Prompt: Can you write a prompt where the group has been in Alexandria for a while when Beth arrived. She searchs for Daryl and finds he's with another woman who looks like Beth and who's pregnant with Daryl's child
Beth tucked herself behind a tree as she watched the men at the gate to the town, her stomach growling fiercely as she watched one snack on a pack of crackers with his gun sitting nose down on the ground and propped against his leg. The three men were laughing at some joke the one with the crackers shoved in his mouth had said, shifting their rifles in their hands as they leaned against the makeshift gate.
"It could be safe." her brain told her but her hand went straight to the scar on her cheek and she swallowed hard, closing her eyes tightly and taking a deep breath, "Go. Go up to them. They have food. There are houses. Clean clothes. Clean water. Supplies. Go, Greene. Go." She hesitated for a moment, gripping the pistol on her hand and looking up at the blue sky peeking through the leaves in the tree she hid behind, "You can't be afraid of everyone. You can't be afraid forever. There are still good people."
She took a cautious step out from behind the tree and waited for them to notice her, but it wasn't until her other foot snapped a twig that the guards looked her way and raised their guns. She stopped short and instinctively raised her hands, showing her gun with her finger off of the trigger. Biting her lip she fought the urge to turn tail and run.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" one of the men asked as they lowered their guns after seeing her.
"Beth. Beth Greene." she answered, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice, "Can I put my gun up? I swear. I'll keep my other hand up." she said and they nodded. Beth slid her gun in a holster she had found and put both hands back in the air for the men to see.
"Are you looking for safety?" the one with the crackers asked, watching her glance at the packet sticking out of his pocket quickly before back at him.
"Y-yes." she answered. The man with the crackers stepped forward and placed his hands on hers, pushing them down.
"We're not gonna hurt you so no need to stand there like a criminal. Come on, let's get you inside a cleaned up. Hungry?" he asked and she nodded, the man fishing the pack of crackers out of his pocket, "They're a little stale, but once you get cleaned up someone will get you some more food. Welcome to Alexandria."
Beth capped the bottle of water she was drinking from and straightened out the light blue sun dress she had been given from one of the women, Maria was her name, after she had helped the weakened girl to bathe. Once the dirt and dried blood had been cleaned off of her and out of her hair, she had been given a small plate of fresh vegetables and a piece of chicken that had been cooked for lunch. Maria had given her water and told her to go out and explore, and later that night she would be assigned housing. As she walked she ran her fingers through her hair and smiled. No knots. No mud. No blood. Even though what she used was a cheap 2-in-1 shampoo, she felt like a million dollars walking down the clean street of Alexandria.
Clean.
Everything was so clean she could cry. She never thought she would get so emotional over seeing a well kept shrub lining the sidewalk. She began humming to herself as she walked along the sidewalk, returning greetings from residents coming in and out of their homes.
"Beth?" She stopped at the sound of her name, her knee length dress fluttering around her legs in the gentle breeze that blew through and she turned.
"Glenn?" she asked and felt her heart race, "Glenn! Oh God!" she shouted and ran up to him, her brother-in-law sweeping her up into a big hug.
"You look great, Beth. How long have you been here?"
"Not long, maybe a couple of hours. Where is everyone? Is everyone okay? Where's Maggie?"
"Maggie is fine, she'll be back in just a little bit. Rick's here, Carl, Judith. Almost every person in our group."
"Daryl? Daryl's here too?" she asked and saw his face fall slightly, "Glenn, he's not...dead is he?"
"No, he's alive and he's fine." he answered and scratched the back of his head, looking into her hopeful eyes, "He's, uh, he's down by the gazebo helping to fix it."
"Thank you, Glenn." she said and kissed his cheek with a smile on her face. It had been a long, long time since she had seen the hunter and she had missed him every day. If it hadn't been for him training her to fight, she would not have made it to Alexandria alive. She headed in the direction that Glenn had pointed out, a little skip in her step as she tried not to run towards the hunter. She heard the hammers and saws first before the gazebo came into view. A few men were working on it and she quickly scanned the group until her eyes settled on one, his attention on a piece of wood he was sawing, his muscles in his arm flexing and relaxing as he worked. She bit her lip and took a deep breath before she started to walk slowly towards them. A woman walked out of a nearby house with a bottle of water and an apple and Beth watched as she walked up to Daryl, stopping in front of him. He looked up and set his saw down, wiping his brow with the back of his arm and taking the water from her. He smiled as she said something to him and took the apple, taking a big bite and wiping the juices off of his chin. The woman looked small and petite from behind, her long blonde hair swept up into a high ponytail to keep it off of her neck in the summer heat. She wore an old worn pair of khaki shorts and a ruby red tank top with matching flip flops.
She went to take another step towards them when she stopped and her heart sank a little at the sight of him leaning down to give her a soft and quick kiss.
"Oh..." she muttered and felt her water bottle slip from her hands. The sound of it hitting the pavement got their attention and he looked up, the woman turning around and Beth could see that she was pregnant...very very pregnant. She bit her lip and crossed her arms over her stomach as Daryl's eyes locked with her own.
"Beth...?" he whispered and watched as she turned around slowly and began to walk away towards the front gate. It was time for her to go back to the Welcome House and find out where she was staying, if she decided to.
