly or not—who might be guarding the entrance. No one was running out of the entrance that Beth could see, nor was anyone coming from the woods. She didn't notice any vehicles within sight. Who the hell were these people? She wondered to herself, only to quickly brush the thought away, because obviously it didn't matter. Someone was here. Someone who had been able to get past the people, her family members, who were left here guarding their home; someone who could have been and most likely was out in the woods at the same time as she and Daryl and Aaron had been. A shiver of energy shot through her bones at that thought.
Beth couldn't quite make out the quiet discussion going on between Daryl and Aaron at her side. Wouldn't be difficult to guess what they were discussing; plans, safe ways to get in and find their family members, secret entrances. Wasting time, she'd thought with a hint of irritation, though her mind stayed far away from any particular person or people, which would have otherwise been the only things on her mind, before.
She was becoming increasingly anxious. Not for any particular reason that she could put her finger on, except for the fact that someone clearly wanted to fight. She was ready to crawl out of her skin with the need to fight back. Didn't care who the opponent may be. They were underestimating her, and not just her, but also her family, if they thought they could come in and overtake them without a fight.
Satisfied that Daryl and Aaron were still deep in their conversation, Beth took her chance at running away from them, off to the side, along the wall, toward the entrance of the safe zone. She'd pulled her gun, still loaded, out of its holster, holding it low in one hand, the knife she'd taken from the block at her sister's home several nights ago (which she'd kept on her every day since, just in case) in her other hand.
She vaguely heard Daryl's hissed obscenities as she continued running, diving quickly around the corner of the gate, which was hanging wide open, and out of sight. No one immediately in her sights, she crouched low to the ground at the side of the first house she approached.
The source of the fire was at the other end of the community, but the increasingly thick scent of it invaded all of her senses. She struggled to contain the itch in the back of her throat that was clawing at her, desperately trying to morph into a cough, threatening to reveal her position to anyone nearby. She flattened herself out on the ground, gun aimed and ready to fire at the first enemy she might see, knife on the ground beside her but within reach.
Daryl and Aaron remained outside the gate, though she could see Daryl peeking around the corner periodically, a deep scowl on his face. She fought the urge to flip him the bird and couldn't wait for the opportunity to tell him how maybe he should practice his scoping skills when he had the time, because had she been an enemy, she would've blow his brains out by now, or at least gotten a decent shot or two in. Maybe he'd be lucky enough to not survive it, another unwelcome thought crashed into her head but she pushed it out forcefully, scrubbing a hand over her face.
Suddenly, breaking the visions clouding her head, she heard a voice she didn't recognize. It wasn't too close, probably in the common area of the community, several hundred yards away from her current position, where the children had gathered on the warmer days to play and dance. If she scooted herself closer to the edge of the house, she'd probably be able to get a glimpse of what was going on.
"I said, who the FUCK'S your leader? Where'd your people get their weapons from, huh? Where you keepin' all your ammo? Not gonna talk now, huh, Mr. Officer? Well, I's got ways o' makin' you talk." The unfamiliar voice yelled. Loud, uncaring if he were to be heard. Beth inched closer to the corner of the house, allowing only her eyes to peek around the corner, finding a large, burly man dressed in all black with the short nose of a gun jammed into the side Rick's head, bashing it into his face and skull a few times as he spoke. Rick. The fearless leader of her family. The man who'd visited the entire spectrum of sanity and still came out the other side.
Rick was on his knees with another man restraining his arms from behind. Blood trickled down the corner of his lips and his nostrils as he huffed deep breaths, the new injuries probably from where the man in black had beaten him. Beth didn't see any fear in his eyes. He remained silent as the man in black went on, asking questions that she wasn't sure Rick would've been able to answer had he wanted to.
No one else was visible from where Beth had posted herself. Well, except for Daryl, who continued his annoying peeping Tom act from the outside of the gate. He was more stationary now, keeping his eyes on what was happening in the center of the community. He wouldn't be visible to them from so far away, but she could see or perhaps feel the alarm radiating from his eyes. She wondered briefly and without any particular emotion where her family members were. Where the people of Alexandria were. Dead? Hiding out? Burnt to death? She squeezed her eyes shut, bringing her focus back to the present.
Beth quickly observed her surroundings. She was still on the ground, up against the first house in the first row of homes closest to the gates. She could see no one else, even as she curved her neck more fully around the corner of the house to check out the scene taking place with Rick and the two other men, who were the only others in her line of sight. She knew that Aaron and Daryl had her covered in the back. She could take these two fuckers out. She'd done worse, before.
The one behind Rick was the problem, as he was facing her direction. She couldn't get to the man in black without taking him out first; she noticed he had a gun lying on the ground next to him. She couldn't get a clear shot at him from here. Not with the shit handgun she'd been given. Not with the dull steak knife she'd taken from Maggie's. If only she had—
She whipped her head around, waiting for Daryl to move his eyes to her. When he finally did, she motioned for him to join her with a quick jerk of her head. He looked annoyed briefly but then, when she'd signaled that the coast was clear, quickly and quietly made his way over to the side of the house, crouching just behind Beth.
She'd started to come onto her knees, turning her attention to Daryl, intending to tell him about her plan to save Rick, but he'd immediately grabbed her by both shoulders, roughly pulling her up onto her knees and whirling her body around to face him.
His blue eyes were ice, breath shallow and rapid and right in her face.
He gripped her upper arms with force—real force that may've actually been painful, before. Instead, it just pissed her off now.
