A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post. I was in shock and recovery after S6 E3. **I will NOT post any spoilers to this**

Companion song: Break Stuff- Limp Bizkit

Disclaimer: I do not own or have any rights to the characters/plot of TWD series. I am just a fan exploring the marvelous, macabre world Robert Kirkman created.

Please review, you wonderful people are the motivation that keeps me writing! I'm now a few chapters ahead and I CAN'T WAIT to share them with y'all ;)

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Chapter 20: Left Behind

How the fuck does she know that?

No one had actually told Beth that Maggie was pregnant yet. They'd all agreed that Maggie should be the one to tell her whenever she was ready. It was sister business. So how did she know?

Glenn's face displayed the shock that Daryl was feeling.

"Beth… how did you…?" Glenn's question died out before it was finished.

"I may not remember anything… but I'm not blind. I've seen how all of you coddle her and how she touches her stomach when she thinks no one's lookin'," Beth's words were blasé but there was a softness in her face that Daryl hadn't seen in over two years. It was the same look he used to see whenever she'd been at a table with Hershel and Maggie reading the bible together. But then it was gone again as she said, "It doesn't matter how I know. We're wasting time standin' here talkin'. Let's get the supplies and get outta here."

Daryl snapped into action following her into the labor and delivery unit. Beth led them directly to an exam room at the end of the hallway, the door had been closed and he imagined this was intended to keep the walkers out of the secret stash. There was a sink and some tools scattered around the counter. The sheets on the bed were ripped and askew. Daryl expected her to open the cupboards that lined the wall above the old sink. But instead she bent over and pulled the exam table away from the wall. She opened the drawers under the exam table, drawers that had been hidden against the wall a second ago. Comparing both sides of the bed, it would have been impossible to guess that there were drawers on the opposite side. Inside there were at least 30 different plastic pill bottles complete with labels, numerous glass bottles full of various liquids, syringes, medical tools and IV bags. Everyone else in the room was excited, whooping. He heard Rosita and Tara actually squeal with delight.

The meds they were now shoving into packs would undoubtedly cure the sepsis patients back home and, given that they were in a labor and deliver ward, Daryl guessed there would be plenty of drugs to keep Maggie and the baby alive.

It was a treasure chest. A life saving treasure chest.

And suddenly he had the creeping feeling that this was not Beth.

He remembered her that last night in the funeral home. She didn't want to take all the food in the cupboard. She wanted to leave it there in order to help others—strangers or people she didn't even know were coming—even if it meant she went hungry. She was writing a thank you note in the damn apocalypse.

This woman, hiding medicine to save for herself, was not Beth. This was a strange monster that had been shaped entirely by the terrible world they lived in now. Daryl was disgusted by her in that moment, horrified by her selfishness. And he wanted to know why she did it.

"Why'd you hide it?" he demanded, not even bothering to keep his voice low.

"In case we needed it…" she responded as her eyes left the backpack she was stuffing in order to look up at him. In her voice it was obvious she was confused by his sudden rage.

Everyone else in the room went dead silent. They all knew Daryl well enough to recognize when he was about to lose his shit.

"And what if someone else needed it? What if y'all had died and this shit stayed hidden forever? People are dyin' everyday and you're hidin' the only things that can save people!"

She blanched at his accusation.

"Daryl, hey. Come on man," Glenn soothed as he stepped forward.

"No! I wanna know what the hell she was thinkin' being so damn selfish!" he yanked his arm from Glenn's grasp and walked towards Beth, getting in her face.

Lucky stepped in front of Daryl and the dog's hackles went up along the entire length of his back. This was a sign that he needed to cool down before he got a mean bite in the ass.

"I think a pregnant lady and some of your people with sepsis might disagree," her voice was the opposite of his. He was shouting but hers was quiet, it was somehow scarier like the calm before the storm.

"And how do we even know this is all of it? Could be lyin' to keep more for yourself!" Daryl knew he was being stupid and ungrateful but he couldn't stop now. His anger had boiled over and couldn't be contained.

"I'm trying to help y'all!" now she had exploded too. Lucky picked up on her anger and barred his teeth at Daryl but Beth wasn't going to let Lucky fight her battles, "Sit Luck."

"And what about everyone else?"

"Who exactly should I be helpin'? The rapists and murderers left in this world?" she shouted.

