You Are My Light

Abandoned

It had been three days since Daryl and Aaron left and they were due back anytime now. Just like she said, Beth had not stopped worrying about him since he left. She could not understand why after finally finding each other again, he wanted to leave. If it was up to her she would never let him out of her sight.

Ever since returning to her family she found herself having panic attacks. She found it hard to be alone, but also could not stand being around more than one or two people at a time. Daryl made everything better, Beth felt safe when he was around. He was the only person she completely trusted, so when he left she felt lonely, abandoned, worried and afraid.

It was about 9:00 in the morning when Beth decided to take a walk. She was going crazy holing herself up in the house she usually shared with Daryl. She had barely left the past three days, because she knew leaving the house would give her panic attacks a perfect reason to appear. However, she suspected now being on her own was just as bad and so she set off down the street toward the gate.

Usually on the days where Daryl was expected back, Beth would stop off at the gate every hour. Eric had been put on duty this morning and so she stopped to talk to him, asking if Aaron had specified a time the two would be back. Eric had opened his mouth to answer when a gunshot rang out from beyond the gate.

Beth quickly grabbed the gun she kept at her hip and raised it, motioning for Eric to pull back the first gate. As he did so, Beth moved closer and looked through, but there was nothing to see. No walkers and no people. Beth lowered her gun and turned around at the sound of footsteps running toward them.

"What was that?" Rick asked, slowing to a stop behind her. "Did you shoot something?" Rick gestured to the gun that hung from her hand.

"No." Beth replied. "We heard it too, there's nothing out there that we can see. But it sounded close." Just then, another shot went off, closer this time. "What if they need help?" Beth asked, looking up at Rick and Michonne who had just joined them.

"Even if they don't, those gunshots are gonna draw walkers in from miles around. If they keep shootin' we're gonna have a small herd on our hands." Rick said, stalking forward to look out the gate for himself.

"So what do you wanna do?" Michonne asked, stepping up beside Rick.

"We'll send out a small group, see what's going on." Rick pulled the gate shut and turned around. "Michonne you lead it, take two or three people out. If this looks dangerous you come straight back and we'll figure out something else. Otherwise, take care of it. I don't care how." Rick finished and Michonne nodded along.

"I'll come." Beth volunteered.

"You know your guy would kill me if we let you go out there and something happened." Michonne smirked. '"I don't feel like dying at the hands of an angry redneck."

"Well he's not here, is he?" Beth replied. "If he's allowed outside these walls then so am I. And you ain't lettin' me do nothin', I make my own decisions." Beth finished. "Now, who else is coming?"

An hour later it had been decided that Glenn and Abraham would accompany Michonne and Beth and they were all walking down the road in the direction the gunshots came from. No one was really talking and Beth was glad for that. Even though she had volunteered for this little mission, she still did not enjoy being around this many people, especially without Daryl present. She was walking behind the three of them chewing on her thumb, a bad habit she had picked up from Daryl, when she felt a presence next to her. She looked up to see her brother-in-law walking next to her.

"Thought you might like some company." He said and she nodded. After a few more silent moments he continued. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to Beth, but I just want you to know we are all here for you. I can tell your on edge when you don't have Daryl playing body guard for you. He's not the only one that values you though Beth."

Since returning to the group Beth had been doing everything she could to avoid talking to her sister and her husband. After being shot in the head she had been left in Atlanta. When she woke up she had found her way to Alexandria, but not before seeing the many signs Maggie had left for Glenn. After speaking with Daryl about it she had realized that Maggie cared more about finding her husband than she did her sister. Beth found it hard to believe she was a valued member of the group, seeing as Daryl was the only who really wanted to find her. Not knowing how to respond to Glenn, she chose to remain silent.

"I know that I've been a crappy brother-in-law, not looking for you after the prison, not having hope that you were still out there. But I do love you Beth, you're my sister and I've got your back, just like Daryl. Alright?" He asked. Beth nodded her head again, this time a small smile gracing her face.

The group kept walking for another five minutes until Michonne silently held up her hand. Everyone stopped and looked in the direction Michonne was, trying to see what she saw. After a quick search Beth saw smoke coming up out of the trees. She quietly crept forward and heard the others start to do the same.

"There." Beth whispered, pointing a bit to the left. "Walkers came through here." After moving closer she added, "two or three people too." Beth was now in the lead, the others following behind her as the small girl followed the trail. After about ten minutes they reached the outskirts of a small clearing. Kneeling down behind some tall bushes, Beth saw what looked to be three men fighting at least two dozen walkers. Beth saw Michonne quickly take off into the fight and followed after her, pulling the knife from her hip.

Glenn and Abraham followed after her and together they started fighting. Beth felt the same rush of adrenaline and fear she felt every time she fought a walker. She slashed and stabbed and screamed as she fought, walkers falling all around her. There were only a few left when she heard something behind her. She quickly turned around.

Walkers were coming out of the trees in all directions. They would not be able to fight this many.

"We need to get out of here!" Beth said, stabbing another walker through the eye. She saw Michonne and Abraham start running and quickly grabbed Glenn, taking off after them.