Ch. 9
As always, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!
Over the next two days, Glenn's condition improved dramatically. They got the meds into his system, and he was breathing on his own. He was weak, but he was going to be okay. Sasha was the same, weak but alive.
Beth watched her sister as she sat with Glenn in his cell and smiled at them. She had to believe that things were going to start looking up.
Her thoughts drifted to a couple of nights earlier when Daryl had came to their cell and told her that Rick had sent Carol packing and the reasoning behind it. She sat there in shock for several minutes before she said, "What's happenin' around here?"
"Don't have a fuckin' clue."
She pulled him toward the bed and her fingers lightly scratched at the scruff along his jaw. "Are we good, Daryl?"
He kissed her softly then pulled her to him with a little more force. "Ummhmm."
She still had the feeling like she was trying to hold onto water, though.
With a final glance at Maggie and Glenn, she turned and left them in their cell. It was early, and she needed to do chores before she took over care of Judith. Now that she didn't have Carol to help her, it all fell on her shoulders.
It didn't worry her too much, but the idea of being the primary babysitter seemed like an awful lot in the prison. There were only so many ways to keep a baby busy, and Judith was starting to want to crawl. Beth would need to be on her toes in the coming months when it came to her.
First on her list, though, was their cell. It was a mess since they had both been so busy with more important things. Once there, she started folding up the laundry from days before and double-checking the packs that they kept ready. She had finally unpacked all of her things right before she had moved into Daryl's cell then he told her to repack it.
"What if we gotta run?"
She stuffed a newly washed baby blanket into the front zipper since she had been thinking so much about Judith. If they ran, she would need stuff, too.
Suddenly, a shadow covered her, and she turned her head to peek over her shoulder. Daryl pulled the curtain closed as she stood up.
"What's goin' on?" She asked.
He didn't answer, just walked forward. He collided with her and pushed his hands into her ponytail and pressing a hard kiss on her lips. Before she knew it, he had her sitting on the desk, one hand under her shirt, the other pulling at her jeans.
His lips had moved from hers to her neck and he bit down softly before he said. "Take 'em off."
She pushed his hand out of the way and flicked open the button and started to stand. Daryl helped her and pulled them off one leg and turned her around, pressing a hand to the middle of her back and pushing her chest against the writing desk.
Beth looked over her shoulder at him and saw him suck on two of his fingers before he pressed them against her and then inside. She groaned and he stilled. "Can't be loud," he whispered. "It's gotta be quick and quiet. That okay?"
"Yes," she pressed back against his hand.
Daryl pulled away, and she heard him unbuckle his belt and his jeans brushed the backs of her thighs as they fell. The crinkle of a wrapper then his sigh as he pressed himself against her again.
His body was a cage around hers, his arms over hers, linking their hands when he pushed inside for the second time ever.
It was better starting out than the last time, but what was probably the best thing in the world was how close he was to her face and her ear. His short, choppy breathes brushed past her cheek and with each down thrust, he would squeeze her hands like he was trying to hold on a little longer.
Daryl turned his face fully into her neck and licked below her ear before he bit down and stilled inside her.
Her body tingled and every nerve ending was keyed up and ready to go, but he slid from her, kissing down her back as he went and started to pull his pants back up.
Beth remained in place for a few seconds before her mind caught up with what had happened and how quickly he had come into their cell and things had escalated. She didn't mind at all, and she definitely wanted more. A small part of her wondered what had caused him to act so out of character, but the bigger part guided her actions. She turned and hopped up on the desk then took his hand and guided it right back to where he had been.
"Sorry," he murmured against her lips. His voice just a touch embarrassed.
"Don't be." It was all she got out before he dropped to his knees, and she lost all thought completely.
He kissed her cheek before he left and lingered, letting a little of her warmth seep into him.
Growing up, he had never known what a relationship should really be. His old man and momma weren't the best examples and then the crowd he hung around hadn't been the best influence either.
As he told Tyreese that Rick wanted to see him earilier, he had felt his grief, though. Especially the moment he looked into Daryl's eyes and asked, "What would you do if it had been Beth?"
That was the first time he ever allowed himself to think of Beth gone. The idea that if he went back to their cell that her things would be there, but she wouldn't. That she wouldn't breathe, that her heart wouldn't beat, that she wouldn't cut her eyes at him and smirk when she was trying to be sneaky. That she wouldn't hum or sing or laugh.
His heart had seized up, and as soon as he could get away, he practically ran toward her.
It wasn't the best way to do things, the most romantic, but the feel of her against him calmed him down again.
"I love ya," she whispered.
Instead of ignoring what she said, he nodded against her shoulder and kissed her neck for a final time before he scooted out and down the stairs.
He was only supposed to have been gone a few minutes before he met Rick and Tyreese at the door to that led to the tombs.
They stood there waiting on him, and he wondered what they saw because both of them stopped short for second, one with a bittersweet expression and the other nothing short of amazement.
He wiped a hand along his jaw before he gripped his bow strap.
"What?" He asked.
Rick shook his head. "Where'd ya go?"
He shrugged. "Just had to grab somethin' from my cell."
"Uh huh," Rick said, and Daryl looked up from under his hair to see the smirk that lifted a corner of his mouth. "Let's go."
