Chapter 7 – Where In The World

Beth stared at the phone line. Her fingers tapping on the counter as she chewed on the inside of her lips. The contraption remained unusually quiet for the couple of weeks and it was starting to twist her stomach up in knots. She begged for it to ring. Needed it to ring to settle the unspeakable thoughts that flowed through her mind. She felt like an old mother hen, waiting, wondering when her chicks were going to come home. The odd sort of feeling bringing a new found respect to her mother for all those nights she would sneak down stairs to see the woman sleeping on the couch, waiting for one of her older siblings to come in at the butt crack of dawn. If she could smack Maggie or Shawn across the head at this moment, she would. It was a horrible feeling, waiting and not knowing what the hell happened.

Some one spoke behind her. A whisper of a name that she should be responding to but Beth could only stare at the phone line, willing the damn the thing to ring before she was thrown from her concentration by a slim hand resting on her shoulder and pulling her attention away from the infernal contraption with another "Zelda May!"

Beth turned then, recognizing the name now as she turned toward Christian. The girl had a scowl across her face, concern etched in every inch as she shook Beth shoulders. "You can't will him to call." Beth frowned at the woman. Hating that she managed to guess her thoughts without having to look at her.

"But he promised he would call," Beth said, glancing at the phone again before looking around the now empty apartment. With the money Scud sent her, she was able to get that apartment just a couple of doors down from Christina and Misha, not to mention some new furniture. Well - second hand- new to her furniture, but still better then the musty old mattress and couch that were now sitting empty in Scud's apartment.

"Z," Christina said, her voice going firm as she looked the girl straight in the eye. "If Scud said he would call when all his shit was done. He will call."

"But what if something's happened and he can't call?" Beth asked, her voice turning frantic as she thought about all the things that could happen. Her eyes went wide as her back straightened at some of things that could have happened. "What if he's been shot, or stabbed and is lying some where bleedin out, or what if he's being tortured, unable to get away." Her hands curled into fists at the thought, getting tighter until her nails bit into her flesh and Christina had to grab her hands to sooth them out before she did any real damage.

"Will you stop," she said, sliding her thumb up and down the palm of Beth's hand. "This is Scud we are talking about here. He survives not matter what." She gripped Beth's hands at the last words, shaking them as if she was willing her own beliefs into the younger girl.

Beth took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly as she nodded her head. "You're right."

Scud, or Daryl, always seemed to find his way out of the worse situations. Situations that would make most people crumble and give in there. He never gave in, not when he had something to get back to.

Right now, Beth was hoping he was thinking about getting back to her. Even though he had no reason to care about her. Not now anyways, she was just some girl he was forced to check in with on a monthly basis, and he did that. Though he did promise he would call again. He promised. Beth held on to that last thought as she looked around the room one more time. It was empty, the last box just being loaded up and ready to go, and yet she should there staring at the phone.

"Maybe I should stay one more night," she said, sounding ridiculous even to her own ears. "I mean just in case he calls. I still need to give him my new number."

Christina said, her head tilting as she looked at the girl in disbelief. "You really gonna stay in this apartment until he calls?"

Beth shrugged, looking around the place. "Still need to clean it up." her eyebrows raised at the suggestion and Christina threw her hands up in the air. Beth felt bad for making the girl frustrated. Especially, when she knew she was right about staying here and worrying about the man. But if she knew Blade like Beth did, she'd just as worried about Scud. The man knew Scud was lying to him. Betraying him every step of the way, it scared her to think what Blade would do to him.

He could blow him up and not blink at the sight. Beth shuddered to think that's what happened to him. 'No,' she thought, taking in another deep breath. 'He wouldn't have been at the farm if he was blown up.' "Could have been an alternate universe," something inside her said, and Beth almost laughed at her own stupidity. Now her own conscious was making up excuses as to why he would be dead. "You're dead in that one, his dead in this one. Makes perfect sense." the voice said again and Beth let out a frustrated growl.

"Just shut up!" she barked, running a hand through her hair.

"I didn't say anything," Christina snapped, sounding offended now as well. Beth huffed, her eyes darting to the girl that been nothing but nice to her since the beginning.

