Breaking Free 3

All recognized characters, dialog, situations, and sequence of events belong to AMC, the writers, creators, and actors of The Walking Dead. This is simply my continued attempt to 'fix' season 5 by keeping Beth in it. Covers "What's Happened and What's Going On" and "Them". Not re-writing the whole episode, just the different parts.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

"Carol, can you hear me?" Rick asked into the radio Licari had provided when they left Grady.

Carol snickered across the air, "Can you hear me now?" Carl's laugh could be heard in the background, followed by Judith giggling. Rick smiled at the sound. Judith had taken to laughing whenever Carl did. Sometimes now he did it just so she would. "Sorry, yes you are coming in clear," Carol replied, her voice still full of humor.

Rick glanced over to Daryl who was driving the sedan, "We're about five miles out, going to stash the car and go the rest of the way on foot."

"Be careful," Carol replied. "If you don't check in within the hour, we'll come running."

"OK, Mom."

"You're grounded." Over the still open mike, they heard Carl laugh heartily again before the connection clicked off.

Daryl snorted a laugh. Michonne and Glenn chuckled in the back seat. Noah was quiet between them, staring anxiously ahead. "We could just drive up to the gate, we don't need to sneak in."

"Yeah, we kinda do," Rick replied.

It had been a long haul through the Carolinas and half of Virginia. The vehicles had held up but were low on fuel. They had managed to salvage some just across the state line into South Carolina and split it between the three vehicles. What would have taken less than half a day before, took them over two weeks to travel. Massive traffic snarls that forced them to backtrack and reroute. Unexpected weather changes that cost them two days stranded in a motel along the highway. It had been out of the weather on the relative safety of the second floor, but dusty, damp, and cold. A few days later they took shelter in a small town's Civil War museum located in an historic mansion to wait out the colds that most of them came down with. They were all fully recovered now but the delay had cost them supplies.

But Rick's mind was filled with some good memories of the journey. Having to explain to Carl why they were all calling it a no-tell rather than motel. And the reason for an hourly rate in the office. Michonne's joy at finding a book in one room that had been a brand new release in a series she enjoyed. Abraham manhandling Eugene out of the room he was sharing with Rosita and threatening him at the same time he was making sure he hadn't hurt the man.

Daryl insisting he wasn't sick even as he coughed his head off. Discovering Carol was just as bad a patient as Rick himself. Michonne threatened repeatedly to sedate both of them to keep them in bed and quiet. They had all been worried about Daryl and Carol having a respiratory illness so soon after chest injuries but both made it through fine.

Rick's mind continued to sift through the memories. Beth pacing the floor with Judith singing softly as the baby sniffled and whined. Maggie fussing at Beth to rest, since she too was sick, and Beth promptly handing her the sick, fretful baby who didn't want anyone but Beth. Maggie lasted a half hour before admitting defeat and handing her back.

Rick worried a little about Judith's new clinginess with Beth, but Carol had gently explained her theory. "Judith bonded with Beth right from the start. I wasn't there and face it you weren't handling things all that well. Beth has been with her all along. You know she was looking for Judy when the prison fell, right? That was the first time Judith was separated from Beth and it wasn't all that great you know. Tyreese took wonderful care of her, but we were moving, keeping her strapped to one of us most of the time. As soon as she gets back to Beth, she's able to crawl around and play. There's more food and a crib to sleep in, sort of. As far as she's concerned, life's good again. It's not surprising she's holding onto Beth as tight as she can."

"Lori stayed home with Carl," Rick had replied. "I would come home and he'd be all excited to see me. We'd play and goof off. But when bedtime rolled around, he wanted his Mom. Same if he didn't feel good, only Mom would do."

