Chapter 18: Chances

Throughout the night Beth tried her best to stay awake. She had nodded off a few times but quickly snapped herself awake. As the skies turned from black to grey she began thinking about how they were going to be on the move soon. The men snores had kept her up most of the night but her restless mind was another reason.

She knew she was looking for Rick but what if he was out somewhere looking for her? If Rick was searching for her he needed some kind of sign as to where she could be but what could she do? She didn't want to do anything suspicious, she didn't want Joe and his men to know she was looking for Rick. After thinking it over in her head all morning she finally thought of something. The previous day Daryl had broken one of his arrows and left it close to camp. Knowing where he had tossed it she carefully stood up and crept to its spot. There was just enough light for her to find the arrow. Once she had it in her hands she took her necklace off. It was one of the only mementos she had from her mom, she hadn't taken it off ever since it was given to her.

Thinking back she remembered when the chain broke at the prison. She was afraid she was gonna have to throw the necklace away when Maggie came up with a simply solution. "I found this string on a run, its durable enough so it won't tear and you can make it long enough to wear it under your shirt."

"Thank you," She smiled pulling one side of the string through one of the silver hearts. After securing it around her neck she gave her sister a big hug.

Holding the necklace in her hand she sighed. This was her only hope for Rick finding her and she prayed it work. Stabbing the end of the arrow in the tree she made sure it wasn't going to fall before hanging her necklace on it. Sighing to herself she headed back to camp where she saw everyone else was starting to wake up. "Where have you been?" Joe asked.

"Bathroom." She lied.

"Don't go off like that, I would hate for something to happen to that pretty face." He smirked making the hair on the back of Beth's neck stand up.

Not saying another word she went over to Daryl who was standing off to the side. Crossing her arms she watched the others pack up their stuff before they started walking. Her and Daryl took up the back of the group while they walked in silence. It was definitely getting cooler, fog was affecting their visibility but Joe said they were to keep going. When Beth heard the first few moans her first instinct was to grab her knife. They stood in a circle, all of them had weapons drawn as the moans got louder. The first walker to come through the fog made her jump in surprise. Just as she was about to stab it an arrow flew past her right into its head. Turning her head she saw Daryl standing close by with his crossbow raised. Nodding as a thank you she turned back around to see more walkers come towards them.

She was sure the others could handle the zombies in hand to hand combat but when she heard a gunshot her panic started to show. The sound attracted them and with little visibility there's no telling how many were going to attack. "Take care of them, boys." Joe spoke, no fear in his voice.

Beth was pulled back to the middle of the group while the others began taking each walker down. One man used the butt of his gun to crush one of their skulls making the ground red with its blood. Daryl shot another and used his knife to take care of one that snuck up behind Joe. Everything happened so fast, these guys knew how to kill and how to do it quick. Beth jumped in surprise seeing a walker head roll up to her feet. Gulping she stabbed her knife through its forehead. Then it was silent, there were no more moans or oncoming footsteps. They stood in their same spots as if they were waiting for another attack. When it didn't come they put their weapons away. "All right, lets keep going," Joe said nonchalantly, like nothing had happened.

Stepping over the walker head Beth followed the group. Of course she had seen people take down walkers before, she had just never seen anyone do it with a smile on their face. Joe seemed almost pleased to kill them and the others had the same look on their faces. These things used to be people, she knew they weren't anymore but it was still hard sometimes to just kill them and walk away. They didn't have names, no identities, they were just walkers. Creatures of the undead that were wandering the earth to kill the living.

Early that morning Rick was going over the map again while Morgan and Carl ate breakfast. "What is it dad?" Carl asked.

"I'm just wondering where we should go next." He muttered scratching his beard. "We made good time yesterday. If we keep a decent pace we could make it to Macon, its a big town we can gather any supplies we might need. Maybe find a car."

"Maybe someone we know is there." Carl said, his voice almost hopeful.

"That's what we're gonna find out." Rick sighed rolling the map back up. "We're gonna have to find our out of these woods to make it to a highway."

"Then let's get moving." Morgan nodded wiping his mouth and collecting his stuff.

The lack of sleep was clear as Beth tried her best to keep her eyes open and her feet moving. She felt like she looked like a walker as they kept going. Every once and a while she noticed the men pass around a flask. When Len tried to hand it to her she shook her head, even though she wanted to numb herself she needed a clear mind. She noticed Daryl take a sip before handing it back to Joe. "Where are we going?" She questioned the older man as he took a big swig of whatever was in the flask.

