Apocalyptic Love

Chapter 12

Beth woke to screams and gunshots. She had no idea what was going on but she could hear Abraham banging on the wall between their rooms. "Let's go princess, we're under attack."

Beth didn't hesitate. She jumped up, slipped her feet into her boots and grabbed her gun from the side of the bed. She opened her door and looked around slowly, making sure no one was waiting for her to come out. She saw that Daryl's door was already opened and he was gone. A pang of fear swept through her as she made her way down stairs, Abraham right behind her. "Shit," she swore as she ducked behind the wall again. There were four men waiting at the bottom of the stairs for anyone who might be coming down. She looked at Abraham as he pressed himself against the wall. "There are four of them."

He nodded his head and quickly moved to the other side of the stairs, barely dodging a shot. He gave her a nod and they both moved quickly, poking around the wall and taking shots. Abraham hit one guy in the chest and Beth clipped another in the shoulder. They both went down, but the other two men that had been with them started letting off shots like they were in a firefight. Beth winced and moved deeper behind the wall as part of the drywall blew away beside her head as the bullet crashed through it. "You okay?" Abraham called above the gunshots.

Beth nodded her head and once the firing started to die down, quickly poked around the corner again and shot one of them in the head, Abraham managed to take out the other one. They quickly made their way down another hall. "We have to find the others." She honestly just wanted to find Daryl, make sure she was okay. They made their way to the Oval Office where Rick had been working later and later every night.

They were almost there when Beth heard Daryl swear not far from where they were. "Go, I got this."

Beth nodded her head and took off down the hall in the direction of Daryl's voice. She heard gunshots as she approached. She didn't think about what she was doing. She rounded the corner and saw Daryl standing in the middle of an intersection, surrounded on both sides. She acted, she didn't think. She pushed him out of the way as two guns fired. She cried out as she felt the pain radiate in her shoulder and her hip. She heard more gunshots as she hit the ground, heard Daryl swear, heard him hit the ground beside her but she couldn't focus on anything, could only focus on the pain and the cold that was seeping into her body.

…

"Maggie," Daryl screamed, pulling Beth's head into his lap. There was so much blood; he'd never seen that much blood. It was pooling around her, soaking into her clothes and the carpet. He didn't know what to do. Her skin was already going cold, growing pale. "Damn it," he growled, "Maggie!" He heard her coming as he looked down at Beth. "Stay awake," he told her, resting her head on his knees. "You gotta stay awake, Beth."

She nodded her head, choking on blood as it filled her lungs. "Trying," she groaned out.

Daryl didn't pay attention to what Maggie was doing as tears pricked his eyes. "Try harder." He glared at the ugly bleeding wounds on her skin as Maggie ripped her shirt off. "Damn it Beth, you're stronger than this. Fight." She reached out slowly, her hands shaking as she wrapped it around his. He looked at Maggie as she looked up. "Tell me she's going to be okay."

Maggie shook her head. "I don't know."

Daryl growled and looked back down at Beth. "You fight, you hear me?" He shook his head. "I ain't gonna lose you." She nodded her head weakly, her eyes slowly fluttering shut. "Damn it, Beth, open your fuckin' eyes." She didn't answer him, didn't respond at all. "Maggie, talk to me."

Maggie shook her head, her hands covered in blood. Carol had showed up at some point to help. "Daryl, I don't know." They managed to get the bullets out, to get her patched up as best as they could. "Glenn, go find Roderick," Maggie told him. Glenn nodded and took off to find the doctor that had moved in not long ago. "Daryl, we're going to need you to carry her to her room." He nodded and picked her up, gently carrying her back up stairs.

He was lying her out in her bed and covering her up when Glenn showed up. "Roderick's dead."

Daryl growled as he knelt beside the bed, staring at Beth's face. He sent a prayer to a god he didn't believe in. He could have the air in his lungs if he kept her alive. He didn't leave her side as she slept. None of them knew if she was going to make it through the night. It was all up to her. Daryl took her hand in his, resting his head beside her on the bed. He didn't care that his knees were going numb, didn't care that his joints ached. He wasn't going to leave her side.

…

He squinted against the sun that came in through the windows. He groaned, rubbing his eyes and slowly sat up. His body was stiff from the position he'd slept in. He turned to look at Beth but his heart broke. She wasn't there, just bloody sheets. He feared the worst, that she'd died in the night and they'd taken her away before he'd had a chance to say goodbye. He growled, getting up and pacing. He was going to kill someone. He needed to his something. His head snapped up when the bathroom door opened. Beth slowly limped out, holding her bloody hip bandage. Relief swamped him as he went to her. "I thought you were dead," he told her, gently cupping her face.

She smiled a little, wrapping her hands around his writs. "You told me to fight, didn't you?" She rested her forehead against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'd always fight for you."

"I love you," he whispered. It was the first time he'd ever said it to her, but he meant it. She smiled slowly and pressed a little closer against him. "You can't scare me like that again."

She smiled a little and nodded her head. "I love you too." She kissed him, softly, slowly. "Wanna go get Maggie for me?" He nodded his head. It was going to kill him to leave her, but he wasn't going to be away long. He helped her back into bed before he walked out and knocked on Maggie's door.

Glenn answered. "She's awake, she wants Maggie." Glenn nodded and got Maggie as Daryl headed back to the room. He sat on the bed beside her as Maggie walked in, fresh bandages and some other medical supplies in her hands.

"Glen went to get you two some breakfast," she told them as she sat down. She slowly peeled the old, bloody bandages away before replacing them. She kissed Beth's head as Glenn brought their food in. "Glad you're okay."

They both left, leaving Daryl and Beth alone. She didn't want to eat, but she did drain two glasses of water. Daryl slowly eased himself onto the bed beside her and she rested against him. "As soon as you're better, I want to get married," he told her.

She looked up at him slowly, a smile on her face. "Really?"

He nodded his head, kissing her forehead. "Really. I was stupid to think I could live without you." She cuddled at little deeper against him.

"Mrs. Daryl Dixon," she whispered, yawning. "I like the sound of that."

…

Six months later

Beth smiled as Jacob performed the ceremony. She couldn't take her eyes off of Daryl. As soon as he pronounced them, Daryl cupped the back of her head and pulled her against him, kissing her in front of their family and friends. Beth laughed into the kiss, wrapping her arms around him. Everything was good again. They'd gotten reports that morning, hours before the wedding that the last walker had died earlier that morning. They were in the free and clear. People were starting to rebuild and repopulate. Rick had agreed that a wedding was one of the best ways to celebrate and helped Daryl get ready, he and Maggie and Glenn had gone out on their own and found nice suits and shoes, they'd found dresses, they'd found everything they could for a proper wedding.

When Beth had woken up that morning she'd looked into the back yard and saw all of the tents being set up and could smell the food. Somehow Carol had managed to make a cake, with real frosting. Everything was perfect again, and as Daryl picked her up into his arms and carried her down this isle, she realized that everything was going to be perfect. They'd made it through the zombie apocalypse, they had lost people, they'd dealt with cannibals, they'd dealt with so much, but here they were, married, happy, in a walker free world.