𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐖𝐀𝐘| Beth Greene| Cyndie

xx. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮

"Carl, come here." Glenn encouraged the younger boy, making him set his gun down and walk his way. "You stash these at the loading dock. All right? Beth, put more up on the catwalk. If anyone gets pinned down, we need to make sure that they have plenty of ammo. I'll go work on the cage outside."

"You need help?" Austin looked up from cleaning his gun.

"What we should be doing is loading some of this firepower power in a truck and paying a visit to the Governor." Merle spoke as he leaned on the fence.

"What we should be doing is shooting you in the face." Austin mumbled under his breath, Beth nudged him quickly.

"We know where he is right now." Merle went on.

"You suggesting we just go in and kill him?" Glenn looked him way in disbelief.

"Yeah, I am." he said back casually.

"We told Rick and Daryl that we'd stay put." Michonne spoke up his way.

"I've changed my mind, sweetheart." he said back her way.

"Don't call her sweetheart." Austin glared at him knowingly.

"What are you gonna do about it, Pretty Boy?" Merle mocked him, as he always had. "Sweethe-"

Austin pulled one of the large guns off the table and hit the butt of it into his face. Glenn gapped. "Austin."

"What?" he shrugged.

Merle held his bloody nose. "Being on the sidelines with my brother out there ain't sitting right with me."

"The three of them are right in the middle of it. No idea we're coming. They could get taken hostage or killed." Glenn spoke sternly and with a glare in his direction. "A thousand things could go wrong."

"And they will!" Merle pointed out, Austin pulled the gun back and hit him in the nose again. "Oh!"

"Is that necessarily?" Beth looked his way.

Austin nodded. "Very.

"My dad can take care of himself." Carl glared at Merle, making Austin grin and give him a subtle wink.

"Sorry, son, but your dads head can be on a pike real soon." Merle went on, this time he saw the gun coming as he caught it. "Got you."

Austin let the unloaded gun go, using his right fist this time to hit him. "Got you."

"Enough." Maggie cut in as Austin looked over, only she'd been talking to Merle. "Don't say that to him."

Austin looked in worry as Carl left, the gate closing in worry. Glenn exhaled. "It's not the right move. Not now. Can't take the risk of putting them in the crossfire. It's my decision. It's final."

"I'm gonna go check on Carl." Austin mumbled to Beth. "If Merle say anything, just hit him in the nose."

Beth nodded. "Got it."

"You fired a gun?" Austin gushed as Beth told the story, him and Carl too far outside to hear it. "I'm so proud of you."

"It was kinda loud." she rubbed her left ear. "But, yeah. Right above my head."

"That's so cool." he tossed an arm around her as Michonne opened the gate when the car, and Daryl on his bike, came through. "Maybe we got some good news."

Everyone crowded outside as Rick got out of the car, looking around. "Let's get inside."

Beth's face fell, looking at Austin. "Maybe not."

"So, I met this Governor." Rick confirmed as they all headed back in to get the information on what went down. "Sat with him for quite a while."

"Just the two of you?" Merle asked, wearing dried blood around his nose. Rick nodded. "Should have gone when we had the chance."

Austin met his eye in worry. "He wants the prison. He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead for what we did to Woodbury. We're going to war."

Beth and Austin share a similar worried look, he wrapped his arm around her with his best, and it wasn't great, nod of reassurance.

"You think we'll be okay?" Beth asked as her and Austin laid in bed early that morning, side by side with their hands locked between them. "With the war?"

"I hope." he whispered to her. "I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you."

"Can't promise something like that." she pointed out, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "Not now."

Austin gave a small smile. "I did anyways."

Beth leaned it, pressing her lips on his with a smile into their kiss. Austin kissed her back, holding her face.

"Ricks got something to say, come on." Glenn called from down the hallway, thankfully not talking about either of them as they pulled back.

The two got out of bed, finding the group at a picnic table in the back. Austin let Beth sit next to her dad before sitting down next to her, placing his hand on her leg incase whatever is dad was about to say was gonna be rough. Rick walked over in no time, Maggie and Glenn close after.

"When I met with the governor, he offered me a deal." Rick looked around at the group. "He said...he said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne."

There was a silent gapping around the group, Austin realized she wasn't present in this conversation. Rick went on. "And I was gonna do that... to keep us safe. I changed my mind. But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late."

Austin's heart fell in panic for Michonne, feeling the urge to follow her tracks, to raid Woodbury and take her back himself. "I was wrong not to tell you. And I'm sorry. What I said last year, that first night after the farm...it can't be like that. It can't. We do what, what we're willing to do, who we are, it's not my call. It can't be. I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because isn't the greater good. We're the reason we're still here, not me. This is life and death. How you live... how you die- it isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go. We choose to stay. We stick together. We vote. We can stand and we can fight. Or we can go."

•

kylie speaks

love a merle anti.

ALL THIS TALK ABOUT
NOT LETTING ANYTHING
BAD HAPPEN TO BETH IS
MAKING ME EMOTIONAL
AFTER THE EPISODE I WROTE
A FEW DAYS AGO