Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven yay! I am sorry for the delay I was in my senior year and there was just a whole ton of work throw at me and then I have to volunteer for my senior project so my weekends were taken. Then I graduated and they took my school computer back which was the only computer I had to update from but luckily I now have my older sister's old one for the moment. I also had writers block bad and I know that is a horrible excuse but I got a review asking me to keep the story going so I got motivated and finished up this chapter. I plan to write out a couple before I update more frequently so I have some incase I get stuck again. Anyway I doubt you guys care about the messy business that is my life. For the people that actually read through this long nonsense I am wondering if any of you guys are interested in being a beta reader for me, if you are send me a pm. I hope you guys enjoy as previously stated I don't own the walking dead and I have no plans to even try and own it in the future so unless by some miracle it happens Kirkman owns it.
Beth sat with what she learned to be mother and daughter for a while after going back out and grabbing her crossbow she sat at the door after hearing the child's voice and they shared their stories about how they had gotten to this point. Beth had shared some of the food from her backpack with Blake and Reece. They had traveled from the north to get to their family that lived in the south, only to find they were already pass away by the time they made it down and for Reece to lose her husband and Blake her father shortly after they got made it down. Reece told Beth that he got split up from them when a herd had them trapped and she wasn't sure if he was bitten or if he ended up getting away but they hadn't seen him since. Beth had told them just that she had been kidnapped by men and had no idea where she was or where her group she was with was, while talking Beth and Reece decided that it would add to their safety to join together and try and find a place where they could stay safe and away from the walkers. Beth had stayed quiet about Terminus so far because she still wasn't sure if it was a trap or what it was, she wasn't even sure her sister was still there, or if she even got there in the first place.
She also knew that she didn't want to lead the other guy, that was hunting her, toward Terminus if he figured out she went that way and saw that sign it's hard to tell what kind of damage that could lead to and if her family was there she didn't want to risk putting them in danger.
She spent a few hours quietly answering some of the little girls questions letting them know that she was separated from her group she was with and she waited until the Blake the little girl fell asleep then told Reese how she had been separated at the prison and her father was killed and how she was kidnapped from her group, she felt it was only fair that Reese knew everything that happened to her if she was going to be joining with them and possibly putting them in danger. The last thing Beth really wanted to do is put these two innocent people in danger that they had no place in, not that Beth had any place in it either, after all she was kidnapped it wasn't like she did something to this guy to make him want to kidnap and kill her, it was just a wrong place wrong time and two screw up guys that found hunting other humans fun.
Beth finished telling Reese everything that had happened to her since the beginning of this mess everyone was in.
"I can't imagine going through that at your age and staying so positive, and I know it seems safer to go off without you, but I have little experience with protecting myself and my daughter, my husband was the one that did most the protecting. You, however, seem to have learned how to fight the walkers as you call them, and seem capable of at least being able to fight off another survivor attacking you. If you want to stay with us then I am not going to make you leave, but I do think we need to move I don't think we can stay safe here much longer. We have been here for quite a while and if there is one thing I have learned it is that nowhere is safe for long" Reese looked down at Blake while stroking her hair.
"I agree there is little to no protection here, it is ok to stay a little, probably just tonight, but we should find a more secluded or walled in place. Did you see anything like that around here?" Beth shifted where she sat trying to come up with something to even start a plan toward being safe before checking out Terminus to decide if it was safe or a trap.
"We just saw houses but they couldn't have been safe they were all together, it would be safer to find a place that is in the middle of nowhere and you can see off into a distance." Reese shifted Blake so her head rested more comfortably.
"It would benefit us greatly to be in a place that we could see into a distance. It is more important though that there is more than one way in or out of the place" Beth adjusted her crossbow glancing at the only door in and out of the room.
"From your story we could go back to your family farm, the walkers could be gone by now and the fences could be fixed and reinforced easier than trying to build a wall ourselves. It had wells so there is water, problem is a walker could have fallen in, but there should be food left from what you said and you know the area." Beth nodded slightly.
