Grady fell, finally, a few months before she was appointed to the Council. She was surprised it had taken so long, considering the state of the place when she left it, but they'd held on until the couldn't anymore. The mayday came in while she was away scouting locations for a base out near the west coast, somewhere in the mountains. If she'd been there she would have told them to ignore it.
The evacuation team got there just in time to pull three people off the roof; they didn't even touch down completely, just pulled them up and in. Then threw one back out the side when they saw the bite on his shoulder. Officer Amanda Shepherd and a ward named Hannah survived.
She smiled when she heard Edwards had died, and hoped it was horrible for him.
Councilor Greene was shocked when Shepherd applied to be her aide. She was tired of fighting, she said. Wanted to live the rest of her life without a constant battle. Owed her for what happened before, she said. Beth was hesitant of course, but Shepherd was a familiar face in the crowd. At least she'd be able to keep an eye on her.
It took a year of working together for the assistant to finally ask. "Why don't you go back to them?" They were working late, trying to divert a herd from heading in the direction of Alexandria, from joining another massive force nearby that could easily wipe out all the communities in that area.
She trusted her at this point. Shepherd knew more of her secrets than anyone else, ever over Okafor, so she spoke candidly. "The steps we're going to have to make–the ones we've already made–to find the cure, save the world? They can't know me after that." She frowned mostly to herself. "They won't want to."
NowShe stayed, of course. Where else was she going to go?
Laurent walked away once he realized she wasn't going to explain herself any further, but she stayed as the sun slowly fell past the roof of the castle and covered the balcony she was on in shadows. She couldn't hold back the silver that ripped through her as the temperature dropped, but she would not go back inside. Not until she was sure they were long gone.
"That wasn't kind." She was jolted out of staring at the view at Michonne's words.
She glanced behind her at the woman before facing the waves again. She huffed. "Kind isn't on my list." She couldn't see the older woman furrow her brows but she felt her confusion in the air. "My dad always used to say that we've all got jobs–."
"To do," she finished. "I remember."
Beth blinked away the memories of her father to make her point. "I've got half a million jobs and being kind is somewhere towards the bottom of the list." It'd been shoved down there with patience, caring, love. Memories.
"Funny. It would have been near the top of his." The words make her freeze; she knows Michonne is right. "Daryl's different," the woman says as she steps up to stand beside the blonde. "I haven't seen him that angry in a long time. He does what he has to, fights for his family. My family," she pressed. "But he's not some crazy redneck that starts throwing punches at the slightest inconvenience anymore." She looks over at the blonde. "Don't break what he's built because you can't handle your own shit."
Beth looked at her, surprised at her bluntness, though she shouldn't be. The sword-wielding woman had never been afraid to speak her mind. The blonde had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. She was right, yet again, and as much as Beth hated to admit it, this was probably on her to fix. She just had to figure out how to do that. "Where is he?" Michonne raised her eyebrow at the question, and Beth rolled her eyes. "I won't start anything. Promise."
"Mhmm," the older woman hummed disbelievingly. "He and Rick offered to take watch in one of the towers. I would leave them be," she warned with a pointed look. "They have a lot to catch up on." She didn't miss the unspoken words. They'd talk about the CRM, about the escape, about how all of it was her . She was going to be firmly in the negative after that conversation.
Beth just nodded and turned back towards the sea and the nearly black sky. Eventually she couldn't see the waves anymore but she could hear them, and it calmed her in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time.
Eventually, long after the sounds of people moving about the fortress had ceased for the time, she made her way back inside, using her hands to guide her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She kept her steps light and movements slow as she found her way to what she was looking for.
She spent the night tossing and turning on an empty cot in the large bedroom, unable to fully turn her mind off. She knew she was probably keeping someone else awake but she refused to walk around the castle in the dark and get lost amongst its long hallways. When a sliver of light finally started to show through the drapes over the windows she was on her feet and out the door before anyone else could wake with a yawn.
She rubbed at her forehead and greasy hair wishing for a bath to wash up, but too proud to ask. She was all too used to the water supply at home, the hot showers after a long day, and she was not keen on the thought of hauling buckets of water to fill a tub. She scratched at the back of her neck. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad.
