The group was able to clear a cell block with the expense of Hershel. He was bitten and Rick had to amputate, and he was unconscious.
Beth, trying to stay positive and look forward, started hemming her daddy's pants to accommodate the lost leg.
Daryl, on the other hand, was busy with Rick exploring the cafeteria, where they encountered some inmates who had been locked in since the beginning of the end. They managed to get a good supply of food to bring back.
After a series of events by the ring leader, they tripped the prisons alarm system and the tombs and courtyard were flooded by walkers.
They lost Carol, T-Dog, and Lori, but introduced Lori's child into the world. Rick.. Well, Rick went off on his own, and Beth took to taking care of the infant with Carl.
After Daryl dug Carol's grave, he sat up in his perch, stabbing the wall with his knife. He looked down, watching the group, watching Hershel sit at one of the tables with his daughters while Carl held his little sister- Lil' Ass Kicker, when he caught Beth's gaze.
He sighed, putting the knife down and letting her climb the stairs and approach him.
"Daryl.. Why don't you come on down and hold the baby? She likes you." Beth suggested, standing in the doorway.
"Naw. Fine right here. Don't need no company."
"I miss her already, too." Beth said, regarding Carol. Daryl huffed angrily.
"I don't need no goddamn sympathy from ya, either!"
"Daryl—," Beth said, obviously trying to calm him from the scene she knew he was about to start.
"Naw, let's set the record straight right now. I don't need this. Any of it! All we got are scars. That's that. Ain't gonna pussyfoot around and be pretendin' it's anythin' more than that. Now, do yourself a favor and leave me the hell alone before I gotta throw you out." Daryl spat.
As soon as he said the words, regret flooded his body, but he wasn't about to take it back. He just lost his best friend, the closest person to him besides Rick, or, well, Beth. But he didn't know how to deal with her.
Daryl was up in that perch, thinkin' about how easily it coulda been Beth. And that scared him shitless. The best thing for him to do now? Distance himself as much as he could. Cut her out.
They weren't anything, even. They never even talked. Whatever they had between them, whatever loose ends they had that she seemed to want to move forward with and figure it out (and he wouldn't admit now that he wanted to play it out, too, but hell, a guy like him would never know how) should be the least of his concerns. Livin', protecting his people, doing what needed to be done, that's what mattered. Not some goddamn romance novel.
Judith. The little girls name was Judith, and Beth eagerly accepted the role as her fill in nanny. It helped keep her mind off all the horrors that had happened. But the others kept in good spirit.
Maggie and Glenn had gone on a run for formula and never returned, a woman with a sword baby formula with news about what happened to the two.
Carol was found in the tombs, alive, dehydrated, but alive.
Reuniting Carol with the group was the first time Daryl and Beth were within ten feet of each other since he sent her off. She avoided eye contact, but unable to shake his aura that engulfed her. Felt him glancing at her from the corner of his eye as she kissed Carol's cheek and sat down on the bed with her. Felt his aching.
But she couldn't look at him, now that he had come to his senses. She knew, when he snapped, that he was mourning. That he couldn't handle losing Carol. That he was scared of how easy it was to lose people.
(But then Carol was alive after all. He went searching for her himself, leaving Beth on edge with worry, waiting cautiously for a soul mark, while her daddy sat and shared stories of calming prayers next to her, like he always had before when she had received a partially nasty soul mark before the outbreak, before she knew Daryl and what he really was getting himself into.)
And then they were going on a rescue mission for Glenn and Maggie at some town run by a man called the Governor.
"This is Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debatin'?" Beth demanded during the group meeting on if they should go on the scouting mission, looking around.
"We ain't. I'll go after them." Daryl said immediately, glancing her way. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"This place.. Sounds heavily protected, you can't go alone." Rick said.
"I'll go." Beth said immediately, causing all eyes on her. She felt Daryl's piercing stare and Rick shifted, looking at his brother with understanding.
The two remaining inmates offered to go get there people back and Beth tried not to panic, thinking of what was to come.
"Beth, you stay here with Judith. Keep and eye on Carol." Rick said, stepping forward and resting his hand on her shoulder to give a comforting squeeze. "We'll take care of this. I know you can take care of them."
"We'll get'm back home." Daryl said, turning around and heading out of the cell block.
The familiar feeling of relief flooded Beth, knowing that Daryl would be there to get them, along with the usual worry of what could happen. Especially when the samurai woman said they had almost eighty people in the town. So many things could go wrong.
As Daryl packed one of the SUV's up with supplies for their mission, Rick approached him.
"Daryl, can I have a moment?" Rick asked as he loaded a bag into the trunk before turning to face his friend.
"Anything weighing on your mind?" Rick said carefully, knowing he was walking on eggshells.
