Hi and welcome! Snow day allowed me to get this chapter out really quickly, so if by chance you missed the last update, go read that first please. :)
As always I don't own the walking dead... Enjoy!
"Go, go, go." Rick whispered urgently, ushering Beth off the bed. The smoke was billowing into the cabin quickly, and Rick wondered how he had missed it to begin with. He surveyed the room through the thick cloud, and noticed the flames building in the corner.
"Shit." he murmured to himself as he literally pushed Beth towards the door. She was struggling against him, saying something, but Rick wasn't listening. He was busy moving the homemade barricade away from the door with one hand, and holding the struggling Beth away from the flames with the other. Once the path was clear, he shoved Beth out the door, and fell forward, landing in the fresh mud.
Rick had just caught his breath when he heard the familiar click of a gun, and the cold metal pushed into his temple.
"Well, well. So glad you could join us. You R or B?" Rick clenched his jaw and sat up slowly, hands raised. He looked immediately to Beth, who was screaming and trying to crawl towards the now burning cabin. Another man had grabbed her and was holding her back. Rick counted seven men surrounding the pair.
"R." he bit out, glaring up at the older man with the goatee. The man bent down in front of him and surveyed Rick's face.
"That's not how we introduce one another. I'm Joe," he said holding his hand towards his chest, "and you are…?" he moved his hand towards Rick, asking him to supply his name.
"Rick." He answered, with as much malice as he could summon into one word. Beth was still screaming, and Rick's eyes darted back to her with worry. Joe noticed and stood up, walking towards her, leaving Rick with a gun still pressed to his head, two men flanking him.
Beth was on her hands and knees, reaching out towards the cabin screaming, struggling against the man that was holding her back. As Joe approached, the man looked up at him.
"She's crazy, boss." He shrugged. Joe lifted his foot up to Beth's shoulder, and kicked her onto her back.
"Don't touch her." Rick spat out, and the gun pushed harder into his skull. Beth was just lying on the ground now, mumbling something in between sobs. Rick desperately wanted to go over to her, but knew that would not be an option.
Joe looked to him again, appearing somewhat surprised by his outburst. Joe smirked at Rick, and bent down next to Beth. He reached his hand down, and tenderly wiped away one of Beth's tears. Rick dug his hands into the mud in front of him, ready to strangle Joe if he hurt her. Beth jerked away from his touch, and her sobs stopped momentarily in an effort to deal with this new threat.
"Hello B. I'm Joe." He smiled at her, but it was only returned with a sneer, before Beth's sobs resumed. Joe sighed. "Just hold onto her Dan. I've got to deal with this first."
Joe stood up and surveyed the burning cabin. Rick could feel the heat coming off of it, and knew there was no getting inside it without severe risk. At the moment he was just grateful it stood in a clearing, and posed little threat of starting a forest fire. That was the last thing they needed.
"Len." Joe growled, and a tall, greasy looking man stepped forward. "What did I tell you to do?"
"Start a fire to smoke them out, Joe." Joe rolled his eyes, and began to stalk towards Len with intent.
"Why do we attack different groups, Len?" Joe snarled, right in Len's face now.
"To… To get their supplies, Joe. We're scavengers." Len struggled, and Joe nodded.
"And where are their supplies, Len?" Joe asked quietly. Realization settled over Len's features, and he began shaking his head fervently. "Tony, Billy, would you mind teaching him his mistake, please?" Joe finished, and two men moved forward, dragging Len into the woods as he screamed.
"So," Joe continued, turning to face Rick, "The question becomes what to do with you two. Normally I'd just go ahead and kill you, but I hate for the whole thing to be a total loss." Rick said nothing, but continued to glance over at Beth who was still sobbing as Dan stared uncomfortably at her. "Now, looking at you, you could be one of us. You look like the kind of man who takes what he wants, others be damned," Joe looked meaningfully over to Beth, his implication clear. Rick snarled, but had no means to silence him as he was beginning to really want. "But this little thing..." he gestured to Beth, "well. The little ones never last too long."
At that, Beth began sobbing louder than ever, and Rick looked to Joe, asking for unspoken permission. Joe nodded, and the two men flanking Rick stood back, but kept their guns trained on him. Rick crawled stutteringly through the mud to Beth, who he quickly scooped up. He began to wipe at her face, trying to get her tears away, but only succeeded in wiping mid over her delicate features. Beth grabbed at his shirt, and finally Rick began to understand the mumbles in between her sobs.
