A/N Hey! Apologies for not getting this chapter out last Friday as promised! It was pretty much my fault due to me being pre-occupied with my other story... sorry!

Lola and I would like to explain a couple of things before you read on...

Firstly, this story was planned out in it's entirety and had been half written back in the late summer of last year, however after witnessing the MSF on TWD in November we took the decision to alter this story for the sake of our readers. The direction we had planned was truly dreadful, heart-breaking and upsetting, and with the general reaction out there to how Beth had been unfairly treated on the show we decided to not make things worse and devastate everyone for a second time. It was a hard decision, but also one that made sense to us, as neither of us was particularly enthralled with writing what we had planned either.

So we had to rethink and provide an alternative ending for this story...which we have done! There will still be another five chapters or so before we finish up and we hope you continue to read, review and enjoy it to the end.

Secondly, we would both like to thank you sincerely for all the kind words and encouragement you have given us over the past few months. It's been heart-warming to know our writing is appreciated, because we have just had the best time working on this joint project... and I know it won't be the last time we work together...

Anyway, please enjoy! (This isn't a fluffy, happy chapter by any means and we should warn you of bad language and violence.)

Oh, and please remember that italics = dreams/visions/memories.

Best wishes Lola and E xx

The Hunger

Chapter 14: Reckoning

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

Romans 12:19

Saturday April 16th 2005, 3:05 am Savannah, GA

It was raining again. Storming actually. The cracking thunder had been rattling the windows all night at The Diner on Abercorn where Beth was working. Beth had volunteered for the late shift 9 pm to 3 am, six days a week. It worked out well, since she could schedule her classes for the afternoon and then get to work. Daryl had his internship at Hansen Architects and worked a regular schedule 8 to 5, then took his classes at night. Usually, even when he had to work, Daryl would get up and meet her at the diner to walk her home like he always had when they were in school. This morning, however, Beth had driven the car since it was doing all this storming. When she got home, she and Daryl were planning to spend the whole day together painting the babies' room and setting up the cribs that had just been delivered yesterday.

Beth had barely been able to stand the last hour of work. She smiled as she made her way outside. Her feet were aching and she swore she could feel the damp to her bones. She couldn't wait to get home to Daryl and curl up beside him in their nice cozy bed for a while. As she fished around in her bag for her keys, a movement from across the street caught her eye. There was someone standing in the shadows under the canopy of the flower shop there. The smallish figure was cloaked in a black hood, but even from this distance Beth could see blue eyes glowing; reflecting the light from the diner's sign and watching her. An illusion of the neon lights probably. A car passed, splashing water from the pavement and the figure was gone that quickly. Beth shook off a chill, opened the red awning of her umbrella, and headed out away from the glow of the diner into the dark night toward the back of the building where her car was parked.

Beth had gotten just to the rear of the building when the wind kicked up in a howl and her umbrella shot upward, bending and snapping. It was obviously a loss, so Beth just dropped it onto the pavement and made a dash toward the car. The sudden torrent of the storm made it difficult to see with water running in her eyes and wind whipping her hair up into her face. In the minor chaos, Beth dropped the keys as she reached out to unlock the door and they quickly sank to the bottom of a puddle. Beth cursed her luck. With her protruding stomach it was difficult enough to retrieve things like that, let alone with the added complication of the storm.

She didn't see him coming as she hunched over in the rain, feeling for the missing keys. A wily unkempt man grabbed at her in the darkness and drug her backwards without warning. His hands were rough and uncaring of either Beth's tender flesh or the tiny babies she carried inside her. He stank of bourbon and cigarettes and terrible body odor. Beth screamed out into the night as the figure manhandled her body into the adjoining alleyway, but her cries were quickly extinguished by the man's large hard hand covering her mouth, bruising her face terribly, no doubt.

She fought him, though. She fought for her sake and for Daryl's, but most of all for their tiny helpless babies inside her. The contents of Beth's bag were scattered about the pavement as Beth struggled with the man in the deluge. She punched and kicked and scratched. He lifted her and carted her into the alleyway, throwing her carelessly against the brick wall there and sneering down at her viciously.

