Spiced Molasses

Chapter 43

Beth didn't much care for helicopters she decided. There was none of the sound insulation planes provided and the thudding beat of the propellers echoed in her skull, giving her a headache. It moved forward more seamlessly than she would have anticipated but there seemed to be so little standing between her and a horrifying free fall. She squeezed Maggie's hand tightly. Her big sister glanced at her and smiled reassuringly, brushing some hair away from Beth's forehead.

Rick was sitting across from them, staring out of the window deep in thought. He appeared more serious than usual with his eyebrows pinched together in consternation. He had looked that way since Daryl had left. Thinking about Daryl reminded Beth of the hollow space in her chest. It was an effort to stay calm and just keep breathing but she just reminded herself of what Daryl would expect from her. He'd want her to stay strong and brave. Beth just hoped he'd maintain his faith in her. Once the Governor was dead, there would be nothing stopping her from returning home and leading a normal life with Daryl by her side.

She attempted to conjure an image of what a conventional life with Daryl would be like but she had been in danger for so long, there were a lot of blank spaces. But that wasn't important to Beth. The blank spaces were all possibilities for a future with Daryl. The idea of exploring them was exciting. Beth wasn't ready to lose that opportunity.

She exhaled shakily and leaned her head on Maggie's shoulder. Having Maggie with her gave her an inordinate strength. Her sister's unfailing courage and confidence was comforting and Beth had wrapped herself in that. Beth had only seen the briefest crack in that power. When Beth had asked after Maggie's protector Glenn, her smile had wavered and her eyes had hardened into green steel.

Maggie had shot an accusatory look over her shoulder at Rick who had been trying to give them the illusion of privacy. Rick had winced when pinned by that stare and Beth felt a flicker of sympathy for the man. She had been on the receiving end of that gaze more times than she cared to count during her childhood and something had been disturbed in Maggie's room.

Beth was surprised by Maggie's unwillingness to answer her question immediately and added her own frown in Rick's direction.

Rick cleared his throat awkwardly. "Turns out you Greene sisters are alike in more ways than one."

Beth's eyes widened. She understood instinctually that Maggie and Glenn had forged a relationship just like she had with Daryl. Beth struggled to remember the man who had appeared on their doorstep in greater detail. He was a serious, quiet young man but with kind eyes. Not the type of man Maggie would typically pick.

In the helicopter, Beth snorted. How absurd to try and reconcile the why of it all when she of all people knew how mysterious love could be. Anyone who had seen her and Daryl had been just as shocked that they were together.

"I have so many questions," Maggie yelled into her ear over the roar of the engine. Beth's eyes darted toward Rick, who was still paying no attention to the sisters.

"Me too. When we're safe we can talk!" Beth called back, unwilling to shout the intricacies and intimacies of her time with Daryl where Rick could hear them.

Maggie nodded understandingly before her attention shifted to their single guard. "How long are we going to be in the air?" Her inquiry wasn't rude but there was still a distance in her tone. It was a good question though. It felt like they had been in the air for hours. Beth had never travelled this far before.

Rick checked his watch. "Maybe another hour."

"Are we allowed to know where we're going yet?" Beth piped up. "I can't exactly tell Daryl now, can I?"