First, I'd like to thank everybody who's been following my story. Thank you for your support, reviews and your kind words. Now, who's as excited as I am for the finale, tonight?! Definitely on edge here! Hope you all enjoy! :)
Michonne an' I are outside gettin' ready to go out lookin' for Beth. I've got a cigarette between my lips, grateful to have found a pack in that apartment. The rest of the group's still in the mess hall. Michonne just starts talkin' to me 'bout our plan of action when we see Travis an' some other guy come up to us, somethin' in Travis' hand.
"Hey, I'm glad I caught you guys before you all headed out. I think we might have found something you'll be interested in." He hands the item to me, folded up. I hold it out, let it unfold, an' instantly feel like I'm gonna throw up. It's a yellow shirt that's ripped up an' stained in blood. I ain't stupid enough to believe in coincidences, I know it's the one Beth had been wearin'. What I don't know is where they found it.
"Does it look familiar to either of you?" The other guy's speakin', his voice sharp. Michonne glances from the rags to me. I nod.
"Where'd you find this?" I catch them sharin' a look before they respond.
"My brother, Vic here, found it about four miles south. He says it was just laying on the ground." I have the evidence in my hand, but somethin' still doesn't feel right. "I'm sorry about your friend. From the looks of it, the biters probably got her. You have our condolences."
"This all you find? Nothin' else? Body, blood, nothin'? That don't mean much more to me than tellin' me the direction we need to head in." I take a drag of the cigarette an' tuck the shirt in my bag. I don't need Maggie seein' it.
"You can't be serious? Didn't you hear what Travis said? I'm positive she's dead. Look at that thing! It isn't like she'd be running around in the wild throwing her clothes on the ground!" I can already tell I don't like Vic. My temper gets the best of me. I step up to him, look him over an' blow a large cloud of smoke right in his damn face. He makes to lunge at me, but his brother holds him back.
"You know what, Vic? Fuck it. Let these idiots make their little suicide run. You guys have a nice trip." They walk away an' I just barely make out Vic callin' me an asshole. I look to Michonne.
"We're still goin' out for her. What they said don't mean shit to me." She only nods, eyes focused on the two men. We watch as the couple of guards at the front jump in a jeep an' take off on their own search mission. That's when I realize, it's now or never to break into those buildin's. half their muscle just left. I tell Michonne what we need to do, an' explain it to the others when they come out.
"They all really just left like that? That's odd." Glenn's throwin' on his pack, lookin' over to where the men had just taken off. I tell them that it was at least four or five of them. Rick agrees with me that it's now or never. So our plan is put into motion. Carl, Tara, Rosita an' Eugene head up to the apartment, makin' sure our shit's packed an' watchin' for us out the window. When they're signaled, they'll grab our gear an' run out to meet us. Sasha an' Bob take opposite directions an' look 'round for any sign of trouble. Rick, Maggie an' Glenn head off to break in the armory where Maggie will keep watch.
That just leaves me, Michonne an' Abraham. Michonne stands at the door after Abraham an' I work our way in the infirmary. Normally, I'd take her but somethin' tells me I may need his muscle. We set to look through all the cabinets an' closets, Abraham stuffin' his bag with supplies. I notice there ain't more than six or seven cots in the place. Not much preparation for a quarantine.
"What the hell is that?" I spin 'round to see what caught his attention. Back against the far wall is some sorta chest. It's large, the two doors on the front have steel handle bars. I walk towards it an' I'm confused why it's in here. What would you need a freezer for in an infirmary?
"It's a freezer. You hear that? It's plugged in an' runnin' off a generator. Why put a big ass freezer in here?" Abraham stands next to me now. He scratches the back of his head. Even he can't work it out.
"There's only one way to find out, brother." We each take a handle an' pull. What we find's enough to bring a grown man to his knees: Body parts.
"Holy shit. Do they stock up walker parts? Why the fuck would they do that?" His voice is thick with disgust. I reach in an' pull out an arm, severed at the shoulder, hand still in tact. It has a grim reaper tattoo on the forearm. Lookin' over it more closely I feel worst than I did when we opened the fuckin' thing.
