Last Ones Standing
Chapter 1

Tears streamed down Beth's face, partly from what was going on around her, partly from the smoke the billowed from the guard tower on fire. She'd watched her daddy's head get cut off. She'd fired on people, killing them as they fired back. When she'd run out of bullets she'd run of, trying to get people on the bus. When Maggie had left to get Glenn she'd left the bus, trying to find the kids. She couldn't find them anywhere. She heard the bus take off and stood, frozen in horror as the tank shot at it and blew it up. Maggie and Glenn, Sasha, everyone with it. She watched Tyreese and Bob get shot before being swamped by walkers. She screamed when she saw Rick get shot by the governor, broke down and collapsed on the ground when she saw the empty car seat. Went numb when she saw Carl's lifeless body.

They were all dead, all of them. "Beth!" She looked up; her heart stopping in her chest when Daryl stopped beside of her ad picked her up. "We gotta go, Beth." He took her hand and pulled her over to his bike. She climbed on after him, holding onto him tight as they were still being shot at. He drove away from all of the carnage, all of the death. She kept her head buried in his back as she held on tight and cried. They couldn't all be dead. They couldn't be the last ones standing. They just couldn't be.

Daryl drove four hours, until the bike ran out of gas and they were forced to stop. Beth hoped they were out of the clear, hoped no one followed them from the prison. She numbly let go and slowly climbed off the bike. Her limbs numb and stiff. She wanted to crawl into a hole and just cry. They couldn't do that though. They needed to get a fire started. They needed shelter. For the night they'd have to sleep in one of the cars sitting on the side of the road. Neither one of them said anything as they started to collect wood and bits of the cars, anything they could find, anything that might be helpful later on.

She pushed everything away as Daryl built a fire. "Gonna go hunt," he told her quietly, leaving his knife for her as he walked off into the woods on the side of the road. Beth wanted to cry, wanted to mourn everyone she'd lost. Her daddy, Maggie, Rick, Judith… She couldn't. She tried to cry while Daryl was gone, tried to get the emotions and the depression out, but she just couldn't. She was numb to everything. There was nothing left anymore.

When Daryl came back with two squirrels he quickly skinned and cleaned them, skewering them for the fire Beth had kept going. They ate in silence and snuffed out the fire. Neither of them said a word as they climbed into the car and shut the doors, tying them closed. Daryl was reclined back in the driver's seat while Beth was curled up on the back. As the night dragged on, the numbness started to leave and the tears started. She sobbed into the dirty seat, trying not to wake Daryl up.

But he hadn't been asleep at all. He didn't say anything. He sat up slowly and helped Beth into the front, pulling her close against him and held her. They both needed this. Both needed the comfort after they'd lost everyone. She cried herself to sleep in his arms.