Bethany Sutton Chapter 9

The only thing keeping Beth anchored to reality was the feel of Daryl’s hands firmly gripping her arms. He pulled her against him. He was like a solid wall of warmth and strength behind her. The way he reached for her, to support her, it was as though they had never said hurtful things to one another.

“Is he alive?” Beth heard herself say, though she wasn’t sure how she formed the words. She felt like a spectator in her own mind, seeing and hearing things happen as though she wasn't part of them. She was floating and disconnected.

“He’s alive. He’s being flown to Ft. Benning for treatment,” Michonne said.

“Maggie?”

“She’s fine. She’s unhurt. Agent Walsh thinks this is a ploy to flush you out.”

“I have to see him. I just have to,” Beth said, still in that odd, floating feeling.

“Beth, we can’t risk it,” Michonne began.

That snapped Beth back to herself like a slap across the face. She broke free of Daryl and rushed past Michonne. She made for Rick’s apartment and pushed her way in without knocking. She found Rick and Lori sitting on the couch, looking morose.

“You take me to see my father or I swear to God I’ll call the Senoia PD and tell Negan where I am. I’ll let him finish me off!”

Rick surprised Beth by getting up off the couch and putting his arms around her. He smelled of sandalwood and aftershave, and it reminded her of her father. She began to weep, thinking of him. How anyone could want to harm such a good, honest, kindhearted man was beyond her.

“I have to see Daddy,” she wept.

“Of course you will,” Rick said. “Call the team. Oleander and Pit-Bull are in the area. We’ll need them to ghost us. I need an extra car.”

“I’ve got a truck you can use,” Daryl said. “I’m coming with Beth. There ain’t no stopping me so don't bother with talk about risk to my life.”

Rick nodded. “Your life, your choice. I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“I’ll guarantee it for myself,” Daryl answered.

It took an agonizing forty-five minutes before they finally got onto the road. Lori drove the Escalade. Michonne drove the Buick with Beth and Daryl in the back seat. Rick followed up in Daryl’s truck.

“He’ll make it,” Daryl said, his voice thick with with conviction. “I’m sure of it.”

Beth leaned against Daryl and he wrapped his arms around her while she wept into his shoulder. She slowly settled down while the sound of his heart beating remained strong and steady beneath her ear. Now she didn't feel quite so alone. 

Rick’s voice came over the stereo speakers. “We’ve got news about our people. Teabag and Quicksilver are in stable condition. They’re expected to be released in a few days.”

“Thank God,” Michonne said, sounding relieved. “Oldtimer?”

“Critical,” Rick answered, before hanging up.

Beth felt Daryl squeeze her shoulder. The rain that Beth had expected came in hard and steady, forcing them to slow their pace in the interest of safety. With her head throbbing from the stress, Beth allowed the sound of the tires on the wet pavement, the rain on the windows, the steady thump of the windshield wipers, and Daryl’s comforting touch to lull her to sleep.

.

Beth awoke when the car began to slow to a stop. She sat up and saw that they were being led through a checkpoint. She wiped at her face and willed the trip to be over. She just wanted to see her father and sister. She didn’t think that was too much to ask for. It seemed to take forever to get through security. Finally she was out of the car and heading into the hospital.

She almost didn’t recognize Maggie. Her sister had also cut her hair and dyed it fire engine red with streaks of blond in it. She’d also curled it and she wore darker clothes than Beth was used to seeing her in. Maggie had always liked skirts and summer dresses. Now she wore blue jeans and a black tank and looked like she’d spent a lot of time in the sun with the dark tint to her skin.

“Beth!” Maggie cried, flinging her arms around her little sister. Both young women hugged one another and wept, mostly from sadness, partly from relief at being reunited at such a terrible time.

When Beth stepped back she realized that Maggie had a bruise on her right cheek that disappeared into her hairline. There were a few superficial cuts on her face and neck. Otherwise she was okay.

“What happened?”

They took a couple of the overstuffed chairs in the hallway, still holding hands, while Maggie began to explain. “We were sitting down to dinner when a man came into the house shooting. Daddy was shot twice…”

She almost broke down at the memory of seeing bullets strike her father. Once in the chest, once in the leg, before he collapsed.

“Glenn and Carol got me to the kitchen and they started shooting back. There was a standoff. I couldn’t get to Daddy to help him. He was just lying there on the dining room floor bleeding to death. Finally some people that Carol had called came in and killed the shooter. Agent Walsh said the guy who tried to kill us was FBI. Beth…Daddy’s in really bad shape!”

There was nothing left to do but wait. Beth introduced Maggie to Daryl, Rick, Lori, and Michonne. Then a woman named Andrea arrived. Beth watched in surprise when she kissed Lori in a way that left no room to doubt they were much more than mere friends and coworkers. The man Andrea had arrived with was tall, black, and powerfully built. He introduced himself as Theodore Douglas. He took watch at one end of the hall while Rick took the other.

It was almost two-thirty in the morning when a doctor came out to talk to Maggie and Beth.

“Mr. Greene has suffered a myocardial infarction.”

“What’s that?” asked Beth.

“Heart attack,” the doctor explained.

