Ch.24

It had been one week since they had talked on the porch, and while things between them had gotten better and they were now talking, Beth wasn't getting any better. She had moved from a catatonic state to a state of rage, which led to her making reckless decisions that put her life in danger. And after the events of the day, he knew that this needed to stop before it was too late.

Daryl, Rick, and Carl had gone out hunting, and Beth, not wanting to let him out of her sights, had followed them. He was getting used to her following him. Anywhere he went, he knew that Beth would be close behind. At first it was a little annoying, but he had grown accustomed to her near constant presence, and if she needed to be by him to feel safe, then he wasn't going to tell her to leave.

They were silently walking through the woods, eyes scouring the trees for squirrels and the ground for any tracks. Carl would occasionally stop and reset a snare; he had gotten good at setting snares, something that both he and Rick had begun teaching him to do. Beth lagged behind the three of them, arms crossed over her chest, eyes glued to the fallen leaves beneath their feet. Daryl was always aware of where she was, every once in a while looking over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't too far behind.

They rarely talked when they were out hunting. Rick and Carl would sometimes have side conversations about what Carl needed to do to perfect the snare he had just set, or they would talk about their plans for when they got back to the farm. Daryl would butt in and add his two cents if he wanted, but mostly he stayed quiet. But Beth, she never talked. She walked in silence, and Daryl wasn't sure if it was because they were hunting and she knew she needed to be quiet, or if it was because she was shutting herself out from the world around her.

This day had been like any other. Daryl had managed to kill a few squirrels and Carl's snares had trapped two rabbits. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. They were on their way back when things took a turn for the worse.

The low, guttural moans instantly caught his attention. He searched the woods to see where it was coming from, but he didn't see anything. This meant that they were farther away, but it also meant that there was more than one. Within a few seconds he caught sight of them. It was a small herd. At least 15 walkers were shambling towards them, and everyone took notice.

Daryl pulled Beth behind a tree, knowing there were too many to fight off, and knowing that running would only draw the walkers to the farm. He was keeping a watchful eye on the herd, hoping they would pass without noticing any of them. He barely noticed Beth wiggle out from where he had her pinned between him and the tree.

He watched in dismay as Beth slipped her knife from her sheath and walked directly into the herd. Without a second thought, he took off after her, Rick and Carl quickly following him. He was trying to make his way to her, and he was almost there when he saw her knife stab into the head of a walker. Another walker was on her before she could get her knife out. She stepped back, trying to move away from it, but the weight of the walker caused her ankle to roll, and she went down hard, the walker falling on top of her.

He knew she was in trouble. The walker was too heavy for her and her knife was still lodged in the head of the walker she had just killed. She was using both of her hands in a desperate attempt to keep the walker's teeth from sinking into her neck, but with every passing moment, the walker was getting closer.

Daryl took off full speed, closing the distance between them in no time, using his knife to take out the walkers that lunged at him. He grabbed the worn and tattered shirt of the male walker leering over Beth, and roughly threw him to the side, briskly digging his knife into its skull. He looked down at Beth, who was just beginning to stand again, and his eyes followed her as she nonchalantly retrieved her knife, acting as if nothing had just happened.

By the time he came back to his senses, Rick and Carl had taken out the rest of the herd. They were standing, everyone looking at each other, their hearts racing and chests rising and falling in a feeble attempt to calm their nerves. Dead walkers were scattered about them.

"C'mon," he said gruffly, motioning with a slight tilt of his neck that they were to start moving again.

The walk back was silent, and the tension in the air was heavy. He couldn't bring himself to look at her. He was angry, and he was afraid that if he looked at her he would snap. She had nearly gotten them all killed because she was stuck in a fit of rage. Sure, she had her right to be angry, but she had no right to be putting herself and everyone else in danger.

By the time they got back to the farm he still hadn't cooled down. He was just as angry now as he was when he saw her run towards the herd. He needed time to breath, to calm down, and he was thankful that they were back.

"How was hunting?" Maggie asked meeting them out in the front lawn, obviously oblivious as to what had happened.

"Fine. It was just fine," Beth responded, looking at Maggie with a smug smile on her face.

And that's what did it. The anger inside of him exploded, and he acted before he thought. He harshly took hold of Beth's upper arm, ignoring the way her muscles tensed. He knew he had a bruising grip on her, but he didn't care. She was making to stupid decisions, and she needed to stop.

