AN: Here is part III, Terminus. Rick and the gang spent an extra few days running around looking for Beth so they are arriving at Terminus after they originally would have. Thank you all for reading this story! Please let me know what you think!
Warnings: un-beta'ed, lots of commas.
Beth was perched as high as she could get in a tree overlooking Terminus. From her vantage point she could see an empty field, the back of some warehouses and a lone train car. She had been watching for a couple of hours now and hadn't seen a single person on the other side of the fence. Had Terminus been abandoned? And if it wasn't abandoned, why weren't they cultivating all this open land? She was sure that if Terminus was legitimate that would be Rick's first suggestion for them. Surviving on scavenging alone couldn't last for much longer, it would soon be two years since the world had gone to pot.
Rick's rhythmic digging below her stopped. She glanced over her shoulder to see Rick studying the hole he had just dug. It looked about the right size for the duffel bag full of weapons. The Subaru was parked about a dozen yards off the road which was a good half mile walk away, it still held some supplies, mostly food and miscellaneous items. Rick was being extra cautious, but the group agreed with his methods, after all they had only encountered terrible people recently starting with the revenge bent Governor, then crazy fanatic Gabriel, and the pack of awful men Rick had told her about. So they had been watching Terminus most of the morning. They arrived not long after dawn and spread out to try and get a feel for the place. Michonne and Carl were about fifty yards to her right and Daryl about the same to her left but she couldn't see any of them. Rick had suggested she climb the tree to get a better viewpoint but Beth had a feeling Rick was feeling extra protective over her. She was a decent fighter and an okay shot but out of the five of them she was the weakest.
Beth was about to call down to Rick now that he was almost done hiding their extra weapons when she finally heard something. It sounded like several people moving quickly and moments later four people came jogging into view on their side of the fence. Beth's heart rate skyrocketed and she froze. "Spread out along here, about five feet between everyone." One of the people, a man in his early thirties, spoke. The others nodded and took the rifles they had slung across their backs and pointed the weapons towards Terminus. Beth chanced a quick glance around for Rick, the hole he had dug was roughly fifteen feet behind her and the ground sloped down from the fence and he was crouched in the hole aiming his Python at the new arrivals. They clearly weren't looking for them, or even aware that there might be people out in the woods. Were they part of Terminus? And if so, why did they have their guns pointed at Terminus?
Beth sat tense for about five minutes before she heard voices coming from Terminus. She couldn't make out what was being shouted by soon she saw two people walking with their hands up with three people surrounding them with weapons, she also saw four more people moving along the roofs of the warehouses with rifles aimed on the two. She studied the two figures, they were quite a distance away but she could tell it was a black man and a white woman, the woman had short, cropped hair… Carol? Beth bit on her cheek to keep from making a noise as she identified Carol and Tyrese. And then Tyrese shifted and turned and she could see a baby strapped to his back. A baby. There was only one child that young from the prison. She started shaking, pressed further into the tree to keep herself from revealing herself. It had to be Judith. She watched as Carol and Tyrese looked around. They clearly saw the people at the fence that were not far from Beth but Beth remained hidden by the leaves of the tree. Carol and Tyrese were ushered to the lone train car and then they were out of sight. Another few minutes passed and the same man that spoke before spoke again, "I like it when it's easy."
"Was that a baby with them? How did they survive out there for so long with a baby?" A new voice spoke up. The four people, three men and a woman, began to shift and walk along the fence.
"I don' know but did you see the size of that black guy? He could keep us fed for a week alone!" A third voice laughed. The small group was soon out of sight but Beth didn't dare move. In Terminus, she could still see the people on the roof but no one else.
She stayed for what felt like hours, tense and on the edge of panic before Rick whispered up at her, "Beth, c'mon on down. It's clear."
Beth nodded at Rick and began to slowly descend. Her muscles were cramped from holding her position too long so it took a bit longer to reach the ground. Rick pulled her into his arms as soon as she hit the ground and Beth started to shake again. "Rick, did you see? Did you see?" Beth asked in a frantic whisper.
"I couldn't see anythin' besides those four people. What the hell happened?"
