Chapter 10
I woke up countless times throughout the night, afraid of what was to come in the morning. I knew that we were welcome to leave when we wanted but was that just some lie they told everyone that came in? It didn't matter anyway, Daryl was determined to leave and nothing was going to stop him. After sleep some, the sun was start to stream in the windows, I decided I might as well get up and do something. I got up and changed into what clothes I thought were going to work best with the moving. I looked down at my stomach and it almost seemed as if I had doubled in size overnight.
"Holy crap!" I said aloud.
"What is it? You okay?!" Daryl said sitting straight up startled.
"Yeah I'm fine, just that I got fat overnight!" I pointed at my stomach, he looked relieved that it wasn't anything life treating.
"You ain't fat, you are carrying a baby. There's a difference." He said as he got out of bed.
"Well yeah but I'm… like five months? That is like, only half way there I shouldn't be this big?"
"Think about it, you have a growing boy inside of you. Of course you're going to get big!"
"Fine, that could explain it I guess." I said giving up. I pause a moment before asking, "So what is the plan?"
"Well, we need to first pack up everything that we are bring with us. Then we can head over to the daycare and you could ask if we can take anything from there with us. While you're stay there, I will go and find Joshua to see if he is willing to let us take any guns or knives with us. Lastly, to the mess hall to have a quick breakfast and get some food to go." He explain the whole plan.
"Sounds good to me." I said picking up our backpack and putting it on the end of the bed. "A change of cloths isn't really important when we could bring more food instead. I have a few things but not a lot, what about you?" I asked, he looked around and thought about this before shook his head no.
We left the room and head over to the daycare.
"I am going to be gone for about 10 minutes. Don't leave, I mean it." He said sternly.
"I know, I won't go anywhere." I said as I entered the building.
I found Renee straight away, knowing that she would be more than happy to send me on my way with supplies.
"Beth dear, how are you?" She asked sweetly.
"I am good, I actually came here because Daryl and I are planning on leaving today, hopefully in 20 minutes to be specific so I was wondering if you could lend us a few things for the road since we don't know when we will be in a place like this again." I said hopefully.
"Oh yes of course!" She said quickly putting down the baby she had in her arms. She went back to the cabinet and came back with some cloths, diapers, cans of formula, and a few sets of infant clothes. "It's not much but you never know what you will run into out there." She said handing me the stuff and I start stuffing it in my bag. "If you don't mind me asking but what's the sudden rush to leave?"
I thought about it and decided it was better if I didn't tell her the true reason, "Well yesterday when I looked at the records I saw someone that might have been from our old group." I explained.
"So you guys are going out on a whim that this person might be someone you know?" She asked confused.
"Well it might be my sister and her husband so it's pretty important." I said.
"I guess I can understand that, I wish you the best of luck." She said with a sweet smile before turning back to what she was doing before. Kayla came over to me as I was putting the last set of cloths in the bag.
"So you're getting out of this hell hole? What changed your mind?" She asked.
"The chance to find family." I said but she cut me off before I could continue.
"Bullshit, we both knows that's not true. What happened? Somebody made eyes at you and your boyfriend freaked?"
"No it's not like that. Really, we had a big group before being split up. Finding them is important to us."
"Who knows how long ago those were taken. They could be as good as dead by now." She said.
"You don't know them, they are fighters. They are alive I can promise you that." I said with anger in my voice.
"Promise? What is the point in promising anything anymore. Good luck out there, you are going to need as much as you can get." She said walking away from me.
I had to keep reminding myself I was with Daryl. I knew nothing was going to happen to either of us. We had survived before and we would do it again.
I walked over to the door and waiting for Daryl to come back. He finally came back carrying a small bag with what I imaged had guns in, I also noticed that his crossbow was now fully loaded with new arrows, I came out of the building to meet him.
"He was understanding but not very happy that we are leaving. He said I was one of the best hunters that had came through here. Gave us 3 handguns, a few good knives and reloaded my bow."
My whole body relaxed hearing all of these words and being thankful we were better defended. I smiled not really having much to say. We walked over to the mess hall in silence. As we waiting in line I remembered how I didn't really tell the truth to Renee and Kayla and thought I should tell Daryl.
