Alright, sorry about the wait lovelies. I always find it hard to write when the show is in the midst of a season. BUT HOLY SHIT how about these last four episodes. I definitely was not expecting a lot of the stuff that happened. And a big HELL YEAH for our baby Beth last night! I'm really excited for the next few episodes and I just cannot wait for the midseason finale, which I'm sure will be like nothing we've ever seen before.

Anyway, this chapter was fun to write, and warning: there is a bit of smut! (I know, it's been much too long since a good session in this story.) It involves a little roughness, a little violence, so if you don't like that, you probably shouldn't read. But it's not too intense and it has a happy ending. :)

Thank you so much for your support!


"Well, where do we go from here?"

The group was huddled around the store counter figuring out their next move. They couldn't stay here, and they didn't have the firepower or the numbers to take back the prison.

For once, Rick didn't know what to do. Where to go. Daryl saw this in the way the other man was looking on helplessly at the tired survivors. He stepped up.

"When all this started, we was hearin' those broadcasts about Fort Benning. I mean, we made it this far, and that's the biggest military base in the state. Gotta count for somethin', right?"

The group slowly nodded and turned to Rick. He was looking away with a pained expression. Fort Benning had been the plan in the beginning, after Rick's failed attempt at the CDC. It was Shane's plan. They never made it there after Sophia was lost and Carl was shot.

"That's a long way away," Carol said, concerned.

Daryl nodded. "Ain't got many options though." They stood in silence. Rick composed himself and gave Daryl an appreciative look, all anger from the fight yesterday forgotten. He addressed the group.

"Daryl's right. We don't know what's any other direction, but we know where Fort Benning is." They looked around nervously, everyone thinking what no one wanted to say. That is, except Rick, who could see the fear in their eyes. "And if it's overrun, we take it back. Or we run. Just like we did with the prison. Just like we've always done."

It was strange to think that the word "always" meant just these last couple of years. It felt like lifetimes.

Rick said this with a fierceness that showed the others, his family, that he would stop at nothing to keep them safe.


They spent one more night in the gas station, packing up the cars and preparing for the journey.

The bus of Woodbury people had parted ways with Rick's group at the gas station. They had family and friends in Florida, and they decided that they would try their luck there. So Rick had sent them off with food and weapons, and they made their departure.

They set out at dawn. They would need to stop for food before the day was through. Rick, Carl, Judith, and Michonne were in the first car; Maggie, Glenn, Tyreese, and Sasha in the second; and Daryl, Beth, and Merle were in last in an old pickup, towing Merle's bike in the bed. Stupid as it was, the brothers couldn't seem to part with the damn thing. Merle had bought it for himself years ago, after winning big on a horse race bet. It helped that they always seemed to have a place to keep it when they couldn't ride it.

The arrangements worked out fine for Beth. There was no more room in Maggie and Glenn's car, so she didn't need to do much explaining as to why she was sitting between the two men now. Riding in the truck with Merle was perfect to her; she never wanted him out of her sight again. It was Daryl she was feeling pretty awkward about. They hadn't spoken, had barely looked at each other since the fight. The fight that Merle still didn't know about. He didn't know about any of it yet; Beth had left that bit out of the story of their trek here.

She was going to tell him, she promised herself. They were just so happy at the time that she couldn't bear to ruin the moment. So the next time they were alone, she would tell him.

As for right now, there would be little talking going on. Merle was asleep in the passenger seat, still tired from a week of getting hardly any sleep. Daryl drove in silence, sitting as far from Beth as possible. The radio held nothing but static, obviously, so the only sounds were the din of the engine and the roar of the road. Every time Beth got up the courage to say something, she was always startled back into silence by a sudden cough or shift in the seat by Daryl. Beth had too noticed the man's bruised and scarred hand. She wanted to ask if he was okay, but she was certain the anger that made him do it was a direct result of her. So she stayed silent.

Daryl could cut the tension in the car. He was still mad, but his better judgment said that he should apologize. In the end, though, his pride won out and he refused to apologize. He hadn't done anything wrong, up until he said what he did to Beth. That was almost too much. They hadn't talked about that either yet. So until she said something to him, he was just gonna keep his trap shut and drive.


Fort Benning was over 100 miles away, and the group made it about 50 on the first day. They stayed off the main roads and avoided big groups of walkers, which made for a much longer, but much safer trip. They stopped at a convenience store and set up for the night.

Beth and Merle were lain together in the darkest corner, both needing sleep but not daring to take their eyes, or their hands, off of each other. Beth loved him so much, and Merle couldn't believe an old SOB like him had such an amazing girl to call his own.

He kissed her passionately, his one good hand gliding over her body with precision. He had grown to know every inch of her, every curve of her figure, every smooth line or rough scar of her body.

Beth pulled back for a second. She took a deep breath. "I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it, angel?" Merle asked, slightly guarded.

