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Survival Isn't An Option	By : Pilgrim Category: S through Z > The Walking Dead Views: 6774 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters from the series. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 44
- 45
*AUTHOR'S NOTE: Apologies guys, first week back at uni meant I lost track of what was happening! Normal updates from Saturday once more x

          Isabelle stared despairingly at the open t-shirt and pulled the corners together into a knot, it would cover her breasts if not the new scar. She’d settle for that, she just wanted out. Her jeans fitted more snugly and she loosened the belt a hole, regular meals and lack of exercise had put weight back on her. She pulled them to sit lower on her hips to avoid rubbing the bottom of the scar, wincing at the pressure of the button against the still tender skin. Beth was already dressed in her many layers, the grey holey cardigan draped over her shoulders. A rap came at the door as guards arrived to lead them away. The one at the front reached for Beth’s backside as she stepped past. Blood boiled and Isabelle lunged forwards, grabbing his wrist and twisting it as Daryl had taught her until the small bones cracked, the man, screaming, dropped to his knees. A gun pressed to her temple, more trained on her, clicking as they all prepped bullets into chambers and she was pushed back into the room. The door slammed in her face.
“You can’t keep me locked up in here,” Isabelle screamed, slamming her hands against the reinforced glass. “Letting men grope teenagers, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“Get reinforcements to take her through, unfortunately they all have to be alive,” Dawn snapped, facing her through the glass.
          Furious Isabelle paced the small room, watching as five guards arranged themselves outside. She watched as Beth wheeled a now conscious Carol past, she glanced at her once before being shoved roughly past. Isabelle smacked her hands against the glass once more, the guns lifting simultaneously to train in on her. She raised a middle finger and went back to pacing. Finally, the key turned and she rushed to the door, instantly a pistol pressed against her sternum halting her progress. With a resigned sigh she raised her hands slowly and pressed them to the back of her head, glaring into the eyes of the man with the gun. The rest surrounded her, guns trained at her head or her heart as they made their way through the corridors.
“Send him over,” Dawn shouted ahead of her, they were just around the corner.
          Isabelle fought against the urge to run, the urge quelled somewhat by the surrounding circle of guns. She could feel their fingers twitching as they got closer.
“No, we see her first,” Rick calmly stated back and she almost cried with relief at the sound of his voice. She hadn’t realised how much she had missed it.
“Trust me, we want rid of her, she’s caused more trouble than she’s worth. Now send Suarez to us,” Dawn declared again.
          Finally, they cleared the corner and Isabelle stared at the group in the corridor, Rick, Daryl, Sasha and Tyreese and in between them Carol and Beth. Safe and away from the group and she let a sigh of relief escape her, unaware until that moment that she’d been holding her breath.
“What the hell, you said you hadn’t harmed them?” Rick shouted, pointing to her stomach.
“She had internal injuries from a car crash, she’d have died if we hadn’t operated,” Dawn shouted back, her hand reaching for her gun.
“She’s telling the truth Rick, I’m fine,” Isabelle called out, desperately wanting to lower her hands and cover the scar but not wanting to risk being shot.
          A hand pushed her forwards from behind and she lowered her hands on instinct to retaliate before the pistol returned to her head. Gritting her teeth, she raised her hands back to her head and moved forwards faster, Rick pushing Suarez forwards and latching a hand onto her left wrist. As if sensing she was going to do something he yanked sharply so that she was forced to stumble backwards into the group. Daryl instantly stepping forwards to halt her fall. She turned quickly to face the hospital group.
“Perhaps instead of being afraid of me you should teach your men to show some respect and not harass and rape those you claim to be protecting! Think I don’t know what you let them do, I might have been locked in a room but I still knew what was happening every day,” she screamed, Daryl’s arm the only thing stopping her from surging forwards.
“It’s done, it’s over,” Beth whispered, her hand locking into hers.
          Slowly she let the girl’s calming presence wash over her, Daryl guiding her away as the group retreated. Without a thought she wrapped an arm about Beth’s shoulders and pulled her against her. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to her again. The thought that she couldn’t stop anything from happening to the sweetness that was Beth was soul destroying.
“When we get back to the group, we should spend more time together. I’d love to learn to dance,” Beth wrapped an arm about her waist companionably and Isabelle smiled broadly.
“It would be my absolute pleasure,” Isabelle squeezed her shoulder gently.
