It's impossible to list ALL of the reasons why I haven't updated since June or July… I can't even remember. I'm sorry for those who were following my story. Life just doesn't always let you do everything you want to do in one day. I think we all understand that.
There are some more spoilers to the comic books in this chapter. Just a warning.
Without further ado… here's chapter 9.
Three months had passed by Beth's calendar. They were in West Virginia and had just acquired four cars to make their arrival to DC in about a day or so. That was still the plan, even though the reason for the trip was now a lost cause. Turned out Eugene never had a cure for this plague. He only wanted Abraham and Rosita to protect him. He said he would have never made it on his own. She understood his reasoning. Had it not been for the fall of the prison and escaping with Daryl, she wouldn't be here right now.
That news was two months ago. Yet Rick, Daryl, and Abraham still thought it would be best to continue on to DC. They felt like there had to be more there then what they left behind in Georgia. Also, there was still hope that Glenn and Maggie were headed that way. Beth knew that was the only reason Daryl didn't suggest finding a home some place in Tennessee or Kentucky.
Most of their travel had been on foot. They could only ever find one car that would work at a time and that couldn't carry all of them. Especially not after finding Carol, Tyresse, and baby Judith a week after they found Rick and the rest of the group. Their reunion had been heart melting. Rick and Carl both scooped her up and cried into each other for quite some time. Carol had taken care of the little girl for so long that the responsibility no longer solely fell on Beth. They shared time with her but Carol seemed more than happy to be the 'mother figure' to Judith for reasons she didn't like discussing. A part of Beth was jealous for not being needed there but Daryl made sure she felt needed elsewhere.
He began to insist that Beth be a part of scouting parties. She was always flanking Daryl's left whenever they were out together and he wouldn't admit it openly but he always felt slightly safer knowing she had his back. Her senses in the woods matched Daryl's. She could track and hunt just as well as he could. The group began to rely on her as much as they did him. She didn't feel a sense of pride or obligation. She did what she needed to do without question. Everyone in the group seemed comfortable with the roles they had been given.
Every night, their routine remained in place, a chaste kiss before curling up around each other to sleep. No one questioned their relationship, no one bothered to try to understand it. Deep down they did understand it. Carl didn't protest when he found out his father was now dating, for lack of a better word, Michonne, so no one else batted an eye at the gruff older redneck 'dating' the young and no longer innocent farmer's daughter.
As they all piled into the cars, Beth in middle of the bench seat of a truck Daryl offered to drive, Carol and Judith beside her in the cab, she couldn't help but reach out for his hand, a gentle squeeze as hope spread over her.
"You think we'll make it by tomorrow?" She asked. Carol looked over at her, understanding her anxiety and squeezed her knee gently.
"I'm sure they'll be there." She whispered to Beth.
"We should make it. Long as the cars hold up." He had made sure to check all four vehicles thoroughly before they left the dealership. They had lucked out happening upon it when they did. They were even more surprised to see that the ones inside hadn't been taken and were still working with almost full tanks of gas. The beat up rust bucket they were in sat out back. All it needed was a new battery. Once they siphoned off gas from the remaining cars they all piled in and hit the road.
"Are we going to drive through the night or stop and make camp?" Carol took that as her queue to pull out a walkie talkie they found at an outdoor shop they looted a few months back. They had thought about leaving them but now that they could charge them in the cars, they were glad they hadn't.
"Rick, are we stopping?" Carol asked. There was static and then his reply came through.
"Daryl, keep a look out up front for place we can stop. Four cars and we're still crammed in like sardines. If I have to hear Michonne tell me one more time how badly I smell I'm going to use her blade on myself." The three laughed when they heard him grunt 'ow' before clicking off on his side. That was the downside of finding the cars. Two were sports cars, one was a van, and then Daryl's truck. That meant that Michonne, Rick, Carl, and Tara were in one Mustang. Bob, Sasha, and Tyreese were in the other Mustang, and the luckiest of the group, Eugene, Abraham, Rosita, and Father Gabriel were in the van with the gear they couldn't fit in the back of the truck.
"Got it." Carol relayed Daryl's response and tucked it back in between her and Beth. Exhaustion seemed to always set in for Beth this time of the day, just as the sun was starting to drop below the tree lines, and she yawned loudly. She was usually able to push on but the lulling rocking of the car was beckoning her to sleep. Daryl nudged his shoulder up in offering. "Get some rest. You have watch tonight." She nodded and rested her head on him. She was breathing softly within minutes.
Carol regarded the two for a few minutes. She smiled at them and then down at the sleeping baby in her arms, feeling exactly what Beth was. She was tired but she wanted to help Daryl keep a look out. She decided to make small talk.
"I'm happy for you, pookie." She whispered with a smile. Daryl shot her a glare and quickly turned back to the road. "What?" She laughed. He grunted at her use of the old nickname. "I am. I may have liked you first, but she loved you first." Carol reached over Beth and tucked a piece of hair off his face. He looked over at her then down at the woman asleep on his arm.
"Weird. Been weeks now since I last heard Merle and she knows that. Still, she's fine with us." Daryl had confided in his friend one night shortly after they found each other. He confronted her about Karen and David and had confessed her crimes. And then she told him about Lizzie and Mika. That was the only other time she spoke of the two girls and their fate. They talked together most of the night and he told her about losing Beth and finding his brother and father haunting his mind while he ran himself practically into a grave looking for her. He told her about the nightmare, about how he felt about her, and how it's never been this way for him. He told her he was scared. She told him it was ok to be afraid. That was all she offered him that night and it was more than enough.