"It was Carol and Tyrese, and they had Judith." Beth was practically vibrating now with adrenaline. Judith, their people, they were right there!
"What?" Rick's voice was a bit loud but Beth just nodded frantically. "I saw her. It had to be her. I know that was Carol and Tyrese and Judith is the only baby that could have been."
"I thought the same thing." Daryl's voice interrupted them. He had approached them soundlessly, of course, and had his crossbow in a ready position. "That was fer sure Carol and Tyrese."
"Rick, we gotta go save them, we have to get Judith." Beth's voice was raising and Rick began to try to calm her down.
"Beth, you've got to calm down. We can't just go stormin' in there with guns blazin'. They clearly have numbers and weapons on their side. We've got to do this right. We're not losing anyone else." Beth nodded. Of course Rick was right. They had to make a plan and do this precisely; no harm could come to Judith.
Once Rick was sure Beth was calmer he let her go to grab the duffel. "We need to get Michonne and Carl then we retreat a bit and make a plan. Okay?" Both Beth and Daryl nodded.
Michonne and Carl had been coming their way, they had also seen everything go down and Carl was bursting with energy to also go after Judith but Michonne talked him down.
Rick and Daryl decided an attack at night would be their best bet, one of the items pilfered from Gabriel's church was a pair of heavy duty wire cutters so they planned to cut a hole in the fence. They also had an axe, hopefully that would be able to get through whatever locked the train car. They needed a distraction though, so after grabbing the items from the Subaru Daryl went off hunting. For walkers. The plan was to lure walkers to the front of Terminus, and hopefully while Terminus was dealing with the walker threat they would sneak in the back and free their people. It was a shaky plan, lots of room for things to go wrong, but they had to move fast. Not only did those people have Judith but they were possibly cannibals. What else did they mean about Tyrese keeping them fed for a week?
Nightfall seemed to take forever. Michonne, Rick, Carl and Beth were hiding in the brush by the fence and they still didn't see much life in this part of Terminus besides an occasional patrol on the roof. They never saw anyone on patrol around the fence, which they were grateful for. The sun was just starting to set when Daryl returned. Similar to Rick's moves with the piglets back at the prison, Daryl lured about ten walkers to the front of Terminus using a couple of injured rabbits. He didn't think he had been seen as the front was eerily vacant and he had thrown the unguarded gates wide open for the walkers.
They moved as soon as the gunfire sounded in the distance. Michonne cut the fence as the others slipped through. Beth was carrying two guns for Carol and Tyrese, the plan was to hand Judith off to Beth as Carol and Tyrese were better shots than she was and she was fine with that. They quickly and quietly ran across the field, Terminus had a few lights in the back area but none out in the field and they couldn't make out any figures on the roof. The group made it to the train car without any problems.
They stayed on the opposite side of the door for now facing away from Terminus. Rick knocked on the side to get Carol or Tyrese's attention and called out quietly, "Carol? Tyrese?" Immediately they heard voices start inside and then a clear voice called back, "Rick?!" But it wasn't Carol or Tyrese.
"Glenn?" Rick's tone was full of surprise, shock was written on all of their faces as they glanced at each other.
"Oh God, Rick! Yeah, it's me!" Glenn called back.
"How many of you are in there?"
"There's ten of us, eleven counting Judith." Beth let out a tiny sob of joy. Ten survivors of the prison? That was far better than even she dared to hope.
"We only brought a few extra guns, we're gonna get you out of here. Just hold on." Rick quickly led them around to the side with the door. Rick unstrapped the axe from his back and nodded at Michonne and Daryl who then moved away to be look outs. There was only a padlock on the door, the people of Terminus probably never imagined the imprisoned people would have outside help for escaping, and after three swings of the axe the padlock clattered to the ground. The sound of the axe on the train car was extremely loud, and they tried to move as quickly as possible. Carl and Beth yanked on the sliding door as hard as they could.
Glenn was the first one out, he gave Rick a huge hug which Rick gladly returned.
