Beth began nervously tinkering with her garden. Daryl had trailed closely behind. He could pick up on her energy, but she had written it off as being unaccustomed to having so many strangers living amongst them. Daryl had seemingly accepted Beth's reasons. One, it was a partial truth and two Beth had never really lied before. She had never had a need to.
Truthfully, she didn't want to tell Daryl she was on edge because of a vision she had. She had a vision of the run that was supposed to happen two days from now. She had pictured Merle and Shane getting all the supplies the farm needed plus inside the school they found a stash of ammo that had been left by another group. Even though weapons were not needed on the farm it never hurt to be prepared. The pleasantness of the vision ended there. Merle and Shane had gotten into an aggressive argument and their raised voices drew out walkers. A group of at least seventy-five had stumbled upon the two men and Beth remembered watching helplessly as Shane grabbed the supplies and pushed Merle into the jaws of a walker.
Beth swallowed and tried to clamp down on her anxiety when she remembered Merle's flesh being torn in several places. There was no need to panic over something she could possibly prevent with a conversation to Merle. Maybe she could even read the book of black magic Michonne had left her. She wasn't supposed to use that kind of magic because it had the potential to warp your heart if you weren't careful, but that was a risk she was willing to accept it if that meant she could keep her brother safe.
She felt a hand touch the small of her back and she looked up at Daryl who had a basket that was overflowing with herbs she had harvested from the garden.
"You ready to head back in or do ya want to stuff this thing even more?" Daryl joked.
The joke eased some of the tension Beth had been feeling and took the hand Daryl offered her and stood up wiping the excess dirt off on her jeans. She interlaced their fingers and enjoyed the silence as they headed towards the farm.
It was probably one of her favorite things about her relationship with Daryl. They didn't have to fill every second with conversation. She had been an introvert growing up and nothing had really changed. She appreciated that Daryl was taciturn like her. That wasn't to say they didn't have conversations, it just wasn't a constant need. His presence was enough for her.
As they got closer to the farm Beth could hear Merle yelling. She felt Daryl pull her closer. While Merle was a hot head he rarely resorted to yelling. At least he hadn't been that upset since coming to the farm.
They stepped into the farm and the yelling had become much clearer. Shane and Merle had been yelling about what route to take to reach the school. Beth noticed the map in their hands. She had gone to that high school and both men had completely overlooked this small bike trail Beth used to take to get to school. They wouldn't know about it and there were only a handful of people from town that knew about the trail, it wouldn't be densely populated with those walker things. The trail was wide enough for a car to go through too.
Beth stepped in between the two men without thinking. She had planned on pointing out the trail on the map. Before she could even point to the trail she felt a stinging sensation in her cheek as she was knocked back into Merle's broad chest. On instinct her hand flew to touch her cheek and she felt the blood coming from her lip. Merle suddenly pushed Beth behind him and Daryl stepped forward too.
"What the fuck, can't fight me like a man so you hit the lady like a little bitch?" Merle snarled. The protective pull he felt towards his sister came out when he saw the blood dripping from her lip.
"Maybe little girls ought to stay out of adult conversations" Shane sneered right back.
Beth bit her lip. Shane was doing an excellent job of digging his hole deeper and she wouldn't even be able to defend this.
"Don't you ever put your hands on Beth again. Next time you'll fucking lose your hands." Daryl growled. The darkness of the threat was palpable. This moment was a reminder that Daryl and Merle came from the underworld. Both would follow through with their threat.
"I wasn't trying to hit your piece of jailbait. I don't even know why the fuck she was in here," Shane snapped.
Beth knew she had to intervene before another fight would erupt. She knew Daryl was defensive of Beth being called jailbait or any name. At this point she knew Shane just enjoyed baiting arguments because he wanted his group to leave and they didn't seem keen on leaving just yet.
"I was going to tell you about a path that no one knows about that takes you directly to the school and that you need to leave today because a storm is rolling in," Beth spoke in a level tone. No reason to show that Shane frightened her. That would only encourage the brother's ire with Shane.
Beth's even tone seemed to deflate whatever defensiveness Shane had been feeling because he withheld whatever sarcastic retort he had waiting. In that moment Shane's group and Otis had come into the space with them.
Beth bit her lip because her next suggestion had to potential to cause an uproar, especially now that they had an audience.
"After this little spat I don't think you two should go together on the run. We need to consider someone switching out" Beth shifted closer to Daryl. It had always been a habit to get closer to Daryl and draw from his quiet strength.
"Well, I'm going no matter what so I guess your mutt can stay behind with his brother. Whoever decides to go we will set out on that trail you showed us," Shane told them.
Beth had to curb the urge to roll her eyes. Of course Shane couldn't hold his tongue. At least he listened to her about the trail and the storm. She guessed she could consider that an improvement on his part. She also wanted to applaud Merle for biting his tongue. Instead of snapping at the dog comment he just shifted closer to Beth in a protective stance.
Beth felt dread fill her stomach when she realized Shane's options were limited. As much as she didn't want Merle to go because he was practically her brother she absolutely didn't want Daryl to go either. If something happened to him Beth would never be able to recover. She would be ruined.
Her dark thoughts were interrupted when Otis volunteered. Beth felt horrible by the immediate relief she felt at his declaration. That relief turned to dread around twenty minutes later when she realized the run could still go wrong. She hadn't had the opportunity to tell Otis about her vision.
Author's note: A special thank you to Jazznsmoke for being the most divine BETA! Thank you to everyone who continues to read and support this story. Just a heads up my other story Ripple in the Pond should be updated tomorrow. So, keep your eyes peeled for that. Drop a review so I know what you thought of this chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own the walking dead or any of its characters portrayed