Emma's P.O.V
I had been waiting for what felt like forever to talk to Beth about everything. So much has happened, and I want her to know. I wish her and I had gotten closer at the prison, we're close, but not as close as I wish we were.
When I walked back into my room from checking on Carol, Beth was waiting for me, sitting right on the bed in my room.
I smiled at her when I walked in and she looked up and smiled at me.
I knew I had a tearstained face, that Beth would notice.
My light was on, but my door was closed, so we wouldn't bother anyone.
I sat on the bed with Beth.
"Have you been crying?" She asked already knowing the answer.
I nodded.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Carol. My dad had just talked to her about how she's like a mother figure to me. She agreed with being okay and proceeding to do it." I said, pained by the thought of losing Carol.
"Emma, she'll be okay. She'll pull through. I already heard Dawn and Dr. Edwards talking about how she's made unbelievable progress. They said at this rate, she should be waking up anytime now." Beth explained.
I smiled.
"I'm stuck in the middle of a huge lie on top of it." I whispered.
"What're you talking about?" She asked.
"I lied to get in here with Carol, we were with Dad and a kid named Noah, he said he knew you. That you helped him break out of this place. I told them Carol was my mom and she was all I had left, so Gorman agreed to take me in. We left Dad and Noah, so all we really have to do now is wait for them and the rest of the group to come get us." I whispered more.
Beth nodded, taking it all in.
"Oh, how about Maggie, is she okay?" Beth asked.
"Yeah, she's great. Her and Glenn are. Right now they're held up back at a church, a man we met a few days back took us there, he's too weak to do anything to anyone. They're all okay." I explained.
"Who's all okay, I haven't seen anyone since the prison, besides Daryl, now you and Carol." Beth explained.
"Sorry. Rick, Carl, Sasha, Bob, Glenn, Maggie, Michonne, and Tyreese. We've also found some new people on the road, Tara, Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita. Then the two that were at the church, Gabriel who was the priest, and a girl my age named Valerie." I explained.
"I'm glad to hear they're all okay." Beth said.
"Me too. At least they all were when I was there yesterday. They left on a run and I haven't seen them since before they did. I doubt any of them got hurt, but you never know. Things go wrong and they took Gabriel with him, and he doesn't know how to kill walkers." I explained.
Beth sighed.
"I do have some things to tell you that have happened since I last talked to you at the prison. It's mainly things with Carl, but theres a few other things with other people. Things that I hope won't change the way you think of me." I explained.
"I won't change the way I think of you. The world is crazy, I get it. Just go in chronological order, what happened first?" Beth asked.
"Well, it was Carl and I telling one another we like each other." I explained.
"Everyone already knew that. How did you two go without realizing it at some point. You guys kissed, thats not just something friends do." Beth said.
I giggled.
"Please tell me you guys haven't gone all this time without making it official, y'know where you two are actually boyfriend and girlfriend." Beth said.
"Well, the night I got out of Cell Block A, Carl helped me to bed because I got shot not too much earlier, and he carried me up the stairs because our cells we're on the second level. I told him I could walk, but he wouldn't let me. Before he let me fall asleep, he asked me to be his girlfriend." I explained, with a smile. It was nice thinking about these things and sorta reliving them.
"You don't even have to explain anymore. I know you said yes." Beth joked.
I giggled.
"So what happened with Emily and Taylor, I know they couldn't have been happy." Beth said.
"They didn't know. Carl and I didn't tell anyone until Rick, Carl, and Michonne were stopped by a group of men threatening to kill them. I had came across them and watched all of it begin, my dad was with the group when they took over. The man was my uncle, so he refrained from hurting me. He had them begin to beat Dad to death for being a liar or whatever. I spoke up and explained how amazing they all were, that's when I confessed Carl was my boyfriend." I explained.
"Wait, when was this?" Beth asked.
"Oh, it was after the prison, I was alone. Dad said he chased the car that took you until he couldn't any longer, then my uncle and his group took Dad in. They had never met though, I don't know why. I didn't get out of the prison alone though." I explained.
"I saw you get out with Emily and Taylor, that was my next question. I knew things wouldn't end well, but what happened?" Beth asked me.
"This is the thing that will change your perspective of me." I said, then began to explain everything to her. Everything from Taylor dying to Emily and I fighting. "After the fight, I took my knife and threw it right into her skull, and to think. It was all because she said she was supposedly in love with Carl. Though, that's not all that happened to Emily, after she was dead, I wrote a note that way if anyone from the prison found it, they'd know I was okay. I took my finger in her blood from her head and I wrote my note. My humanity was gone though, I lost it and couldn't find it. I don't like the thought of someone threatening my relationship with Carl. I'm in love with him. I don't ever want to lose him." I explained to Beth.
"She did start it all, she stabbed you. Started the fight with you. She should've known by then that you're not one to take anyone's crap and she was kinda on borrowed time. Plus, love makes people crazy. It doesn't justify it, if anyone who didn't know you heard it, they'd think you're insane. I'm not gonna look at you differently. It doesn't define you." Beth explained.
