I don't own the Walking Dead or anything or anyone having to do with it. I am simply borrowing the characters. Also from this point forward this story will be canon divergent. I have read the spoilers and know about the comic books so I kind of know where the story is headed on TV. But, from this point forward Moments will be my take and where I would like to see the Alexandria plot and all of our favorites go ( not that it wasn't kinda that way before lol).
Chapter 7
Beth's questions hung in the air as Daryl pushed the mustang's engine to its limit, flying down the road at a speed that slightly alarmed Beth. For a minute she considered telling Daryl that he should slow down because she was carrying precious cargo in the form of his unborn child but, then she figured that telling him that might actually cause a wreck instead of preventing one. So instead she just shot a quick prayer to whoever might be listening and tried to have some faith in the hunters driving abilities. When he whipped around a bend with signage that cautioned a 30mph turn and the tires squealed she felt her gorge rise in the back of her throat. Beth had always had a touch of car sickness and riding in the back seat had always been an iffy thing for her even with the best driver. With Daryl driving like he was on a Nascar track and her pregnancy she knew she was going to get sick. Fighting down the bile as her face turned a sickly green she leaned forward to tap on Daryl's shoulder insistently.
"Daryl," she called needing to draw the hunter's attention back to her.
When the hunter simply grunted at her before stomping even harder on the gas pedal Beth felt a cold clammy sweat break out on her forehead. Poking his shoulder more firmly she demanded, "Daryl pull over."
"Nah Beth can't do that, " Daryl snapped, " we gotta get back somethins wrong. If ya gotta go your gonna have ta hold it. We ain't far now."
"Daryl I don't have to go to the bathroom," Beth panted struggling to control her breathing in an attempt to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged. As her mouth began to water she demanded, "Damn it Daryl pull over."
The hunter started to protest again when Sasha taking one look at Beth's green features chimed in, "Daryl I think you better pull over now."
The exasperated hunter finally slammed on the breaks yanking the car to the side of the road. The vehicle had barely stopped before Beth was pushing Daryl's seat violently in an attempt to exit the back seat.
"Beth what the hell," the archer growled as he exited the vehicle only to have Beth scrambled out right after him.
She had barely stumbled a foot or so when she fell to her knees heaving on the side of the road.
"Son of a bitch," Daryl ground out as he dropped to one knee behind her. Wrapping his arms around her to support her he quickly swept her blond hair out of the way as she expelled what little food had been in her stomach.
The violent reaching brought tears to Beth's eyes and she struggled to regain her breath as her stomach continued to heave.
"Sush I got ya," Daryl crooned rocking her gently as he held her, " I got ya baby girl. Damn I forgot ya get so car sick. Just let it out darlin I got ya."
As she finally came back to herself gasping for breath Beth realized that Daryl had one strong arm wrapped around her waist. She froze waiting for him to say something to her but, the only thing he did was to pull her back more firmly against him when she finally stopped reaching.
"Ya okay now," he mumbled concern clear in tone.
"Yeah," she gasped hating the taste of the sickness in her mouth. Wiping ineffectually at her lips she exhaled, "Yeah I am okay now."
Turning back to the car Daryl snapped," Sasha toss me a bottle of water."
Sasha fished around for a second before tossing a sixteen ounce plastic water bottle to the hunter. He caught it easily and cracked the cap before handing it to her.
"Here rinse your mouth but, take it easy don't drink too much straight off or you'll just get sick again." Then after a self-deprecating chuckle, " I barely have ya back an hour and I am makin ya sick. Damn poor excuse for a friend I am."
Spitting the water she had used to swish her mouth clean beside her on the grass Beth countered, "Wasn't your fault. Shoulda reminded you about that instead of just climbin in the back seat."
As she leaned against him panting Beth took in the worry written across the hunters face, " We need to go don't we," she rasped exhaustedly.
"Yeah darling we do, " the hunter murmured clearly torn about forcing Beth back into the car that had made her sick in the first place. "Alexandria is our home. It's where we been living for the last several months and somethin bad is happenin back there. We gotta get back. Rick needs me."
"Okay," she exhaled forcing herself back onto her feet, "l can suck it up."
She swayed slightly as she stood but, Daryl was there to immediately steady her. With his hands still on her shoulders he made eye contact with Abe and barked, "Get in the back seat. Beth gets car sick. She ain't ridin in the back anymore."
