It turned out the little town had a lot more resources than anyone would have thought. Tyreese, Sasha, Noah, and Glen had found more supplies than walkers when they cleared the town. The fire department could be made to accommodate them all.
"At least for now. To give Carol and Beth time to heal." Rick had said. But ultimately their plan was to move on.
"I'd like to see what's left of where I came from." Noah said. The others nodded in agreement. They realized the possibly of a sanctuary beyond this temporary place. They decided on watchmen and teams of hunters.
"You've been quiet over there Daryl. What do you think?" Abraham asked.
"I'm staying here." Daryl said.
"He can be home base guard." Rick said.
"I'm staying with Beth." Daryl said. Nobody contradicted him. They continued to discuss ideas for fortifying the fire station and possibly weatherproofing it. The door to the apartment opened and Carol called down the stairs.
"Daryl, come up here!" Carol called. Daryl sprinted up the stairs to the apartment followed closely by Maggie.
"What?" he said gruffly. "What happened?!" Daryl knelt on the floor beside the bed.
"She said your name." Carol said. He touched her face, her hair.
"Beth? I'm here." he whispered.
"Why doesn't she wake up?" Maggie asked.
"Maybe stress. She's been through a tremendous amount of it. Sometimes people just shut down. " Carol said. The baby was napping beside her on the couch.
"I just want her to wake up." Maggie said sitting down beside her on the bed.
"She will. She's got something on her mind." Carol said looking at Daryl knowingly.
The next two days went by quickly. A small horde came through town, but it was easily taken out. Daryl took watch on the firehouse roof a couple of times, but he spent the majority of his time near Beth. He wanted her to see him when she woke up. It was important for him that she know he had been searching for her, that he hadn't given up on her. Carol came in with a basket of vegetables.
"I can't believe this place is almost completely untouched." she said. She put it down and untied the sling that was holding Judith. She put the baby on the floor. "I even found these." She pulled a small bag from the basket and dumped out some legos and blocks and a plastic baby doll. Daryl smiled down at the baby as she reached for the colorful toys. He wandered over to the window. A group was headed out.
"They going to find Noah's place?" Daryl asked. Carol nodded.
"Yeah. Turns out it's not far." Daryl nodded and continued to watch. "Daryl you're going stir crazy here. Go help the others. I'll take care of her." Carol said watching him.
"Nah. I have to stay." he said.
"Well then how about helping me cut up vegetables?" Carol winked at him.
Gunshots. Daryl rolled over thinking he had been dreaming. He sat up on the floor. Carol was rubbing her eyes on the couch and Carl was holding the baby. "That's guns!" Carol said she looked out the window behind her. Daryl headed up to the roof. Maggie and Sasha were already up there with guns and watching the road.
"Is it our guys? They ain't that stupid." Daryl said trying to make out anything in the gloom. Clouds had rolled in early that evening so any hope of light from the moon was impossible. The winds picked up and rain started falling. They headed back down into the garage. Abraham and Rosita had the side door open and with Eugene and Father Gabriel's help they were loading supplies into the fire truck.
"What are you doing?" Maggie asked.
"Preparing to leave if we have to." Abraham said.
"Let's go see if we can head them off." Daryl said adjusting his crossbow.
"I'm with you." Glen said grabbing his knife and gun.
"Four of us. The others stay and keep packing." Daryl said. He looked over at Maggie but he didn't have to say anything.
"I'll go upstairs. It's fine." she said. Daryl, Abraham, Glen, and Rosita slipped out the door into the impending storm.
It didn't take much effort to deter the small group that was on the outskirts of town. They must have killed off all of the walkers that they'd come upon and had spotted the signs on the buildings, "DEAD KEPT HERE" "STAY OUT" "DANGER". They were already headed away from town. A couple more shots were fired off and one ricocheted off the building the group was taking cover beside. It ripped through the arm of Daryl's leather jacket.
"Aww.." he groaned and fell back against the wall. Guns were immediately cocked. "No!" Daryl said in a low voice. "It was a stray. Let's go." He wiped the hair from his eyes. The rain was coming down harder now. His arm was on fire. It was hard to breathe. He staggered and Abraham gripped his good arm and helped him. In the apartment Carol was trying to see what was going on from the window. But it was dark and they had only a candle for light. Beth had been restless and moaning in her sleep. Maggie was trying to console her. The group came into the garage and closed the door. Daryl made his way up the stairs. Right as he opened the door Beth rolled over and opened her eyes. He was the first thing she saw. Just like he wanted, but he was wet and bloody. He stumbled a little, more out of surprise that she was looking up at him than anything else. "Beth!" He went to the bed and she reached for him.
"You're hurt!" she cried and when he sat down she wrapped her arms around him. She was shaking. He cupped her chin in his hand. "You're hurt." she repeated. He stared at her completely lost in her voice and her eyes.
"He got hit by a stray bullet." Abraham said to the others. Carol had already grabbed first aid supplies.
"Daryl take off your jacket." Carol said. He looked at Beth. She raised her hand from his arm and it was covered in blood. She reached out and frantically tried to pull off his jacket.
"Slow up girl. I'm hurting." he breathed. Carol helped him and they got the jacket off. Beth gasped and she pressed her forehead against his chest. He reached up and held her head. "It's just a nick. It ain't nothing." Carol took his arm and started cleaning it with rubbing alcohol. "Ouch woman! That stings." But he didn't pull away. He let her finish. He watched Beth. She seemed to have lost all her energy. She took his hand and laced her fingers through his and laid back on the bed. Maggie sat down next to them. She brushed Beth's cheek with her fingers.
"Are they gone?" Maggie asked Daryl. He nodded. Carl watched from the couch where held Judith in his arms. The others were standing around the small apartment.
"They're gone now. But they know this town is here." Abraham said. Carol finished wrapping Daryl's arm.
"So we need to move." Carol said cleaning up.
"I think so. May be safe to wait for the rest of them, but yeah. We need to be on guard." Abraham headed back downstairs. Daryl looked down at Beth. Her eyes were closed. He squeezed her hand.
"You're okay?" she whispered. Daryl murmured an agreement.
"You okay?" he asked her watching her face.
"Mmmhmm". she mumbled. Her breathing evened out and she let go of his hand. Daryl's arm was throbbing.
"Do we have any aspirin?" he asked Carol.
"Even better. I smuggled out pain killers." she pulled a baggy from her sweater pocket. Daryl stood up and took it. He took a pill and washed it down with a bottle of water on the counter.
"What happened out there?" Carol asked.
"Lost group. Must've got off course or something." he said.
"Not that. With you and her." she said looking at Beth sleeping on the bed. He shrugged. And it hurt his arm. How did he explain their time together? How everything had changed between them. Or at least he thought it had changed. "It's okay. You don't have to try and explain it Daryl. It's good. She got inside of you. Someone needs to be there." she smiled at him. She went to the couch. Carl and Judith we asleep on their pallet on the floor. She covered them up. "Get some sleep." Carol said. Daryl felt dizzy.
"Where?" he asked. He looked at Beth on the bed.
"Go on. You'll both sleep better." Carol said. He blew out all the candles and laid down beside Beth. She sighed in her sleep and he reached for her hand.