Beth realized who this was in that moment. She knew him even if they had never met before. The resemblance was ever-so-slight, but Beth could see hints of her precious Daryl in the way Will Dixon's jaw was cut, the contour of his nose. A brutal fire of hatred rose up in Beth. The same anger that she had felt the night Merle brought Daryl's broken body home to the farm fanning the flame. What did he want? Beth seethed. Why couldn't he just go to hell so her family could pretend he had never existed?

"So yer that lil' blonde whore that's got my boy's h..head all twisted up? Good for nothin' lil' cock-suckin' whore. Ya understand what grief ya caused me bitch?" Beth just glared at the man as he stood somewhat unsteadily in the rain. He was obviously drunk as a skunk. She had caused him grief? Beth was so incredulous that she couldn't even respond. "People tryin' ta sh..shake ma hand. Congratulate me on my sac..skessful son. All the while laughin' behind mmm…ma back 'cause they know it's all a load a sshit. Lookin' at me like I'm some pitiful asshole. S'all yer doin' fer fuckin' th..thangs up. Always were."

Beth couldn't help herself. She had always wondered about the "legend" of Will Dixon. She had thought he must have been some hulking horrible beast, some terrifying ferocious figure, to have terrorized Daryl and done so much damage to his psyche as he had. But this pathetic pile of excrement was nothing. Truth be told, Beth was disappointed. How could this lousy drunkard have ever thought he was better than her husband? How could he ever had made Daryl believe his lies? This… man, if you could call him that, was nothing but a stuttering drunken buffoon. It didn't make sense to her. Her brain tried to piece it together as he continued on. God, this man loved to hear himself talk, didn't he?

"Heard ya fi..finally got that lil' ninny ta knock ya up. S'whatcha been www…waitin' fer, innit? Get 'im all tied up so's ya can ens…slave 'im with child support while ya whore around and pretend to momma 'is lil' bastard retards. Had ta come see fer maself 'cause I's sss…sure that boy's tiny dick weren't no good. Was always nothin' but a lil' bitch. How'd ya manage to get it up fff…fer him? Hmm? Ya must be a good lil' whore to figure that 'un out. Bet it ain't even 'is, is it?"

When Will Dixon was finally done with his little effort at cutting Beth down, Beth hoped he was disappointed in her lack of response. Beth saw right through him, to the real Will Dixon. Beth rolled her eyes and shook her head at the nonsense in front of her. She was done. She wasn't afraid of Will Dixon and, after seeing him in the flesh, she understood that he simply wasn't worth her time to worry over. He wasn't even worth her anger at what he had done in the past. He was nothing. No one. Just a pathetic little smudge of filth that should be effectively wiped from their past. Beth was exhausted at this point and she just wanted to go home.

"Look, I don't know what you want, Mr. Dixon. But as far as I'm concerned you can just fuck off." Beth, not clearly understanding Will Dixon's penchant for violence and forgetting her own vulnerability in the wake of her anger and disgust, waved him out of her way as a dismissal. "Get out of my way. I'm goin' home. I have a nice warm little home and lovin' husband waitin' on me." Beth looked down her nose at Will Dixon as she straightened to stand eye-to-eye with him and couldn't resist adding one more little barb. "You should go home too. You have… ohhh. What do you have waitin' for you? Nothin'? No one? Yep, that's exactly what you deserve you pathetic old bastard. Have a nice life, Mr. Dixon."

Violence erupted then. The collision between Beth and Will was brutal. There was nothing Beth could really do except scream against her assailant's hand and flail against his body, clawing and scratching at his face and eyes, as she was ravaged by the evil, vile older Dixon. Her waitress uniform was ripped in the struggle as he punched and slapped her. There was blood and screaming. Chaos. Cursing. The flashing of a blade. Beth was suddenly thrown viciously against the brick wall, the breath knocked from her lungs as she gasped in surprise, shock, and pain. Her arms protected her stomach from the blow, leaving her head unprotected to smack the rough surface of the wall. Beth saw black spots as her face recoiled from the impact and her body fell uselessly back onto the pavement. Beth felt her warm blood mix with the cold rain washing down over her skin and she wept inside, asking God for mercy.