"Are you kidding man," the big red head started to argue," I can't fit back there Dixon. She's a little thing and we're almost back. She can ride the rest of the way in the back."
" I said get in the back," Daryl growled menacingly at the other man, " or you're gonna be walkin the rest a the way. Your choice but, either way Beth is sittin in that front seat."
Realizing Daryl was serious the big man grumbled out a few choice phrases before unstrapping his seat belt and moving to the back seat. As Daryl escorted Beth around to the front passenger seat and buckled her in Abe squeezed himself into the tiny back seat. Sasha couldn't help but, laugh at the burly man's attempts which earned her a hard glare from the solider.
Finally Daryl was thrusting the Mustang back into gear and hurtling the final few miles towards Alexandria. As he drove Beth caught the archer shooting worried looks in her direction and she couldn't discern if they were related to her sickness or whether he had felt her stomach and realized what it meant. She wasn't concerned either way. Now wasn't the time to talk about the baby but, eventually they would have to. More the better if Daryl was the one to start the conversation.
As they drove Beth began to notice walkers. First one or two and then slowly more and more as stranglers became small groups and small groups became larger groups. As they zoomed past the walkers would hurl themselves ineffectually at the car and Beth could tell the situation was dire by the darkening expression on Daryl's face.
Finally a wall came into view and Beth thought that maybe this community, this Alexandria was at least safe, until she notice the gaping hole in the wall that walkers were flooding into.
"Mother dick," the loud red head in the backseat swore as they squealed to a stop at the community's front gates. Beth wasn't sure what front gates were going to do with the giant gaping hole in the wall but, she kept her opinion to herself.
Turning to look at each one of them Daryl commanded forcefully, "You get our own out and you run you hear me. We'll meet at the abandon house where Rick, Carol, and I hid the extra guns. Grab whatever you can, whoever you can but, focus on our people and then you go." Turning to pin Beth with his gaze he commanded, "You're with me Greene. Keep up and don't get separated. I ain't gonna lose you again."
Then just like that they were all piling out of the mustang. Beth instinctually checked her hip for her knife ensuring that the snap was unfastened and that the knife was easily pulled from the sheath. Then removing the safety from her gun she moved to follow Daryl into the melee that was an overrun Alexandria. The hunter had his crossbow loaded and aimed as they moved into the town and within seconds they were separated from Sasha and Abe. As Beth concentrated on protecting Daryl's back she forcibly had to block out the chaos so that it was not immediately affecting her. Walkers were everywhere, people were running, screaming, and in some horrific cases being eaten alive by the undead.
Beth's heart was pounding as she forced herself to only focus on Daryl who was navigating the chaos with single minded focus. As they ran past a woman who was being eaten alive she reached out for Beth in a silent scream. In slow motion Beth's eyes locked with the brunette's and she saw the plea there. Unable to stop herself she pointed her gun and fired ending the woman's suffering unable to justify not doing so. She had a pack full of ammunition and she couldn't just abandon another human being to that fate.
Her actions caught Daryl's attention and the hunter reached back to grab her hand, "Come on Beth we gotta go," the hunter urged echoing a plea from so long ago. This time though instead of running away from the horror they were running straight into it and Beth's throat closed as she thought about the baby she carried. Would Daryl be risking this if he knew. She didn't think so and she suddenly wished she had blurted out the truth on the side of the road right along with the contents of her stomach. This was suicide and every instinct within her was urging her to turn tail and run. Only her trust in Daryl kept her from doing just that and then a rotten arm was reaching for her and she was twisting out of its grasp. Wrenching her knife from her belt she thrust it into the corpse's rotten skull dropping the poor thing in its tracks as she contorted away from the crumpling body to keep running.
A second later she almost slammed into Daryl's back as the hunter rounded the corner of a house and came to a stop at the sound of a familiar voice screaming his name. Looking up Beth saw Glenn running towards them with a terrified looking young brunette trailing after him.
"Daryl," the younger man panted coming to a stop before them, "have you seen Maggie. Have you seen her."
"Nah, " Daryl rasped desperately, "ain't seen any of our people yet. We gotta get them out. Sasha and Abe are here too. We gotta get people out. Gonna meet up at the abandon house outside of town."
