Chapter 28

Three Years Later

Beth sat on the front steps of Maggie and Glen's house, looking out down the street. With the sun setting, the street was getting darker and darker. Soon she wouldn't be able to see more than the house next door. Beth clasped her hands together and sighed. She could feel the worry creeping in on her. She knew it was futile. Worrying about him wouldn't make him return any faster.

The door behind her opened, but Beth didn't turn around. She could tell by the sound of the footsteps that it was Maggie. She could hear everyone else talking from inside. They were all gathered at Maggie's house for a 'family' dinner as Maggie had called it. In recent years the family had expanded to included Carl's girlfriend Erica and Maggie and Glen's daughter, Samantha who had just turned two.

"You should eat something," Maggie said, sitting down next to Beth. She attempted to hand her a bowl of salad, but Beth didn't take it.

"Not really hungry," Beth replied, not taking her eyes off street. She was hoping she would see him walking towards any minute. He knew it was family dinner night. He had promised he would be back.

"I'm sure he's fine, Beth. They probably just decided to find a safe place for the night if they thought they couldn't make it back by nightfall."

"I know."

Daryl had left with five other members of the community that morning to go on a run. Even though the community was mostly self-sufficient, growing their own crops, raising animals, and making some of their own clothes, runs were still sometimes necessary. Mostly they looked for scrap wood and things they could use to build houses and structures. Other groups of survivors had even started building their own communities nearby so trade was also a necessary part of their existence. The members of the runs also had another important job. They went out to kill walkers.

In the three years since Daryl and Beth had arrived at the community, the amount of walkers had finally started to decrease. Not as many walkers were found in the surrounding area and, if they were found, there was only one or two at a time. There didn't seem to be any more large groups or herds left. While the runners were out, they were instructed to kill any walkers they came across, whether they were threatening them or not. The annihilation of the walkers was the only way to ensure a safe future. They kept holding on to the hope that someday life would go back to normal, but that could only happen if there were no more walkers.

Other things had changed in the three years. The community had expanded. With a lot of hard work, they managed to move the gates and build more fences to include houses from a neighboring community. There were now close to two-hundred people living within the gates. Using vehicles to get around outside of the community were becoming more prevalent. They had managed to tap into a gas line at some nearby gas stations so they had enough when they needed it. Still, though, nobody used cars unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Come on, we invited everyone here to be together. Not sit out here by yourself."

"I'm just not in a family mood," Beth said.

"Well, Glen and I have something to tell everyone and I'd like it if you were there."

Beth finally looked over at her sister. Maggie had a big smile on her face. Her eyes were glowing. Beth knew immediately what the big news was. She had seen that look on her sister's face once before.

"You're pregnant," Beth guessed.

Maggie's smile grew. "Yeah. We're havin' another baby."

Beth forced herself to smile.

"That's great, Maggie. I'm so happy for you both."

"I know Samantha ain't that old and maybe we should have waited, but I ain't gettin' any younger and we wanted Samantha to have a younger brother or sister and we didn't want them to be that far apart in age and…"

Beth wrapped her arms around her and hugged her.

"You're a great mom, Maggie. Congratulations."

"Come on, come in with me so we can tell everyone."

Maggie stood up. She reached out her hand, offering to help Beth up. Beth took one last look down the street, hoping to see Daryl, but he wasn't there. Sighing, she took Maggie's hand and stood up. She knew it was time to plaster a fake smile on her face and act like the happy sister she knew she should be.

Maggie led the way into the living room where everyone was sitting with half-empty plates of food. Rick and Glen were sitting on the couch watching both their daughters play on the rug in front of them. Judith had the small, plastic horse Beth had brought years earlier. Samantha was holding a stuffed elephant in one hand and a wooden dog Daryl had carved for her when she was born in the other hand. Seeing the wooden dog made Beth more worried than before. It was possible he might never come back.