"Now we're at a church, as you know, and the girl there, Valerie, she bullied me in school. She also already tried to get Carl to break up with me for her. I'm terrified that when my dad shows up there without me, he'll be convinced that I'm not coming back or something and go with her. I don't know what I mean by that exactly, but I don't want to lose him. I don't want her to win. I need to get back there. I need to. All that I keep thinking of is, what if she's convinced him I'm dead? What if they end up kissing? Yet, here I am in Atlanta. Worthless. The only reason I haven't killed her yet is because Carl wants to try and work things out. See if he can get her to apologize to me and stop her continuation of 'bullying' me. I can't kill all my problems, no matter how much I want to. I just want to be back there, with Carl. I miss him. I hope things that need to, go over soon. We should be back with them. You, me, and Carol." I said.
"You said she's threatening you and Carl's relationship?" Beth asked.
I nodded.
"I see that as a perfect reason to at least... punch her. Hit her around a bit. Just to show her you aren't going anywhere anytime soon. If Carl is stupid enough to do anything with her, as much as you don't want to hear it, maybe you just need to break up with him. He's supposed to stay loyal, and if he doesn't, it's time for you to get rid of him, or at least give him a taste of his own medicine in some way, shape, or form." Beth said.
"How am I supposed to give him a taste of his own medicine?" I asked.
"Get some guy to go after you, somehow. If Carl is serious about you, he won't let the guy go after you for long. If he's not serious, he won't do anything about it. It all depends if Carl is the jealous type or not. If he's not, it won't work that well, but he'll come around eventually. If he is, it should work real quick." Beth explained.
"Wouldn't that start with me leading someone on in the first place?" I asked.
"Not necessarily, sometimes the guy can start a friendship out of simply thinking you're cute." Beth explained.
I glanced out the window, seeing that the sun was just beginning to rise.
"I'll think about it, but nothings stopping me from beating Valerie to a pulp." I said.
"That's not what I said." Beth chuckled. "Just hit her around a bit. Not much."
"What if I see her like kiss Carl or something?" I asked.
"That's a different situation. You got the skills to fight, so I'm gonna go ahead and let you judge on what you want to do, but whatever you do, make sure she'll learn not to mess with you anymore." I said.
Carl's P.O.V
It was the next morning, I guess Valerie is gonna start a fight with Emma, despite everyone else's objections.
Daryl's back, but without Emma or Carol. There's a new guy with him. He told me that they know where Beth is and Emma and Carol are with her right now, but Carol got hurt.
Dad and Daryl have been working on a plan with a few others all night. I'm not allowed to go with them, I'm not mad because I'll see Emma when she gets back, I've just got to take care of Judith.
I want to tell Daryl that Valerie plans to fight Emma, he's her dad he deserves to know. I think he could try talking some sense into Valerie as well, Emma is not someone you want to mess with, especially since Valerie hasn't left the church, at least not that I know of.
I walked over to Gabriel, he was uneasy.
"Hey, I've got a question." I walked up to him.
He turned his attention towards me.
"Before we got here, has Valerie gone outside of the church at all?" I asked.
"No, she found me when I was burying all of my people's bones. I let her inside and she didn't have any weapons let alone know how to use them. She told me herself." Gabriel said.
"Has she had to fight at all?" I asked.
"No, not that I'm aware of. She said she was pretty popular in school, that no one would've messed with her in that way under any circumstances." Gabriel said.
I nodded.
"I can't help but wonder, what is this about? You're not thinking of trying to fight her, right? She's a girl." Gabriel said.
"No, no, no. I wouldn't hit a girl. Valerie wants to fight Emma. Me, Rosita, and Abraham tried to tell her it was a bad idea, but she wouldn't listen to us. Now I'm gonna tell Daryl, Emma's dad, about it. If his daughters fighting I think he deserves to know." I said, standing up and walking towards the room my dad and a few others were in.
It was Dad, Daryl, Sasha, Tyreese, and Noah, the new guy that came back with Daryl.
I walked in distraught I guess, something like that, and Dad noticed.
"What is it, Carl?" Dad asked, everyone else turning their attention on me.
"Well, it's not that big of a deal, I just think Daryl should know. Valerie is gonna start a fight with Emma." I said.
"Why?." Tyreese asked.
"Well, she used to bully Emma and still does. She said she wants to take me from Emma, which isn't going to happen, and ruin Emma's life. She thinks they're fighting over m, that if she wins, which won't happen, that I'll suddenly be in love with her or something. We all know Emma is going to win. I made sure with Gabriel that Valerie has never used a weapon and has never fought before. Valerie must think that Emma is the same girl from school or something." I explained.
"I'm gonna bring her in here." Dad said, and walked out of the room
Rick's P.O.V
"Hey Valerie, can you come here?" I asked her.
