A/N: I do not own the walking dead or any of its characters.
Chapter Ten
Daryl's POV
I wake up with Beth in my arms. Judging by the amount of sunlight in the room it's still very early. Everything is ok for a moment. Then I remember. We are going to Terminus today. We are walking into God knows what kind of place to find our family that may not be there. But they could be there. It's risky, but family is worth the risk.
Beth and I have to leave soon. I look at her beautiful face, and hold her tighter. This could be the last time I get to hold her like this. The thought of losing her terrifies me. I care so much about her. She's one of a kind. There is no one else quite like her. I smile. I may not have her forever, but I have her for as long as we are alive.
I gently shake Beth. "C'mon darling we got to get going."
She opens her eyes sleepily. "What time is it?"
"Probably about five thirty. We have to leave soon if we want to make it to Terminus while it's still light."
"Yeah, I know. How long of a drive do you think it is?" she asks.
"It should take about three or four hours. I want to hide the bike and the SUV about a few miles away from Terminus. It will take us more time but I want to have a getaway plan if we need one."
"Yeah that's a good idea. Hopefully we won't need a getaway plan, but it's better to be safe than sorry. We should hurry and get on the road."
I nod and get out of bed. I put on my clothes and shoes. I grab my knife and crossbow. I walk downstairs and start eating a granola bar. Beth comes down the stairs a few moments later. She has redone her ponytail and is carrying her bag. Her knife is in its holster on her hip. I know she probably has her smaller knife in her boot. She starts eating too. We are too worried and nervous to talk.
We walk outside. I get on the motorcycle and start it. Beth gets into the SUV. I start driving and she follows.
It's a nice morning. The perfect weather for riding, but it doesn't help. All I can think of is Terminus and our group. My mind plays several worst case scenarios in a loop.
We drive for a few hours before I see a sign that says "TERMINUS NEXT TWO MILES. THOSE WHO ARRIVE SURVIVE". Damn people sure know how to give off creepy vibes. Those who arrive, survive? Does that mean they take in anybody, no questions asked. They would have to be stupid to do that. There are all kinds of fucked up people in the world. The only way they wouldn't be worried is if they aren't all there or they are fucked up too. It isn't good either way.
I pull over and Beth does the same. Beth gets out of the SUV and I get off my bike. I can see the worry and anxiety on her face.
"It's not far from here. We should be there in about half an hour." I say to her.
"Yeah, let's get going."
We walk. I want to say something to ease her mind, but I'm worried too. I've never been good at starting conversations or dealing with emotions. I start to say something, but Beth does first.
"Daryl, I'm scared."
I don't say anything. She could have a reason to be afraid. I don't fucking know. Maybe that's why this is so scary. We don't know what's there. We're walking into the unknown.
"Are you scared?" she asks me with wide eyes.
I swallow. I've never really admitted to being afraid before. My old man would have beaten me for saying I was afraid, but that old bastard beat me for everything. If I was to ever tell Merle I was afraid he would have told me to stop being such a pussy.
I sigh, "No, Beth I'm not scared. I'm terrified."
We keep going on in silence for about 15 minutes. Then I see smoke rising in the sky. Oh fuck, that could be a bad sign.
"They could just be cooking or something," Beth says.
"Yeah I guess. We're almost there."
"Daryl?"
"Beth?"
"Do those tracks look human to you?" she says pointing at the ground.
I look to where she is pointing. There are three sets of tracks together. One belongs to a man. The other set looks like they belong to a woman. The last set is slightly smaller like a kid's.
"Yeah, it seems like a man, woman, and child."
"Do you think they could belong to some of our group members?"
"Maybe. The smaller set of tracks could belong to Carl," I say.
"The tracks don't look that old. Let's follow them."
"Good plan," I agree.
We start following the tracks but a few minutes in I hear sounds that make my blood run cold. Gunshots followed by screams. I look at Beth. She gives me a look and I know what she is thinking. We start running still following the tracks.
The tracks lead to a fence. Inside the fence all hell is breaking loose. Walkers are inside. The ground is bloodstained. People are taking cover behind a train car. I look closer. Those people aren't just any people they are our group. I see them. Not everyone is behind the train car. Maggie is surrounded by walkers and Rick is in a fight with two other men. The rest of the group looks like they are trying not to get shot or bit. Some of the people I don't know are loading guns who are probably from Terminus are loading guns. The rest of the Termites are just watching like it's a show or something
"Daryl!"