"Don't know what you mean." Daryl muttered. "Got some flash bangs, grenades. Dunno what we might need."
"I meant what happened in the cell block when Beth offered to go. Granted, I was going to ask her to watch after Judith anyway, but it looked like—"
Daryl paused, sighing and looking Rick in the eye. "If you already know, don't see why we're beatin' 'round the bush." He lowered his voice to a mutter.
"I get it, Daryl. I do. We both know Beth can take care of herself when it comes down to it. But these are real, armed soldiers. If it were Lori? This might be a suicide mission." Rick said quietly. "I know what you're doin', brother. I just think you might want to talk to her before we head out. She'll understand. Women.. They're smart like that."
Beth opened the gate while the woman who weld the sword, Michonne, followed her, dumbfounded how this small group had cleared the prison by themselves. Beth smiled sadly, explaining that there were others.
"That trigger happy redneck. He's yours?" Michonne asked, but it was a statement. Beth sighed and didn't answer. "I ask because he's headed this way."
Beth turned her head, and she was right, Daryl was making his way over to the two. Michonne gave Beth an all-too-well knowing look before going towards the loaded cars.
"Daryl," Beth sputtered immediately, stepping closer to him while still leaving arms reach between them.
"Want ya to know we're gonna bring'em back. Safe'n sound." Daryl said with a thick voice. Beth smiled.
"I know. I trust you," Beth assured him before giving him a taunting look. "Try not to get shot, okay? I can handle some bruises, but," Daryl interrupted her by closing the gap between them and giving her a swift hug, sending her into euphorics.
"Ain't gonna promise anythin'. Same to you. Last thing I need is a soul mark when I'm sneakin' around uncharted terrain." He said quietly as he let her go. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face before trying to speak again.
"I know. I know Daryl. It's okay. You ain't gotta say it." Beth told him, still so close she could hear his heart pumping fast.
Daryl's cheeks were flushed pink as he cleared his throat. "See ya in a day or so. Take care of Asskicker and Carol and your paw."
And with that being said, he was gone, leaving Beth leaning against the metal fence, waiting until they pulled away. She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes, a hopeful feeling in her heart that she hoped was a sign that everything would be okay.
The soul marks started appearing on Beth midway through the night. Beth shot up in her bed as she felt the burn run deep in her wrists, rubbing them anxiously, although there was no pain, she didn't know what it meant for Daryl.
Next, she lurched over and threw up, feeling the burn in her abdomen. She'd felt that one before. Someone just kicked, or punched, or somethin', in his gut.
"Daddy!" She screamed, not wanting to go through this alone. Not tonight.
And then again, in the side of her face, the warmth tingled and made her head dizzy, her eyes glaze over. It was like it was when she was back on the farm, alone in her room at night, feeling all these marks, that she could now only guess were from fighting.
"Beth?" Carol said, rushing into her cell. "Beth, you're bleeding!" She reached up and touched her cheek, noticing blood dripping down the side from a bit of flesh being scrapped off.
And then over, and over, and over, until Beth was just lying in bed with her head in her daddy's lap, saying soft prayers and singing quiet hymns to her as bruises formed all over her slender body.
For those moments that felt like a lifetime, she thought that was it. That suddenly, she wouldn't feel anything anymore.
She was right. She didn't feel anything for the rest of the night. She didn't sleep at all, memorizing every fresh mark on her body and feeling hopeless.
_
Daryl found Merle. His brother. His brother that he hadn't seen since—since his best fuckin' friend cuffed him to a roof in Atlanta. Cut his own fuckin' hand off, cauterized it, hadn't been seen since.
To find out he was workin' with this Governor. Torturing his family.
Found him face to face in a fuckin' arena, surrounded by people, chained walkers, and told he had to fight Merle to the death.
In his head, he begged for Beth's forgivness for the soul marks she was going to feel, that would no doubt make her worry, and truth be told, he hadn't been so sure how he was going to get out of that arena.
But he was blood. He was family. He wasn't gonna leave him. Not again.
"I'm not leavin' him. Not again."
"What about Carol? What about Beth?" Glenn had pleaded. Beth.
"Carol will understand," Daryl said, adjusting his bow in his arms.
"And tell Beth.. Sorry."
Without any sleep, Beth went about her daily routine with Judith, trying to keep busy. She ignored the new group who had been locked up in what she called the day room outside the cell block- she only remembered the kind man Tyreese, and that the woman, Sasha, was his sister. Sasha had mistaken Beth for being Judith's mother and she quietly told her she wasn't, and hurried out without an explanation. Luckily, though, no one commented on her face.