Beth was impatient. They were so close, she wanted Judith now. "Carol, Tyrese, give Judith to me." She called into the car, she could see figures but it was too dark, and a different voice responded. "Beth? Bethy?" And in the next instant Maggie was bounding down the steps to hug her little sister.
"What the hell?" A voice came through the darkness and Beth saw a man running towards them from one of the warehouses. A bolt was quickly sprouting from his eye and Daryl glared back at them. "This ain't no time for a touching family reunion, we gotta move people." He hissed at them.
Others were now coming out of the train car: Sahsa, Bob, Tyrese, four people Beth didn't recognize but she didn't care because Carol was stepping down with Judith on her hip, and Beth was on them in an instant practically ripping Judith away from her. Carol let the baby go and Beth thrust a gun at her in trade. Judith recognized her, began babbling 'baba' over and over and Beth kissed the top of her head. Carl patted Judith's back, he was sporting a huge grin. Rick was then ushering them back into the field and Daryl cursed as he shot another Terminus lookout and then they were all running back to the fence.
Carl and Michonne were the first to the fence and they both started yanking to make the hole bigger. Daryl went through last and soon they were all gathered a few feet past the fence, and they paused to take stock of the situation.
"Rick, how are you even alive? You were right there at the fence with the tank and the Governor, and his army." Sasha shook her head in amazement.
Rick shrugged, "I barely did. I attacked the Governor, we fought, he would have won if Michonne hadn't killed him."
"Rick, we have to go back. There are other people trapped back there." Glenn spoke breathlessly..
"What? How do ya know?" Rick hissed back. Beth stood in between Rick and Carl, and the rest formed a loose circle around them.
"We heard them," Maggie spoke up, "There's a shipping container further in, and we heard people crying for help from it back when we first arrived."
"So we're gonna risk our necks for people you ain't even seen?" Daryl scoffed.
"These people are monsters, they're gonna eat 'em." Glenn argued back. He seemed shocked that there was any hesitation on the matter.
"Rick, we could use additional supplies, the car we have ain't gonna fit all of us." Michonne pointed out.
"Do you know the layout? Did any of you see vehicles? Or how about how many of them are there? How well armed? Earlier today all the people we saw were sportin' high powered, automatic rifles. What about this isn't suicide?" Risk pointed out sternly. Daryl nodded in agreement.
"These people are broadcastin', this is the place we heard on the radio, they've got signs all over advertisin', we have to stop this before more innocent people die." Tyrese spoke up firmly.
Rick let out a frustrated sigh and glanced around the group. "We don't know what we're walking into here, this is dangerous."
"There's a weird room full of candles that we went through, with creepy writin' on the walls, we could sneak in there, and set this whole place on fire." Bob spoke up. "While they're dealing with the fire, we free those people and steal whatever we can, hopefully a couple of vehicles. They have to have somethin', they are maintaining those route signs somehow.
"I want to help get supplies and kill some of these sons o' bitches, but we can't all go. Rosita and Tara can stay here with Eugene and these kids and we go raise sum hell." One of the newcomers spoke, he had red hair and a fierce mustache.
"It could work," Daryl mumbled to Rick and Rick nodded. Beth felt a stab of panic, she did not want to lose anybody and since the church she hadn't been without Rick for more than a moment. She was safe with Rick, safe.
Rick looked at Glenn and Maggie hard before asking, "You trust these people? You trust 'em with Beth and Judith?"
"They saved my life, Rick," Glenn responded with a sure expression on his face.
Maggie nodded in agreement, "They didn't have to help us, they could have left but they helped us back on the tracks."
"Alright. I trust your judgment. We do this. We cut into the fence as close as we can get to this place Bob mentioned. Carl, I want you to take Beth, Judith, and these others back to the car. Get the car back to the road and wait for us, keep the lights off, we don't want any attention drawn to ya."
"Dad I should come with you, you know I'm good." Carl argued.
Rick placed a hand on Carl's shoulder before replying, "Carl you're a good shot, and that's why I want you with Beth and Judith. We just got Judy back, we're not letting her out of our sight again, right?"
Carl nodded, "right."
