A/N: To any fans I have left: I am so sorry it has taken me so long to write again. Thank you for still following, and I love you! 3

This is a short chapter (and has NOT been edited/read over) but I wanted to get it out quickly. I sat down and planned so there are more chapters coming very soon!

PLEASE review to let me know if people are still interested in seeing where this story leads!

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

/

Chapter 30: The Hilltop

"Two-hundred people?" Beth exclaimed from the backseat.

The trio was riding in Jesus' car towards his community. He called the place "The Hilltop" and from the sound of it, the whole place reeked of the Governor all over again.

Jesus was sitting in the passenger seat giving Daryl directions and answering Beth's questions about his community.

"Well, the number has gone down recently," Jesus admitted reluctantly.

"What happened?" Daryl demanded.

"Been some attacks. That's why I went out today, following a few people that were seen after the last attack two days ago."

Daryl and Beth's eyes met in the rearview mirror. This sounded a hell of a lot like what had been happening at Alexandria. Daryl was still trying to figure this guy out.

Either he was telling the truth and the same assholes were attacking all the living people they saw.

Or Jesus was lying and he was leading them directly into a trap. It was entirely possible that this guy was feeding them a story in order to build their trust.

Jesus was observant and he raised his eyebrows back at Beth in the backseat—he didn't bother addressing Daryl directly because the hunter had not answered a single question since Jesus had come plummeting through the trees at them an hour ago.

"We've had some similar issues with our community," Beth responded cryptically. Daryl noticed that she never called Alexandria 'home' like he did.

"Like what?" Jesus asked.

"How much further is this place?" Daryl interrupted before Beth could give him any information about Alexandria.

"Just take the next right by that historical sign."

Daryl followed the directions in Jesus' little red car. Beth and Daryl had left their van back on the highway. It was far away from the community they were pulling up to now but it was nice to have a backup plan.

A whistle escaped his lips when the walls came into view. Unlike Alexandria, they were all made out of wood with spikes at the top. Even though they did not look as sturdy as the walls surrounding Alexandria, Daryl could not help but wonder how long it took them to cut down all those trees. Jesus waved at the person on watch and the gates slowly cranked opened. When they got out of the car and Jesus began leading the pair up to a gigantic house in the center of the complex. He was rattling off about the history of The Hilltop but Daryl wasn't listening. His head swiveled around looking for anything off about the place.

People were milling around doing chores like gardening and walking the perimeter of the wall. Most of the structures were makeshift, clearly constructed after the apocalypse started unlike Alexandria's large, lavish houses. The one thing that stuck out immediately was their lack of weapons. Everyone had small knives but Daryl didn't see a single gun.

This was a red flag.

His gun was easily hidden in his waistband under his baggy shirt. But Beth's clothing was far too tight to conceal her weapon. The gun poked out of the top of her jeans. For one absurd moment, he almost forgot where they were while he just stared at the small patch of skin that was revealed where her shirt was tucked above the gun.

Daryl snapped out of it when Beth turned to face him and caught him basically staring at her ass.

The blonde looked startled for a second, clearly expecting Daryl to be looking at their surroundings not at her. However, she just leaned towards him and whispered, "Definitely not 200 people here… where do you think everyone else is?"

He just shrugged. The entire community was actually pretty small. They had animals and a large area for farming but there was not nearly as much space as they had at Alexandria. Everyone must be living on top of one another here.

Jesus led them into The Barrington House to meet his leader but when they walked into a small office a thin older man was already flustered on his way out.

"Oh Jesus. Back so soon?" he asked, not even bothering to address Beth or Daryl.

"Yes, I ran into some people that I believe can help us. I thought you could talk to them," Jesus responded while gesturing behind him to the pair standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Help us? No, no, we don't need anymore help," Gregory dismissed quickly. He was already pushing past Jesus, heading towards the door again.

"Gregory. I really think we should discuss this," Jesus insisted in hushed tones.

"I have more important things on my mind right now, Paul." The leader was rude now, voice dripping with disdain at Jesus' nerve to question him in front of newcomers. Switching from Jesus' chosen nickname to his formal name made it clear that Gregory was no longer having a friendly conversation. He turned on the charm and turned towards Beth and Daryl, addressing them for the first time, "I'm real sorry that Paul brought you all the way here for nothing. Since it is getting late, you are welcome to stay for the night. However, you will have to surrender all your weapons while you are at the Hilltop and in the morning, when you leave," he stressed that point clearly, "you will be allowed to have your weapons back."

Beth looked to Daryl who, without changing his expression at all, gave her a look that seemed to say 'why the hell not?'

So Beth turned on her own fake southern charm to match Gregory's and said, " That would be lovely. Thank you for the offer."

Gregory didn't seem to pick up on her fake enthusiasm, but gave her a genuine smile, "There is a spare room on the second floor, third door on the right. The bathrooms don't work but there is clean water in the kitchen if you need to wash or get anything to drink."

"Thank you, we got quite muddy in that storm." Beth giggled to add to the illusion that she of innocence she was building with Gregory before turning to leave.

