B&C Fic Recs

this sideblog is exclusively for fic recs from @im-immortal and @courtneyshortney82 and will mostly focus on bethyl fics, both old and new. we will tag the authors with their tumblr names whenever possible. all fics will be from AO3.

Home Isn’t Always A Place by @leftmywingshome​

Part 1 of They Don't Make Fairy Tales Sweeter Than Ours

‘Guilt is the worst demon to bear, strangling you from the inside of your body. Apologize. Make amends. Let go. Breathe free.’ - Nikita Gill Some people wear their guilt like an armor even when it’s misplaced. Daryl is letting go of his, he doesn’t have much of a choice, but it isn’t easy. Beth, on the other hand, has hers wrapped so tightly around her frail shoulders if it wasn’t there who would she be? Maybe it’s fate, the fact that they meet in the woods one day. And despite their differences, they have a lot in common- mainly an overwhelming guilt for their actions and a bitter loneliness for the isolation they’ve created for themselves. Can a friendship that starts at a funeral for a bird be the catalyst that helps them both find their way?

Beth makes her way through the woods- taking solace in nature. This is where she goes, where she’s always gone, to be completely alone. To be honest, though, she’s been living in self-made isolation for years. But this alone is different. It’s freeing and fills her up at the same time.

When she hears a child’s voice, the only thing that surprises her is that she wandered so far and crossed over into the Dixon’s property. Beau is talking animatedly to someone else and he’s very excited about something. She can hear that in his voice and it only adds to the feeling of being out here in the sunshine.

She moves between the trees and she sees Beau with a man she doesn’t know but recognizes. He looks like a Dixon. Daryl. The man she’s dubbed a guardian angel. Neither of them has noticed her so she takes a minute to consider him. And what she sees gives her a sweet little twist in her tummy. He’s handsome. Broad shoulders and muscular arms are evidence that he works hard doing something. A crossbow is slung over his shoulder. His unruly hair looks soft as the breeze ruffles it.

Right as his eyes raise to meet hers she sees the small bird that Beau is holding in his hands. And her heart sinks. Running over to where he’s standing she kneels in front of him.

“Oh, Beau! What did you do?” Beau’s small face is crestfallen. He ducks his head in shame and Beth notices the slingshot sticking out of his back pocket. Reaching out she takes the small bird into her hands.

“I wanted ta show my Uncle Daryl what a good shot I am Beth! He’s a hunter too and I jus,-” Beth can feel his shame rolling off of him in waves. He’s just a little boy and he wasn’t doing it to be cruel. She can handle the rabbits and squirrels, Carol actually makes a pretty tasty stew with them. But the birds…

“Beau, we talked about this. If there’s no reason to kill, you don’t. Rabbit and squirrels, well your mama makes use of those, but the birds…” she can feel Daryl’s eyes on her and glances in his direction. Blue eyes, like hers. But where hers are soft like the summer sky, his are intense. She sees something in his gaze that makes her feel like she does when she takes off at a full speed gallop on her horse. Or when she watches birds gather together and fly in a murmuration. There isn’t a name for a feeling like this. It just is. Looking back at Beau she holds up her hand where she cradles the bird.

“No more birds.” Beth gently admonishes the little boy.

“Okay Beth,” he says mournfully.

Anno Domini by ApocalypseMarried

After taking a bullet in the head, Beth wakes up. It's the morning that Rick carried his dying son in his arms to her family farm. With her memories of the next two years fully intact, she goes about trying to set things right. But maybe getting Daryl Dixon to come around just takes time. Maybe there’s nothing she can do to save him, or herself. Are her efforts misguided? Are some things decided by destiny?

"You awake, finally?" Maggie's voice interrupts them as she stomps into the kitchen, mud already on her boots, a few fluffs from chicken feathers clinging to the cuffs of her jeans.

First comes a rush of sadness. She'd hoped Maggie was alive out there somewhere. She starts to pull away from her dad, intent on, once again, pulling Maggie into her arms, but stops short.

It hits her, all at once. There's no sign, no sudden flash of light, there's just something about the scene of her father, being doctor daddy and concerned in their kitchen that smells so perfectly like lemon, and the foreboding sky outside, and the way the barn looms at Maggie's rounded back. There's a burden in that barn. There's something shadowy in the corner of all their eyes. They can't look at it straight on, even when it's right in front of them.

