Ch.6

She was quiet. She had barely said anything to anyone since they had found her. And when she did speak, it was short. It wasn't like it was at the prison, where she would be engaged and try to drag the conversation out as long as possible and with ease, always enjoying the company of others. No, she wasn't like that now. She stayed on her makeshift bed, avoiding making eye contact with anyone, giving one-word responses when necessary.

And Daryl kept his eyes on her. He had realized that she needed space. Maggie was practically on top of her every moment of every day, and he knew that Beth was growing aggravated. He could sense that she wanted to be left alone, and he understood that feeling. He understood what it felt like when all you wanted was to be left alone, but nobody would let you be alone. So he did his part and kept his distance. But his eyes, they never left her.

Daryl had watched as she slowly regained her strength. She had moved from eating broth to eating solid foods; granola bars, fruits, beans, and whatever else they could find. He had considered going hunting, he knew that they needed meat, but he wasn't willing to leave the building, it meant that he wouldn't be able to see her.

She had been sleeping, but the dark shadows under her eyes were still there. They stuck out on her pale skin just like her bruises did. And her sleep was restless. Most nights she would wake with a gasp, or a strangled scream. He knew that she was having nightmares about whatever she had been through.

And every morning Daryl would watch from across the room as Bob would change the bandages on her wrists, cleaning the wounds that had been left behind by whatever was used to keep her restrained. And every time she would flinch away from him. He could hear the soft voice of Bob trying to talk to her, but her mouth never moved, she never answered him. Her eyes were downcast, looking away from him. Her body would relax in the brief moment of solitude she had when Bob left, in the short span of time before Maggie scurried back to her side.

But right now her body was rigid, tense. She was sitting on the far end of the blanket, and Daryl knew why. Maggie was there, as usual. It didn't look like she was saying anything, but he knew that either she already had, or that she would start talking soon.

He understood Maggie's desire to know what happened to Beth. Hell, he wanted to force it out of her, too. But Beth's lips were sealed; she wasn't going to talk. She was the only one who knew what happened to her, and by the looks of it, it was going to stay that way. The thought of never knowing what happened scared him to death.

Daryl sighed as he continued to watch Maggie and Beth. He had been right; Maggie was going to start talking. She kept opening and closing her mouth, as if trying to figure out what to say. She was going to begin asking Beth questions that he knew Beth wouldn't answer. He also knew that it was going to irritate Beth, make her angry, and worst of all, he knew that the questions would hurt her. He had seen it in her eyes. As soon as anyone said anything about her disappearance, about the search for her, about finding her, her eyes became distant, glossed over with sadness, as if any life had been sucked out of her.

"Maggie, can I talk to you?" Daryl called from across the room.

Maggie immediately looked over to him.

"Come here. I need to talk to you," he said softly, not wanting to sound too demanding,

Maggie glanced at Beth and then back to Daryl. She nodded as she stood up and slowly crossed the room. She hesitated before sitting down next to him, her eyes immediately falling to look at Beth.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"You."

That immediately caught Maggie's attention, and her eyes shifted from Beth to Daryl, her head turning slightly.

"Me?" she asked confusedly.

"Yeah, you."

"What about me?"

"You need to give Beth some space."

"What?"

"You need to give her space."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do. You've been hanging over her, and she doesn't like it."

"I'm not leaving her alone."

"She's not alone, Maggie."

Maggie didn't say anything.

"She just needs some time to herself. Everyone's been hanging over her, waiting for her to say something, but you can tell it makes her uncomfortable. She just needs some space, a little time to be alone."

"But I don't want to leave her alone…"

"I know you don't. I don't want her to be alone, either. But I think that this is all a little overwhelming for her. I'm not saying that you should just leave her alone all of the time. I just think it'd be a good idea to give her a few hours to herself. It's not like you won't be able to see her…we're all in one big room."

Maggie looked back over at Beth, not saying anything. Daryl followed her gaze. Beth was leaning against the wall, her head tilted down slightly. Her fingers were twirling a loose string on Daryl's flannel shirt, the shirt she hadn't taken off since they had found her.

"Alright. Fine. I'll leave her alone for a few hours."

Daryl nodded and leaned his head back, but his eyes remained on Beth. He smiled slightly when he noticed Maggie mimic his position. They both sat there in companionable silence, neither of them talking or moving, just watching the blonde that sat on the blankets on the opposite side of the room.

