Good Times Had

Chapter 11

Beth bounced Abby as she paced around the kitchen, watching Daryl and Merle and Glenn and Rick get ready for war. She was slightly alarmed by the number of guns on her kitchen table. She really didn't want them to go anywhere and she honestly could not understand how he thought going off to fight a war with someone who had no problem beheading people was a good idea when they had a month old baby. She'd tried to talk with him, tried to reason with him, but he was so damn stubborn he wouldn't hear any of it. He slid a clip into a .45 as the other women walked into the room.

"We're going with you," Maggie told them. "That was my father, Beth can't go, she's got Abby, but Lori, Lucina, and I are going." She crossed her arms and Beth knew as well as the boys did that they were just as stubborn as the men were.

Glenn sighed, but nodded his head. He'd been with Maggie long enough to know that when she put her mind to something it was going to get done. "Okay," he answered, handing her a gun. Rick ran down the basics with Lori to make sure she was going to be okay. They weren't exactly going to be able to protect each other while there was a firefight going on.

Beth shook her head and left the kitchen. She didn't want any of them to go. She knew why they were going, appreciated why they were going, but she didn't want anyone else she loved to get hurt. She looked up when Michonne walked through the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Daryl called; he told me what's going on. He asked if I'd stay with you while they're out." Michonne shrugged out of her coat and smiled a little. "They're going to be just fine."

Beth sighed and nodded her head, putting Abby down in her swing and set it on the lowest setting. "You can't honestly tell me that you're okay with this."

Michonne shrugged as she sat on the couch. "I'm not saying that murder is okay, but, I'm not saying that these boys are wrong either. There's no legal way to prove that he did it, and as long as Rick can make it look like a drug deal gone bad, I don't see how any of this will come back to you."

Beth crossed her arms and paced around the living room, trying to stay out of Carl's way. He was staying behind too and Daryl had gotten him set up playing video games. She looked up as Daryl walked in, taking note of just how many weapons were attached to his body. He pulled her into him and kissed her head. "I love you," he whispered.

She nodded her head, tears welling up in her eyes as she imagined the worst happening. "I love you too." She looked up at him and cupped his face in her hands. "You come back to me in one piece, understand?"

He nodded his head and kissed her before putting a gun into her hand. "Just in case." Beth nodded her head and walked them to the door. They climbed into two cars before backing out of the driveway and taking off. Beth really hated watching him go but as soon as the taillights had disappeared she closed the door and locked it.

"Carl?" she asked, looking at him. He paused his game and looked up at her. "If someone comes to this house that isn't Daryl or your daddy, you take my baby, and you go upstairs, and you lock the bedroom door. Understand?"

Carl nodded his head. "Yeah, I understand."

Beth nodded and sighed. "Good." She took the gun in her hand and turned the safety off and cocked it, sliding a bullet into the chamber. No one was getting into this house without a fight. She honestly was not surprised when Michonne pulled out her own gun.

Daryl pulled the car up to the meeting place and parked. They were outside of the city by a few miles, under an old bridge that was covered in empty bottles, graffiti, and abandoned cars. No one was going to bother them down here. Philip was waiting for them when they showed up and they slowly, all climbed out of their cars, making sure they had guns in their hands, but didn't point any of them. "Did you enjoy your gift?" Philip asked.

Daryl growled and took a step forward. "Are you ready to die?"

Philip laughed and snapped his fingers. Chinese gangsters came from everywhere, all holding guns on them. "Are you?"

Rick tried to be the voice of reason then, the cop taking over. "We don't have to do this." He looked at Philip. "You want to traffic drugs through my city, but that's not going to happen, and if this goes down the way you and Daryl want it to go down, more than one person is going to die."

Philip smirked and crossed his arms, and they didn't miss the gun in his hand. "That's what I'm counting on." He quickly uncrossed his arms and shot at Rick, just barely missing. It was over from there. Guns were fired, bulletins rained down on either side. Daryl pulled Rick behind the door of the car where they shot from.

