…... Chapter 50 ….
Beyond exhausted, Beth went to push aside a sagging tree limb hanging in her way when it suddenly and unexpectedly snapped in her hand. The broken branch came down immediately, missing her by inches as it landed in the mud at her feet with a waterlogged thud. She gritted her teeth in remorse as the sharp cracking sound it made reverberated unnervingly through the air, bypassing the rain to reach the small herd of walkers she was tentatively following. Just as she feared, a lone straggler bringing up the rear came to a halt and turned around, its dead-eyed gaze attempting to peer past the torrential downpour.
Hiding quickly behind the closest tree, she held her breath and waited, doing so despite knowing that the chances of it seeing her were slim. A few heart stopping moments later and the curious walker went back to what it was doing, shuffling away with the rest of the horde to become hazily obscured by the rain.
She expelled a faint breath of relief, taking the moment to reassess her situation. This wasn't the best idea she'd ever come up with by any means but desperate times had called for desperate measures. She had been silently following the rag tag group of walkers for a while now, figuring that if there were any humans to be found in the area they'd most likely be the first ones to know it. Using them all like a pack of flea bitten dogs with an intuitive nose for such a thing, she let them lead her through the forest, unable to think of a better option after getting herself lost more times than she cared to admit.
The horde had stumbled across her right after the fight with Billy, the scent of death drawing them in like a magnet. They had converged on his body almost immediately, not much caring that the rigored flesh was a lot less pliable than what they were used to. Tearing it from the bones in a frenzy of teeth and nails as was their nature, they had gorged themselves until only a wilted bloody carcass remained.
She had kept herself hidden safely from view while they ate their fill, the guilt she was feeling not lessened much for having to witness such a gruesome thing. She had to keep reminding herself that Billy deserved it, that he had probably watched countless other girls fight for their lives much like she did before tossing them into that pool like they were nothing but disposable garbage. Trying her best to convince herself of it, she had waited them out, her empty stomach rolling nauseously under her belt the whole entire time.
With their business finished and their bellies full, the walkers had all wandered away none the wiser to her presence. Any post feeding residue adhered to their clothes was quickly washed away by the rain that was inundating the area. The paleness of their skin stood out in stark contrast to the gloominess of their surroundings, making them all look like ghostly apparitions moving through the forest. Thinking as quick as her overwrought emotions would allow, she chose to follow them... her conscious feeling like a lead plated weight around her neck as she left both the bolt and the body behind to be nothing but a horrible memory she'd rather soon forget.
The trek itself quickly proved to be far more tedious than she anticipated. The soil beneath the horde rapidly turned to mud, making the path in their wake that much more grueling. Using the rain for cover, she had struggled to keep up with them, fighting the soggy terrain every step of the way despite the fact that she was cold, wet and undoubtedly tired. Thunder rumbled across the sky but the walkers remained impervious to it. Completely unaware of the elements raging all around them, they had meandered on as if intuitively honed in on a beacon that only they had the power to see...
A loud discordant groan in the distance brought her back to the moment and shaking off the recollection, Beth glanced around only to see the herd she'd been following was nowhere in sight. Jumping over the fallen branch in her way, she raced to catch up with them in a panic, berating herself mentally for lagging behind and allowing such a thing to happen.
She plowed through the nearby bushes only to find that they hadn't actually gone very far. They had all come to an awkward stop up ahead for some reason and confused as to why, she peered through their legs to see that there was a huge ditch in their way, one that was filled to the brim with mud, leaves and all manner of chaotic storm debris. Without the mental capacity or fortitude to know to walk around it, they were all stuck lingering hesitantly at its ledge, a few of them even being pushed in by the more animated ones in their midst.
Her shoulders immediately slumped in disappointment, now completely at a loss. The plan hadn't been the best of ideas to begin with so it wasn't like she had something else better tucked up her sleeve. Having no choice but to leave the confused horde behind, she rounded the thing herself, doing so with the hopes that the general direction they'd been taking would be enough.
The rain had abated somewhat and she continued on in what was now a heavy drizzle. Fighting her way through the tangled foliage and twisted roots, the gray haze seemed to distort everything in sight, playing tricks on her mind as it drained her of her stamina. It had been so long since she had heard the gunshots that she was beginning to wonder if she had even heard them at all. Who knows, maybe she was actually out here all alone… maybe that had been the point all along…
Out of the corner of her eye Beth saw a darkened figure move stealthily amongst the trees and she instantly went for cover. Her nerves were now stretched so thin she was somewhat amazed she could even function at all. The path the silhouette was taking was obscured by the gloom and she pushed her damp hair from her eyes if only to be able to see it better and determine if it belonged to a walker or not. Straining her vision past the murkiness, it wasn't until it stepped free of the shadows that she saw that it wasn't.