"Wasn't talkin to you," she muttered, slumping against the counter again. Silence filled the space for a moment, her eyes darting to the phone for a moment before looking over to see Christina preparing to make another argument.

"What if it was Misha?" Beth asked, her voice low now as she continued to stare at the counter.

"Misha wouldn't be stupid enough to get mixed up with the vamps like Scud did," Christina said, shaking her head as her own eye darted to the phone and then the door. "

"What if?" Beth asked again, her voice shaking as she kept her gaze on the phone. "How long would you wait for your family?"

Christina's eyes closed, her face twisting up like she just remembered something. "Keep forgetting you and Scud are related." She admitted, giving Beth a sad smile. Beth gaped at her, forgetting that was Scud's cover story as she shook her head. "We're not."

Christina's brows furrowed together for a moment and Beth back tracked. "Not really. Not by blood anyways. Our families kind of grew together, but him and me...we were never that close."

Her eyes grew distant as her thoughts wondered back to the farm and prison. Thinking about all the things that connected them together. Things that he still didn't know about because she couldn't find it in her to talk about her past. Partly because Scud scoffed at the thought of the dead coming back and partly because Beth didn't know what to say. Beth never really knew what to say to Daryl. Even way back when.

"Could have fooled me," Christina said, leaning against the counter now. "The way you and him talk over the phone. It's like you two have known each other forever."

Beth smiled, a genuine smile this time as she thought about the hours her and Scud would spend on the phone when he did call. Sometimes, most times, it was short conversations with only updates between them. Other times though, Beth could count on her two hands the number of times she met up with Christina the next day for lunch and and be dog tired from staying up talking to Scud.

Beth shook her head. "Those..." she looked to a spot on the counter that she could steadily pick at. "Didn't expect those. Just kind of happened. Loneliness or something. Kind of like that night..." Her words trailed off as she realized who she was talking to. What she was talking about. Again she gave Christina a short smile. "The Scud I know..he don't talk much to anybody. Maybe Carol or Rick, but we didn't really get close until after..." Again her words faltered. Unsure of what to say, or how to explain her past. It was the same thing that stopped her from sharing it with Scud time and time again. "Sorry."

Christina smiled at her, her sad eyes looking into Beth's as she squeezed her arm. "Don't. I know you and Scud are close and you're right. If it was Misha, I would give her one more night." Beth smiled, glad Christina was understanding her side. "You have to eat though."

Beth nodded. "Deal, I'll order a pizza or something."

Christina grinned. "Fine, then come on down and get your music sheets cause being here just lookin at a phone is going to drive you crazy and I'll drop the rest of your stuff off for you to deal with tomorrow." her smile turning infectious as Beth allowed herself to be hauled outside to pick up her music sheets, pillow and blanket. Beth thought about her clothes and personal effects at the other apartment and bit her lip before deciding to grab a small bag full of just the necessities.

By the time Christina left, Beth had a pizza sitting half touched in front of her and was wrapped in her blankets on the couch, staring down at her music sheets. Though her ears were really straining to hear the phone to ring. She needed that phone to ring or she'd go crazy. How would that be to have a crazy Beth Greene lingering around all because Daryl never called her. 'Now I sound like a boy obsessed teenager,' she thought, biting on the inside of her lip. She'd been doing that so much lately, she could feel a sore forming there and mentally slapped herself when she did it again.

"This is stupid," she mumbled, placing her stuff on to the floor and resting her head. Hoping that if she managed to sleep the time would pass by quicker, and maybe she would wake to the sound of the phone ringing. Maybe. If nothing else, she would grab her stuff and head on over to her new apartment. if...When Scud reappeared he could hunt her down. He did know that she was friends with Christina and it was his idea that she move. Surely he would find her and let her know he was alive. Beth closed her eyes to those thoughts. Willing herself to sleep even as she continued listening for any sound.


Beth stared up at the ceiling, not really seeing anything as her fingers tapped away on her stomach. She just lay there, counting out the minutes. Wondering what possessed her to stay in the first place. It's like Christina said, the man would figure that she would stay over there. They could have given him, her number. Beth just wanted to be stubborn. Now she lie on the couch, curled up, waiting for something that may never come.