"There are still good people, Greene." At this, she let out a derisive laugh and it broke his heart.

"Don't be so naïve, Daryl. There's no good in this world. Everyone is a killer, and had hearts full of hate. Since I woke up 2 years ago I've known only bloodshed, malice and chaos," she was fired up now, getting back in his face too. "I know you look at me and you just see the dead girl you used to know… but I'm not her."

He paused for a moment. In that instant, while she stood yelling at him, she looked and sounded so much like she had outside the moonshine shack. In fact, it was so similar that he waited briefly to see if she'd gotten a memory back.

But she didn't, her face showed no sign of realization or recognition. She just continued to seethe and the fire that blazed out of her singed his hope into ash.

"Yeah, I can see that," he almost whispered now.

Then he turned and stalked out of the room.

A few minutes later, the others began trickling out into the hallway having gotten all the supplies. Everyone just made quiet small talk and they headed off in the same direction they'd come in from the parking garage. When the doors to the Labor and Delivery clinic opened however, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Beth tensed as well, her muscles coiling like a snake ready to strike. They glanced at each other, their blue eyes meeting in the dim hallway. Lucky crouched down and stared ahead, listening to something that none of the humans could hear.

The air had been stale and dusty when they came in an hour ago. Now the air was disturbed and it had a distinctly sour smell.

Walkers.

But there was something more. Daryl couldn't place it but he wasn't going to stick around and try.

"Glenn!" he half whispered and half yelled. "You and Tara, you've got the backpacks, go back to the car. Beth, take Lucky and go in front to cover them, you'll be the quietest. Rosita and Spencer, stay with me to cover our backs."

The others hadn't even noticed that there was anything wrong but they responded to Daryl's commands.

"You sure? Why can't we all stay together?" responded Spencer.

"We need to have layers… in case walkers break through. Still have to get the meds home, even if…" Daryl's reasoning drifted off. What he didn't say was even if some people die, they still had to get the medicine back to Alexandria.

"But if we stick—" Spencer continued to protest.

"Ain't got time to argue with you, pretty boy." There were snarls that could be heard echoing down the hallway now, but it was too quiet to tell which direction they were coming from.

Beth gave Daryl a small nod and then quickly jogged down the right corridor towards the exit with the dog trotting ahead of her.

"We'll get the car warmed up for you, man." Glenn said as he hitched the backpack up on his shoulder. Tara and Glenn took off after Beth.

"Let's go. Watch the corners," he commanded after a few beats had passed. His remaining two companions followed him, heads swiveling to see a 360 view. The growls were louder now. They made another right before coming to a fork in the hallway. Walkers were on them faster than even he could react. They came from the left side of the hall and there had to be at least 40 of them in a huge group.

Daryl snapped and began smashing skulls. He heard the grunts of effort from his companions that told him they were doing the same.

"Can't take them all on!" Rosita shouted over the racket. More could be seen coming up the corridor towards them now, drawn by the noise of their fighting. Daryl was still trying to push to the right, going the direction of the car as much as possible. However, they were getting turned around by the surrounding walkers pushing them every which way. Daryl could just barely see the exit sign that signaled the parking garage.

"Gotta make a run for it before those get here! Don't bother killing, just push through on three," Daryl instructed as he killed a seventh walker in less than two minutes.

"One," he said while he plunged his knife into the temple of a female walker in a tracksuit. "Two," as he yanked it back out. "Three," he shouted and he shoved several walkers out of way as he making a path for the trio towards the exit. He heard footsteps behind him, figuring it was Spencer and Rosita, but he didn't bother to check because he was focused on clearing a gap in the walkers on his way to the door. But then, as his hand clamped down on the handle, he heard a noise that made his stomach jump into his throat.

"Help," came a quiet shout, drowned in the growls of walkers. Daryl turned and saw through the flailing corpses, Spencer. He was at the complete opposite side of the hallway.

Must've gotten turned around in the fight and went the wrong way, Daryl realized. God dammit, he cursed in his head.

"What're we gonna do Daryl?" Rosita huffed at his side as the butt of her gun connected with a walker's head. It crumpled at her feet but was quickly replaced by another one chomping at her.

Spencer was still fighting. Using a machete to hack away at walkers, but he wasn't making a dent. There were at least 60 dead monsters spanning the hospital hallway between them and he had no way of knowing if more were going to come spilling out of the corridor.

