Chapter 3 Going Nowhere

Life began to become dull for Beth. She would work at the coffee shop, then go volunteer at an animal shelter, and then go back home to her apartment. Sometimes, she would join her friends at the bar for a drink in the evening. She wouldn't have much to say when she was with them. Their stories moved on from their time when the world had ended. Nowadays, they talked about school, dating, and conspiracies for the next apocalypse. Beth mostly listened in silence, and only offered comments here and there when asked.

Beth didn't know what she wanted to do. For her friends, life moved on quickly for them. She couldn't shake the uneasy feeling growing inside of her, something she was trying hard to ignore. The only person Beth could talk to was Maggie, sometimes Glenn. They understood how she was feeling, as life wouldn't go back to normal for them either.

There were days where she longed to see all the others again, but she didn't know what to say. She was looking forward to Maggie and Glenn's wedding. There were going to be old and new people there from their old lives. Beth was counting the days down on her calendar.

"I could go to school and be a vet, like my dad," Beth told her coworker one day. "Or maybe I could be a writer."

"Don't go into the arts. Trust me," her friend Michael said to her. "You'll get into so much debt. Better to go into the trades."

"I hear culinary arts is in high demand," another coworker, Tracy, suggested. "You seem to enjoy baking. You've got a lot of options, darling."

Smiling gratefully, Beth continued to pour out coffee cups, and mix milk and sugar. She was so consumed in work and in her thoughts that she didn't pay attention to the customers coming in. That is until she heard a familiar voice. Actually, it was two familiar voices, arguing.

"You're damn lucky that's all I'm about to get for you," a woman's voice hissed. "This will be the last time we interact, mark my words."

"Oh come off yer high horse," a man's heavily accented voice shot back. "I saved yer life."

"I'm only here talking to you because I want to know more about what happened to Daryl." Michonne's voice was hushed but still within hearing distance of Beth behind the counter. She eagerly peered past the espresso machine. Sure enough, Michonne stood by the pastries next to a redneck that Beth recognized as Merle. She'd met him briefly a couple times, and didn't think he was all that nice.

"You know those two?" Michael inquired, raising an eyebrow at Beth.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and nodded. "They're survivors like me," she spoke quietly, not wanting them to know she was listening.

Michael grabbed the supplies out of her hand. "Go on, take your break now. Go catch up with them."

Beth was nervous. She wasn't prepared on what to say. On one hand, she had a million thoughts and questions to ask Michonne, but on the other hand Beth didn't want to face Merle.

"Okay."

Taking off her apron, Beth grabbed Michonne and Merle's coffee and walked over to the table Michonne had sat down at. She looked mildly annoyed. Merle was enjoying himself, clearly amused that he'd run into someone he'd known. At Beth's arrival, he didn't acknowledge her.

"Here's your latte made with soy milk. I never took you as a coffee person," Beth commented, giving Michonne a smile.

Michonne uncrossed her arms and sat up in her seat. "Oh my god. Beth?" Her eyes went wide, just as recognition dawned over Merle as well.

"Hi Michonne," Beth replied, grinning ear to ear. "This is such a small world."

"Come over here and give me a hug."

The two girls embraced tightly, Beth sighing slightly with relief. She'd been anxious that Michonne wouldn't have remembered her. "How are you?"

"I almost didn't recognize you at first. It's been way too long."

"Hey, what 'bout a hug for dear old Merle here?" the scruffy man held out his arms too. "Long time no see, pal."

"No thanks," Beth said quickly, smiling at Michonne at the side. "I'm good."

"The only reason I'm here with this jackass is because I refuse to meet with him somewhere private. Saw him working at a garage upstate and wanted to find out about Daryl," Michonne explained while Beth sat down in another chair.

"What's Daryl been up to?" Beth asked keenly.

"Daryl, Daryl, Daryl. Man, everyone seems to care more 'bout my lil brother than asking what poor old Merle's been up to," Merle remarked.

"That seems about right," Michonne retorted darkly. "Some things won't be forgotten."

"Right. Right. Tried to kill yeh and stuff. Okay then." Merle laid back in his chair, grinning contently. "Well when the world snapped back to reality, I was all alone at first. I figured the first thing I'd do was try to find my little bro. Seems logical, ain't it?"

"And did you see him?" Beth asked eagerly.

"Come on now, lemme tell the story. Well, it was difficult to track him down at first. Neither of us stayed in one place long enough to have mailed delivered, yunno? I ended up getting pissed assed drunk at a bar, when I overhear some fella saying he got into a fight with my brother a few towns away. Lost it too, by the looks of it. But the son of a bitch was cocky and started saying his buddies were gonna hunt him down."

"Did they know him from before?" Michonne inquired.

"Seems like it. My bro's got enemies all over the place. He's a smart kid, probably left the state when he realized there was gonna be assholes left and right. But nah, it wasn't until I went to visit my old man in the hospital when I saw him again."

Beth glanced over at Michonne, who was listening just as intently as her.

"You guys spoke?"