A brilliant flash of silver lightning washed the alley in light as Beth looked toward the heavens in a daze. She caught urgent blue eyes staring at her from the fire escape above. As she felt the energy draining from her body, she tried to focus on those eyes; begging them silently for help. She heard a voice, a whisper as if it was in her ear, but it seemed to be coming from the figure above somehow. "Don't give up. FIGHT HIM." Beth felt a surge within her as Will Dixon reached down toward her to continue his assault, foul words still spilling from his mouth. Following the urging from the voice in her head, Beth renewed her effort to free herself and sank her teeth deep into the wretched man's arm until she met bone and she tasted blood. Beth flung herself forward hard against the old bastard as he raised her up, managing to throw them both off balance as he was distracted by her bite.

The knife tumbled between Beth and Will momentarily as they collided. The blade twisted against flesh. It sank its unforgiving silver quickly and silently into soft flesh, stopping only when it hit bone, before slipping away again and tumbling to the ground. The switch-blade knife that had once cut Daryl so viciously now found another victim, this time in his young pregnant wife.

Beth fell forward onto the pavement, ripping flesh from her bare hands, arms, and legs as she held onto her shoulder in an attempt to stem the bleeding. She was free from his grasp, but the energy she had been afforded for her last struggle was gone and she felt herself drifting instead of running for safety. She fell forward again onto the pavement, a second blow to her head furthering her path toward oblivion. Beth's vision had suddenly become too bright and blurry as the earth twisted uncomfortably around her. She thought she heard Will cursing somewhere far away, but it didn't seem to be directed at her this time. Why had he not attacked her again by now? She expected it, to meet her end at his hands, but he didn't come for her.

Beth's stomach turned and searing pain shocked through her body. She felt her heart race and then stutter, threatening to stop completely. Hot blood rushed swiftly from her wounds and puddled with the cold rain beneath her. She realized then that Will Dixon wasn't just a stuttering drunken buffoon. She suddenly understood exactly how much pain her beautiful husband had really endured for years at the hands of his own father. She felt utterly broken that she'd underestimated his complete and utter disregard for human life, even the life of his own blood. Then Beth had a wild thought that she might not survive and she wept for her unborn son and daughter, feeling them twist and kick inside her. She wept especially for Daryl because she knew he would have to see them this way. He would have to face their violent death alone, face a lonely future alone. She could do nothing but cry out to the Lord for help one last time.

Suddenly Beth was on her back and being held in a warm secure embrace. The first thing she thought was that Daryl had found her, rescued her, but the earth was still twisting harshly and she couldn't tell what was actually happening or if all of this was some sick nightmare. The world was bathed in a rainbow of pastel neon flashes and creeping shadows and flickering unnatural movements that made no sense. She heard a sound like a fluttering of birds wings and felt herself being lifted – or maybe she was floating away. It was all so confusing. She was suddenly able to focus on one thing in the tossing blur and pain of her existence. Shocking blue eyes appeared in her vision. They should have frightened her, they were unnatural and intense, but they didn't frighten her. The eyes above brought Beth peace and stilled the churning visions before her. The world faded to black and Beth slowly sank into unconsciousness …deeper and deeper toward what she was certain was the blackness of death.

Sometime shortly after…

Daryl stood there in the rain. Rivulets of wet trailed themselves down his face, through his hair, dampening his clothes. Unlike the rest of him, his eyes were dry for the moment, though. Shock had fallen upon him like a black heavy cloak as he stared at the scene before him. The alleyway. Flashes of a memory shocked through Daryl like they were brought down from the lightning of the storm above.

Beth was drenched through, her torn clothes covered in blood. She lay unmoving on the ground. She was cold and pale and sad, splattered with blood, her pretty blue eyes staring up at him blankly.

The lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the alleyway. In reality, there was no Beth here. The memories still came, though…

There was blood; so much blood, it was all around her, on the wall, on the floor, on her body.

