A/N: This chapter is a bit short and repetitive, but still important.

Make sure you read the author notes at the end ;)

The Walking Deth - Part III

Where We Belong - Chapter XII

Dearly Departed

I had to be quick; smoke from the M18 would only continue to billow for a few more seconds, and then it would start to settle as it cooled.

Even through the bandanna, the dry smoke burnt my lungs, but I held back my coughs and kept myself as low as possible, trying to keep my head in the few inch gap above the floor that would remain smoke free for a time. The intruders wouldn't know that. They had been dumb enough to leave the gate open, and the lights on, so they probably weren't the best battle strategists.

I pulled out my Busse and dragged myself along the floor, weighed down by all the extra firearms and empty bow I was carrying.

The first boot that stepped near me, got slashed across the Achilles, and when the fucker fell I opened his throat. Two more stepped past me, splitting the clouds of smoke with their waving arms, trying to hit whatever came into contact with the blades in their hands, and they got the same treatment as the first

When the smoke began settling I gave up my low position and leapt on to the back of the nearby woman, and dragged her down while I opened her throat too. Another guy leapt towards me and I made to dodge out of the way, but my jeans were too damn tight to move quick enough, and he caught me around the shoulders.

I was able to swing my Busse up and force the blade under his chin and into his brain, before he could drag me down.

I skimmed my bloody blade lightly across the dumbass jeans I had worn to impress Beth, giving myself better movement, and I wondered how Beth was managing in her non-existent dress. I scanned the bodies I could see among the yellow smoke quickly as I raced to the lower floor door. None of the kids were there, Austin had seen me when I first came into the main corridor, he would have known I had a plan, and hopefully he had got them all out to safety as soon as I had dropped the smoke bomb.

The hallways were lit like a Halloween fright house, and I could only make out the position of the walls by the light from the rooms that the dumbasses had switched the lights on in. The fools were running around like turkeys in the dark, and I managed to knock a few of them down with the M16, while they fired blindly trying to duck into classrooms for cover.

I was heading to the main entry and stairwell that led to the top floor plant room, where I had told the kids to hide in an emergency. As I rounded the corner a shadow fell above me and a figure leapt of the lower flights of the stairs. I aimed the rifle at it, but paused and then breathed a sigh of relief when I realised it was just Austin.

"Shit kid, I almost killed you." I glanced up the staircase. "Where're the others?"

"In the safe room." The panting Austin replied. He had the Beretta I had given him in his hands ready to fire it.

"Why aren't you with 'em?"

Austin gave the gun in his hand a jerk; "I wanted to help."

"Nah, you let me and Beth handle it."

"You need me."

"I need you to protect the kid, that's the plan."

"Marie knows how to pull a trigger. And you gotta let me kill one of these fuckers…they killed my baby brother."

I nodded reluctantly, knowing if he was anything like me, he would hunt the guys down with my permission or not.

"A'ight kid. Head on back to the library, grab me my arrows while you're there…and stay alert."

Austin scuttled along the floor, making his way down the dark hall back to library. I felt a little guilty that I had sent him back to the place I had already cleared, and taken away his chance at revenge, but as skilled as the kid was, it was my job to keep him safe.

At the end of the corridor, I caught dark shadows ducking through the wing painted double doors of the gym. They had hit a dead-end going that way, without a key to the outside doors. I had half a mind to barricade the doors and leave them to the same fate they had left the kids, but the last time I had tried to orchestrate poetic justice, it had twisted and come back to bite Beth in the ass.

I lunged to the side of the corridor, throwing my hip into the door of the change-room that connected the main hall to the gym. The entry into the gym from the change room was guarded on both sides by the bleachers, and if I could get below them, they might be able to give me some cover.

I scurried through the darkness of the change-room, out through the door, and ducked under the bleachers without seeing anyone, and seemingly un-detected.

The gym was only lit by moonlight that streamed through the high glass window, and covered the glossy maple with silver squares.

I could see three shadows pushing against the deadlocked outer doors. I dropped to a knee, and stuck the barrel of the assault rifle between the metal benches, and I began firing into the small huddle of bodies, as they yelled and wailed and tried to take cover behind the bed frames and screens I had pushed against the wall months ago.

I watched for the flash of light when they fired blindly into the room, and returned the fire, spraying ammunition towards my targets and filling the room with echoing pops and crackles.

When I heard three different cries that I was sure were death wails, I edged myself forward through the gap between the benches and scanned over the room.