"You made a promise to find somewhere safe. Demons are everywhere and she knows that as well as we all do. One day, she'll want more and you'll be ready together. Don't think anything of it…" She felt the tension in the cab and added, 'pookie' to lighten the mood. He scoffed at her and concentrated on finding shelter for the night. About an hour later he reached between the two women and grabbed the walkie talkie.
"Rick, got a sign here for rental cabins. They're usually far off main roads. Wanna try there?"
"Best we got and the light is almost gone. We'll follow you." Daryl followed the exit and read the signs to the cabins. They would all stay in one but he needed to find the one. Twenty minutes later he shifted Beth off his shoulder and climbed out of the cab with Rick and Michonne in tow to a large wooden house tucked behind overgrown shrubs and trees.
Daryl was about to bang on the window when he smelt the faint smell of smoke nearby. "Hold up." He signaled the other's attention to his left, the house about 300 yards away that had smoke coming up from the chimney. "Someone else is here." He turned back to Rick waiting on orders.
"Send Beth over to scout." Michonne offered. Daryl glared at her in the darkness. "She's a hell of a lot smaller and quieter than you. She can look through the window and see if whoever is there is a threat." Daryl couldn't argue with her. He had molded her to near perfection. He nodded and went back to the cab to wake her.
She was sitting in the driver seat, her eyes alert and bright looking out of the open window. When he opened the door she spoke before he could. "Why would we stay so close to someone else?" He smirked at how aware she was to her surroundings. If he hadn't known better he'd think she grew up with him tracking and hunting with his dad, uncle, and brother.
"Didn't know til we got close. Rick wants you to check it out." She nodded and pulled out her gun making sure there was a round chambered. "You think there's danger you get back to me right away. I'm only going half way with you." She nodded again, survival mode setting in as she turned herself into the new Beth the group needed. She pulled herself from the truck without a word and walked casually up to Rick and Michonne.
"Be careful." Rick gripped her shoulder and she turned towards the other cabin, Daryl close behind her. Once they were halfway there Daryl stopped and pulled his rifle out keeping it ready in the event he needed to save her. She turned to him and in the moonlight he could see her whisper their phrase. "I'll see you soon." He nodded and she crept up to rest of the way to the house. Her body moved slowly and quietly. He was sure that she could creep up on a bird in a park and pick it up if she wanted to.
She pulled her gun out as she got closer to the window. She could see the glow of fire light in the house and could make out the sound of two bodies slapping together in fits of passion. Grunts and moans were echoing in her ears and she felt her cheeks redden as she peaked through the glass. She could see the couple in the shadow of the light and realized from the increased noises that they were almost finished. She had half a mind to stop watching and turn back to Daryl to signal clear but something kept her glued to her spot. She could see in the silhouette that the woman was pregnant but only by a few months. There was no other explanation for the curve of her stomach. She strained her ears to hear them and dropped her eyes from their intimate embrace. She heard murmured whispers of love in hush voices that drifted out over the window that was cracked at the top. She looked up realizing why she could hear as much as she did.
She started to climb down from the window and waived the clear sign to Daryl. There was no threat. She would talk to Daryl about meeting the couple in the morning. Surely they could offer more support for them then they could on their own. Daryl visibly relaxed his stance as she started to head back to him.
"No threat. Just a couple trying to wake the dead with late night activities." She muttered as she holstered her gun. She heard the door to the cabin open and turned quickly, gun already pointed in the direction. They both knew that with where they were standing they would be spotted easily.
"Who's there?" The voice shouted out in the darkness, a gun trained on the darkened figures in the yard.
"Holy shit." Daryl muttered and dropped his gun. Beth took off running without so much as a word. Daryl had to run and tackled her to the ground before the man could see her as a threat.
"GLENN!" Her voice exploded from her chest as she hit the ground hard and the sound of the door opening again registered in her mind. She could also faintly hear Rick and Michonne running behind them.
"Beth?" Maggie's voice screeched through the night as she ran to the bodies on the forest floor. Daryl only had a second to let go of Beth before she was crushed into Maggie's embrace.
"They thought they lost you!" Beth cried into her sister's shoulder as Glenn jogged up on one side and Rick and Michonne on the other. The men embraced in their own way and Rick whistled to the rest of the group waiting in the cars.
"Some things never change, man. Thought those moans sounded familiar when we got closer to the house. Ya'll always going at it." Daryl said as he slapped Glenn on the back. "Ya gunna knock her up one of these days."
"He already did." Beth whispered loud enough for Glenn, Daryl, and Maggie to hear as she pulled back to look at her sister's belly. Maggie was overcome with tears and Daryl laughed and turned away, headed back to the truck to get the others, pull out some gear, and put down the rifle and get his cross bow.
"Come on, let's get out of the open. Clearly, there is a lot of catching up that needs to be done." Rick stabbed a walker that was ambling towards to noise they had made and waited for the rest of the group to get inside before closing the door behind him wondering how in the hell they were getting so lucky and what the odds of this could possibly be. He just hoped the luck held out.
Well, the sisters are united and Maggie has a story to tell. They're feeling pretty lucky right now. But how long will that luck hold out?
I thought about continuing this one from the campsite and more demons but I felt like we needed a light chapter with takes on the relationships forming in the group. Don't worry, we'll get more of Bethyl soon and a bit more on just how Abraham feels about Eugene's deception.
Leave me some love! Cause I live for it!