Thank all of you again for your reviews, favorites, and follows. Please have a look at the note at the end-I don't want to spoil the chapter by leaving a note up here.
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know
- Metallica, Nothing Else Matters
"I claim the girl. And the arrows."
The tall, skinny man with a bow sighted on Beth stood perpendicular to Beth and Daryl. Four men held guns that they pointed at the duo, and a sixth man stood behind them, leaning against the car Beth and Daryl had been driving.
Daryl had his crossbow lifted into his arms. His biceps tensed as he looked around and wondered who he was going to have to shoot first. The guy who "claimed" Beth seemed like a good choice. He didn't understand what he meant by claiming her. Beth was her own woman, and in most instances she could take care of herself. He chanced a glance at her, and he noted with pride that she had a gun raised in her left hand. It was less of a sure shot, but if anyone got too close to her she would be able to take him out.
"Now, wait just a minute," the sixth guy who was leaning against the car. He moved forward, between two of the men and to the bottom of the stairs where Beth and Daryl were standing. "You're a bow man, through and through, ain't ya? See, the thing I like about men who carry bows is that we know for sure what type of guy you are. Guys carryin' guns could have been photographers in the old world. Guys carryin' bows were hunters and probably good trackers. You can't just learn how to shoot one accurately in a few days."
He turned his attention to Beth and gave her an appraising look, "Girls though. Girls just don't make it in this world." He shook his head like he was sad about that, even though he seemed like the type of man to drain a woman until she was nothing but a shell of her former self and geek chow. "They aren't fast enough or strong enough, and they aren't survivors."
He took several steps toward Beth, and Daryl quickly moved between her and the guy. "Back off."
"Ah. Spoken for, huh? Listen, your daughter's going to be well taken care of. She'll be fed, and kept safe from biters. And what's sharing amongst friends?" He gestured to the men behind him with a sweep of his hand.
Daryl pressed the tip of his crossbow into the center of the man's chest forcefully. The guy put his hands up, and the men surrounding him took a step closer, all of their weapons pointed directly at Daryl. He could hear the click of five safeties being turned off. "She's not my daughter."
He felt Beth move closer to him, and noticed the guy wave down the other men. "Your girlfriend then. Scandalous. She got daddy issues or somethin'?" He heard Beth huff behind him and imagined that her eyes turned to steel as she glared at the man in front of them.
"You must have me confused with someone whom you think you can speak to in that way." Beth's voice was uncharacteristically cold, and when Daryl turned to look her in the face he noticed that her lips were in a firm straight line, and she was projecting an air of confidence that he had never seen in her before. "You're going to back away. Now."
The man tilted his head and gave Beth a little smirk. With a nod he took a step backwards down the stairs, but he didn't move away. "Girl's got some cojones. I can respect that. I'm Joe."
Daryl looked around at the guys who were still aiming their weapons at them. He began to lower his crossbow when the other men lowered their weapons. The one with the arrow who "claimed" Beth was the only one who looked disgruntled about not killing Daryl then and there. "Daryl," he grunted, "and Beth."
"You two would be better off if you came with us. Safety in numbers and all that. We won't kill you, and we won't take advantage of your woman. She's yours, and we will respect that."
Daryl was apprehensive, but he knew that getting away from this group would be more difficult than just saying no. If he declined, there was a chance that he would be killed and Beth would have a fate worse than death. He turned back to Beth, and he could see a slight shake in her head. She didn't want to go with them. He didn't blame her, but he knew he was better use to her alive than he would be dead.
Daryl nodded and hoisted his crossbow onto his shoulder. He looked at Beth and hoped that she would understand, and that she would wait until they were alone before getting angry at him. She stared at him wide eyed, but she put her gun into the waistband of her pants and followed Daryl. The men stared at her, but were soon distracted by claiming Beth and Daryl's possessions.
They walked along the tracks slowly, the majority of the men were ahead of Joe and Daryl. Beth came along slowly behind them. Daryl wanted her to walk next to him; he wanted to talk to her without the men overhearing. He wanted to figure out a way out of this situation, but he needed her cooperation.
"We're hunting a guy who killed one of our own, and let him turn so he would attack us." Joe told Daryl. "Tony got a good look at him, and once we find him, we're going to get revenge."
