Chapter 9 –
Day in, day out, Daryl thought back to that beautiful night on the porch of the moonshine still.
"I love you, Beth Greene. If I lost you, there'd be nothing left for me to live for," he growled out before pressing his lips to hers in a heated kiss that burned through their veins. "When you go, it'll be over my dead body. I ain't gonna let anythin' happen to you, sweetheart." He spoke against her lips before peppering more kisses against her lips and covering her body with his.
They didn't have sex that night, much to Beth's annoyance. He refused to have her first time be while they were drunk and on the grimy floor of the shit house they were staying in. Beth had argued but Daryl had been adamant. Then a couple of days later, she stepped in that animal trap. Then they'd found the funeral home.
Then she was just gone.
"I ain't gonna let anythin' happen you, sweetheart."
Daryl should have known better than to make that promise. On one hand, he was glad she was gone. Then she wouldn't have had to meet Joe and his group, witness the horrible attack on Rick, Carl, and Michonne, or fight through the escape at Terminus.
On the other hand, Daryl needed her with him in a way he had never needed someone around before. He desperately needed to know if she was still alive. His blue eyes moved to Maggie, who was snuggled and sleeping contentedly in Glenn's arms. She had not asked if anyone knew the whereabouts of her sister. Not once.
Beth had been fiercely loyal to her sister, arguing for them to track the rest of their family down. Yet her sister didn't even ask about her. Not once. Daryl was getting angrier with every passing moment that Maggie ignored the missing person.
Daryl was brought from his thoughts as Rick sat down beside him.
"It doesn't seem right, does it?" The ex-sheriff asked, also looking at Maggie. Daryl grunted in response. Rick hadn't been expecting an actual response to his question, the hunter beside him had barely spoken since Terminus. "She hasn't asked about Beth once...did you tell her about Beth being alive?" Rick was no fool. He knew a broken hearted person when he saw one and Daryl was definitely one. Daryl gave a small shake of his head to say no and Rick sighed.
"Is there any hope of us finding her?" The man asked and was surprised to see Daryl look up at him and meet his eyes.
"Fuck yea, there is. She always reminded me that keeping faith and hope alive was important. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna keep faith and hope that we'll find 'er. She'll prolly hate my guts though." Daryl replied, his voice heavy with pain and lack of use.
"Why's that?" Rick asked and Daryl sighed.
"I promised her nothin' bad would happen, that I'd keep her safe. And then she got taken and I gave up at the first obstacle. I gave up on her and left with those fuckers..."
"If I remember correctly, Daryl, you did save her. From what you told me, that funeral home was overrun. With her injury, she didn't stand a chance to fight them off with you. Neither one of you would have survived." Rick reasoned as Daryl looked at his boots and poked his crossbow into the dirt, listening attentively. "I think it was a set up, honestly. Whoever took Beth tried to kill you with a herd of walkers and lured her out. I have a feeling that if you had both come out, together, they would have killed you and taken her anyways."
Daryl nodded. "I've been thinkin' the same thing. Those fuckers have another thing comin' though..."
"What's that?" Rick asked.
"They don't know I survived. And I'm gonna kill every single one of them when I find them."