Chapter Thirty-Seven

No one moved a muscle as the staring contest between the man standing before them and Daryl continued in a tense silence. Beth could feel her heart beating a bruise against her rib cage as they glared at each other. She licked her lips as her fingers tightened on the hilt of her knife unsure of what to expect from this stranger. Beth felt an intense urge to say something, anything, to break the tension but it seemed as though her vocal chords were suddenly not attached to the rest of her body.

A different voice suddenly cut through the tense air from outside of the vehicle.

"What's the problem Abraham?"

Beth sucked in a deep breath at the sound of the voice feeling as though someone had just punched her in the stomach. She spared a surprised look at Daryl who had torn his eyes away from the man, Abraham, to stare back at her in shock at the sound.

She knew that voice. They knew that voice.

Her knife slipped from her hands as she pushed off of the floor and slid out of the van. Beth's feet slipped in the mucked up mud at the foot of the van and she caught herself by grabbing onto the man's arm. He grabbed her elbow and helped haul back to her feet, seemingly without thinking about it.

Beth pushed away from him and half ran half slid up the muddy slope to the road ignoring the desperate sound of Sarah hissing her name from behind her. She heard the sound of someone following after her quickly and she did not have to turn around to know that it was Daryl.

Finally making it out onto the road Beth straightened and looked to the left where she met the startled and disbelieving face of someone she thought she'd never see again. Tyresse stared at her with a look of surprise but Beth's eyes only met his for a moment as she turned to survey the area around the two vehicles now parked on the road. It was not his voice that she had heard and if two people she knew were here than maybe the one she needed would be here too.

Her heartbeat increased until she thought that it would burst straight out of her chest as her eyes finally landed on an equally shocked Glenn.

A part of Beth wanted to rush towards him and fall with relief into his arms just from seeing his face but she couldn't do that, not yet. Not until she knew. A thousands questions ran through her mind but she could not seem to get her vocal chords to produce any sound other than her sister's name.

"Maggie?!" Beth cried out as she stared at Glenn, her hands clenching into fists at her sides as though she could battle off his answer if it wasn't the one she wanted. Years seemed to pass as she waited in anticipatory fear for his reply. He, more than anyone else, had to have the answers to what had happened to her sister.

Glenn stared at her open mouthed for a second before he rose a shaking finger to point at the other side of the truck that he was standing next to. Beth was just about to rush forwards when a slim figure stepped around it, drawn by the cry of her name.

Beth gasped as her sister came into her line of vision, immediately shaking her head in shock at the sight of her. She felt as though she was still dreaming, that at any moment she was going to wake up on the floor of the van in Daryl's arms and that all of this was going to have been a vivid hallucination produced by her subconscious.

There was no way that this could be real. After so long of searching for them how on earth could her sister possibly be right here?

Beth was still standing there gaping at her sister when Glenn rose a finger to point at her, as speechless as she was. Maggie looked at him inquisitively before turning her head to see what had rendered him mute. Her mouth dropped open as she laid her eyes on Beth and for a moment no one seemed to move, or even breath.

Then with a startled cry that some what resembled Beth's name Maggie stumbled forward, pulling Beth tightly into her arms. Her own arms felt numb with shock as Beth lifted them to wrap around her sister's back. She felt water hit her shoulder and for a moment Beth wandered if it was raining again before she realized her sister was shedding tears against her shoulder. Almost as one it seemed that neither of their legs could hold them up and they slowly sank down onto the dirty road, arms still wrapped tight around each other.

Beth lifted her head from Maggie's shoulder in time to see a laughing Rick grab Daryl and pull him into a hug that looked almost as tight as the one she was being held in now. Beth met Daryl's eye from across the distance and they shared a look of complete disbelief as Maggie turned her head and pressed a kiss against Beth's cheek.

"You're alive Bethy." her sister whispered almost reverently as her tears dripped softly against Beth's skin. A small part of Beth wandered why she herself was not crying until she realized that it was likely just the shock she was no doubt in.

She saw Rick let go of Daryl only for Glenn to pull him into a hug as well. Everyone shared the same expression of total disbelieving joy as Glenn let go of Daryl to turn and look at the two sisters on the ground, seeming unsure if he would be a welcome addition or not. Beth smiled and moved one of her arms to hold her hand out to him. He smiled and approached them quickly, taking her hand in his as he sunk down to wrap his arms around both her and her sister.

