I'm deaf to the sound of the gunfire now. All I can hear is my own breathin' an' my heart pumpin'. The door slowly opens but it's pitch black.
"Beth?" My voice is weak. My hand slaps the wall for a switch. When I find it, the lights are blindin'. But there she is, layin' on a pile of dirty rags at the other side of the room. I can make out her hair from here. I don't see anything else in that room, it's a tunnel vision focused on her form. Maggie calls out to her now, an' I see her body move slightly. It's all I need.
My feet are actin' on pure instinct, survival. My mind tells my body to move forward, towards the one thing that's kept me goin' this far. I fall next to her an' I fight back tears as I look down. What the fuck did they do to her?
One side of her face brandishes a fadin' splash of purple an' yellow. There's swellin' an' a cut's right above her eye. The shirt they gave me was clearly ripped off her back. She's in a fetal position, huggin' herself tight to keep warm. All she has on is her bra an' jeans. The pale flesh of her torso is interrupted with bruises that match her face. I feel the first tears fall from my skin, hittin' the cement. Her face turns to me, eyes dull.
"Daryl?" My fuckin' heart breaks at how little her voice is. But she tries to smile up at me. I don't even think, I just act on instinct as my hand reaches down to brush the hair away from her face. My thumb hovers over the bruisin'.
"Hey, sweetheart. It's ok, I'm here now." I look up to see the group standin' 'round us. Their expressions swirl together in a blur: Relief, pity, anger. Maggie is at my side now, her hand replacin' mine on Beth's face.
"Oh, Beth. What the hell did those monsters do to you?" I stand up an' pull off my vest, take off my shirt.
"Sit her up, Maggie. Put this on her."
Glenn's with us now, he helps to prop her up. I hand Maggie my shirt an' she starts dressin' her as I put my vest back on. I see Tara runnin' in the room, I didn't even know she'd left.
"You guys, we need to speed this up. Those assholes just pulled in through the gates."
"It'll only be a matter of time before they realize we aren't up there, and then they'll see the door to here broken down. We stay here, it'll be like shootin' fish in a barrel." Abraham's right. We can't stay down here. I look back down to Beth, my hand cuppin' her unmarked cheek, her eyes are closed again. Rick's voice rings through the room.
"Everybody load up! Keep your weapons at the ready and do not hesitate to open fire!" I hear the changin' of clips, a murmur of strategies. But my bow is hung at my back, hands on my knees. Beth is out again, whether from hunger, dehydration or her injuries. The sight is torture. Maggie squeezes my arm.
"Daryl, help me lift her up. I'll throw her arm 'round my neck an' carry her up that way." My hands slide under Beth's side, but I don't shift her off to Maggie. I fall into step with what now came natural to me. I pull her up to my chest, hold her tight against my heart. A brief look of surprise flashes 'cross Maggie's face, but she's quick to put it away. I nod in the direction of the door, motionin' for her to lead.
Climbin' up those steps was hard, but I'd climb a thousand more to make sure she's safe. When I make it up to the others, I see a young guy on the ground with a blade handle stickin' outta his ear. Rick goes to pull it out.
"This one was already in here looking around." His voice is quieter than before. Abraham comes up to me an' says he'll take Beth so I can load up my bow an' help lead them out. But I'm not 'bout to put her down. I step away from him, shake my head. Rick gives the count after searchin' through the cracks in the window, an' everybody runs out, Maggie an' me in the back.
Gunshots echo through the perimeter, firin' from both sides. Bob an' Sasha make it to the gates, takin' out the two that were waitin' for us there. I see Carl shoot a man over by the jeep they took out, right through the chest. Blood sprayed from his back. Maggie fires rounds into three men chargin' us. That's when I see those two fuckin' brothers. The ones who lied to me 'bout Beth. The ones who kept her down there. My eyes start to go hazy, anger coursin' through my veins.
"Take her." They're the only words I can get out. I set Beth down an' prop her against Maggie's side. Her eyes flutter open, an' she looks right at me. I don't have time, I have to kill them both before they can get away. I swing the bow 'round my front an' the shot pierces an older man through the throat. Once he drops, I step on his chest an' pull the bolt out. It's a satisfyin' sound hearin' it tear through muscle an' flesh. The brothers are right in front of me. The older one raises his hands, but I'm too far gone. The bolt hits him between the eyes an' he falls at his brother's feet. I pull out my gun an' approach Travis. His own gun is at his feet an' he drops to his knees. I look down into those black eyes, switch the safety an' cock back.
"Daryl, stop!" If it was any other voice, I would've ignored it an' blew the bastard's skull out, castin' his brain matter over the dust. My finger is painfully frozen at the trigger. I look over my shoulder an' see her, leanin' on her sister, her dirty face streaked with tears. Her eyes hold mine.
