Broken Halo

Chapter 11

Beth slowly crept through the building, holding Judith close. She was just happy the baby was asleep and she was with her, not locked in the train car with the others. Everyone was asleep as far as she could tell. She was sure there were guards somewhere, but it was dark, the clouds blocked the moon and the stars. It would be easy for her to slip unnoticed in the shadows. She slipped through them, using them to mask her as she made her way to the train car. She'd managed to find a led pipe that she was going to have to use for a weapon if anyone found her. She hid in the shadow of a building and peeked around, the train car was right there. She just needed to get to it. She looked around; making sure no one was watching her, making sure no one would see if her she stepped out. When she didn't see anyone, she slowly stepped out from the shadows and made her way to the car. She quickly ran up the steps and opened the latch keeping the door sealed shut. She could hear them moving around inside.

"Rick?" she called out softly, letting him know that it was her, just in case they had their own plan of attack ready.

"Beth?" he heard him call out. She heard Maggie and Daryl whispering inside.

She smiled and started to slide the door open and handed Judith to him. "I'm gonna get yo—" She was cut off when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her from the steps. She landed hard on her back, the air rushing from her lungs.

Gareth was standing over her, smirking darkly as his men stood at the door with guns. "So, you thought you'd sneak away in the middle of the night?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Nice try little girl, but we've been following you since you slipped out of the window." He turned his head and looked at the men behind him. "Bring them. All of them." Beth cried out as Gareth fisted her hair in his hand pulled her up, dragging her behind him as he led them back inside.

"Let her go," Maggie demanded from behind them.

Gareth smirked at her as they led them inside to a dimly lit room and threw Beth into the middle of the floor. "Looks like your sister is worried about you. Maybe you should have thought about that before you tried to escape." He looked at his men. "Put them on their knees, execution style. Put the baby in that room for now."

"Don't kill them," Beth spat, jumping up and lunging at Gareth. He caught her and roughly grabbed her wrists, forcing them behind her back.

He smirked down at her. "A wild cat huh? I'm going to enjoy taming you." He pushed her back into one of his men who caught her around the waist, pinning her arms against her sides. "I'm not going to kill them, but you need to be punished for trying to break them out. They're simply here to see what we do to those who break the rules." He looked back at the group, making sure barrels of guns were pressed firmly to their heads before he looked back at Beth.

She saw it coming but couldn't get away, not while she was being held. His fist flew at her face and her head snapped to the side, stars dancing in front of her eyes. She slowly turned her head back and glared at him. He could do what he wanted to her as long as he didn't touch her family. He smirked when she glared back at him. "The tough act is admirable, but by the time I'm done with you, you're going to be begging for death." He grabbed the pipe she'd had earlier and swung it. She cried out as it collided with her stomach and she threw up.

"You son of a bitch," Daryl growled. Her eyes flew to his as he tried to move. The man who had the gun against his head knocked him in the head with the butt of his gun. Daryl growled and lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers. Tears started to fall from her eyes.

Gareth looked between the two of them before he started laughing. "Oh, this is much better." He nodded at the man who was holding a gun to Daryl. He hauled Daryl up and forced him to the center of the room while the man holding Beth pulled her back and out of the way. "Lovers," Gareth sneered, looking at Beth. "This is much better than marking up that pretty face." He laughed as he tossed the pipe into the air before catching it again. "Let's see…what to hit first?"

Beth struggled against the man holding her. "Don't you touch him you sick bastard."

Gareth's cruel eyes flew to them. "Shut her up." A greasy hand covered her mouth as Gareth swung the pipe. She screamed behind the hand as Daryl doubled over, the pipe most likely cracking his ribs at the very least bruising them. Over and over again Gareth hit him with fists, kicked him with feet, and drove a pipe into his body. Tears were streaming down her face as she saw all of the blood, heard his grunts of pain. She struggled harder; she could feel the man's grip slipping. She didn't care what happened to her but he wasn't allowed to die. She didn't think, she couldn't think, not when Daryl's body hit the ground. She opened her mouth, slipped it over the hand and bit down hard enough to draw blood. The man holding her cried out, throwing her away from him and she used the momentum to lunge herself at Gareth, tackling him to the ground.

