Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead nor am I in any way affiliated with the show, the comics or AMC. This is strictly a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. Thanks.
A/N: Hello, my lovelies! As you can see, I did not die, nor did I drop off the face of the Earth. I have just had some significant changes going on in the world of me. A new job, a new job offer, the possibility of moving, etc. etc. etc. Big, big things! Anyway, as a result my updates have suffered and, I fear, will continue to suffer. Not to worry, I still have the entire story mapped out in that brain of mine and will finish. It may just take me a while so I hope that you will all bear with me!
As always, thank you to everyone who reviewed! It does help to motivate me to get the next update up quickly so keep it up! Now, let's find out what's up with Daryl and Beth, shall we…
Hunted
Chapter Thirteen
The gasp of surprise had no sooner left Beth's lips that her assailant was ripped away from her. Daryl had appeared from out of nowhere and faster than the blink of an eye he had her would-be attacker pinned up against the thin metal of the train car behind them. His left forearm was braced against the assailant's throat and his knife was raised in his right hand. Beth stumbled to the side, trying to slow her pulse and ease her nerves. The, her bearings came rushing back into reality and she gaped in disbelief at the man Daryl held.
Daryl was poised and ready to kill—until he found himself staring into a pair of familiar dark eyes. "Glenn?"
The younger man gave a broad grin, "Good to see you, too."
Daryl released him at the same time Beth rushed forward to embrace him. "Sorry, man," Daryl said, taking a step back, "Beth got snatched a while back. Shit ain't happenin' again."
"Surprised it happened at all," Glenn said, squeezing his sister in law even as he tried to catch his breath.
"Yeah, well, I was pinned down. Walkers. Bastards got lucky."
` "And when you found her?"
"Not so lucky, then."
"Everything okay, here?" a deep, unfamiliar voice boomed.
For the first time, Daryl and Beth noticed Glenn's companions. There were four of them; a giant of a man with a red buzz cut and facial hair, a chubby guy with a light brown honest-to-God mullet, a shapely Latina with a sexy mouth and a somewhat shorter brunette chick with wide, panic stricken eyes. Daryl gave them all an acknowledging nod, then noticed that Beth was staring hard at the second girl. He had just opened his mouth to say something to her when, like something out of an old western, Beth turned in quick-draw and had he gun out of the holster and aimed at the brunette's head.
From there, everything seemed to happen at once.
Mullet top faded back a few steps, the red head aimed his rifle at Beth, Daryl aimed his crossbow at the red head and the Latina aimed her gun at Daryl. The brunette held her hands up in surrender, her chin quivering beyond control.
"Beth?" Daryl called.
Tears streaming freely down both cheeks, Beth cried, "She was there!"
"Put the gun down, miss," the red head demanded.
"Put your gun down, asshole," Daryl snapped back.
"Beth," Glenn said, trying to keep his voice calm, "don't."
"Daryl," Beth continued, the absolute anguish in her voice wrenching through Daryl like a dull knife, "She was there! She was there when daddy died! I saw her! I saw her with—with the governor!"
"That true?" Daryl asked.
"We need to talk about this," Glenn said, calm and rational.
The red head spoke to Daryl, "Tell your girl to lower her weapon."
"You keep pointin' that thing at her, we're gonna have a problem," Daryl growled in response, "Beth!"
Beth was trembling. She could feel it through her entire body. It took every bit of strength she possessed to keep her gun steady, but she did it. By God, she did it. She'd never forget that day, the details of it were emblazoned across her memory for the rest of time. And the girl in front of her had been there; standing just behind the governor as he had heartlessly beheaded her father. And had done nothing. Beth could barely hear everybody yelling at each other over the rushing in her ears. All she had to do was squeeze the trigger; just a little squeeze, barely a movement of her finger—and all the noise would be over.
Would it make everything okay if she squeezed the trigger? Would it help?
Only one way to find out.
Everything in the peripheral of her vision blurred and all she could see was the girl from the worst day of her life. Then, Glenn stepped in front of her, blocking her shot. Immediately, Beth angled her gun to the ground.
The red head and the Latina both lowered their weapons. Daryl did not. "Stat talkin', Glenn."
"This is Abraham and Rosita. That's Eugene. This is Tara. They've been helping me. She has been helping me." Glenn explained.
"Daddy," Beth breathed to no one, silent tears still sliding steadily down her face.
Daryl finally raised his crossbow so it was point to the sky, stared at them all for a second, then strapped it to his back. Beth stood there, gun still in hand, her face colorless, her eyes sightless. She looked so small, so vulnerable, so pale. Suddenly, Daryl was back on the farm watching a fragile, shaken beautiful girl fall to pieces over the decayed corpse of what had at one time been her mother. He had sympathized for her then, but in truth he had been far too wrapped up in his own loss to take much note of her. This time around, she wouldn't fall apart. She was stronger now. And she had him. If she needed it, he had enough strength for the both of them. He would let her break.