It was Len.
Even from where she was hiding, Beth would've recognized his distinctively lanky frame anywhere. With her pulse racing a mile a minute, she gave a quick thanks that he hadn't seen her, noting instead that the hard line of his gaze was fixated upon something else… something in front of him that he was obviously making a determined effort to track. Whatever it was had his complete and undivided attention so, with the light rain between them acting as a protective shield, she carefully looked over to see what it could possibly be.
There... down on one knee in the mud… was Daryl.
The overwhelming flood of emotions she felt for seeing him quickly turned into the worst kind of incapacitating fear. Preoccupied in tracking something himself, he was completely oblivious to the fact that he was about to be ambushed. Beth found herself frozen in place as the world she knew and everything within it dropped out from beneath her feet. It stole her breath away, turning her blood to ice in a way that had nothing to do with the frigid temperature of the rain that had now soaked her to the bone.
Rooted to the floor, she felt like she was caught in a nightmare that there was no waking up from. She watched as Daryl ghosted his hand over the soggy terrain, his fingers tracing over what was left of the trail she had purposely left there for him. The rain had washed most evidence of it away but he was still trying his best to determine the direction it had taken. With his wet hair was hanging limply in his face, he was entirely focused on the endeavor and either didn't know or didn't see that his enemy was skulking up on him like the coward he was.
Len slowly raised the Stryker and set it against the scraggily beard at his cheek, his hardened gaze narrowing down the weapons sights as he geared himself up to tighten his finger on the trigger. Even from a distance she could see a dark expression of glee cross his face, making it clear that he was about to enjoy this moment that for him had been a long time coming. Just past the trees that obscured the two men from one another, Daryl stood up none the wiser, inadvertently exposing himself to make an even easier target.
With her heart wedged in her throat Beth took off running, not hesitating for a moment as she threw all caution to the wind. Only one thing mattered as everything else in existence faded into a void of obscurity, doing so until even the rain itself decelerated into a surreal state of slow motion. Desperate to close the space between them, she glanced over to see Len taking aim, honing the crossbow in on the mark that was now making it all too simple to do.
Spurred on, she cried out Daryl's name, unable to help herself as the anguished sound of it cut through the air. He somehow managed to hear it above the ambient noise of the storm overhead and looked over to see her heading right towards him...
Without even a moment to lose, she launched herself into his arms, reaching him at the same moment the bolt did. Beth could only gasp as it tore excruciatingly into the curve of her shoulder, searing past the flesh in its way to come out clear through the other side. The sheer force of its impact slammed her against him, stealing away what little breath she had left. The bolt remained completely undeterred by the impediment her slim body created as it continued on in its effort to reach its original objective. Beth's sacrifice had slowed its momentum though, enough to where it only pierced Daryl's jacket, his shirt and the fragile skin over his heart before stopping dead in its tracks.
Burying her face into the dampness at his neck, she hugged him tightly to her, reveling in his nearness despite the fact that he was cursing up a very Daryl-like storm at her ear. Her body sagged heavily against him as the pain caused darkness to descend almost immediately. With the agony of it feeling like nothing she had ever experienced before, she went there willingly… having nothing left to give now that all was said and done.
He was going to be mad as hell at her but she didn't care… he was alive and that was all that mattered.
If what had been done ensured he stayed that way then as far as she was concerned, it was worth it.
…..
What the hell...?
Daryl barely had time to brace himself before Beth slammed into him, causing him to drop the Horton into the mud. Completely at a loss for seeing her again so unexpectedly, he reeled back as the impact of her body almost took him off of his feet. Where had she come from? Not even a moment ago, his anger about the situation had him dangerously close to throwing his fist through the nearest available surface and now she was here, practicality materializing out of thin air like she had somehow inherently known it!
The collision of her slight frame against his own brought with it a sharp stabbing pain at his chest, indicating immediately that something was wrong. Daryl's brows drew as he glanced down past the tangle of pale wet hair to see the bolts bright yellow fletching protruding from just under the girls left shoulder blade. Realizing what such a thing meant, he felt the blood drain from the rain soaked contours of his face...
''Nah… this ain't fuckin' happenin'!… Beth!''
