Well, this chapter took me longer to get out than I thought because I have been crazy busy but I finally got around to it. It is pretty graphic compared to most of the chapters, but that is the Walking Dead for you. I recently watched the Talking Dead at the end of the Dead, White, and Blue movie marathon on TV and that is what gave me inspiration for this chapter concerning Gareth's story.

Beth's POV

Beth sat in the room, staring at the blank wall with the metal door. Her fingers yanked at the frayed edges of her shirt, which had become the victim of her anxiety. The blonde let her head lean back against the bed and she stretched her legs out on the floor. Eventually someone would have to come through that door and this time she was going to be ready. Mary had said that Beth wasn't a prisoner, but the locked door said otherwise. Yesterday when Mitch had pushed Beth back into her room to keep her from seeing what commotion was going on outside, Beth had decided that she couldn't stay. It didn't matter if Mary had lied about her being a prisoner or not, either way Beth couldn't stay at Terminus, she had a job to do. Beth needed to be out looking for Maggie and Daryl and the others, not be locked up in a concrete box until her captors thought she was trustworthy. Beth couldn't understand why she was being kept anyway. If they wanted her to join them, then she should already be out helping them farm and do laundry. They were feeding her when she wasn't even working; this wasn't a world where food could be spared to people who were not pulling their weight. Beth's eyebrows scrunched up as she pondered the many reasons she was being kept captive, none of them seemed to make sense. The young woman was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Beth stood up and stretched, her heart pounding. This could be the moment.

Her fingers ran over the hearts on her necklace and Beth sent a silent prayer up to her dead mother. Mom, if you are listening, give me the strength and speed to get out of here. The deadbolt clicked to unlocked and the doorknob turned. Without another thought, Beth yanked the door open and raced past Mary's surprised face and right into Mitch's iron-tight arms. "Noooo," Beth hollered as she was picked up off her feet, "let me go!" Both of her arms were pinned to her side and Beth had no hope that she would be able to overpower the stronger man. With a sob, Beth went limp as the little hope of escape left her breast. The blonde let herself be carried into the room as Mary began scolding her. "Now dear, we can't have you trying to escape every time we open the door," the older woman berated, "that just will not do."

Mitch dropped Beth on the bed and went to stand guard by the door. The blonde glared at Mary through the tears that were threating to come falling from her eyes. "I want to leave," Beth managed to choke out. "Now dear," Mary said with a shake of her head, "People don't just leave once they come to Terminus." The vague answer annoyed Beth who had already been on edge of freaking out before her attempted escape. "Why the hell not," she demanded, "You said I wasn't a prisoner, so I want to leave." The older woman took a deep breath as if she was exasperated with Beth and not the other way around. "Now, you are not thinking straight," Mary said calmly, "if we just let you leave, you would die in a second out there. That would be such a waste of all of our hard work to feed you and clean you. Besides, there is no reason to leave, Terminus is a good place. Everyone loves it here." Before Beth could argue, there was a knock at the door.

"I have a message for Mary," came a female voice. Mitch looked pointedly at Beth to make sure she wasn't near the door before opening it. The same messenger from yesterday stepped in and motioned for Mary to come outside. Beth's jaw dropped as she stared at the woman. The whole world seemed to disappear and this time not even Mitch was fast enough to stop her. Beth crossed the room and yanked at the familiar poncho the woman was wearing. "Where did you get this," she yelled, "she was my sister! What have you done with her?" The startled woman's eyes widened and Beth shoved her into the wall before Mitch could pry her off. "Maggie," Beth shrieked, hoping her sister might hear her, "Maggie! Where are you!" A hand covered her mouth, but Beth wasn't going to let that stop her. She bit down and tasted the iron tinge of human blood. Suddenly, a blow came from the side of her head and the blonde fell to the ground. The world around her spun and her hands were yanked together by rough rope.

When Beth finally reoriented herself, the blonde found that she was tied to the bed frame. She looked up to find all three of her captors, Mitch, Mary and the Messenger, all standing over her. Mary was frowning. "That bruise won't look nice, couldn't you have gone easier on her Mitch," the brunette complained, "really, the ceremony is only a few days from now and I wanted her to look perfect. It might still fade enough before then." Beth didn't pay attention to their chatter; instead, she stared at the patterns on the poncho she knew so well. It had been Daryl's poncho, until he had been chivalrous enough to let Maggie have it one winter when there wasn't enough to go around. It connected Beth to two of the most important people and yet it was just out of her touch. Beth tugged against the bed, hoping to get a little closer to the precious article of clothing. Her head was pounding and not just from Mitch's blow. Maggie wouldn't have just given anyone that poncho, which meant that something bad had happened to her older sister. Beth hung her head to hide her tears. "Come on," Mary finally said to the other two as she headed toward the door "I have to start the preparations." Their departure snapped
Beth out of her daze. "What have you done with her, she is my sister," Beth screamed at their backs. However, the only answer was the click of the deadbolt.

