I honestly feel guilty for updating this story because I've been getting comments and messages, begging me to update other things, but my muse is with this one and I just love this story so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Also, I got a little promotion at work and I'm going to be getting a lot busier during the day so please be patient with me between updates. Thank you!


Chapter Twelve. Breakdown.

As promised, after getting some sleep, Beth made corn cakes for breakfast. And as she was getting them prepared, Mulligan went out to the barn to feed the animals and Anna – shy around the stranger – asked if she could help. As Beth suspected, Anna fell in love with Mick, the wolf-dog at first sight, and she was eager to see the other animals that the man had.

"Course you can. Can't have you bein' useless," was Mulligan's reply.

Anna looked to the others in her family and they could all see that she was a little nervous. Daryl, Aaron and Beth all seemed to trust this man enough for them to come here after losing their house, but he was still very much a stranger. Sensing it, Rosita handed Aiden to Spencer as she stood up.

"I'll come, too," Rosita said before any of the others could and Anna smiled.

They walked from the kitchen, out the back door, closing it behind them, and they followed Mulligan to the barn. The others remained in the kitchen, where they had been since waking just a little bit ago. Despite the trying day they had had the day before – Beth could hardly believe that it had just been only yesterday – and not getting here until the middle of the night, they all had slept just a few hours before they were all awake again. Beth supposed it was adrenaline and uncertainty of what to do with themselves next.

She loved Mulligan's cabin. Everything was made from wood – including most of the furniture and even though it had been built nearly one-hundred years ago, in what some would consider the backwoods of this country, it was surprisingly spacious enough and in addition to the wood-burning stove in the open space between the kitchen and living room, each bedroom had a small fireplace, too. If everything was lit at once, she could imagine that Mulligan never got cold up here in the winter with the snow falling.

There was a stream next to the house, which it pulled water from, and Mulligan had a hand pump in the kitchen sink, one in the bathroom and one right outside the back door. Beth quickly fell in love with not have to go to one of the rain barrels or having to leave the yard to go to the creek in the woods to fill up a bucket of water.

She stood at the stove, cooking the first batch of corn cakes in the iron skillet, adding drops of honey to each as they sizzled. She felt something against her leg and she looked down, smiling when she saw that it was Aiden, patting her leg and smiling up at her with that slobbery smile of his. They had found out that he was an early crawler – according to books – and an even sharper eye had to be kept on him now.

Daryl, Aaron and Spencer were sitting at the table, the atlas open in front of them.

"Texas is out," Spencer was saying. "Way too many people there that are now walkers. And definitely not North until we decide to head Northwest."

"What about Louisiana?" Aaron suggested, his finger following a possible route they could take if that was where they decided to go. "Might be okay there. Plenty of places there that were hardly populated before."

Daryl was quiet as he studied the map of the country spread out in front of him.

Beth went to go collect the plates that Mulligan had left out for her to use.

"Wha' do you think?"

It took Beth a moment to realize that Daryl was asking her that. She put a corn cake on each plate and set them on the table and on Mulligan's plate, she put two.

"I think I'm going to explore a bit of these woods today," she said rather than give an opinion of where they should go; honestly not having one. "See what's here."

"You need to rest today," Daryl told her with a slight frown.

Beth didn't respond to that. Yes, she knew she needed to rest, but she also needed to know what these woods and this mountain had to offer. She suspected it had plenty. Before the end of the world, people had lived up in these mountains for generations. Maybe, exploring would reveal another house to them up here where they could stay. The Blue Ridge was a part of the Appalachian Mountain chain and people sometimes just forgot how vast and seemingly endless these mountains were. Beth felt like they could stay up here and find a place for themselves and have outstanding chances of never seeing another human again. Maybe even walkers would be down to just a handful everyday – if that.

"Maybe I'll make mushroom soup for dinner if I can find the right mushrooms around here," Beth thought out loud.

"Don't tease me, Beth," Spencer teased and Beth smiled.

The first time they had met Spencer, along with the others, Beth had made forest greens and mushroom soup with rabbit and Spencer hadn't seemed too eager to eat it. People changed though – especially nowadays. Now, it was one of Spencer's favorite dinners that Beth made.

"You need to rest, Beth," Daryl said again.

"I'm fine, Daryl," Beth said.

"Maybe now, but you ain't goin' to keep bein' fine if you keep pushin' yourself like this." Daryl stood up from his chair and frowned at her. "We jus' lost our house yesterday and 'ave been drivin' and walkin' most of the night and you didn' get enough sleep the night 'fore."

His frown was fierce and he sounded angry, but Beth wasn't going to take the bait and fight back with him. She knew that he was worried and stressed and he hadn't gotten enough sleep himself. They could all use a nap.