"C'mon, get dressed," Maggie doesn't seem excited to see her either. "Patricia and Jimmy need help with the peaches, and Otis just went hunting—"

Hershel interrupts Maggie with a shake of his head, "I don't think she's well, Maggie, can you help them?"

Maggie sighs heavily, but manages not to roll her eyes as she agrees with a subtle nod. She turns on her heel and leaves.

Beth is still stranded and wordless in the kitchen, looking back and forth between them. Slowly, she sits down. Not even in a chair, just on the ground.

"Beth?" Her father takes a hold of her wrists, stooping down. "How do you feel? Faint?"

"Yeah," she answers vaguely. "I just… I had a strange dream. Got up too quick." She speaks in a toneless, slow voice.

I remember this day. Not the details, but the big picture.

Her father pours her a glass of orange juice, and hands it too her, "Might just be low blood sugar."

She wants to just stare at them, wants to bask in their presence. They are already looking at her like she's crazy. "Maybe, I oughta go back to bed. Just for a little while."

"I think that's a good idea. Go lie down. I'll come check on you in a bit." He helps her stand up, takes the empty glass from her after she downs it.

Much slower than she arrived, Beth retreats back to her room, glancing back over her shoulder to see his face. Just as she remembers him.

Otis went hunting. Maggie fed the walkers in the barn. Beth helped Jimmy and Patricia pick peaches and fix the fence. They made it back to the house for lunch and then there was shouting in the distance. A man running across their property with a dying boy in his arms. His son.

She gets back in bed, but doesn't lie down. Her mouth is dry, suddenly, in spite of the citrus bite of orange juice still lingering on her tongue. She closes her eyes tight, then reopens them. It's all still the same.

Reading about a couple of Near Death Experiences, she knows that sometimes you see things that happened in your life, before you die. But this is different, and wrong, and too late. It just keeps going, every second an eternity of the past. Her mother is already gone. She should have gone back far enough to see her. She's not picking peaches with Patricia and Jimmy. Maggie took her place.

It's different.

Summer Hire by VeeCWS

After Hershel’s untimely death the Greene sisters are left picking up the pieces. It’s time to sell the farm but it needs a lot of fixing up. Luckily a handsome biker is looking for a job.

“Well… OK, now don’t get mad. I hired someone to help out already.”

“Oh? Who is it?”

“You don’t know him. His name is Daryl.”

Daryl pulled up in front of the hardware store and parked the truck. He gestured to Beth that he was going to head inside and she nodded. He had a feeling her sister was going to be less than impressed when she learned just who Beth had let live in the bunkhouse. He knew his last name was trash in the town thanks to his old man and brother. He knew this gig was too good to be true.

“Who the hell is Daryl?” Maggie demanded over the phone.

“Daryl Dixon. I met him at the diner-“

“Dixon?! Long dark hair? Always walking around with a scowl on his face? Walks around with a giant chip on his shoulder? That Dixon?”

“I don’t know about the shoulder thing…”

“Beth! His brother is a criminal!! How could you let him on the property?? Who knows what his motives are??”

“Maggie, he seems like a good guy. I get a good vibe from him.”

“Oh I’m so glad you get a ‘good vibe’ from him,” Maggie shot back sarcastically. “I don’t want him there. Get rid of him. Now.”

“No. Mags, he’s been such a big help this week. You should see the work he did on the old barn. And he’s going to help mend the fences next. And-“

“Nope. Beth, I don’t trust him.” Maggie sighed dramatically. “I’m coming down. Right now.”

“What? No! Maggie, I promise he’s a good person! Just because his brother is a little wild doesn’t mean he is. Look at us, we’re nothing alike.”

“Not the same thing at all Bethy and you know it. I’m coming. Now.”

Beth sighed and hung up the phone. It was disheartening that her own sister trusted her so little. She could make decisions about the farm too. She tucked her phone back into her pants and followed Daryl into the hardware store. She found him looking at fencing tools.

Daryl quirked an eyebrow at her in question. “Everything go alright?”