"Macon, we were there a few weeks ago, not too many corpses. Plus there's plenty of stores for us to get what we need and move on."

When she heard where they were going Beth couldn't help but get excited. Not only would they find food and shelter but she would be able to find warmer clothes with the weather gradually getting colder she was close to freezing to death at night. She was also excited for other reasons. Back at the prison she heard whispers of Michonne going to Macon, maybe they would find her and they could leave Joe and his group. There were so many possibilities of this town Beth just couldn't wait to find out what awaited them.

Morgan had been quite useful as they made their way through the woods. While he was alone he learned every survival skill known to man. Through time he had learned how to track, his skills weren't at a Dixon level but he was definitely helpful to Rick and Carl. When he suddenly stopped Rick immediately asked. "What is it?"

"A group's been through here." Morgan explained crouching down, running his hand over the footprints. "See here? Most likely a man considering how big the print is."

"How do you know its not a walker?" Carl inquired.

"Because walker tracks aren't like this, they usually drag the dirt with their feet, they don't move like me and you."

"Can you tell how many there are?"

Gently pushing the leaves aside he observed the many tracks. "From what I can see maybe six? Seven at the most." He sighed running a hand over his head. "It looks like they were heading this way."

"Then that's where we're going." Rick stated already walking in the same direction with Morgan following close behind.

"Dad wait," Carl called.

Turning around Rick faced his son. "What is it?"

"Why are we following them? I thought you said we shouldn't trust anyone."

"We're not trusting them, but right now we don't know where any of our people are. We don't have any leads and maybe finding this group could help us find the others. Its a chance we have to take."

Frowning Carl followed suit. He wasn't sure following a group of strangers was the best idea when they should be looking for proper shelter. Just like his father he wanted to find everyone from their camp but what are the chances of them finding anyone? "What if they're bad people?"

"Then we'll handle them like we handle everything else." Rick spoke.

Keeping up a brisk pace they kept going trying their best to not stop. They hadn't encountered any walkers making their journey easier. Morgan kept his eyes open for new tracks whenever he found them he made sure to tell Rick they were going the right way. It was late in the afternoon when they noticed the remains of what looked like a camp. "This was their camp." Morgan mumbled taking a look around. There were leftover food wrappers and cans thrown on the ground.

"By the looks of it they were here last night." Rick observed picking up a water bottle seeing just a few drops still inside it.

"They went this way." Morgan pointed up ahead.

Without a word Rick started walking in the direction Morgan had said. He was sure they were finally on the right path. Then he noticed the sun hitting something against a tree. Holding up his hand he waited for Morgan and Carl to stop before he headed towards the tree. Keeping a sharp eye out for any threat he finally stopped at the tree. Hanging from an arrow was a necklace but he recognized this one. "This is Beth's."

"Who?" Morgan asked.

"A girl from our camp." Rick answered before Carl got the chance to. "And this is Daryl's arrow."

"So Beth is with Daryl?" Carl thought out loud.

"I guess so and it looks like they could be with that group." He sighed placing the necklace in his pocket. "Let's keep moving."

Seeing the town up ahead Beth wanted to run in front of everyone else to the first store she saw. By now her worn in jeans and sweater weren't helping to keep her warm and her boots were falling apart. She was still a teenage girl and still loved shopping at heart. After making sure the coast was clear they found a few shops. "Ok a few of you keep watch. You hear anything whistle for us." Joe instructed. "Daryl, Beth, Len, come on let's go shopping."

Once inside the store Beth searched the racks. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Len watching her. Keeping her attention on the clothes in front of her she kept searching until she found a thick black sweater and a pair of jeans. "Those will look nice on you." She heard Len whisper.

Ignoring him she went into the dressing rooms. Locking the door behind her she stripped off her old clothing before putting the new ones on. Pulling her hair up into a high ponytail she went back to the shelves to try and find a new pair of boots. Through the store windows she saw the sun slowly starting to set behind the trees. Another day gone without any sign of Rick or the others. Frowning she went to find Daryl. "Find anything?" She murmured.

"Nah, I wouldn't be caught dead in this shit." He told her.

"Well I see you found the good stuff." Joe laughed.

Nodding she looked down at her feet. "Even at the end of the world girls love to shop." The man chuckled. "Come on, let's see what the others got into."