Everything happened so fast after that. A fight broke out, gunshots rang through the room and bodies fell. She didn't pay attention. Her hands went to Gareth's throat, trying to choke the life out of him. He growled and backhanded her, knocking her off of him. She slowly got up but Gareth was faster. His still toed boot collided with her stomach, sending her rolling a few feet. She groaned, lifting her head up. She saw it then. "I'm going to enjoy killing you. Maybe I'll fuck you first, make him watch while I do it," Gareth sneered as he walked towards her above the fighting going on around them. She started to crawl, pretending to get away from him. He just laughed and followed her. Beth crawled until she was over it. "Would you like that?" he asked, his tone mocking. "Getting fucked by a real man while your lover watches?"

Beth wrapped her hands around the gun and moved quickly, pointing it at her. "No one is raping me ever again." She squeezed the trigger and watched as the blood pooled in the middle of Gareth's head before his dead body hit the ground. That's where the fighting ended. She looked over at Daryl. He was trying to sit up, coughing up blood. She scrambled to her feet and ran to him. "Maggie," she cried out.

Maggie and Carol were there in seconds, pulling his shirt up and looking at all of the cuts on his skin. Other people from Terminus showed up to see what was going on, the ones that couldn't fight. Rick demanded one of them bring any medical supplies they had. Within minutes it was put in front of Beth and she opened it up, handing things to Maggie and Carol as they asked for them, her other hand wrapped around Daryl's.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Beth shook her head, tears leaking from her eyes. "You're gonna be the last man standing, remember?" She smiled and kissed him. "We're gonna take care of you." He weakly nodded his head as Maggie and Carol cleaned his wounds and bandaged him up. Beth refused to leave his side, even as Rosita wanted to look her over. She just couldn't leave him. They got a stretcher from somewhere and Abraham and Rick got him onto it. She followed them, staying right by his side as they carried him to an empty bedroom. She climbed into bed beside him, making sure she wasn't close enough that she could hurt him. She fell asleep, string at his face and praying he made it through the night.

…

Daryl woke slowly. His head was throbbing and his side hurt like a bitch. But he was warm, and when he opened his eyes she saw her pale blonde hair. Slowly he reached up and ran his fingers through it, thinking she must have brushed it recently because there were no tangles. She picked her head up and looked at him with those storm grey baby blues. "You're awake," she spoke softly.

He smiled a little and nodded. "Just woke up."

She sat up, realizing she was putting pressure on his side. "Do you need me to get someone?" He shook his head and gently pulled her back down, missing her warmth. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Me too." He nuzzled her hair. He'd forgotten how good it felt to hold her in his arms. He was an idiot for yelling at her. He saw that now. "What've I missed?"

She sighed and kissed his chest. "Rick and Abraham took over. They're turning this place into a true safe haven." She smiled a little. "They want to wait out the winter before getting Eugene to D.C., Rick's talking about going with them."

Daryl nodded his head. "Makes sense." He sighed and winced. Deep breaths were not a good idea right now. "Be close to the action, closer to the cure."

Beth nodded her head. "Daryl?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you still mad at me?"

He stared down at her, gently brushed his thumb over the bruise on her face from where she'd been hit. "Not anymore." He cupped her face and pulled her into a kiss. He wasn't going to let her go again. Not anymore. He was done fucking around. He was done acting like he couldn't be happy. Whatever shit she needed to work through, she could work through it, if that meant killing walkers that was fine, he'd just have to be there to have her back. She was his and he was going to make sure she stayed protected.

She smiled and kissed him back, tears slowly falling from her eyes. He kissed them away before someone knocked softly on the door. "Come in," she called out.

Rick poked his head in, making sure he was awake before he stepped in, Carl behind him carrying a tray of food. "Thought you two would like to eat."

"Thanks," Daryl gritted out as he forced himself to sit up. Fuck he hurt. "Ass-Kicker okay?" he asked.

Rick nodded. "Carol has her, she's fine, not a scratch on her." Daryl nodded his head as he slowly ate. He frowned when Beth didn't reach for the food. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her eat.

"Baby, you gotta eat," he told her.

Beth shook her head. "I'm not feeling good right now," she told him. "I'll eat later." Daryl sighed but nodded his head. She didn't leave his side though as they talked over what they were going to do with the people they hadn't killed. Most of them just wanted to live and do what they were told, but a few were going to cause problems. They decided to put everyone on probation for now. Daryl finished eating and thanked them before they left. He lay back against the pillows, pulling Beth close.

