A/N: This chapter focuses on Beth and what happened to her.
Disclaimer: I do not own it. I'm just borrowing them to help me survive until October.
Beth woke up with a splitting headache. She opened her eyes and tried to take in her surroundings, but it was just too dark to really see anything. The most she could tell as she sat on the side of the bed is the door was right in front of her cause she could see the light from the hall underneath. The last thing she remembered was someone putting something over her nose and mouth and then everything went hazy. She was unsure of how long she had been here, but her only thoughts were if Daryl had made it out of the funeral home alive.
There was a commotion in another part of the building. Beth wanted to hide in the corner, but she also wanted to know what was going on, so she got off the bed and went and sat down next to the door and put her ear to it and tried her best to listen. There were voices and they started to get closer until it seemed like they were right outside the door.
"Mark," a man's voice yelled, "You'll never guess what I did last night."
"What," another man's voice chimed in from a different direction.
"I saved some pretty little blond thing from a crazy old guy with a crossbow."
Oh, shit, Beth thought to herself.
"You did what?!"
"Yeah, place was being overrun with walkers and she was just running around the road like a freaking damsel in distress."
"Does Alex know you did this?"
The question was met with silence.
"You mean to tell me that you took someone we don't know, brought them into our community, our home, and did this without saying a thing to Alex?
"Uhh…..yeah."
"Nice knowing you then…..Alex is going to be pissed."
"Oh please Alex needs to get over her shit, she thinks she fucking runs this place. We could take her out and have the place to ourselves without all of her we're a family, we protect our own shit."
"Is this how you really feel Derek?" Another voice came from out of nowhere.
Beth didn't know if she liked where this conversation was going, but she had to find out more about what was going on. Apparently there was some conflict as to her being taken, so she took that as a good sign that she might make it out of this thing alive and hopefully in one piece.
"Adam," the man named Derek said with a weary voice. Beth could tell that there was a good chance the shit was about to hit the fan. "What's up man?"
"I hear you've been a dumbass. Is this true?"
Beth could hear more footsteps coming down the hall. She didn't know whether to be terrified or grateful. She was going to go with slightly terrified until further notice.
"Dunno what you're talking 'bout man."
"I hear you kidnapped a young girl last night and brought her here. What the hell were you thinking? Or were you thinking? Alex has specific rules about outsiders. You know this."
"Oh come on, she's one girl. No harm done. The old guy she was with probably didn't even make it out alive," Derek said.
There was a pause, "Wait, she was with someone when you took her? What the hell man? You ever think that maybe him or any others she was with might be looking for her? The last thing we need is a group looking for vengeance."
"I'm sorry man, I didn't think," the man named Derek started to say in a frantic voice.
"You're right….you didn't think," the man named Adam said calmly. "Take him boys. I'm gonna go try and talk to the girl he took.
Shit! Beth thought as she scrambled away from the door and back to the bed. She sat down just as the door opened. The light flooded in thru the hall way and the man walked in leaving the door open.
"Hello there ma'am. My name is Adam." He started to walk towards Beth and she flinched backwards. "Woah there now," he said throwing his arms in the air. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna go over here and open the window to let some light in so we're not sitting in the dark."
After a moment Beth nodded her head and he proceeded to walk over to a window and open the drapes to let in the sunlight. From what Beth could tell it was probably early morning. Adam walked back over towards the door and grabbed a chair and sat down.
"I'm very sorry about what our man did to you last night. If you could give me some information on who you are and who you were with maybe we could see about getting you back to this person," he said in a calm voice.
Beth thought about what or rather how much she should tell him. She really didn't know this man at all, but she did need help getting back to Daryl. She wasn't going to believe for a second that he'd never made it out of the house…..well until she was told differently that is what she was going to believe. "My name is Beth," she said and started to tell her tale. She left out the part about the prison and everyone else, and didn't tell them Daryl's name. Just a tale about the man she was with and what had happened until she was taken.'
Adam waited patiently for her to finish her story and once she was done he seemed to take it all in before getting up and heading for the door.
"Wait where are you going?" Beth asked as she started to slightly panic that everything might not be working out in her favor.
"Don't worry. I'm gonna go talk to Alex about some things and I'll come get you a bit later. Someone will be in shortly with some food. You will not be harmed while you are here, okay?"