"We need to talk," he said as he began dragging Beth back towards the woods, out of earshot of everyone else.

Nobody protested him, nobody but Beth, who was dragging her feet in an attempt to get him to let go, but he kept pulling her with him. He stopped when they had reached the woods and were no longer in view of the others. He threw her into a tree, harder than he had intended, but he honestly didn't care right now.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself killed?" He yelled, moving closer to her.

"I was just doing what nobody else was! I was killin' walkers…isn't that what we're supposed to do?" she yelled back with equal force.

She pushed off of the tree and started walking away from him, and he noticed the way she was limping slightly. The fall from earlier had hurt her ankle, but she would never admit that it had. She was too stubborn right now, and too angry. Daryl followed behind her. They needed to talk about this. He had had enough of her acting out. Next time could be the time that she actually got herself or someone else killed.

"Beth!" He bellowed.

She kept walking, ignoring him.

"Beth, stop!"

"Just leave me alone."

"Yeah, like I'm going to do that. I guess we're just lucky there ain't no glass out here, huh?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. He saw her suddenly stop and watched as she slowly turned to face him. If she was angry before, she was even angrier now. She moved closer to him.

"What the hell did you just say?" she asked coldly.

The damage was already done, and he was still angry, so he repeated himself. "Said we're lucky there ain't no glass out here. You seem to be on a suicide mission lately, anyways."

"Screw you; you don't get it."

"Maybe I don't, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna let you go around getting yourself into trouble." He paused and took a deep breath, looking her straight in the eyes. "You may not have gotten hurt this time, Beth, but how many chances do you think you get?"

"You do not get to tell me what I can and can't do. It's my life. If I want to kill walkers, then I'm going to kill walkers."

"Beth, you're being reckless. You could have died out there today…or Carl or Rick could have died…I could have died."

She looked away, and he could tell that what he had said had hit a nerve in her.

"I know you're hurtin', but you have to stop acting like this."

"You don't get it," she said again.

"Then tell me. Make me understand."

Author's Note: I am so sorry for the delay in updating; it's been a while since I last posted a chapter! But, the semester is finally over, and I am now on summer break! This means that I will be updating regularly, so you can expect a new chapter once a week, most likely either on Saturday or Sunday. That being said, there will be a few weeks where updating will be delayed...you can blame that on my sister getting married.

Anyways, I really liked this chapter. To be honest, when I sat down to write it I was at a loss. I had an idea of how I wanted it to end, but I wasn't sure how to start it...I suppose you can say that I had a case of writer's block. I considered having the chapter begin immediately after Daryl and Beth's talk on the porch, which was in Ch.23, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of starting it a little while after their talk. As you could see, Beth was being reckless, very reckless. She was so reckless that she almost got herself killed! And this made Daryl angry and he snapped. I knew that I wanted him to snap at some point during the story, and it just happened that it ended up being in this chapter. It's Daryl Dixon we're talking about...he's not the best at holding in his anger. And yes, he probably shouldn't have said what he did. "I guess we're just lucky there ain't no glass out here, huh?" Low blow, Daryl, low blow. I think that the ending of this chapter was heavily influenced by Daryl's drunken rage in episode 12, "Still." During the episode he snapped, manhandled Beth, and said things he shouldn't have...kind of like he did here.

Also, I am considering writing a new story. It would center on what happens to Beth after her kidnapping in episode 13, "Alone." Daryl would still be in it, but it would very much be a Beth-centered story. I just started getting the urge to write about what happens to Beth...I guess you could say that this is my way of filling in the blanks of what happened and a way to hold me over until we finally get the answer in season 5! I haven't really put much thought into, as I am still not sure as to whether or not I will write it, but I have a few ideas. Since I am now on break, I feel as if I would have plenty of time to write this new story without it interfering with "A Fighting Chance" or "Ruined." But before I begin to write it, I want to hear your opinion. Does this sound interesting? Would you like me to write it, or would you rather me just focus on "A Fighting Chance" and "Ruined"?

Please leave a review. Tell me what you think. Be completely honest. And, above all, have a wonderful morning/afternoon/night!

Oh, and P.S. Filming for season 5 started today, which is pretty exciting!