"Okay. Okay," Glenn panted clearly understanding what Daryl was saying and then to the girl beside him, "come on Enid we gotta find Maggie." Then they were gone and Beth was left wondering if Glenn had even noticed her standing behind Daryl's shoulder. She had noticed the young brunette giving her an odd look but, Glenn seemed to have been solely focused on Maggie. The thought that she had been completely invisible to her brother in law was like a knife through her tender heart.
Clearly reading Beth's mind Daryl smirked at her over his shoulder, "Come on guardian angel we got work ta do. Ya can berate his single minded lovelorn ass later. Don't got time for ya ta be feelin sorry for yourself right now."
She just nodded tightly at Daryl and plastered a fake smile on her face expecting him to take off again immediately. Instead he paused examining her face for a moment before raising a hand to caress her cheek and sighing softly, "I see ya girl. I'll always see ya no matter what."
The reassure bolstered Beth's crumbling heart and leaning into the caress for a moment she turned her face to kiss the palm of the hunter's hand. When she raised her eyes she saw in that split second confirmation of all the things she had thought she felt for this man reflected back at her.
Then the moment was over and Daryl was jogging once more down a destroyed suburban street. A few moments later they came upon two men struggling with about ten walkers and instead of running past the fight Daryl jumped in furiously decimating the corpses. Following his lead Beth took out her own share before all four of them finally got a reprieve from the onslaught. Beth examined the curly haired man and the slight red head as Daryl barked at them furiously, "Get out of here Aaron. Take Eric and go to the abandon house outside of town. We're all gonna meet there. Now go."
The curly haired man had grabbed the other man's hand and had made to drag him towards the gates when he paused to shout at Daryl, "Come with us man. We have to get out of here. The town is lost."
"I can't, "Daryl shouted back obviously torn, "I gotta find Rick. Have you seen Rick."
"He was at Jesse's Daryl," Aaron replied frantically searching the area around them, "he'll get out Daryl. He will, we gotta go."
"I ain't leavin him," Daryl affirmed, " I ain't leavin my brother again. Go Aaron. Go we'll see you soon."
Then as if both men understood that there was nothing more to say they turned in opposite directions and ran. As they ran past a black man furiously killing walkers with some kind of a long stick Daryl shouted at him, "Get out of here Morgan. Run. We're meetin at the abandon house," but the hunter did not even pause in his flight towards wherever he thought Rick was.
Finally Daryl skidded around another corner and then Beth saw them. Rick, Michonne, Judith, Carl, and three people she didn't recognize covered in walker guts and trying to wade through a sea of the undead. Beth's breath caught for a moment as she thought they just might actually pull it off only to realize that wouldn't be the case when the young boy she didn't recognize started to call out to his mother. In a split second the whole thing went to hell and as Daryl took off screaming Ricks name Beth took off after him.
Several paces behind Daryl she saw the moment the walkers zeroed in on the child and then like piranhas they were on him. The boys screams tore at her heart as she watched the blonde hair woman frantically screaming for her child and refusing to let go of his hand. Beth wouldn't have cared so much, the woman was making a choice, except for that she held Carl firm in her other hand and she was pulling Ricks son straight toward his death. Carl was struggling frantically screaming at the woman to let him go but, the frantic blonde seemed to have lost all sense of composure. Horrified and not close enough to do anything Beth watched as Rick thrust Judith toward Michonne and dove toward the woman with a machete. The sheriff didn't even pause before deftly slicing the woman's arm off as she was pulled screaming into the horde of walkers devouring the boy.
Rick's attention was immediately drawn to Michonne who was frantically hacking at walkers while trying to protect Judith and Beth saw Daryl deviate his path to go to their aid. It was then when no one else was looking that Beth saw the other unknown boy pull out a gun and aim it directly at Carl.
"No. , " it was like a mantra in her head but, she vaguely realized that she was saying the words out loud as she lifted her arm and aimed her gun still running toward Carl.
"No stop," she screamed drawing both boys attention with her loud command. Time seemed to slow to a standstill as both boys turned to look at her. She could read the fear and panic on Carl's face and she saw the minute the other boy resolved to follow through with his intentions. As soon as she saw him make up his mind she knew he had signed his death sentence. With no hesitation she pulled the trigger on her gun neatly firing a bullet directly through the middle of the boys forehead.
His lifeless body hadn't even hit the ground before she was on top of Carl and grabbing his hand, "Run," she urged turning to sprint back towards the gates practically dragging the boy.
