Ch.15

"Shit," Daryl said when he heard the groans of the walkers.

Abraham had just come back into camp a few minutes ago with the news of approaching walkers, but Daryl hadn't thought that they were this close. Everyone was still gathering up their things. They didn't have much, but they needed what they had, so they couldn't leave anything behind.

He had been skinning a squirrel, trying to keep his mind off of Beth, off of what she had been through. Maggie had been cleaning Beth's injuries, and Daryl refused to look at them, he couldn't bring his eyes to look at Beth; he didn't want to see the scars and cuts and bruises. They were his fault. Everything that had happened to Beth was his fault, and there was no way that he would ever be able to repay her for what had happened to her, and he knew that no amount of sorry would ever make up for what she had gone through.

And when Abraham had come back to camp, he didn't hesitate to toss the half-skinned squirrel to the side and grab his crossbow, slinging it over his shoulder. He rushed over to Maggie and Beth, tossing their things into their bags for them.

"Get your shit. We gotta go," he mumbled harshly, still refusing to look at Beth.

It didn't register until a few moments later that those were the exact words he had said to Beth the night she had been taken. He had told her to go to the road, had promised to meet her there, had promised to himself that he would get out of the funeral home and to the road, to Beth. But all of those promises were broken. He hadn't been able to keep her safe.

Without wasting another moment, he tossed Beth's bag at her. He wouldn't be responsible for her right now. He couldn't risk losing her again like he had lost her at the funeral home. She had Maggie right now. Had Glenn. Rick. Michonne. Sasha. Anybody would be better for her than he was, and he knew that they would all be keeping a close eye on her right now.

He quickly moved away from Beth and Maggie, going over to his bag and tossing it onto his back. He glanced up to see the small herd approaching, their feet shuffling against the fallen leaves and twigs littering the ground. And within a matter of seconds, the entire group was moving, trying their hardest to be silent. The herd was approaching them from all sides now, and what he once had thought was a small herd that they could easily outrun, was now a large herd. They would have to fight their way out.

He swiftly removed his crossbow from his shoulder, aiming it and shooting the nearest walker in the head. Everyone else was beginning to do the same, slowly moving their way through the herd. Judith's loud cries were piercing through the groans of the walkers, but Daryl knew that the baby was safe, tucked away in her makeshift carrier on Rick's back.

Daryl's heart sunk when he looked towards Maggie and didn't see Beth there. He had been casting random glances at Beth, making sure that she was okay, and Beth had never been out of arms reach of her sister. But now she was nowhere to be seen, and the walkers were getting denser.

"Where the hell is Beth?!" he yelled, slowly moving his way towards Maggie.

"I-I don't know. She was here. But now she's just gone."

"Fuck," Daryl muttered, frantically looking around.

He was too concerned in finding Beth to notice the walker closing in on him from his left. He heard the snapping of a twig and quickly turned, the walker just inches from him, it's mouth opened and ready to bite. Just as he reached down to unsheathe his knife, the walker froze, it's body crumpling to the ground.

Beth was standing in front of him, her knife clutched tightly in her hand. The blade of the knife was covered in dark blood, walker blood. He was about to say something, but his attention was caught by the walker quickly moving towards Beth. He lifted his crossbow to shoot it in the head, but Beth swung her arm out, the knife going straight into the soft skull of the deteriorating walker with a sick squelching sound.

He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't think of the words to say, and there were still walkers. He reached out and grabbed Beth's arm, beginning to pull her behind himself, motioning for Maggie to follow them. The rest of the group followed closely in their tracks, taking down the stray walkers that had followed them away from the herd. And once they reached the road, everyone was silent, trying to catch their breath.

"When'd ya' learn to do that?" Daryl asked after they had been walking for some time.

Beth shrugged her shoulders, wiping the blade of her knife on her jeans, the knife that he had given her after prison.

"I knew you could kill 'em, but I never saw ya' do it like that…like it was nothing."

"It is nothing," Beth mumbled, quickening her pace so that she was no longer walking beside him.

The group walked for hours before stopping. Everyone was hungry and exhausted. Judith had started to cry again; she needed to be fed, and Daryl assumed that she needed a diaper change. They made sure to walk back into the woods. They knew that the chances of someone coming down the road was slim, but they didn't want to risk it. They all knew the kind of people they could run into, and they wanted to avoid any conflict.

Sasha and Carol started a small fire, just large enough to cook the squirrel and rabbit that Daryl had managed to shoot. Carl and Michonne were sitting on the ground, Judith lying down on a blanket between them. Rick was talking to Abraham, a map spread out and held in their hands; he knew that they were talking about D.C. and the best route to take to get there. Maggie was sitting next to Glenn, her eyes glued to Beth, who was sitting by herself, away from the rest of the group.

Daryl sighed quietly, setting down his crossbow before walking over to Beth and sitting down next to her. She was holding a dried leaf in her hand, squeezing it every once in awhile and causing more of the leaf to crumple into dust. He remained quiet for a few moments, just watching her, observing her.

"Hey," he said quietly.

He waited for her response, but it never came. She remained silent, eyes staring blankly at the leaf in her hand.

"Look, Beth…I'm sorry."

Beth completely closed her hand over the leaf, squeezing it hard.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop," she said harshly.

"I'm sorry for everything that ha-"

"I said to stop," she said, cutting him off, turning her head and looking him directly in the eye. "I don't want to hear you saying that you're sorry. I don't want to hear you saying how it's all your fault, because it's not. I don't want to hear you saying how I didn't deserve what happened to me. I don't want to hear that you're sorry. I swear to God, Daryl, if you say that you're sorry I won't hesitate to kill you."

And Daryl didn't even think about saying anything to her after that, because the tone of her voice told him that she was being serious; she wouldn't hesitate to kill him. So he nodded slowly and stood back up, walking over to the fire and sitting down. But he could feel her eyes on him, watching him. And he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his heart that maybe she was right, maybe she had changed and had become someone unrecognizable.

Author's Note: I want to apologize for how long it has taken me to update. The last few weeks have been crazy busy with me. But the good news is that the semester is almost over, which means that I will be able to get back into the swing of things and have regular updates!

Also, I want to apologize for how short this chapter is...I blame it on all of the papers I've had to write for school. I promise that the next chapter will be longer. And, about the next chapter...I am extremely excited for it! I think that you all will like it, too...at least I hope that you do.

Please leave a review and tell me what you think!