Beth grimaced. “How do you think it went?”

He didn’t dare look at her. “So when do I need to leave?”

“No, Daryl, you’re not going anywhere. It’s my house too and you’re doing me a huge favor by spending your summer working with me. I made the decision to let you stay and I’m sticking to it.”

Fix by thedevilyouknow106

Daryl had messed up, that was a huge understatement, but the idea still held. Now he was sitting in the local hospital in a long room with machines lining the walls and little chambers that housed, in a few of them, tiny bodies like the one he was staring at. According to Sheriff Grimes this little tissue thin body was his – the premature baby girl in there was Daryl’s daughter.

He'd messed up, well that was a huge fucking understatement but the idea still held. In fact he could honestly say he had never in all of his 35 years messed up this badly ever . When the sheriff - Rick Grimes - had shown up knocking on his door, Daryl had had a moment of panic before he realized that one, Merle was already in jail and two, Daryl didn't do shit anymore that had people coming after him.

He'd gotten himself a shitty job at a shitty superstore, the kind everyone hated for running the mom and pop stores out, but ended up working at anyway because they were the only place hiring. He was one of a few who worked in the auto department and he kept his head down and saved up money and bought a shitty cabin. The owner of the shitty shack had thought he was really getting one over on Daryl when he sold it to him.

He wasn't of course – Daryl had realized exactly what level of run down it was when he made an offer on it, way, way below the asking price. But he'd become handy enough out on his own for as long as he'd been, and fixing it up hadn't been that big a deal. Plus it was a real short walk between his back door and the woods so he was fine with getting a maintenance needy house.

But the point of all this was that Daryl Dixon didn't mess up anymore, he had a shitty job, with shitty insurance, and a shitty house and everything had been going just fine .

This Ain’t No Place For No Hero by moonshineshacks

He was right, Beth thought as they hurried down the creaking stairs. Places like this didn’t last after all. While on the road, Beth and Daryl stumble upon what might be a temporary safe haven, maybe even a new group. But when tragedy strikes, they're forced on the run once more, with a new member in tow, and another on the way.

Daryl hadn’t believed in God, or any other kind of higher power, before the world had gone to shit. Definitely didn’t believe in one after. But when he and Beth came across that van with the backpack of food, everything from jerky, to canned veggies, to granola bars, to cake mix (who the fuck needed cake mix?), he was briefly tempted to fall to his knees and give thanks to whatever might be listening.

It was probably just the hunger, of course (he and Beth had been living off of a single-serving bag of Frito’s for the last week).

“Looks like we’ll be eating good tonight,” he said, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

He turned around and was greeted by the barrel of a shotgun.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” said the owner wielding it.

It was a man. He seemed young, probably around Glenn or Maggie’s age. He had a dark, unkempt beard, dark hair, pale skin, and pale eyes. There was desperation in them, but no wildness. The way he held the gun suggested he’d known his way around one for a long time. He wasn’t shaking, but he seemed to take no pleasure in what he was doing, either. Daryl wasn't sure anymore if that made him less of a threat, or more.

“I’m just looking for food,” he continued.

Daryl realized he had an accent. If he hadn’t been so busy trying to think of a way out of their situation, he would’ve guessed the man was some kind of Hispanic.

“Please,” he said. “I have a family. My son is only five years old. We haven’t eaten in days.”

“What makes you think we ain’t been going hungry, too?” Said Daryl.

He felt Beth close to him, he couldn’t spare her a look, out of fear of what this man could do if he let himself be distracted even a moment, but he kept his grip on his crossbow firm, made sure to take a step in front of Beth, trying to communicate as clearly as possible that whatever this man intended to do, she was off-limits.

Never Give Up (On Each Other) by carmen_085

In the months before the beginning of the apocalypse, Daryl finds himself homeless, alone, and with no direction. An adult Beth is struggling to balance her job, sick parents, and the farm. Feeling like the world is suffocating her, will taking a chance on a stranger change everything ? Can these two find what they need in each other before life as they know it ends and they must do anything to survive.

“That’s it? Almost ran me over and then trudged through the weeds to tell me that…” Beth put her hands on her hips as she exhaled shaking her head.