"After the prison, we found a farmhouse and I was crying and Daryl came to see if I was okay, yanno? And we, we hugged and stuff, and then we kissed." Merle's body tensed beside her. "But it wasn't anything, just for a second and I stopped it." The last part rushed out, and she stared worriedly into Merle's eyes.

The man took it in for a second, his expression giving nothing away. When he answered, his voice was a low growl. "I don't know what you thought that night meant, but I sure as hell know it didn't mean I was okay with you kissin' nobody else again."

"I know, that's why I stopped it right away. I felt awful. And then we got in a fight and he said I told him I loved someone that night in the tower, and I just-I needed to tell you, and I understand if you-if you're mad at me."

Merle was angry and confused, and this was why he didn't involve himself with other people. His emotions were wild ever since he started this thing with Beth. But at the mention of a fight with Daryl, his anger was redirected. "What happened? Did he hurt you?" Somewhere in Merle's mind, he knew Daryl wouldn't touch her, but he had to ask.

"No, oh God, no. We just yelled at each other. He said he was mad because I let him believe I loved him, but I mean-" Beth stopped. Now wasn't the time to voice her thoughts about Daryl and love. That was for another day, maybe another lifetime. She watched Merle's expression. "I'm so sorry." She couldn't find anything else to say.

Beth's eyes shined and Merle's were blank slates. He was angry, he knew that. Sad, a little. But anger was most prevalent.

Suddenly, Merle grabbed Beth's face fiercely, and she flinched, remembering the harsh slap she received months ago when she got between him and a man he was beating up. Merle was unphased by her surprise, and then his lips were on hers with a crushing weight.

His hand gripped her hair tightly in fistfuls. It hurt a little, but Beth was too busy to take notice. He grabbed her hip and pulled her against him roughly. She deepened the kiss, but earned a harsh bite on her bottom lip. Her shirt was ripped off, and he bit her small breasts with a ferocity that surprised Beth. She let out a small moan at the feeling. Merle's hand came down hard on her chest and up to her throat. He held her tightly, not enough to hurt her, but enough that Beth got the message.

She had never seen him like this. Somewhere in her mind, she knew she should be worried, but the better part of her mind was unable to form a coherent thought. He was mad at her, and she knew it. This was him releasing the anger. Two can play that game.

Merle's erection strained against his jeans, and Beth snaked her hand down his body and palmed him slowly, working at his zipper. She pulled his hard erection from his boxers and stroked it hard, and felt Merle's nails dig into her ass. She ground her center up Merle's length until she heard a low moan from his throat. That moan unleashed all the pent up emotions in Merle. She laughed silently to herself at her accomplishment.

Her laugh was cut short when Merle let go of her throat and pulled her shorts down to her knees and slapped her ass hard. She rocked her body on him again, and his teeth latched onto her breast. When he pulled back, he grabbed her hair and yanked her head down to his face. He buried his face in her hair and growled out, "You're mine."

He pushed her back, and his dick slid into her quickly. She yelped at the feeling, but soon moaned louder with pleasure. Merle's hand held tighter to her throat this time, and she bounced up and down on him hard. It was sloppy and frenzied, and Beth couldn't get enough.

Merle picked up the pace, sitting up and throwing Beth into his lap to slam into her harder. His hand around her throat was tighter even now, and it was starting to hurt, but Beth's mind was clouded by ecstasy. She practically screamed as she was pushed off of him and pulled back at a staggering pace.

She could feel in Merle that he needed this. He needed to pound out all the worry and anger and sadness that he had experienced in the last weeks. So she let him, and she was thrown on and off of him, all the while Merle's feral moans falling into her sweat-soaked hair.

He bit down sharply on her other breast, and this time his voice was strong in her ear when he growled out, "You. Are. Mine." Each word was punctuated with a hard thrust into her deep sex. Her breathing hitched, and she came on his rock hard dick inside her.

He pulled out of her as she rode out the orgasm.

She hardly had time to catch her breath before she was flipped over. Merle's mechanical hand pushed her to the ground, and the cold metal on her back shocked her. His other hand teased her ass, pinching and slapping before his big length entered her.

"Oh! Oh...Ohhh my God." She moaned as her tight hole grew accustomed to Merle's size. He pounded into her mercilessly. She knew she would have bruises on her hips and ass in the morning.

She knew she was being punished, in a way only Merle knew how to do. She was more than happy to be punished by him if this was what the punishment was every time. His grunts behind her grew sporadic, and she reached back to work herself up to another orgasm. Merle's hand pulled hers away, and he rubbed her roughly until her moans reached a peak and he released his cum inside of her hole.

He laid down beside her, breathing heavily. She curled up to him slowly, wondering if he would want to cuddle after that display. To her relief, he wound his arm around her body and held her. It was so long before he spoke that Beth feared he had fallen asleep. This time his words were soft, a sigh. "You're mine."


So how do ya'll feel after that? Too much? Not enough? ;D please leave a review telling me what I did right, or wrong, or just to tell me where you think this story should go from here! Thank you guys. :)