A/N: Sorry for the long wait! This chappy needed time to stew and become perfect in my mind so that I could write it. Warnings of violence.

Chapter 9 –

Beth struggled to reach the knife, the cold metal of the Blazer hard against her back as pain radiated through her body. Billy sat on top of her legs, his hands squeezing her throat tightly, her lungs begging for air as she flailed wildly, trying to grab the glinting knife just out of her arms reach. The moment her fingertips touched the cool metal, she slid it closer and grabbed it tightly, her arm moving on its own accord and stabbing the blade into Billy's throat. His blood was hot against her fingers as it sprayed from his body, coating her in the red stickiness. His hands loosened from around her throat and coughs and gasps for air shook her body. After a moment, Billy's body began to fall sideways off of her and she looked up into his eyes and she knew that the sight of the life leaving them would haunt her for the rest of her life. Beth could feel his blood seeping into her clothes and felt bile rise into her throat but she swallowed it down. She pushed herself shakily to her feet once Billy's body was no longer sitting on top of her, her eyes searching for Daryl instantly.

"You bitch!" Harley yelled as he moved away from Daryl and attacked her, his fist connecting painfully with her cheek and making her head snap sideways as she stumbled and struggled to remain standing. Daryl moved quickly, stumbling in his pain and anger towards them, his eyes a murderous glare as he grabbed Harley off of her and punched him. Beth looked away as Daryl tripped him and began beating him to a pulp, her eyes searching the rest of their family. The sight of Dan straddling Carl made her feel even sicker and her hand moved of its own accord again, pulling her pistol from the holster on her hip and aiming it at the man's head. She walked around the Blazer before firing a shot, the bullet hitting its mark and killing Dan instantly.

Suddenly the world around her melted and she was standing alone outside of the train car the Termites had pushed Daryl and the rest of her family into. There were sounds coming from within the train car and her heart leapt into her throat as she rushed forward and pulled the door open. A terrible stench of death and decay met her nose and her stomach rolled. Vomit escaped from her mouth before she could stop it and she bent over beside the doorway to throw up. A groan met her ears and she turned, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Her eyes met the grey, lifeless eyes of Daryl Dixon. He was a walker, having died of dehydration and starvation inside the train car. His hands grabbed her shoulders and she screamed his name as his teeth sank into her neck.

"What the hell?" a voice cut through Beth's nightmare and she groaned in pain. The words bounced around her skull along with her scream of Daryl's name and the pain made her stomach heave. The pain reminded Beth of everything that had happened. She had been hit in the temple with the butt of a rifle. She was being taken somewhere and her family, Daryl, they were locked inside a train car in the sweltering summer heat.

They were lucky if they were still alive. No, they would be, she knew it. Beth tried to open her eyes but the pain in her head was too great and she felt herself slipping back into unconsciousness.

"Sounds like a nightmare."

"Daryl…" she muttered as she felt the darkness lifting from around her again. This time, she could hear two voices whispering. One was male and the other female.

"She keeps muttering about a Daryl…what should we tell her?"

"The truth. That he's dead."

No, Beth thought, ignoring the pain in her head as she opened her eyes, her vision blurry. That's not right. He's fine. They all are. They're alive and I'm going to find them. She blinked furiously and her vision cleared. A man wearing light blue scrubs stood near a doorway, a woman wearing a police uniform facing him. Beth pushed herself to sit up and the movement grabbed the attention of the policewoman.

"You're awake, excellent. We apologize about the head wound, Gareth tends to be extreme in his behavior." Beth ignored her as she pushed herself to stand up, her eyes taking in the room around her. It appeared she was in a room in a hospital. "How's your head?" the policewoman asked and Beth glared at her. The blonde had a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her she was in a bad situation and that the policewoman was part of the problem.

"Do you remember your name?" the man in scrubs asked. Beth turned her glare on him before walking to the doorway.

"Get out of my way, I'm going to my family," she ordered, anger dripping from her words. When neither one moved, she shoved her way past them and turned to go down the hallway. The policewoman gave a loud sigh before following, her steps heavy with her anger and frustration. The blonde glanced back at the woman before turning and sprinting down the hallway, pain radiating through her body from the fight with Billy and Harley a couple of days prior and the tackling the Termites had done to her before they knocked her out. The sounds of the policewoman's shoes slapping the tile behind her pushed Beth to run faster. She threw open a door and let out a pained "oof!" as her body collided with someone else's. Arms wrapped around her and pinned her arms to her side before a sharp sting of a needle in her neck made Beth give a yelp.