"These ain't walker parts. They belonged to the livin'." I toss the arm back in an' we closed up the freezer. Lookin' 'round I notice a door in the back. I go to open it but it's locked. Why only lock this door? I turn to Abraham for some help only to see him headin' for the exit.
"Where do you think you're goin'?" He spins on the spot, his face pale.
"Why do you think they keep fucking body parts? I doubt they've got some Frankenstein monster walking through here. We need to get our people out." I put two an' two together: Cannibals. I head to the door with him. Michonne's waitin' outside, she seems surprised to see us.
"That was fast. Dead end?"
"You have no fucking idea." Abraham tells her what happened. I glance over the lot, decidin' we can't wait. I run towards the armory. I turn the corner for the door when somethin' catches my eye in the group of vehicles an' run over there. It's the first time I'm seein' it, an' I almost thought I imagined it. I run my hand 'cross the trunk of the black car, brush over the white cross on the back windshield. I hear people runnin' behind me an' turn to see all of them starin' at me, even Carl an' them are here. Michonne musta signaled them.
"Daryl, what're you thinking? Take a car? Do they all have gas?" Rick is tryin' to look through the tinted windows of the car. My voice is a lot calmer than I expected when I speak.
"They took her." Rick stops tryin' at the door handles an' steps up to me.
"What?" I've got everybody's attention now.
"This is the car that I chased for miles. I'll never forget what it looked like. These people took Beth." My speakin' is too calm, too even. It almost doesn't sound like me. My mind's racin' with puttin' all the pieces together. From what seems like miles away, I hear Maggie gasp. I distantly hear her ask where they'd keep Beth. My mind is on a clear course now. Everything adds up, an' I know where she is.
I grab my bow from Glenn an' take off back to the infirmary. I know they're behind me. I kick open the door an' they flood in 'round me. Abraham points to the freezer. "That's where they keep body parts." There's gasps an' sounds of disgust amongst the group. I hear Maggie sob.
"Wait, what? Like they collect them?" Glenn's voice is broken, he's tryin' to calm his girl. Abraham explains our cannibal theory. Maggie falls to her knees. I can't be 'round this. There ain't no way Beth is in that fuckin' freezer. I run over to the locked door in the back an' kick it in. I'm lookin' down a dark stairway. I don't even hesitate, I take it two steps at a time. Wherever I am, it's got overhead motion sensor lights. They flash on like fallin' dominoes, slowly flickin' one after the other. It's a hallway with 'bout seven doors. I run the line an' kick the first door. It won't open.
"Down here! Down the stairs!" Rick is the first one down, gun raised. Abraham's on his heels. I turn to them an' nod at the door.
"I can't kick this one down. Help me." Rick an' I shove full force, shoulders smashin' into the wood. It's a sturdy fuckin' door. We go to charge it again but Abraham tells us to step back. He fires his AR at the handle an' the door slowly opens. It's an empty room. The next couple are also empty, but they're bloody as hell. Jesus Christ, this must be where they hack people up. I step in front of the last door, an' I'm absolutely terrified at what I might find behind it. The whole group is down here now, weapons at the ready. I don't know what makes me do it, but I call out her name.
"Beth!"
I don't hear anything. My heart's beatin' fast. The only sound I can make out is Maggie cryin' behind me. I feel so broken, so lost. They've killed her. She's gone. It's all my fault. She was here this whole fuckin' time an' we been up there playin' fuckin' house. I think 'bout how scared she had to be, all by herself. An ache rolls through me as I wonder if it was painless, if it was quick. I don't even know if I wanna see what's behind that door.
"Daryl?"
It's so quiet, so weak. But I'd pick out that voice from miles away. For the first time since I lost her, I can feel my body kick back to life, my lungs are able to expand fully, my heart thumps powerfully in me. Time stands still.
"She's in there."
A/N: Sorry to leave it there, but I have a lot going into where it goes from here. Hope you liked it!