As if he could sense the tension hanging between them, Aiden began to cry and Beth instinctively bent down and hoisted the baby up in her arms.

"Stop pickin' 'im up," Daryl almost snapped at her and even though he was angry, he was still gentle as he took Aiden from her arms into his own. "You're pregnant and you're not supposed to be liftin' things," he said, still frowning, nearly scowling now.

Beth was growing mad now; so mad, she felt blood pumping and roaring in her ears. She stared at Daryl and he stared at her and somehow, even with a baby in his arms, he made quite the intimidating sight. In the back of her mind, she could feel Spencer and Aiden, still at the table, looking at them as if they were watching a basketball game, following the ball with their eyes, and the backdoor opened, Mulligan, Anna and Rosita returning inside.

"We brought eggs and milk!" Anna proudly announced, holding up one bucket and Rosita holding the basket of eggs in her arms.

But within seconds, the three could pick up on the heavy tension hanging in the air and they saw Beth and Daryl staring at one another as if they were two gunslingers, waiting for the clock to strike high noon before they drew on one another.

Beth looked away first. "Mulligan, there are your corn cakes."

And without saying anything else or looking at Daryl again, she stormed past him, to the front door, and stomped out, slamming the door shut behind her, hearing the way it rattled in its frame and she would be sure to apologize to Mulligan once she returned for making a scene.

It was cooler up in here in the mornings and she was wearing Daryl's hooded sweatshirt with her jeans and boots. Her sheathed knife was hooked in her belt loop as always and crossing her arms over her chest to conserve warmth, she began walking, not really choosing a particular direction; just choosing and going. She knew she had to concentrate and not let her anger blind her and as she walked, Beth focused on her breathing – in and out, steady and deep inhales and exhales – and began to look around her new surroundings as she walked.

The woods were lush and green and thick around her and she wished that she had brought her basket with her. Her fingers were itching to start foraging. The woods behind their house had been a good size, but nothing like this. She had never seen anything like this before. It just seemed to stretch on forever and forever.

She knew she shouldn't walk too far away. She had no idea where she was and even though Daryl had taught her how to track, she wasn't in the right frame of mind, she knew, to find her way back to Mulligan's cabin if she got herself too far away from it.

Fresh tears began building in her eyes. She didn't know how to get back to Mulligan's cabin because she didn't know where she was. She wasn't home. Home was gone. Three years and everything she and Daryl had built and worked towards, it was all gone and they were all safe and alive, but what were they going to do now?

Crying harder now, unable to get herself to stop, Beth saw a fallen log nearby and she went to go sit on it, jamming her elbows on her knees and holding her head in her hands. As she cried, she kept her ears open for any nearby shuffling to alert her to a walker, but all around her, it was quiet except for a few chirping birds.

What were they going to do? They couldn't stay with Mulligan forever. The man had been nice enough to let them stay for a couple of days, but none of them could expect him to just open up his house to seven people. They had to find their own place. Again. And build it up. Again. And she was going to be having a baby in a few months. What was she going to do if they couldn't find a place? And if they didn't find a place in time and were not able to prepare themselves like they had for Rosita's pregnancy and childbirth, was she going to die?

Everything had just been going so good for them. Maybe this is why this happened.

She was startled when she felt someone sit down beside her, even though when she lifted her head to see who it was, she knew it would be Daryl. And it was. He had found her and had been practically silent as he did it. He didn't say anything. He just sat there and looked at her and Beth didn't really need him to say anything. He didn't know anything more than her and right now, she knew absolutely nothing.

She did her best to stop crying and steady her breathing and the sleeves of the sweatshirt were long on her, covering her hands, and she used them to wipe at her cheeks. Beth's hand was warm on her back and at his touch, she began crying all over again. She was bordering on hysterical, but she couldn't help it. So much had happened in such a short amount of time and she was now fully registering it.

"There are plants I can take," Beth heard herself talking without even really hearing the words. She turned her head and looked at Daryl as he stared at her. "It will hurt, but, if I can find the plants…" she trailed off then and she saw the moment when he realized what she was talking about.

He ripped his hand from her back as if she had physically burned him and he stood up, spinning to look down at her as she looked up at him. She could feel his anger and it reminded her of their explosion outside of that shack. He was furious. She knew Daryl, she knew her husband, well, and right now, he was absolutely furious.

"Are you actually tellin' me that you're goin' to kill the baby?" He asked and he was so angry, but past that, Beth saw his disbelief and further past that, his hurt.

She began crying again. "I don't know, Daryl!" She exclaimed at him. "It's easy for you to stand there and judge me! You're not the one who has to carry this baby! You're not the one who's going to die, bringing this baby into this world!"