She wasn't exactly watching where she was going and nearly ran over a small brunette who was also up at the crack of dawn for some reason. "Oh!," she exclaimed at the contact before realizing who it was, her eyes widening. "You're still here."
The girl's eyes never left hers as Beth considered her, and she decided to take a risk. "You know where we could wash up around here?"
Judith smiled at her openly and without anything hiding behind it. It was so unlike any she'd seen in recent times. "Yeah," she said, jerking her head to the right. 'It's this way. Somebody showed me and Mom yesterday."
The blonde followed the girl down the hall and around a few turns before she was led into a large-for-a-bathroom-small-for-a-bedroom space that housed a large metal tub and a fireplace. Near the wall next to the door were barrel drums covered with lids. "They refill the water everyday, got a cart to take the bins down to the water," the brunette explained. "Then you can heat up as much water as you want with those," she said pointing at a few iron pots on the ground.
She turned back from looking in the direction the girl had pointed to see the child giving her a once-over. She decided to ignore it. She was used to curious glares at this point. "I'll keep watch if you wanna go first."
Judith's face crinkled up. "No offense but you can go first. I showered on the ship." She paused considering her words. "You kinda…need it."
"Wow," she couldn't help but smirk as she lifted the lid off of one of the drums. "You better watch it kid, I used to change your diapers. Talk about stink."
The young girl's face grew serious and Beth realized she'd probably said the wrong thing. "Yeah," she said quietly, as if it were a secret. "They told me about you, you know?"
Beth observed her face and realized that now might be the only time for them to talk without one of the girl's parents around. "What'd they say?" she asked evenly, using a bucket hanging on a nail to scoop some of the water out.
"They said you took care of me after my first mom died–Lori."
She paused for a moment before walking over to the tub in the center of the room and dumping the water in. "You look like her," she said, realizing that there weren't many people left who knew Rick's first wife. "Carl, too. You–there's no doubt that you're related." She let the words digest and waiting for the next question.
"You're not going to heat it up?" The girl asked as the blonde repeated the motions.
Not exactly what she'd been expecting as a follow up. "Nah, I don't want to take the extra time."
The room was silent for a few moments save for the splashing of water from one container to the other. "Did you know my real dad too? Shane?"
"Yeah, I–" that was a question she had not been expecting, at all, and she was surprised that someone had said it out loud. Especially to Judith. "He scared me," she admitted. "I don't know–I don't think he was a good man. But I'm not exactly the best judge."
The pair let that sit for awhile as Beth continued to fill the tub until she felt like it was enough. She replaced the bucket on the hook when the child spoke again. "They said you called me Judy." Beth couldn't help but smile at the memories the name brought her, of the precious baby she would've died for. "They said you sang." She froze. Judith had to have seen it and known she'd struck a nerve. "All the time, walked around singing me songs to keep me calm, or just because. Is that true?"
She thought about lying but what was the point? "Yeah," she whispered.
"Do you still sing?" The brunette asked so innocently but she could feel her eyes like lasers on her back.
"No," she said quickly. "I haven't in a long time."
She spun around to face the tub and the child who stood on the other side of it. "Why'd you stop?"
Those three words suddenly brought up a flood of memories of the hospital, and her recovery. Painful memories. "I didn't have anything left to sing for," she said honestly. "You were gone. Daryl, my sister. There wasn't anything left."
Why didn't you come back for us?" Judith asked softly. They both knew she meant 'me'. "Was it because of…" she led off with her eyes pointing to the bite on Beth's arm.
Beth exhaled heavily before deciding to answer honestly. "Yes and no." She wanted to leave it there, but she'd already told the girl so many truths. "I've done things, Judith. Things that were necessary to get where I am, so I can fix what's left of the world." She waited until the girl met her eyes again. "I wouldn't have been able to do them if I was with you."
"Was it worth it?" Daryl's voice startled them both. He'd always been an early riser, always walked quieter than she could ever imitate.
Beth met his eyes and saw none of the anger from the day before. She wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there, listening, but he seemed almost relaxed, leaning against the doorframe. "I don't know yet."