ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

               the battle felt never ending.  with every inch of progress they made deeper inside the crowd of corpses, the further they seemed to be pulled from the rest of the group ––– and each other.   blue eyes went dark with fear the moment beth heard that familiar scream from the watchtower.  a scream so raw with terror it sent a chill down the songbird’s spine from her place on the ground.  she hadn’t noticed glenn sneaking in, nor had she noticed much else outside of the constant flow dead streaming through their gates.

               when the dust had finally cleared and the deaths of those they’d lost very much became a reality, beth was quick to make a b-line for her sister.  she’d done what she needed to in the clinic, aiding them every step of the way until she finally got the chance to break free.  tiny arms found their way around maggie’s center, squeezing her as tightly as she could without squeezing her to death.  ❛ –––––are you okay?  d’ya need anythin’ from the clinic? ❜

His RELIEF when he realizes she’s not talking about herself is replaced by a similar kind of worry when it’s Maggie. Of course, Rick’s happy for she and Glenn, they deserved to have such an incredible thing like starting their own family. Unfortunately, he can see why Beth’s so worked up and concerned. His reflex is to COMFORT her – he approaches and puts an arm on hers gently, “It’s alright, I won’t say anythin’,” he assures the younger Greene, offering a small smile. “Just try t’calm down, alright?” His voice is steady and calm, the priority trying to bring Beth some EASE.  Her words force Rick to think back to when Lori was pregnant with Judith – not a high point in their relationship by any means, but he’s HAPPY that they got that little girl despite the fact that he lost his wife through the whole ordeal. He’s sure his late wife would agree. “M’not sure we deserve all that credit, but…we did what we thought was the right thing. It scared the HELL outta us, I think we’d be crazy if it hadn’t, but I think it’s all been worth it. M’sure Glenn and Maggie will be just fine. There’s lots a’good people to look out for them AND there’s a doctor back at the Hilltop. – I think things could be alright, don’t you?”

               the heavy doubt that poisoned her every thought felt foreign.  while she knew better than to let negativity take hold of her usual positive outlook, this time the fear was heading for an inevitable win.  for a few breaths, beth refused to give into the comforting arm draped across her shoulders.  she wanted to be strong, to stand tall on her own.  but the moment her own salty tears broke free, sending warm rivers streaming down her cheeks, it was all over.  fabricated poise could only hold for so long.  and so beth gave in, thin arms wrapping tight around rick’s torso as a wet cheek settled upon his shoulder.  she stayed like that until her poise returned just enough to muster a clear thought.

               ❛ I don’t trust ‘em like I trusted daddy.  nothin’s free anymore, everybody always wants somethin’ from us. ❜  beth hated just how big of a scar the hospital had left on her mind, even deeper than the deep wounds it left across her face.  of course the lesson learned would ultimately help the once-naive girl survive, but still it didn’t feel right no longer giving strangers the benefit of the doubt.  she wanted to believe people were good at heart, even after all the world had been through.  ❛ they’re already askin’ so much.  they barely got any defense, who says the doctor’s gonna be there nine months down the road?  I got a bad feelin’ ‘bout all this.  I know that’s bad, I know it ain’t helpin’, I’m just scared.  we already lost daddy, I can’t go losin’ maggie too. ❜

The hunter snorted at the songbird’s statement. Ironically enough, her age showed. Even someone with his experience and caliber of talent still required looking after whether he wanted it or not. This world was tough and vengeful. Without necessary support, people lost their way rapidly. “Jus’ ‘cause ya get t'be my age don’t mean we don’t need someone lookin’ after us, too. Everyone does. That’s how we survive.” Muttered the hunter as he shifted to sit on his haunches in front of their small crackling, fire.