"You think I won't die right along with you if somethin' happens to you?" He snapped back and Beth didn't know what else to say.

She hugged her arms around her legs and dropped her head to her knees, her body shaking with her tears. No, she couldn't kill the baby and she hated herself for even letting the thought cross her mind. This was hers and Daryl's baby. Their little baby and only over her dead body would she let anything hurt this little baby.

Over her dead body… that very well could be exactly what would happen.

She felt Daryl sit down next to her again and this time, he put both of his arms around her and Beth turned to him, burying her face in his chest and crying. Crying until her eyes and throat hurt and she had no idea how she still had tears to produce. It was everything though. Losing absolutely everything – her daddy, the prison, their family, Jack. And now, losing their home and being pregnant and having no idea what could possibly be done now. It all just piled and piled until Beth didn't know what else to do except cry until she was exhausted.

Finally, slowly, her crying began to stop and finally, she could stop and she sat there with Daryl's arms around her and her face still in his chest, and she tried to get herself to breathe once more.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Daryl didn't say anything.

She lifted her head to look at him and his eyes were set on her and she could just imagine the mess she looked right now. "I would never do anything to the baby."

"I know you're scared right now, but I jus' need you to trust me. I'm gonna take care of you and the baby. I don't know how, but I'm goin' to and I need you to trust me."

Beth nodded her head and sniffled and wiped her nose against the shirt sleeve. "I do," she said in a soft, yet firm, tone. "I do," she said and nodded again. "It's been you and me for so long, I can't remember when it wasn't."

Daryl's arms tightened a little around her and he kept looking at her and nowhere else. "We're goin' to explore 'round here and we're goin' to find a place and that's the only plan I've got right now."

She gave him a little smile. "It's a good plan," she said, her voice still soft.

Daryl pressed his lips to her forehead in a hard kiss and Beth closed her eyes, leaning into him. "Over my dead body am I goin' to let anythin' happen to you or this baby," he said, his lips still to her skin.

Beth didn't know how long they sat there, but eventually, they heard a sound both were extremely familiar with and Daryl seemed reluctant to move, but he did so anyway. He stood up and even though the walker was still a bit away, he fired his crossbow and the bolt sailed through the air before landing neatly in the walker's skull. The walker fell down in a heap and Daryl looked back to Beth, still sitting on the log, looking up at him.

"I brought your basket with me. Thought you might wanna get some stuff," Daryl said and Beth saw the tips of his ears poking through his too-long hair turning pink.

With a small smile, Beth stood up and noticed, for the first time, her basket on the ground. Daryl stooped down and picked up the basket, holding it out for her, and she took it, her smile growing a little wider, her earlier breakdown all but forgotten now. She was still scared, yes. Terrified, even. But as Daryl pointed out, there was a plan. It was a tiny one, but it was a plan nonetheless and at least for today and tomorrow, they had a roof over their heads.

They began walking side-by-side, stopping at the walker so Daryl could get his bolt back and once he loaded his bow once more, they continued walking. There was a slight down-slope and they headed that way, and as they walked, Beth realized that she would have to bring her book out here with her next time. Because, although she had memorized everything of use in the woods behind their house, these were totally new woods and all around them, there were things that Beth couldn't identify confidently and she imagined that so much of these things could be useful to them. It was practically overwhelming to see the lush green landscape that surrounded them and which seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

Beth, sometimes, still thought about that terrible winter after they had barely escaped the farm and how awful it had been, always fleeing a place after a couple of days, always running, always hungry. Beth wondered how different it could have been if she had known then all that she knew now. Rick had been so hung up on finding them food that they were all used to. Medicine, too. If only she had had her books and had been able to find them some of her favorite useful plants. She wondered if Rick was still like that or if, maybe, he had adapted to this new world – finally. There were places that far surpassed an old grocery store as being useful.

"You wan' it?" Daryl asked, breaking the comfortable quiet that had settled between them. Beth looked to see what he was referring to and she broke into a smile, almost laughing, and that was all the answer Daryl needed. He aimed and fired a bolt through the snake's head, killing it. "Could go with your soup, if you make it tonight."

"I can't mention mushroom soup around others and not make it," she smiled. She swung her basket in her hand and felt like humming as if she was some Disney princess. It was silly how much she sometimes missed Disney, of all things.

She was able to find the forest greens she usually used and a growth of safe mushrooms as well as dandelions seeming to grow everywhere. She filled her basket nearly to the brim, also breaking bark off of passing trees to take home, boil it down and sprinkle it with cinnamon before drying it. Believe it or not, cinnamon tree bark had become one of their favorite things to eat and luckily, no one left in the world seemed to be on the lookout for cinnamon so anytime they found a house or store that had already been searched through, odds were that cinnamon containers were still in the spice racks, untouched and ignored. Amateurs.

