Serpents

2

I walked down the stairs so slowly I probably looked like I wasn't moving. I did not want to go talk with my sister, and I was slightly regretting not yelling at Daryl and telling him to stay put and listen to what I have to say, but here I was walking down the hallway towards my sister's room.

"Oh, Beth, thank God." Maggie said as I walked under the threshold. Her eyes were wide and puffy, and the corners were red. Her hair was sticking out in every direction, it looked as if it had been pulled, not hard enough to rip it out, but still a little too much tugging had went on.

"How are you holding up?" I asked, I sat on the opposite corner of the bed, not wanting to get too close. We had resolved our issues, but our relationship was never the same.

She took a deep breath before responding; to me it looked like the words were trapped in her throat. "I heard what Glenn said and I'm not actually pregnant. He needed an excuse to get you in here, but now we'll have to figure out a way to explain the mistake to everyone else."

"You're not pregnant." I stated, but it was more of a question. I was utterly confused, what was so important that they had to come up with a lie to get me away from everyone else?

"Beth, I don't know how to tell you this." Maggie was looking at her hands before she dashed to the door and turned over the lock. Apparently it was so important no one could barge in on our conversation. "Glenn and I were just about asleep last night when we heard someone talking outside our door."

"Okay…" I muttered, wanting her to get to the point.

"They were talking to someone else, maybe even two people, but Beth, they were talking about you." She was now looking up into my eyes, fear spread through her own, and she moved closer to me, close enough to whisper in my ear. "They were saying that you've changed too much, and that you don't belong here anymore. They knew Rick would never kick you out, so they were thinking of ways to get rid of you. They were speaking as if you were a piece of garbage to be thrown away. Beth, you need to be careful, we don't know who it is."

"I might have an idea." I spat, jerking my head to the side as I heard two sets of footsteps come through the front door.

"Who? We know it isn't Rick, and it can't be Daryl, you two are too close, and he'll barely let you out of his sight…" Maggie trailed off.

"Carol." I whispered, "she's had it out for me ever since Daryl and I became so close."

"Carol? Really? I know you two don't exactly get along, but I don't think she would be willing to get rid of you." Maggie said, slouching her shoulders to ease some of the stiffness.

"She said she needed to talk to Daryl this morning. That is was adult matters that didn't concern me. She told me I was a child." I looked over at Maggie watching the expression on her face.

"I think she is just jealous that Daryl is spending his time with you instead of her now, maybe she just needs a friend? Why don't you try to work things out with her, because I am positive it wasn't Carol." My sister whispered again, now leaning back against the wall.

"How are you so sure?"

"Because she was still on the run when I went out to get more blankets this morning. She just got back a few hours ago." By now my head was in a tizzy, I had so many mixed emotions. Why would anyone want me gone, and what was Carol's problem with me? "Beth just keep your eyes open, please? I just need you to stay safe."

"I'll be careful, now I'll send Glenn back in, so you two can come up with an excuse as to why you aren't with child, thanks to the lovely reason your husband came up with this morning so you could tell me all this new information." I walked across the room, and unlocked the door before turning the handle, giving my sister another smile before exiting.

I saw Glenn instantly; he was leant up against the wall waiting for me to come out of their room. Tara was right there with him; she had gotten so close and become good friends with both of them after their differences were settled. I nodded telling them they could go in before I walked further down the hall. I spotted Daryl and Carol sitting on the front porch, and made my way outside. As soon as I opened the door both their heads were facing my direction.

"Can I talk to you?" Carol just nodded her approval. "Alone…"

Daryl stood up and walked back inside the house, leaving the two of us by ourselves. I took Daryl's spot next to her and made myself as comfortable as was possible before I turned to face her.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is with me all of a sudden, but we used to be friends, and whatever happened between us I would like to move on from. There is no point having anymore enemies than you need in a world like this." I extended my hand, which to my surprise she took quickly.

"I'm sorry Beth, I haven't meant to be so awful to you lately, there's been a lot on my mind." She paused and looked out on to the cemetery. "It was Sophia's birthday two days ago, and I just took a toll on me. As for before today, it was just the fact that at such a young age you have the mentality of someone much more mature, and sometimes I think you're wiser than myself. It's just hard to see all the people you love die, and you somehow seem to always keep their memories and personalities alive through yourself. You remind me of my daughter in that way."

"Oh Carol, I'm so sorry." I whispered pulling her into a hug, "that's just how I honor the dead, by keeping them alive in my heart. I meant now harm"

"And I didn't meant to give you the cold shoulder. For that I apologize." She spoke her chin still resting on my shoulder.

"Apology accepted." I took a second before continuing, "and I don't want to make it seem like I'm taking Daryl from you. If that's what you think."

"Oh, that's nothing, he's just a good friend, and I can see that you two care for each other quite a lot. He loves you, you know that right?" Carol asked me giving me a look saying I know what I'm talking about.