When Rick saw the sign for Macon he couldn't help but be relieved. They had been tracking this group to the road and he was hopeful they were heading to the same place. The thought of seeing Beth again kept him going. He just hoped this new group weren't like the Governor and she was ok. Knowing Daryl was with her gave him some comfort but he wouldn't be able to sleep easily until she was next to him again. "Looks like we're gonna make it before sundown." Morgan spoke up interrupting Rick's thoughts.

"Do you think they're already there?" Carl asked.

"Could be, we won't know until we're there." Rick answered.

Once they were in town they tried to be as stealthy as possible. They couldn't take any chances and with nightfall close they knew anyone would look like a threat in the dark. Keeping his gun drawn he gestured for Morgan and Carl to do the same as they went from hiding spot to hiding spot. Even though there was little moonlight they were able to move without drawing any attention. Then Rick noticed someone standing in front of a store. Bending down behind a parked car he peaked through the windows. The man looked to be in his thirties, with a rifle on his shoulder. "If he's standing outside then everyone else must be in that store." Rick whispered.

"How are we gonna get in?" Carl questioned.

"Lets see if there's a back entrance." Rick told them as they made their way down the back alleys.

Using a few soft shirts as pillows Beth made herself a bed a few feet away from the other men. Sleeping on the cold floor of the store was better than the woods but it felt colder inside than it did outside. Curling up into a ball she listened to the snores and grunts from the men. She couldn't tell where Daryl was but after they ate dinner he decided to take a walk around to secure the building.

After shivering to the point she could barely lay still Beth decided to go find something she could use as a blanket. Digging in her bag she found her small flashlight and carefully stood up to head back to the clothing department. On the floor she found a few items she could probably use but they were all too thin for her liking. "What are you doing?" She heard a gruff voice ask.

Jumping to her feet she saw Daryl standing above her. "I was looking for a blanket." She whispered. "Did you see anything?"

"No, but I can't sleep so I'm gonna keep watch inside." He sighed. "There's a few men's jackets over there, find your blanket and get some sleep."

"Ok," She nodded going off to the direction he pointed out.

When Rick, Morgan, and Carl finally made it to the back of the store they were relieved to see an exit door. As quietly as he could Rick opened the door. "Ok I'm going in, if anything goes wrong you two get the hell out of here." He told the others.

Morgan sighed, digging in his pack for the flashlight. "Watch your ass in there."

Taking the flashlight Rick nodded his head. Looking down at Carl he placed his hand on his shoulder. "I won't be gone long."

"Be careful." Carl whispered.

"I will." He muttered, using the flashlight he took a look around inside before stepping inside.

Daryl had just left Beth when he saw a light from the back of the store. Holding his crossbow up he decided to check it out before telling Joe. He didn't hear anything as he got closer to the light, carefully he stepped into the room when a light shined right in his face. "Daryl?"

Lowering his crossbow he recognized that voice. "Rick?"

Seeing Daryl step into the room felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. His gun falling at his side he sighed in relief. "Thank God," He muttered. "Carl's outside, who are you with?"

"This group me and Beth..."

Swallowing hard Rick felt his heart speed up. "She's here?"

"Yeah," He nodded. Judging by the look on his friend's face he knew he would want to see Beth but Daryl didn't want Joe to find him first. "Hang on, I'll be right back."

Beth was almost asleep when she felt someone shaking her shoulder. Opening her eyes she saw Daryl kneeling beside her. "Come on."

"What is it?" She yawned.

"Trust me, you'll want to see this for yourself."

Slightly irritated he woke her up Beth pushed herself up off the floor. Pushing the hair out of her face she followed Daryl to the back of the store. At first she didn't see what he was talking about but then she heard a voice say. "Beth."

Her eyes widened and Beth swore her heart stopping beating. Ever since she left the prison she had heard that voice and when she turned around nothing was there. Now he was standing right in front of her. With tears blurring her vision she threw herself into his arms. 'This isn't real, I'm dreaming,' She thought, her hands clutching at his shirt.

Having Beth back in his arms Rick felt better than he had in months. One of his hands held her to him while the other gripped the back of her head. He could feel her shaking against him as they stood there. "Its ok, I'm here. No one is taking you away again." He told her like no one else was in the room.

"Now isn't that sweet." A sinister voice said breaking the couple apart.