Looking out the window, Beth guessed it was about late night, early morning. Somewhere between there and still she couldn't find it in her to sleep. The city moved along outside. Cars whirled passed, people shouted. Beth could have sworn she heard gun shots ring out, but she curled further into her covers. Unconcerned about the happenings outside. It was just another restless night in the big apple.

Foots steps pounded up the stairs outside her door, catching her attention. Beth turned toward the sound, her wide blue eyes staring at the door not really expecting anything to come of the sound. It wouldn't be the first time someone stumbled through the hallway half drunk or whatever.

The footsteps came closer, pausing outside her door, taking longer then usual to move on pass. Then there was a scrapping sound, like someone was fiddling with the metal on her lock. Beth frowned as she sat up, preparing herself for whatever was going to come through that door

Something jingled, falling to the floor before there was a string of curses and then the sound of metal scraping against metal again. Sitting up, Beth leaned over, her eyes staring at the door longer the necessary before the lock clicked and the handle turned.

The door swung open, something heavy falling onto the floor as Beth took in the large figure standing in the door way. His dark hair hanging in his eyes, a grimace across his face as he slumped against the frame. Beth took in the sweat coating his face and neck, the way his hand held onto his side, like he was holding something to him and then his heavy breathing. Her mind caught up with what her eyes were seeing at the same moment she flung herself toward him hollering, "Daryl" on instinct.

His head shot up, brows furrowing in confusion for a mere second before he grunted and practically fell on top of her. Beth wrapped an arm around his good side, taking on his weight as she looped his arm around her neck and lead him to the toward the bed. His skin was cold, clammy even, and Beth noted his heart beat going a little faster then usual.

"What happened?" she asked, helping him toward the bed. Her own throat constricting as she fought back the tears threatening to well up. Crying wouldn't help either one of them right now. Certainly wouldn't make that wound stop bleeding, she told herself as she glanced down long enough to see the dark red liquid seeping through Daryl's fingers on to the floor.

"Fucking Biters," he growled out, pulling away from as her they neared the bed. He threw himself on top of the worn mattress, groaning as he pushed himself up to the head of the bed. Beth followed along, tucking her stray bits of hair behind her ears before reaching for the shirt that was plastered to Daryl's skin.

Daryl sucked in a breath as Beth pulled the shirt back, taking in the rather large wound that looked like it was trying to heal. Beth bit her tongue from saying anything about that right now. It was probably the only reason he was lying here at the moment. Instead, she met his gaze for a moment before she attempted to roll him over. "Gotta see if there's an exit wound," she said, remembering her father's instructions from the last time she dealt with a gun shot victim.

"There's not," Daryl snapped back, shoving himself against her hand. Beth glared at him as his breathing settled again. One pair of hard blue eyes meeting another before Daryl waved toward the door way. "You're gonna have to dig it out." Beth shook her head, her eyes roaming over the now empty apartment. There was nothing here to dig a bullet out, she opened to say as much when he pointed toward the door again. "My bag, there's some first aide in my bag." he bit out. His jaw tightening as he tried to move around before Beth placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back on the bed.

"Don't, I got this," she said, crawling over him toward the door. She remembered to shut it this time, peeking into the hallway for a moment to make sure it was quiet before locking it up. If the vampires found him in the streets, it was only a matter time before they found him here.

Beth turned around, taking in Daryl's pale complexion. 'Not that there's much we could do if they did,' she thought, grabbing up the bag and rushing toward the man. He still held his hand against the wound, hoping to staunch the flow of blood now that Beth managed to remove it's cover. Settling next to him, she pulled on the shirt, attempting to get it off of him so that she could work on the wound. Daryl pulled the shirt back down, one hand clutching at the hem, the other holding on to her wrist. Their eyes met, one set of hard blue meeting another.

"I have to get to the wound," she muttered, yanking her wrists free. Daryl gave her another short glance before tugging on his shirt, doing his best to keep his back from her before throwing the bloody thing on to the floor. Beth focused on his bag, pulling out the small white box while ignoring the stubborn man before her.