“Now I just need Noah,” Dawn’s cold voice echoed down the corridor.
          Isabelle tightened her grip on Beth’s shoulder as the group turned as one to stare incredulously at the hospital group, Dawn still at their forefront. Conversation, angry and disbelieving broke out between the two groups and Isabelle pulled Beth further back, if a firefight broke out she didn’t want the girl getting injured. Finally, a silence fell as Noah pressed his gun into Rick’s hands and he started to walk towards the group. Without warning Beth broke free from Isabelle’s grip and dashed towards the boy. Isabelle watched warily, she was too far away to do much but Tyreese wasn’t letting her move any closer. Frustrated she glanced away and looked out of the window. The gunshot echoed in her ears and her head snapped back to where Beth had been.
          Turning to the hospital group she felt her jaw drop, Beth, in a pool of blood lay at Dawn’s feet. The world slowed to a snail’s pace as she bounced off Tyreese’s arm. Daryl was already lunging forwards, shooting Dawn down within seconds of him getting into range. The chaos shuffled into quiet as voices and hands were raised. There was some form of discussion, confusion raged in the space between the two groups. Nothing but quiet echoed in Isabelle’s mind as she stared at the growing pool of blood, the limp frame. Daryl scooping up Beth’s small frame and carrying it past her, the group moving quickly back down the corridors. Brushing tears away, fighting the shock, Isabelle followed with Noah, bringing up the rear as the doors closed one by one behind them. It didn’t feel real, the time she’d spent with her, the hours in that cell, how could she just be a memory now. She’d started to care, started to realise how much she needed to talk to someone, even if it was about nothing more important than how to plait your hair. The daylight blinded her without dispersing the darkness in her mind. Silence echoed only rippled by the distant screams as Maggie collapsed onto her knees. The others in various states of shock and despair at seeing the corpse of Beth, blood still dripping from the fresh wound. Isabelle stayed at the back, kept out of the way, let the silence of shock roar in ears as the people before her mourned the passing.
          Time passed surreally as they headed to an open field and dug the final resting place of Beth. No one was talking, there was barely an acknowledgement of each other anymore, everyone was hiding in their own worlds. A priest the group had found during the weeks of her absence whispered the funeral ceremony over the pile of earth and slowly the group filtered away to leave Maggie and Glenn to their privacy. Isabelle paused wondering if she should say something, tell of the time she had spent with Beth. She figured it wouldn’t be of any comfort and stepped away, what sister would want to hear that their baby sister had been groped and threatened sexually the last days of her life. To hear of the fear she had lived with, even if she had met it bravely. Perhaps she could tell her how they had talked of dancing instead? Surely that would be of comfort? For a moment she paused and was about to walk back towards Maggie.
“Did they hurt either you or Beth? The guards?” Daryl whispered as he caught up with her and she dismissed the idea again.
“No,” Isabelle responded, glancing back again at the crying pair. “No one touched her, I broke the wrist of the last one that tried, hence all the guns,” Fingers stroked over her collarbone, traced up the back of her neck and he pressed a kiss to her forehead as he pulled her into a bear hug.
“What about the group that you went with?” He whispered, fingers stroking over the back of her neck as she stared blankly over his shoulder into the field.
“They tried,” Isabelle murmured, remembering the barn in too much detail. “They chained me up, forced me to my knees and the leader… Ray,” she paused, wondering how much to tell him, “I bit his penis off.”
“You bit? Oh…” Daryl shuffled uncomfortably against her after finally figuring out the dynamics of the situation. “Nothing more though?”
“No, I ran in the chaos, got in their car, crashed it and ended up in the hospital,” Isabelle stepped away, heading back towards the now empty fire truck. “Suppose I should count myself lucky, at least I walked out of there,” she rubbed at her arms uncomfortably.
“Here,” Daryl nudged her shoulder with his leather jerkin once more but he wasn’t looking at her. Isabelle followed his gaze to what he was looking at.
          Eugene turned away uncomfortably as she realised she was still essentially flashing her chest, the t-shirt not really up to the job. With a grimace she took the jerkin and slid it over her shoulders once more. “Has anyone got the cure from him yet?” She whispered, pulling her spare belt about the jerkin gently, careful of putting too much pressure against the scar.
“He’s not a scientist, he lied,” Daryl muttered, pointing her towards the quieter side of the camp.