She walked over and followed me into the room.
"Don't fight Emma." Sasha said as we walked in.
Valerie ignored her.
"How exactly do you think you'll even start this fight?" I asked.
"Once you bring back her and Carol, I'll walk right up to her and punch her. She won't be expecting it, so I can just knock her out then." Valerie said, sure of herself.
"Someone's full of their self." Daryl scoffed.
"I've seen things like that go down. Someone thinks its a good idea to punch Emma, but Emma dodges it. The last girl who did it got her nose broke." Carl explained.
"Then I'll do something else to catch her off guard, make her want to hit me. If she can dodge a punch, I sure as hell can." Valerie said.
"The point we're trying to get across here is, Emma will beat your ass." Sasha explained.
"None of you have seen me fight." Valerie said.
"You don't really want to mess with Emma, do you? She's scary. She held a gun to my head for a first impression. I was on my knees, and she kept the gun to my head. The fact that you even mess with her verbally is surprising, seeing how you don't even have half of the visible strength she does. With her, you can see it in the way she carries herself, but not with you." Noah said.
Valerie scoffed.
"I don't see a problem with it." Daryl started.
"What?" I asked.
"I don't see a problem with it. This one's too full of herself to realize her mistake. Maybe it's time someone teaches her a lesson. She's been doing this since Emma was in school. It's clear this girls gonna do it no matter what we say, so just allow it. This way, we can make sure Emma has no weapons to kill this girl and they can have a clean, fair fight. If thats what she wants, thats what she'll get. My money's on Emma though." Daryl explained.
Emma's P.O.V
The sun was up now. We all had began working.
I walked over to Beth real quick, "Why don't we escape?" I whispered.
Beth looked at me like I was crazy.
"If we escape, we can help them get Carol. We know what this place looks like and we can guide them." I explained.
"They've been watching me ever since I tried to escape with Noah. Theres no way I'll get out." Beth said.
Beth walked away.
Suddenly, I heard a commotion coming from where the elevators were. I learned, thats where they dispose of their bodies.
I ran into the room. Dawn was fighting another officer.
I walked up to them and kicked him in the shin in such a way that it looked like I broke his knee.
That made him stop and come for me. He grabbed my throat and put me up against the wall, to a point where I was off of my feet.
The feeling of helplessness was back with me. Something I hadn't experienced in a long time. Something I wish I wasn't experiencing.
My air was being cut off, I couldn't help anyone, not even myself.
I couldn't breathe and I became light headed.
I began kicking, trying to kick him anywhere I could.
Dawn was just standing there for some reason.
I kicked him between the legs causing him to drop me, making it worse for myself.
After he collected himself once more, he picked pulled his knife on me.
He went for my stomach first, I jumped back dodging it.
I saw Dawn walk right out of the room.
He grabbed me and put the knife to my throat.
I looked around the room, looking for something that I could use to help myself.
We were close to the open elevator, and I knew what was down there. We were getting closer and closer, it was clear that he was gonna drop me down there.
I moved my hand really fast, up to my throat. He was looking around in fear, hoping no one would come in and catch him in what he was doing.
I caught him off guard and grabbed his knife, I couldn't grab anywhere but the blade, so that's what I went with. I felt the blade dig into my palm, releasing blood.
I pulled his knife from my throat, pushing through the pain, and I got myself free, also yanking his knife from him in the process.
I twisted him around, making him the one closer to the opening in the wall where the elevator used to run.
He looked at me amazed.
"You fucked with the wrong little girl." I said, grabbing his gun quickly and kicking him down.
Now I had both of his weapons.
I quickly made sure the gun stayed with me, while he fell to his death.
I tucked the gun and knife into my pants. Now I had weapons to protect myself with.
The door opened and closed.
"Emma, what happened?" Dawn came in and asked.
"I came in here to help you, but you fucking left." I said.
"I mean what happened to O'Donnell." Dawn said.
"I fought him, and it ended when he was pushed down the elevator shaft." I said as Dr. Edwards walked in too.
"Do you need any medical attention?" Dr. Edwards asked.
"You killed O'Donnell?" Dawn began freaking out like it wasn't justified.
"Yeah, he was gonna kill you. Then I saved you. You left me." I said.
She punched me in the face, it made my face move, but I didn't react in pain.
I was pissed, I wasn't gonna take her abuse. I've taken enough.
"Don't fucking touch me ever again or it'll be the last thing you do." I said.
"Is that a threat?" Dawn asked me.
"Make what you want of it, but I just thought I should let you know, I've known squirrels who can punch harder than you." I said.
"If you're so sure of yourself, why don't you show me what a real punch is like." Dawn challenged.
"We're supposed to be fighting the dead, not each other." Dr. Edwards said.
I punched her right in the nose, ignoring Dr. Edwards. Her nose began bleeding, and she fell back.
I walked right past her and Dr. Edwards who looked at me in shock.
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