Daryl's POV

The excitement of the group was contagious. All of the men were riled up and ready like a pack of wolves as they followed the trail. "We are getting close boys," Joe said, as finished looking at the footprints in the dirt. Daryl felt a little uneasy. If the Marauders would kill one of their own men for a lie, what were they going to do to a stranger who had murdered their friend? The redneck pushed the thought away. There were no good people anymore so it didn't matter what happened, no one was innocent and everyone deserved what they got. Daryl walked a little faster to keep up with the group. He could leave and none of the men would even notice because they were so focused on the hunt. However, Daryl didn't want to leave. He didn't want to go back to being alone because once he was it would just be him and his thoughts and his thoughts weren't very good anymore. If he wasn't around people, all he would see was Merle and Beth's last moments over and over. He would relive the attack on the prison and this time Beth wouldn't be there for him. Daryl just couldn't go back to that. Instead, he had to forget and focus on the group he was with right now or his past would catch up with him.

Suddenly, a silence fell over the group as Joe pointed out smoke coming out from the tops of the trees. "We got ourselves a target," he whispered and all the men came in closer. Daryl wandered over to the edge of the group and listened to the leader talk. "Alright now men," Joe began, sounding like a coach talking to his football players, "we are going to come in real nice and quiet like from the woods and when we get that sonofabitch in our sights, leave him to me. If there is anyone else with him, we will do what we normally do." All the men nodded and Daryl wondered how often these men hunted people down. The uneasiness in his stomach was growing. "Alright, lets do this," Joe said with a smile. The group left their huddle but Daryl remained rooted in place.

A firm hand fell on Daryl's shoulder and he turned to find Joe next to him. "Alright now Daryl, you aren't too used to how we do things yet so you come in last and back us up with your crossbow," Joe ordered. Daryl nodded, knowing it was too late to turn back. He slung his weapon off of his shoulder and notched a bolt. Then, he followed the men, who were quieter than they had ever been since the first day Daryl had been found by them. They all fanned out and Daryl took the far left side. He stalked carefully through the forest and watched as the outlines of the Marauders moved with him. Up ahead there was a highway with a small fire burning off to the side of the pavement. Murmurs carried from around an old rundown van, meaning that they would have more than just one man to deal with. The redneck carefully stepped around a twig that would have given away his position. The others were not as quiet, a branch snapped from Tony's direction and everyone in the group froze, waiting to see if they would be discovered. When they weren't, Daryl began moving forward again. He was coming up behind the van when he heard Joe's voice and a gun being cocked.

"You screwed up asshole," said Joe, his tone malicious. The other men came bursting out of the forest as Joe continued to intimidate the man. "Do you hear me, you screwed up!" Daryl's eyes darted towards the trees, where he could disappear in an instant. This wasn't his fight but something was pulling him towards the group. "This is the day of reckoning, sir," exclaimed Joe dramatically, "a balancing of the whole damn universe." A chuckle escaped the leader that gave Daryl a chill down his spine. "And I was thinking of turning in on New Year's Eve," Joe joked. Daryl stood up straight, no longer hiding in the shadows. He began walking towards the van to see the man whom they had been hunting for the whole past week. His boots rang out on the pavement and he quickly made his way around the vehicle. It took a second for Daryl to realize what he was seeing. There, in the middle of the Marauders was Rick and Michonne, two faces he had been sure he would never see again. Daryl felt his stomach drop in fear when he realized that Joe was holding his gun to Rick's head. This couldn't be happening, not here, not now.

"Now whose gonna count down the ball dropper with me," Joe asked with a chuckle. Daryl felt ashamed to walk into the middle circle and have Rick see him with these men, but he had to do something, after all Joe was already counting. "Joe," he said, coming out from behind the van. He felt all the eyes turn to him but the only ones that mattered were Ricks. His friend looked older and more worn out than he had just a few weeks ago but he was alive and that was all the mattered. Michonne didn't react visibly but Daryl thought he could see her eyes widen just a little at his appearance. Daryl felt guilty that he had stuck with the Marauders instead of searching for the others but he saw no blame in Rick's eyes, only hope. In that instant, Daryl knew he had made the wrong decision and the redneck didn't know if any of them would live long enough for him to fix it, but he had to try.

