Eighteen With A Bullet

Chapter 2

Daryl kept leading the group farther out despite Rick's protestations. It wasn't that he didn't want to find Beth, because he absolutely did, and he had grown very fond of her in recent months. But they had been out in the woodland for well over an hour, and it seemed like they were essentially going around in circles. He couldn't help thinking about what had happened with Sophia, and he didn't want to repeat past mistakes. Rick was doing his best to persuade them that they should return to the prison, when they heard two gunshots being fired from somewhere close by. Daryl tracked the sound while bounding ahead through the thinning trees and out onto the roadside. Michonne and Glenn followed the hunter, but Rick lingered behind as he thought he heard someone running towards him from the right-hand-side. He carefully took a few steps in the direction of the sound and into a particularly dark area, where a group of large trees were almost joined together. He was about to retreat to a lighter spot, when someone came sprinting towards him and crashed head on into his chest. The impact winded him and he gasped as he stumbled forward towards the person who was now lying on the ground.

Beth had her finger on the pistol trigger as the dark figure staggered closer to her. She knew she was down to her last bullet and that after that, she would only have her knife. She wasn't sure she could get a clear head shot in anyway, not given how dark it was. Her finger twitched on the trigger as the figure drew ever nearer to her.

"Beth?"

She recognised Rick's voice at once and something inside of her broke. She started to sob, at the thought she had come so close to shooting him, and in relief that he had found her.

"Hey, it's alright," he said reaching down to help her to her feet.

Beth was shaking so badly from the shock of it all, that her legs were unsteady beneath her. Rick had to hold her fast against his chest to stop her from sinking back down to the ground. She gratefully clamped her arms around him, without even considering the etiquette of her actions. She took solace in the feel of his lean muscular body pressed so close to hers.

"Are you hurt?" He whispered in her ear.

"No," she managed to shakily reply.

"Are you okay to walk? We need to find the others and get back to the prison," Rick said.

Beth found she felt a little steadier after taking comfort in his arms, and soon indicated that she was ready to go. But she kept a firm grip on his hand as they set off walking, and he seemed to be fine with that. Rick had grown accustomed to her tactile nature, and as she seemed to be an affectionate person, he didn't attribute any special significance to it. He recently discovered, to his great surprise, that he was pitifully grateful for her hugs. There was no one else who ever sought to offer him comfort, or thanks, in quite the same way.

They headed off in the direction Daryl, Michonne and Glenn had gone, but by the time they got to the roadside the rest of the group had disappeared. Rick and Beth passed by the body of a slain walker, so they knew they were on the right path, at least. But a quick scout around revealed no sign of the rest of the search party.

"We can't stay out here all night. We're just gonna have to trust that they'll make their way back to the prison, and we gotta do the same," Rick told her as they set off, hands entwined, down the road.

They walked in silence for a while; both of them keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings for any threats, or for any sign of their friends. Then Beth broke the silence with a sudden realisation.

"Oh Lord, I got in such a state back there, I forgot all about Jordan, did y'all find him?" She inquired.

"Yeah, he's just fine, looks like he was hiding out in the bushes the whole time. He probably never even went that far into the woods," Rick explained.

Beth felt like a fool for all the trouble she had put him and everyone else to.

"I'm so sorry," she said tearfully.

"I just wanted to help, but I screwed up."

He had been so relieved to find her unharmed that he hadn't let himself dwell on how irresponsible her actions were. He looked deep into her eyes and couldn't bring himself to chastise her. They had got lucky this time; no one had been hurt or worse, and he decided he would just be grateful for that.

"Don't beat yourself up, you had to make a fast judgement call, and I know how hard that can be," Rick said as he gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement.

"Thank you, for coming after me, and for saving me," she said, her eyes blazing with admiration and gratitude.

"That's okay, although you looked like you were holding your own back there," he lied so as not to knock her confidence.

"I only had one bullet left, and I almost shot you with it," Beth said with horror.

"But you didn't. Eighteen with a bullet; there's a song in that," Rick laughed, as he recalled an old record from the seventies that his dad used to play.

But, of course, she didn't get the reference.

"I ain't eighteen yet," she protested.

He looked at his watch to check on the time.

"Sorry, my mistake, I guess you'll have to be seventeen for a little while longer," he smiled.

A sound up ahead suddenly shook them from their moment of levity, and a small group of walkers started to emerge from out of the woodland. There were eight of them in total and Rick let go of Beth's hand to ready his gun.

"Follow my lead," he commanded as he pulled her back behind the tree line.

Rick crouched down behind a thick tree trunk with Beth at his back.

"We don't have the ammo to waste, and gunshots will only attract more of them to us," he whispered.

"We'll have to go deeper into the woods to get around them, and hope there aren't too many more lurking in there," he spoke in a low voice close to her ear.