When he was settled back down, she looked up, her eyes going to the gaping wound in his side that was already attempting to heal. Pouring the alcohol on the swab, she must have dabbed a little harder then necessary because Daryl flinched, his narrowed gaze turning on to her as Beth pulled her hand away.

"Sorry," she muttered, meeting his gaze once more before using a lighter touch. When it was clean, she dug in the box one more time until she came across a small pair of prongs.

"These might not work," she said, looking toward him.

He shrugged, licking his lips before saying, "You got fingers too, don't ya."

Beth swallowed, doing her best not to cringe at the thought of digging around Daryl's insides. Closing her eyes, she counted to three and focused on the wound. Biting on the inside of her lip as she pulled the wound apart. Trying to see if the bit of silver inside.

"Get on with it," Daryl growled out, tensing as Beth jumped at his words. "Damn thing hurts."

"Alright," Beth snapped back, grinding her teeth together as she threw an irritated glare at the man. "Daddy always did these things. I was just there for to rewrap the wounds and clean the cuts."

Daryl grunted at her, his eyes studying her for a moment before he asked, "your daddy a doctor?"

"No," Beth replied, shaking her head "A vet, but still just as useful when there's zombie's walking around."

Daryl smirked at her, his eyes actually lighting up for a moment before the snort of laughter made him cringe and he closed his eyes to get control of the pain. "Damn it, Z, just get on with it."

Beth nodded, licking her still too dry lips as she focused back on the wound and plunged in. She was right, the tweezers weren't nearly long enough to reach the bullet in cased inside of him. She could feel it scrapping across the top, causing Daryl to tense up with each pass. He would suck in a deep breath, hold it for a moment as Beth scrambled for the bullet, only to release it and take in several more short breaths just as she felt she had a hold of it.

"Damn it," she muttered the third time this happened. Already her hands and shirt were coated in blood, not mention Daryl and the bed. He'd lost so much blood, and his already pale skin was starting to look translucent enough that she could see the veins popping out of his flesh.

"You've got to stay still," she demanded, sitting back on her heels again. Daryl closed his eyes, his breaths coming in short pants as he shook his head.

"I know," he muttered, taking in another deep breath before releasing it. "It's the fuckin silver casing on those tweezers, its burning me worse then the bullet itself." Beth closed her eyes, chewing on her now sore lip as she stared at the man, then the wound. "Hold still," she demanded, slamming one hand on his stomach while tossing the tweezers to the side. Without thinking about the next move, she plunged her fingers into the hole. Ignoring the hissing noise that Daryl made as she dug around until she felt the warm metal in her finger tips. Thanking whatever lucky stars there were that he was turned vampire, Beth shoved her fingers in a little deeper so that she could grab a hold of the bullet and yank it out.

Daryl cursed up at storm, his hand clamped onto the mattress and eyes clenched closed when she looked at him. When his breathing evened out, he looked up into Beth's triumphant face. A smile spread across her lips as she held up the bullet for his inspection and said, "now was that so bad?"

Daryl glared daggers at her, mumbling something along the lines of "fuckin bitch" but Beth was going to pretend she didn't hear it. As she figured, he'd been shot, dug through and lord knew what else just to escape vampires and Blade. The man certainly been through an ordeal. Instead she smiled a little knowing smile at him and said, "wait until Daddy get's a hold of your bleedin head."

"What?" Daryl asked, his head shooting up to look at the girl before him. She shook her head, suppressing the giggle that wanted to come out and focused on the still bleeding wound. Getting another cotton ball and dabbing to clean the cut up, she noted that whatever tears she managed to make with her intrusion was already on the mends and the blood flow seemed to slow down now that she wasn't poking at it.

"What the hell you on about?" he asked, moving to sit up some more.

Beth pushed him back down, a lopsided smile still on her face as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Just relax while I get this cleaned up."