He watched Beth settle into an antique rocker with Judith wrapped in an antique quilt, rocking gently until the baby fell asleep. She sat there all night, falling asleep sitting up so the baby was more comfortable. Within a few days, they were all feeling better and moved on from the mansion. They obviously couldn't take that rocker, but the quilt went with them, covering Judith in her car seat as she played with an old handmade ragdoll from the museum display, chattering to 'Beh' and 'Da-Wuh' who was on the minivan floor again. She sometimes called to 'Cuh', 'Cuh-Wuh', 'Mee', or Dada but her main focus was Beth.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

They moved into a police substation not far from Noah's community. The stand-alone building had been reinforced for a siege, then abandoned. There were some cans of fruit and a little water, but nothing else of use. Still it was a safe shelter for the others to wait as Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Michonne took Noah home.

Daryl drove off the road into a grouping of abandoned cars. They camouflaged it with dirt and set off to walk the rest of the way. Moving through the woods, they found an obstacle course of ropes. But no one was on watch and as Glenn climbed up and peeked over, the silence was deafening.

"Carol… it's gone," Rick relayed as they surveyed the bodies inside the walls.

"Understood," Carol replied softly.

"We should see if there's anything we can salvage," Glenn said. Rick nodded.

Noah had been standing in place, turning around and around to take it all in. To resolve his memories of this place with the reality of the now. Suddenly he took off running.

"NOAH!" Michonne called.

"I'll go with him," Daryl said. "He's goin' home."

"They're gone," Glenn said.

Daryl shrugged, "He's gotta see for himself." He slid his crossbow to his back and strode after the young man.

Noah went straight to a house and stood in the yard for a long moment, Daryl stood at his side, waiting. "I don't want to go in. I don't want to know. If I don't see it, I can imagine they're fine somewhere." He let out a sob. "I don't want to know, but I have to know."

"Want me to look?"

Noah took a deep breath, "No. I'll go."

Daryl nodded, "We'll go."

"Yeah. You promised Beth to keep an eye on me."

"Ain't the only reason."

Daryl went in first. The first body was on the floor. Noah's mother. Noah covered her with a blanket from the couch. "I'm sorry Mom. So sorry."

They walked upstairs, finding another body on a bed and a walker trapped in a room. Noah blinked rapidly but nodded as Daryl moved to open the door. Noah's brother staggered out of the room and Noah slammed his knife through his skull. Noah dropped down next to the body and wept.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

Noah stood silently watching the flames as they consumed the bodies of his family. Rick walked up, glaring at Daryl, "We coulda buried them," he whispered harshly.

"My mom always wanted to be cremated," Noah replied hoarsely. "Made Dad promise to scatter her ashes in the garden."

They stood watching until the fire burned down to embers and ash, then spread the remains in the garden, covering them over with a thin layer of dirt to be sure the flames were extinguished. They gathered what they could carry and silently made their way to the gates. They were forced to fight through a handful of walkers attracted to the smell of the fire, but did so easily enough. They took the road straight out rather than fight their way through the woods and obstacle course again.

Daryl stopped to look at the grandfather clock in the middle of the road. "What?" Rick asked.

"Beth 'n me went into a golf course place, lookin' for a drink. Clock like this there, started chimin' after I stood it up," he shrugged, "Just rememberin'."

"A drink?" Michonne smirked, "You took Beth to get drunk at a golf course?"

"Nah," Daryl admitted, "At that moonshine shack you 'n me found."

"You gave Beth moonshine?" Rick asked in a low, slightly dangerous tone. "Moonshine."

"You pissed?"

Rick sighed, "Part of me. Father part I guess." He paused for a second, "Rest of me is wondering what she was like drunk."

"OK. Kinda playful. Then real maudlin," he snickered with the memory, "Then arsonistic."

"Arsonistic?" Glenn repeated. "That's not a word."

"She convinced me to burn the place down, what would you call it?"

Glenn chuckled, "Don't know what I'd call her, but I'd call you a pushover. She convinced you to burn it down?!"

"I was drunk."

"I hope so."

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

Back in town, they secured themselves back in the abandoned police station. Noah was in a daze. He carried the box they gave him, walked where they sent him, but didn't seem to register any of it. Carol directed him to put the box down and rubbed his back gently. He went over to the small office and sank down onto the beat up couch inside.

