Ch. 25
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Since they only had the bike, they had to look around for a car so that Morgan could follow them back to Alexandria. It took a little while for them to find one with enough gas to make it the whole trip, so it was getting dark when they got to the gate. They waited a couple of minutes for someone to let them in, but when no one did, Daryl and Beth got off the bike and looked around.
The gate was locked, and after a few unsuccessful attempts at reaching through the small hole to the other side, Daryl helped Beth over, and she opened it for them.
"Where the hell's everyone at?" Daryl asked as he pushed the bike inside the walls and Morgan pulled in behind him.
Beth didn't have time to answer before Morgan asked, "This is it?"
Daryl didn't fault him for the disbelief in his voice. It looked pretty shitty from his point-of-view, too, and he had actually lived here a few weeks.
"Usually someone's at the gate," Beth answered. "This isn't normal."
He pulled the gate to and locked it before they continued walking down the street. Finally Maggie came speed walking down the sidewalk toward them. Her eyes scanned both of them before looking at Morgan.
"Good. Y'all are here for the meetin'."
"What meetin'?" Beth asked.
Maggie explained quickly what had happened that morning, and how people were calling for Rick to be banished. Then gave them the story about what happened the day they had left with Glenn's group, and how they were thinking of banishing him, too.
"I just left Carl and Judith. He's pissed he doesn't get to come, but Rick doesn't want him there."
"I'll stay with him and make sure he doesn't leave," Beth said then reached out and grabbed Maggie's hand. "You represent me and Daddy, okay."
Maggie nodded silently before she turned and took off for Deanna's.
"I'll take Morgan to the meetin' and maybe him and me can help Rick," Daryl said to Beth.
"We could use somethin' good happenin' for once," she said with a smile. "I'm sure it'll be okay."
He wasn't convinced she was right, but still they all went their separate ways as quickly as they could. Daryl sighed and clenched his hands around his bow strap. There was no telling what he was walking into.
Beth walked into the house and heard Carl playing with Judith in the living room. The last thing she wanted was to make him worry over who it was so she called out his name and he hollered back, "In here!"
"Hey there," she said. "A little birdie told me you and Miss Juju were gettin' left out of tonight's festivities."
"And they sent ya here to babysit," Carl said with a sigh.
"No, I'm not your babysitter. I'm your friend, and I'm here to keep ya company until it's all said and done."
"Whatever," Carl said and looked at the fireplace. Michonne's katana hung over the mantle, and Beth wished the woman would put it back on. Hanging up like that, it made the sword seem like a relic from the past, but Beth was all too aware of how death and destruction weren't the past at all. This was another thing that bothered her about the safe zone and how their group had changed in the last couple of weeks.
Beth understood the desire for normal, but that's all it was now—a desire, a want. Normal would never happen again.
She glanced away, trying to push that thought deep down in her head, then put the gun Daryl gave her on the end table. It had been digging into her back all day, and the instant relief was a godsend.
After a couple of minutes of strained silence, Carl stood and picked up Judith. "I'm gonna get her some dinner," he said and went into the kitchen that was attached to the dining room.
"Get yourself somethin', too," she said as he walked past. "Ya need to eat."
He made a noise in the back of his throat but didn't argue.
It hadn't been more than five minutes later when she heard the front door open. She turned around expecting Daryl to come in from the hallway, but came face-to-face with a very drunk, very angry Pete.
They came into the circle right as Rick was yelling about the changes they would have to make to keep them safe. Someone had left the gate open and three walkers had gotten in and no one even noticed. They had to change, and they would be changing now or else.
"Are you threatening us, Rick? You realize why we've gathered here. You're not helping your case."
Morgan stepped out of the shadows and asked, "Rick?"
He snapped his head around and looked at him in surprise. "Morgan?"
"Looks like we mighta switched places since the last time I saw ya," he said with a laugh.
Rick let out a choked laugh of his own and looked away. "Been through a lot since then."
"Me too," Morgan said. "Maybe we can talk for a bit once you're done here?"
Rick nodded and everyone just stared in question at the man who had seemed to calm Rick down so suddenly.
"Who the fuck's Morgan?" Abraham asked loudly, ending the quiet moment altogether.
"It's all your fault," Pete said as he stepped into the room.
Beth turned to the side and shook her head discreetly at Carl. He had started to walk toward her, but he didn't have any weapons. There was nothing at all he could do to help her. If she was in Pete's sights, she would gladly take it over it being them.
"Whose fault?" She asked calmly, moving in front of the kitchen door.
"That fuckin' hunter's. Then Rick's."
"Daryl's never done anythin' to ya," she reasoned as she took another step back and motioned for Carl to leave.
Carl caught her stare briefly, and she knew that he was fighting ever instinct he had not to run in there and try and defend her and his dad. Beth pointed her finger unnoticeably from behind her back, and he finally started to back away slowly. Her attention focused solely on Pete as soon as she heard the door click shut. Carl would run to the meeting and get help. All she had to do was keep Pete talking for a few minutes.