Later in the day, Hershel said that Beth needed some fresh air, so she want on a perimeter check with Carol and Carl. Beth didn't engage in the small talk, not today, not knowing what to say when every time Carol looked at her, she saw fear in her eyes.
Carol was the first to spot the cars pulling back up to the gates, rushing out, looking for everyone.
"Where's Daryl?" Carol asked, glancing back at Beth.
"He's alright. He's alive. We ran into his brother." Rick explained. "They went off."
"He left?" Carol said, shocked. "Daryl left? He's gone?"
Beth pushed through the gate now, marching up to the group that just returned. "What do you mean 'they went off'?"
"Is he coming back?" Carol asked, tears welling in her eyes, and for a moment, Beth wanted to tell her to shut the hell up. She loved Carol, to death, but in her selfish moment, she was angry that Rick was comforting Carol over Daryl's soulmate.
But only for a moment, because quickly, the grown woman was in Beth's arms, holding the younger blonde tight, crying softly into her shoulder, whispering things into her neck that she couldn't make out through the sobs.
Beth and Carol stayed glued to each other that day, watching after Judith together. She heard stories about Sofia, Carol's Daughter, as a baby, and Beth smiled, remembering when she used to think one day she'd be a mother. Judith, though, was the next best thing.
"I don't see why he had to leave," Beth finally said, breaking the elephant in the room that had been lingering for hours. "Merle.. Sounds like a jerk."
"Men like Merle get inside your head. Daryl doesn't know any better. He feels like he owes him something, even now that he's his own person."
"We're weak without him. Doesn't he know that?" I'm weak without him. Beth was bitter to admit it. She was going through a rollercoaster of emotions, she was figuring it was like the five stages of grief.
"My husband, Ed? He wasn't my soulmate." Carol confided. "I never had a chance to meet mine. The marks stopped before I met Ed.
"We'll get through this. Without Daryl. And maybe have a bittersweet moment when you get a mark to know he's still out there.. Being a dumbass."
Beth looked down at the infant in her arms, bouncing her gently, smiling at the angel.
"I thought the prison was gonna be our chance to finally do somethin', figure somethin' out about.. What we wanted. If we wanted anything." Beth said softly. "When I was little, my momma said my soul mate was my prince. Even with all the bangs and bruises. When I found out it was Daryl, I knew it was a different kind of story, but.. Not the type where he'd leave."
"I'm pissed at him for leavin'." Beth finally said, and Judith must have felt her anger bubbling inside, because she started crying. Carol smiled weakily and took Judith from her arms.
"Daryl has a code. He's loyal. Family runs deep with him. He just needs to realize that blood isn't the deepest it goes."
_
The first two days with Merle and Daryl remembered why he hated the sunuvabitch so goddamn much, and god, he missed the prison.
Everything was a competeion. Hunting, for instance. Couldn't find any squirrels, Merle had to make it into a manly challenge. Daryl offered that they scavenge a house? Merle called his family out on bein' no good thieves.
No, Dixon men earned their keep, a lesson Daryl obviously must have forgotten.
"I guess it'll take a bit for us to, uh, readjust to each other, little brother," Merle said with a snide laugh. "Now that you're house broken. With all them prison folk."
"They're good people," Daryl told him. "We could go back. Try to make things work. Food. Shelter. Fences."
"They don't want us there, baby brother! You told them! 'No him, no me.' And they didn't chose you. They let you walk away. Shows how good they are to ya. Sides. Governor will be after them.
Hell, they probably already dead. Rapin' the woman, killin' the men right in front of them before hand."
"They ain't dead." Daryl snapped. "I'd know, and ain't a thing has happened."
"What, you got some mental connection to your boy-toy, Officer Friendly?" Merle snorted. "Naw, they all gone."
"They ain't." Daryl said angrily. "Look at this shit." He shoved his left wrist in his face, showing his slightly faded soul mark.
Merle frowned, snatching his brothers wrist. "You little fuckin' pussy. You tried to end it? With a knife to your fuckin' arm?"
Daryl ripped his arm back. "It's a mark. A soul mark. If anything happened at the prison, we wouldn't be out here, I'd be high tailin' it back there for Bet- for them!"
Merle bit his lower lip, an evil smile on his face. "Little brother," he cooed. "You gettin' down and dirty with a lady at the prison? That's why you wanna go back? Really high tail it back there.. For your goddamn soul mate? God damn, bein' sheltered has made you soft."
"Ain't fuckin' soft to care about other people. They were there for me when you weren't!"
"I wasn't there for you because of them!"
"We went back for you!" Daryl barked. "You had to fuckin' steal our van when we went back to get you! You gave us no choice!"
Merle sighed. "My, my, my, baby brother. Lemme think on it. I'll take you back if you're nicer when you're all frisky with a woman."