Beth followed and shut the door, "I'm so sorry Noah."

"I had to put down my brother," Noah began to weep. "I don't even know which one it was. They were identical. Physically I could never tell them apart. They were complete opposites personality wise so all I had to do was get them to talk. Or smile, it was weird how different their smiles were. But just looking… I don't know who it was."

Beth stroked his back, "Tell me about them."

Daryl stood at the office door listening. He glanced up to see Carol and Rick watching him. He walked over, "He's OK. Talkin' to Beth," he sighed heavily, "Where are we goin' from here?"

"We have an idea on that," Abraham answered. "You guys got a minute?"

They gathered in the open squad room and Eugene took a deep breath, "We should continue on to DC."

"But you lied," Carl reminded.

"About me, not about DC," Eugene replied. "There *are* places there, bunkers built specifically for survival of all sorts of end of the world situations. Shelter, food, water, supplies."

"I think I saw a story about one of those," Tara said. "It's under a hotel."

Eugene nodded, "The Greenbrier. That's in West Virginia and had been decommissioned after the story of its existence went public. But there are others. And I have a pretty good idea where at least two are near DC."

"How?" Rick asked.

"Hobby. I researched the government. Spent my nights on the internet looking into conspiracies."

"And your days?" Rosita asked directly. "Since we know they weren't spent in a lab."

"They were, actually," Eugene admitted. "Just one in a high school. I taught science to kids in a school just outside Houston. Go Diamondbacks!" His grin quickly faded. "The bunkers are there. Stocked and ready. If there's anyone still in charge, they'd be in them. If not, the supplies will be. There are bunkers further west in case of nuclear holocaust. But the ones in DC were intended to keep the president and government safe while keeping the seat in the capital. They're there. I can get us there, I swear it."

Michonne looked at Rick and nodded. So did Carol. Rick took a deep breath, "OK. DC."

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

The sedan broke down two days later. They moved the supplies over, syphoned the gas, and squeezed everyone into the two minivans. A day later, one of the minivans ran out of gas completely. They debated splitting the remaining gas but decided to squeeze everyone into the remaining minivan. Abraham was driving with Tara and Rosita squeezed into the front seat. Beth was between Carl and Michonne in the middle seat with Judith strapped to her chest with a soft carrier wrap found in a baby store near the police substation. Rick and Daryl were squeezed in at their feet. Carol, Maggie, Sasha, and Noah were on the back seat with Gabriel and Eugene on the floor back there. The loaded down, sputtering minivan got them another thirty miles closer to DC before gasping its last.

"Last can," Carol said as she handed the small, single serving size of pears to Rick.

Beth held Judith as Rick carefully fed her spoonsful of the pears. Carl helped keep Judy from grabbing the spoon so they got every bite into her. Then Rick poured the juice from the can into a bottle and diluted it with water. Beth tucked it into a pocket on the carrier.

"You got her?" Rick asked. Beth nodded. "Let us know if you need a break, OK?" Beth nodded again as Daryl adjusted the pack and crossbow on his back a few feet away. Judith yawned widely and snuggled against Beth's chest to fall asleep, resting her cheek against Beth's skin above the top she wore.

They started walking. Daryl was at Beth's side with Carol behind him. The others surrounded them, automatically putting Beth and the baby in the center of the group. Glenn and Maggie naturally fell in step side by side, so did Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene. Rick took point, with Michonne and Carl flanking him. Tara moved between Glenn and Eugene, still finding her place. Sasha, Noah, and Gabriel brought up the rear, silently plodding along.

Two days later they were still trudging along. Two nights in the open, running dangerously low on water. What little food they salvaged from abandoned cars was fed to the baby. The woods were dry and bare of all animal life. Rick was carrying Judith, who babbled happily. Daryl glanced over, "She's hungry."

"She'll be OK," Rick replied. He glanced back, everyone looked hot and exhausted.