It looked to be clear, so I started dragging myself through, before a bulky, hairy arm grabbed me around the waist, and flung me through the opening so I fell face first onto the hard floor, my rifle skimming out of reach.

I rolled to my back just as the body leapt through the air and landed on top of me.

I caught a fist in the chin, and then threw fists back into his temple, jaw and nose while he shook me back and forth, hands gripped on my shirt, slamming my head into the ground. The guy had the upper hand, pinning me down with his weight so I couldn't use the momentum of my body to add power to my hits, and my guts grew tight as my head started to pound and spin, and I feared I wouldn't get out of this one alive.

To add to my troubles, a figure kicked through the gym doors, and by the size of the shadow I could tell it wasn't Austin or Beth.

He called out to the man on top of me to roll away so he could open fire, and my attacker did as instructed, but before a shot could be fired, a ball of silvery fur shot through the opening behind the guy in the doorway.

A growling Mix dealt with the shrieking man, shaking his head about to tear through the flesh of his shoulder and then snapping his jaws at his throat opening it up and emptying it on to the floor.

While Mix finished him off, I grabbed for the assault rifle I had lost, knocked the butt into the face of my attacker, straddled over the dazed looking man, and shot a few rounds straight in to his face, leaving him looking like his head had been through a mincer.

Before leaving the gym, I checked behind the beds to make sure everyone was down, even though I knew it would only be temporary.

I collected the only handgun with ammo in it, and made my way back to the doors, throwing myself into them in a hurry, anxious to find out what happened with Beth and Austin. I didn't have to go far as they were right there I the corridor as I fell through the door.

After taking a moment to check they were okay, I raced back out the front to catch the last two intruders making for the mini-van. I opened fire, but the rounds only clanged against steel as the men jumped in, started up the engine and drove off through the gates.

We had to leave that night. We had been lucky that I had got the firearms and weapons from O' Reilly and his crew, otherwise we never would have survived that confrontation. Now without enough man power, and with considerably less ammunition, we wouldn't be able to live through another assault.

I led the way through the dark night, the cold air stinging my eyes and bare hands. All I had for warmth was the poncho and the body heat of the dog between my legs.

We stopped once on the way, to refuel and check we were on the right path after all the back roads we had been taking.

Beth's eyes were dark with exhaustion and we considered camping on the bus until morning, but had to make a move when walkers started crawling from the woods making their way towards the bus.

We came to the crest of a gently sloping hill just as day was breaking. And I could make out our destination far off in the distance, and the sight of the city gave me a feeling of relief, but the sight of what surrounded the city made me hit the brakes, sending the bike into a side sliding stop, which almost knocked both Mix and I off.

There were walkers covering every inch of road, swarming in all directions, across the side banks and off into the distance to no end. It was like the herd we had seen on the way to the vet college many months ago, but somehow even larger.

The screeching sound behind me made me turn in my seat to see the school bus fishtailing along the road. It skimmed past, missing me by inches, and drove head on towards the herd.

The front end of the bus started tipping to the side, and then the tire slipped into the ditch, which tossed it on to its side and sent it into a barrel roll.

The bus tumbled across the road as if it were a weed blowing in the desert; the crunching, squealing and clanking sound slowing before the bus came to a stop, upside down, and right among a huddle of walkers.

I had been holding my breath as I watched the scene play out before me. My body ran cold with adrenaline. I couldn't take the time to think out a plan of rescue. I accelerated straight into the crowd after the bus.

I weaved through the bodies of stumbling walkers and stopped only a few yards from the upturned bus. Walkers who were pinned below the bus, kicked and scratched at the dirt as they tried to free themselves. More walkers were clamouring over the front of the bus, like a swarm of ants on a dirt mound.

I kicked out the stand, and spun myself off the bike, knocking Mix off with my leg, causing me to stumble as I landed. I scrambled back to my feet, clawing against the rubble on the road in an effort to regain my footing.

I sprinted along the side of the bus trying to look in the windows to see who was moving. I couldn't see anything through the smears of blood.

The only person who had been wearing a seatbelt was Beth.

Ignoring the churning in my guts, I made my way to the back of the bus, flipped the latch on the emergency door, threw it open, and was faced with the sight I had feared.

Marie's limp body was strewn across the ceiling of the bus. Her arms were twisted in impossible angles; her usually ginger hair was soaked through with blood. Her empty hazel eyes stared up at me.