“Alright here it is”. Looking up she met his eyes letting him know that she meant business.  “I live on a farm, about eight miles from here, I need someone to help me.”  He was quiet and for that she was grateful; thinking that he would immediately shut her down.  Feeling a surge of confidence she continued, “It was my daddy’s farm but he can’t work it anymore and my mama is sick and I take care of her too.  It’s a lot of work for one person to do and I can’t do it alone.  I tried…I really really fucking tried but I just can’t.”  

Daryl rocked back on his heels not just from the request but from the way she looked right now.  The demure blonde lost in the woods had turned into a woman on the edge; her eyes were wide, her face was red, the veins in her neck bulged, and let’s not forget the word ‘fuck’ had come out of her mouth.  A mainstay in his own vernacular; he imagined someone like her would need to go to confession after such an utterance.  

He didn’t talk this much to people he didn’t know; hardly talked to those he did know.  It made him uncomfortable.  But he felt she deserved some kind of response from him.  “You don’t even know me…I could be a serial killer or somethin’.” Daryl cringed at himself; not the smoothest way to put it but he supposed it still got the message across.

Beth squinted her eyes at him for a moment before breaking into a laugh.  And God if that’s wasn’t one of the best sounds he had ever heard. What ? Where the hell did that come from? Shaking his head, Daryl sucked a sharp breath in through his nostrils. Clearly he wasn’t getting enough oxygen.  

“If you were a serial killer I think I would already be dead.” Lifting her arms she gestured toward the trees. “I mean, really, a girl goes into the woods alone after a guy she doesn’t know who’s wielding a crossbow.  Come on.”  Despite himself, Daryl felt the corner of his lip twitch up into a smirk.

The moment didn’t last long as his lips pulled back into their usual dour line.  “Still didn’t answer my question.” Beth’s looked at the ground as she ran her tongue over her teeth.  No sense in lying to him, he would probably be able to tell anyway.  He seemed keenly perceptive about that sort of thing.

“Alright.”  Nodding she forced herself to look into his very intense stare once more. “Farm work is hard, rough, and physical.  Nobody wants to do it anymore.  You seem like the sort of guy who can make something out of nothing.  That’s what I need.”  Daryl wasn’t sure how to take that.  It was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him; especially because it was true.  Whether he could admit it to himself or not.  It was also one of the most perceptive things a stranger had ever noticed about him.  Hell usually people didn’t even notice he was breathing.  But this girl…she noticed all that.  Seeing him actually think about it, Beth nodded sweetening the pot a bit.  “I can also give you a place to stay.  Isn’t much but it would be all yours. I can also help you with meals and…” Something inside Daryl snapped at that. Stepping into her he took a threatening stance.  It was on purpose, he wants to intimidate her; let her know where her place was.

“I ain’t no charity case. Don’t need you feedin’ me or feelin’ sorry.”  Beth would be lying  if she said her heart wasn’t pounding in that moment.  But still she didn’t back down from him.  He wasn’t the first person who ever got in her face; this time though it was just her and not everyone on the unit and hospital security behind her.  Swallowing hard she steeled herself staring him right in the eye.

Death, Death (i defy thee) by alamorn

Beth knows what they say about failure. Try, try again. She'll get out of Grady sooner or later.

After going to see Dawn, Beth went to see Carol. She brought a mop with her, to have an excuse, but when she got in and saw Carol's eyes open, she dropped it and hugged Carol hard without thinking of anything else.

Carol's arm around her shoulders felt frail, a word she never associated with Carol. "Beth," she breathed. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"I should be saying that to you," Beth said into her neck. "I'm gonna get us outta here, Carol, don't you worry." Beth pulled back to look Carol in the eyes, make her promise real, and Carol smiled sadly, pushing a lock of Beth's hair behind her ear.

"We were on our way to get you. Didn't realize you had it all under control."

"We?" Beth asked, heart leaping to her throat.

"Me and Daryl," Carol said.

Beth let out something that would have been a sob, if she was still that sort of person. "Daryl's alive? Thank God."

"Yeah," Carol said. "Yeah, Daryl's fine. He's pretty torn up about you. Blames himself."