"Daryl, please. Don't do this! Don't lose yourself to this." Her words sound so weak, but hold me firmly in place. Maggie tells me that the others have cleared the lot. Travis is all that's left an' we can move out. They're all standin' at the gate, all eyes on me. Even if I can't pull the trigger, I can't just leave him, either. I can feel the rage rollin' down my muscles, the ice has come back to my chest full force. But the fire in her eyes is back. I can feel the ice meltin' away, pieces fragment an slide down to my stomach as I look back in the eyes of the man I put on his knees.
"Please, I didn't hurt her. I kept her alive! They wanted to kill her when we first got her here, I wouldn't let them! I saved her from one of our other men who tried to rape her!" At those last words, the haze completely falls over me. I put my finger back on the trigger. But the look she had given me is burned in my memory. It wasn't fear. It was concern for me. For my own well being. She's back to guardin' my heart. Her words ricochet in my skull.
"Don't lose yourself to this."
I lower my gun. Relief washes over his face just before I fire two rounds, one in each of his knees. His screams fill the air as he falls on his side. I run back to the girls an' pick up Beth in one smooth motion, her arms fold 'round my neck. I look over to Maggie an' tell her we should go. Runnin' past Travis, I hear him yell at us not to leave him. Fuck him. Far's I'm concerned, I was merciful. We meet the others at the gate. Nobody says anything more, we just run off into the woods.
The others have started a fire an' we set up our camp. I'm wipin' down my arrows when I see her come out of the tent, she'd been sleepin' since we first broke ground. She'd been swept away from me by the others, all glad to see her alive. But there she is. Leaned up against that tree, hair fallin' past her shoulders, face glowin' in the light of the fire, she meets my eyes. My heart jumps at the sight of her. A ghost of the smile I love starts to play at her lips. It's all I can take. I look 'round to make sure everybody else ain't payin' no mind, then I make my way over to her.
"How you feelin'?"
"I'm alright, thanks to you." I can't help but smile at her. It wasn't me that saved her. The whole group worked together to get her out of there. I put my eyes to the ground.
"After all we've been through an' you still can't stand to look me in the eyes, Daryl Dixon?" So I do look into them an' her face is set. The fire burns so brightly there, I'm helplessly drawn to her as I feel my insides blazin'. The look she gives me is the one that has kept me hopin', kept me goin' all this time. I remember the night where our moment was taken from us, when I knew what everything had meant an' I thought she felt the same. I can't run the risk of never havin' the chance again. I clear my throat.
"It was you." Her eyes are questionin', so I continue, "That night, when you asked me 'bout believin' in good people? You asked what changed my mind? It was you." I hadn't noticed she moved closer to me. An' I didn't flinch when she wrapped her arms 'round my back. The feelin' of her holdin' me together made me stronger. I knew I had to at least tell her what happened.I let out a heavy sigh an' place my hand on her back.
"This is all new to me, Beth. No matter how hard I fight you, you needa fight me back." She lifts her head away from my chest an' stares up at me.
It was like one of my dreams, when we're back in that kitchen. Only nothin' stopped it in my dreams, an' nothin's stoppin' it now. Beth's hands reached up to my cheeks. I closed my eyes at how warm they felt on my skin. Slowly, she pulled my face down to hers. I found it hard to breathe.
I opened my eyes then, I had to know this was real, that I wasn't wakin' up from a dream. I didn't wanna find myself starin' up at the trees or some moldy ceilin', where my heart would sink further into darkness. But my eyes met hers. We were only inches apart. I had to close the distance this time. My hand slid up her spine, wrapped 'round the back of her neck. My fingers tangled in her curls. I looked at her for a second, needin' to be sure this is what she wanted. When her face split into that smile it was all I needed.
My lips crashed into hers, rough against soft. I tried to be gentle, rememberin' her bruises. But she was takin' control now. Her hand reached to the back of my head an' pulled me tighter to her. Her lips moved quickly against mine, then. It was too much, an' I couldn't go slow anymore. I drew her bottom lip into my mouth, lightly sinkin' my teeth into it. She let out a sweet moan, an' I thought I was gonna lose my fuckin' mind when I felt her tongue brush over mine.
It took all my strength to pull away, to try to catch my breath. I couldn't help it, I let the smile take over my face. All this time I thought back to that night, how it would have been like if it actually happened. None of it even came close to this.
Maggie called over to her now; nobody had seen us. We could make this work. Tomorrow we leave for Washington we'll have time to figure everything out then. I turn to head back to my bow as she makes toward Maggie. She stops and touches my arm.
"I'll give you your shirt back tomorrow. Thank you for lettin' me cover up in it. That was very sweet of you." I laugh at her an' roll my eyes.
"You keep it. Looks better on you, anyways." The flush of her cheeks then was worth more than any fuckin' shirt I have.