Three against the world

52

y/n pov

"Her Carol, thanks for taking care of Judy, these last few days" she smiled, the kitchen was clean but the piles of baked goods were still on the counter "but, you want me to watch her some more" I nodded "Beth's still out there, I need to find her, give Maggie a break from lookin " Carol placed some of the food they made into bags and handed them to me "she's going to be hungry when you find her"

"She knows how to survive Carol" she just gave me an i doubt it'll look, "want me to tell the others if they come back" I decided to feed Judy the rest of her applesauce "sure, and tell Maggie she's in trouble when I get back," Judith giggled up a storm when I made plane noises and swooshed the spoon threw the air "when I get back with your big sister, we are going to kick the boys out and have a girls night, how does that sound" despite not really knowing what I said she nodded "I love you" I whispered giving her a kiss on the head "Rosita and Sasha have the twins, but they might need some help if-" she cut me off practically pushing me out the door "I'll help, promise now get your ass out there and find your kid"

"Major" Abe leaned on his knees to catch his breath "out of shape are you? I'll have to fix that" he gave me an annoyed look "kidding, what do you need" he handed me a knife "Rosita wanted me to give it to you" it was her good luck charm, the blade was that cool rainbow that was gaining popularity before the world ended. "Thanks" we shared a fist bump before I grabbed my bag and made my way over to where the panel was taken off.

The mud was full of walker scuffs, there was no way I'd be able to pick up her trail if she remembered to leave one in her haste. The longer I followed the trail it became clear that the herd in Alexandria would have been bigger. Did she lure them away? Good job Bethy. I'd been walking for hours and it was only now that the walkers trailed off so I decided to set up camp for the night. I left at noon so I was already behind. I walked the trail again at dawn, she must have hidden somewhere for them to lose interest in her. None of the nearby trees had any signs of someone climbing them, usually, the bark would be scratched back or smaller branches broken. Just as I turned back to face the trail the walkers left behind something caught the corner of my eye, it was an arrow, "good job Beth" I gave the tree a few pats as I silently thanked any god that would listen.

Her arrows led me to a river, there were signs that someone was there but nothing told me it was Beth. Some of the prints were fresh which meant they were still around or close enough to hear a gunshot clearly. I reached for my gun just in case, and just as I had it out of the thigh holder a branch snapped to my right. In one swift movement, I cocked the gun and pointed it at the stranger.

There stood Merle, behind him was a woman who clutched a bundle close to her chest. Another person poked their head out from behind Merle "Mom?" Beth looked worse for wear but at least she was alive "Beth, thank god" I pulled her into a bone-crushing hug "what happened?" I looked over her shaking body, whatever happened shook her up pretty bad "found 'er with a group of guys, they didn't play nice '' Merle looked pissed but his eyes softened when looking at her "I killed 'em but, they still- I wasn't fast enough" my heart shattered putting the hints together "it's ok, I'm here you're safe now, they can't hurt you anymore" gently I sat her down on a fallen log so I could look over her injures, Merle kept an eye out while the woman handed me a cloth and some water "Daryl's gonna be happy your back" I meant it mostly to Beth but to merle as well.

"your belly" her voice was a whisper almost like she was afraid they were going to come back "had them, when the herd came in" I moved from her face to her left arm to redress the wound "Them?" I smiled tying the fabric off around her arm "twins, Merle and Theo" Merle's face lit up when he heard me. "Had Carl this time, good thing too, 'cause there was no way I'd be able to catch 'em" I led the way with Beth and the woman in the middle, and Merle brought up the rear "I'm y/n" half heartedly threw over my shoulder "Liz" she smiled somewhat, she didn't trust us "you find them, or did ya finally meet someone?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him Merle let out a chuckle "my wife and little one" I smiled remembering how he treated the kids back at the CDC "I'm an aunty?" my smile was bigger now "ya, how's ya other kid? The little girl"

"Carl's fine, we lost Sophia" he mumbled a sorry Beth trailed behind me slowly eating the snacks Carol gave me, we had all day to get back, I didn't want to spend the night out here, not with Beth "how's Judy?" her grip on my arm didn't let up "Misses her big sister" Beth was quiet the rest of the way home, it was about noon when we made it back we turned the corner to the front gate, I turned to the others, noticing the red truck wasn't there, that meant the others were still out. "stay behind me, the people here don't trust people, Daryl's is out with Rick at the moment"

I brought them to our house, letting them have Judith's room. she could sleep in Carl's until he was better "where's the kid?" Merle leaned on the railing "want to meet your namesake first?" little Merle grabbed Merle's finger and haply smiled "this is Theo" his smile grew bigger seeing them, Rosita and Sasha didn't leave the room they were eyeing Merle "stand down girls, uncle Merle ain't gonna hurt them, ain't that right" Theo gurgled smiling. Rosita healed up two bottles, signaling it was nap time, "let's give these two back to their aunts and go see Carl" he nodded gently, handing little Merle to Sasha.