Daryl pulled the white delivery truck over to the curb on a street behind the hospital and parked it. The determined look on his face contradicted the mass of nerves knotted in his gut, and he prayed that he made the right decision by backing Tyreese's suggestion of a peaceful trade.
Jumping out of the truck, he slung his crossbow strap over his head and grabbed the rifle off the seat before walking to the back and rolling up the door to let out Ty, Sasha and Noah.
Rick coasted the police car up next to them, yanking the emergency brake and stepping out to scan the surrounding buildings for any sign of snipers.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he nodded once at Daryl and they both opened the back doors of the car to pull out Licari and Shepard, whose hands were zip tied behind their backs. Rick put his hand on his gun and gave the male officer a shove forward. "Move."
All seven of them walked slowly into the rear parking lot, the cuffed officers in front. Everyone else had their weapons up and ready for enemy fire, but the hospital was strangely quiet. No signs of life from the windows, and there was no one waiting inside the door like was promised over the radio.
Rick held his hand up to signal the group to stop and grabbed Licari's shoulder, bringing them to a halt, too. His instinct was telling him something was wrong, and he took a long moment before continuing on, deciding if they should come under fire that being exposed like this out in the open wouldn't be to their benefit.
They were more than half way across the lot when the back door opened. A young blonde woman in scrubs walked out slowly with a gun in her hand, staring straight ahead as though she didn't see them.
A shot of adrenaline flooded through Daryl when he realized who it was, and he threw his rifle to the ground to run toward her. Rick reached a hand out to grab him, wary of the situation, but there was no stopping him. He called out her name. "Beth!"
It seemed to snap her out of the daze she was in, but as he ran to her, he knew something was terribly wrong. The expression on Beth's face was utterly blank as she looked at him, but he scooped her up in his arms anyway, so relieved to have her back.
Her feet dangled above the ground as he held her, fighting a losing battle against tears as relief washed over him, and she slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tucked her head into his neck.
A few moments later, she whispered in his ear that she couldn't breathe and he snorted softly, setting her gently on the ground in front of him and wiping his eyes before anyone else saw.
Sasha's hand rested on her brother's shoulder, a faint smile on her face, as Rick stepped closer and leaned down to look in Beth's eyes. "You alright?"
She nearly choked in holding back her tears as she met his concerned gaze. "I'm alive."
He stared back at her for a few seconds, worrying his lip, and not liking the damage he saw there before nodding and accepting her answer for the moment. Putting his hands on his hips, he dropped his head and squinted up at Beth, fearing the worst. "And Carol?"
She leaned into Daryl, his arm still wrapped around her, and closed her eyes before shaking her head quickly in response.
Rick hung his head back and stared at the sky briefly before dropping it with a sigh and nodding.
Daryl pulled her closer and rested his chin on her hair, and Beth felt him shudder at the news. She caught Rick's attention. "Her body is still in there in Room 512." She felt more tears running down her cheeks as guilt ran through her again. "I thought I was alone. I didn't think I could escape and get her out to give her a proper burial. There should only be a couple cops left in there and a handful of unarmed wards if you want to get her."
At Beth's suggestion, Shepard spoke from behind Rick, where she was still cuffed and leaning against one of their cars. Licari stood beside her, the both of them looking up at the hospital in shock. Her tone was disparaging as she glared at their former ward. "Only a couple cops left? What in the hell did you do?"
Beth was so distracted when she got out, and caught up with the reunion with her family, that she hadn't noticed them standing off to the side, forgotten.
She tensed and shifted out of Daryl's embrace, stalking past Rick and raising her gun, firing a round into each of the cops' foreheads.
The rest of the group stared at her, in shock, and as both officers slumped to the ground dead, Beth gripped her gun and started hyperventilating. In between gasps of air she explained. "They captured women...raped and beat them...got them pregnant-" She put a hand on the trunk lid and bent over to throw up the meager contents of her stomach.
Beth felt Daryl's hands on her shoulders as she dry heaved, and he reached down to take her weapon away, whispering in a low voice. "Hey. You're okay now. You're with us."
She looked up into his worried face and nodded.
Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, embarrassed, Daryl pulled her in for another hug and looked at Rick. "You take Tyreese in and get her. We'll stay out here. Ain't no way we're leavin' Carol in this place."
His friend nodded, and the two men walked in, weapons raised. While they waited, Beth noticed Noah standing behind Sasha, looking out of place and toeing the ground with his shoe.
She couldn't believe he was here, and managed a shaky smile as he walked over. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled back and looked at his face. "How are you still here? I thought you'd be long gone."