"Good to see you Beth." he smiled, as though it had been mere hours since they last saw each other and not the years it felt like it had been.

Beth let out a startled laugh as she rested her head on his shoulder, finally allowing herself to realize that this was real. Her sister was really here. Her family was finally together again.

Maggie pulled away then with a smile, tucking a strand of hair behind Beth's ear.

"You're here." her eyes were wide with unbridled joy that Beth shared as she tightened her hold on her.

"You're here." Beth returned with a smile. Their embrace lasted a moment longer until Maggie finally let go of her with a small laugh, wiping at the tears still shining on her face. Glenn stood and helped pull both of them to their feet.

Her eyes somehow still dry Beth took in the sight of the faces of people she thought she would never see again, opening her arms to allow each of them to hug her. She honestly did not quite believe that each of them were real until they were in her arms.

Michonne clung to her tightly for a moment before pulling away and cupping Beth's face in her hands slightly.

"Always knew you two made it." she whispered as she pulled away to hug Daryl who was wearing the same shell shocked expression Beth knew that she was.

Carl, who had grown taller in their separation hugged her with a wide grin. She saw Daryl tap on the sheriff hat he always wore before pulling him to his chest tightly.

Sasha, Bob, Tyresse. They all held her and felt so solid in her arms that Beth finally began to feel the pinpricks of tears in the back of her eyes. She allowed herself to look behind her once at the truck they had spent the night in where her new friends watched in joyful silence for them as they reunited with their family.

Carol held her as tightly to her body as though she was her own daughter. Beth wrapped her arms around her and clung to her for a moment in silence. "I'm so glad you're safe." Carol whispered as she moved to hug Daryl close, whispering the same thing to him.

Their hugs all completed the group stood and stared at each other in a stunned yet joyous silence which was broken by Carl.

"Where have you two been?" he asked as he looked back and forth between them and the people in the truck behind them curiously. Beth looked at the two battered vehicles on the road and the few strangers that were hanging back to watch their reunion from the sidelines, wondering exactly the same thing.

"Bit of a long story." Daryl said as he and Beth shared a loaded look. She smiled at his understatement as Maggie took her hand in hers.

"Have you all been together this whole time?" Beth asked, trying to hide her jealousy as she looked at the group around her. As much as she loved Daryl and all they had built together she could not lie to herself that she would not have wanted to be with others the whole time as well. Not knowing what had happened to any of them had nearly killed both her and Daryl.

Maggie shook her head, opening her mouth to explain when the sound of a child crying came from the van parked behind the pickup.

Beth turned to look at Daryl so fast her neck cracked and he stared back at her with an expression of extreme disbelief.

"Guess all the excitement must have woken her up." Rick said, patting Daryl on the shoulder as he headed towards the van.

"Judith?" Daryl asked, swallowing hard as he took a small step after him.

Rick looked over his shoulder at the pair of them in surprise before smiling widely. "She's alive."

Beth and Daryl followed after Rick slowly, Beth reaching over to clutch Daryl's arm as Rick slid open the van door and reached inside. There was a few tense seconds as he fumbled with something but then he stepped back outside carefully, holding a now quiet Judith in his arms. He walked over towards them and held her out to them without question seeming to know exactly what they needed in that moment.

Beth felt her hands shaking too much to take her so Daryl quietly took the child into his arms.

"Hey Little Ass-kicker." he whispered reverently as he looked down at Judith who smiled up at him widely.

A small whimper escaped Beth's lips as she rose her hand to Judith's who reached up and took Beth's finger in her palm as a laugh of happiness escaped past her lips.

Everything suddenly hit Beth at once. The fact that everyone she thought was dead was not just alive but here, now, with them. The tears that she had been waiting for since she heard Glenn's voice suddenly hit her hard and a sob escaped her lips as she felt her legs begin to give out again as the weight of everything suddenly hit her.

Daryl caught Beth one armed around the waist and helped ease her to the ground, kneeling next to her in the dirt as she curled against his side, both of them now holding Judith as Beth began to cry.