It was almost two weeks before she got a full night's sleep on the road.
They'd been moving non-stop since leaving the farm, no more than one night in each new place. New being relative, of course. Those first few days her daddy and Maggie listed off places around the county. Places that might have supplies, might have people still surviving. Places that might be safe.
Beth decided on day 3 that it'd be a long time before they found someplace like that again.
The first few nights she'd been too scared to sleep. Out in the open, in strange houses, never knowing if another herd would come creeping out of the Georgia pines or a decaying hand would grab your ankle from under a bed.
After the shock and adrenaline wore off, she took to dozing in the cab of the truck squished between what remained of her family as they drove from place to place. They stopped often, and each time she'd jerk back into herself ready to slide over into the driver's seat in case someone spotted walkers and they needed to pull out fast. She'd never technically gotten her license but she'd been driving around the farm since she was 12 and she was confident enough to get them out of there if needed.
Being so sleep deprived, and scared, put her on edge in a way she'd never felt before. The days blended together until they'd found a house in the middle of nowhere and decided it was safe enough to stay the whole night. It was like, as soon as the decision was made, she deflated.
She barely remembers plopping down near Lori and curling in on herself. She shivered as her stomach rumbled but she was so exhausted she didn't care. The moment she closed her eyes she was out.
Hours later she blinked awake with the rising sun shining through a crack in the curtain. She was still hungry, more so than before since she'd skipped eating the night before. But she was no longer cold like she had been. Beth slowly sat up as the soft, muted purple cloth fell forward into her lap.
"You fell asleep before you could eat something last night, honey." Beth blinked the remaining sleep from her eyes as she turned to see Lori leaning against the wall with Carl's head in her lap. "You needed it though, you looked dead on your feet." The young girl spread her fingers against the material and looked at the mother questioningly. Neither she nor her son had anything covering them. Lori smiled at her. "Daryl found that blanket in a closet last night, and you were laying there shivering. I had this guy to cuddle with," she nodded down to her child to explain why it'd been given to her instead of them.
"Who's on watch?" Beth asked. It was quiet in the house except for their conversation but she knew someone had to be on the lookout.
The brunette shrugged with a frown. "Rick, I'd assume. He never came in last night."
Beth nodded and involuntarily cracked her joints as she stood up. She tried handing the blanket to her, but Lori waved her off. The blonde tucked it under her arm instead. "I'll go see if I can heat up some breakfast for everyone." It was the one thing they really let her help with all on her own. Starting fires, getting whatever meal they had that day warm enough to chase the fall chill away for a few moments. That she could manage without someone watching over her shoulder.
She knew they'd scored on a cache of cans and bottled water yesterday, and she doubted they ate their way through it all for dinner. The only questions she did have is would she have enough time to get a fire going before they had to leave this spot, and if Daryl was going to bring in any fresh meat.
The teen quickly made her way out the front of the house, backtracking her steps from the night before and stopping once she stepped onto the porch. She shivered as the cool morning air hit her. Glenn turned his head towards her at the sound, and gave her a small smile as he moved his hand off his knife and back onto her older sister's shoulder as she slept peacefully next to him.
Beth nodded at him in hello, and looked out at their vehicles in formation just in front of the house. Facing out, ready for them to jump in and go at a moment's notice, and Daryl's motorcycle at the center of it all. First in, last out, always.
She didn't see him around but knew he couldn't be too far off. He was probably collecting some rabbits for breakfast, maybe a few squirrels. She scanned the trees surrounding them for any signs of movement. Daryl was the only thing that could come out of those woods that she wouldn't be afraid of.
The blonde stepped off the porch to lay the blanket across the seat of the bike. She hoped he'd use it for himself if he got cold, but she knew better.
The next night she sat beside her sister on watch as T-Dog took a power nap curled up in that fuzzy purple blanket.
Now"So," the French woman looked between the pair with a sinister smile on her face. "Which one of you would like to go first?"
Beth held her breath as she flicked her eyes away from the woman to the blue pair across the room. It escaped from between her lips as she met his intense gaze. He was worried, and furious, and while she saw both swimming in his eyes she wasn't sure which was more prevalent.