Their meal was almost ready. The pot coming to a slow rolling boil. A single can of vegetable soup to split between the pair of them. It was enough. But so was every day’s scrounging of supplies. Always enough to suffice for the day. Always just enough to make it.

               idle fingers picked at the overgrown blades of grass standing tall around songbird’s knees.  this was why she tended to keep her thoughts and opinions to herself.  a part of her knew there was no use in explaining things.  that only kids like carl would understand just how it felt to be so young at the end of the world.  for a girl so young, beth couldn’t help but to feel so old.  like she was a thirty year old trapped inside the body of a teenager.

               at first beth gave in, letting daryl’s word win with a passive ❛ yeah I know. ❜  but her head was still abuzz with thoughts making a mad dash for her lips.  ❛ –––––I think it’s different, though.  people look out for you right?  they’re always gonna have your back, but at the end’a the day, you’re still fightin’ your own battles. ❜  her weight shifted for a moment, throat swallowing the ball of nerves seeming to gather there before blue eyes finally lifted to meet daryl’s.  ❛ daddy, maggie, rick, even you ––– none of y’all let me fight my own battles.  I can, though.  maybe I’m not really good at it, but I won’t get any better if nobody lets me try. ❜

Casting a gaze over his shoulder, the hunter remained still in where he came to stop. He figured their excursion within the patio area of the country club had come to a screeching halt. They wandered aimlessly for the better part of the day with no real goal in mind. Wasting time picking through the remnants of what seemed to be a shaming area of a lobby and turning up with no food and no water within the industrial kitchen. Walkers seemed to be most plentiful in capacity and a persistent problem Daryl would rather soon dismiss.

“That’d be the goal. But we ain’t doin’ no smoke signals. We don’t want others findin’ us. Ain’t nobody gonna come lookin’ fer us anyway.” Beginning their new destination, Daryl took a few strides towards the little lopsided fence that had busted. From being forced open by a mass of walkers or the urgency of people trying to get inside, he couldn’t begin to fathom its reasoning. But the hunter made his way towards it anyway and shoved it forward to allow Beth to pass first, following immediately after.

               if this was daryl’s idea of achieving goals, he sure had a lot to learn.  for days they’d barely found dinner, much less a home, and beth couldn’t help but to think maybe the weathered man didn’t want to settle down at all.  though she’d never admit it, beth’s muscles were growing tired.  lack of food meant lack of energy, and sooner or later a crash would be inevitable.  maybe if she pushed just that little harder, made her voice a little stronger in the decisions being made for the both of them, daryl would take her word into consideration.

               ❛ okay, so no smoke signals.  what if ––– ❜  the songbird paused for a moment, just long enough to cut through a tangled mess of thorns waiting to greet them on the other side the fence daryl had pushed aside.  ❛ ––– what if we head back towards the prison?  there’s gotta be houses near the places y’all used to find baby formula.  someplace small.  that country club was probably one’a the first places people looted after the turn, right?  maybe if we go smaller, we got a better chance’a findin’ somethin’ good.  someplace we can stay. ❜

‘ i don’t need to get it, beth. nobody is going to do anything to you. nobody will hurt you so long as i’m around, okay? ’

               there was nothing more the battered girl wanted than to trust glenn’s word.  to believe that look in his dark eyes that said he would do anything to get them both to safety.  beth knew better nowadays.  over and over again she had placed her trust in something that crashed and burned so bright, that it was hard to even believe in those closest to her.  though she swallowed every untrusting thought that threatened to roll from her tongue, beth’s eyes still said it all.  

                              ❛  –––––then what’s the plan?  we gotta go.  ❜

               no time remained for any little affections beth wanted badly to share.  a quick hug, a gentle squeeze of her sister’s hand.  for a young girl so scared of saying her goodbyes, she was so eager to get in that last moment of love just in case.  because no matter how hard they fought to keep all that they loved safe and sound, sometimes god simply had other plans.  in leu of those affections, beth offered her older sister a quick nod, handing over the box of ammo she’d grabbed only a minute earlier.  ❛ if we get separated, if somethin’ happens, ya head for high grounds, ya hear me?  I’ll find you n’ I’ll meet ya there. ❜

               for a moment there was silence, nothing more than the sound of a shaky breath flowing through to the songbird’s lungs in hopes of easing that familiar tension of her throat.  beth’s eyes were glossy, filled with the hint of tears she was doing all she could not to let fall.  she knew damn well talking about the situation would get her worked up.  that even the slightest mention could send her into an overthinking mess, but the pressure of that secret was too much hold onto.  she had to tell somebody.  so badly that she hadn’t even realized rick was taking the conversation down a whole new, unexpected path.