Daryl spared one moment to wonder; Where the fuck did they all come from?

He counted only 5 bolts with his crossbow, and Rosita had her gun with a full 14 bullets in the chamber. They both had knives, and Rosita was a scrappy fighter. But getting through to Spencer, would require using a different way in and out of this maze of a hospital. What if they all got trapped trying to get Spencer out? What if the others, Glenn, Beth and Tara, needed them on the road home to get the medicine to Alexandria? What if going after Spencer meant that Maggie lost her baby?

The hunter, with a heavy heart, grabbed Rosita's shoulder and pulled her out of the door into the parking garage. He got one last glance at Spencer barricading himself into a clinic with thick fire doors.

Echoes of the growling could still be heard once they got into the cement parking lot. The rest of the group was already packed into the cars, ready to go. The sun was almost finished setting, only a sliver of orange was left in the dark sky.

Beth turned at the sound of the door slamming. It only took a second before her face fell and she asked accusatorily, "Where is he?"

Daryl couldn't talk under her scrutinizing gaze.

"We were swarmed in there!" Rosita responded a little hysterically.

"What do you mean? Walkers?" asked Tara, hopping out of the car.

There was a pounding on the door behind them in response to her question.

"Yeah. Felt like there was a hundred of them, came on us faster than a damn tornado," Rosita continued.

"Where did they come from?" Beth inquired. Daryl could see her mind working. She knew the hospital, she said Morgan and her had stayed there for more than a week, and Daryl guessed she was thinking about routes they could have taken or doors they could've come in.

"Came from the last fork on the left," he finally spoke up.

"Probably attracted by all of your damn yelling!" Rosita shouted at Daryl and Beth.

"Placing blame isn't going to help anything," Glenn said trying to calm Rosita down.

"Don't be ridiculous. That many of them couldn't have all gotten up to level 5 from the ground floor without being lead there. The stairwells are too crowded and they were all closed." Beth reasoned in a condescending tone.

"What are you saying?" Glenn asked in the stunned silence that followed her words. But it was obvious to all of them what Beth meant before she outright said it.

"Someone must've propped the door open and lead them up to the 5th floor," Beth concluded with an anger pulsing in her eyes.

This was followed by a ringing silence between the group, penetrated only by the repeated fists slamming on the door that Daryl and Rosita had just come through.

"We've gotta get out of here," Daryl said as he began herding everyone back into the car.

"No," the little blonde protested while everyone else solemnly jumped into their seats.

"What do you mean, Beth? If Daryl says we've gotta go, then we've gotta go," Glenn said from the driver's seat, looking concerned at Beth's stubbornness.

"I'm not leavin' anyone behind," Beth stated gravely.

"There is probably 100 walkers in that hallway by now. How the hell do you think you're gonna get to him all alone little girl?" Rosita shouted at Beth.

"Seen worse odds before," she shrugged. "I'll figure it out."

No one responded to this.

"Daryl, tell me which clinic you saw him go into and leave me a car if you can spare it," she requested.

"Can't leave ya here alone," was his only response.

"Don't matter who is comin' or goin' but we've gotta make a move quick… these doors won't hold up forever," she nodded towards the entrance to the hospital where a visible dent could be seen protruding out of the door from the walkers pounding on the other side.

"Glenn, get those meds home. We'll be right behind you," Daryl said without breaking eye contact with Beth. There was no way in hell he was letting her go in there alone. He didn't care about their fight. He didn't care that she was risking her life for another man. He left her alone once before and she'd been taken and eventually shot in the head. He wouldn't leave Beth again… even if it wasn't really the same girl.

"Daryl… you sure about this?" Glenn replied tentatively.

"People need that medicine. Your family needs it. But she's right… I can't leave anyone behind again." Glenn nodded slightly and Daryl knew that he understood.

"See you in a couple hours. We'll wait for you at that old bakery we passed just outside of town in case you can't get back to the car," Glenn said before starting up the van. Tara and Rosita piled in, shaking their heads in disbelief.

As the van disappeared around the corner of the parking garage, Daryl finally turned to Beth.

"So let's hear your brilliant plan then Greene."

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A/N: Beth and Daryl on their own setting out on a hero mission. Will they succeed? Who will make it back to Alexandria? How did those walkers get into the hospital? When will Daryl finally accept this new Beth? Find out soon! :)

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