"No," Beth said. "No, the only person whose fault it is, is the ones who took me."

"You'll have to tell him that yourself," Carol said, eyes sliding back closed. "Don't think he'll believe it any other way."

The Gift by Feliz

Daryl Dixon was six years old when his mother told him that he had the gift. His mom was long gone by the time he realized what she had meant. He wishes she had explained that day so he could ask who had the dumbass idea to refer to this as a “gift”.

The first time he experiences the gift for himself, Merle is the one who speaks to him. It’s not surprising, since at ten years old, he spends more time with Merle than anyone else. But Merle is constantly messing with him, so it probably wasn’t as unusual as it would have been with someone else. They are sitting on the creek bank with poles in the water waiting for a bite, while Merle regales him with details of his sexual conquest the night before. Daryl remembers not really understanding what Merle was talking about, but feeling embarrassed about it all the same, when he felt the stare of his older brother. When Daryl meets his gaze, Merle stares him down for a few seconds before he speaks.

“One day, you will have to kill me. Sorry about that, baby brother.”

He stares at Daryl for a few more seconds before turning back around to watch his lure bob in the water and resumes his bragging about Jolene’s ‘perfect tits’ like he had never stopped in the first place. Daryl elbows him in the ribs with his bony arm. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Hey! I’m teachin’ ya important shit here!”

two truths, one lie by @sheriffandsteel​ 

"She's my daughter." Beth means to stop there but the next words slip out of their own accord, one more truth free of charge. "And I'll kill anyone who tries to touch her."

Beth escapes the prison with Judith and searches for their family. Being alone with a baby and trying to keep them both safe from the dead and worse, the living, is no easy feat. When she is offered sanctuary from an unlikely source she doesn't trust it, but she still takes it.

"What do you want?" her voice doesn't shake, Beth isn't sure how as she feels like she is shaking like a leaf but her voice comes out steady and cool. It reminds her of Daryl, as much of a hothead as he can be, when they are in danger he can keep his voice steadier than anyone when facing trouble.

"Your shit." the man in the middle says calmly, taking a step forward heedless of the gun in Beth's hand. "Then you."

The world sways and Beth conjures up Daryl's blank face when people threatened him and forces her face to wear the same features.

"You can't have us." Beth drops her hand from Judith whose cries are providing a fitting soundtrack to this moment and draws her machete in her right hand. She hopes that these people take it as a sign she is willing to fight hard and not as a signal that the gun is empty. She has never killed someone before but as she stares into the remorseless eyes of the people before her Beth knows that she will tonight. If that is what it takes for Judith and her to walk out of there she'll do it. Until the bitter end, she will fight, no matter what it costs her.

She thinks that the man before her is smiling but she can't tell through the dirt and the darkness. A movement flickers in the corner of her eye and Beth's heart sinks as she remembers her back is unprotected. She has been so worried about the people before her she hasn't spared a second to worry about watching her back.

To her surprise, the people before her don't look smug to watch their friends surrounding her. One is inching slowly to the woods and the others are stepping backward.

"You said she was alone." the leader hisses to the one on the right whose eyes are so wide Beth can see the whites from where she stands.

Before she can wonder too much at their reactions or fear what is behind her several loud shots ring out. They are loud enough to be heard over Judith's cries and Beth's ears ache from all the noise. Blood rains on the pavement as the four people before her crumble to the ground. Some of the splatters reach Beth's boots and she blinks at them for a moment before spinning around, her ankle protesting at the movement. She keeps the gun steady and the machete high as she surveys this new group of problems in the quickly fading light.

Three men, two women. Some primal fear deep inside Beth lessens at the sight of the women although it doesn't fade completely. Four of them are holding the guns that killed the people behind her and saved Beth and she feels a heady mix of gratitude and fear. The fear wins out and that keeps her arms steady as the fifth member of this new group scans her up and down.

Beth can't help but wonder what he sees, easy pickings like the group he just took out clearly did? Someone weak and willing to cow to them because they saved her life? Certainly not as someone to fear or he wouldn't be smiling at her like that, letting his weapon of choice rest casually against his leather-clad shoulder as if he'd just hit a home run and could saunter around the bases instead of the usual sprint.