Pete's eyes were on Michonne's sword as he said, "They took her away from me. If he hadn't shown up here, we would've never known about y'all's group. And then y'all would've never came, and I'd still be in my house!" He was yelling, and he reached out for the sword as Beth moved for her gun. "I'll just take somethin' of theirs," he said and turned toward her, the sword at his hip.
She realized too late that he hadn't meant just taking the sword, and he swung up the same time as she grabbed the gun. Beth turned her body to the side and fell back, but still felt the sting of the blade from her hip across her torso and clipping her left cheek.
She stumbled, trying to keep her balance, but tripped over her own feet and smashed her temple against the end table. Blood ran down her face, and she blinked several times, trying to stay awake, but blackness closed in.
With Morgan's arrival, the meeting separated into smaller groups as Rick talked to him and Deanna. Merle walked over to his brother and asked, "Where's Beth?"
"Went to be with Carl so he'd stay in the house."
At that moment, Carl came running into the circle with Judith, hollering. "Pete's at our house!"
Everyone looked around, wondering what that could mean, but Daryl seemed to know, same as Merle, and turned to run. He saw the shadowy figure moving toward the gate and grabbed Daryl and pulled him back. A few seconds later, Pete entered the backyard. His eyes were wide and mean.
"You're not one of us," Pete said as he walked toward Rick.
Merle looked to the sword at his side and noticed the blood streaking it, so did Daryl. Once Pete walked past him, yelling at Rick and Deanna, Daryl took off for the house.
Merle started to run after him as Reg stepped forward, trying to calm Pete down.
"Pete, you don't want to do this," he said and held up his hands.
"Get the hell away from me," Pete said and looked past him toward Rick.
Reg stepped in between them, and tried to grab the sword from Pete's hands. "Pete, just stop."
"Get away from me," Pete yelled again and tried to push him away.
Merle took a step toward them and watched for the right moment to jump in. Pete was lethal right now, and the blood on the sword might have already meant he'd killed someone.
"Reg," Deanna whispered panicked, seeing her husband struggle with a crazy, drunk man.
It all happened so quickly after that, Reg tried again to reason with him, but Pete pushed him away and pulled the sword up in one stroke, the blade slicing across Reg's throat. Deanna fell to the ground, holding him on her lap, sobbing.
Abraham was on Pete in an instant, holding him down as Glenn kicked away the sword.
Reg sputtered for breath, but it was obvious he was on his way out. As the last gurgle died, and he closed his eyes, Deanna looked over at Pete, who was still struggling on the ground. Rick's gun was aimed at his head.
"It's him!" Pete yelled, looking at Rick. "This is on him!"
"Do it, Rick," she said, causing Rick to meet her gaze. When he didn't act right away, she spoke again, more confident and angrier. "Do it now."
The sound of Rick's gun filled the air, and Merle ran for the house with a few others following him.
The air rushed from his lungs as Daryl busted into the house. It was so quiet, and he hadn't seen any sign of her on the way there, so chances were, she was still in the house. Whether she was safe was a whole other question entirely.
"Beth!" He yelled. His heart feeling like it was going to pound out of his chest.
Inside the living room, he caught sight of Beth's legs peeking from around the couch. "Beth?" He asked softly. "Arrow?" He asked again as he rounded the sofa.
There was blood everywhere, soaking her shirt and running down her face and neck. He couldn't even make out where the wound was or if it was a continuous slash.
"Help!" He screamed. "Help me!"
His hands were on her shirt searching for the source, and almost immediately, Bob was there, replacing him.
"I'll take care of this," he said in that even tone of his.
He sat back on his heels and watched in a daze as Bob separated her ripped shirt, and he saw the deep gash that stretched from her hipbone all the way up and across one breast and up to her cheek.
"If you're not part of our group, get out!" Carol yelled.
He had never heard her speak so full of outrage and anger before and that was saying something. Daryl also wasn't aware that anyone else had come into the room at all until that moment. His eyes were fixed on the blood running from Beth's body, soaking the off-white carpet below her.
"We need to move her," Bob said. "There's too much blood. I need to try and stem the flow, but I've got nothin' here that's sanitary."
"Excuse me," a woman said and shifted to sit on her knees beside Bob. "I'm a nurse. I can help."
Daryl started to move her out of the way. He didn't trust her, and he'd never heard anyone mention a nurse before.
"You weren't at the clinic," Bob said and began looking around the room. "We need a—"
"A stretcher," the woman said and pointed behind her to the orange board. "And you can imagine why I asked to be reassigned from the clinic."
Daryl stared her down then nodded. It didn't surprise him that she didn't want to work with Pete.
"If you could just help me move her," she said, looking to Daryl.
"Yeah, okay," Daryl said and slipped his arm under Beth's shoulders and one under her knees.
Once she was laid back on the board with a blanket covering her body, Abraham and Rick got on either side of the board and picked it up with ease. She weighed nothing. Daryl knew that. He followed behind them in a numb daze. His shirt was so soaked with blood from that one moment of holding her close that with every movement it would stick and pull at his skin.