“Oh,” she sank down onto a log, stretching her legs out carefully. “That’s a bit of bad news,” Daryl dropped next to her, resting his crossbow on his thigh.
“Yeah, he got pummelled for it. Think Abraham took it rather personally,” Daryl muttered, digging dirt from under his nails as he watched the group.
          Quiet spanned out between them, each lost in their own thoughts and memories. Rick summoned Daryl and Isabelle watched him go, they were no doubt going to discuss where to go from here. What was left for them to go to? They had a couple of old white van’s, big enough to transport them all. All they needed was somewhere to go. Carol approached slowly, still slightly unstable as she lowered herself onto the log and sighed. For a moment they sat in silence.
“Beth told me what you did for her. That you talked every day and most nights, kept her company. It was good of you to talk to her like that,” Carol whispered. “She also told me about the baby.”
“I’m not pregnant,” Isabelle muttered dismissively.
“How can you be so sure?” Carol demanded softly. “Only last year or so you did that emergency run out for pills that cost Jacob his life,” she pointed out smoothly.
“Because I starved myself as a child, my periods are intermittent at best because of the damage I caused and I haven’t had one since before I was ill with that blasted flu bug,” Isabelle snapped, frustrated at the questions. “With… there was a chance before because I was healthier. I sincerely doubt one fooling around moment however many weeks ago now would have changed the odds at all considering I’m even more underweight than usual.”
“If there’s any chance you have let him know,” Carol stated calmly.
“There isn’t,” Isabelle responded, kicking at the dirt furiously. “Even if it had by some sick twist of fate happened. I hit that steering wheel more than once and I really doubt anything survived that, I don’t think I should have survived it.”
          They looked up as one as the guys disbanded and began to pack up the makeshift camp. Everything pressed into the rear of the vans. Carol and Isabelle rose together to assist but were waved away whenever they tried to help and eventually they settled back onto the log.
“I’m sorry if you think I was rude to you before,” Carol whispered. “About the not being welcome in the group.”
“It’s ok, I get it,” Isabelle responded quickly, the rise of discomfort making her cross her arms protectively. “I’m new to the group, I jumped into bed with any guy that would have me and…”
“It’s not that. No one cares who you sleep with or don’t sleep with, it’s how you are with Daryl,” Carol explained. “No one else really knows you, you don’t interact with anyone else on a personal level. You need to talk Belle, like you did with Beth.”
Rick passed a walkie-talkie to Carol, “You and Belle are in the second van. We’re going to Noah’s settlement in Richmond, Virginia. Be a long trip but, it’s a start.” They both nodded, Isabelle offering a hand to Carol as she rose first.
“I know, but I’m not ready,” Isabelle whispered to Carol.
Silently they made their way to the van, Carol taking the front seat as Isabelle clambered into the back. About to shut the door until Daryl caught it and slid in alongside her. All the doors shut and the vans rumbled into life, rolling clumsily over the earth and onto the road. Isabelle propped herself against the window, pulling her feet up and crossing them. Slowly she let the steady rumble of the tyres and the rattle of the engine lull her to sleep. Only when the vans pulled up to rest for the night did she stir, glancing across at Daryl blearily as he slid the door open and jumped out. Shuffling over she dropped her feet to the floor, looking at their surroundings calmly. A plain clearing, simple to guard but no sign of water or food nearby. Silently the group broke out the last of the tins, sharing out the contents about an open fire.
          The sombre mood had the group by the throat, barely a word passed between them as they shuffled uncomfortably on the dry earth. The days she’d been missing or in the hospital the group had struggled to find water away from the river and they were eating the last of their food reserves right now. Isabelle passed the last of the can to Daryl, his fingers resting on hers briefly before taking it. Silently she carved out a space in the leaves and settled for the night before registering she needed to pee. Muttering at the inconvenience she stumbled onto her feet and headed into the woods. The familiar sounds of footsteps trailing her discreetly. She guessed her wandering privileges were going to be revoked further. Buckling her jeans once more she stepped back towards the fire, Daryl appearing at the same time, his tell-tale glance enough to confirm her suspicions.
“I’m going on a hunt with Rick,” he whispered. “Going to try and find either food or water, you ok until we get back?” Isabelle nodded slowly, “Stay in the van.”
“Daryl that’s…” she began to protest.
“Just, just do it,” he muttered before heading out.
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Survival Isn't An Option