Daryl handed over the rifle he carried, "Gonna go hunt." He walked to Beth, "Stay here, close to Rick, OK?" She nodded, "Gonna go find some food."

"I'll come with," Carol said.

"Nah, I'm good," Daryl replied.

"Gonna stop me?" she teased and with a wink to Beth she followed him into the woods.

Daryl glanced back to check that Beth was still with Rick. Glenn handed her a bottle of water and she held it to Judith's mouth to give her some, then handed it to Tara. Daryl scowled, then led Carol into the woods. They walked silently some distance in without seeing anything remotely edible. Daryl kicked at the ground, scowling at the dust that rose up.

"She's going to be OK," Carol said. "We all are."

"She ain't had water in two days. I ain't seen her drink. Didn't realize 'til I saw her take the bottle of water 'n give it to Asskicker." He sighed heavily. "I never shoulda let her do this. Coulda been safe at Grady."

Carol laughed, "If this ordeal has taught us anything, it's that no one LETS Beth do anything." She made him stop and face her. "And that she is strong enough to survive anything. When we get back to the group, we'll give her water. If she's holding Judith, I'll ask to take her. I haven't carried her yet today. She'll be OK. We all will. And Daryl, it's OK… that you have feelings for her. It's good. You two… balance each other. She's brought light into you that was never there before. And you gave her a reason to keep going."

Daryl huffed out a breath, "It ain't right. She's too young, too sweet and perfect. It ain't right. She's an angel who got stuck walkin' with us and I'm… nothin'."

"You're not nothing. I told you once a long time ago, you are as good as Rick. Maybe better. You never gave up on her. Never stopped thinking and worrying. She told me that you ran up to her at the prison, you coulda ran the other way, saved yourself. Instead you saved her, took her with you. You chose to walk alongside her so you cannot walk away from her now. Not every angel is a cherub you know. Most of them are God's warriors, sent out into battle against demons, returning to God's glory with blood drenched hands clutching a sword. That's what kind of angel you are." She made him bend down so she could kiss his forehead.

He scowled at her, "You're actin' weird."

She smiled because she could almost see his mind working over what she'd said. "Must be the heat."

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

The plan to dump the herd of walkers following them into the stream went to shit when Sasha broke rank and started attacking. Daryl and Carol arrived in time to help. As the rest of the group dealt with Sasha, Daryl walked straight to where Beth was holding Judith. Carl was drinking from one of their last bottles of water. When he was done, he offered it to Daryl. Daryl took it to Beth.

"Drink," he whispered firmly. She frowned at him but took the bottle. As he expected, she started to give it to Judith. "No," he snapped. "You drink." She glowered but took in a mouthful. "Swallow it."

She did, then hissed, "What is wrong with you?"

"You goin' without for her is honorable, but you dyin' ain't acceptable," he growled. "From now on you drink every time she does, you hear me?"

"I will if you will," she growled right back.

Daryl frowned but took a small drink of the water, held it in his mouth for a moment, then swallowed. He gave the bottle back to her and walked away. Carol sighed but smiled at Beth, "He's just worried, sweetheart."

Beth nodded, "I know."

"All his bluster and grouch is just because he's scared."

Beth smiled sweetly, "I know."

Carol rolled her eyes, "God, of course you do, you probably know better than anyone. Sorry," she kissed Beth's forehead like she'd done Daryl's.

"Everything OK?" Rick asked as the group joined them.

"Fine," Carol nodded, "Just getting some water into Beth." Rick scowled as he realized what she was saying.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

Beth walked closer to Maggie and Glenn at the rear of the car. Glenn saw her too late, "Beth don't look…"

Her eyes went wide as she saw the body in the trunk. Images flashed into her mind, memories buried until now. Gorman. His fist slamming into her cheek. The world spinning. Falling into the trunk of the car, the lid closing, sealing her into the dark. Closing her eyes. Hearing Daryl scream her name as she bounced around the trunk. Sinking into the darkness.

"Beth! You need to breathe for me," Maggie was demanding.