Daryl let out a low whistle and Beth looked. He had walked a bit ahead as she picked bark from trunks and she looked to see him standing at the edge of what looked to be a drop-off. She curiously went to go see what had gotten his attention and when she came to stand next to him and saw for herself, she gasped.

There was only one word Beth could think of in that moment. Amazing.

The mountains covered in thick forests went on as far as her eyes could see, the sky stretching out for just as long; white puffs of clouds hanging above dotting the landscape, creating pockets of darkened shadows as the sun shone on the rest.

Beth had never experienced anything like it before, but she experienced such a connection to the world in that moment. Despite everything that had happened in the past few years, it was as if it had all happened so she could be here in this moment. And at her side stood Daryl, looking out at the landscape, seeming to be just as overwhelmed as she felt.

Without a word, she reached her hand out and slid it into his and Daryl was the one to link their fingers together before giving her hand a squeeze. Beth squeezed back.

For their evening meal, they had mushroom, green and dandelion soup with roasted snake, and they all sat around the wooden table in the kitchen, pretending they didn't notice Anna sneaking bites of her dinner to Mick, who begged at her feet.

When Mulligan was done after his third bowl, he leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach, full to the brim. "Yes'sir. I could get used to havin' you folks 'round here. 've not been starvin', but you make stuff that reminds me of my Grandma and 's nice to have someone to help me 'round here. You'll stay through the winter," he then said quite casually with his hand slapping onto the table as if it was a gavel and he had made his final decision.

Beth gasped and everyone froze and turned to look at him.

Mulligan looked over them and frowned, "What?" He asked.

Beth flew from her chair and she didn't care that she still hardly knew this man. She bent over and throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Mulligan. Thank you so, so much."

"You best be makin' me a corn cake every mornin'," Mulligan said with a pat to her elbow, clearly uncomfortable with this girl showing him affection.

Daryl could see it and he stood up, gently pulling Beth back from him.

"I will. I promise," Beth nodded emphatically. "How is your soil up here? We've brought some of the crops we were able to save and corn has become our most important. We make corn flour from it and I use it in just about everything. Acorn flour, too. I make a delicious bread-"

"You make bread?" Mulligan interrupted. "Wha' 'bout yeast?"

"I have a box of yeast packets we got from a church," Beth answered. "But I've taught myself how to make bread without yeast, too."

Mulligan kept looking at her and Beth smiled, able to already read that expression.

"I'll bake a loaf tomorrow."

Aiden could eat some solid food, but he still drank milk and Rosita stepped out from the bedroom where she, Spencer and Aiden were staying, the baby in her arms, having just finished nursing.

Mulligan took one look at the boy and stood up. "Thought of somethin' earlier I've been meanin' to bring up."

He opened the door in the kitchen that led to the root cellar and they listened to his heavy footsteps on the steps.

"He's not a scary mountain man at all," Anna was the one to break the silence.

"Did you think he really meant it? He'd let us stay here for months?" Aaron asked, looking to Daryl.

Daryl was quiet a passing second and then he shrugged. "Don' think he's the kind of guy to say somethin' he don't mean."

"Wait. What'd I miss?" Rosita asked, settling down in the chair next to Spencer, and Spencer took Aiden to burp him.

"We can stay," Beth said to her, feeling like crying all over again though this afternoon had definitely made her feel all cried out.

Rosita gasped in much of the same way Beth had when Mulligan had told them.

They heard his steps on the stairs again and they all looked as he stepped into the kitchen and saw him holding a wooden something in his arms.

"Plenty of Mulligan kids rode this thing," he said as he went to the living room and set it down and they could all see that it was an old-fashioned handmade wooden rocking horse. "Figured your lil' one would like it, too."

Spencer grinned when Aiden burped and Spencer kept grinning as he stood up, going to the horse. "It's amazing," Spencer said. "Thank you," he said to Mulligan.

Mulligan gave a nod and they all watched as Spencer crouched down and set Aiden down on the horse's seat, keeping his hands on him so he didn't topple off. When the horse began to rock back and forth, Aiden let out a happy squeal and they all smiled.

Rosita, with tears in her eyes, stood up and rushed to Mulligan and threw her arms around his neck in a hug.

Mulligan frowned. "Wha's the hell with you women?"


And so their Appalachian adventure begins. (It bothers me how the show is still kind of obsessed with canned goods.)

Thank you so much for reading and please take a moment to comment!