Clearly in a panic the boy fought her for a minute as he yelled, "Beth oh god Beth. You can't be here. You're dead. Oh god Ron shot me. I am dead."
Whirling around to face the boy Beth did the only thing she could think of in the moment to bring him back to reality. She slapped him firmly across the cheek as she shouted, " I am not dead Carl and neither are you. At least not yet. Now run before that becomes one of the most ironic things I've ever said."
Beth was just about to turn back towards the gates when Daryl placed a hand frantically on her shoulder, "Run girl," the hunter urged propelling her forcefully and causing her to drag Carl forward with her.
Refusing to let go of his hand she sprinted forward thrusting her gun at him as they ran and reaching for her knife. She recognized that Carl knew how to use the weapon and that it was better for both of them to be armed. As a group Rick, Michonne, Daryl, and she and Carl fought their way towards the gates. Michonne was balancing Judith on her hip and swinging her katana and Daryl and Rick were protecting them. Knowing that Daryl was trusting her to protect Carl she dragged the boy towards the gates indiscriminately stabbing walkers as they ran. It seemed to take hours but, she knew rationally that it only took about ten minutes for them to reach the gates. Passing through them provided little respite because there were too many of them for the mustang and the area around the community was just as overrun as inside the walls.
There was more running and fighting and dragging and Beth could feel herself tiring. She wasn't used to this type of exertion anymore and the baby was suddenly weighing on her heavily.
As if sensing that she was tiring Daryl glanced over at her worriedly. "You okay," he shouted as they continued to run.
"Yeah," she panted refusing to let go of Carl's hand," Yeah I am good."
She could see the disbelief on the hunters face but, in the moment he was helpless to do anything but, let her continue.
Finally the walkers thinned and then disappeared completely and they were able to ease their frantic pace to a walk. Everyone was panting loudly too winded to talk and Beth could feel her heart beating in her ear drums. As she stumbled along still dragging a dazed Carl the world began to spin around her. Her stomach rolled in protest of all the activity and she felt the baby give a vicious kick as if agreeing with her body's objection. Dropping a hand to her abdomen she stumbled catching herself as she felt the blood drain from her face.
"Dad, "Carl screamed suddenly drawing everyone's attention to him.
As the world continued to spin Beth became aware of a rather incessant buzzing noise before the edges of her vision began to go black.
She heard Daryl's grunted ," Son of a bitch," just before her legs gave out.
"I am okay. I am okay," she murmured groggily as the hunter suddenly scooped her into his arms.
"Yeah and I am the king of England," he countered before shifting her so that she was more secure.
Burying her face in Daryl's chest she became aware of Rick's voice asking, "You got her man?"
"Yeah I got her," the hunter assured, "just keep goin we don't got time to stop. I'll carry her."
Then the world faded away to inky blackness.
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As Beth became aware again she couldn't help but, wonder if the previous few hours had been a dream. A weird and mostly violent dream but, still a dream. That notion was squashed by the fact that she awoke very securely nestled in the arms of the man that she had been dreaming about and longing for for the past several very long months. Daryl was sitting by a crackling camp fire something that she was aware of simply by the noise, smell, and heat of the thing and her face was nestled up against his chest. As she inhaled the scent of the man that she had missed so desperately she waited to open her eyes. Instead of making her awareness known she listened to the gently murmured conversation going on around her.
A man whose voice she didn't recognize murmured forlornly, "Do you think anyone else got out?"
"Of course they did. Our people know how to survive." That was Rick.
Then Michonne," Dixon you wanna tell us where the hell you found a fallen angel cuz I'd really like to hear that story."
"Didn't find her," Daryl rumbled his chest vibrating against her cheek," she found me and we didn't really have time to get into the whole story so bout all I know right now is the basics. The doc from that hospital sent his guys down for her and they found her alive, they did surgery, she was in a coma for a while, she woke up and escaped, and then figured she would track us to Noah's place. She stumbled upon Abe, Sasha, and me earlier today while we were bein held at gunpoint cuz a something Carol told her. She saved us and then we headed back to find you all. That's all I know."
Then the hunter shifted as he bent over her, " I know your awake darlin your breathin changed. Why don't ya sit up and eat somethin. You'll feel better."
Blushing furiously Beth turned her face to look up and meet the hunters gaze. His hand was resting underneath her sweater and he gave her belly a gentle caress before murmuring so that only she could hear, " Seems like we got some things ta talk about."