There WAS blood. So much blood. He was too late. Daryl's knees gave way under him and he crashed to the ground. It drenched the alleyway in red, every surface was bathed in Beth's precious blood. More bright flashes from above made the alley flash in reflection like a blinking red neon sign…

The blood changed red to pink as the raindrops came down heavy and fast, diluting it as it flowed under his feet, soaked into his clothes, trickled under his fingers. All that remained where her body once lay were puddles of blood and a nametag that shimmered gold in the light of the neon glow. A nametag that read 'Beth'.

In reality, outside of the horrible memory of his vision from so long ago, Daryl reached down. The nametag he had once seen so vividly in his 10 year old mind gleamed in the lightning on the wet pavement of the alley. It was real. Her body wasn't here, but it had been. He'd seen it just as he had seen this nametag. Daryl brought the gold plate to his face, willing his mind to snap awake as he had back then. He longed for this to be a recurring nightmare of some sort. But the cold hardness of the nametag in his hand, the pain of the concrete digging into his knees, the cold rain running down his back all told him that this wasn't another dream. Daryl sank the pin-back of the tag deep into his finger, feeling the sweet pain, and letting his blood sink down to join Beth's below. And Faith and Daniel? Was this their innocent blood, too? Daryl felt his gut wrench. This was reality. This was Daryl Dixon's wretched awful reality.

She was dead… she was gone. They were all gone. Daryl screamed…

Daryl screamed…

Saturday April 16th 2005, 6:00 am Marietta, GA

Erika walked through the dark halls of her antique home on the outskirts of Atlanta. She didn't need lights, she could see just as fine in the shadows as in the sunlight. As an after-thought she did flick on a lamp here and there. For the comfort of her guest, she reasoned. She climbed the stairs and went to the farthest bedroom at the end of the hall. Earlier in the evening, she had brought Beth Dixon into her home and laid her as comfortable as possible on the bed. Merle had all but panicked at the sight of the badly injured mother, but she quickly quieted him and sent him directly to his brother. Erika knew what Merle was going to find and it wouldn't be pleasant. Daryl was going to need his brother's reassurances, his strength. Erika wished she could be there for Daryl, too, but her focus needed to be on Beth now.

There was nothing at all that Erika could have done for the girl during the encounter with Will. Erika seethed inside about that, but rules were rules. She couldn't interfere until Beth fought back and made a reasonable effort to save herself. And she had done wonderfully. As soon as Beth had created space between her and Will, Erika had stepped between them. That's all it took, too. The simple minded coward had ran away. Probably fearing a witness more than the actual threat that she posed. Erika had hoped for a fight, hoped for the opportunity to smite Will Dixon once and for all. It was ungodly of her, but Erika had envisioned a slow painful reckoning for the elder Dixon. She would have made his last moments on earth unbearably torturous before she flung his useless soul to the depths of hell's abyss where he belonged. Beth began to stir and Erika sat patiently at her bedside, putting away her hateful thoughts. After a while, Beth opened her eyes and found Erika waiting for her with a wide loving smile.

"Who are you? I need my husband. Where's... my husband?" Beth's voice was quiet and strained as she spoke to the strange woman.

"I'm your friend, Elizabeth. Don't be afraid. You're not alone." She whispered gently to the girl as she touched her forehead. Erika had prepared a soft warm cloth and began to clean at Beth's wounds a bit.

Beth was in so much pain that it was unbearable. Her shoulder, her head, her limbs...She wished she could slip back into unconsciousness again, but she was afraid. She managed to find the strength to run her hands along the swell of her belly. She longed to feel the movement of her son kicking against her, her daughter's gentle and graceful tumbling… and she was relieved when she did. Almost as if her babies could sense her need, hear her wishful thoughts. Beth sighed in instant relief at the reassurance of her children's well-being. The mysterious woman at her side covered her hands over Beth's stomach and looked at her gently. Surprisingly, Beth's pain started to ease and she felt warm all over, comforted, but she still needed Daryl. "Please?...I just want to go home."