"Well now," he tuts stopping just out of reach of her machete should she choose to swing it. As if she would be stupid enough to do so. Beth can see two of the guns pointed at her. She wonders if both shots would be meant for her or if one would be intended for Judith. The thought makes her sick and she wants to curl around the little girl in protection but that would mean lowering one of her weapons and Beth doesn't dare risk that, not with guns on her and the man before her.

His eyes flicker from her gun to the machete and he smiles at her like he's the big bad wolf from the story and he wants to show her how sharp his teeth are.

Carnie by Mrox

When Daryl agrees to work a carnival for the summer with Merle, he has no idea how meeting a certain blonde teenager at the county fair will complicate his life, even before the dead start walking. Pre-Zombie Apocalypse to start then merges with Season 2. Beth is a year older than canon (though still underage), to make the first part of the story work.

Daryl decided that karma was a bitch, like he’d always suspected. I mean, it was one thing when the world went to shit and people started eating each other’s flesh ‘cuz all that happened to everyone, even folks he knew were a lot better than him like Rick and Dale. And even when Merle went missing, it wasn’t like he didn’t know the asshole had probably earned those handcuffs. He was pissed, missed his brother almost as much as he didn’t miss him, but he didn’t think it was some kind of punishment for him. Life was easier without Merle, that was the truth, much as he hoped he was okay somewhere.

And when Sophia went missing, well he hoped it wasn’t some kind of cosmic punishment for Carol staying with her asshole husband like she seemed to think. Maybe there wasn’t any sense in it, and shit just happened. Same thing with Carl getting shot, because he was pretty sure Rick didn’t deserve that, or Lori. Though there was that whole thing with Shane while her husband was apparently lying in a hospital bed. But she didn’t know, so in all likelihood, the thing with Carl was random too.

I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Aireabella ( @boltthrutheheart​ )

Having lost their home at the prison, their family, and friends, Daryl and Beth are forced to set out on their own. The brutality of their world and their survival instincts will set them on a course to form a bond they never expected.

A scream...one not from an animal...rang out through the woods and set everything to silence.

"Beth..." Daryl breathed to himself as his heart hit the ground.

Without a second thought, he set off through the woods in the direction of the scream at a full run. He reached the edge of the tree line at a tiny clearing where he saw Beth and her situation before she called out for him again in terror. He thanked whatever power was out there listening that Beth was surrounded by the living and not overtaken by the walking dead. He wasn't too late.

"Daryl! Daryl...Daryl Help Me!"

Three men...one armed...two with guns on the ground.

"Daryl...Daryl!"

"Go on, scream for your little high school sweetheart. We'll make zombie chow outta him when he gets here and write a tragic end to your little teenage fairytale."

"DARYL!"

Two focused on Beth, the lookout not even watching...Dumbass... They're all ready to die.

The Breakwater Dove Series by MissMadimeow

Part 1: Lay Your Cheek On Down

After losing the funeral home, Daryl and Beth are forced into the wind, nothing but the trees as companions while they process who and what they are.

Part 2: Psalms, Beasts, and the Unbeliever

Be a cold, closed book. Take no shit and take no hands. Mantras etched into Daryl’s skin began to fade as he basked in soft, golden light. It would mark their downfall.

“Sounds like our friends finally got off their asses.” Daryl whispered to the girl as they got back to their feet. Hearing the chaos that they started made him feel uncomfortable. They threw a molotov in the middle of the cat fight and now everything was on fire.

“What now?” Beth asked and the only answer that came to mind was ‘run’.

A bullet whizzed by her cheek, floating a few strands of yellow hair into the air. Daryl yelled something and they ducked behind a couple thick trunks. Cursing, he raised his crossbow and let the air settle around them, hoping for a hint of their attacker. Judging by the angle of the shot, he guessed the guy was pressed against the left corner of the house a few feet away. They couldn’t run, they were pinned. He had one shot.

The image of the bullet barely missing smooth skin was enough to bring out an anger Daryl had barely tapped into. He took a shaken breath, deep and low into his chest, and flung himself away from the tree and out into the open. His finger pulled and the arrow went singing through the yard and landed silently in a neck.