               ❛ –––––it’s been a couple’a days I think. ❜  even those few words took effort to squeeze past her throat.  ❛ maggie said I shouldn’t be tellin’ anybody yet, ‘cause so much could happen, but ––––– I just needed somebody t’ talk to.  it ain’t exactly like carl’s in any shape t’ be throwin’ out advice, so––––– ❜  another shaky breath.  ❛ you n’ lori were so brave.  like nothin’ at all could scare you away from havin’ that baby. ❜

The incessant need to get moving was hampered when he felt the gentle tug at the sleeve of his flannel. The weather had been slowly cooling, enough so that it nipped at exposed flesh. So the hunter halted and pivoted in his stance to eye the young woman. Raising a curious brow, Daryl waited as he watched her remove the grease rag from his back pocket and dampen it with a bit of water from their canteen.

Snorting at the suggestion and unwilling to negotiate otherwise, the hunter took the offered rag and wiped along his cheek. Wiping down along the span of his face he gave the cloth a good crack, pocketing it again once more and murmured caustically, “I don’t get sick.” Pinching the bridge of his brow, they’d been wandering about the country club for what seemed like hours. His patience dwindling, Daryl felt like their entire escapade was for naught and was almost inclined to throw in the towel on the whole thing. “Where to?”

               the upward twitch of her lips was a difficult reaction to hide.  so darn stubborn, that man was.  even when such a small gesture could keep him alive just that little bit longer, he had to go and put up a fight.  a sigh was breathed through the songbird’s nose as blue eyes scanned their surroundings, searching for any sign to point them in the right direction of, well, anything.  but as always, the search left her empty handed.  no signs, no clues.  just a bunch of trees and rocks sitting exactly where the world had left them.  

               ❛ maybe we should find somethin’ t’ focus on instead’a wanderin’ around like we got nothin’ better t’ do.  get us a place.  maybe some food.  there’s gotta be somethin’ more out here than crappy twig forts n’ roadkill.  maybe if we make some sort’a home base, send some smoke signals, the group’ll see it from far away n’ check it out. ❜

r.i.d  (via sheepsuiit)

She was a tough little thing. Never relented to his brazen tirades and never succumbed to his sullen silence. He supposed that was fine enough for company. And although he had never been one to appreciate the good stroke of an ego, Daryl had to acknowledge that like it or not, those people had come to respect him and lean on him in times of crisis.

“Ya gotta earn respect. It ain’t somethin’ that just… happens,” he murmured, knowing full well that he wasn’t just lying about that sort of thing. Even before the turn, there had never been an instance where he had warranted any sort of respect. Despite the nature of his craft or even the skill he possessed, it could never outlier his garnered reputation of being a Dixon. That seemed to precede any sort of good Daryl was worth. And it never did get any better. “If they saw us leave together, then yer alive.”

               it wasn’t that the thoughts daryl shared were wrong.  in fact, beth agreed with every word.  whatever respective light the group had eventually shined on the older man was well earned, but still she couldn’t help but to think daryl had it just that little bit easier.  he had age on his side.  his gender.  sure it was rare for beth to step up and volunteer for a runs, but that wasn’t without pulling her own weight.  of course she’d never share those thoughts, fearing the inevitable, judgemental scoff the songbird could already hear falling from the redneck’s lips.  instead, she shrugged.  a tiny twitch of one shoulder as her eyes fell self consciously to the ground at their feet.  daryl wouldn’t get it.