…

Beth was on her way to the kitchen to see what they were having for dinner. Daryl was doing better, it had been a few weeks and he was moving better. She just liked to do things for him, and they had just gotten done making love, she was planning on getting food and taking it back for Daryl when the pain over took her. It was white hot, blinding her, paralyzing her. She hit her knees, gripping her stomach as she screamed. She didn't know where it was coming from or what it was. She could hear everyone running towards her to see what was going on. Daryl reached her first, hitting his knees beside her. "Beth? Beth what's going on?"

She shook her head, tears streaming from her eyes. She hadn't been feeling well, they all knew that, but this sudden attack came out of nowhere. She didn't know what was going on. He moved to pick her up but noticed the blood on her jeans. "Fuck, Beth."

Maggie ran to her and stopped, staring in horror at the blood. "Move," she ordered. She can Carol helped get Beth and up and back to the room, slamming the door shut behind them. Beth was burning up she could feel the sweat on her face as whatever was wrong with her consumed her. She had cramps that were killing her, her back hurt, and her stomach was rioting inside of her. She heard Maggie swear as Carol pulled her jeans off. She heard the door open. "Daryl, for your own good, stay the fuck out. Sasha, Rosita, I need hot water, now and towels, Glenn, bring me that red bag from the medical room."

"What's going on?" Beth asked Carol as she knelt in front of her.

"Easy, Beth," she soothed. Beth started to hyperventilate, she didn't know what was going on and no one would tell her. "It's going to be okay sweetheart." Beth could see all of the blood on Carol's hands as Maggie came back with the things she'd asked for. Beth tuned them out and stared at the ceiling as the pain ripped through her.

Maggie helped her sit up slowly. "Beth, sweetheart, take this, it'll ease the pain." Beth swallowed whatever Maggie put on her tongue and lay back down. She could hear Maggie and Carol whispering something but they weren't talking loud enough. Before she had time to demand an answer Maggie was digging around and pulling out one of Daryl's shirts. They helped Beth out of her shirt and into Daryl's but didn't give her any jeans to put back on.

Beth stared at her sister as Carol cleaned up and left the room, still not letting Daryl in. "Maggie, what happened?" she demanded.

Maggie shook her head, tears shining in her eyes. "Beth…did you know you were pregnant?" she asked. Beth stared at her in horror as she realized what had happened. She slowly shook her head. She'd had no idea, she'd been throwing up, but they had all assumed that was because she hadn't been eating and her body was trying to tell her something was wrong. Something was wrong…just not what they thought. "I'll let Daryl in." Maggie kissed her head and slowly walked out. Beth turned onto her side and curled up, pulling the blankets over her as tears slipped from her eyes. She did the math in her head, it had to be Daryl's, if it had been one of her rapists' she would have known already, she would have been getting bigger.

…

Maggie walked out and closed the door. Daryl could see the tears in her eyes. "What the fuck is going on?" he demanded. He was pissed. Why wouldn't they let him see her?

Maggie shook her head and took a breath. "Beth was pregnant, she just miscarried." Tears slipped from her eyes. "It was yours; it couldn't have been those men's. We would have known."

Daryl let those words sink in, understood why they hadn't let him in. Anger rioted inside of him like a fire tornado, consumed him. "Son of a bitch," he swore, lashing out and punching a whole clean through the drywall. He ignored the blood as tears stung his eyes. He turned around and stalked out. He walked outside, grabbing something heavy on his way and made his way to the woods. He spent an hours, looking for walkers and killing them, violently, brutally. It was nearly dark when he heard someone coming to find him.

Rick walked up slowly. "Daryl, you have to go see her."

Daryl nodded his head, staring at the dead walker at his feet. She would have had a full term pregnancy if that sadistic fucker hadn't taken a lead pipe to her stomach. He wanted to kill him all over again. He didn't say anything to Rick as he handed the pipe he'd been using over to him and made his way back to Beth. He slowly walked inside the room and kicked off his boots and pulled his bloody clothes off before he slipped under the blankets with her.

She turned into him, burying her head against his chest. Her face was soaked, she was still crying. "I'm so sorry, Beth," he whispered into her hair, pulling her closer, crushing her against him.

"I didn't even know," she sobbed, wiping her eyes even though it didn't help. "How could I not know?"

He shook his head and kissed her head. "None of us did." He took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. "This is not your fault and I don't want you thinking it is." She nodded her head weakly. "Good." He pulled her close and just held her, running his hand through her hair, up and down her back as she cried against him. "We can try again, once things are better. We'll try again, baby, I promise." She nodded her head against him again. He just held her close.