Beth felt her panic rising, she couldn't leave Rick, "Rick no, please—" Rick turned to her and pulled her into a hug. "Beth, take some deep breaths for me. It's gonna be okay. Your sister trusts these people. Nobody is gonna hurt ya. I need you to be strong for Judith, okay?"
"But what about you? I just got you back, I can't lose you again!" Beth felt tears streaking down her cheeks and Rick cupped her face and wiped them away with his thumb.
"I'm coming back to you, and Carl, and Judith. No matter what." Rick's tone was resolute. And despite the uncertainty of the situation, the number of times things went wrong for their group, Beth believed him. She nodded reluctantly, "Okay." Rick placed a soft kiss on her lips and then Carl was leading her off. Beth saw Maggie giving her a strange look and it dawned on her that the others didn't know about her and Rick. Daryl, Michonne and Carl had all had known about their relationship since before they found Beth and seemed okay with it. In reality, the prison and their hidden relationship was only about two weeks ago but it seemed like a lifetime had passed.
The small group of six was quiet as they followed Carl in the dark. But after a while Judith began to babble. She seemed truly happy to be back with Beth, and Beth shared the sentiment. "Bababa," Judith babbled happily. "That's right Juju, Beth is right here. I missed you so much," Beth whispered back to her. Judith smiled and tugged happily on Beth's messy blonde ponytail.
"I'm Tara," one of the new girls walking alongside Beth introduced herself. "And that's Rosita and Eugene." She gestured to the two people behind her, Rosita was very pretty while Eugene looked awkward and sported a mullet.
"Beth. I'm Maggie's sister. And that's Carl and I guess you already met Judith." Beth nodded back. She noticed a sad expression flit across Tara's face at the mention of Maggie but Beth didn't question her about it.
"How did you guys know? About all of us in the train car?" Rosita spoke up.
"We were investigatin' Terminus, we've had some… back luck with people we've met so far, so we were observin' to see what kinda of people was there. We saw Carol and Tyrese with Judith bein' led into that car at gunpoint. We had no idea the rest of you were there." Beth responded.
"That's smart, good tactics. Too bad Abraham didn't think of that." Eugene commented. His voice was monotone and he spoke quickly, Beth thought it was odd.
"Well, we're mighty grateful. We were in that car for two days. They were feeding us powered milk." Rosita shuddered. "Fattening us up, probably."
"Walkers." Carl interrupted the conversation and pointed forwards to two unaware walkers. They were in between the group and the car, Beth could see moonlight glinting off the green Outback.
Rosita aimed the gun, Rick had given it to her as they were splitting up, but Carl stepped in front of her. "The gun is too loud. If there's more they'll be on us. You two knock 'em to the ground, I'll stab them in the head." Carl drew out his knife and Rosita picked up a sturdy branch from the ground. Tara did the same. They took out the walkers efficiently and soon they were all gathered around the car.
Beth didn't want to let go of Judith, but she also didn't want to let one of these people drive. What if they tried to drive off without Rick? "Carl, take Judith." And Carl seemed to see the dilemma and didn't complain. Beth slid into the driver's side, Carl with Judith, Eugene and Rosita all got in the back and Tara took shotgun.
Beth drove back to the road, she didn't dare turn on the headlights and drove excruciatingly slow but soon she was driving through the ditch and onto pavement. She didn't tell anyone about her lack of driving skills, she'd only gotten her learners' permit by the time the dead started walking and at the prison she had only learned the basics. The others didn't comment though so she figured she did all right. She parked in the shoulder, facing away from Terminus, and turned off the car.
"We should have a lookout," Rosita broke the silence. "I'll take first watch." No one argued with her and so she left the car. Beth watched her walk around the car twice before settling on the back bumper facing the direction of Terminus. The car was quiet, Judith had her eyes closed and looked to be asleep, Carl was peering into the trees around them, Eugene was staring straight ahead, like a robot, and Tara watched their surroundings as well. Beth nervously drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and kept scanning the trees around them and glancing at the clock in the dashboard. She knew the clock was accurate, but it ticked away the minutes regardless. There didn't seem to be many walkers in the area, she wondered if the Terminus people patrolled the woods regularly to root out walkers.
