• A village in Virginia, Five Years Later •
Daryl threw up the contents of his stomach into the toilet as Beth rubbed his back up and down. Daryl collapsed onto the bathroom floor coughing. He'd gotten sick and Beth tried her best to forget that it had happened.
"You'll be okay Daryl," Beth whispered to herself more than him. Helping Daryl to his feet, Beth supported him to the bedroom they shared. She gently placed him on the bed and rinsed the wash cloth in a small bowl and pressed it to his head. Daryl cursed in pain when Beth pressed slightly too hard on his head. Beth wrapped her arms around her husband, abandoning the wash cloth and laying down in the small bed. "Try and get some sleep." Beth's frail fingers wrapped around his stomach in an attempt to comfort him.
"Momma?" Hope said in her tiny voice.
Beth pressed a solitary finger to her lips unwinding her arms from around Daryl, who was now fast asleep. Beth quietly closed the door heading downstairs, her daughter in hand. Maggie and Glenn sat in the living room with their son Henry who was three years old.
"Is he okay?" Maggie asked. Beth sighed collapsing onto the couch rubbing her eye sockets with the palm of her hand before smoothing out the frazzled blonde hair on her head.
"I don't know, can you keep an eye on him until I come back? I'm gonna go for a walk." Maggie nodded kissing her son's head before walking up the white stairs.
Beth wasn't intending on just walking, she needed to find medicine and fast. She couldn't hear any walkers until a branch snapped behind her and she turned pulling out her knife only to see Hope.
"Hope Rebekah Greene-Dixon what are you doing?" Beth demanded crouching down to her level.
"Daddy's sick and I wanna help him! I gave him Timmy and Timmy always makes me feel better!" Hope proudly stated and then she froze staring behind Beth. Beth slowly rose to her feet turning around to see the figure. Beth placed her knife in her back pocket, there was only one of him but he looked tough. Muscular arms and heavy weapons pointed at her.
"Oh you'll do just fin' little lady. The young one huh, what's your name princess?" Beth prayed that Hope wouldn't say.
"I ain't no princess mister," Hope was rude and Beth had not taught her to be like that. Then again she was her father's daughter. He looked surprised at her come back, and started walking towards her, giving Beth's maternal instinct no more than a second to kick in before she'd kicked him in his manhood. He fell to the ground clutching his crotch.
"Get behind a tree!" Beth shouted at her daughter who took no second warning. The man pulled Beth's leg out from under her sending her to the floor, hitting her head. He ran toward over her pinning her wrists, allowing her to kick his behind landing him over her head. She wriggled free catching her knife as he slashed her cheek, reopening the scar. Beth screamed in rage keeping her knife hidden. He need to be closer. He staggered forward leaving Beth plunging the knife into his neck and pulling it out. The satin blood staining her clothes, she'd just killed a man, again. Beth stabbed his head before running back to find her daughter.
"Hope?" Beth whispered as the patter of small feet ran to her. Her daughter froze then Beth looked down, every inch of her body head to toe was covered in blood. "Are you afraid?" Beth asked, swallowing her fear. Hope shook her head reaching her hand for Beth's as they moved through the woods finally getting back to the village. Beth stepped into the house where Henry ran to the door hugging Hope.
"Ew Henry stinks!" Beth laughed sending her daughter off into the living room before heading upstairs to check on Daryl. Seeing he was still asleep, with a non-vibrant green and blue turtle lying next to him, Beth settled on a bath, it would allow her to think. She went into the en suite running the freezing water discarding her clothes slipping in her knees huddled to her chest. Beth's chin rested on them as the clear water slowly turned to a muddy red. She couldn't bring herself to move.
"Beth?" Daryl's voice was thick from the doorway. His eyes scanned over the blood soaked clothed then to her. He slipped to his knees next to her bath tub getting the plastic jug and the vanilla soap. He dunked the jug under the water pushing it all over her creamy pale skin reducing the marks. He squirted the vanilla onto the loofah washing down her collar bones slowing moving south cleaning all the blood and grit from her body. Her blue eyes clouded by fear. Daryl washed off the soap before gently massaging the vanilla soap into her hair occasionally coughing before dunking it under rinsing the suds. Daryl grabbed an old towel from the cupboard pulling Beth out of the water wrapping her in it.
"It'll be okay Beth, I promise ya." He whispered kissing her hair before towelling her off. He dressed her in some black skinny jeans, a burgundy top and jacket before lifting her into his arms seating her on the edge of the bed. "Beth say somethin'?" Daryl asked taking her pale hands into his as a lone tear raced down her cheek. Daryl's rough thumb swiped under it catching it.
"I needed to protect her," Beth stated her eyes not moving from the wall. "He would have done things, indescribable things if I didn't kill him." Beth gulped looking at their hands.
"It's okay Beth, we gotta protect our own. You can't trust people anymore, and you killed people before Beth." Daryl reassured her.
"I didn't think, I just... I just... I'm just as bad as him," Beth said yanking her hands from his wrapping them around her own body.
"You listen to me Beth and you listen good, you ain't like none of them you hear me? You're good and you would never kill without good cause. Don't you dare compare yourself to them again," Daryl's voice was stern, the same voice he used to scold Hope when she'd done something wrong. He kissed her lips pulling her to her feet. "C'mon we got a daughter to spend time with." Beth walked down the stairs following Daryl as Hope ran to her father hugging him.
"You feelin' better daddy?" Hope asked looking at him through those grey eyes.
"Yeah darlin', you eaten squirt?" He asked ruffling her hair, a common gesture between them.
"Nope," she sighed. Daryl walked to their pack plucking a can of peaches, opening them with his knife then handing them to his daughter with a plastic fork. "Thank you daddy." Hope pressed a kiss to his cheek before sitting down on the steps. Beth crossed her arms leaning against the worn out white banister.
"She's growing up so fast," Beth said.
"Daryl, Beth, Maggie, Glenn we got company!" Carl shouted from the door way. Beth took out her knife pulling Hope behind her, a force of habit. The family came down heading outside the door