Carl was sitting on the loveseat with Erica, a girl whose family had arrived at the community over a year ago. When she first arrived, she was quiet and reserved, but Beth could tell she was good for Carl. She made things more normal for him than they had been in a long time.

Beth stood in the doorway as Maggie made her way over to Glen. She sat down between him and Rick. Beth watched as Maggie took Glen's hand. They exchanged a glance and Beth knew what was about to happen.

"We…ah…wanted to thank everyone for coming," Glen said. "I know you all think we asked you here just to having our usual family get together, but…Maggie and I have an announcement to make."

"We are having another baby," Maggie announced.

Beth listened as there was a host of congratulations from Rick and Carl. Judith started jumping up and down, excited to have another baby to play with. Even though there was no blood relation, as far as she was concerned, Samantha and this new baby were like her siblings.

Beth knew she should be happy. She knew she should have been joining in the celebration, but she didn't have it in her. And it wasn't just because Daryl was out there, beyond the protective walls of the community. It was because Maggie could do what Beth couldn't. Maggie could have what Beth wanted most. A baby.

The next morning, Beth sat at her desk in the schoolhouse they had built from a two-car garage. The sun was just coming up. She had at least another hour before the students arrived.

For the past two years, she had been one of the permanent teachers. She taught all the children ages five to ten. Another woman, thirty years Beth's senior, who had been an actual teacher before the world was taken over by walkers, taught the ten to fifteen year olds. It wasn't a perfect system and they barely had any supplies to teach with, but they made it work.

Beth was reading through a science textbook Daryl had found on one of his last runs and brought to her. She was trying to plan some kind of science lesson for the day, but was having a difficult time concentrating. Daryl still wasn't home. It had been more than 24 hours since he had left. It was the longest, unplanned time he had been gone. There were runs before where they planned to be gone days at a time, but this wasn't one of them. It was supposed to be a simple run. They took one of the pickup trucks and were just looking for building supplies to add an addition to the house they had been using as a barn for the farm animals. He was supposed to be back before it got dark. She had spent all night worrying about him. Rick had insisted he stay with him in his house. Beth protested at first, but finally gave in when Judith begged her. She spent the whole night lying wide awake while Judith slept soundly next to her.

Beth made some notes on a scrap piece of paper about teaching the scientific method when she heard footsteps outside the door. She looked up. Thomas, the man who was around her age who always seemed to be giving her an extra smile or wave, was standing in the doorway with a broom in his hand. For the past few months he had been working as a custodian and handyman at the school. Beth couldn't help but feel he took the job just to see her. He always seemed to spend more time in her classroom than the other.

"Hey Beth," he said.

"Hey. Sorry if I'm in your way. I decided to come in early to get some work done."

"I can see that."

"I can…work somewhere else if you need to get in here to clean," Beth offered.

"No, that's ok. I can work around you. I fixed that table leg last night you asked me about. You know, the wobbly one."

"I saw. Thank you. Maybe now the students will stop playin' with the table and will actually start listenin'."

"You're a good teacher, Beth. Patient and kind. Wish I had a teacher like you growin' up. Mine were always mean, old, and not nearly as pretty."

Beth blushed. She knew his flirting was innocent enough. He never did move beyond complimenting her. She put the paper she had been jotting notes inside the science book and closed it. She knew she wouldn't get much work done sitting there with Thomas in the room, worrying about Daryl.

"I...ah…I'm going to see if there are any more books in the other class."

Beth stood up and left the room. She walked across the hallway to the upper grade classroom. She heard footsteps behind her. She rolled her eyes, wishing Thomas would stop following her. She was not in the mood to have a conversation. All she wanted to do was get her planning done, get through the day, and hope Daryl showed up. As the footsteps got closer, she reached her frustration level.

"Thomas, I know…" she said as she turned around. She stopped when she saw who was standing in front of her.

Author's Note: I know some of you probably weren't expecting the time jump in this chapter, but I felt it was necessary to keep the story moving, especially since it's starting to wrap up. Thank you for all of the amazing reviews!