He motioned behind his back and the two of them crept across the lawn and retrieved his bolt. The man on the ground was spluttering blood and Daryl put him out of his misery with his knife. They stayed crouched and listened. The amount of gunfire simmered down drastically, but they could still hear the obvious sniper rifle discharge which meant the gate had not been breached.

Daryl almost allowed himself a moment of victory when Beth shouted his name.

Suspended clarity. It always showed its ugly head at the worst of times.

Daryl looked up slowly, witnessing the flash of golden hair and a yellow shirt blocking his view of someone coming around the side of the house. Beth had her gun up and she attempted to fire but missed the shot. The other guy was luckier.

God Says No by devils_might_heed_us ( @lemortehomme​ )

It was only supposed to be a week, then he'd move on to a new job. But the world started falling apart, and Beth found herself clinging to anything she could grab onto, including him. She could do without his asshole brother, though. A Canon AU where an older Beth goes through hell to reunite with her family, with her brother, Daryl, and Merle along for the ride. It will mostly follow the events of the first three seasons.

"Not bad, not bad," Merle said.

He lorded over the dwindling pile with his arms crossed, watching as Daryl lifted one of the last crates of bottled water. Beth turned away so she didn't have to look. Instead, her eyes moved of their own accord to the dead man, lying there as alone as he died.

His hand twitched.

Beth didn't believe it at first. Why would she? She thought it was a trick of the light, or maybe her eyes going blurry from lack of sleep. But then the stiff fingers twitched again before unfurling. The arms jerked, followed by the legs, until the dead man sat himself up and looked around.

She shrieked.

Daryl threw himself against the truck's side, arms splaying over the panels while the case of bottled water went flying. It burst open against the driveway, bottles rolling.

Merle's immediate reaction was to start screaming, "Jesus fuckin' Christ!"

From the street, it sounded like Shawn had started praying.

No one could move; the sight held them rooted in place as the body rocked to its feet. It seemed agitated, swinging its head from Merle to Beth to Shawn, and then it lumbered forward, reaching for Beth because she was closest. The reanimated foot caught a length of trailing intestine and the organ unspooled from the open chest cavity without the body noticing or caring.

Beth took a step back and then another, reaching blindly until she grabbed Merle's hand. Without thinking, he yanked her away from the monster, throwing her towards Daryl, who caught her and pushed her against the truck behind himself. She mashed her cheek against the sun-warmed metal and stared, because she couldn't look away.

The rifle Merle held onto raised, fitting into his shoulder as he sighted. He pumped the stock and pulled the trigger. Beth clamped her hands over her ears. The first few blasts ripped open the body's chest, but the shots had no effect on it; it kept coming, drooling blood from the mouth.

"Oh, shit, oh, shit!" Merle swung the rifle, cracking the geek in the head. It stumbled, but was otherwise undeterred.

"Run, get in the car, c'mon!" Shawn shouted. "Beth, run!"

They ran. Merle jogged backwards a few paces before putting his back to the geek and sprinting for the truck. Shawn had gotten the seats pulled up and he pushed Beth inside before climbing in himself. A moment later saw Daryl leaping in the passenger seat and Merle slamming the driver's side door shut. He jammed his hand into his vest pocket and pulled out his own set of keys.

"C'mon, c'mon," Merle muttered.

His hands shook too much to get the key in the ignition.

"Hurry it up!" Daryl cried.

The geek was only a few feet away. The engine sputtered, then turned over, and the truck roared down the street as Merle pushed the engine to bring the old beater to top speed. He careened around a corner, back wheels spitting up sod as they mounted the curb, and then they shot forward, scraping against a parked car and knocking off the side view mirror.

Merle brought the truck to a stop in the middle of the road, put it in park, and pulled out a flask from his vest. For a good minute they simply stared at nothing. And then, lifting the flask to his lips, Merle took a long drink. He passed the flask to Daryl, who took his own drink before giving it to Shawn. When Beth had taken her burning pull of what she guessed to be moonshine, she handed the flask back to Merle.