Beth was still skeptical, but she wasn't really in a position to argue at this point so she just nodded in agreement as he walked out the door shutting it behind him.
-D/B-
What seemed like hours later cause the sun was starting to go down Beth was taken across the compound to a nice size house. It looked like any old house. Even had freshly planted flowers in front. The man Adam motioned for her to head on into the house. He had actually treated her with respect and she could tell that he was different than the idiot who took her from Daryl.
"Alex is expecting you. It will just be the two of you. Don't try anything funny. She had me clear the house of everyone else. No offense, but we don't really know you. With the apparent exception of a few we don't like to take chances with our family."
"I understand," Beth said nodding her head.
"Once you go in she'll meet you at the top of the stairs. I'll be right out here to escort you back once she's done with you."
Beth nodded her head and then proceeded to walk into the house. Upon entering she looked up to see a woman who looked like she didn't belong in the apocalypse. Her hair was in braided pigtails and she was wearing a long sweater with leggings and some very stylish boots that Beth was frankly jealous of at the moment.
"Hello there, you must be Beth. My name is Alex." the woman said as she motioned for Beth to come up the stairs.
"Yes."
"Well Beth, I'd first like to apologize for the unfortunate circumstances that have brought us together. Let me assure you that the person responsible has been dealt with accordingly."
Oh shit, Beth thought as her eyes widened in fear.
Alex sensed her discomfort, "We didn't kill him if that's what you're thinking."
Beth let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.
"He has been exiled and will never be allowed back into this compound," if he does try to return he will be punished." Sensing that Beth could use a bit more information Alex continued, "You see we are not evil here. We all consider ourselves family and will die trying to protect it. We for the most part welcome new people to stay briefly, to build their strength back up before heading on their way. Of course we usually do keep them separate from everyone else. However, the man that took you was stupid and didn't really give thought to the fact that you were with others and that those others may come looking for you. That presents a problem for my family and I. We don't want people coming here for vengeance."
"Would it be possible for you to take me back to the house where he took me from? Maybe who I was with is still there?" Beth asked with a hopeful look on her face.
Alex sighed, "Adam and I went back to where Derek said he took you from. There were a few walkers but there was no one there. He said you were with an older man and that the man tried to run after the vehicle. It's very possible that once he got to the tracks he took the wrong road. I'm very sorry."
Beth looked defeated. But at least she hung onto the knowledge that Daryl was still alive somewhere and maybe looking for her.
"You are welcome to stay here," Alex said. "We disrupted your life, it's the least we can do. Please do know that at least until we get to know you a little better you will have a guard keeping an eye on you. I'm sure you are a perfectly nice girl, but truthfully we don't know you and we have to think about the safety of the kids."
Beth's head popped up at the mention of kids, "Have you had anyone show up with a little girl by the name of Judith?"
Alex shook her head, "I'm sorry we haven't."
Beth was disappointed, but hopeful. She looked at Alex and asked a question that she wasn't sure she would get an answer to, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but you don't look like you belong in the apocalypse."
The other woman lifted her lips in a small sad smile, "No one belongs here, but it's where we ended up."
"How did you end up here?"
"Lexi, Jessie, and myself, and a few others kind of floated from place to place. We made some friends. Some of the men and women here have been with me since Lexi and Jessie were born. Adam whom you've met has been with me since damn near the beginning. Probably wasn't the smartest decision to trust a complete stranger, but in my position I couldn't be picky. Anyways we found this place a while back and decided this would be a good place to set up camp"
"Wait who are Lexi and Jessie?" Beth asked.
"My twin baby girls, they'll be two in a few months here I think. Who really knows time anymore. Once you've been here a little bit we can let you visit the children. From the twinkle in your eye I can see that maternal instinct."
Beth smiled, "I helped raise Judith. Her mother died giving birth and her dad kind of lost it for a while."
"We live in an unforgiving world. All we can do is try to survive. Protecting family until our last breath."
She may have been taken against her will, but Beth really did like Alex. She couldn't fault her for the mistakes of others. "Well I look forward to meeting the girls when you do deem me trustworthy enough."
Alex smiled at Beth, "Let's go find you something to eat and a place to sleep. In the morning we'll visit on how I might be able to help you find who you've lost."
A/N: So there we go. Next chapter we will catch up with Daryl after he has been reunited with Rick. Please if you have the time leave me a review and let me know what you think of the story so far.