Beth nearly jumped out of her seat when Rosita tapped on her window. Beth opened the door and got out to see what was going on. "I think the plan must've worked." Rosita gestured and a glow was on the horizon. It wasn't to the east, so she knew it wasn't the sun, so the others must have set the place on fire.
"Oh," Beth exhaled and then ducked her head back into the car, "it looks like they did set the place on fire." And the others started craning around to see. Beth and Rosita stood together staring intently down the road. Beth felt her hysteria rising again and her hands started shaking. Rick is coming back to us, he promised, she mentally told herself. Rick is the luckiest man alive when it comes to survivin', he's going to make it. She then focused on her breathing. She tried to make each breath last five seconds in and five seconds out and it seemed to work.
Then they heard a motor. It was loud, and if Beth didn't know better, it sounded like a bike. "Daryl, it's gotta be Daryl." Beth whispered. Regardless, Rosita made everyone get out of the car and hide off the side that faced the trees. Judith cried a bit at being jostled and Beth took her out of Carl's arms to soothe her. Beth couldn't see the road coming from Terminus, but she did see the light of the headlight and she could hear the bike come to a stop. "Beth, Carl." Daryl's voice called and Beth popped up in relief to see Daryl straddling another motorcycle. Leave it to Daryl to find another bike.
"Where's my dad?" Carl beat Beth to asking about the others. Beth wondered why she was more concerned over Rick than Maggie, Maggie was her sister but the heart squeezing fear she felt was only for Rick's safety.
"I rode ahead tah make sure you guys made it." Daryl let the bike die and kicked out the kickstand. "It shouldn't be long." And then Daryl was beside Beth peering at Judith. "How's lil' Asskicker doin'?"
"Da ra!" Judith happily waved her arms at Daryl, and Beth handed her over to Daryl and he pressed a kiss to Judith's head.
"Rick's fine? The others too?" Beth asked. She noticed Daryl hadn't answered, but then he didn't need to as another motor could be heard and soon more headlights were swinging into view.
Two trucks stopped in the middle of the road, one Dodge and one Chevy, the Chevy had an extended cab and was the vehicle Rick exited. Beth went to him an instant later and Rick pulled her into his side as they all gathered between the vehicles. Carl came to Rick's other side and he pulled his son into a one armed hug. Carl then left to check on Michonne. Beth left his side only long enough to take Judith back from Daryl and was firmly back beside him as he began to speak. "Right, so we need a place to stay for the night, suggestions?"
"The house we stayed in last night, it was only about an hour's drive from here." Said Michonne.
"We should head further out. We should head towards Washington DC." The redhead, Beth assumed this was Abraham, spoke.
"So you mentioned. We aren't makin' any big decisions tonight. We need to find a place to rest up and then we can talk it all over in the mornin'."
The house seemed so spacious to Maggie who had been locked up in a cramped, dark train car for the past couple of days. Even though it was well after midnight she could see just fine, the moon was bright and there were plenty of windows letting in moonlight. The house didn't seem like a good place to stay, at least long-term, it wasn't very defensible.
Maggie had just gotten off watch with Abraham and Glenn. The Terminus prisoners had agreed to take watch that night as thank you to Michonne, Rick and Daryl for not only freeing them but also taking down Terminus and now Tyrese, Sasha and Rosita were on watch. Rick, Daryl and Michonne hadn't hesitated in striking down the 'Termites' (as Glenn called them) they had run across. Terminus had been on alert when they snuck back in, apparently Daryl's distraction using walkers while they were freed put the Termites on guard but Rick and the others had been ruthless in taking out anyone they ran across. Rick had then freed the people in the shipping container with his axe, and had told the people inside to take what they could and run. None of them had asked to go with their group; they were all probably suspicious of new people, after all Terminus had given everyone a warm welcome. Bob went through his plan of setting one of the warehouses on fire and Terminus did not handle the chaos of fire, freed prisoners and looting well. Most of them were probably alive, and Maggie sure didn't want to leave a trail for them to follow for vengeance.