"You washed her hair yesterday," Daryl said quietly.

Maggie nodded. "I thought it'd be good to get the blood out," she said sadly.

Daryl turned his head to look at her.

"It was all over the ends of her hair…the water was red by the time I managed to get all of the blood out…"

Daryl frowned.

"Her clothes, they were covered in blood, too when we found her…"

"I know…"

" What happened to her, Daryl?" Maggie asked, her voice breaking.

"I wish I knew…"

They both fell back into their companionable silence. Daryl kept his eyes resting on Beth. An image of her when they had just found her flashed into his mind. She was on her hands and knees, her tears leaving tracks through the dirt on her face. Her clothes were covered in blood, and her skin had a layer of dried blood beneath a layer of dirt. Dark bruises, deep cuts, scratches, a split lip, a black eye; they all marred her skin.

The image faded away as fast as it had appeared. Now he was left looking at Beth; the Beth that had been with them for a week now, yet had managed to remain as much of a mystery and secret as she had been when they had found her. Her hair was back to it's bright, beautiful blond. Her face wasn't blemished by tears. The blood and dirt that had covered her skin had been washed away, revealing her pale, creamy skin. And her clothes were clean.

She almost looked like she had back at the prison, or at the funeral home. But anyone who had known her would know that something was different. Daryl could feel it. He could feel the tension in the air whenever he was by her. He could see the rigidness of her body whenever someone got close. And anyone, even if they had never known Beth before this, would know that something had happened to her when they saw the bandages on her wrists, the bandages that hid the marks underneath them that made Daryl's heart constrict whenever he thought about them.

Daryl's thoughts were interrupted when Abraham, Rick, and everyone else walked over to him and Maggie. The only one who wasn't there was Beth. Daryl looked between the bodies, his eyes searching for Beth across the room. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her, her eyes closed. Everyone was talking quietly, but Daryl wasn't paying them any attention until he heard Rick's next word's.

"We're heading to Washington soon," Rick said calmly.

Daryl quickly looked up at him and slowly stood. "How long?"

"We need to go through the town first," Sasha suggested. " Find anything we can…food, water…"

"And warmer clothes," Abraham added. "Winter's going to be coming in a few more months. We'll probably still be on the road."

"How long until we leave?"

"I'd say a week, maybe less."

Daryl looked at Beth again.

"But what about Beth?" Maggie asked worriedly, also standing up.

"The deal was that we'd leave when she was healthy again. She's healthy. She isn't eating broth or soup. She doesn't have any serious injuries. She can travel."

"But she needs rest…" Maggie protested.

"A deal's a deal. We need to start making our way towards Washington. The sooner we get there the sooner we'll get to safety and the sooner Eugene can start working on the cure."

Maggie sighed heavily but nodded her head in agreement.

"A few of us are going out tomorrow to start searching through the town. It doesn't seem like there's much here, but who knows what we could find," Michonne added.

Daryl was listening, but he had nothing else to add. He kept his eyes on Beth.

"Rick, Glenn, and I are going out tomorrow morning," Carol said. "We're going to check some of these buildings. "

Daryl kept watching Beth. Her eyes were open, and she had her bag sitting next to her, open.

"It looks like there's a small neighborhood when you get past this main street. We'll check those before we…"

Daryl stopped listening. His full attention was on Beth. He vaguely heard the muffled voices of the conversation going on, but he was no longer paying it any attention. He was just watching Beth. His eyes were taking in every movement she made, and he was confused.

She was emptying her bag, or at least that's what he thought she was doing at first. But after a few minutes he noticed that she putting things into her bag. She put a few cans of food, a can opener, granolas bars, water, matches, a first aid kit. Daryl was utterly confused.

He kept watching her. Her knife, which she had kept held tightly in her hand ever since he had given it back to her wasn't there. His eyes searched around her for a minute, thinking that she must have set it down, before falling to the leather sheathe resting against her thigh. She had sheathed her knife.

He had no idea what she was doing. He watched as she pulled her boots on, which Maggie had insisted she keep off while she was inside to make her more comfortable. He watched as she closed her bag, zipping the zipper, snapping the snaps closed. Then he watched as she stood up, put her arms through the straps of her bag so that it was resting comfortably against her back, and then started walking towards the stairs.