"I know, Elizabeth. You can't go home right now, though. You're injured. Just relax and look at me. You're not alone. It's time to sleep now. Everything is going to be just fine. I'll read to you, ok? And then you'll rest and I'll stay right here with you." Erika read a Psalm to Beth from memory. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence." Beth squeezed her eyes shut as a hot shard of pain pierced her body from head to toe. The shock of Will's assault was starting to ease and her body was starting to realize the pain of her injuries.

"Shhh. Elizabeth? Look at me. It's alright." Erika continued to read to the girl as her pain quieted under Erika's watchful gaze. "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday…There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."

Erika renewed her effort to hold back Beth's pain. She continued on with her recital, hoping that her words were being a comfort to the slight young woman that she had only ever been able to look upon from afar. "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."

Beth's voice was weak, but Erika still managed to hear her. "Angels…My mother used to read that to me…from the bible."

Erika stroked Beth's blood stained hair. "I know she did child. Did it comfort you?" Beth smiled gratefully and nodded gently. "All right then. You sleep now and have a good rest. Regain your strength a bit. We'll have a long talk about all this nonsense tomorrow. Goodnight Beth, my darling girl." Beth didn't hear half of this last bit. She had already fallen into a comfortable slumber, her pain eased by Erika's loving ministrations and her mind eased by her careful words.

Because she considered that there was no one to see it but God, Erika bowed her head over the young mother and wept silently as she finished the verse to comfort her own heart after the violence she'd had to witness tonight… "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation."

24 hours later...Sunday April 17th 2005, 5:25 am

When Beth's eyes opened again, she could see clearly. The world was no longer spinning and pain was now bearable. She sat straight up in the bed and took a good look around. The woman that had talked to her before was sitting at the foot of the bed with her back to Beth. "Where am I?"

The woman didn't turn around. "You're in my home. In Marietta."

"Who are you? Marietta?! How did I get to Marietta...I was...I was at work?" No answer.

Beth's panic started to grow. "I don't remember the police or a hospital or anythin'. Did you call my husband? Did they catch the... Will... did they catch him?" Her flurry of questions still went unanswered. Beth was confused and afraid. The small woman finally stood and walked to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall as she stared at Beth. "I have to go home... to Daryl."

"You can't go home yet, Elizabeth."

"Why not? How long have I been here? What have you done to me?"

Beth was suddenly terrified. Who was this woman? Was she now being held captive? Beth glanced at the open doorway. She was out of the bed and halfway down a hallway before she was halted suddenly. Beth felt no hands on her, but she wasn't able to move. The woman moved from the bedroom and walked around to stand in front of Beth. "Calm down, Elizabeth. You're not being held against your will. Well…I suppose you are a bit, but only until I can explain everything to you. Only until I know everything is okay. Let's go down to the kitchen and chat. I'm sure you're starving."

Beth was free to move again. "My name is Erika, by the way. Come on then."

Beth followed the mysterious Erika through dimly lit hallways and down a fine set of antique stairs. Beth noticed that she had been dressed in an old-fashioned flowing sleeveless nightgown. It was pretty. The woman had obviously been caring for her while she was unconscious. Beth's heart softened somewhat towards the small brunette. Obviously, she didn't mean to harm her.

When they finally reached the kitchen, Erika led Beth to tall chairs at the kitchen counter and sat down with her. Beth realized after a moment that Erika was looking at her expectantly.

Beth's stomach growled loudly. "Uh, sorry. I guess I am kinda hungry. My son and daughter have been pushin' me to eat like a horse and… do you think they're ok?" Beth's nerves suddenly returned with a vengeance. "I need my husband! I need a doctor! You need to tell me who you are and why I'm here instead of in my own home or in a hospital!"

"Now then, Elizabeth…"

"Why do keep calling me that? My name is Beth. And my husband is Daryl Dixon. I need you to call him. Now!"