I tore my eyes away from the sight to see Beth stumbling across the ceiling of the bus, covered in small cuts, but otherwise unharmed. She was holding the Stryker in one of her hands, and lifting and turning the still bodies of the kids in her other. Her mouth was open in a wide 'O', and her shoulders were heaving as if she was screaming, but I couldn't hear any sound.

"Beth!" I yelled to her, breaking through the ringing in my ears.

"They're dead!" She was shrieking over and over again.

"C'mere!" I called waving her towards me. Behind her I could see walkers had begun dragging themselves through the broken entry door of the bus, leaving a trail of skin, muscle and entrails in their wake.

She continued to shriek, ignoring my pleas, so I climbed through the door opening and made my way around the tiny bodies.

As I wrapped a hand around Beth's arm, her body seized and she retched onto the ceiling, spraying lumps of yellow vomit everywhere. I didn't want to know what had made her sick, I could imagine, and that was enough. I focused all attention on her and dragging her back towards the door.

Once back on the ground outside I gripped her by the shoulders and shook her firmly.

"There's nothin' we can do." I all but screamed into her face. "We gotta get outta 'ere!"

She continued to sob, but she allowed me to tug her back towards the bike.

Four walkers barred our path and I pulled out the Beretta from my holster and shot them down clearing the way. I pushed Beth towards the pillion and I jumped back in the seat and kicked the bike back to life.

Beth climbed on behind me and squeezed her knees into my back, and wrapped her free arm around my waist.

"C'mon boy!" I called down to Mix.

He just looked at me blankly.

"C'mon!" I called again with a voice tight in panic. The herd was closing around us; we only had a few seconds to get clear.

Mix turned and darted off through the hoard of moaning bodies, which lunged at him as he shot past.

"Fuck!"

I couldn't chase a dog. He had been a faithful companion, but he wasn't worth our lives.

I applied the throttle and rode through the path that was blocked with the least amount of walkers, weaving through the herd for a few dozen yards before we were surrounded by a thick wall of dead in all directions. I stopped the bike, put my feet to the ground, turned in my seat and called to Beth, over the roar of groans louder than the motor, to drop the bow and grab a gun.

She let go of my waist, slung the Stryker over the saddle bag and began fumbling around in it. She produced a handgun and I unhooked my Airborne from the handlebars, and started nocking, drawing and releasing into the herd, as she fired off shots.

At the same time she called she was empty, I had also run out of arrows.

"Just hold on!" I called to her, and she dropped the gun and wrapped her arms back around my waist. I took out the Beretta and counted down in my head as I fired into the crowd.

six…

I turned and aimed at the walkers that were clawing at the handlebars.

Five, four…

I turned around again and took out the one who had grabbed at Beth's ankle.

Three…

I swung back to shoot the one that was only a few feet away from grabbing onto the saddlebag..

Two…

One shot left.

I took out my Busse with my other hand and slammed it into the skull of a walker who had lunged forward and just missed attaching its jaws to my knee then swung the knife back and plunged it into the eye of a walker that was gripping at the suspension.

There were too many, they were too close.

I twisted around in my seat and wrapped an arm around Beth's back and pulled her down into my lap. Her face pressed between my legs and I could feel her hot breath and wet tears against my thigh as she screamed and sobbed. I ran my knife hand through her hair, catching my fingers under her pony tail, and smearing a trail of brown from the knife through the pale yellow gold. I held her head still as I pressed the muzzle of the Beretta into the back of her skull and swallowed a finalizing breath of muggy, rot filled air.

The herd would tear off her skin and rip her limb from limb. They would leave her as nothing but a pile of wet and gnawed bones. She would die an agonizing death. This was the only logical choice.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

The gunshot cracked and echoed, over the sound of a thousand hungry walkers, like heavy thunder clouds crashing together in the sky.

The End…

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Of part Three!

A/N: What a cliff-hanger! Can you imagine if in the show they left as waiting for seven months after an ending like that? I think I would actually start a riot. Luckily you guys don't have to wait seven months…but it may be a few weeks. I am an evil sadistic bitch :)

Synopsis for Part IV

Here and Home

"Beth and Daryl find themselves on the other side of Washington DC, but after meeting the maniacal leader of the society they have settled into, they begin to wonder if they are on the right side. They are about to discover just how big the distance is between here and home."

So let me know by following/favouriting/sharing/reviewing if you want more!

First chapters of 'Bethyl:Missing moments' have been published.