"Ms.—" Gregory said quickly before she could snake out of the room. When the blonde turned back around to face him again, he wiggled his eyebrows at her "I didn't catch your name, sweetheart."

She tried not to show her distaste at being called sweetheart by this man who didn't even know her. And luckily Jesus answered for her before anything rude came tumbling out of her mouth. "That's Beth," Jesus said simply.

"Ms. Beth, don't forget to leave your weapons here with me. They'll be safely locked away until tomorrow, I assure you."

"Oh, of course," she smiled as she removed her gun from her waistband, pulled the large knife out of the holster on her thigh and a small hunting knife from her hip sheath. Daryl, who Beth didn't have to look at to feel his fury brewing at Gregory's sleazy smiles, pulled the two knives out of sheaths on his belt and laid them on the table too.

"I'm the boss. And I'm gonna be needing that gun of yours, boy," Gregory insisted glaring at Daryl.

The hunter stared at the leader briefly and Beth thought for a moment that her companion might hit the man, but Daryl just removing the gun from his own waistband.

Neither Beth, nor Daryl gave up their bows and Daryl stared at the man, daring him to tell him to hand over the crossbow still hanging off his shoulder. But Gregory just smiled, "The bows too."

Beth gave an obligatory giggle as if she forgot about the bow slung over her back and smiled at Gregory. "Of course," she said as she laid the bow down on the desk.

She could hear a small growl come from the man next to her. But she flashed him a look out of the corner of her eye and he reluctantly dumped his crossbow down next to hers.

"We will get out of your way, I am sure you are a busy man," Beth said to cut the wroth tension that was building between Daryl and Gregory. The older man broke eye contact with the hunter and gave the woman a huge, white-toothed grin instead.

"I am busy now but if you need anything, my bedroom is on the third floor," the leader dismissed them with a wink at Beth and she rolled her eyes as soon as her back was turned.

/

Hours later, it was starting to get dark while Beth and Daryl were walking along a path through the little town.

"Seems like everything is on the up and up," Beth said after they passed a small pen with several piglets inside.

"Everything 'cept Gregory," Daryl responded gruffly.

"He's egotistical, only cares about his own skin, and likes being in power far too much," Jesus popped up behind them silently. Daryl was not accustomed to being snuck up on so he nearly jumped when Jesus joined their conversation. Jesus noticed the effect he had on Daryl and his lips turned up a miniscule, amused smile. "Sorry about that. He does not do well with surprises and you two were not the first one he got today."

"Everything okay?" Beth asked, while she continued their walk with their new companion.

"Our people ran into some trouble today but managed to capture some of the others from the group that has been giving us trouble," Jesus answered honestly.

"What're you gonna do with the fuckers?" Daryl thought of Rosita bleeding out while they were on that run weeks ago and suddenly wanted to hit something. He hadn't liked her when he first met her, but over the years she had become the tough little sister he'd never had.

"The first time we ran into the Raiders out on a run, they held guns to our heads while they raped and killed three of our women."

Beth stopped walking and turned to stare at Jesus while he spoke.

"The next time, we went out in larger groups. They still managed to separate us and lure us into a trap. Walkers killed 14 of our people, they shot 6 more, and only three of us got away."

Daryl thought of how small their group had been out on the run to the hospital and how lucky they had been to make it out of that hospital full of walkers.

"Let's just say that the colony has no shortage of terrible suggestions for what they want to do with the new captives," Jesus finished looking sad. Daryl noticed that the man didn't get angry, but instead he appeared disappointed. Though he couldn't tell if Jesus was disappointed that he hadn't been able to save his own people or if he was disappointed at the savageness of his own people when faced with this choice.

"Can we see them?" Beth asked with a fire burning in her blue eyes.

Jesus stared at the pair for a moment, before nodding and headed back towards one of the cabins behind the main house. There were two men with spears on guard outside the door but they moved out of the way upon seeing Jesus.

Just before they stepped inside, Jesus turned around to them again, "Look, I shouldn't be doing this. Gregory would be furious if he knew I was letting strangers in to see them before he has a chance to interrogate them. I know you guys have had your own issues with these people attacking your community so I want to give you a chance to talk to them before you leave tomorrow."

Beth walked in first and Daryl took one moment to calm his irritated nerves before following her inside.

Daryl's eyes adjusted to the darkness inside and quickly took in the room. Michonne, Glenn, Abraham and Morgan were all tied at the wrists to different corners of the cabin. They were all disheveled, one of Glenn's eyes was already swollen shut, Morgan had a long cut across his neck which made it clear someone had held a blade to his throat, Michonne had so much blood all over her clothes it was impossible to tell what was hers, but Abe had fared worst of all. His nose was crooked and bloody and there was a large stab wound in his leg that was still bleeding through the hastily applied dressing.

No way in hell Gregory gives us our weapons back and lets us walk out after this.

He had one full moment to think of how screwed they were before Beth lunged at Morgan, hitting the tied up man square in the jaw while shouting, "You asshole. You killed her!"