Daryl looked back at Beth, who was falling further behind. He slowed his pace, and Joe slowed with him. He didn't want to leave Daryl and Beth alone. He had a feeling that they would try to evade the group, and Joe didn't think that would be a good choice. If they did that, the other men would certainly kill Daryl and someone would claim Beth. Hell, he might even claim Beth if it came down to that.
"She's injured." Daryl said gruffly to Joe. He looked up at the older man. "I don't think she can go much further."
"We ain't stoppin'." Joe said, his face hardening.
Daryl nodded and sided up to Beth. She stopped and looked up at him with a pained expression. "You doin' okay?"
"No." Beth glared at him. She was angry that they were in this situation. Her ankle was hurting. Her shoulder was hurting. She wanted to stop. She wanted out. She wanted to go back to the mouse infested house and start the day over. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
"It's gonna be fine. We're gonna be fine. Please, trust me."
Beth sighed, "I do, but I don't trust them."
"I know." Daryl sighed as well and put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't make a move to get any closer to him. "Listen, if we just keep our heads low, and we follow along we'll be fine. Merle and I used to hang around guys like this. We follow their rules and we'll be fine."
Beth nodded, she knew Daryl had a rough past, and she knew that included hanging around people who were even more unsavory than these guys. She was worried that this wouldn't work out, that they wouldn't be able to leave this group without dying first.
"Joe don't wanna stop." Beth's eyes watered at the words. She was so tired, and she hurt so much.
"I can't, Daryl."
"I'll carry ya as far as I hafta." Beth leaned into his shoulder as a few tears made tracks down her cheeks. She nodded.
Daryl turned his crossbow around on his chest and squatted for Beth to hop onto his back. She climbed on, looping her strong arm around his chest, and letting her injured arm rest on his shoulder. She buried her face into the crook of his neck as she cried a little more.
Daryl could feel the hot tears soaking into the collar of his shirt, but he didn't say anything. He understood how Beth was feeling, but he wasn't sure how to get her to make her feel safe with him and this band of marauders. Joe turned back around when he saw that the two were coming, but he walked slower to keep tabs on what they were saying.
"Did I ever tell ya how I got started huntin' with a crossbow?" Daryl softly asked Beth. He felt her shake her head into his neck. "I told ya that huntin' was somethin' that we had to do. It wasn't a vacation and it wasn't fun, but me and Merle were expected to go with my old man when he got it in his head to shoot us up a meal. He'd always had all these guns around the house, and he'd bring 'em all with him when we went out for a week.
"One time though, when I was about fifteen, and scrawny as shit, and Merle was doin' his first stint in prison, dad decided that he wasn't gonna bring all the guns, but this new crossbow he won in a poker game. Dad was a shit shot with a gun as it was, 'cause he'd get lit and couldn't tell which squirrel was the real one and which was its double, and I'd typically be the one to actually kill the poor animal that we were gonna eat that night. Anyway, dad was a horrible shot. He tossed the bow on the ground before unloading it, and an arrow went flyin' right at my head. We were plannin' on bein' out there for a week, and a' course he didn't bring other food with him. So there I was, no more than a hundred and thirty soakin' wet, left to try to shoot dinner with a fuckin' crossbow."
"Did you catch anything?"
"Not that time. I caught some fish with a line I found in the cabin, but nothin' with the bow. When we got back home I decided I didn't want to be in that situation again, so I started goin' to a target range and huntin' on my own. That was the last time I went huntin' with my dad."
It wasn't' a good story, but Beth softly smiled into Daryl's shoulder because he was opening up about something in his past. She realized he was trying to make her comfortable, and she appreciated it. She was still hesitant about the men around them, but clutching onto Daryl's back she knew that he would protect her as much as he was able.
Thanks again, everyone, for reading.
I just wanted to leave a little note here about this chapter. Frankly, I'm a little uncertain about it. I have a list of things that will happen sketched out in my head, but it seems to be taking detours and meandering a bit when Daryl and Beth are telling their story. A lot of my uncertainty comes from the fact that I'm uncomfortable with this group, and I think that it shows more in my writing than it did on the television show. But, like I said, certain things need to happen for other characters to come to terms with certain things, and for us to have a more secure ending for Beth, Daryl, and their family. I also am having a hard time with Beth's trust. She's losing trust quickly with Daryl, which is why the end scene was so important for them. Hopefully that came across as well.
Please feel free to leave constructive criticism. If this chapter is ill received I'll look into editing to see what I can salvage.
Thanks for your support,
LHB