"Hold up," Daryl said, as he tried to think of a way out of the situation, but his mind was still reeling his friends reappearance. "You're stopping me on eight Daryl," said Joe in a warning tone. "Just hold up," was all Daryl could manage. He came closer and couldn't take his eyes off Rick. Beth was right, she had always been right. Their group had been out there. She had said so since the very beginning but Daryl hadn't believed her. Yet here he was with Rick and Michonne right in front of him. Daryl glanced up to Joe who held the gun against Rick's head. Suddenly the man he had followed for the past week looked so obviously vicious that Daryl couldn't believe he had been suckered in by the leader's calm sensible tone of voice. However, Joe had showed in the past that he was a reasonable man. As long as Daryl made it so that hurting Rick would go against the code, then his friends would be safe.

"This guy killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about," growled one of the men. Joe, like always, was willing to listen to Daryl, because that was part of what it meant to be the leader of any group. "Thing is now, we got nothing but time," Joe said, "Say your piece Daryl." The redneck shifted, he had never been good at words but now those were what he needed to use to save Rick. He needed everyone to understand that Rick wasn't the kind of guy who just killed for fun; he needed to convey everything he had learned about the man to the Marauders in a matter of minutes. "These people," Daryl began with as much authority as he could manage, "you are going to let them go. These are good people." However, Joe interrupted him, "I think Lou would disagree with you on that. I will have to speak for him of course, cause your friend here strangled him in the bathroom." The reasonable light in Joe's eyes had gone away and Daryl realized that he wasn't going to be able to talk Rick and Michonne out of the situation. He himself had felt the energy in the group earlier as they posed for the kill and no pleas to logic or ethics was going to save his friends now.

Then, an answer occurred to him, one that would make up for all the mistakes he had made and might just save Rick. "You want blood, I get that," Daryl said firmly, looking straight into Joe's eyes. He tossed his crossbow to the ground at the leader's feet. "Take it from me, man," Daryl offered, spreading his arms in invitation, begging Joe to take the bait and fearing it at the same time. The older man's face was blank. "Come on," Daryl encouraged, inching closer. He wondered if his life would flash before his eyes if he died. At least he would get to see Beth again if that happened. Finally, Joe spoke. "This man killed our friend," he told Daryl with a pained look, "you say he is good people." The statement hung in the air before the deathblow came. "Now that right there is a lie," Joe said. Daryl's arms dropped to his side. He had tried, he had offered everything and now none of them would get out alive. "It's a lie," Joe exclaimed louder, causing the men to move from their frozen positions. Suddenly, the butt of a gun slammed into Daryl's side and he staggered back. "No," yelled Rick's voice as another blow landed on his head. Warm blood dripped down his face and Daryl could taste it in his mouth. The redneck tried to head towards his crossbow that was lying a few feet away, but too many arms dragged him back.

Daryl found himself pushed up against the van and blows landed all over his body until his feet wouldn't stay up anymore. "Teach him fellas, teach him all the way," said Joe, just like he had with Len. All of a sudden, Carl's voice rang out and Daryl's heart jumped when he realized that the boy had been in the van the whole time. He tried to get up to help Carl, but a sharp pain in his ribs caused him to sink to the pavement once again. Blood welled in his eyes and Rick and Carl's yelling filled the night air. Out of nowhere, Beth's voice spoke in his ears. "You're going to be the last man standing Daryl Dixon." The sweet sound gave him strength and Daryl managed to push one of his attackers away. He grabbed onto the side of the van to help himself up as a gunshot rang out. The sound distracted the men and Daryl lunged at the nearest one. He pulled his knife out of its sheath around his waist and plunged it into the man's head. Just as the man fell to the ground, he was tackled into the van by another one of the Marauders. A second gunshot rang out and the man in front of Daryl stopped punching him. Slowly, the man's knees buckled and blood came gushing from his throat. The redneck looked over to see Michonne holding a gun and Rick covered in blood. Rick and Michonne ran off towards Carl and Daryl finished off the Marauder, making sure he would never turn.

Then, he hurried after them to see one of the older men holding Carl. "I'll kill him," he yelled, pointing a knife to the boy's throat. "He's mine," said Rick and something in his voice made even Daryl scared. Rick walked fearlessly toward the man, the blood on his face gleaming in the moonlight. The Marauder pushed Carl away. "Stay away, you can have the boy…," the man began, but he never finished. Rick had plunged his knife into the man's stomach and slowly moved it all the way up to his throat. Once he had finished, he began stabbing the man over and over. Daryl leaned against the van, every part of his body hurting. The only sound that could be heard was that of flesh being stabbed, over and over. Daryl looked over at Carl, who was watching his dad from the safety of Michonne's arms. This had to stop. The redneck pushed himself off the van and cautiously approached Rick, he remembered how badly his friend had mentally broken down when Lori had died but he looked far more deranged now. Not that Daryl could blame him, but this needed to stop, Carl didn't need to see this.