"So instead of starting up stupid drama over why we are leaving, I told the women at the daycare that we were leaving on a lead of our family passing through here that we had to check out." I said whisper to him.
"Alright, that sounds like an alright story." He said not bringing it up again.
We ate and were able to get a good amount of food and water to bring along with us. We left the way that the hunters left so it was opposite the way from the semis.
Traveling through the forest again, we walked side by side not saying anything, and not hearing anything. It was almost like the world had stopped and we were the last two people on the planet. We walked for hours with no signs of the woods, not stopping or finding anyone else.
"Why don't we just stop here for a little bit, catch our breath and get something to drink." Daryl suggested, as we sat down I pulled out a water bottle taking a quick drink before handing it to him. He hesitated but then finally took. We each had an apple and some crackers. I wasn't feeling normal but I think it was just from walking for so long. We continued on our way with the sun getting higher in the sky. It got warmer but it wasn't too hot. I could tell the nights were going to get really cold and we needed some kind of plan before it got dark. I had no idea what month it was but my guess was late summer. The day went along with us, walking in the endless woods. We didn't make much conversation trying to stay quiet from any stray walkers just wondering in the woods. We had only come across a few which Daryl easily took out with his bow.
"I think we should try and set up camp, find a good area and put up some rope or lines around us with anything that makes some noise to wake up, you know, like a warning." I suggested once I noticed the sun was starting to go down.
"Alright." He said looking around for a good spot. We found a small area surrounded by trees."You set up here, I'll go on a quick hunting trip, I won't be gone long." He handed me the bag he was carrying, taking a handgun out to double checking if he had everything he needed. He looked at me and gave me a nod before he disappeared into the trees. I got the wire that were in the bottom of the bag and start to wrap it around the trees. Then I start a fire and went a small distance away from the camp to gather what wood I could find. After, I set out what food we had and made a mental check list: 4 water bottles, two sleeves of crackers, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, 4 small apples, and a small bag of cooked meat that they were planning on serving for lunch so was still good tomorrow. I cleared a spot for us to sleep and spread out the blanket I had packed. Looking at everything I had done, it almost looked like home, cozy in a way.
Tending to the fire and I sat down to catch my breath. I still wasn't feeling right so I drank some more water. I heard footsteps behind me and quickly got up just as fast as my eyes blacked out and I couldn't see anything. I waited for my vision to come back, but I kept my knife up in case something came at me. I started to see again slowly and I heard footsteps getting closer.
"Beth you alright?" I heard Daryl say.
"Oh... it's just you." I said putting my knife down, I could see fully now.
"What do you mean it's just me? Couldn't you see me come up?" He asked now concerned.
"I stood up and I lost my sight, must be tired is all." I said.
"Nah, you're dehydrated. You need to eat and drink more. Here." He said handing me the water.
"I just had some to drink. I'm fine. We only have a few bottles and we need to conserve it." I said pushing the water back.
"No you are drinking this now. You need to think of the baby Beth." I finally took the water and took a small sip just to make him happy.
"Find anything?" I asked changing the subject.
"No, seems like the woods have been cleared out. If we keep on moving that way tomorrow hopefully we will spot something."
"Well its not all bad. I guess we can just have what's left of what they gave us." I said handing him some of the cooked meat. I slowly nibbled on the food I had but I didn't really having much of an appetite at the moment.
"You need to eat more." He said nodding his head at the little bit I had eaten compared to his, which was almost gone.
"I had something while you were gone, I'm fine." I lied but the truth was I was trying to save as much food as we could, and if that meant lessening my portions I was okay with that. Daryl wasn't having any of it though. I knew he wouldn't allow it. He seemed please with my answer but the look he gave me was like he wasn't sure. The night was quiet, there wasn't a sound from anything. Not walkers, animals, even bugs.
"Run into many walkers out there?" I asked switching the subject.
"Only two, I think something drawing them away from here. They could have hear some kind of sound. Like bells or a gun, it could have been anything." He said finishing what food he had left. That relaxed me a bit, gave me hope that the night could be safe for the most part. After a few moments of nothing I broke the silence.
"Daryl?" I said quietly. He just looked up waiting for me to continue, "Do you think we will find them?"