“Why didn’t you just say that instead of trying to be all technical? Do we look like doctors to you?” Maggie snapped.

“Maggie,” Beth shushed.

“Well? He’s trying to be fancy, like we went to medical school too and know what the technical names for stuff are. I don’t want to have to ask him to explain everything in English.”

The doctor took her bad mood in stride, understanding she was afraid and grieving.

“It was due to blood loss, not actual damage from the gunshot wound,” he continued in a calm, even kind tone of voice. “We’ve transfused him and he’s stable. He’s critical, but stable.”

“Is he going to make it?” Beth asked.

“It’s too soon to tell. The more time passes the better his odds of survival,” the doctor said frankly. “The next twenty-four hours are critical. This is an army base,” he said, looking to Agent Walsh, who’d managed to sneak up without Beth noticing until that moment. She hated how he did that. “We don’t usually accommodate families at this particular facility but I think there’s an empty room we can give these young ladies to get some rest. The rest of you, I’m afraid, will simply have to wait it out in the corridor.”

“That’s fine, Doc,” Shane said. “I’m sure you’ll tell us right away if anything changes.”

“Of course. I’ll send a nurse once we’ve got a room ready.”

“When can we see him?” asked Maggie.

“As soon as he’s tucked into his room. That’ll be at least another half an hour.”

He nodded to Maggie and Beth and headed out.

“Well, nice to see my duckies are lined up in a row for the Threat to shoot at,” Shane said to Rick, nodding in Maggie and Beth’s direction.

“Don’t give me that, Walsh,” Rick snapped. “It’s her father.”

“How were they found?” Andrea said. She was holding Lori’s hand and looking thoughtfully at Beth and Maggie. She had no interest in watching Shane and Rick argue.

“If I knew that, this wouldn’t have happened,” said Shane.

“First Negan comes to town where Beth lives. Then his people manage to find Oldtimer and Raven,” said Rick. “His reach is deep.”

“All the evidence still points to him not having a clue where Hummingbird is,” said Shane. “If he did, y’all would know it.”

Michonne and Theodore left to fetch coffee for the group while Rick and Shane talked about the case, using a lot of code that Beth’s mind was too tired to follow or figure out, though she had gleaned the fact they were considering moving Maggie out of state. She sipped the coffee, which was almost strong enough to make the cup squirm in her hand, and waited for the nurse to come get her and Maggie for a quick visit to their father.

“I’m going to visit Teabag and Quicksilver,” Michonne said.

“Look, I’ve got a place in--” Theodore began. Shane held up a hand, silencing him.

“Don’t tell me. I want you to go dark with Raven. You keep in contact with me over the untraceable lines but don’t actually tell me where you take her. It seems that whatever I find out is being leaked. None of my sources can be trusted. I can’t find the goddamn mole,” he said, deeply frustrated. “I’m pushing to arrest the Threat on the Cooper murder but I’m being stonewalled and it’s coming from high up. As soon as we can get her to the stand we will and at least her part in it will be over.”

“There’s no guarantee she’ll be safe after,” Rick pointed out.

“No, but I will say this: The Threat’s got a network called the Saviors. If you encounter any link to that name let me know through T-Dog.”

“Who?” Rick frowned.

“You know, Theo.”

Rick shook his head and regarded Shane. “So, Michonne is Shonnie and you call Theodore T-Dog. What do you call me?”

“Nothing, till now. I’m thinking Tinkerbelle.”

“You call me Tinkerbelle ever again I’ll feet you your own nuts for breakfast.”

Shane made a pained face. “Officer Friendly, then.”

This earned a tired chuckle from the rest of Rick’s team, and a weary smile from Rick himself.

“You’re off the radar, Rick. I think the only reason is that I’ve never spoken of where you took Hummingbird. Stay put since we know your location is secure.”

.

Beth held her sister’s hand while they stood beside Hershel’s bed. He was so pale he looked as though he didn’t have a drop of blood left in his body. Maggie held Beth close and they stared down at him, praying he pulled through.

“We’ll get through this. We’re strong,” said Maggie.

Beth nodded. “I know. I just don’t feel strong.”

“Neither do I,” Maggie admitted. “I’m stronger with you, though. I just don’t want them to separate us again.”

They’d only been in the room for ten minutes when a nurse entered. “Beth Greene?”

“Yeah?”

“Hi. I have some forms you need to fill in and some papers for you to sign. It won’t take but a minute.”

“I’ll be back, Sis,” Beth said. “Stick close to Daddy.”

Beth followed the nurse down the hall. They passed the nurse’s station, which was deserted, and a room where Beth spied Michonne sitting at Carol’s bed, talking softly to her, even though the older woman was unconscious. They came to another corridor and the nurse turned down that.

“Is it much further?” Beth asked. “I’m not sure I should wander too far away from my friends.”

The nurse gave her a kind smile. “It’s just in here.”

Beth was expecting an office of some kind. Instead she found she was in an empty patient’s room. The beds were made but had been put up high to discourage anyone from tying to climb up on them. Beth knew something was wrong and she spun around to face the woman who’d led her away from her sister and her guardians.

