This one came out much more quickly than I had anticipated. After I posted the last chapter this just hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to get it all out. I've been fine tuning it ever since. I want to apologize now… You'll understand why momentarily.
Now, this chapter does have more spoilers in the way of Gabriel from the Comics, just an FYI.
And, not that anyone would think otherwise, I don't own em. I just manipulate them. Enjoy
He woke with a start at the sounds coming from within the house. There was yelling, things being thrown, bottles breaking, and screams of fear. He leapt from the bed and looked around for his crossbow but it was nowhere to be seen. The knife he left on the bedside table was missing as well. He also noticed he was alone.
"Shit" He spat in frustration. Fear gripped at his chest as he raced to the door and flung it open. He wanted to yell for Beth, desperate to know if she was ok but if there was someone in the house he wanted the upper hand.
He crept down the hallway, his back to the wall, and listened to the sounds of more bottles breaking, a window shattering, and a very familiar voice screaming obscenities.
"Yer fuckin' worthless, boy!" He poked his head out of the hallway to see part of the kitchen and living room. There was broken glass and blood on the floor. "Ya can't do nothing right!" There was the familiar sound of skin on skin as the man apparently slapped the boy. Daryl's mind was racing. He wondered how much of this was real and how much of this he was just hearing in his head. Fear kept him from going any further. The sounds of crying filled the room.
"I'm sorry, pop. Don't hit me again!" the child cried. Daryl recognized the voice. It was his so many years ago.
"Stop pissin' me off n' I won't hit ya no more!" The man barked as another sickening slap echoed off the walls. He pushed himself from the wall, ready to confront the bastard. When he rounded the corner his father turned to look at him.
"What the fuck do ya want?"
"Where's Beth?" He asked. It was the only thing he cared about at the moment.
"Who's Beth? Ya little whore?" His father shouted. "All women are whores. Best you learn to remember that boy. Ya ma was a whore, your aunt was a whore, hell ya gran was a whore." His father shouted. The young boy crying in the corner had disappeared. Daryl's fists clenched as he stepped closer to his father. "What? Ya don't think she ain't been screwin' that preacher? Even holy men need ass, son." His father sneered.
Daryl lunged for his father but found nothing but air. The room was empty with the exception of his laughter. The scent of alcohol lingered in the air. The room was clean, just as he had left it last night. He ran back to the bedroom and found his crossbow and knife right where they should be. But she was gone. He searched room to room and found the house completely empty.
There was no one here and he was alone. He slumped down the wall, his body weak from the realization that everything had been a dream. She was a dream. He hadn't found her.
Tears slipped down his face and he didn't care to wipe them away. He heard the door open and the sounds of death shuffling into the house. He could smell the walker as it stumbled into the living room, past the kitchen, and moved closer to the hallway. Daryl began to laugh as the damn thing got closer. He wanted it to take him. His laughter alerted the walker to his presence and its groans and gurgles got louder and closer. He looked up to see the walker staring down on him. His laughter grew as he recognized the walker.
How fitting it would be a cop to finally kill him.
Rick's flesh was torn and his right hand missing. He knelt down and clawed at him with his remaining hand. Daryl felt his own flesh ripping on his face. He felt the warm trickle of blood roll down. Rick's mouth bit at his neck and Daryl screamed in shock. Pain surged through his body as Rick ate greedily on him. He wanted to fight now, to shove him away, but it was too late. He was gone no matter what. He sank within himself, a defense mechanism he learned so many years ago when the bastard took a switch to his back. He stopped screaming and allowed Rick to eat away at him. That was until Rick's hand tore into his stomach and pulled him apart from the inside. Daryl couldn't hold back the screams any longer.
"Daryl!" He heard a voice screaming his name. It wasn't near. He tried desperately to hear it over the sounds of Rick groans over him. "Daryl! Wake up!" She screamed louder. The pain began to vanish as he felt his shoulder shake. There was a gentle pressure there and Rick was gone. The blood had vanished. The smell of the dead had vanished.
"Please! Wake up!" She cried again, louder and above him. He closed his eyes, wishing that whatever nightmare he was in would end. When he opened them again he felt the soft bed beneath him and saw her blonde hair haloed around her face hovering above him. It took him a moment to realize what was going on. His hand reached up and touched her. She didn't vanish like his father had. She was real. She was here. He grabbed her without warning and pulled her to him, crushing her in a bear tight embrace. His hands ran over her back, in her hair, down her sides, and then back around to grip her again. He heard her speak again. "What happened?" She asked frantically. He released her in shame and rose up on the bed. The light drifting into the window told him it was just after daybreak.
"S'nothing. Just a dream is all."
"You were screaming. You sounded like you were in pain. Are you hurt?" She moved closer to him and began running her fingers over his skin, chest, legs, and arms. He shrugged her off.
"I'm not hurt. Just thought finding ya was a dream." He wasn't ready to tell her that he had given up when he thought she was gone again. He wasn't ready to tell her that Rick began to kill him for everything he had caused and everything he failed to prevent.
"I'm here." She said reassuringly. "But I know that's not all of it." He looked at her through his hair, a sideway glance similar to the one he had given her the night she was taken. She sucked in a breath and slowly released it. "Tell me when you are ready. Let's figure out what we need to do now. I'm sure Gabriel is awake now and cowering in his room in prayer." She said lightly. The desperation to flee was evident on her face. He wasn't ready to let her walk away from him though. Not yet.
As she moved to stand he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. She gave him a questioning look. He cupped her face and watched her reaction to him. She turned into his hand and turned her eyes back to his. The hope was back, the walls down. She shuddered slightly under the power of his stare.
"We should check on Gabriel." She breathed, her voice shaking. He nodded and traced his thumb over her bottom lip before dropping it back to the bed.
