War Of The Damned - (Daryl & Beth) - The Walking Dead

1. Escape From Prison

1. ESCAPE FROM PRISON

| DARYL |

"Daryl!"

I look up ta see Beth standin' there covered in blood and her hair disheveled with mud and dirt. "You bit Blondie?" I ask, slinging my bow over my shoulder and walking toward her. She shook her head, fear in her big blue eyes. It tore me ta admit it but seeing her frightened an' afraid put me more on edge than I knew it should've. "I need a damn smoke!"

Fuckin' control yourself Daryl, I think, the girls fuckin' scared enough not in need of your fuckin' rantin'. Then I remember it ain't nothin' she ain't heard before. And we live in a world that's harsher than fuckin' words. This world 'as changed her with walkers an' the people like the Governor. Right now she looks nothing like the sweet, little innocent girl she likes ta think she is. No, she looks all rough and rugged, like she'd just taken out a few walkers with her bare hands and spilled their guts all over herself. I pull the girl ta me, checking her over. The ol' man had made me promise him ta protect Beth with my life - as if huntin' an' supply runs weren't enough. Still, I never renege promises I'd made.

Her exposed skin is clear of everything but dirt and she doesn't complain when I check her back. She understands. Coming around again I look at her face. She looks ghostly pale, almost sickly. There's tear streaks down her cheeks and suddenly she breaks down inta' a sob. "I can't find Judy anywhere! I left her with Lizzie and the other children and everyone is gone and I dunno' where the hell she is Daryl!"

Damn that's the first I'd heard 'er cuss before. I pull her ta my chest, telling her that Judy will be fine, that she must've left with Tyreese or Maggie and Glenn, or even Carl. Truth was, I didn't know if I believed my own words.

"You don't understand Daryl. I found her seat...it was drenched in blood!"

Beth's sobbing continued and I felt like a fuckin' truck had jus' hit me. It was like Sophia all over again. I hated what Beth was implyin' - I hated that she wanted me ta believe Judith was dead before we'd even begun looking for her. It fuckin' disgusted me.

I scan the surroundin' forests, letting Beth wrap her arms around my waist and drain her tears. We all need this at least once in this shithole-of-a-world. Then I remember'd she had another person ta mourn too. Hershel. I didn't know what ta say, never dealt with losing a parent. I was too young ta remember my mother, and shamelessly I was glad when my father died. And then there was Merle...

Merle was a tough son o' bitch, he was my best-friend when he wasn't being a prick. But Hershel, that father-daughter relationship would never heal. I try and think of something ta say. Came up with nothin'. Typical. I ain't much of a words man. Never 'ave been.

Beth squeezes me tight before steppin' away, wipin' her cheeks. Her eyes are puffy and red. Not her best look and it pisses me off. Fuckin' Governor! I want ta put a arrow through his heart for what he'd done ta Beth and ta Hershel and ta our prison. It'd gone up in flames after that tank incident and crumbled ta the ground like dust in the wind. Why couldn't he just fuck off and live his fuckin' life and leave us in peace. I hope the asshole is dead because if not...I will stop at nothing ta kill him. Twice.

"We should look for the others." She says unsteadily, and I only nod. "The bus was gone when I went back. I'm assuming Glenn took the children to the safe-spot. So that's probably the first place we should look."

"Yeah." I start walkin', feelin' Beth beside me. It was luck enough that Beth was with me already, I ain't gon' let her go now. We were already alongside the road where the rest of the group should be at. Findin' them would be easy.

We made it a third of a mile before walkers showed up. Beth knew ta stay at my back, she had a gun but we didn't need ta use it unless we...well really needed ta. I sent an arrow through a skull and turn ta shoot another. Beth followed as I went ta retrieve my arrows. Then we were on our way; occasionally crossin' paths with walkers. We took turns at takin' 'em out, Beth used the silver an' black machete I gave her. She wanted ta kill them more, ta learn how ta protected herself without fear. With all her motherin' ta Judith she had almost forgot about them.