"Rick," Daryl said softly, but his friend kept hacking at the lifeless body. "Rick," Daryl repeated, but he wasn't given any notice. After a moment's hesitation, he grabbed Rick's wrist and yanked him away. At first, Daryl thought Rick might go after him as they struggled over the knife, but finally recognition set in and the leader slumped against Daryl's shoulders. The bloody weapon in Rick's hand fell onto the pavement. Daryl dragged Rick over to the vehicle and propped his body against one of the front wheels while Michonne took Carl into the van. Daryl looked over at the dead bodies and blood that surrounded the campsite. He didn't feel bad for the men even though he had known them for a week. They were bad people, they deserved what they got. However, there still were good people left, he had been with them the past couple of years and now he had found them again. Daryl promised himself that he wouldn't forget that there were good people; he wouldn't let himself go down that dark road again.

Beth's POV

Beth tugged at the rope that tied her to the bed post. Her skin was red and chaffed from all her unsuccessful attempts. Her sister was someone at Terminus and Beth was determined to find her. She needed to see her sister's face again, to feel her strong arms give her a hug. Maggie was the only family she had left, if something happened to her, Beth didn't know if she would be able to stay optimistic. She might end up like Daryl, thinking that there was nothing good in the world. The thought of Daryl gave Beth strength. If Daryl could go from a yelling mad drunk to a guy who made her breakfast and admitted that there might be good people, then Beth could go from the sweet farmer's daughter to a tough fighter who made it out of Terminus. She believed everything happened for a reason and her time with Daryl had made her tougher. Learning how to use Daryl's crossbow, even though she was still far from being an expert, had given her confidence. Rather than keep her safely locked away like her father and the rest of the group had done, Daryl had believed in her enough to teach her how to hunt, how to survive. He wouldn't have done that if he thought she wasn't going to make it, he had seen a strength in Beth that she hadn't even seen in herself until he showed it to her. Beth needed to escape Terminus and find Daryl so that she could tell him how important it was to her that he had believed in her. There was so much she still needed to say to him and to Maggie. Beth gave a vicious yank at her bindings, but they only wrapped tighter around her wrists. "Stupid fucking ass rope," Beth snarled, kicking at the bed frame in anger. She almost laughed thinking of how her father would scold her for cussing. "That won't do you any good," came a calm male voice. Beth froze, she had been so focused on escaping from the rope that she hadn't even noticed the door open.

Standing there in the doorway was the lanky form of Gareth, the man who had bought her. He slowly walked in and sat down on the floor a few feet away from her. Beth sat up straighter and looked at him. They sat in silence for a while; Gareth couldn't keep eye contact with her and ended up staring at the ground. Beth didn't know what to say, she had only seen him once and knew almost nothing about the guy. The young man cleared his throat and shifted. "You look a lot like my sister did," he managed to say. The blonde frowned, that was not what she had expected him to say. "Was your sister usually tied up and kept captive," Beth retorted. Gareth finally made eye contact with her. There was something in his sad brown eyes that looked genuine, unlike Mary's sweet demeanor.

"Look," Gareth said, ignoring Beth's smart-aleck response, "I just wanted to apologize. I'm not here to get into an argument with you." Beth's eyebrows narrowed. "What are you apologizing to me for," she asked, "is it for holding me captive or not telling me about my sister? Because instead of apologizing you could just untie me and take me to Maggie." Gareth looked away again. "No, I am not apologizing to you for that, I'm apologizing for what is to come," He said, turning back and staring at her with pity. Beth's breath caught, she couldn't even begin to imagine what Gareth was insinuating. "What is to come," Beth asked, scared of the answer. Gareth pushed his hair out of his face, obviously uncomfortable with the topic. "It's best that you don't know," he replied, "it's the only way, it has to be this way." The blonde frowned at the unhelpful answer. "What has to be this way? Nothing has to be any way unless you choose it, you don't have to do anything to me," Beth pleaded. The young man shook his head, as if Beth were a toddler.