Maggie wanted to poke around for her sister, she knew that Beth was most likely sleeping but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Beth. Beth had hardly spoken to her, and besides the initial hug outside of the train car she hadn't touched her. Beth was constantly with Rick, practically glued to his side and seemed prone to panic. Something must have happened, this didn't seem like a natural reaction to losing their father, this seemed… more traumatic.
The group hadn't had a chance to talk to find out what had happened to everyone yet, once they had reached the house Abraham had launched into his case on traveling to Washington DC while Rick looked on coolly. Rick had refused to make a decision yet, he wanted the group to discuss it but first he wanted them to get a bit of rest and think on their options. So everyone had gone to find a place to crash while Glenn, Maggie and Abraham volunteered first watch. Carol was on one of the couches on the first floor, Tyrese had been on another until he had gotten up for watch. Glenn claimed the bed Sasha had vacated in one of the three bedrooms on the second floor, Bob was already curled up on top of a bunch of clothes from the closet on the floor and Glenn had immediately collapsed on the twin bed but Maggie said she wanted to check on Beth, so here she was now peeping into the other rooms.
All the doors had been left open in case an alarm needed to be raised everyone would be able to hear a yell from downstairs so it was easy for her to peek into the rooms. The one right next to theirs had Eugene on the bed, Tara curled in a chair, and Abraham making a nest similar to Bob's on the floor. The last room, the master bedroom, was where she found her sister. She first saw Daryl and Michonne on the floor, they had found an air mattress and had blown it up and it was big enough that they weren't touching, Michonne was curled into a ball facing the door and Daryl was on his back. Both of them cracked open an eye and closed it when they saw it was just Maggie. Beth was on the king sized bed, with Rick and Carl and Judith was sleeping in a laundry basket on the floor between the bed and Daryl. Maggie frowned as she took in her sister's sleeping pose. Carl was on one edge of the bed Rick on the other and Beth in the middle. The bed was easily roomy enough for the three of them but Beth was half lying on Rick, her head on his chest and one of Rick's arms was around her waist.
Maggie thought back to the quick kiss Rick had given her sister, at the time it seemed like he did it to calm her down, it wasn't sexual. Now though… their pose could be taken as platonic or something else. Beth had a hand clutched in Rick's shirt and Maggie again thought that her sister might have been through something and was now latching on to Rick for comfort, was it because he could be seen as a father figure? Rick and Hershel had been close. Could it have anything to do with the crush that everyone knew Beth had on Rick? But surely Rick wouldn't do anything with Beth, she was so young. Granted, Beth had been forced to grow up quick, she never got to have a rebellious teenage run like Maggie did, she looked after Judith like she was her own even though there were plenty of helping hands for Judith after the Woodbury people joined the prison. Maggie left the doorway quietly to head back to Glenn, one way or another she was going to talk with her sister and find out what happened.
They were clearing the houses in the neighborhood for supplies, neighborhood was a loose term as the houses were decently spread out and this was not a typical suburban spread. Despite some initial resistance from newer members to the group they followed Rick's method, everyone goes together and stays together. The group hadn't had a single casualty using this method for the seven months in between the farm and the prison, not even when Lori was late into her pregnancy and could only waddle. Beth had Judith strapped to her back. Tyrese had offered to carry her, it seemed that he had really bonded with the adorable child, but Beth couldn't bear to part with her, not yet. All the recent events were still too fresh in her mind even though, miraculously, everyone she loved was still alive after being attacked and separated.
They had all agreed to travel with Abraham and his crew north towards Washington D.C. Rick, Daryl and Michonne had agreed early that morning while Beth was still half asleep that Georgia didn't hold anything for them anymore besides ghosts and bad memories, but they agreed that if they found something better along the way to D.C. they would leave Abraham's quest. Abraham seemed to think that was better than nothing and didn't argue. Abraham also agreed with Rick that they should clear the neighborhood for supplies for the long journey, especially since they didn't have much gas for the vehicles they acquired.