She pulled another cotton ball out, pouring the alcohol on it and swiping it across the wound. Watching as the blood got swept away, before placing a few steri-strips on top of it to keep it closed until it fully healed. Beth let her hand linger there, her fingers sliding across the smooth expanse of skin for a moment before her eyes traveled up his body. Taking in his flat stomach, noting the tattoo still inked onto his chest, just about his heart, and further up to shoulders and neck until she reached his face.

'His seriously pale face,' Beth noted, looking across his white skin. The cold seeped through her fingers, cutting her deep and she looked back down to the wound. The time she spent digging through his wound and his climb up the stairs, Beth could only imagine what was left out in the hallway. Crawling around the bed, she settled close to his head as she dug the knife out of her pocket.

His eyes drooped open, frowning as he watched she re-opened her scar. "What are ya doin?" he asked, pulling away from her like she'd lost her mind.

"You need blood," she said, that steel tone back in her voice as she held her wrists up to his face. The blood dropped on to his chest, making him sniff it for a moment before turning his head.

He shoved her hand away. "I'll be fine," he mumbled, scooting further from her out stretched hand

"You'll heal faster," she argued, moving right along with him. She could see his jaw tighten, his face turned away from the offered nutrients that his body craved.

"So-" he went to argue, shooting a glare at her when Beth interrupted him with a hard "Daryl."

Their eyes met for a brief second. "Stop arguing. You need the blood and I'm offering it to you. Just take it."

Daryl's scowl deepened, his own eyes growing harder before he looked at her wrists. The red liquid slipped down her skin, pooling on to his chest making his eyes grow darker. Grabbing her wrists, he looked up at her one more time. "Ya sure?"

"I trust ya," she replied, pushing her wrists toward him again.

Daryl growled out "too much damn faith" before his mouth locked over her wrists, sucking the blood out her slit wrists like it was some juice packet locked on to his lips. Beth felt herself going light headed, her eyes pulling closed even as she did her best to keep from falling on him. She braced herself, her hand moving from holding her own wrist up to resting the on the mattress to keep from falling. Daryl's own grip tightened, sucking harder on her wrists for a moment before he yanked himself away. His head falling back onto the bed with his eyes sliding closed. Beth nearly toppled over with him. Barley having the presence of mind to stumble over to the kitchen sink and wash herself off. She looked at her clothes, uncaring about the blood stained shirt as she ripped it off and used it to clean up the cut on her wrists one more time before finding the gauze in the first aide kit to wrap it up. Securing it with a steri-strip, she leaned on the counter, taking a moment for the dizziness to pass. When it did, she made her way over to the change of clothes that Christina insisted she take, and threw on the t-shirt lying inside before looking toward the bed. Light headed and out of strength, exhaustion won out as she shuffled her way back over to the bed so that she could lie down next to Daryl.

Turning on her side, she was allowed to take in the now sleeping man. Noting how nothing much changed about this Daryl. Sure he was younger, less lines across his face and his muscles not as pronounced as she remembered them. More then likely because he wasn't wielding a crossbow on a daily basis and running through the woods, though she could imagine there was still some scars present that she would remember. Like the one's he was intent on hiding on his back, despite Beth already seeing them. Though he didn't know that. So many things that happened between them that he didn't know anything about. So many memories, and moments that were forever etched in her skull that he had yet to witness. Tears stung at the back of her eyes, and she looked away. Unable to look on the younger Daryl sitting in front of her and wish that it was the older version of himself. The one that she could talk to about the prison and loss of her father and he would understand because he lost it all with her. Reaching up, she brushed a few strands of hair from his face, her finger tips sliding over his forehead where there should have been wrinkles from the amount of worrying Daryl did on a daily basis.

"Wish you were my Daryl," she whispered not expecting him to hear her.

Her breathing stopped when he whispered back "could be." His eyes opened for a brief moment. The familiar blue hitting Beth hard before they closed shut again and Beth found a slight smile on her face.

"Yeah, you could be."


Hope you enjoyed this update. I'm going to run and hide from all those wanting to bop me from making Daryl into a vampire. Not really because I don't regret it. It'll work out in the long run.

Thanks again for taking the time to read and thanks for the previous comments. Ya'll are some of the best.