Another short, filler chapter but the next one will be more interesting. I promise! :)
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"How old is Carl, anyway?" Beth's voice was slightly raspy from crying and misuse, but Sophia had never been more relieved to hear it. She hadn't failed her mother and she had helped someone. Even if it had just been by talking.
"Thirteen, like me." Sophia answered.
Beth wrinkled her nose and sat up in the bed so that her back rested against the headboard. Sophia joined her. "He's a little young for me."
"How old are you?"
"Just turned sixteen. I was able to have a 'Sweet Sixteen' birthday party before everything..." The older girl trailed off and got a faraway look in her eye.
Sophia, afraid that her new friend was going to relapse, quickly gripped Beth's hand. "Tell me all about it! I'm not going to be able to have one on my own."
The faraway look left Beth's blue eyes and she smiled, happy to tell Sophia all about the cake, presents and guests that were at her birthday party. Sophia was jealous of all the things Beth told her about, knowing she would never get to have those things. No cake, no mountain of presents. But it was making Beth happy to talk of her life before the Turn, and Sophia wanted her to be happy.
"Tell me about Jimmy," Sophia suggested when it looked like Beth was winding down. "How did you guys meet? And when did he ask you out?"
"We met in school, of course." Beth smiled at the memory. "He was a junior and I was a sophomore. He asked me to Homecoming and I said yes. We've been together for about...eight months, now. Two of those months, he's been here with us. His family... they..."
"I get it. You don't have to say anything, more." Sophia patted Beth's hand.
"I hate this new world." Beth said, vehemently and Sophia was surprised at how angry she sounded. "I know that this is how it's going to be from now on, but I don't think I could take anymore people I love dyin'."
"We're just going to have to be strong," Sophia said. "Daryl is helping my mama be strong, again. With my daddy, she...wasn't. Your daddy and your sister will help you, Beth. Jimmy, too. Things are bad, but we still have people that love us."
"You're right," she sighed. "It's going to be hard, but I'll try."
"Good, and I'm here, too. I know I'm probably a little too young to want to hang out with, but I'm here if you need me."
Beth smiled. "You're not too young to be my friend, Sophia. Now, Carl, he's a little too young for me to ever think about dating." The two girls giggled into their hands.
"What was that?" Carl's head perked up from its place on Carol's shoulder. He sat between Carol and Daryl on the porch swing, but leaned more to Carol. Daryl still scared him.
"What was what, sweetie?" Carol asked, but right after she asked that, she heard it, too. Laughter. Daryl had been dozing on his side of the swing, otherwise he would have been the first one to hear it.
"Do you think it's Beth?" Carl asked.
There was no way it could Maggie and Patricia, seeing as they had both been near tears when they walked into the living room. Plus the laughter was coming from the room behind them, the room Beth had been laid out in. "It could be her," she said and stood. "Maybe Sophia managed to get her up. Let's go see."
Daryl snorted awake when the swing moved as Carl and Carol stood up, and he looked at them, confused. "What's goin' on?" His eyes were still blurry from sleep.
"We think Beth might be up, now," Carol answered with a smile. Carl was already at the door and opening it. "Come on, let's find out." She held out her hand for him to take and helped him to his feet. Daryl stretched a bit before following Carol inside.
Maggie and Patricia stood outside the closed door leading to Beth's room. When they heard the trio walk in the house, they turned to them with bright smiles and Carol knew that Sophia had helped the other girl wake up and a swell of pride went through her.
"She's up!" Patricia walked up to Carol and grasped her hands. "I can hear her talking to your daughter through the door. She was even laughing!"
"Patricia stopped me from bursting in," Maggie joined them. "But then, I heard her laugh and I just stood there to listen. You're daughter is a God send."
The sound of a door being open had all three women's head snapping to Beth's door, just in time to see Carl opening it all the way. The boy could not be patient, and Carol resisted the urge to grab the boy by the collar and yank him back. Immediately, the giggles coming from the room stopped.
"Carl, what are you doing here?" Carol knew Sophia's voice, anywhere, and right now, it sounded a bit annoyed.
Once the door opened, Maggie and Patricia left Carol's side and filed into the room, too. When they were gone, Daryl replaced Patricia's spot on Carol's left side. "That little shit," he whispered, talking about Carl. "Can't ever wait a damn second."
"He just wanted to see that his friend was all right, Daryl. Can't fault him for that."
"Friend, my ass. I've never seen that boy talk to that girl, once. He's got himself a mighty big crush on her, though, and it ain't going to end well."
"Sophia has a crush on Glenn."
Daryl snorted. "She tell you that?"
"No, but it wasn't hard to figure out." Carol had noticed back at the quarry the way her daughter hung out to every word the young man had said. Glenn was a good man, taking time out of his day to play with Carl and Sophia, but he was too old for her little Sophia. Just like Beth was a little too old for Carl, right now. Plus, Beth already had a boyfriend.
"So, do you think Sophia is goin' to stay in there, any longer?" Daryl asked. Several voices floated back to them from the room as Maggie, Patricia and Carl all started to talk with Beth and Sophia.
"Don't know. Maybe. Why?" She gave him a sly look, knowing why he was asking.
"What to get out of here for a little bit?" Daryl wrapped an arm around her waist and forced her to face. "Maybe go back to my tent." He pressed his face into the space between her shoulder and neck and began to place small kisses and nips on the skin.
"And what would we be doing there?" Turning her head sideways, she allowed him more space.
"Play cards," he snorted. "What do you think?" He kissed his way up her neck and sucked her earlobe into his mouth.
"All right, then." She placed a hand on either side of his head and forced it up so they could be face to face. "Lead the way, Dixon."
But before they could even clear the porch steps, Shane's Hyundai flew into the driveway in front of the house. They stopped so fast that gravel sprayed them everywhere. Luckily, they were out of the way of the flying rocks. Carol looked over at Daryl, who was looking at the car, back straight with tension.
Glenn was the first to climb out, but instead of running up to the stairs and into the house to see Maggie, he opened one of the back doors. Rick got out from the driver's side and joined the younger man. Hershel climbed out the other side, opposite of Glenn and Carol sighed in relief. But who was on the other side?
Shane, Lori and Andrea had all seen the car zoom in and had run up to the house. Shane and Lori went straight to Rick, who made them step aside as they dragged a young man from the back seat. One of his pant legs was soaked through in blood and he was moaning in pain as they began to move him towards the steps.
"Who the hell is this?" Shane asked, stepping in front of Rick, who was definitely not in the mood for his friend and stepped around him.
"This is Randall," Rick answered and with Glenn's help, started to carry the man up the steps. "He was with a group of men who were shooting at us. Once Hershel fixes him up, we're going to get him to start talking."
"He shot at you and you brought him back?" Lori cried from behind them.
"She's right, Rick. Should have left the asshole to die." Their voices began to fade away as they all walked up to the house. Daryl and Carol just stood there, in disbelief with everything that had just happened in the matter of seconds.
"Dammit," Daryl cursed and started to head up to the house. "Interrupted, again."
Daryl can't catch a break, huh? Sorry if this all seemed rushed, I just wanted to establish that Randall was now on the farm. I don't know, yet, if the next chapter will feature the group decision to kill him, but I do have an idea of what's going to happen in the next chapter and I hope you all like what I do!
Thanks for reading!
