Chapter 15: Keep Going

It had been a few days since the fall of the prison and Rick still could barely move. After his fight with the Governor he felt like hell but he forced himself to follow Carl through a deserted Georgia suburb. After finding a suitable house he helped Carl secure it before he collapsed on the couch that blocked the door. All he wanted to do was sleep but his mind was too busy thinking about everything they had lost. Then his mind drifted off to Beth, he hadn't seen her since their talk earlier that morning and he wasn't sure if she got out. There was some part of his brain that hoped she had Judith but then he worried they were wandering around in the woods somewhere, alone. They needed him and here he was laying on a couch completely useless.

Beth wasn't sure how far her and Daryl were away from the prison but there still was no sign of anyone else they knew. They had mostly kept to the woods giving them more cover in case they ran across any herds of walkers. It proved to be the best idea but she thought if they found a road then maybe they would run into someone else from the prison. She had brought the idea up to Daryl but he ignored it like he did every other time she spoke to him. At night she tried her best to sleep but she could only think about Maggie, Judith, but most of all she thought about Rick. With no way of knowing if he was ok she could only think the worst and the unknown was killing her.

On their fourth day of walking she stopped Daryl. "We need to find a road. I know you can hunt with the best of them but we need more supplies if we're gonna make it."

At first it looked like he was going to ignore her but she could tell by the look on his face she finally got through to him. "Then let's go."

Following him through the woods they didn't speak, keeping an eye out for any possible threats. After walking for what felt like hours she finally saw a two lane road. With a small smile on her face she asked. "Do you think we'll find anyone?"

"I dunno, probably not," Daryl mumbled shifting his crossbow to his other arm.

"It wouldn't kill you to have a little faith, they could have made it out." She argued walking beside him.

"Yeah, faith, look what good that's done us."

"It beats thinking the worst." She whispered as they kept moving.

When Rick woke up he saw Carl sitting on the floor next to the couch. Gathering his strength he sat up. "Did you eat something?"

"Yeah," Carl answered not looking at his father.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Rick moved to sit beside him. Judging by the look on his face he knew something was wrong with Carl. "Hey," He spoke. "What's going on?"

Carl sighed. "What happened with you and Beth?"

"Oh no," Rick murmured. He knew he was going to have to have this conversation with his son but he didn't want to have it like this. "Carl its not..."

"How could you?! She's closer to my age. Were you even gonna tell me?"

"I was...then the Governor attacked." Rick explained. "How did you find out?"

"You were saying her name in your sleep."

"I'm sorry, Carl," Rick said, turning his head to look at his son. "I didn't want you to be the last to know."

"Yeah well we see how that worked out." Carl snapped rising from his seat on the floor.

Rick sighed, dropping his head. On the plus side Carl finally knew but he didn't want him to find out that way. Carefully he stood up on his feet to follow his son into the kitchen. "Carl, I'm sorry," He spoke but the younger boy still refused to look at him. "I didn't want you to find out like this but I want you to know just because I let another woman into my life that doesn't mean I don't remember your mom."

"Its not that!" Carl snapped. "I saw my friends with divorced parents get married again. I knew you would move on but...how could you move on with someone like Beth? She's young enough to be your daughter but you expect me to be my mom?"

"No, that's not it at all. Me and Beth both said we didn't want that." He explained. "Neither of us expected this, it just happened. You don't choose who you're attracted to."

"Do you love her like you loved mom?"

Sighing Rick looked down at the floor. "No, the love I have for her is different than the love I had for your mom. Your mom will always hold a special place in my heart but..."

"But she's dead, I know."

"She wouldn't want either of us to live in the past and not move on. That's not the way to live your life."

Carl swallowed before opening his mouth. "Does Beth make you happy?"

Nodding his head Rick answered. "She does."

"Ok." Carl muttered walking back into the living room.

Even though it wasn't how he pictured their conversation going Rick was glad it was over. Carl needed to know and now that he did they could focus on what they had to do, find everyone from the prison. Rick tried his best to think positive, he may have gotten that from Beth, but it was hard. With everything they lost one could only assume the people they grew to care about were lost too. There were certain people he was sure could make it on their own, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Michonne but then there were people he knew couldn't make it alone. The thought of Beth out there by herself terrified him. She knew how to shoot and she had a knife but none of that can help you against a herd of walkers. Even though Rick needed to find her he knew he wouldn't make it on the road in his current condition. All he could do was sit around and recover and pray she was ok wherever she was.

After walking a few miles Beth noticed Daryl looking at her. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out. "What?" She asked.

"What?" He inquired shrugging.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Daryl shook his head. "You and Rick, how in the hell did that happen?"

Beth knew Daryl wasn't much for conversation and during their time she liked that about him. They had been through so much Beth was afraid if she started talking she would start crying. Silence worked best, she was sure they would have to speak at some point but she was shocked to hear him ask her about Rick. "H-how did you know?"

"Carol told me," He said simply. Beth noticed the sad look in his eyes when he mentioned Carol's name.

Running a hand over her arm she kept looking forward. "What else did she tell you?"

"Just that you and Rick had been sneakin' around."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah," Daryl sighed keeping his focus ahead.

Beth nodded feeling relieved they were back to not speaking. Talking about Rick made tears come to her eyes. The safety she had was gone and even though she knew Daryl was around she felt alone. As they walked all she wanted was for Rick to appear right in front of her. The hope that he was still out there was one of the only things keeping her going. 'You're gonna find him,' She thought. 'You're gonna find him and together you will find Judith and everything will be better.'

Suddenly she saw Daryl come to a stop. She was about to ask what was going on when she saw up ahead was a town. Like every other town it was abandoned and run down, windows were broken out, wrecked cars were left on the sides of the streets, and there were corpses laying on the sidewalks. Gripping her knife she followed Daryl, the town was eerily quiet which made her nervous. Staying close to Daryl she kept looking around just waiting for something to pop out but nothing did. When Daryl suddenly stopped she almost ran into him. Before she opened her mouth to ask him what was going on she saw him point to a pharmacy across the street. It was the only building with the windows still in tact so they decided it would be their best bet for shelter.

Inside the building they noticed it hadn't been too picked over. Beth motioned she was going to look around while Daryl secured the room. On the shelves she saw boxes of aspirin and other pain relievers but nothing they could eat. Making her way to the counter she remembered when her and Hershel went to their local pharmacy when she was a kid. At the cash register she always picked out a candy bar to take back home and split with her brother Shawn. She hoped this pharmacy would be the same way. Unfortunately she found nothing they could eat.

Just as she finished her search for food Daryl came back. "Nothin?'" He asked.

"No, did you see anything?"

"No, come on, we need to keep moving."

Nodding her head Beth followed Daryl out of the pharmacy. As they continued on her hope of finding Rick grew, maybe he was hiding out in one of these buildings. With each step her hope grew but the fear of finding someone besides Rick terrified her.

So I didn't go into detail about Rick's fight with the Governor just because it would have been the same as in the show. This chapter is short but they'll get longer, I promise. Hope you all enjoy :)