The girl slumped limply against him as the connotations of her actions hit him like a ten ton hammer, taking him down to his knees for the second time that day. Cradling her slight body in his arms, the anger and confusion he felt gave way to something far more tangible… a deep rooted fear that detonated within him to completely eclipse all other emotions. Daryl gingerly peeled her from him, dreading to see the damage done. The bolt that pinned them together tore free from his jacket and went with her, the grey metal tip of it jutting starkly from her chest. He winced in remorse and set her carefully on the ground, being sure to avoid laying her directly on her back. Faint traces of blood instantly began to pool at the base of her slender throat, swirling within the rain water that was determined to wash away the evidence of its existence away.
''Beth…'' He swept her wet hair from her face, completely confounded as to why she would've chosen to do such a stupid thing. ''Please… Christ, don't do this…''
As if she had heard him, the girls eyes slowly opened. Her lashes fluttered against the rain before she stared up at him lucidly, ensnaring them both in a poignant moment that was not of their making. Finding themselves surreally caught up in it, the harsh reality of the situation soon returned to the forefront to drag them both back in its wake. Beth's gaze immediately widened for it and she gasped out in pain, her breathing becoming shallow and listless as it struggled to bypass the bolt lodged in her chest. Swallowing hard in an effort to counteract it, she pulled him down to her to whisper out a single syllable at his ear.
''...Len.''
As if he'd been summoned by God himself, Len appeared in the distance to storm his way over with the empty Stryker gripped tightly in his hand. Upon seeing him, Daryl felt an all encompassing rage overtake him… a blinding fury that had burned within him from his very first encounter with the bastard to this, undoubtedly and unequivocally his last. The inherently violent tendencies that came with it converged with the other raw emotions churning within him to make him a damn near unstoppable force. Every physical encounter he'd ever had… every bolt he ever fired… all seemed to bring him to this very moment.
''Motherfucker!'' Daryl snarled, surging over the girls prone body to meet the man coming at him head on.
The anger inside of him fueling the fire, it matriculated within his blood to become a singular and vengeful objective. To him, Len was nothing more than a dead man walking, the catalyst behind everything that was about to get taken out like the piece of shit that he was. There was a black look on Len's face that Daryl knew matched the intensity of his own but he honestly didn't care, now beyond fucking ready to be done with the infuriating son of a bitch and everything he had come to represent.
The two men collided in a hail of fists, the stormy elements surrounding them matching the ferocity of their hatred for one another. Every blow given inflicted the damage it intended, each of them going at the other with the tenacity of a rabid dog that had a grudge to settle. It didn't take long before they ended up in the mud, both of them pummeling through what was left of their testosterone fueled adrenaline as they swung at each other wildly. Bloodied and bruised, Len was able to get in some solid hits but was no match the sheer magnitude and scale of Daryl's amassed fury.
Pushed beyond reason, Daryl surged on top of his opponent with a grunt to straddle him in the mud. The will of his seething anger alone made each and every strike count and he kept at it, doing so despite the fact that the slippery son of a bitch was fighting him hard the whole goddamn time. Blinded by the fiery red haze that had overtaken him, he rained down blow after blow, each one coming down harder than the last to drain him of his energy as his bloodlust ran amuck.
Daryl vaguely recalled feeling such a thing before… back at the country club when he had decimated that pack of walkers in the locker room. Much like then, the intensity of his rage needed an outlet and the bloodied man writhing beneath him had become the epitome of everything in his life that had caused it. Even when Len's face became mangled beyond recognition, Daryl found he still couldn't stop… continuing to beat down on him mercilessly until his knuckles were raw and the sinew under his skin was shaking.
He heaved for breath before sagging over from the violent effort expended, barely able to see straight now that he was bottoming out on fumes. Len gurgled noisily from where he was beneath him as he coughed up a wad of blood and spat it out indignantly into the puddle they fought in.
That was then that Daryl chanced a fleeting glance over at Beth, finding a small part left of himself that was still somewhat cognizant enough to do so. Curled up on her side, she was looking right at him... her gaze empathetic and calm despite the severe pain she was in. He paused as the sound of her voice seemed to echo in his head. It was telling him to stop… that he was on the verge of losing himself. With his fist hovering mid-strike, she managed to pull him out of the blood fueled frenzy he hadn't even known he was participating in.
Daryl heaved himself from Len's prone body and dragged himself to his feet, going over to pick up the Horton from where it lay by her side. Slumping down on a knee to grab it, he took the moment to graze his fingers over the dampened curve of her cheek, thanking her without words while letting her know that the ordeal they had both been wrung through was almost over. Her breath was stilted as she subconsciously leaned into his hand and she nodded encouragingly for him to hurry and finish what had been started.
Len glared up from where he lay, either not seeing or not caring that the Horton was now being determinedly honed in on him. Daryl's gaze narrowed as he came back over, the sights on the weapon lining up perfectly despite the cold and the fact that his hands were slick with blood.