"You shouldn't have tried running," the policewoman said from behind her and Beth fought to keep her suddenly heavy eyelids from closing. They had drugged her.

"Beth," Daryl's voice echoed in her head, "come on, girl. Fight it. It's not safe there." The blonde struggled to reopen her eyes, to move her arms or even kick her feet, but it was like she was suddenly filled with lead and nothing could move.

"Daryl, I can't," she muttered before darkness consumed her again.

When Beth came to again, she let out a loud groan as she attempted to open her eyes only to squeeze them shut when the pounding in her head increased and her stomach rolled with nausea. Her brain registered a panicked scream and a distant groaning sound. The blow the Termite had given her had been the second major hit her head had taken, and with it being so soon after the first one gave her that concussion, she was certain she was in no shape for a fight. But the groans and sounds of shuffling feet were getting louder and her nose could pick up the stench of death as the walkers approached.

"What do we do about the new girl?" a voice hollered down the hall before the sounds of gunshots rang out and Beth forced her eyes open at the sounds.

"Just leave her! How did these things get in here?" a female voice hollered back, making Beth frown. They had gone as far as drugging her to keep her there but were willing to leave her to die at the hands of the walkers? The whole situation didn't make sense to her. The blonde looked herself over to inspect for any new wounds and felt a disturbing, uncomfortable feeling wash over her at the sight of her wearing blue scrubs instead of her jeans and sweater.

"Beth," his voice sounded in her head and Beth had to fight to keep from jumping up and looking around for him. "Beth, it ain't safe. You gotta move, you gotta fight." Pain radiated through the blonde as she nodded her head to his voice, knowing he wasn't really there to say those things to her, let alone to see her nod. "Dammit, girl, come on!" Daryl's voice echoed in her head and she cringed at the pain it brought with it.

She struggled to push herself to a crouched position on the cold tile floor of the hospital room. She looked around the small room for a weapon she could use but she didn't get long to look or investigate as the sounds of the walkers getting nearer pulled her attention. She pushed herself to stand and walked to the door of the room right as two people in blue scrubs ran past the door. Beth looked down the direction they had come from and felt her throat tighten at the sight of a large group of walkers about fifty feet away stumbling their way towards her.

The blonde quickly ran after the two strangers, her eyes searching the area around her for an escape or a weapon as she ran. A yelp of surprise pulled her attention back to the two in front of her and she slid to a stop at the sight of a group of walkers in front of them. The female of the two let out a scream as a walker bit into her arm and Beth ran towards her, pulling the gun from the woman's hand and shooting the walkers around them.

"Come on!" she yelled at the two, her arm reaching out and looping around the injured and now sobbing woman. The three turned and sprinted down another hallway, skidding to a halt in front of a door that opened after the man threw himself against it a couple of times. Once all three were through the door, the man slammed the door shut and searched for something to use to block the door.

"We don't have the time," Beth told him, "the walkers aren't that far away and we need to amputate her arm."

"What?!" the woman cried out as she pushed herself away from Beth. Beth looked the woman over, taking in her dark skin and curly hair, her wild brown eyes.

"If we amputate it now, you won't become infected. You won't become one of them," the blonde informed her.

"I'm not going to let you cut off my arm! I don't even know you, how do I know I can trust you?" the woman cried out.

"We don't have the time for this!" Beth yelled at her, her blue eyes moving to the man as he shoved a broom through the door handles on the doors behind them. The sounds of the walkers on the other side of the door grew louder and the three jumped when pounding and banging began to echo from the doors behind them.

"Run, Beth." Daryl's voice told her and she pressed her lips into a line.

'I refuse to leave them,' she thought to herself. 'They could be good people, Daryl.'

"I don't think the good ones survive. They were going to leave you."

Beth heaved a sigh, her eyes glancing at the two people in front of her before glancing back at the door behind them, which was opening more with every push the walkers made. Her eyes narrowed at the two people standing in front of her before she turned and ran.