I look at Beth. She is kneeling on the ground beside a dirty bag with dirt up to her elbows. She must have dug the bag up while I was looking at the war going on inside the fence. She unzips the bag. Inside are guns. Lots of guns. Rick must have buried this here.
"Good job, Beth. They have a few people with guns. We have to hurry. Maggie is surrounded by walkers and Rick isn't going to be able to keep fighting much longer. Most of the group is about to get shot or bit."
"Rick and Maggie are in the most trouble right now. I'm going to help my sister. You go save your brother."
I nod and pick up a gun. I can't watch Rick die. Beth is right he's like my brother. I aim the gun and look through the scope. I see the two guys beating Rick. I shoot one in the chest and the other in the head. I see Beth picking off the walkers that are trying to get to Maggie. The Termites are looking around confused and scared. Serves you right you assholes. I'm able to get most of the Termites who are carrying guns. Beth gets the rest. The rest of the Terminus group is running inside one of their buildings. We have a few moments.
"We have to hurry. C'mon I'm going to boost you over the fence. Take the guns and give them to our group." I say to Beth.
"Ok"
Beth grabs the bag and I lace my fingers together. Beth steps in my hands and I boost her over the fence. She lands on the other side a second later and begins running towards our group. I climb over the fence quickly and follow her.
Rick is bruised and bloody. Maggie is covered in walker blood with tears running down her face. Carl looks more traumatized than before. I see a few people I don't recognize. A few people are missing. The rest of the group looks so exhausted. They see us and stare in disbelief and shock. Rick starts leading.
"Thank God ya'll are here. Everyone take a gun. They have numbers and more weapons so we are gonna have to be smart. Let's try to get into one of these buildings. We do that and we can put our own snipers on the roofs. We have to move now."
Everyone takes a gun and we start running towards a building. Rick is in front and I'm behind him. The building is two stories tall and has a lot of windows. We get to the building and Rick kicks the door in. There are two guys aiming guns. I shoot one, Rick shoots the other.
We all get inside and everyone looks to Rick for orders.
"Okay we need to move something in front of the door and we need to check the upstairs. Beth and Daryl go check out upstairs. Tyreese and Abraham take care of the door."
Beth and I start going upstairs. We have our guns ready to shoot. At the top of the stairs is a single door. We reach the door and I open it. The door leads to a single room with no one inside.
"It's clear," Beth calls to the group downstairs.
Michonne, Carl, and bulky ginger who I assume is Abraham, all come in and start aiming their guns out of the windows. They're waiting for targets.
"Hey kid, do you really think you should be up here with us?" Abraham asks Carl.
"He's a good shot," I say.
Carl looks at me thankfully.
"Whatever if you say so," Abraham mutters.
With all the windows already filled up with snipers, Beth and I go back downstairs. There is a large dresser in front of the door.
"Daryl, Beth, go aim your guns out of those windows. Me and Tyreese are going to get the other windows. Maggie, Tara, and Rosita have the windows in the other room covered. We need to keep the Termites from getting in here at all costs. Once we have shot enough of them we are going to make a run for it."
"Ok," Beth says.
I nod.
Beth and I set up our guns and wait. Soon I hear gunshots from Rick and Tyreese. I see two men sneaking around trying to get an angle on us. I shoot them both. More men try to shoot at us. Beth and I shoot at them. They shoot back. We duck down and shoot at them only this time we don't miss. This keeps going until no more Termites show up. I don't know how many people I shot. All I know is that if I hadn't of shot them some of my family would probably be dead.
I hear the growls of walkers in the distance. Shit. The gunshots and blood make this place a walker attraction.
"We need to get out of here fast," I yell.
"Where are we gonna go?" Rick asks.
"Me and Beth have vehicles and supplies about two miles from here." I say.
"Ok. The walkers will probably keep the rest of the Termites distracted. They have cars. We can get a few of them and haul ass out of this hell hole," Tyreese says.
"That sounds like the best plan at the moment," Rick says, "Everyone let's go while we have the chance"
"The cars are parked just beside the fence. Daryl and I can hotwire two then we can pack in and leave," Tyreese says.
"Ok. We hotwire the cars and once we honk the horns ya'll come get in fast. I'll drive one car and the other car can follow. I'll lead us to where the supplies are." I agree.
"Let's hurry," Tyreese says.
We run out the door and over to the cars. I try to open the door to the sedan but its locked. I step back and kick the window in. I reach through the broken window and unlock the door. I start hotwiring the car. Soon the engine revs to life. I honk the horn. A few moments later I hear Tyreese do the same.