"I was actually trying to tell him how I feel this morning…" I said ducking my head, so my reddening cheeks were hidden from view.

"Oh, my, I'm sorry!" Carol said exasperated. "This is all my fault."

"No it isn't. Don't you even say that." I responded quickly. Suddenly the front door burst open and Mika came rushing out.

"Hurry. We need to grab our things, there's a herd coming straight toward the house!" I watched as Carol was dragged off inside, and Daryl scurried out the door not long after carrying both of our things.

"Go throw these in the back of the van," I stood there for a moment before Daryl yelled at me. "Now, Beth!"

I ran off toward the van and somehow managed to throw everything inside before a walker grabbed on to my shoulder. Before I could push it off a bolt was sticking into its head. I grabbed the bolt and sprinted towards the forest green truck. Daryl was sitting in the drivers seat not long after I slammed my door. Sasha, Bob, and Carol were in the truck bed banging on us to start moving.

"Daryl, we need to go!" I hollered, "It's lost!"

"For fucks sake Glenn!" Daryl screeched as Glenn just barely managed to get inside the van before Rick drove off, we weren't far behind before Daryl told me to get the walkie-talkie from his belt. "Ask Rick where we're going."

I did as I was told and turned on the device. "Rick, its Beth, Daryl wants to know where you plan on going."

"No clue. Any ideas?" Michonne's voice echoed threw the tiny speaker. I looked to my right and saw Daryl shrug, and then I suddenly got an idea.

"Tell Rick to go back to our farm. It's worth a shot. That was a year or so ago, all the walkers should be cleared out. We might even have some produce left." I offered, I watched Daryl as his face contorted, clearly thinking over what I said, to see if it made, any sense before nodding his head.

"Alright, Maggie is going to give us directions. Remember to save the battery. Over and out."

"Who does she think she is, a cop?" Daryl sassed next to me, I huffed out a small laugh in response. It was becoming clear to me that all the memories our family made at the funeral home was gone, just like the prison. They were swept right out from under our feet and there was nothing we could do about it.

For the sake of everyone in the back I hoped it wasn't a cold night. It would take us a few hours to get there, and it being late in the afternoon in the middle of fall wasn't a good sign. Then I remembered we had some blankets under the seat, so they would be just fine. We might only have two, but someone can share.

Suddenly Daryl spoke up, breaking the silence within the cab of the truck. "You've had something on your mind for the entire ride. What is it?"

"Its nothing, just the fact that we had another close call and lost yet another place we cared too much about. Why can't we just not get attached to anything anymore."

"Cus' getting attached isn't something you can control." He muttered under his breath and my breathing stopped.

"Daryl I-"

"Its nothing, never mind." He spoke quietly, facing forwards.

"No damn it! Its not! Why won't you listen to me when I try and tell you something?" I snapped at him, not caring if it hurt him or not. " I feel the same way about you, but you never give me the chance to say so! God Daryl! We're running on limited time in this world, and you avoiding the obvious don't help anyone! There I said it!"

"Beth, I didn't mean-" He began to say.

"If you don't feel the same way anymore that's fine, I wish you would just listen to me!"

"You deserve someone better Beth…" He whispered, trying not to look me in the eye.

"You don't know just how good you are, do you Daryl Dixon?" I said quietly, "You are what it means to be good Daryl. You are everything good and whole in this world."

"You're lying." He neck flushing a deep red.

"I'm not, you're just too blind to see it."

"How long have you known how I felt?" He asked suddenly, his head turning toward mine.

"Since the first night in the funeral home." I admitted, "It only took me a few days to realize my feelings were the same, but after that I never got the chance to tell you, something always come up, or we were always interrupted."

"I'm not like Jimmy, or Zach." He stated, looking anywhere but at me.

"I know, and I don't want you to be like them. I love you for you Daryl. I love you for the rough rugged man that you are. I love you for how sensitive you are when you're with me, and I love you for how you aren't scared to be who you really are when we're together. You don't need to be like them, I never loved them like I love you anyhow."

He was tripping over his words when he slammed on the breaks. The van had come to a stop and Rick jumped out and ran to our vehicle. Daryl rolled the window down and lent out, trying to listen. I caught parts of how we weren't going to the farm, and how he had seen something much better up in the distance. Somewhere we could survive. I tried to push the negative thoughts about the farm, the prison, and the funeral home from my mind, but it seemed like nothing could do the trick, so I did the only thing I could think of, and tried to fall asleep.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of those who commented on the last chapter! It meant so much and I tried to respond to as many of you as I could! Please, please, please keep reviewing and favoriting and all that good stuff!

Beth dropped a big bomb this chapter but from what I can tell Daryl is handling it very well! I can't wait to continue! Happy reading!