A/N: There's a little bit of an unmarked time jump at the end of this chapter but don't worry, it's not the end of the story. There will be a few more chapters before things get wrapped up but we'll get there...eventually.

Until then, please leave a review.

Finger On The Trigger

Part II

Chapter 10

Merle-

"What the hell is this place?" Beth asked.

"I ain't got a fuckin' clue but we ain't stayin'. Get back in tha car an' we'll keep goin' as far as we can," I told 'er.

"We should search the houses, Merle. Whoever was here, they may have left things behind that we could use."

"Maybe so but we ain't takin' tha chance a stayin' 'ere."

We drove a lil' while longer 'til we came up on some cars an' trees in the road. Beth looked like she was 'bout ta cry when I got out a tha car ta have a look 'round.

Beth-

I didn't have any doubts that Merle would see to it that we found somewhere safe, he has gotten us this far after all, but in this world safe places are few and far between. I'd be fine with things if it turned out we had to go back to Georgia or find somewhere along the way to stay but I didn't tell Merle that and I haven't told him that I think all of this is a waste of time. We'll never find anyone else and if we do, it won't be our family.

I hate to think about it but Daryl had been right about some things.

I'll never see Rick, Carl, Judith or Maggie again.

I gave them up months ago to find Annie and Shawn but I don't regret it. I found them and I found Merle. He wasn't as bad as Maggie thought he was and he's Daryl's family so that makes him ours too.

The only reason I haven't said anythin' to him, the only reason I keep goin' on, is that it isn't fair to Merle. I have Annie and Shawn and another baby on the way but Merle doesn't have anyone. He doesn't have anyone by blood except Daryl and well, Daryl's not here. After all Merle has done for me and the babies, the least I could do is stick this out a while longer and hope we find our family or that we find Daryl.

Maggie-

We had left Alexandria days ago and it didn't seem like we were any closer to home though we tried to take the same route.

I had apologized to Rick when he told me why he had done the things he did. That didn't mean I had forgiven him but I understood and though it wasn't my place to forgive him, I had told him that when we found Beth and he told her about everythin', if she still chose to forgive him and be a family again, I would forgive him then.

That's all I could do and I wouldn't be doin' it for Rick or myself. I would do it for Carl, Judy, Shawn and Annie.

Beth-

Merle got back in the car and leaned his head back against the seat.

"Tha damn road is blocked as far as I can see," he muttered. "We can get out, load our shit in another car an' try ta make it that way or we could turn 'round an' see if we can make it ta tha nearest town an' stay there a while 'til we figure somethin' out."

He looked over at me and all I could do was nod.

"Or we could go back home. See if there's anythin' left at tha prison or Woodbury that would be a safe place," he said after a minute or two of silence.

"Yeah, we could do that, Merle, but we both know we won't ever make it. We have to keep goin' north, even if we never find them, we have to keep goin'."

"Alright, 'ere's what we'll do. We'll stay right 'ere for a lil' while so I can check out tha cars. If I can get one runnin' an' I think we got a clear path, we'll take it an' if not, we'll go on foot. Now if we go on foot, we'll have ta leave some things behind an' only take what we really need. I'll get ya ta carry a bag or two, nothin' too heavy an' I'll carry tha babies an' a couple a bags."

Merle-

She was quiet fer a lil' while but I could see she was thinkin' over what I had said. We both knew it wasn't gon' be easy but we only had a few options short a turnin' back.

"Or there's somethin' else we could do," she said an' stared out tha window.

"What's that?"

"You could carry Annie and Shawn as far as y'all can go, 'til you find a safe place and I can stay here."

"What tha hell makes ya think I'd let ya do that?"

"I know, Merle. I know it's a lot to ask of you, I know it will be hard for you to look after them and yourself but it's the only thing I can think of that makes the most sense."

"Makes tha most sense? Hell, girl, are ya even listenin' ta yerself? Ya ain't makin' no sense at all an' a course I'd look after them if ya wasn't 'ere but ya are so don't be talkin' like that. If ya stay 'ere, we're stayin' too."

"You can't do that, Merle. You know I'm slowin' you down. I can't do much and it's only goin' to get worse. What if we're stuck in the middle of a herd and the baby decides to come then? Have you thought about that, because I have? I don't want you or them goin' down because of me."

"Let me put this to ya so ya can understand. If ya want ta stay 'ere, that's fine but we're stayin' with ya. If ya want ta go, keep movin' 'til we find somewhere, I'ma be with with ya but I ain't leavin' ya nowhere on yer own. Ya got that?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I just don't think it's fair that I'm dragin' you down and makin' it harder to keep goin'."

Beth-

Merle reached over and grabbed my chin when I went to look away from him.

"Now listen 'ere, ya ain't dragin' me down an' ya ain't makin' it any harder ta keep goin'. Tha only thing that you're doin' is makin' it harder fer me not ta laugh an' call ya crazy. But I know ya ain't crazy, ya might be a lil' but ya ain't that crazy. I don't want ta hear ya talkin' like this no more."

"But what…."

"Naw, ain't nothin' ya can say ta change my mind. We'll find ever'one an' if we don't, we'll find somewhere safe ya can raise those kids a yers. But 'til then, I don't want ta hear ya say none a this crazy shit ya been sayin'."

Rick-

"Who are you?" Daryl shouted.

"What does it matter who I am?"

"Daryl, let him go," Maggie said calmly.

"Naw, ya see that knife he's got," Daryl said, "It was Beth's. She had it when we left tha prison."

Maggie raised her gun on the guy. "Tell us who you are and we may let you live."

"Paul Rovia. But my friends used to call me Jesus."