That movement was all that spared her from taking a scalpel to her kidney. Rather than slice into her body, the scalpel sliced across her side, causing only a slight but sharp pain. Beth grabbed a metal bedpan from a table and swung it at her attacker’s hand. The scalpel hit the wall and then skittered across the floor.

Beth faced the nurse, who advanced on her without at sound. Her silence was unsettling to Beth, who began screaming at the top of her lungs, calling out for help. She barely managed to keep herself out of the woman’s grasp as she ran for the door and yanked it open.

“Help! Help me!”

Weight plowed into Beth, knocking her to the floor, and stealing her breath. She wasn’t sure where it came from, but the fake nurse produced a syringe and plunged it into Beth’s belly. Beth twisted and felt the needle break in her skin, and the syringe rolled, only half emptied, across the floor.

Suddenly Michonne was there. She kicked the would-be killer square in the face, sending her sprawling, unconscious, to the floor.

“Beth!” Michonne said, kneeling beside her to check her over. She had her phone up to her ear and was telling Rick where she and Beth were. She slipped the phone into her pocket before pulling the broken shard of needle from Beth’s belly.

“Can you hear me, Beth? Say something, Sweetheart,” Michonne urged.

Beth could hear just fine but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. All she could do was lie there on the cold hospital floor, her body refusing to move though she commanded it to. She started to panic as she felt her lungs burn for air but she couldn’t draw a breath. She felt like she was trapped in her body, as though it was a straitjacket, and she couldn’t force it to move.

“She’s been poisoned.”

That was Andrea, who was leaning over her now. Beth watched as Andrea lifted the syringe to her nose and sniffed at it.

Someone placed a bag over her face and forced air into her lungs. It wasn’t enough. The edges of her vision were going dark. She caught a glimpse of Daryl’s face, full of fear as he looked down at her, reaching out to touch her, before everything went black.

.

Though he hated to do it Rick knew he couldn’t leave his people in the hospital. No one could be trusted to approach Beth. Andrea had countered the poison in Beth’s system but the chance that another assassin would reach her was simply too great.

Rick had contacts in Austria. With Shane’s help he got Hershel released and then took over for them from there. Regrettably he had to leave Shane out of the loop about where they were being taken.

“Where are you sending Daddy?” asked Maggie. She and Rick were at Beth’s side. The girl was small and pale but she was able to breathe and move on her own.

“Not just him. I need you to go with him. He needs you now,” Rick said. Maggie nodded so he continued. “Officially I’m sending you to Linz. Once you land there you’re going to be doing what we call ‘going dark.’ Nobody but my team and I will know where you are. You’ll be taken to a safe house in Wolfsburg. That’s in Germany.  You’ll be secure there. Shane won’t know where you are and therefore it’s unlikely anyone he has to work with will find out.”

“Is he the traitor?” Maggie asked.

“I don’t believe for a second Shane is behind any of this,” Rick said with confidence. Maggie nodded, trying to relax. “As soon as this is over you and your father will be brought back home.”

“Will Daddy survive this trip?”

“He will. All of his equipment is onboard and he’ll have a doctor to treat him. He’s stronger now than he was three days ago.”

“But he lost his leg,” Maggie said, her eyes tearing up.

“He’ll get a prosthetic and he’ll be back up on his feet. He’ll still have a full life,” Rick assured her.

Once he got Maggie and Hershel out of the hospital Rick turned his attention to Beth. Theodore was going to co-pilot Maggie and Hershel on their long journey to Wolfsburg. Carol and Glenn insisted on going with them. Before that, however, he brought a chopper in for Rick to fly Beth out of Ft. Benning. They couldn’t trust that they wouldn’t be tailed and their vehicles had been identified.

“I’ve got the security footage of our arrival from the gates in,” Michonne said. “We can’t be identified should the Threat’s people search for us that way. I’ve put a rather nasty virus into their security system. It’ll take hours before they can start recording again, so let’s get out of here while the gettin’s good.”

“Good work,” said Rick.

He, Michonne, Daryl, Lori, and Andrea left the hospital, wheeling Beth to the helipad atop the hospital, where Theodore was waiting.

“Take care of my baby,” he said toi Rick.

“Will do.”

Theodore shook his head. “That’s what you said about my Corvette back in Miami. You totaled it.”

Rick sighed. “You're still mad about that car? That was five years ago and I replaced it.”

Theodore looked ready to slug Rick so he backed down.

“I was being chased by a drug lord. I barely got out with my life, if you remember. Nothing will happen to the chopper. You have my word.”

Theodore left, not looking at all reassured or pleased, but at least he left without argument.

“I’ve got a flight plan that says you’re going to Miami,” said Shane, approaching from the helipad exit. “You can drop Hummingbird on the way to the warehouse where you’ll hide the chopper. Nobody will follow. I’ll take care of records.”

Shane offered his hand and Rick shook it. “Get this bastard, Walsh.”

“I’ll get him or die trying,” Shane vowed. He stood on the helipad and watched as Rick lifted off, taking Beth and his team with him. He hoped he could end this soon, but the truth was, Shane was starting to think he’d bitten off more than he could chew, and he didn’t know if Beth and her family would ever be safe again.

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