               ❛ –––––sometimes I think it’s bigger than that.  besides, I don’t want anybody thinkin’ they gotta take care’a me.  like I’m some kid they gotta watch after or somethin’. ❜

                                                            incoherent raps ‘pon wood ECHOED thrice, a perpetual conundrum interlacing such a sound reverberating ‘gainst the MONROE residence. melancholy skeleton lay, drowsed, atop the living room’s favoured canapé along with a drunkard’s chalice, enwreathed by spirituous metacarpals. humiliation followed where secrecy spilled  ( & they all knew alexandria grew infatuated by the offering of gossip ):  thus, the remaining contents of the glass would be consumed with a devouring gulp! before his caller had a chance to gaze ‘pon his SIN.  – unfortunately for he, spencer hadn’t accounted for a flushed cheek & a whiskey breath. desolation created demons of us all.

                                                     & digits RUN thro’ a mass of furled locks in attempts to tame for his visitor ; a slumber-infused curl adapting the usual physiognomy of his. spencer could CARE less of his visage & it’s current state, alas  –  the monroe desired to convey a strength to his fellow alexandrians & make it seem as tho’ he was unalike a grieving orphan but instead a SURVIVOR.  (  he’s not coping whatsoever, but he’d allow innards to rupture before he’d allow his community to realise such a thing.  )  the entry of his residence would be pulled open to look upon his visitor ; umber optics scrutinizing the exterior to his accommodation before adjusting focus unto a flaxen female  –  BETH ?

                                                   ‘   —-  is there something wrong  ?  ’                                                                           (   @southernbird   )

               the cloud of whiskey scented breath hit beth like a brick wall, jarring and distracting the young girl from her original plans.  fingers gripped at the plate of cookies between her palms, weight shifting from one foot to the other as she slowly but surely reinstated any confidence that had suddenly faltered.  it wasn’t every day the songbird crossed paths with spencer monroe.  other than a passing smile and few patched bumps and bruises in the clinic, she wasn’t sure she’d ever had a sit-down conversation the boy.  but now wasn’t the time for passing sentiments.  with tragedy quite literally breaking through alexandria’s walls, beth knew she needed to start further connecting with the people around her.  starting with spencer.

               maybe it was his own personal tragedy that put a spark in the songbird’s need to connect with the boy.  she’d been there before, over and over watching family members fall to the hands of both the dead and the living, only to watch the world move on around them.  he was grieving, and although beth had no right to judge his methods of doing so, she felt somehow obligated to check-in.  

               ❛ no, m’ sorry t’ bother you, I just ––– thought maybe you could use some cheerin’ up.  maybe get some food in ya while I’m at it. ❜

“Oh, that’s easy,” Kyle laughed, taking no time to come up with his answer. “Mr. Baer.” It only took saying the name to summon the almost amused resentment. “He was a fucking douchebag! One of the worst teachers of my life. God, he was so… pretentious!”

Despite the harsh words he had to say about the man, Kyle was grinning, as though it brought him pleasure to hate the ghost of his old english teacher. “Sorry, I just have a lot of feelings about that man.”

               ❛  ya know what’d be kinda funny? ❜  the smile that once beamed from ear to ear had fallen, twisting and transforming itself into a mischievous little smirk that lit a spark in the songbird’s blue eyes.  good or bad, kyle’s passion was inspiring a giddiness inside her.  ❛ if we came here, all this way, n’ mr. baer ended up bein’ the head’a this whole place.  all your old friends, all your neighbors, everyone ya knew havin’ t’ do exactly what he said.  ya think he’d be anythin’ like the governor? ❜

“Beth” his voice is soft and caring as he approaches his youngest daughter. “You okay?”

@southernbird liked for a starter

               worried was an understatement.  as gracefully as his youngest daughter could hold her head high, all it took was the simple sound of her own father’s voice to undo all the grim feelings she kept tucked under lock and key.  her blue eyes stung, burning from the pool of tears she refused to let slide down her own porcelain cheeks.  ❛ –––––m’okay, daddy.  maggie said you’ve been takin’ over for doctor s. ❜