The group was loosely spread out in the road on their way to the next house. They had already hit two houses and everyone was carrying a pack. Rick and Daryl had the lead, Abraham and his crew were right behind them. Beth walked beside Maggie, Glenn was on Maggie's left side, Carl and Michonne on Beth's right. Tyrese, Bob, Carol and Sasha were behind them.
"…And that's how we got to Terminus," Maggie finished telling Beth their tale, her frantic hunt of Glenn with Bob and Sasha, the bus, running into Abraham. Beth admired how tough Maggie was and how she didn't let Bob and Sasha talk her out of her hunt for Glenn. "Beth… you seem different from before. Did something happen? You were with the strongest members of our group but you seem… jumpy." Maggie looked fretful, maybe she regretted not worrying over her sister more.
Beth took a deep breath, she was fairly sure she could tell her story calmly now. She stared at Rick's back mentally drawing strength from him, she was safe with Rick. She knew some of the others would probably hear but they would find out eventually. The smaller a group was the harder it was to keep a secret. "We weren't together the whole time, only the two days before we got to Terminus. Back at the prison… I was searchin' for Judith, couldn't find her anywhere, and soon I couldn't find anyone. I found Daryl blowin' up the tank and we ran for it. We were on the run for a few days, could hardly catch a break until… we found a place. A funeral home. Except… it was a trap. This guy, Gabriel, he lured people there and then took 'em. He used his dog to set walkers around the place and Daryl and I got separated and… he took me. Daryl saw the car, chased after us but lost us. He ran into a group of guys instead, and he went with them after he lost my trail. They then ran into Rick, Michonne and Carl and… Daryl joined back up with Rick. They then went looking for me, Rick tracked down Gabriel's church, he was a religious fanatic thinking we were all being punished by God. They saved me and then we headed for Terminus."
Maggie looked completely shocked, she grabbed onto Beth's arm tightly while they kept walking, asking, "Did that man touch you? Did he do anythin' to you?"
"No, he didn't do anything like that," Beth didn't want to say rape, she knew Glenn, Carl and Michonne were listening to their conversation and wasn't sure about the others, but rape was one of those words that drew people's attention. "He was convinced that he had to sacrifice people until people stopped turnin' into walkers. He was only killin', not doing anything worse. He's dead now." Beth didn't feel an urgent need to run to Rick and burrow into his side after telling her tale so she was proud of herself.
"Is that how Daryl got beat up? Gettin' you away from this Gabriel guy?" Maggie asked. Daryl's bruises on his face were yellowed out and healing but still noticeable. Luckily Carl's scratched face was mostly healed.
"Uh… no. The group of men Daryl was with… they were real bad guys." Beth said delicately.
"They're dead too." Carl spoke up. He and Beth shared a look before they both glanced at Maggie.
"Oh Beth, I'm sorry, I should have been lookin' for you."
Beth shook her head, "Maggie, its fine. It all worked out. Rick… well, Rick saved everybody, not just you guys."
"So that's what this is? You're just attached to Rick 'cause he saved your life?"
"What do you mean?" Beth asked.
"You're always near Rick, and when you aren't you look all anxious until you're with him again. It's 'cause he saved your life." Maggie nodded, she looked satisfied that she learned the truth.
"Well… that's part of it, sure."
"What do you mean, 'part of it?'"
"After… after Zach died… um," Beth stopped talking to take a deep breath. She just knew Maggie was going to freak out. "Rick and I started a relationship."
She could feel Carl and Michonne's curious gazes, they didn't know the details of their relationship. Glenn looked startled. Maggie's face went blank. "You… and Rick?"
Beth could see out of the corner of her eye Carol looking right at her, frowning. "Now before you get all judgmental I want you to remember how your relationship with Glenn started. You were bored." Beth went on the attack before Maggie could, "And now you two have a normal, loving relationship." Beth could tell that Tara and Rosita were now paying attention to them as well, they both glanced over their shoulders looking curious.
"So how did yours begin? Rick liked seein' you take care of Judith so he took you to bed? Yes, Glenn and I have a normal relationship. It helps that Glenn isn't twenty years older than me, doesn't have two kids, and hasn't suffered a severe mental break." Maggie hissed. "Thank God I got you those pills, the last thing we need is another little Grimes running around."
