Chapter 25
Beth and Daryl decided to get up and explore the place that they once called home. Vince had just seen the main area and the rest of the cells. He hadn't seen the other cell block, so they went that way first. They all sat down at the table together. Almost everything around them was ruined.
Beth and Daryl reached for their crossbows as soon as they heard the noise and footsteps. Vince reached for his pistol on his belt and turned the safety off. The three all lifted their weapons up as the footsteps got closer and stood back to back.
A voice filled the air as people came through the door of the other cell block. Beth almost dropped her crossbow when she saw who it was. Daryl and Beth lowered their weapons and smiled in disbelief. Vince didn't. He had no clue who the people were. So he pulled the trigger.
Daryl and Beth's eyes widened as Daryl tackled Vince from behind. Beth cried out and fell to her knees in front of her dead sister. Maggie lay on the ground, a bullet hole through her head. Everything was silent except for Beth's sobs in the air. She was the first one to come in the cell block. The rest of the group was behind her. Rick, Carl, Glenn…
Maggie's eyes are wide open. It looks as if she's staring at the ceiling. Daryl goes over to Beth and wraps his arms around her sobbing form. She violently shakes as she stares down at her dead sister. When she saw her walking in, she was ecstatic. Then Vince just had to pull the trigger.
Speaking of, Vince sits on his knees in the corner, uselessly stammering out apologies. Rick's jaw tenses as he stomps over to him and grabs his neck. Beth couldn't care less about what he did. She was numb, in fact.
Rick settles for throwing him in an empty cell. The rest of the group left Daryl and Beth, holding back tears of their own. Glenn also knelt down beside Maggie's lifeless body, heartbroken. Silent tears ran down his face as he let out quiet sobs next to Daryl and Beth.
It seemed as if Beth was never going to calm down. Daryl stayed right there beside her as she had her meltdown. Hours passed and Beth still let out dry sobs. Glenn hadn't left yet, either. He sat on the cold prison floor next to the two with his knees pulled up to his chest.
At some point, Rick and Abraham moved the body. Beth was now completely still. She was numb. She was barely even aware of Daryl's arms around her. At least one thing was confirmed; it was the dog that had scratched Beth.
When Daryl took Beth back to her cell, it was nighttime again. A blank expression was written on her face as she sat on the bed. Her face was ghastly pale. Daryl understood exactly how she felt. He'd had to kill his own brother when he'd turned into a walker.
"Beth," Daryl spoke. She looked over at him with her sad eyes. "I can't promise you that it'll get better. But, you'll make room for the pain." He still wasn't over his brother's death. Beth automatically recognized Daryl's words. Andrea had told her that exact same thing after her mom had died. She'd gone into some sort of a shock coma.
Beth nodded, then lied down. Daryl sat down by her head. He was also mourning Maggie. Everyone was. All of Beth's family was dead. Either by walker, or murdered. That was this world now. Beth still had her group. They were her family.
Especially Daryl. They had spent so much time together that they were practically inseparable. And Judith. That night, Beth had many nightmares about the event and Daryl woke her up every time she screamed and thrashed in her sleep. Neither of them got much sleep that night, but they were there for each other.
A/N: ... I feel really hollow inside. The first major character death in the story! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR THIS! This chapter was AGONY to write and I was pretty much on the verge of tears the whole time. Anyway, please follow, favorite, and review this story... I'm still sad. Thanks for reading!