"You can't be like that Blondie," I said ta her as we pushed through the last kilometer of thickets before comin' ta the clearin' where they should be. My thoughts were on the group and the safety of those children and on the girl beside me. "You can't ever forget the world ya' live in Beth. It ain't safe ta." And I ain't gonna be here ta protect ya' foreva.

All those people in Woodbury, the children the Governor killed, and the people that came ta the prison - they were all oblivious ta walkers and they had no fuckin' clue how ta kill 'em efficiently. Me and Rick had taugh 'em though, hell even Michonne and Carol had showed 'em a few tricks. I'll teach 'er ta be lethal though, get her a crossbow like mine and one day she might even be better than me.

I nearly laugh at that fuckin' thought. Better than me? Never.

I hear Beth gasp, murmurin' somethin' that's lost ta me 'cause what I'm seeing is like bullet ta the heart. There, where the group should'a been waitin' is a bus burnin' up like the fuckin' desert heat. I rush forward ingorin' Beth's voice attemptin' ta stop me. I can't stop, not if there's one of 'em kids in there. Except there ain't.

"They must've fled that way," Beth says, pointin' over the other side of the bus.

Besides the fact that it's blatantly obvious by the trails in the grass - which she probly can't even see - I nod at her, takin' the lead. "Keep ya' eyes open Beth. Someone deliberately set this fire, may've been one 'a the Governor's men." I say, looking at 'er through hooded eyes. She doesn't look frightened at all only more determined. She nods and follows closely behind, this time with her gun.

There were dozens of footprints of all sizes goin' in one direction. The grass was disrupted only slightly which meant they were in a hurry and probly runnin'. Me an' Beth arrive at the fringe where the trail is lost and I don't stop ta make sure Beth's followin' me back inta' the forest. We ain't walkin' for long before I find the first clue...or should I say clothin'. A hat ta be precise.

"That's Judith's hat!" Beth cries, snatchin' the item off of me. I stay still as she holds it ta her chest and wipes at her eyes. She looks so fuckin' fragile and I wanna hug her tight ta ma' chest but more than anythin' I wanna - no, need - ta find the others an' especially the little asskicker.

So I pull Beth along, grippin' one 'a her hands in mine. I can't stop thinkin' 'bout how soft her skin is compared ta mine, how much hotter she is, and fuck it does things ta me I shouldn' be fuckin' thinkin' 'bout. Ain't never thought of the girl like that before and I wondered what the hell changed. Could it be that she'd smelled like raw, sweaty nature. The true scent of a woman. Or could it be that I was just fuckin' insane enough ta think 'bout a teenage girl like that.

Damn.

All of it reminded me of Carol and when she thought I fancied her. I didn't. Fuck no. I almost fucked her though; I was once that desperate and fuckin' over drunk. She never let me live that down, always touchin' me in weird ways, little fleetin' touches...buh I couldn't stop seein' her as my mother. She'd felt like that and in a way I kinda' relish in it. And now she's gone and it was Rick who'd fuckin' sent her away.

I shake my head as if shakin' away the ugly thoughts of what I wanted ta do ta Rick once I found him and it seemed ta work. I hear voices halting me in my tracks. Beth stops too, clutching at her gun as she moves ta stand beside me. She gives me a confused look, widenin' her big blue eyes, and I know she's thinkin' the same as me. It sounds like Glenn on the other side of this thick bush. And it sounds like...a fuckin' set up.

"Get on your knees!" We heard clearly. A cold, unfamiliar voice. "Get the fuck down and I won't shoot you."

I creep forward, signalin' ta Beth ta wait for my command. This fucker is gonna die, I think angrily.

"Now here's whats gonna happen. You...you and...you, sit at the centre. Take the children and sit at the centre!" The prick with the carbine rifle shouts. He must've gotten it off of Glenn or someone in our group 'cause it was the same weapon Michonne brought back with her he last time she went out. I eye this motherfucker with vengeance as he throws the children a gas canister and demands at gun-point they drench themselves in the stuff. As for Glenn he is now knocked out, his lifeless body paralyzed beside Tyreese and 'em other folks from Woodbury.

It's when he reaches inta' his pants pocket and pulls out a box of matches that I decided the prick has taken it too far.

And that's when I shoot him with my crossbow.