The brunette, Tara, took a step toward Beth, opened her mouth like she meant to say something, but before she could utter a sound, Daryl placed himself in front of her. "Back the hell off," he snarled through clenched teeth.
Tara stumbled back to the other woman, Rosita, who placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Glenn moved the reach for Beth, but she jerked away from him and buried her face in Daryl's chest. Daryl rested one hand on the back of her neck and let her hide. He narrowed his eyes at Glenn, "I won't kill her, but keep that bitch away from Beth."
Glenn's lips parted, his eyes narrowed and took on a glint like he was about to argue, but a racking spilled from Beth and he shut his mouth. His jaw tightened but his eyes softened as he gave Daryl a nod. He seemed to grasp that Beth needed some time.
"I didn't catch your name, friend," Abraham said, starring unblinkingly at Daryl.
Daryl thought this unlikely considering how many times Beth had said it in the last few minutes. Still, he stared right back at the man, still clutching Beth to his chest, "I didn't throw it."
Glenn squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger because, really, this was just what they all needed, "This is Daryl and Beth."
"Some of your people," Rosita said. It was a question.
Glenn dropped his hand, opened his eyes and nodded, "Beth is my sister in law."
"Well, you need to keep your sister in law in check," Abraham stated.
"And you need to watch what you say!" Daryl snapped.
"It's fine," Tara said to Abraham at the same time Glenn exclaimed, "Guys!"
"This is pointless," Eugene said, his words slow, his southern fried accent thick as molasses, "There's a history here. Understood. But seven is a stronger number than five."
Everyone was silent for a moment. Glenn caught Daryl's eye and smiled, "It's good to see you."
Daryl reached out with his free hand and clasped hold of Glenn's, "On that, we agree."
Beth sniffed twice and lifted her head from Daryl's chest. He cupped her face between his hands and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Then, he settled his hands on her narrow shoulders.
"You good?" he asked.
When she nodded, he gave her shoulders a squeeze and before he could stop himself, he kissed the top of her head. He caught the speculative look on Glenn's face and dropped his hands from her shoulders. Clearing his throat, he took a quick step away from her. Daryl used one hand to indicate their group of new 'friends' and asked, "So, how did this happen?"
Glenn just shrugged, "How does anything happen these days?"
"Yeah," Daryl acquiesced.
"We've been on these tracks for a while. They're looking for a new vehicle," he locked eyes on Beth and gestured to Tara, "we're looking for Maggie."
Daryl nodded in tight little shakes of his head, then jerked it to the right, "Yeah, we should keep movin'. Me and Beth might have a tail."
"Yeah," Glenn said, falling into step at Daryl's side at the newly formed group began walking, "you said that she was grabbed?"
So, as they walked, Daryl explained to Glenn and the others about Joe and the boys. He did not elaborate but nor did he sugarcoat it. He made it very clear that if Joe caught up to them, they would be in serious trouble. Sometime during his story, Beth had slinked up to Daryl's side and folded her hand into his. The motion had become almost second nature to Daryl and he barely noticed it, curling his fingers protectively around hers. Glenn, however, definitely noticed.
"Anyway," Daryl said when he had concluded his tale of Joe, "We figured we'd take a look at this Terminus place. See what it's about. That's where we'll head."
"Now, wait just a damn minute! Who in the hell made you the cock of the walk?" Abraham demanded.
A dozen or more responses to the question flooded Daryl's mind, each one more vulgar that the last. Instead, he fixed the red headed giant with a steely eyed stare, "Ain't nobody forcin' you to stick around, Sunshine."
The response from both Beth and Rosita were simultaneous:
"Daryl!"
"Abraham!"
Beth caught Daryl by the arm, "Daryl, we need help."
Daryl gestured wildly at Abraham, "He pointed a gun at you!"
"I pointed a gun at one of them," Beth responded.
"I don't give a damn about her!" Daryl spat.
I give a damn about you. Beth heard the words even if Daryl didn't say them out loud. He was worried about her and in truth, he was probably right to do so. She had flipped out. Maybe it was temporary insanity and she was thinking more clearly now, but she knew that she couldn't kill that girl. It wouldn't bring her father back and it would only hurt her in the long run. She had just needed a moment to adjust.
Beth smiled her small, entirely too breakable smile at Daryl and said, "I know. But there is safety in numbers. We need them just as much as they need us, Daryl."
"I dunno about that."
"Daryl."