Erika tsked at her disapprovingly. "Elizabeth is your name. It is proper and I rather like it. I know who your husband is… Just calm down. He's on his way… he will be here soon." Erika reached out to grasp Beth's hand in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

"Why are you helping me like this? Why didn't you just call the police, an ambulance? I don't understand." Beth suddenly remembered the attack, looking to the sky, begging for help. And seeing bright blue eyes. "You…you were there." Her anger started to grow again. "I remember. You were there and you didn't help me! You let him do that to me..." Beth jerked away from her and landed a hard stare on the woman's face.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. There was nothing I could do. When you knocked him over…" Erika smirked at Beth's scowling face "…when you helped yourself…I was able to get between you and force him away. But it was too late, you were already injured. You've been asleep for a day and a night. I thought you weren't going to make it." Tears pricked Erika's eyes despite herself. "I'm sorry all that happened. I am!"

Beth saw Erika's eyes fill with tears and a brief flicker of unexpected deep emotion, as well…pain and shame? Beth's anger ebbed and she was suddenly ashamed at herself for blaming the woman that had so clearly helped her. "I never wanted this for you, Elizabeth… or Daryl." The statement was so quietly uttered that it almost seemed that the words didn't come from Erika's mouth, but were just echoes in Beth's own brain somehow. It was…unnerving.

All emotion was instantly gone, though. Beth noted how quickly Erika processed and contained such deep emotions. It was odd. Erika's eyes met Beth's again as she held out a glass to her. "Drink."

Beth instantly realized that she was parched and she drank gratefully as the woman watched on. Beth had a nagging feeling that this woman was familiar to her somehow. Something other than the confrontation with Will last night. "Who are you? Do I know you?"

"I think you do, Elizabeth. You've always known me even though you didn't always see me. I was watching over you when your mother read those bible verses, I was there that day when you met Daryl for the first time, when you realized what his father did to him that first day in the barn, and a thousand other instances. I made sure that you would be there for him. That you would be there for each other. I watched as you healed his wounds and as he gave you strength. I'm so proud of the people I've watched you grow to be together."

There was a brief pause as Erika let the information process to Beth. After a moment and no questions, she continued. "The two of you are very important, Beth. Faith and Daniel are very important. You must be careful and tread lightly. Keep yourself away from harm. Even if you do have a damn fine guardian angel, if I say so myself."

Beth laughed. Either this woman was a total nut-job or she had gone off the deep end herself. Beth looked at her sarcastically. "Are you tellin' me you're an angel?!" No answer. Erika just narrowed her eyes at the young blonde. "You're insane." Beth stood and walked in an impatient circle in the kitchen. "Where is your phone? I'm calling my husband."

A brief flash from that night occurred in Beth's head. A fluttering of wings. Floating. Dear God, had she really seen what she thought she saw? No. That couldn't be, could it? Beth turned to look at the tiny brunette still waiting at the kitchen counter. Beth found no deceit in the woman's eyes – only love and understanding and patience. And then Beth remembered other things. A woman, this woman… crossing the street in front of the school…a glimpse of her at graduation…in green at the hospital…in the hotel lobby on their wedding day… "Daryl…Daryl knows you." It wasn't a question, it was a statement as Beth came to the realization.

"Don't be angry, Elizabeth. I was always there for both of you. He just had more occasion to need me closer at times. I'm certain he thought I was irrelevant enough to mention to you. That's all." Beth nodded her head absently as she tried to puzzle things together a bit better. She opened her mouth to say something else but her thoughts were interrupted by the front door creaking open gently.

Erika looked at Beth. "That will be Merle and Daryl. Elizabeth? Please don't tell Daryl or Merle about their father." Beth looked incredulous for a moment, but Erika continued. "It would only cause problems for them. They would be angry, angrier than you or I could imagine. And hurt, as well. They are both incredibly sensitive about their father's ways and they would feel responsible for not preventing what happened to you. They would want retribution and that wouldn't be good for either of them." Beth understood that point and nodded in agreement. Erika smiled back, perhaps a bit wickedly, as she leaned into Beth conspiratorially. "Don't worry, Elizabeth. Trust me. Will Dixon will get exactly what's coming to him and you and I needn't involve our sweet boys in his comeuppance."