AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! Remember me? I'm so sorry for leaving this story unfinished, it's been a crazy year or so. But this story is definitely back, and the updates will be more frequent and longer. Thank you to everyone who has read this since it was first uploaded, you guys are the best and I'm so appreciative of you taking time out to read this. So without further ado, here's the next update!

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CHAPTER TEN: THE PRESENT

As the sun began to peek through the curtains and shone upon Beth and Callie's sleeping faces, they were unaware about the serious situation going on a stone's throw away from them.

And as a heavily pregnant Maggie called out for Beth after finding her bed still made and unslept in, she gathered the attention of Daryl who had taken the last watch of the night and was heading to his own bed. The sunrise in the distance engulfed the world in a golden hue, as if the world was on fire and slowly burning around them. He watched Maggie intently as she called out for her sister; a reminder of her calling out for Beth in her sleep when she first lost her, and they were all holed up in a barn as a storm rolled in, reminiscent to the one they felt within them.

He whistled to capture her attention, and when he had it, he tipped his head to Aaron to take over watch. The man nodded and took his place, and Daryl descended the tower.

"What's up?" Daryl asked, his voice abrupt with worry. He saw the panic in on her face, the hopelessness in her eyes, the sheer desperateness to find her sister.

"Did I dream her coming back?" Maggie asked, her voice sharp and emotional. "Did I dream it all?"

"Nah," Daryl responded, grabbing Maggie by the arms to steady her. "She's real, Maggie. She came back."

Maggie was silent for a moment as she attempted to calm her breathing. "She wasn't in her bed this morning. It's not been slept in. I can't find her, Daryl. And I thought… I'm going mad… she isn't back…"

"We'll find her, promise," Daryl reassured. "She's not left this place. We would know…"

They turned at the sound of a door opening and closing, the familiar screech filling the air around them. They watched as Callie took a seat upon the steps of the porch, a hot coffee in her hands. Daryl turned back to Maggie and grabbed her hand, leading her to Callie.

The woman looked over at them with a smile, then furrowed her brow when she saw the panic on Maggie's face. She stood to her full height, every hair on her body standing on end too. "Is everything okay? What's happened?"

"Do ya know where Beth is?" Daryl asked. "She didn't sleep in her bed last night, and Maggie is a little worried."

Callie's furrowed brow remained furrowed. "She came to me in the middle of the night. She was scared of the dark and… I'm sorry, I should've told you…"

"It's fine," Maggie's voice was sharp. "She was never scared of the dark before…"

Callie lifted her gaze to Daryl's as they both noticed the abruptness of her tone. Callie licked her lips and set her coffee cup down on the wooden porch. "She… uh… she told me her world was dark for so long after everything that happened, and the darkness scares her now. It's a harsh reminder for her. But if you want to go and see her, she's still asleep upstairs."

Maggie shook her head, wiping away the tears. "My sister… I wasn't there to protect her, but you… you were…"

Callie nodded slowly. "She told me about you and I knew that I had a duty to you to protect her the way you hoped someone would…"

Maggie offered a small smile, her lip trembling. "Is she angry with me for leaving her behind in that place?"

"No, not at all," Callie said, shaking her head. "I don't think anyone prepared for her to recover from what happened. But she did, and her memory of that day is non-existent…"

"And that's probably the best thing, Mags," Daryl reassured.

"But… if it's any consolation," Callie began slowly and hesitantly. She knew she needed to tread carefully as some situations that hadn't involved her were still raw for so many. "She spoke about you every single day on the road when we left that place. She was so excited to see you again; she spoke about the nights where you'd spend hours talking about anything and everything under the moon, and she couldn't wait to be reunited with her sister."

Maggie couldn't stop the tears from falling now, nor stop the emotion that struggled against the barriers to be set free. Her entire body wracked with sadness and guilt, but Callie closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around her just as Maggie broke into a million pieces. And Callie still held her close even when the sobbing subsided, when the wracks of sadness stopped causing her body to stagger.

The pain of losing Beth had been incomprehensible.

She had known pain with the loss of her mother before the outbreak. And she known pain with the loss of her step mother. And the paint of losing her father in such a way… and her husband a mere few months after losing Beth.

When she had lost Beth, she couldn't imagine just how dark her life would become. As Glenn stood beside her and gave her the love and support she so desperately needed; she had been blinded by the fear that her world would never be bright again. And when Glenn was taken from her, and their child continued to thrive in her stomach, she had begun to believe in the world again. The world had been so cruel, but she had her friends around her and a child she was able to meet soon, and she had finally begun to feel happy again. The world was a little brighter; but the pain was something she understood would never go away.

And then Beth… she was here, at the gate.

She looked so different, but it was her. And her mind was betraying her in ways she didn't imagine; she knew in her heart she was alive and here, but her mind refused to believe it.

"But she's safe now," Callie whispered, reassuring her. "I'm guessing she's different in many ways, but if I knew her before what had happened, I would say she's an asset to you then and now. She's the kindest girl I've ever known and she's a fighter. She helped me through a lot of stuff on the road."

"Thank you for being a sister to her when I couldn't be," Maggie whispered. "And thank you for bringing her back to me when I thought I'd lost her forever."

Callie wiped her tears away. "It was nothing, really. I wasn't going to let her stay in that place, not when I knew you were out there somewhere. I had to bring her home to you."

Maggie hugged Callie again. "I'm going to go up and see her. It still doesn't feel real."

Daryl and Callie watched as Maggie entered the house. Callie turned back to Daryl with a smile and wiped away her tears.

"Ya gonna have to get used to that," Daryl said. "People thanking ya. What ya did… bringing Beth home to us, we'll never be able to stop thanking ya."

Callie bit her lip with a chuckle. "I'll try and get used to it. But they don't have to thank me, really."

Callie began to cough, and she turned away from Daryl. The coughing fit continued to be violent and aggressive; something that she was beginning to see more frequent. As the coughing subsided for just a moment, she looked down at her hand, the familiar red stain upon the rough palm of her hand.

"Are ya okay?"

"I have to go," Callie said quickly before leaving Daryl outside the house and rushing to the bathroom. As soon as the door was shut behind her, she bent over as sharply as if she'd been punched in the stomach and chest repeatedly and drops of blood began to splatter upon the floor and her bare feet.

And by slow, torturous gradations, her coughing began to ease in intensity and then as she slid down the length of the door, and calmed her breathing as much as she could, the coughing then slowly passed.