Death, Death (i defy thee) by alamorn
Beth knows what they say about failure. Try, try again. She'll get out of Grady sooner or later.
After going to see Dawn, Beth went to see Carol. She brought a mop with her, to have an excuse, but when she got in and saw Carol's eyes open, she dropped it and hugged Carol hard without thinking of anything else.
Carol's arm around her shoulders felt frail, a word she never associated with Carol. "Beth," she breathed. "I'm so glad you're alive."
"I should be saying that to you," Beth said into her neck. "I'm gonna get us outta here, Carol, don't you worry." Beth pulled back to look Carol in the eyes, make her promise real, and Carol smiled sadly, pushing a lock of Beth's hair behind her ear.
"We were on our way to get you. Didn't realize you had it all under control."
"We?" Beth asked, heart leaping to her throat.
"Me and Daryl," Carol said.
Beth let out something that would have been a sob, if she was still that sort of person. "Daryl's alive? Thank God."
"Yeah," Carol said. "Yeah, Daryl's fine. He's pretty torn up about you. Blames himself."
"No," Beth said. "No, the only person whose fault it is, is the ones who took me."
"You'll have to tell him that yourself," Carol said, eyes sliding back closed. "Don't think he'll believe it any other way."
Beth smoothed her hand over Carol's hair. "Go back to sleep," she said. "Don't worry. I'll get us out. I'll tell him."