Noah gave her a bashful grin before answering. "I, uh, was gonna come back for you but I needed weapons first. Then I ran into your friends." He glanced at Daryl, who was giving him a wry look, and scratched his neck. "I kind of...borrowed their guns and the crossbow. Turns out they were looking for you, too, though."
Beth's mouth hung open, and she turned with a faint smile for Daryl. "You let someone take your crossbow?" He didn't say anything, just clenched his jaw and glared at Noah.
"Hey." Noah shrugged and lifted his hands at the tough looking man staring him down. "If I hadn't then you wouldn't have your girl back, would you?"
Daryl ignored the smartass remark and cleared his throat, choosing to suddenly look down at his feet with great interest while Beth smiled at him softly. Her good mood only lasted a moment before she clutched his arm, looking around in a panic. "Wait. Where's Maggie and Glenn? Carl and Judith and everyone? Are they okay?"
He nodded at her. "Yeah, they're all fine." He glanced over at Sasha as she watched the door for her brother, and lowered his voice. "Everyone but Bob. He didn't make it. Michonne's back at a church we been staying at with Carl and Judith."
Beth waited anxiously for him to explain where her sister and Glenn were. He swallowed uncomfortably and went on. "Maggie and Glenn took off for DC with three other people. Some jackass with them says he's got a cure but it's horseshit if you ask me."
Confused, she looked up at Daryl. "She left? She just assumed I was dead?"
"I saw the car that took you and told her you was alive. Carol and I left the church and tracked one here to the hospital but Maggie and Glenn left with their friends while we was gone. The dumbasses never stopped to think we might have a lead on where you were."
Daryl watched Beth carefully, seeing the bit of hope she had of seeing her sister again change into hurt that Maggie had given up on finding her to go on what sounded like a wild goose chase.
They all flinched as two gunshots rang out from the hospital and shortly after Rick came out, holding the door open for Tyreese as he walked through carrying Carol's body that was now wrapped in a sheet.
"Shot two more of their cops that drew on us. Didn't see anyone else." Rick holstered his Colt and looked up at the hospital one last time. "How about we head back to the church? I'm sure Judy's gonna want to see you, Beth." He put an affectionate hand on her shoulder and gave her a tired smile, then started walking toward their vehicles.
Daryl looked down at the remnants of Beth's forced smile as they turned to follow. "S'wrong?"
She just looked up at him and shrugged before dropping her eyes and trailing after the rest of the group.
Rick took the car again, while the rest chose to ride in the back of the truck with Carol's body, leaving Beth and Daryl in the cab alone. They'd been driving for five minutes in silence when he glanced over at her. She was staring out the window and working her hands nervously in her lap, a million miles away.
Daryl cleared his throat. "If you don't tell me what's wrong I may start singin'. An' it won't be pretty."
She snorted and turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised. "Go ahead. That'd be a show I'd pay to see."
He rolled his eyes at her and gripped the steering wheel tighter, giving her a dirty look. "Come on, now. I'm bein' serious." He reached over and touched her hand. "It's me."
Beth sighed and threaded the fingers of her one hand through his. "I know. It's just, I'm different now, Daryl, in more ways than one." Her voice trailed off to a whisper. "I've killed people and done things. I don't know if I should be holdin' a baby."
They rocked back and forth with the motion of the truck as he thought about what she said. Finally, he shook his head at her explanation. "Nah. That's bullshit. You say you had t'kill people?" She nodded. "Did they leave you any other choice?"
Beth looked over at him, her brow furrowed in thought. "I guess not."
"Pffft. You guess not?" He scoffed at her answer. "Nah, I know you, Greene. You ain't no cold blooded killer. Those people back there deserved a lot worse than what you served 'em for justice. You did what you had to do to survive. Plain and simple. And you sure as hell would never hurt a baby."
She smiled gratefully at his words, despite her dark mood, and wondered how he always knew the right thing to say. Beth let go of Daryl's hand to scoot over to sit next to him, feeling the heat of his arm against hers and relaxing for the first time in ages.
Keeping his eyes on the road, Daryl dropped his right hand on his leg, palm up. "You were right, y'know."
Beth traced her fingers over his palm before lacing her fingers in between his again. "About what?"
He squeezed her hand and looked out his side window so she wouldn't see the raw emotion in his eyes. "Missed you somethin' awful."
She looked up at Daryl's face but he pretended not to notice, so Beth just leaned her head against his shoulder and took in the scenery flying by, squeezing his hand back. "Told ya."
The sun was dropping closer to the horizon when they arrived at the church. Rick was the first out, stepping around the organ pipes lodged in the ground and jogging up the steps to announce their return.