"Yeah." He muttered and reached for his crossbow. When he turned back she was still sitting there, her breathing was faster and her lips parted.
"Daryl, I'm here." He nodded back.
"I know. I'm not givin' up on ya again." He said in response. She glanced at him another moment, almost longingly, and then stood and headed for the door. He rose and followed closely behind her.
True to her word, they found Gabriel in his room, on the floor by his bed far from the door. His hands clutched a rosary so hard Daryl could see blood dripping down the beads. His eyes were clenched and he was deep in prayer. Daryl laughed and the priest's eyes snapped open.
"N' you say ya kept her alive." Daryl snorted as Beth moved to his side.
"Why was he screaming?"
"Just a nightmare. That's all anyone seems to have anymore." She threw a thoughtful glance to Daryl and offered a small smile only he noticed and her hand ran soothingly down his arm. He nodded and walked out of the room and began checking the house over. The windows were intact and no debris or glass on the floor. There were no sounds coming from outside, just down the hall where the two spoke in hushed voices.
Ya don't think she ain't been screwing that preacher?
Anger filled him again and he flung open the front door, desperate to get away from the voices dancing around in his head. He knew it wasn't true. Beth wasn't that type of girl. He knew she didn't give Zack the chance, why would she start now? He kicked at the dirt as his anger turned inward. He was acting childish. A few deep breaths and he had himself back in control.
He walked back inside and secured the door again as the two emerged from the back room.
"Everything ok?" Beth asked.
"Jus' had to take a piss." He muttered sheepishly and began rummaging through the pantry.
"We need to plan out the day. We should pack up some food and head north. I hear there is a town there." The priest was moving about the home, a cautious eye fixed on Daryl.
"Nothing's north. Woodbury burned to the ground. Michonne n' I saw to that." He muttered as he opened a can of fruit.
"I couldn't go there anyway." Beth countered.
"Why?" Gabriel questioned.
"Ya ain't told him?" Daryl shot her an annoyed glance.
"I didn't tell him anything about me that didn't involve us on the road. He doesn't even know about the prison." She told him.
"What prison, Lizzie?"
"Her name ain't Lizzie. It's Beth. And the prison is where we were living when the bastard from Woodbury, the governor, came knocking down our walls and killed our people. Her sister, father, Rick, Carl, Lil' ass kicker, everyone." He explained between bites of fruit.
"Daryl, don't." She said with a warning. Her eyes were hard again. The light blue turned dark and the hope gone at the mention of death.
"We got out. Ran for two days straight. We'd hide, sleep, walk, and hunt. Til we found your place. Seemed nice til that damn dog brought the walkers on us. Then everythin' turned to shit."
"How long has it been, Beth?" Daryl glared at him for using her real name. He caught Beth return his glare.
"Two months." She responded.
"Then it's settled. We stay here another day. There's enough food and the house seems secure-"
"Ya let me be the judge of that, Father. Ya ain't got the sense to clear a house before letting her in. I ain't gunna trust ya to make decisions for us." Gabriel looked down in shame.
"Since we're sharing, no, I haven't been on the run like you two. I haven't seen what you have seen. When God sent the dead to test us, I ran for the church thinking I would be saved there. I was the only one at first so I boarded up the doors and took stock of what was stored in there for the upcoming summer bible camp. There was a lot of food but not enough to get many by for long. When I heard the knocks at the door I ignored them. I listened for days and mothers begged God to open the door, begged the dead not to take their children. Any then finally, I heard their screams as one by one they were devoured by the creatures. I spent hours each day going back and forth through the church checking that there were no weaknesses in the barricades. I kept count of the days. I had been in there, alone, for two months, when the food ran dry. I asked God to take me. When he didn't I knew I was being punished for my sins. For my selfishness and greed. I pushed open the barricades and doors once a day and walked the town long since deserted and broke into my neighbors houses and stole from them. I lived that way for another eight months. I thanked god it was a decent sized town and that most of the dead had wandered off. Every now and then I would hear creatures bang on the door, testing my barricades. And they never got through. When supplies in the town ran low I followed a nearby road to the funeral home. I trapped the creatures and hoped to give them a proper burial. I wanted to keep up some respect for the dead in hope of adding a few points in my favor with God.
"I may not have survived as you have, but I have survived. So don't tell me that I don't know when a place is safe or not. This place can be secure. There are no holes they can get into. I checked when you stormed out and she went after you last night. Now, do you want to stay here or not?" Gabriel's chest was heaving as he tested the man before him. Daryl considered him for a moment then nodded.
"Man's got a point. One more day. Then we head east and follow the river." Beth nodded wiped a tear from her eye and walked from the room leaving the two men alone. "Ain't selfishness and greed if ya tryin' to stay alive." Gabriel laughed.
"I'll be sure to tell that to St. Peter when I meet him on my judgment day." He rubbed his hand down his neck and studied Daryl. "Now, are you going to tell me why you were screaming? Must have been some nightmare."
"No." Daryl grunted as he pushed off the counter and looked to the window.
"She was dead?" Gabriel pressed on, ignoring the warnings he felt inside begging him to stop. Daryl kept quiet but tensed. "Love is nothing to be ashamed of, son."
"Best stop now, preacher. I ain't gunna commit another sin today by knockin' ya on your ass." Daryl growled again.
"So you do believe?" The man smiled.
Daryl laughed a grim laugh. "Last person to ask me that vanished." Daryl could see the color drain from the priest's face as he walked out of the room.
The next chapter is going to be a continuation of the two conversations Beth let him out of. That one will be HARD to write so stick with me. I hope everyone doesn't hate me to much over this one.
Also, I know readers may want more action between the two but let's face it, that's not how he is. We just have to wait…
Leave me a review and tell me what you think!