"Problem would be finding my way back, I have no idea what part of the state we are in or how long it could take to get to the farm and I don't even have a map incase I would have to change course. Then there is the problem of a person or group possibly having robbed it and taken the food we had. It's almost not worth it to head back. I did see signs for a place, but I am not sure about if it is safe or if it is a trap to pull people in. There was a sign I think was left by my sister for her husband by the map to the place but of course I can't be completely sure since it was just first names and there could be another Maggie that knows a Glenn. I am not sure it is worth the risk to even try and find out if it them for sure." Reese nodded as Beth talked.
"Understandable, and I have to agree I am not sure the risk is worth it. Maybe if we get a camp set up we could try to see if it's safe and if your people are there, but I can't risk taking Blake into somewhere that isn't safe."
"Agreed. So we should try and get our hands on a map first. If you need rest I will take first watch." Reese nodded and moved to lay down on the floor.
Maggie woke up from yet another nightmare about finding her sister changed and having to put her down and she carefully slipped out of Glenn's arms and wrapped a large sweater around herself and walked outside careful not to wake Glenn up. She walked out to the area where they had a campfire set up for the group to have an area to talk or just sit together. She looked around and noticed that there was already someone, well two someones seated with a small fire going and they seemed to be deep in conversation. As Maggie got closer she could make out the figures to be Carol and Daryl, it seemed like Carol had a hand on Daryl's back as he was leaned over and looked as exhausted as Maggie felt. She knew that he wasn't taking Beth kidnapping lightly, not a lot of them in the group really were but Daryl was probably taking it the worst, it made her feel worst about the fact that she ever implied that he allowed whoever kidnapped Beth to get away without a fight from him. She paused by the end of the building she was standing up not sure if she should interrupt the moment. As if feeling someone watching him Daryl sat up straight, became tense, and looked over to where she stood, Carol turning to look shortly after he did.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. I just.." Maggie trailed off moving from the end of the building and slightly towards them, not wanting to bring up her nightmare about Beth.
"Couldn't sleep." Carol says with a sad smile and gets up. "I have to go to guard duty soon, don't want to be late on the first week of it." Carol joked and looked between Daryl and Maggie hoping that they could talk and help each other with what they were going through as she walked to take her guard duty with one of the Termites. Maggie slowly walked over and took Carol's seat beside Daryl and looked over him taking in the dark circles under his eyes showing how little he has slept recently. They both remained quiet for a while watching the fire before Maggie decided to break the silence.
"After it fell, what was she like? What did she do?" She knew he may not share and it was ok but if he was willing to say anything she would take what he gave. She felt almost like a dog with table scraps as she waited to see if anything would be falling to the floor for her to eat.
"I didn't talk much after we got out. I was more pissed about what happened and thought that I got stuck with her as a punishment for not finding the bastard and killing him before he took down the prison." Daryl shifted in his seat and glanced through his bangs at her as he took a deep breath before he began to speak quietly again. "She kept talking, wasn't sure if it was to get me to talk or just to fill the silence. It wasn't until she insisted on getting drunk and then getting in a screaming match that I really realized that she wasn't a burden and that she, and this faith of finding everyone and pushing me to get it done, was what I needed . So strong willed is I guess what you could say she was like." He sat up again looking at Maggie straight on as she started to laugh after he was done speaking.
"I'm sorry I know I shouldn't be laughing but it just sounds so much like her. Picking a fight with someone that is almost twice her size, so set in her beliefs, and her being optimistic and not listening or caring what else is said. She was always like that even as a little kid. We got in so many fights, and she picked so many with Shawn though it seemed she wouldn't win but did." Maggie finished smiling as her eyes glistened with tears. Daryl shook his head slightly and his lips lifted slightly shocking Maggie as she couldn't remember ever seeing Daryl really smiling before, even the half-assed smile was really unheard of from Daryl. It was different but it was nice to see this side of him. "Hell, she is probably half way here. She can probably just sense that everyone is here." He said shaking his head.
I am so sorry this took so long guys, I will try to update more often, it will be a couple more chapters at least until Beth finds her way back to the group so hang in there. I am in no way even trying to attempt to give you a day for the next update but I will try to have it up within the next month.