Remembering (A Bethyl FanFic)

Chapter 7

Glenn sat up from his and Maggie's bed. He checked his pocket watch: it was 7:32 A.M. He got up and went to the perimeter. Walkers had piled up on the cars and were pushing to get in the perimeter. Glenn pulled out a knife and began to drive his blade into their heads.

Rick stood atop a van with his rifle aimed down the road. Glenn noticed Ricks eyes had dark circles under them; he was beginning to wobble as sleep caught up with him. Glenn got on the car, putting a hand on Rick's shoulder.

"I'll take it from here," Glenn said.

"Thanks," Rick said, stepping down. Glenn took the rifle from him and began his watch. Rick walked over to his spot and lay down. He was out in seconds, sleep grabbing at his eyes for the past few hours. Carl was sitting up against a car feeding Judith baby food.

The camp slowly woke at their own pace. When Maggie woke her hair was matted, she had dark circles under her eyes, which looked sullen, and her nose was red. It was evident she had been crying, a lot. She sat up, going over to Glenn. He helped her up and wrapped an arm around her waist. They stood there as Rick and Daryl had the night before, only they were thinking of how hellish the world they lived in was.

Carl stood and began to make his way over to Tyreese, who was up boiling water for drinking. There was a stream about half a mile from their camp that he'd gotten the water from. Now he was purifying it by boiling in hopes that they would have drinking water. Carl stumbled over Daryl's spot, knocking the blanket off of him. "Shit, sorry."

A groan came up from the pair of bodies; it wasn't Daryl's, it was feminine. Carl looked down at the blonde girl. Did Daryl pick someone up? He crouched and put a hand on the girls shoulder. She Groaned again. Daryl's hand shot up and grabbed Carl's wrist.

"What do you want?" Daryl quietly said.

"Who's she," Carl asked.

"Beth," Daryl released his grip.

"I thought. . ." Carl tried.

"Don't say it," Daryl said, "She's not."

Carl slowly walked away. He couldn't fully process this. Did his dad know? Did Maggie? Would anyone believe it? He went over to Tyreese and gave Judith up. Ty had no problem looking after her, after all, he was her adopted parent after the prison. Tyreese held Judith as he made a small breakfast of whatever he could scrounge together.

Carl went back to Daryl and sat down next to them. Daryl was laying there, staring up at the sky while Beth slept. He was thinking of what their next move should be, where they should go, how they were going to survive. Daryl looked at Carl, who was staring at his feet.

"What's up," Daryl said.

"I don't know," Carl said.

"You came over here for somethin'."

Carl just stared at his feet. Every now and then he'd glance from Beth to Daryl. It felt weird. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She was real. Carl shivered. "I can't believe she's alive."

"Yeah," Daryl grunted. Beth squirmed in Daryl's arms. He helped her sit up. She had dark circles under her eyes, her lips were cracked, her hair was mussed, and her nose was bleeding. Daryl looked her up and down.

"My head," Beth's voice cracked, tears streaming down her cheeks, "It hurts."