"You know, it didn't always use to be like this," Gareth said, "We used to be an actual sanctuary. Back before the walkers appeared, my older brother, Jack, ran this train station. It had always been his dream to work with trains. As kids, we would play with his toy trains for hours on end. He was always the go-getter in the family. Right out of high school he started working for the railroad station and quickly climbed his way up. For a while, he used to work in the room, doing paperwork and answering the phone. However, he was promoted few months before the walkers appeared. I would come visit him and walk these hallways, I would sit in this very room." Gareth looked around as if Beth wasn't even there, lost in a time where things had been better.

"My brother was amazing," Gareth informed the blonde, "he immediately took charge once the apocalypse started. Jack rounded up all the workers and their families and kept everyone here. We were safe behind the gates and we had a watch system. Everything was good and my other brother, Evan, and I helped him. My mother and sister were in charge of all the supplies and cleaning. It wasn't perfect but it was safe." Beth wanted to put her hands over her ears, the story sounded so familiar to the prison and she knew it couldn't end well.

"My brother wanted to do more though. He was always that kind of person, who helps others. Jack began taking people in and caring for them. We would assimilate them and we would become stronger. Then, he decided we needed to do more than just take people in, we needed to find them. So, our group went out searching for radios and once we found them, we began broadcasting our location to anyone who could hear us. We put up signs and maps to draw people in. The people trickled in, some in better condition than others. Then, one day, a big group of about thirty men came by. They had escaped from some prison several miles away." Hearing the word prison caught Beth's attention, it must have been the same prison she and her family had lived at, and there couldn't be that many other ones in the area. "Anyways, they were a rough looking group and we didn't want to take them in. While we were talking to them through the gate, a herd of walkers appeared. Jack just couldn't watch them get slaughtered, so he opened the gate and let them in. Then, everyone at Terminus started fighting the walkers. The herd was so big they pushed the gate down and a lot of people died."

Gareth stopped telling his story for a moment to regain his composure. "However, we stopped them. Just as we were taking count of who was still alive, the leader of the prison group walked up to Jack and shot him in the head. Right there in front of me. Then, they took over what was left of the people at Terminus." Gareth's hands curled into fists and Beth could feel the anger coming off of him in waves. "They did horrible things to us. I was beaten so badly for talking back to them that I almost died, Evan did die. My mother and sister suffered a much worse fate, they were used for amusement." Beth stared at Gareth in horror as he explained what happened to each of the people in his former group. "Mary was among the women they mistreated. To make it worse, people kept coming because they had seen the signs and they would become victims too." Beth didn't know what to say, so she watched as Gareth's face contorted in rage. "But that ended one day. After one of the men had been particularly cruel to my little sister right in front of me, I decided I had had enough. I found the guy and took his gun and killed him. Then, I went to the leader and killed him too. It wasn't planned, but all the other people started attacking the prison group in the chaos and somehow we managed to overcome them. When it was all finished, they looked to me because I had killed the previous leader. To me, even though I was always the slacker of the family, I was suddenly in charge. There wasn't many people left but there was enough and we rebuilt." Beth stared at the young man who was in charge of Terminus, whose fault it was that she was being kept captive and yet she still managed to feel pity.

"I'm sorry," Beth managed to say, but her words seemed to fall short. "I have also lost most of my family," she continued, "we thought we were safe and then others took that from us. I only have Maggie left." Gareth sighed, "it isn't the walkers that are the dangerous ones, it is the humans. And I will never let anything like that happen ever again, no matter what I have to do. That is why I can't help you." Beth shook her head. "There are still good people you know," Beth told Gareth just like she had told Daryl, "It is easy to forget, especially when a lot of bad things have been done to you, when you have been hurt a lot. But not everyone is bad, you don't have to make everyone the enemy." Gareth stared into Beth's eyes, "I can't risk it, I'm sorry." "No," Beth insisted, "don't you see what is happening. You are just hurting others because you have been hurt. I have a sister just like you did, if something happens to her, it will hurt me just like it hurt you. Even if you can't let me go, just let me see her one last time, please." The younger man got up and dusted his jeans off. Slowly he walked over to the blonde and put a hand on her head. "I'm sorry," he whispered, before heading for the door. Before he could leave, Beth stopped him. "What was your sister's name," she asked. Gareth stopped between her room and the hallway. "Her name was Emily," he said quietly, before shutting the door.

I have no clue when I will get the next chapter out because I am going to be pretty busy but I will write the next chapter as soon as possible. Also, concerning a question that was left in the reviews about Carol, Tyreese, and Judith (WARNING minor spoiler alert but not really), I haven't decided exactly what role they will play yet but you will at least find out what happens to them in my story. That's all for now, thanks for reading!