Daryl stared at her for what felt like an eternity. In truth, it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. His jaw clenched tight and an expression on his face that was far from happy, he finally gave those small, jerky nods of his. Beth smiled and squeezed her fingers around his arm. Then her gaze landed on Tara and the smile vanished. She had accepted that she would not kill this girl. But acceptance and forgiveness were two extremely different things.
Abraham had just snapped something off about trust when Glenn stepped up to him. Unknowingly mimicking words that Daryl had said to him once upon a time in regards to his brother, Glenn said to Abraham, "They're with us now. Deal with it."
With that, the ground started moving again. After about fifteen minutes of Daryl leading the way, he motioned for Beth to join him. He pulled his crossbow from his back and handed it to her, telling her to take point. Then he let her take to the lead.
"What are you doing?" Glenn demanded, his tone hushed.
Daryl never took his eyes off of where Beth walked about five paces ahead of him, "Girl's gotta learn."
"But—"
"Don't worry." Daryl said, "She's smart. She's tough. And we're right here."
Glenn straightened his shoulders and fought back his discomfort before saying, "Okay, Daryl, there's something I think I need to ask you."
Tara sidestepped Daryl and Glenn and made her way up to Beth's side. "Hi," she said and choked on the word. She cleared her throat and repeated, "Hi."
Beth gave her a quick, cool glance, then face forward again.
"Yeah," Tara said, "I wanted to apologize. I know that nothing I say is gonna really make a difference but—I needed to say it anyway. I—I didn't know what we were going to do when we got to the prison. I didn't know it was going to go down like that. None of us did. My sister wanted to go."
The word sister caught Beth's attention.
"And I wanted to be with her."
"So, where is she now?" Beth couldn't stop the question from tumbling from her lips.
"She died. There."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah. I guess Ph—," Tara couldn't bring herself to say his name, "that man, he—he took something from us all that day."
"Yeah," Beth said, feeling the first uneasy stirrings of a bond, "I guess he did."
"Well, spit it out," Daryl said.
Glenn cleared his throat, "Did you, uh—have you—you and Beth—have you taken advantage of—of her?"
"Hell no!" Daryl exclaimed and Glenn released a relieved breath. Then Daryl spoke again. "She took advantage of me."
"What?" Glenn squeaked.
"Ask her yourself. I think the little nympho is proud of it."
"Nympho is a strong word." Beth said from in front of them without looking back as Tara let herself laugh. Just a little. It felt nice to laugh again.
"Oh," Daryl said, "and what would you say."
"Enthusiastic." Beth supplied.
"Yeah," Daryl agreed, "an enthusiastic nympho."
"Oh my God, I can't be hearing this." Glenn said more to himself than to Daryl.
"Don't matter," Daryl said, "we're done talkin' about it. Ain't none of your concern."
"But—"
"We're done."
"But she's—"
"Mine."
Daryl said the word in a growl and it dawned on Glenn that there was a look in his eyes that he had never seen before. Something had happened in the weeks that Beth and Daryl had been together. Glenn smiled at the thought. Who was he to try and stand in the way of that?
Beth and Tara both suddenly stopped in their tracks and stood very still. Daryl and Glenn came to their sides to see what had caught their attention as Eugene, Rosita and Abraham closed in the distance from the rear. Up ahead was a sign. They had no idea what had been used to write it but that wasn't important. The message was the important part. It read:
GLENN, GO TO TERMINUS. MAGGIE, SASHA, BOB
Joe stared at the map that was stuck to the side of the train car. Terminus. What the hell was Terminus? Was it a safe haven? Somewhere that he quarry might seek refuge?
There was another group nearby, too. He and the boys had come across their tracks an hour or so previous. If they met up with his bowman and that little bitch, it could complicate things.
No. Not complicate.
It would just make things even more fun.
Exciting.
Hell, maybe the sun would shine on him and it would be that sonuvabitch what killed Lou. Wouldn't that be a daisy! He rubbed the material of the dirty yellow polo shirt between his fingers and brought it up to his nose, inhaling the fading scent of Blondie. Happy day, happy day.
A/N: Okay, that's it for now! I hope you enjoyed! Now, I realize that in the show, when Maggie met Tara, she didn't recognize her. However, I have my reasons for believing that Beth would. If anyone would like me to go into these reasons, I would be more than happy to. Anyways! Please let me know what you think of things so far! I am excited to start writing a group dynamic into the story.
New question! There were at least a dozen times in the S3 opener when Rick said the word "Daryl." That was all he said and then Daryl would appear and do something without any further prompting. They had they great communication. (I adore Rick and Daryl Bromance, can you tell?) My question is, at what point in the series do you think Rick started seeing Daryl as his closest ally? Before or after Shane?
Along the same lines, when do you think Daryl started to really respect Rick in his leadership role?
I have my own opinions on this but I am curious what everyone else thinks! Okay, guys! Until next time!