I get into the car. Beth gets in the passenger seat. Maggie, Michonne, and Carl get into the back. I look over at the building where most of the Termites ran to. Its surrounded by a herd of walkers. I start driving.
Maggie is sobbing, "He's dead! Glenn's dead! Sasha, Bob, and Carol are dead, too! They killed them!"
I knew when I didn't see them that it wasn't a good sign. I didn't assume they were dead though. Glenn was a close friend. And Carol was like a sister. Fuck Terminus. I hope the walkers rip them to shreds. They deserve it.
"Is Judith ok?" Beth asks with tears in her eyes.
"Yeah, Eugene has her. He can't really shoot a gun or anything so he is being useful by taking care of her," Carl says.
Beth has her hands in her lap, trying not to cry. I reach over and put my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She looks at me with tearful eyes and mouths the words "thank you". I give her a nod then take my hand off her shoulder.
No one says a word the rest of the drive. The only sound is Maggie crying. I pull over where we left the SUV and my motorcycle.
"We're here. We have supplies in the back of the SUV," Beth says.
We get out of the car and the rest of the group gets out of the other car.
"We had safety at the prison. It's gone. We thought Terminus was safe. It wasn't. I'm not sure permanent safety exists anymore, but I'll never stop looking for it. We have to keep going," Rick says in his leadership/ public speaking tone.
"We have to get Eugene to the Alexandria Safe Zone." Abraham says.
"I can save the world. I have a cure," a chunky guy with a mullet says. He's holding Judith. He must be Eugene.
"Yes, we know. We will get to Alexandria but we can't get there overnight. It's a long way from here. It's going to take us a while. For now our main concern needs to be finding a place to recover. We've just seen some twisted things that no one should ever see at Terminus. We lost people."
"Don't you think saving the world is a little more important than sitting on our asses doing nothing?" Abraham yells.
"Don't you think surviving is important? Right now we are weak. We need a little while. I'm not asking for a lot of time, just enough." Rick says in a steely calm voice.
"Fine, we'll set on our asses doing nothing while you pansies grieve and "heal". In the meantime the world can just keep going to shit," Abraham says.
"Thank you," Rick says in a calm sarcastic voice.
I want to punch Abraham in the face. How dare he call us pansies for wanting to a little time to recover before we go on some dangerous journey to "save the world"? Right now we aren't in any condition to go anywhere. He's not making a good first impression. Beth sees my temper flaring and shoots me a "calm down just let him be an asshole" look. She's right. I take a deep breath and try to keep my cool.
"How long has it been since any of you had anything to eat?" Beth says, trying to ease the tension."
"All we've had for the past three days is water. They feed Judith some baby food everyday though" Carl says.
Beth says, "Ok. We have food in the back of the SUV. How about we all eat then find a place to stay the night?"
"I think that's a really good idea," I say.
"Yeah, me too." Michonne agrees.
Beth walks over to the SUV and starts handing out water and granola bars. Everyone sits on the ground in a circle. Beth sits beside Maggie, comforting her. I sit beside Beth. A girl with short dark hair sits beside me. She looks familiar but I can't place her.
"I'm Tara by the way" she says to me.
"I'm Daryl," I gesture to Beth, "she's Beth"
"I'm going to start off by telling you the truth. I was with the governor when he attacked your home. He seemed like such a good guy, but then he got crazy. He told us you guys were horrible, but he was the real monster. Now some of your people are dead and my family and girlfriend are, too. I'm so sorry and I'm trying to make things right. I was with Glenn. I helped him get out of the prison and then we met Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita. Then we all went to Terminus, looking for the rest of your group."
Damn. She must feel awful. It isn't her fault. The governor was a manipulative sociopath. He was able to fool most people for a while, at least until the real him showed.
"I don't blame you for anything. I know how the governor was. He was evil and he was smart. He was dangerous and crazy. If Glenn thought you were good than so do I," I say.
"Thank you." She says.
I nod in response and finish eating.
"Okay everyone let's get going. We have to find a place to stay before dark." Rick says.
Everyone starts getting into the SUV and the sedan. I get on my motorcycle and start the engine. I'm about to start driving when I feel someone get on the back and wrap their arms around my waist. I look back and see Beth Greene.
"There wasn't much room in the other cars. Is it okay if I ride with you?" she asks.
"You can always ride with me, darling."
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy. I'll try to update more often. Like always, feel free to tell me your opinion on this story. Thank you for reading. Btw I'm sorry I killed off Bob, Sasha, Glenn, and Carol.