Since he was apparently taking his time to verbalize anything while the battle raged on around them, she took it upon herself to break the infuriating silence: "Daryl, what the hell is your problem?"
"My problem?" He spat, incredulous, hot breath fanning over her face. "Are you fuckin' serious, Beth? What the hell kind'a stunt you tryin' to pull? There are BAD fucking people in here!" He shook her slightly and she began to struggle against his grasp.
"Let me go!" She whispered harshly. "We have to help Rick, in case you didn't notice!"
"Uh-uh. Gonna keep your ass right here." He said, maintaining his firm hold on her. While she kept up a small amount of struggle against him, he effectively and without much effort switched positions with her, keeping one grip tight on her arm as he looked around the corner of the house to get a better assessment of the situation.
"Fuck." He said. Beth struggled to avoid rolling her eyes, again thinking about the wasted time. "'S'only two of 'em. Think I can get a clear shot of the one holdin' Rick from here."
"Hence why I invited your rude ass over here to stake out." Beth couldn't help it. Her voice was harsh, cold even, but he wasn't even giving her a chance here. She wasn't a fucking child nor was she stupid. She'd not have come over here if there were imminent danger. Wouldn't have risked having him come over here if there'd been a horde of walkers or, worse, a group of people waiting to strike.
He huffed, his eyes still angry but his attention focused elsewhere. "Whatever. Just stay the fuck still, Greene, and watch my back."
With a slow but sure pace, he cocked his crossbow and positioned it to take aim. Beth kept her back glued against the side of the house, inches away from Daryl, as she watched him inhale then exhale while pulling the trigger, just as he'd taught her.
She'd heard a muffled thunk seconds later.
"Kyle? What the—where the fuck did that come from?" It was the man who'd been demanding information from Rick. Beth snuck a quick glance around the corner, finding Daryl's intended target sprawled on his back behind Rick, an arrow that appeared to be lodged in his skull pointing towards the heavens.
The man in front had dropped the gun from Rick's head, turned around in a circle, looking in all directions for the archer while in the meantime Rick had regained his bearings, lunging forward on the man just as Daryl had stood from his crouched position, his body humming with energy, no doubt intending to surge forward to take the man out himself. Rick drove the blade of his knife through the man's skull before collapsing face-down on the ground.
A few people—their family, the members of Alexandria—began emerging from what Beth had assumed was their hiding spots, rushing to Rick's side to assist him, picking him up and carrying him towards the infirmary before either Beth or Daryl had the chance to take a step.
Beth's breath was still coming in short little gasps. She felt relieved. She hadn't seen Maggie or Glenn or Carl or Judith in the group of people who'd come to help Rick, but felt confident that they were safe. She also felt pissed off. At Daryl. For reacting the way he did, handling her the way he did, not trusting her judgment the way he did.
She stood fully then and turned towards Daryl, who had fallen back slightly behind her, with the intention of giving him a mouthful, maybe even jabbing a finger into his chest to get her point across; but his solid, larger body was much closer than she'd anticipated. Her body slammed into his, essentially smashing them flush up against one another. His arms and hands quickly came up, pulling her off of him by the hips.
She lifted her head, breathing heavily with rage and embarrassment. He was glaring right back at her, squeezing her hips in a clumsy but rough grip, keeping a small amount of distance between them. He stepped toward her, eyes angry, forcing her to walk backwards in small, stuttered steps until she felt the side of the house behind her.
She gasped as she collided with the siding, though it wasn't painful. It actually felt good. Her bones were singing with the need to move, to hit, to strike, to run and scream and yell. She'd never been a violent person, before. Being on her own had changed that part of her. She wouldn't back down, maybe couldn't. Not even from him. Her physical reactions were something that she'd found early on were difficult to control.
"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again." Each word was punctuated with a deep breath he exhaled through gritted teeth. He nearly growled the words in her face, sweat dripping down his own, creating hot trails that ran down his neck and disappeared under the collar of his shirt.
"Or what?" She challenged, willing herself to remain unaffected by Daryl's sudden proximity, the intensity of his touch and his words. Her words had maybe surprised her a little, but she was pissed. And he was being a first-rate dick for no reason. Had been for days now, and, okay, maybe not for no reason, but she didn't have time to think on that now. The rage was pent up inside her, like she'd just been waiting for him to start something she'd hopefully be able to finish.
"We don't know who the hell those people were. We don't know what they did, what they could still do. If there're more here. We don't know if all our family's safe. Quit actin' like a goddamned idiot." He said the words calmly and quietly, but she didn't miss the sharp edges that were there to remind her that this wasn't just about the two of them and whatever struggles they were having in their relationship. He wasn't thinking about that, and she shouldn't be either. But could she help what she thought? She was all impulse now, like a string of neurons waiting to be lit up as energy bounced among them from various sources, eliciting a small but fierce range of stunted emotions from her fucked up head.
He released her instantly, leaving her up against the side of the house, breaths coming rapidly, eyes stinging. She wiped at her face with fury, turned the corner of the house and saw Daryl jogging down the road, calling out to Glenn, who appeared unharmed but concerned.
Maggie wasn't far behind them. Beth tilted her head slightly when she noticed that her older sister had baby Judith tucked into her arms, covering and protecting her as she walked quickly towards the infirmary building, one of the few left unburnt.
And as the dust and fog of rage that'd been blinding her cleared from her head, Beth thought, without thinking much at all, how different this image might've been before.