He followed Rick and Tyreese for a little while before Rick had started talking about Karen a little, testing the waters. They had almost made it to the end of the area they had secured when Tyreese sucked in a sharp breath.
There against the wall was a rabbit, gutted and nailed opened against a piece of wood.
"What the fuck?" Daryl muttered right as an explosion rocked the prison above.
His feet were beating concrete before Rick and Tyreese had even started moving.
Merle stood at the fence next to his brother and Carl, aiming a gun that he knew wouldn't put a dent in the Governor's firepower. For the first time since coming back after not finding any sign of Carol the day before, he was glad of where he was. This was the place he was needed at the moment, and maybe, it was the place he was always supposed to be, standing next to his brother. That didn't mean that he was going to stop looking for her, though.
He heard Beth gasp, "Daddy," and turned toward her as she dropped her gun a little.
Daryl hadn't moved at all. His eyes were on Hershel then on Rick then on the Governor.
"I can take him out from here," Carl said quietly and steadied his gun.
"Or ya could start somethin' else. Let your old man handle this," Daryl said, his eyes never leaving the scene down below.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion but in fast forward, too. The katana slicing Hershel's neck, the panicked screams of his daughters, everyone firing at once. He lost sight of his brother when he dodged the gunfire. Then he lost Beth after he stood back up and fired several rounds at the group that was approaching.
Once they made it through the gate, he went hand-to-hand with a couple before the walkers started swarming. They poured out of the woods and up the drive with a lot more speed than he had witnessed in a while.
An explosion knocked him to his knees and made him jerk his head to the left. Merle watched as Daryl shot a bolt straight through the tank driver's chest then turned and hollered, "Beth!" He was frantically looking all over the yard. "Beth!"
Merle got up and stumbled toward him. Daryl held up his bow and aimed then quickly dropped it. "Ya seen Beth?"
"No," he said. "Lost sight of her a while ago."
Daryl's eyes darted all over the yard, and a flash of blonde hair caught their eyes at the same time, but Daryl took off running before him.
"I's lookin' for the kids," she said, her voice bordering on hysterical. "I couldn't find 'em."
"Prolly on the bus," he said and grabbed her arm. "We gotta go, Beth. We gotta go."
Merle followed behind them, watching for stray walkers as the got outside the gate then out into the woods.
Once they were in Daryl's territory, he let go of her wrist and yelled back over his shoulder. "Follow me. Merle ya make damn sure nothin' gets to her from behind."
"I got it," he said and looked back for a second.
The fences were down, the prison burned, and their people were scattered.
There was no meeting place, no back-up safe haven.
Merle turned and ran behind Beth and his brother.
It was just them now.
Hours later, she lay in the tall grass, watching as buzzards flew overhead. She tried to catch her breath, but couldn't. They had ran until she was sure she couldn't move her legs anymore, but if the familiar growls sounded around them again, they would get up and take off.
Her thoughts flashed to her father, and she squeezed her eyes shut. There was no way she was ready to think about that yet—or ever.
Eventually, Merle sat up and rested his forearms on his knees. "Fuckin' hell," he muttered.
Daryl heaved himself up and looked at his brother. "What do we do?"
"Find a place to sleep tonight. Not a damn one of us will be worth a shit to keep watch."
Daryl nodded and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. "Ran north," he said and looked down at Merle, never meeting Beth's eyes. "That bus was supposed to head east."
"Tomorrow or the next day, we go east," Merle answered like it was no big deal, both of them seeming to forget that she was laying in between them.
"'Bout two hours from Lakeshore," Merle nodded his head behind them. "Wanna see if the shack's still up?"
Daryl nodded and adjusted the strap across his body. "It'll be as good as anythin' right now." Then he started walking.
Beth rolled onto her stomach and pushed up, following them through the overgrown pasture. She wanted to ask what the deal was, and why he was being so distant, but at the same time, she needed the silence.
Maybe that's what they all needed at the moment, a time to reflect on the fact that everything wasn't fine and probably wouldn't be again. That she was with Merle and Daryl Dixon, and as long as she was with those two, she was safe, and a lot of the people from the prison weren't in her good position.
The children she couldn't find were with people less capable of survival or even worse, all alone. Judith was out there somewhere, and she hoped it was on the bus with the others or at least with Carl.
Her sister wouldn't know where to look for her, but hopefully, she had Glenn and would be able to care for him. Beth didn't want to think about how hard it would have been for him, not even well, to get out of the prison with all those walkers wandering up.
Beth shook her thoughts away and looked at the two men in front of her. The similar set of their shoulders, the way they walked in-step. If she closed her eyes, she could picture their blue eyes and grins that sorta matched up on good days.
They might have been the only family to make it out of the prison alive.
At that moment, Merle slung his arm over Daryl's shoulder and said something to which Daryl pushed him away and glared.
Merle nodded and turned his head forward again. "He's a goner now, though."
"How'd ya know?" Daryl asked, pushing some sweaty hair from his face.
"He wasn't plannin' on leavin' that field alive after he did what he did."
That was the moment he chose to look back at her, and she really saw his eyes since they had started running through the woods.
Guilt was weighing him down.