Beth ran down the steps of the front porch of her family's farm house with her father and mother coming out after her. Hershel shouted, "You can't go with Daryl! It isn't right!" She didn't stop, she continued running the short distance from the porch to the motorcycle with Daryl sitting astride it, motor running. She chanced a glance towards the porch once she got on the bike and wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist. She saw the tears running down her mama's face and the red in her daddy's cheeks as he continued to shout after her.
Daryl wasted no time in getting the bike moving. A dust cloud rose behind them from the bike. They didn't stop till they were safely out of the town lines.
Hershel stayed on the porch looking at the now empty spot where his seventeen year old daughter had just been. He felt his wife wrap her arms around him from behind and press her tear soaked face into his back. "She was baptized in dirty water, it's the only explanation," Hershel muttered.
"No, Daddy, it isn't. She's finally rebelling against your rules," Maggie said from behind them, her arrival on the porch had been silent. Hershel turned to look at his oldest child, Annette releasing her grip on him. "Yeah, Daryl's a little older an' his daddy an' brother are pieces of shit but he loves her. He begged her to give him up, not burn bridges with us, an' she wouldn't. She won't give up on love. You taught her that, Daddy. She'll be back when you loosen your hold."
Beth giggled, releasing the last of her adrenaline from opposing her family. Daryl laughed with her for a moment before asking, "Where to, baby? We got the world at our fingertips."
Without any hesitation she responded, "Tucson, Arizona, first." They drove with only stops to eat, sleep and use the rest room. They traveled lightly, only one set of extra clothes and Beth's bible. "Even if God and Daddy gave up on me, I haven't given up on them," Was her explanation before walking into the first motel of their trip.
"Me an' God love her, how 'bout you, Hershel?" Daryl asked, looking into the sky before heading in after Beth.