"Did you really think it was going to be that easy?" Daryl demanded as he shot over the door, the glass from the window getting shot out. They brushed the glass off of them and returned fire. Daryl tried to keep an eye on everyone as bodies dropped on the other side. He heard Lucina cry out as a bullet grazed her shoulder and Merle jumped up, rage burning in his eyes as he went crazy.

Daryl swore and aimed all of his attention on the Governor. Soon, the gun fire died down, slowly, but it died down. When they saw Rick put a bullet in Philip and saw him hit the ground, everyone stopped, what was left of the Chinese drove off, leaving their leader stranded and bleeding out. Merle knelt beside Lucina, pulling his shirt off and pressing it against her arm as she assured him she was alright. Rick and Daryl started to set things up, pulling on gloves, to make sure that it looked like a drug deal gone bad.

Beth's eyes flew to the door when she heard the knock. She nodded at Carl who gently picked up Abby and carried her upstairs. She waited until she heard the door shut before she got off the couch and slowly walked over to the door. She looked through the peek hole. "It's not them," she whispered, looking over at Michonne. She started to pull her gun up to aim at whoever was behind the door, but the door was kicked in and she hit the wall behind her, the gun falling from her hand. Two men walked into the house, one grabbing Beth around the neck and holding a gun on her, the other holding a gun on Michonne.

A third man walked into the house. "Go look for the baby and the kid." Beth growled and tried to get away from her attacker as the other man walked through the house. No one was going to touch her baby. She clawed and scratched his hand, holding her throat. He growled as she drew blood and slapped her. As Beth hit the ground her eyes landed on the gun. She scramble for it and wrapped her arms around it, spinning and putting a bullet in his leg. She got up quickly and kicked his gun away.

While the man holding the gun on Michonne had been distracted Michonne had gotten his gun away from him. Beth looked at the man who'd been halfway up the stairs. "Get down here, now," she demanded. He held his hands up and slowly walked down the stairs. "I'll give you one chance to leave my house, if you're not gone by the time my husband gets home, I can promise you, he won't be as giving as I am."

They didn't waste any time, they picked up their wounded and left. Beth hit the ground, dropping the gun and kicked the door closed. "Are you okay?" Michonne asked, walking over. Beth could taste blood in her mouth from where she'd been slapped. She nodded her head and wiped the blood away.

"Carl, sweetheart, you can come down now," she called out, letting Michonne help her off of the floor. Carl came down slowly and handed Abby to Beth. She took the little girl who had slept through everything and held her close as she walked to the couch and sat down. "Go ahead and keep playing your games," Beth told Carl as he sat between Beth and Michonne. He nodded his head and went back to playing.

It wasn't long before Daryl busted through the door, gun raised, thinking something was going on because of the broken door. He looked over at the four on the couch and took a breath, slowly lowering his gun. "What happened?" he asked, walking over and taking Abby from Beth.

"Three men came in, but Beth shot one of them and chased them off." Michonne stood up and stretched. "Everyone okay?" she asked, looking over at the door as the others came in.

"Lucina got grazed, she's got a pretty bad flesh wound, other than that, we're all okay." Daryl looked over as Merle carried Lucina in. Beth walked over and got the medical kit down. "Put her on the kitchen table," Daryl told him.

Beth started to dress the wound as the others gathered around and put their weapons on the table. Lori hugged Carl. "He did great," Beth told her. "Wouldn't mind having him around more often." She smiled and gave Carl a wink. "He's a great babysitter." Lori smiled and kissed his head. Beth bandaged up Lucina's arm and kissed her head. "All better, you okay?"

Lucina nodded and looked over at Merle. "I think he's more traumatized than I am."

Beth hugged her brother and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for helping him." Merle nodded and walked over to Lucina, pulling her close and holding onto her, needing the reassurance that she was really alright. Beth understood, once they put Abby down for the night, she was going to hold onto him and not let him go until she had to. The only saving grace was that everything was over for now. They could try to mourn Hershel and get back to their lives. Hopefully.