Beth could hear herself gasping but felt like she wasn't getting any air. A little of the precious water was poured into a handkerchief to bathe her face and she looked up into Carol's worried face. "They… locked me… in the… trunk…"

She heard Abraham curse violently. Judith was crying. Everyone else was shuffling around her which only made her more self-conscious. Then Daryl was shoving through. "BETH?"

She held up her arms and he dropped to gather her to him. She wasn't hydrated enough to produce tears, but she still shuddered and sobbed. Carol urged everyone to give them some space as Maggie and Daryl soothed her. Carol waited a moment, then took her face in her hands, "Beth honey you've got to calm down. You got out of that trunk. You're here." Beth calmed as she spoke. "Deep breaths for us. Slow and deep. That's it."

"Sorry," Beth whispered.

Maggie kissed her head as Daryl let her go. He stood up and caught sight of the body in the trunk. He froze, feeling his heart seize in his chest. Carol walked over and slowly closed the trunk lid.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

They decided to rest a while by the side of the road. Carl and Rick sat back to back, leaning on each other. Beth sat opposite Carl as Judith chattered to her playing with her ragdoll. Daryl sat behind her, bracing her back with his shoulder. When the dogs appeared out of the brush, he instinctively pulled his knife and moved to block her.

Beth took the baby as they began gathering twigs to burn and cook. Carl sharpened the skewers to cook the meat. Daryl watched as Beth chewed up the meat to feed to the baby. "You need to eat some too."

"I am," Beth replied even as she put more into Judith's wide open mouth.

"Beth give her to me," Rick commanded. Beth just looked at him. "Beth. Give me my daughter." Judith went willingly to him. "Now eat." Carl handed her a piece of meat and she consumed it quietly. Judith popped open her mouth like a baby bird and Rick fed her chewed up meat. Daryl cut off another slab of meat and cut it into pieces for Rick, Carl, and Beth. He swallowed some then gave some to Judith. She squished it between her fingers with a giggle then fed herself.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

Daryl stood watch as Beth squatted behind a tree. She emerged so quietly that she was almost on him before he heard her breathing. "OK?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. Sorry I was so gruff earlier."

"I know," she soothed. "I understand, Daryl."

He turned away and walked off, "I don't." She sighed and followed him. He was standing staring at an old barn. She glanced around but the only sign of a house was a crumbling chimney. "I don't want to feel this way," he said. "For you. It ain't right. You're too… good and perfect and sweet. And I'm…"

"Strong and honorable and good and smart. I don't want you to feel this way either. You said… you'd die…" her voice broke and she cleared her throat, "You'd die if anythin' happened to me. I don't want that. You gotta keep goin'. Be there for the others. Be alive for you. You gotta survive Daryl. You just gotta."

He stepped to stand in front of her, eye to eye with her. "I will if you will. We keep goin' together." She nodded. "Means you gotta eat and drink, OK?"

"I will if you will," she replied.

He pressed his forehead to hers and stared into her eyes. "I ain't never eaten dog before."

"Me neither, you drink," she smiled. "I ain't never been shot before," she slipped into his speech pattern.

"Me neither. I ain't never been to DC." He pulled away and twined his fingers with hers to lead her back to the group waiting on the road.

"That's cheatin' you already used the 'never been outta Georgia' one."

"Oh. I ain't never chased after a car for two days before."

She blinked fiercely, "Me neither. I ain't never been thrown in a car trunk before."

"I have. Pissed off Merle one day. Threw me in to drive home."

"Oh. Still your turn."

He paused, hearing the murmur of the others just ahead. "I ain't never felt like this before."

"Me neither."

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

They stared at the bottled water. Judith whined and reached for Beth who took her from Carl. When the rain began to fall, Beth cupped her hand to direct water into Judith's mouth as she tilted her head back to drink what fell. Carl laughed as he held his hat over Judith's head to shelter her as much as he could. He playful flicked water into Beth's already wet face and she laughed. Judith went from fussing to laughing at the two of them.