He reacted before he even knew what he was doing. He quickly pushed past everyone standing in front of him and started to make his way towards her. She was just feet from the top of the stairs. She had barely moved from her blanket-bed since they had found this place, and now she was up and walking towards the stairs.

She started to walk down the stairs, and he desperately wanted to reach out and grab her, but he didn't. Instead he decided to follow her. And from the sound of it, everyone else was following her, too. Apparently they were all just as confused and curious as he was.

"Where are you going, Beth?" Daryl finally asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm leaving," she said quietly, turning the corner at the bottom of the staircase and walking into the main room of the building.

Leaving? Daryl was confused at first. Leaving? What did that mean? Was that some code for something? And then it all made sense. His brain caught up to her one-word response and it suddenly made sense. Everything she had been doing as they had been talking, her packing her bag, her putting her knife in its sheathe, putting on her boots. She had been preparing to leave.

But she wasn't just going to leave. She couldn't leave. He wasn't going to let her leave. She was dangerously close to the door. In the time it had took Daryl to process what she had meant, she had quickened her pace and was just a few yards from the door. He rushed forward, passing her, and stopped in front of the door, turning to face her, blocking the only exit she had.

Beth immediately stopped walking, glaring at him.

"Leaving?" Daryl repeated her words.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Beth ignored him and tried to walk past him, but he wouldn't let her. He put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back. And to his surprise, she didn't flinch away from him and her body didn't stiffen like it had anytime anyone else had touched her.

"Why are you trying to leave, Beth?"

Beth didn't say anything.

"Beth," Maggie said, demanding an answer from her little sister.

"I can take care of myself. I can survive on my own."

Wow. A response that was more than one-word. Daryl was shocked.

"Yeah, maybe you can. But that's no reason to just get up and leave you're family," Rick said calmly.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Then tell us, Beth."

Beth once again tried to walk past Daryl. And once again, Daryl gently pushed her back.

"I'm leaving. You can't just keep me here."

"Beth," Maggie said calmly. "Tell us what's going on. Why do you want to leave?"

Beth hesitated but then turned and looked at Maggie, most of everyone else standing behind the older Greene.

"You're not going to want me here."

"What?" Maggie asked in disbelief.

"I'm leaving," Beth said defiantly, walking towards the door a third time.

Daryl placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back with a little more force than the other two times. Beth took a few steps back, her eyes immediately finding his. And for the first time he saw something in them; they weren't just blank or sad. She looked determined and angry. But Daryl was determined and angry, too. He was not letting her leave this building alone.

They just stared at each other. Neither of them willing to give up. Both wanting to win, wanting to get their way. And Daryl could feel everyone's eyes on them, all watching them, wondering what was going to happen next. And after a few minutes, Beth relented. She took a step back, her eyes still meeting Daryl's, and spoke the first words that had been spoken by anyone in the building in minutes.

"You need to ask me the questions," she said quietly.

"What?" Daryl asked, confused.

"The three questions. You need to ask me them."

Daryl shook his head, his body relaxing slightly. "Beth, you're already a part of this group. We know you. You don't need to answer those questions."

Beth shook her head. "You knew me, but you don't know me; not anymore. I'm not the same, Daryl. I've changed."

"I'm not asking you the questions, Beth."

"If you want me to stay, you need to. You need to know the answers. And then you can tell me if you still want me to stay."

Daryl sighed. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Too many to count."

Daryl nodded, not really seeing the point in this. "How many people have you killed?"

"Five. I've killed five people," she said, her voice staying even.

Daryl's heart stopped. He suddenly knew why she had him asking her these questions. She had been through something terrible, and she had had to do something terrible. He hated that she had blood on her hands, but he was dreading her answer to the next question.

"Why?"

And with that question it seemed like she was transported to a different world. Her whole demeanor changed. The anger and determination in her eyes faltered, giving way to a sadness so deep it hurt him to see it. But her sudden shift was only momentary, it only lasted for the briefest of seconds before the determination returned and her mouth opened to answer the question.

Author's Note: We finally got some insight into what happened to Beth, or rather, what she's had to do. She's killed someone; she's taken five lives. But why?

Ah, you'll just have to wait to find out until Ch.7!

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