Beth knew her sister would be angry, but her anger seemed excessive. "First of all, Rick likes me because he feels happy with me. Second, I took him to bed. And third… I stopped taking the pills."
Maggie finally stopped walking to face her sister properly, her face was livid, "You better mean that you stopped taking the pills since you left the prison."
Beth stopped too, as did most of the group. Poor Daryl and Rick were the only ones oblivious to the storm brewing between the sisters as they were the furthest away. That quickly changed after Maggie reacted to Beth's news, "You're pregnant? On purpose?" Rick and Daryl stopped short and noticed the rest of the group was gathered loosely around the two girls now blatantly watching the fight. Glenn had a hand on Maggie's shoulder trying to get her to calm down and Beth was staring resolutely back at her sister.
Rick moved to head back but Daryl stopped him. "I think you want to stay out of that. We'll take care of them," Daryl nodded to three walkers off to the side that were ambling slowly in their direction. Rick nodded and followed Daryl.
"I didn't think you could get any stupider than the time you slit your wrists but wow, was I wrong. Daddy would be so ashamed of you."
Beth saw red and replied angrily, "That's funny, 'cause Daddy told Rick to keep me happy and safe when he found out about us."
"There's no way that's true—"
"It is, Daddy knew, he didn't like it but he accepted us. Daddy knew that I'm not afraid of livin' like you are, that I actually want to live my life and not just survive. And that to me means having a family. A family that cares about me. If it weren't for Rick, if I was depending on you to look after me, well, I'd be bleeding out after a madman cut open my chest and strung me up on a cross!" Beth finished at a near yell and Maggie looked sick. The group all looked on stunned into silence.
In the silence in wake of her words the only noise was a thunk and snarl. The others then noticed Rick finishing off a walker while Daryl was pulling a bolt out of another walker's skull. Beth glared at her sister one last time before stomping out of the gawking group towards Rick. She was so angry and felt tears building up in her eyes but didn't want to let them fall, to let the others see her cry. "Can we go back?" She asked quietly once she was beside him.
Rick and Daryl exchanged one of their looks and Daryl nodded, "I got this."
"Carl, you got Daryl's back?" Rick called.
Carl nodded enthusiastically and was happy to be seen as contributing to the group. Michonne also nodded at Rick and then Rick had a hand on Beth's upper arm leading her back the way they came. No one came after them and Beth heard Daryl telling the others to keep moving. Beth had honestly forgotten she had Judith strapped to her back until Judith started babbling at Rick. Beth held herself together until they were back in the house. As soon as Rick shut the door behind her she sank to her knees and let out a sob.
Rick first unstrapped Judith from Beth's back and then gathered Beth into his other arm. Judith, responding to Beth's emotions, also started crying and Rick sat for a few moments rocking both of his girls. Beth calmed down first and pulled Judith into her arms to help her settle down and Rick urged Beth to stand up and moved them to one of the nearby couches. Judith quickly nodded off in Beth's arms after she stopped crying and Beth gently placed her on the floor on a blanket Rick spread out. Rick then pulled her back into his arms and pressed soft kisses into Beth's temple and hair and Beth wrapped her arms around him in response. "Rick, am I disappointing my father?" Beth asked quietly.
Rick pulled away to study Beth before responding, "Beth, your father wanted you and your sister to live life. Hershel said the only thing you can choose in this life is what you're risking your life for. Hershel… he wouldn't be happy, but he wouldn't be disappointed, he would never be disappointed in you living your life." Rick's voice was soothing and Beth felt herself calm down even more. He was right. Her father believed firmly in risking his life for what he believed in, and that's what Beth was doing now. She was risking her life for having a family, for her and Rick's happiness. It didn't matter what happened from then on as long as she was with Rick. And she felt at peace. It didn't matter if Maggie was upset with her, Beth was living her life how she wanted and she was happy, here with Rick.
End
Review please! I have a couple other Rick/Beth ideas floating around... an non-zombies AU, an AU with zombies. Let me know if you all want to see more!