"Judith…Judith…" Rick blanched. Judith's carrier. Without meaning to, he dropped Beth from his arms, and made towards the burning shack itself. Before he could reach it, he was met with the barrel of Joe's gun again.
"I don't think so. Now, I don't really want to carry you until we find someplace to stop for the night and we decide what to do with you. What are the chances you'll cooperate until then?"
Rick growled, baring his teeth.
"Yeah, that's what I figured." With that, Joe raised his gun and brought it down hard on Rick's skull, sending him to the ground, Beth's scream echoing in his ears.
/
Beth woke up in a bed which should have felt amazing. The mattress was thick, and plush, and there were several pillows, all ranging in size, and even a teddy bear lying next to her. Her first thought was wondering if she'd ever sleep soundly again without Rick next to her. This thought was immediately chased by the realization that Rick was indeed, NOT beside her.
Beth sat up quickly in the bed, which caused her head to spin. She hadn't eaten in at least a day, and she had been crying so hard that her head was pounding. The memories of what had happened had settled upon her, and she quickly caught her breath.
Beth moved quietly out of the bed, and thanked god she was fully clothed. She tiptoed towards the door, and tried the knob slowly, only to find it locked. She pressed her ear to the cold wood, but heard nothing. She traversed the small bedroom as quietly as she could to look out the window. It was the early morning, evidenced by the sun barely peeking over the trees, and the delicate frost that claimed the window.
She was on the second floor of a house, in a neighborhood. There was a porch below her, but to the side, so she doubted she could make that jump. She started to try the window, but knew that if she tried to jump, she would likely only succeed in breaking her leg. And anyway, she had to find Rick first. She would not be leaving him here.
Beth surveyed the room quickly, looking for something that could be used as a weapon, as they had relieved her of her gun and her knife. The closet had been cleared of hangers, and there was an indentation in the carpet where a dresser or a chest used to be. They had cleared the room soundly. She was contemplating her options when there was a knock on the door. Beth frantically grabbed at the window blinds, grabbing the wand and breaking it over her knee at a point.
The man who had knocked walked in, peaking around the corner. "Oh good you're up." He said, and he allowed himself entrance, locking the door behind him.
"Where's Rick?" Beth asked, forcing her voice to sound strong. She pointed the makeshift weapon at him, and he only responded with a laugh.
"Please. You're not going to hurt me with that thing, and you know it." Beth nodded, and lowered it slowly. "I brought you some clothes we found in another bedroom. It's been getting colder. And also a can of peaches that we found." He smiled at her, but Beth stayed rooted to the ground.
"I'm Billy." The man said, turning to face her, as he sat on the bed. Beth inspected the man. He was in his late 40's, and had a long nose. He wore a blue knit cap on his head. He didn't look like he had any malicious intent, so Beth began nodding repetitively.
"B-Beth." She finally answered. "Please, where is my friend?"
"Beth, that's pretty, I like that." Billy said, completely ignoring her question. "You really should eat something; I want you to be able to keep up your strength."
Beth remained frozen in place. She didn't trust these people, she saw what they did to their own; she couldn't imagine what they did to outsiders. Thoughts of Rick being beaten or tortured or worse flitted through Beth's mind, and her eyes began to water against her control.
"hey, oh, don't do that." Billy said as he grabbed the peaches, and came across the bed to face her. He wiped the tears off of her cheek with his cold clammy fingers. "You just need to eat. You're hungry, here-" he popped open the top of the can of peaches. His mud covered fingers dipped into the can, and reemerged dripping in peach juice, with a slice of peach dangling between his fingers. "Open your mouth." He commanded. Beth swallowed, and complied, seeing no other choice. He slid the peach between her lips, and she chewed slowly. Billy was watching lips intently. He reached up and dragged his thumb across her lower lip, cleaning the peach juice off before putting it in his own mouth.
"Mmmm," he moaned. "I just love peaches, don't you?"
I use my husband as my beta (essentially) and he threw the papers at me, and went "I DON"T LIKE BILLY! HE'S CREEPY!" haha. But of course that was the idea. Fair warning, things are going to get super graphic regarding Billy in the next chapter. Just a head's up. My husband also said he understood perfectly what Beth's weapon was, but just in case, its that twisty thing that opens and shuts your blinds... but I didn't want to exactly phrase it like that.
Thanks to Quest, Kaylah, Daydreamer and Guest for reviewing... You guys help me crank these out, more than you know!