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

6. Death At Every Turn

6. DEATH AT EVERY TURN

| BETH |

I fed Judith and let her sleep peacefully in the caravan that Daryl and I had shared. Daryl. Why couldn't I stop thinking about him? It wasn't that I was afraid he wouldn't come back. I know he will. There was something else playing on my mind. And I didn't know what or why.

To take my mind off of the hunter I go to check on the other kids. Lizzie, Mika, Molly and Luke were using sticks to draw into the small piece of sand on the shores. As I approached them I could just make out what it was Lizzie was working on. It looked like a head from my angle, but it was all wrong. This woman had razor-sharp teeth and snake-like hair. Lizzie had added one of those skull-looking noses, making her drawing even more creepier.

"Who is that?" I shudder.

She only smirks at me. "It's you."

WHAT! I don't know whether to be offended or digusted. I think my face shows a mixture of the two emotions. "Why would you do that?"

This time she shows her teeth, "Because you're going to die."

Well that was true. We're all going to die someday. Even her. And even Daryl. No. He'll be the last man standing. He was built for this world we live in. He can survive anything.

I move on to Mika's. At least her's was a whole lot brighter. It was nice actually. Just some pretty flowers and a colorless rainbow. Molly and Luke had abandoned theirs to collect stones and they had a handful of white and red ones when they come back wearing big grins.

"Beth! Look what we've found!"

"Those are very nice." I reply, returning the smile. Too bad nice things are worthless now.

The kids were playing in the mud, probably making mud-pies or something like that when Tyreese came bursting out from the caravan drenched in blood. Now I see he hadn't changed at all. I pale at his frantic eyes, running over to him.

"What happened? Is...."

"Sasha's dead." No. "I... I had to do it. I didn't want her to turn."

"Tyreese." I go to hug him. I stop myself halfway. His eyes snap behind me, frightened I swivel on my feet quickly. Lizzie had her gun drawn and Mika had Molly and Luke behind her. Both of us look for the danger and we find it when two woman come stumbling up the thin strip of land to and from the island. They don't look like walkers. One of them is even holding a gun. A big gun.

Hunter-instincts screamed for me to retrieve my own, but Tyreese had already beaten me to it. He hands over the gun - Daryl's gun - and I clutch to it so tightly my knuckes turned white. They could be the Governor's people. That's all I could think. Tyreese stands at my side, aiming his own gun forward, and he's first to speak.

"Stop where you are."

I expected the younger-looking girl to retaliate. She had a gun after all. But she doesn't. She doesn't even bother to look up. They both just did as they were told. It was pathetic.

"Hey," I shout. "You one of the ones who attacked our prison?"

"Not my sister. Just me."

Now I'm pointing straight at her head. I take a step forward. "You watched that man cut my father's head off?"

She nods solemnly. "I'm sorry." The other woman, the one with bloodshot eyes and tangled hair, went to speak. I aim at her to shut her up.

"Any of you fire a shot?" Tyreese demands, coming to stand in front of me again. Like he was trying to protect me but I knew better. The women each whisper a 'no'. Disbelief laces Tyreese's body and I can see he's struggling not to pull the trigger. A part of me wants him to. No more naive Beth. This Beth would kill them herself if he wouldn't. I was with the only good people left in the world. We were a family. And it was all ruined by people like her.