"Yah man, he said he'd been living out of state for the past few months. Started teachin' at some shitty youth camp for troubled teens. What an actual waste of time. I went to visit him not three weeks ago. He's doing aight."

Michonne sighed with relief. She also knew what it was like to have many enemies from the previous world. "As long as he's safe, that's what matters. Has he talked to anybody else?"

"Just some girls he met near the end of it all. That's all I know."

Merle eventually got bored of them and left, much to her relief. Beth watched him go, a little bit worried that he knew where she worked now. But that left her with Michonne and gave them a chance to bond. She took the rest of the day off.

"How are you doing, Beth?" Michonne asked, her smile genuine. Beth had never seen Michonne appear so happy and carefree. "How's the family?"

Beth filled her in, and mentioned Glenn and Maggie's wedding that was happening in a couple months. "You are 100% invited. We're doing our best to track everybody down. Have you been in contact with people?"

"Not the people you would have met." Michonne's expression shifted slightly. "It's been hard, readjusting. I have a son from before. It was so great to have him back."

"Oh right, I remember you telling me that." Beth looked through pictures of Andre on Michonne's phone. "That's wonderful."

"Waking up to this world being back to normal was surreal. It's been bittersweet," Michonne admitted. "I also had another son, a few years ago. His name would have been Rick Jr."

Beth's jaw dropped. "You named him after Rick?"

"I named him after his father."

That was one detail Maggie hadn't mentioned before. Beth was literally stunned. "I'm so sorry."

"It's the weirdest thing to not have someone in your life anymore. Because they don't exist. But they didn't die, so that's comforting. But they don't exist anymore. I don't know if you understand."

Nodding grimly, Beth let out a sigh. "I guess I do. I spent most of my survival days taking care of Judith. I reckon she no longer exists either."

"That girl would have been turning 11 years old."

Beth's mind wandered towards Daryl. She felt happy that he managed to live his life, both before and after the wake up. But she anxiously wondered if there was so much more, maybe he had a family too? Did they cease to exist? And what about Michonne and Rick now… what was going to happen?

She chose not to ask all these difficult questions. She was just happy there was someone she was able to reconnect with. "Maggie and Glenn's wedding will be the reunion we need," Beth said as they said their goodbyes. "We'll send you the invitations. Please come."

"I wouldn't miss it."

Break

Daryl spent the last few months working as a guidance counselor for a youth camp. He stumbled upon it accidentally, when he was helping a 12 year old boy readjust to life after his parents went to prison. One of the other counselors was impressed by Daryl so much that he offered him the job right away.

It felt good to be needed by the group, which was why Daryl stayed at first. He had needed to get away from people who either hated him or were overly fascinated by his survival story. Daryl had spent the first couple of weeks tracking down a few of his friends and making sure they were okay. It seemed like everyone he'd met so far were happy to go back to their normal lives, so Daryl let them be.

One person Daryl hadn't yet discovered was Rick. He was about to start tracking him down until somebody recognized Daryl and they got into a fight. Daryl managed to escape before authorities could track them all down, and that's how he ended up in South Carolina. Daryl vowed he would eventually go back to Georgia and keep searching. He knew which county Rick worked in.

Most people here had died early on, so they didn't have survival stories to share. Daryl chose to keep his mouth shut and help make sure the kids didn't get into trouble. It was a job he was starting to enjoy, but he wondered what else he could be doing. However, Daryl also liked that he didn't have to keep running.

Merle stopped by every now and then to check up on him. The two were the only family blood remaining. Other than that, Daryl hadn't had contact with many people from his previous life.

Imagine his surprise when someone unexpected showed up to visit him.

"Carol!"

"Hi Daryl!" Carol greeted sweetly, giving him a large hug.

It was nearly the breaking point for Daryl. His reunion with Carol gave him the courage to go back out there and reconnect, especially with Rick. Listening to Carol talk about Sophia and their new life now was a wake up call for Daryl.

"I've been busy mourning that old life," Daryl told her. "It was snatched away from me."

"I know we worked so hard to survive. You helped me and so many others," Carol said understandingly. "We were one of the last few."

Daryl felt a pang of anger. "Everyone who died came back. We all came back. It was all for nothing!"

"It wasn't for nothing, Daryl."

"We should have all done what Jacqui did and called it quits early on. At least I'll know for next time," Daryl snarled, making a fist and looking down.

Carol felt pity. She knew that Daryl suffered so much loss and worked so hard, and developed a family after the apocalypse had started. The world ripped him apart from that so many times. It was unfair.

"What do you want the most in the world, Daryl?"

He couldn't answer her. He didn't really know. "What I'm doing now aint so bad. I shouldn't complain."

Carol patted his arm. "Maggie and Glenn are getting married again. They're holding a wedding out on the farm."

He jolted back a bit. Daryl knew where that farm was, he just forgot all about it. "Those two kids doing okay?"

"They're doing so great. They want everyone to come, the whole family." Carol's eyes were wet as she gave him a pat on the back. "You have to come. I'll tell them we found you. They're trying to get as many people as possible."

"I'll go for sure," Daryl promised. "I'll sort out some business first, but I'll be there."