She wasn't sure if she was shaking through fear, or something else, but she gladly followed close behind him as they weaved through the trees. They reached a clearing and found themselves in the path of two walkers. Rick drew his machete and chopped deep into the skull of the one nearest to him. The other one made a lunge for Beth and she moved to evade it as she drew her knife. It then turned its attention to her companion and he swung around with his blade and decapitated it. She pulled back her blade and plunged it into the head to silence its snapping jaws. They had vanquished one threat, only for another to immediately present itself, as two more of the undead lumbered towards them. Rick lunged forward and brought his machete down with full force on top of one of the walkers. The other one looked set to take a bite out of him, but then Beth spun around and stabbed it hard in the back of the head. She shakily retrieved her knife and wiped the blood spray from her face.

"Thank you. C'mon we'd better keep moving," Rick held out his hand to a dazed Beth and they continued making their way through the woods.

They finally came back out onto the road that led to the prison, and they could just about see the dark silhouette of the guard towers against the black sky. The way ahead looked clear, but they both kept a close eye on their surroundings.

"Bet you never pictured spending your eighteenth birthday like this," Rick said as they walked together covered in blood and dirt.

Beth had recovered a little from their recent ordeal, and she smiled as she glanced at their joined hands.

"I don't know. It ain't so bad," she said.

He looked over at her with astonishment.

She giggled.

"I guess I'll always be daddy's little Bethy, and Maggie's kid sister, but after tonight, I feel like I'm kinda my own woman now too," she explained with a wide smile.

Rick smiled back and in that moment he felt like he was seeing her anew. She was no longer a girl who was young enough to be his daughter, but something else entirely. The thought made him uneasy, although probably not as much as it should have done. He suddenly realised that were it not for her tender age, she would probably be his type.

"Now I just gotta avoid getting killed long enough to lose my virginity," Beth said in almost a whisper, so much so that she wasn't sure she'd said it out loud, until her companion reacted.

"Excuse me?" Rick exclaimed with shocked surprise.

"It ain't gonna be easy, all the guys back at the prison are either way too young, or they're old as dirt," she said in a way that suggested she had given serious consideration to the matter.

"Old as dirt, huh?" Rick laughed.

"I didn't mean you," Beth said as she blushed furiously.

She realised with horror that she had said far too much already.

"I just meant that Glenn has Maggie, Tyreese seems pretty sweet on Karen, or maybe, Michonne, and I always figured that Daryl and Carol would get it together, someday," she chatted on nervously.

"And me?" Rick knew he shouldn't have asked, it was dangerous territory, and he wasn't sure what he would do if she came on to him.

Beth realised that although she'd been feeling grown up, there were still many things she had yet to learn. She had practically no experience when it came to men, and flirting. It suddenly felt like she was in way over her head.

"I guess I just thought you'd just see me as some silly little girl with a crush," she answered more honestly than she'd intended to.

Rick was hit by the revelation, as he thought about all of her comforting gestures towards him, and how he'd so easily dismissed them before. It was true that Beth was demonstrative with her love for her father and sister. She was also very caring towards Judith and the other kids, but he was the only other adult that she openly showered affection on.

"I, um, don't know what to say," he finally mumbled.

She couldn't quite believe how she had let her mouth run away with itself. But it was too late to take it all back now, and all she could do was cringe internally at her own stupidity.

"You don't have to say nothing, and I'm sorry for laying it on you like that. I know how much you loved Lori, and I'm not naive enough to think that I could ever take her place, nor would I want to. Lori saved my life back on the farm, if she hadn't pulled me away from Patricia when the walkers got her, then I woulda been ripped apart too. I'm happy just to be close to you, and to keep taking care of Judith. I want to be able to tell her, when she's old enough, what a brave and special lady her momma was," Beth said earnestly.

Rick was touched by her sincerity, and he felt tears forming in his eyes. He was strongly considering doing something that was either very brave, or very stupid, he wasn't sure which yet. Beth had a lot of qualities in common with Lori, and he was sure that he could return her affection, if he'd only let himself. He brought them both to a standstill and then he quickly checked their surroundings, and his watch. She gave him a questioning look as he smiled at her and gently cupped her face in his hands.

"Happy birthday, Beth," he said and then he softly covered her lips with his own.

He kept the kiss short and sweet, but it seemed to hit the spot as far as Beth was concerned. Because when he opened his eyes he saw that she was looking back at him with a mile-wide grin.

"I can't promise you anything, other than I'll think about this, okay?" Rick said honestly.

"It's more than I ever hoped for," She ecstatically replied.

He had enjoyed kissing her, and was absolutely certain he would want to do it again.

"Best. Birthday present. Ever," Beth stated absolutely.

They both laughed and then continued on to the safety of the prison, and a joyous reunion with all of their friends and family.

THE END.