"Thought that was just a story you made up. I didn't think that was something you really had in your head." He replied.
"It wasn't, at the time but it got me thinking. They are out there, I know they are. I know the papers aren't reliable but I feel it, and what's the harm in trying to find them?" I was trying to sound as hopeful as possible knowing that Daryl wasn't very hopeful to start with.
"Doesn't do any harm, you've got that part right but where would we even start looking? Those papers could have been old, they could have left and be half way across the states by now." He said shooting my idea down. My hope fell and I could tell it showed in my face because Daryl attempted to help. "But yeah if you put everything together, my guess is they're still alive. They all know how to fight."
I just gave him a half smile having nothing else to say.
"Come on we best get to bed, we will leave as soon as the sun's up. No use wasting the day light." I put what food we had back in the bag and grab a jacket I had packed, then putting it on. Daryl laid down first then I did, I closing the little distance between us, not knowing how he felt in that moment. It was cleared up when he put his arm around me, pulling me close. The cold was setting in but I felt oddly safe and warm in his arms.
I woke up to the sound of the fire cracking. I sat up, Daryl was sitting next to it with what looked like some kind of meat on a stick hanging over it. The smell of it reminded me how hungry I was.
"I have no idea what that is but it smells amazing." I said scooting over to him.
"Saw this little bunny hopping around when I woke up. Pretty easy shot. I thought it would be a good breakfast for you." He said watching and rotating it. I smile, the first food he sees he thought of me.
"Well you gotta have some too, we have a big day ahead of us. Maybe we could find a road somewhere and get a car to work. We'd have better luck finding a good safe house if we are traveling by car." I suggested, he thought about this while he took the meat off the fire and handing the stick to me.
"Here, you have it all. I've already eaten." He said quoting what I had said last night. "That sounds like a good plan but the woods here aren't bad, we don't know about the towns around here."
I started to eat while he packed up our gear. Before I knew it the meat was gone. "I guess I was hungry." I laughed nervously.
"Mmhm." Is all Daryl said knowing he was right.
We started heading the way Daryl said we should last night. I was weird feeling the way I had yesterday and it was still there but only seemed to get stronger. My legs felt weak. I thought I would suggest we stop but decided better to keep going until he thought it was good to stop. We walked and walked and the time seemed endless, it was getting hotter, more so than yesterday. I looked in the sky, seeing the sun and guess it was around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
"Come on. We are going to stop here, take a break." Daryl said looking around.
I sat on a rock taking off the bag to get the water out. My whole body was feeling weak now and I couldn't shake it off. I took a small sip of the water hoping it was going to help. Daryl looked at me with a concerned look on his face. "Beth, are you feeling okay? You look pale."
"Yeah I'm fine, its just the heat is getting to me." I told him.
"You sure? Have something to eat alright?" He said taking the bag and pulling out the crackers from it and handing them to me. I took a few small bites out of the crackers but he didn't seemed satisfied. "Why haven't you been eating normal lately?" He asked.
"What do you mean? I've been eating fine." I lied.
"Bullshit, besides this morning I haven't seen you eat a full meal since we left the camp."
"Just trying to save food is all." I said looking down, I knew he wasn't going to be happy with this at all.
"Saving food? For what? Beth you're pregnant! You need to be eating anything we get. You can't be worrying about saving it. Come on think about it!" He said getting mad like I knew he would.
"And what about you?" I pointed out.
"I'm fine, I'll always be. Don't be worrying about me when you aren't even taking care of yourself. I'm not the one carrying our child." I didn't say anything because I knew he was right. It was dumb of me and I don't know where it came from.
"I'm sorry." I said softly. I looked up at him and his angry melted away.
"We should keep moving." I finally said.
I gathered our things and put the bag on my back. Suddenly, there was the sound of something walking our way. I quickly stand up, only to black out again. I stood there for a moment rubbing my eyes. The sound was getting closer as my sight came back, Daryl was on guard trying to decide which direction the walker was to come from. I took one step by his side and pulling my knife out when all the strength from my body drained and I felt myself falling. I couldn't see anything I only heard Daryl yell my name before everything went black.
A/N:Ahhhh whats up with Beth? Leave a review with what you think is going to happen next and what do you think with happen in the last two Walking Dead episodes?