Then the storm intensified. "We found a barn!" Daryl yelled above the thunder.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

Beth and Carl lay on the antique quilt with Judith between them. Daryl sat close behind her, watching over her as she slept. He slipped off his jacket and vest and draped it over the three of them, then stood up. Rick looked at him. "Need to take a piss," Daryl whispered.

"Good."

"Good?"

"Means you're finally hydrated too."

Daryl walked to the door. He started to lift the bolt, then froze, the image of the funeral home door slamming into him. He peeked outside and in a bright flash of lightening he saw the herd. He caught the doors just as the first one slammed into it. "NEED SOME HELP HERE!"

The others leapt to help him. Carl awoke as Beth scrambled to her feet. He got up and handed Judith to her. "You stay here! Take care of her!" He ran to help.

The wind picked up, howling louder than a freight train. The air felt like it was being sucked out of the barn and suddenly the walkers were gone from the door. They backed away.

"Get down!" Rick shouted. He and Daryl ran back to where Beth stood with Judith and tucked her down between them. Michonne and Carl joined them, huddling down together.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

The sun rose over the intact barn. Daryl stirred, finding himself stretched out on the quilt spooned behind Beth. Judith was in her arms, awake but content. Rick was facing her, hand resting on Judith's tummy. Behind him were Carl and Michonne.

Carol winked at him as she walked by with Sasha, Maggie, and Noah.

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

Carol led the other three out to overlook the sunrise. "I need to talk to you three for a minute. I just need you to listen. OK? Just listen." She took a deep breath. "Maggie. I am sorry I've been so antagonistic towards you. I was furious that you'd given up on Beth. That you'd never seen her strength. Because I did the same thing with Sophia. When she went missing, I think I knew she was dead as soon as it happened. I gave up and began grieving long before we found her. I never looked for her after the first day. I'll never fully forgive myself for it. If I had expected her to be strong, to survive, maybe she would have. You are doing better with Beth now. Being her sister instead of her mother. It's good." Maggie's eyes filled with tears as she nodded. "She's going to be OK."

"Noah," Carol sighed. "I can't imagine what you are going through. And it is OK to grieve. But you need to keep going. You need to snap out of this daze or you're going to get yourself killed."

Carol looked to Sasha, "Tyreese knew. About Karen and David. I told him. He forgave me. I didn't ask him to but he did. He died protecting Beth and Judith and Daryl. A hero. He would be furious if you died because you were stupid. Worse, if you got someone else killed by being reckless." Sasha ducked her head, chastised.

Carol took a deep cleansing breath of the rain washed air, "We're here. We're alive. And we are going to keep surviving. Together. Breathe that air in. Clean and fresh. We've got water, enough to last until we get to DC. We are going to get through this." She smiled as the sun began to peek above the horizon. "It's a brand new day. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful one."

Maggie smiled, "Beth and I used to sneak out the morning of Summer Solstice every year to watch the sunrise. Daddy and Annette knew we did it, but we still pretended to sneak out. Beth's the early riser, I hated getting up. Haven't seen a sunrise in a very long time."

Sasha smiled, "Tyreese and I used to sneak out sometimes. Go to a midnight movie. He took me to bookstores when they had those big releases at midnight. Our parents never found out."

Noah chuckled, "I would try to sneak out with my twin brothers but they would make too much noise, laughing and shushing each other or knocking stuff over then yelling at each other. My dad would toss one of them over each shoulder and toss them back into their room. It was always just enough of a distraction for me to get out. I was usually going stargazing. Just before the end, we did get all the way out and up to the hill. Watched a meteor shower for hours until the twins got tired. We got all the way back inside and I tripped on some toy they'd left out. Little shits ran and left me for Dad to find."

The sun rose completely, casting its warm rays over them. They sat together and watched the light fill the world. "New day. New start from here." Carol said. "We survive. We are going to live. That's the hard part. Living."

"Hello," a strange voice greeted. "Hi." The man stepped into view with his hands raised. "I'm Aaron. I have good news."

*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*