Jesus grabbed her by the waist and pulled her off of Morgan, but Beth kept flailing against his arms. Jesus dragged her outside. Once the other two were outside, Daryl resisted the urge to check on Morgan. But he just winked at Daryl before putting on a stoic mask again. The hunter shot one last look and a small shrug at his family before following the Jesus and Beth outside.

The small blonde was smoothing down her shirt and still looked like she was seething. Guards closed the door behind Daryl and he caught the tail end of what Beth was saying to Jesus, "—at the hospital, but I can't be sure of it."

"It's okay Beth, I am sorry about your friend," the man said with genuine sincerity. "Gregory will be down after dinner to speak with them, we will likely vote on what to do with them tomorrow morning. You could stay tomorrow to find out what we decide if you'd like."

Jesus looked to Daryl for a reaction, but he wasn't entirely sure what game Beth was playing. It was clear she had something planned and he did not want to mess it up. So he kept his expression blank, hiding slightly behind his shaggy hair.

"No. I think we should leave first thing as planned. Our people will be worried after that storm if we don't come home," Beth responded looking at Daryl.

He stuck to his typical response of grunting and Jesus seemed unsurprised.

"I understand. I would be happy to drive you back to your car tomorrow if you'd like."

"Thank you, Jesus," Beth said nodding.

"For now, you are welcome to join me in the main house for dinner. Some of the residents contribute to a group dinner for those of us who cannot cook anything except cans of beans."

"Lead the way," the blonde gestured.

So that was how Daryl found himself sitting around an old, colonial table surrounded by strangers eating cabbage, potato and pork stew.

He was itching to talk to Beth about what the hell was going on, why she hit Morgan and pretended that their Michonne, Glenn, Abe and Morgan were with these 'Raiders'. How the hell was he going to get his people out of here now? The longer he sat there, eating the flavorless stew, the more pissed he got at Beth. She was digging them into a hole. If they had talked to Jesus at the beginning, they could have sorted this all out.

Thinking like a pansy now, Daryleena. Gonna talk through your problems like a woman? Merle's voice was right on time with the insults.

But of course, Daryl knew there was no way he could talk his way out of a problem like this—he was terrible with talking even in mundane situations. He was a punch first, ask questions later kind of man.

As soon as Beth's bowl was empty, he couldn't control himself anymore. He gripped her arm and snarled in her ear, "I need to talk to ya'. Now."

If she could have shot daggers with her eyes, she would have impaled him. But she kept calm and just stood up slowly, taking her empty bowl with her over to the large basin where an elderly man was washing dishes. Daryl followed her outside the large house and around the corner before she turned on him. She slammed him backwards against the side of the old, wooden building.

"What the hell are you doin' in there? Bangin' your spoon like a damn child throwing a fit. You want to get us caught?" She hissed quietly in his ear. Her fingers were digging into his shoulders and he could feel the wood hard against his back.

"Caught? Our people are already caught!" he hissed back. Trying to keep a hold on his anger.

"And what exactly were you gonna do about it? We're surrounded and Gregory wasn't exactly willin' to sit down and chit chat."

"And what's your great idea, girl? Gonna punch Morgan to death so we can take him out with us in a body bag?"

Suddenly Beth leaned in closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. He froze. One second she was yelling at him and now she was hugging him? That's when he saw three women round the corner, chatting idly about some shit Daryl didn't care about. It was dark but it would still have been easy to see the argument that had been brewing between Daryl and Beth.

"Play along," Beth whispered, her lips brushing against his ear.

He told himself not to react to Beth's lips on his skin. His face was buried in her hair. She smelled so damn good that he felt dizzy. Daryl reacted instinctively, his hands found their way to the back of her thighs and she let out a small yelp of surprise when he pulled her flush against him.

The women scurried past them quickly with a few disapproving clucks, but Daryl hardly noticed. He expected Beth to pull away from him immediately, but she stayed put. She was breathing hard against his neck. He tried to calm himself down, but he couldn't pull away from her because Beth was still pushing him against the side of the building.

After one of the longest minutes in his life, she pulled back slightly, dropped her hands from his neck and whispered, "I've got a plan Daryl. We'll get them out."

"How? We don't even have any weapons, Beth," he was surprised he still had control over his voice.

"Who said we needed weapons?"

In the moonlight he saw her eyes sparkle with mischief and knew he was in trouble.

/

A/N: Thanks for reading!

I know it was shorter than normal but I wanted to get it out to y'all ASAP since I have been MIA for so long. I am sorry about that, I got very busy with life things.

PLEASE, PLEASE review! I would love to know if people still have any interest in this story or if I should just give it up. Each and every review is so motivating! What does Beth have up her sleeve? Did you feel like I stayed true to character with Gregory and Jesus?

Side note, I have a TWD/Supernatural crossover story rattling around in my head, would anyone be interested in reading that? Or is there anyone interested in co-writing with me?

Thanks lovelies! See you soon! :)