''What… the fuck you… waiting on?'' The man sprawled on the ground croaked out. The hatred in his eyes seemed to burn that much brighter for having been beaten in every sense of the word.
''Ya know this was never gonna work out well for you,'' Daryl growled, not dropping his guard even for a second. ''… all tha dumbass shit you pulled? There weren't no fuckin' way...''
''What the hell ever man!'' Len spat, coughing up blood again for the effort it took. ''Look at me! Does it look like I really fucking care? It… it weren't never about that. The girl? She weren't nothing but a goal to me… a goddamn objective an' that's it…''
Reality descended down upon him and he struggled to pull an even breath as it hitched destructively in his throat. The light in his eyes fading for it, he managed to glare up at Daryl and sneer, ''Going after her just gave me a reason… a reason to keep livin' and breathin' in this shit show we now call a life…''
Daryl's resolve was completely unmoved. Regarding Len as such, he bit out through his teeth, ''That reason don't exist for you, asshole. What ya failed ta take into account is that she's my reason ta do tha same. For me, there's her an' nothin' else.''
Len opened his mouth like he had something more to say only to have the unwanted sentiment cut off by the bolt that tore through his temple.
Feeling nothing for seeing the matter done, Daryl stepped back, releasing the death grip he had on the Horton's trigger as he dropped the weapon heavily to his side. As far as he was concerned, the man laying there had gotten everything he deserved and then some. If there was a price to be paid by all of them in the end then the bastard had earned his from the very moment he chose to make Beth his only incentive in life worth living for. From there, it had been nothing but a done deal.
With thoughts of the girl pulling him back to the present, Daryl ran back over to where she lay. Skidding down next to her in the mud, he placed the empty crossbow at his knee before gingerly pulling her up into his arms. He winced as her head languished heavily onto his shoulder.
Her eyes were still closed almost as though she were sleeping and she was a hell of a lot paler than he expected. Daryl looked down to see the blood infused puddle that had collected steadily under her body and he felt his heart lurch in his chest. That wasn't good.
''Beth…'' He whispered, completely at a loss of what else to do. ''Beth… c'mon baby, wake up for me…''
The drizzle that had been a constant was now nothing more than a mist and she flinched from under it as she struggled to do as he asked. Daryl swallowed hard at his emotions, taking the moment to peel away a lock of pale hair that was plastered to her face. His hand hovered uselessly over the bolt protruding from her chest. He was afraid to pull it out, especially while she was somewhat conscious enough to feel it. Being as deep in the sticks as they were with no medical supplies for miles, he didn't dare risk it. At least the damn thing hadn't hit any major organs though, of that much he was certain. Coming in through her shoulder, a few inches down and to the right and it would've been a much more devastating story.
He looked on as she slowly came to, completely overwhelmed with varying degrees of guilt and regret. That she had put herself in harms way was one thing, but that she had done so for him of all people was almost more than he could bear.
Weak from blood loss, she regarded him knowingly for a moment before mustering as much of a breath as the pain would allow to whisper, ''You… came for me.''
''Yeah, well… what else am I gonna do,'' Daryl managed to say, keeping it purposely light. Being careful not to jostle her too much, he settled her weight more fully against himself. ''I already done told ya that I'm used ta having ya around. Who else would put up with me? Besides… if anythin', I'm thinkin' it's more you who came for me. Gotta feelin' I'd be tha one layin' there dead right now if ya hadn't…''
From where she was in his arms, Beth let her head lilt over... seemingly not surprised to see Len sprawled in the mud nearby with a bolt lodged in his head.
She expelled a faint sigh of relief, one she had earned just as much as he had. With the sound of it echoing hollowly under the fragile cage of her ribs, Daryl pulled her to him, hugging her as tightly as he dared. He pressed his mouth to the curve by her ear and whispered the one question that had been confounding him the whole time, the anguish within it ghosting over the dampness of her skin...
''Damn stubborn girl... what tha hell were ya thinkin'?''
Beth nestled herself more fully against his warmth, drawing from it as a shiver ran down her back. Doing her best to stay conscious, she breathed to him softly, ''I was thinking that I love you… that I'll always love you...''
Her eyes closed... but not before she managed to add, ''… and since you wanted to know, that's what I was thinking.''
…..
Thank you for reading as always. It is almost unbelievable to think that I am now 50 chapters into this! What had started out as just a little story based on one episode has turned into so much more and that's amazing on so many levels. I know I usually post on Mondays but I'm on vacation and finished this chapter early so I decided not to wait. I hope it is a nice surprise to anyone who might have been waiting for it.