Almost Goodbye
Chapter Two

"Well, well, well. I'll be damned. How tha hell are ya, Officer Friendly?" Merle snorted as he walked over to Beth and looked her up and down.

Rick made a move towards them but stopped when a second gun was pointed at her.

He was a bit shocked that she wasn't showing any fear at the situation. She was calm and was keeping her eyes on him. No doubt waiting for him to get them out safely.

He watched as Merle lightly ran the blade on his prosthetic down Beth's cheek. She cringed but was otherwise still.

Merle chuckled and pressed the blade against her throat and faced Rick.

"Here I was thinkin' 'bout killin' y'all fer what y'all did but I think I'll wait. 'Least 'til ya tell me where my brother is."

"He's not with us," Rick said.

"He may not be 'ere, Officer, but I know he ain't dead. Cain't be. He's a Dixon."

Merle looked back at Beth. "You know my baby brother?"

"No," Beth whispered.

He pressed the blade harder against her throat. "You're lyin'. Where is he?"

"I don't know," she croaked and closed her eyes, hoping he'd buy what she was about to say. "It's just me and Rick. We got separated from everyone. It's just been us for a while now."

"You got separated?" He looked to Rick and started towards him, "Is that right?"

Merle stood mere inches from Rick and chuckled. "I ain't buyin' it," he said before punching Rick in the stomach.

Rick doubled over and after a moment he raised his eyes to look at Beth then back to Merle as he caught his breath, raised up and took a swing.

Beth took that opportunity to throw her head back into the man behind her, knocking him off balance and giving her a chance to move away from him.

Pulling out the gun that was hidden in her boot, she aimed and fired at two of the men without missing. Neither of the shots were meant to kill but they were good enough to slow them down and allow them to get away.

Within minutes, Rick and Beth were running through the woods.

Once they were far enough away from Merle and his men, they stopped, allowing themselves to catch their breath and to see if they had been followed.

"Who...who was that man?" Beth gasped out, looking at Rick.

"Merle. He's Dar..."

"Daryl's brother?" She interrupted.

"Yeah."

"But, I thought he was dead."

Rick shrugged. "We only found his hand. Daryl said he couldn't be killed and I guess he was right."

Beth hated to admit it but she was scared.

She had heard stories about Merle from the others but she never thought he would be as bad as he seemed to be. He was Daryl's brother so how could he be a bad person?

She repeated that question and everything she had been told about him in her head as she and Rick continued to walk.

"We walked right into that," she whispered.

Rick stopped walking and turned to her. "We did but thanks to you, we made it out."

"Yeah, we made it out but thanks to me we don't even know where we are," she looked around then back to Rick. "Do you know how to get back to the prison?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I haven't been this far out on foot but we'll find a way to get back. Even if we have to give them time to move on so we can go back there. But one way or another, we'll make it back to the prison. I promise we will."

She looked up to the sky and prayed they would make it back. She trusted Rick, she really did but how could he promise her that? Two hours away from home didn't seem like that far away but she knew there was a chance they may not make it back. Nothing in this world was guaranteed.

Rick walked beside Beth, not in front of or behind her. He knew she was capable of taking care of herself but she was just as lost as he was and he had promised her he would get her home. More than that, he had promised Hershel she would be safe with him, that he would protect her, and that he would bring his daughter home.

He still planned to keep his promises but he knew things didn't always work out that way so all he could do right now was hope and pray they could at least find a way home and they would make it there as safely as they could.

Beth stopped walking and looked around then she froze.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered.

He shook his head and listened.

"Oh shit," he muttered and grabbed her arm, pulling her with him further into the woods.

He gave her a gentle push and she closed her eyes as she laid down behind some bushes. Rick stayed right beside her but instead of laying down like she had, he had only knelt down to keep an eye out.

"We shouldn't stay here," Beth whispered. "They'll see our tracks."

"Maybe they won't see them and keep walkin'."

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up off of the ground. "Do you really believe that, Rick? Merle is the one who taught Daryl how to hunt. There's no way he'll just overlook them."

He looked around for anything he could find to cover their tracks but when he heard the voices getting closer, he knew he wouldn't have time to do that.

"C'mon," he said and stood up, holding his hand out for Beth. "If they're goin' the way we were, we'll go back the other way and we'll keep doin' that until we can lose them."

"You want to lead them in a circle?"

He shrugged. "Whatever works and unless you have a better idea, that's what we're doin'."

A/N: So, I wanted to add more to this but I decide to go ahead and post what I've had written for a year now. Though this will be a semi-short fic (compared to my others it will be short), I do plan on continuing it until it's finished.

I would love to hear what y'all think so please leave a review and let me know if y'all are still interested in this story or not.

Thanks!

xoxo

-A