my tears ricochet

Chapter Seventy One

"Jesus Christ," Daryl swore, allowing the strange pair to enter the apartment. "Grab that kit beneath the sink."

Beth was bleeding, he realized. Somehow in the process of murdering Ron, she had cut her forehead and it made her face look paler, even more haunting beneath the evidence. "I killed him," she said again, that midnight confession burning through the space between them. "I killed him because he was going to die anyways."

Gabriel fetched the first aid kit and pried it open while Daryl got a towel wet. "I found her... afterwards," he said, an air of politeness clinging to his discretion. "Your place was closer. I didn't want the wrong person seeing the boy's body and Beth like this."

"What'd you do?" Daryl asked quickly, swivelling around to focus on the girl. "Is he staying dead?"

"Yeah. I got it- I managed to use my knife after. He's not coming back."

"Where's the body?"

"We dragged him into the bushes by the pond. I haven't seen much foot traffic down there and hoped it could buy us some time," Gabriel offered, taking the towel from Daryl and gently wiping away the blood from her face and hands.

"Plenty of kids using that pond at night," Daryl grimaced. "Won't take long before someone figures out where he's hiding. Did the scene look accidental?"

Judging by her torn up knees and bloodied face, Ron hadn't gone down quietly. Beth shook her head. "I wasn't going to, or at least I wasn't planning on doing it this soon. But he knew about Pete's plan on taking Ivy, that he had some kind of paperwork accusing you of abuse. And if she went there, it would be like before."

Daryl withheld his judgement. Ivy had scrubbed her hands raw relentlessly for months in penance for murdering her father. Beth's crime was fresh; the guilt would have to be endured. And Daryl wouldn't be a voice lingering in her mind, a flash of venom to feel days laters. "I'll do a clean sweep then. What's your story?"

Beth blinked, confused by the question. But then she tilted her head and regarded him seriously. "I was walking home and tripped in the dark. Gabriel found me and brought me here."

"I finished my studies late and went for a walk. I wanted to make sure that Beth was alright," Gabriel frowned, dabbing ointment to the cut along her forehead. It made the girl wince, a sharp exhale at the sting. "Your light was visible from the street."

"Ivy's asleep. Kid went down and shouldn't be getting up anytime soon," Daryl said. "You're staying here tonight. Can bunk with her or on the couch."

But then he hesitated. Daryl didn't want to leave the pair of them alone and unguarded. Ivy's system was full of pain medication that kept her sleeping sound and Beth looked panicked, a dull terror spiralling outwards by every second. Shuffling them out the door to drop them off with Michonne or Maggie would create the potential for a scene and time was slipping by quick.

The night would be burning with bad blood. And his hands had to appear clean by the end of it.

"You know, I'm pretty good at sitting behind a locked door," Gabriel said sardonically, gently easing a bandaid across Beth's forehead. "If you're planning on finishing this business, I could keep an eye out."

"You know what you're signing up for, priest?"

"You and I drank coffee for a few hours and I bored you with old stories about people you don't care about."

Daryl was mildly impressed with how the man was adjusting to their new world; casual crimes committed with a fair hand of grace. Gabriel faltered when walkers approached but something had gotten to him in the end, that bizarre acceptance of violence. Maybe it was because it was Beth, the girl who had found him first. Maybe it was the reality of their lives.