Beth wasn't sure when Daryl had noticed the changes to her body but, she hadn't anticipated them having this discussion in this manner no matter what she had mused earlier. She had wanted more time to approach it, to figure out what to say. At a loss and more than a little overwhelmed she buried her face back against his chest.
Refusing to let her wallow in her shyness he jostled her gently as he began to forcibly sit her up," Come on darlin you need to eat and drink to feel better and ya got some people who really want to look into them pretty blue eyes a yours."
Realizing how futile it was to try to fight the hunter Beth gave in and allowed him to sit her up between his legs. Raising her head as it rolled back against his shoulder she glanced around the camp fire to see Michonne, Carl, Rick, Judith, the two men she hadn't recognized from earlier today, and another younger man that she had never laid eyes on.
There was silence for several long moments before Rick broke it with a softly uttered, " We missed you Beth. I am sorry bout what happened at that hospital. I didn't plan for it to go down that way."
"It wasn't your fault Rick," she whispered as she leaned into Daryl for support, "I did somethin stupid and I shoulda known better." Then offering them all a small smile she breathed , " I am really glad I found you all. I missed everyone real bad."
"We missed you too sweetheart, " Rick murmured coming to squat before her. Then reaching for her he pulled her into a hug as he said lowly, "welcome home."
Beth melted into the embrace tears prickling at the corners of her eyes as she was literally welcomed with open arms by her family. This was the reunion she had been denied at Grady. The one that she had been dreaming about since she first woke up there.
After Rick's embrace Michonne came over with Judy in her arms. Beth kissed the little girls forehead before receiving a one armed embrace from the older woman. Leaning into Beth she whispered in her ear, "You're a sight for sore eyes girl. Was startin ta really worry about Dixon. Glad you found your way home."
Carl came to her next thanking her for what she had done earlier that day and presenting her with a bottle of water and a heated can of beef stew. She accepted the items gratefully and leaning into Daryl for support she tucked into the contents as Rick explained to the three unknown men who she was. The curly haired man eyed both her and Daryl quite knowingly and then introduced himself as Aaron. The other two men were Aaron's boyfriend Eric and Alexandria's late leader's son Spencer. Apparently Aaron and Eric had encountered him on their way out of the town and had dragged him along.
Beth finished about half the can of stew before offering it to Daryl. "Nah," the hunter refused with a shake of his head, "seems like you need it more than me. Finish it."
Then to Rick, "We need to set up watch for tonight. Too many walkers in the area ta not have people lookin out and I would expect the others ta trickle in throughout the night."
"I agree," the Sheriff nodded," You want first watch or second."
"I'll take first with Beth," Daryl stated calmly," we got some stuff ta talk about. You take second with Michonne?"
"Sure sounds good," Rick consented. Then to everyone else," Get settled in it's gonna be a long night. Get some rest now while you can. Don't have any idea what the next few hours are gonna bring."
As everyone else moved to try to get comfortable for at least a few hours of sleep Daryl stood hauling Beth up with him. Reaching down for the small blanket he had been sitting on he moved to wrap it around her shoulders as he led her away from the group towards a small secluded spot with a clear view of the surrounding area. Gesturing to a log he motioned for her to sit before he settled beside her wordlessly.
They sat in silence for several long minutes as they waited for the others to drift off to sleep. Then when he was fairly certain there were no prying ears Daryl turned to her. Searching her face in the waning light from the dying campfire he finally asked, "So a baby huh?"
So a quick authors note of sorts. Up until now I have had a really hard time switching gears between Recapitulation and Moments because they are such different stories. Recapitulation is more a coming of age story and my take on Beth's character is to embrace the flaws and humanity of growing up and learning who you are. There are mountain top moments and valleys as Beth's development progresses towards its end result and it can be very emotionally draining to write. Moments on the other hand embraces Beth as a badass heroine who has already figured all of that out. She's already completed that journey and she knows who she is and what she's about. So as you can see they are two very different characters and sometimes jumping in and out of their heads gives me the feeling of having whiplash. But, I have recognized that I am taking too long between updates and I am going to try to do a better job from here on out with getting regular updates out for both stories. So sorry for the long winded explanation but, the short version is I promise to update this story on a much more regular basis from here on out. Once again thanks to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed it makes all this hard work worth it to know that other people are enjoying the journey as well. Also to those who so patiently waited for this update thank you and I hope it was worth it.