While Daryl pulled his crossbow on and walked around to the back of the truck, Beth slid out of the cab, looking around at the church and the woods surrounding it. She swung her door shut and took in a deep breath, glad to be away from the stench of the city. It seemed so peaceful here, but the sound of planks being ripped from the church doors brought her back to reality.
Michonne stepped outside with Judith in her arms and smiled when she saw Beth, but it soon fell as Tyreese carried Carol's body over and laid her gently on the grass.
Rick leaned up against the railings, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "She'd already passed by the time we got there." He took Judith in his arms and kissed her hair, murmuring softly to his little girl as he walked over to Beth slowly. "Guess who's here, Judy?"
Beth rubbed her hands on her hips, anxious all of a sudden, until Daryl stepped beside her and guided her over with his hand at her back.
Rick smiled as he passed her to Beth, who settled Judy on her right hip like no time had passed, but he laughed a little as she had to lift her up to get a better grip. "She's gettin' big."
She cradled her hand at the back of Judy's head and breathed in her clean scent. "I see that. She's growin' like a weed."
Carl ran down the steps, smiling when he saw Beth and came over to give her an awkward hug while she held his sister. He eyed her scrubs and chuckled. "We're definitely gonna have to find you some new clothes."
Beth sighed and looked down at what she was wearing. "Yeah. I feel like I'm havin' one of those dreams where you realize you're out in public in your pajamas."
She gave a small laugh and looked up at Daryl, wondering why his cheeks were turning bright red at her comment. She nudged him with her arm and started walking toward the church. "Come on."
Michonne smiled broadly as she approached, wrapping her arms around Beth and whispering in her ear. "It's good to see you again." She stepped back, examining the cuts on her face with worry and saw the tears forming in Beth's eyes at her show of concern. She lowered her voice and admonished her gently. "Don't start that or I'm gonna have to join you."
Beth laughed and swallowed them back, nodding and kissing Judy's face. Michonne held out her hands. "Here, let me take her. You're probably exhausted. Dixon can show you around inside, and there's some canned food if you're hungry."
Daryl led her into the cool interior of the church, and she stopped to look around. Some of the pews had been destroyed to board up the windows, and looking ahead she saw a quote from the Gospel of John above the pulpit. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life." Beth cringed at the irony of the passage.
She followed him into a room at the back of the church where a neat stack of canned goods was piled along one wall, and a few sleeping bags were off to the side.
He scratched his ear and glanced at her. "You wanna eat or sleep or anythin'?"
Beth rubbed her hands on her arms and shook her head. "Later. And I don't think I could sleep right now if I tried."
Daryl nodded and looked at the stained glass window. "We got a few hours of daylight left. Could maybe bag somethin' for dinner. You wanna come?"
She nodded with enthusiasm, eager to be in the outdoors again, and trailed after him with her arms still half folded.
He turned around as they walked up the aisle, catching her mid-shiver. "You cold?"
Nodding sheepishly, Beth watched as he pulled off his Stryker and slipped out of his leather jacket even though she waved her hands to stop him. "No, Daryl. I'll be alright once we start walkin'."
He grunted his disagreement and stood in front of Beth to swing his jacket around behind her.
As she raised her arms to slide them into the sleeves he made the mistake of glancing down at her shirt and averted his gaze quickly when he saw her nipples were hard from the cold.
She zipped the jacket up, and Daryl sighed with relief, cursing himself for even looking.
They stepped outside, where Rick was holding Judith and discussing something with Carl and Michonne.
Tyreese was over near the treeline, digging yet another grave while Sasha stood watch with Noah. Daryl jerked his head at Rick. "We're goin' out for a hunt. See if we can have somethin' better than canned peas tonight."
Rick rubbed Judy's back as she dozed. "Alright, but be careful, and don't take too long. We want to have a short service for Carol before it gets dark."
Daryl looked over where his friend's body lay, still wrapped in the sheet and ducked his head briefly in acknowledgement.
They had only got to the bottom of the steps when Rick called out. "Oh, and Beth?"
She turned and met his gaze expectantly, and he asked. "Would you mind singin' somethin' at the funeral? I know Carol would've liked it. She told me once how much she always enjoyed your singin."
Beth smiled back at him wistfully. "Of course."
She moved her attention back to Daryl, who was still staring at the grave. Beth could see the guilt he carried, knowing it was second nature for him to blame himself for what happened to Carol. She put a hand on his arm to distract him from his own thoughts and spoke in a soft voice. "Ready?"
He nodded and they walked together into the forest.
It took awhile, but they're together again. Will Beth be able to confide in him about what happened to her?
Please let me know your thoughts on the chapter!