Boxed by twinswolf

The worst did not come when someone ran over her, nor when those same people threatened to gut and feast on her body. It came when the one person she longed for, the one person she dreamt would come and rescue her, couldn’t hear her over the destruction of the fabricated Sanctuary. Caged within four steel walls, locked and forgotten when the place went up in flames. She can’t find her way home until someone grants her freedom, and when someone does, will it be friend or foe?

She had been lost in a spiral of bleakness when the explosion went off. Since there was nothing to hold on to, the blast slammed her body against the steel wall before dropping her hard on her knees. Whatever had caused the blast was too close for her liking, not enough for the boxcar to catch on fire but enough for the flames to heat the walls. It reminded her of the time she grabbed a boiling pot without mittens. Wouldn’t take long before her lungs begged for clean non-blazing air, and Beth was no longer certain she could make it that long.

Her eyes stung and her throat threatened to close, her body no longer cooperated because of the thick curtain of smoke. Never thought that out of all the ways she could’ve died in an apocalypse, inhaling carbon monoxide would be her undoing. Her mind was still processing her newfound demise when low brutish growls reached her ears, far too many for any community to handle–even Terminus. Gunshots started raining from every direction, some even leaving dents along the walls of her cage. Was the fake sanctuary under attack? Was it a rescue mission? Was someone coming for her?

Daryl.

Never had she felt such hope, Daryl Dixon had found her! He had tracked down her kidnappers, learned what kind of monsters they were, and blown everything to hell. Beth could picture him running incognito through walker-infested fields searching for any hint of her whereabouts, and she would be damned if she didn’t give him one. She found solace in the nearing flames thinking the explosion was Daryl’s way to communicate with her, sending a message through fire just like the one from their burning shack. Now it was her time to respond and not even Gareth and his psychotic cannibalistic family would keep Beth from kicking up a storm. Didn’t matter if she ripped out her vocal cords or charred her skin on the steel walls, she was getting out.

Thus, Beth began to scream and pound against the walls of her cage, and through the slit of the slide doors watched as Terminus crumbled. Couldn’t help but compare the nightmare outside with the fall of her own home, the herd that chased them away from the farm and the war that stripped them of the prison. And during this reminiscence of what once was her life, her eyes found the outline of his body among a cloud of carnage.

Spiced Molasses by Mondieu666 ( @mondieuwordnerd​ )

Hershel Greene has kept a secret from his family. When his past catches up with him, the entire family is torn apart. Separated and hunted, justice must come second to surviving. [AU -No Zombies]

Beth didn't know what had woken her but some instinct drove her upright in the middle of the night. A figure hovered over in the inky blackness of her room and Beth opened her mouth to scream. A hand covered her mouth.

"It's just me, Bethy. I need you to get up and stay calm." It was her father, speaking low and urgently.

"What's happening?"

"No time for questions." There was a cell phone in Hershel's hand and he pressed it to his ear. "I'm still here. Put me through to Grimes."

Her father was talking in a way she had never heard before, authoritative and terse.

Her mother appeared in the doorway with Maggie and Shawn, both of them in their pyjamas looking dazed but wearing shoes.

There were the sounds of cars outside and Hershel went very still. Annette's face was horrified and even though Beth didn't understand what was happening, she was terrified too.

"Grimes? It's too late. You're right, he's here. There's no time. I'll have to deal with this."

For the first time Beth noticed that there was a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants. It wasn't the shot gun he used around the farm to scare off predators. It was a sleek, modern thing.

"What's going on, Daddy?" Maggie asked, an edge in her voice.

Hershel grabbed Shawn and held his eyes. "You get your sisters upstairs in the attic. You pull the stairs up and don't come down until the police get here."

Shawn opened his mouth to ask questions but Hershel shouted, "Go!"

Shawn nodded and grabbed Maggie's wrist and gestured at Beth. "C'mon on Bethy, you heard dad."

Beth was rooted to the spot. She wanted to grab her parents and hold on to them. She had a terrible feeling and knew that if they stepped out the door then that would be it.

"I love you, darling but you have to go," Annette said, pushing Beth towards her brother, tears streaming down her face.

"No," Beth said finding her voice. "I don't want to leave you!"

"Shawn," Hershel roared. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and Beth was lifted off her feet. She was dragged up the stairs, gasping as she fought to get enough air to scream or cry.