"Let's start with you, Daryl Dixon," the woman chose for them as she turned towards him. "Liza's American doctor hasn't arrived yet." She stepped towards him and stopped barely a foot away. "Where is the boy?" Daryl finally tore his eyes away from Beth to stare down the brunette in front of him. It was as if she was excited by his silence as she barely twisted her neck to the side and nodded at the men holding Beth by the arms.
In less than a second the blonde doubled over from the force of the heavy man's fist. Even as she struggled to remember how to breathe she could hear Daryl yelling and cursing. It took her a few tries but eventually she sucked in enough air to pant as she lifted her head back up to stare at the French man. "My grandma hits harder than that."
Genet let out a hearty laugh. "You two are quite the pair, aren't you? Or are all Americans like this?" she asked as she paced in front of Daryl. "So…cocky." Neither of them spoke as she looked between them again. "Shall I ask again Monsieur Dixon? Where is the boy?"
This time she's hit across the face and can taste blood. Daryl pulled on his chains from the other side of the room and gave the older woman a death glare. Beth faces the stocky man who keeps whacking her and spits a bloody glob at his face. Just as he rears back to strike her again, footsteps sounded from the doorway as the disgraced Lieutenant Colonel Kublek entered. "Prise! Ne la brise pas encore, she needs to be well for the tests."
The blonde whipped her head around to the woman. "There will be no tests," Beth ground out.
"Oh Elizabeth, how mistaken you are. Finding the cure is the sole reason either of you are alive. Now be a good girl and let Dr. LaFleur draw some blood." Beth just glared at her and finally noticed a timid man standing behind her with a wheeled hospital gurney. "Jean," she addressed the man with the fists. "Stab him. Somewhere non-vital, he'll be no use if he dies too quickly."
"Wait, don't!" she protested, too late as the soldier drew a knife and stabbed Daryl in the leg. The man still holding onto her tightened his grip as she struggled to break free. The archer pulled on his chains again and growled at his attacker.
"I'm tired of waiting, Elizabeth. You hold the cure to save what's left of the world and you're wasting it. And now I've received word that Dr. Edwards has disappeared on his way here." She glared at her knowingly. "It's a shame, really, for you. He at least had some bedside manner. Now you're stuck with Dr. LaFleur who's more of a butcher than a healer. So," she pressed again. "Will you cooperate or will we need to hurt your man some more?"
The young woman grit her teeth and she accused her former comrade. "You only want a cure so you can control who gets it. Whoever you deem worthy enough to survive."
Kublek frowned. "I'll take that as a no then," she said as she nodded towards Jean once again.
Beth tried to shake off her captor again as the French man started throwing punches in Daryl's direction. Tears filled her eyes as she watched Daryl take hit after hit. "Stop! STOP IT!"
"Then get on the gurney, Councilor Greene. Cooperate," the English woman deadpanned.
Her chest was heaving as she ignored the instincts telling her not to listen. If it got them to stop hurting him…
Beth bowed her head in defeat and Genet immediately halted the man who now had bloody knuckles. She thought she heard Daryl say something, and quickly looked him over before having to turn away. He had blood running down his face from his brow and a split lip, and that's just what she could see. She didn't want to think about the damage under his clothes.
The French doctor wheeled the gurney around the English woman and motioned for the blonde to get on. Beth flicked her eyes to Daryl one more time before climbing on, where she was immediately shoved down. The doctor hurriedly pulled straps from the base and fastened her in tightly. She blinked tears from her eyes and stared at the ceiling as the man moved around her.
He moved his face into her field of vision and she forced herself to look at him. It was then she noticed the needle, much bigger than what you'd use to do a blood draw. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice a little shaky.
"Bone marrow is better than blood," he said with a thick accent. "Cela va faire mal."
Beth's eyes widened as the man and his instrument disappeared from her view, but she didn't have to wait long before learning what he meant. A stabbing pain worse than anything she'd ever felt shot from her thigh.
If her scream wasn't so deafening, she would've heard Daryl's matching one.