Hello again! Yay for quick chapter updates! I know that the cliffhangers are frustrating, but that's what makes silly little stories like this fun!

I hope your enjoy - I'm just smiling the whole time I write these!

Fighting the urge to drop to the floor and take cover, Daryl fished through his pockets until he found his lighter. To her credit, Maggie's little sister hadn't screamed yet, but he was sure she couldn't see any better than her could.

He fumbled a little getting the top open, but finally managed to strike and hold enough of a flame to barely make out the girl on the other side of the counter.

"What the hell just happened," Beth asked in a hushed voice.

"Dunno," he replied, "ever happened before?"

"No," she replied, and then, "could you bring that back here? There's a flashlight in this bottom drawer somewhere."

Daryl circled the counter and tried to simultaneously keep out of her personal space and hold the lighter close enough for her to see. In the faint light her damn eyes looked even bigger, and he couldn't shake the image of her looking up at him from kneeling on the floor. He cursed himself for being a dirty old bastard and did his best to wipe the memory from his mind.

She uncovered the flashlight and clicked it on, illuminating the immediate vicinity a little bit better. He watched as she walked to the door, covered totally by the metal emergency slider and banged on it a few time.

"Hello!" she cried, "Is there anyone out there."

They both paused to listen and no reply came.

"I'm so sorry, Daryl" she apologized, "I have no idea what's happening."

Before he got a chance to respond she was dialing something on her phone. With nothin else to do, he watched her as she did it.

"Hi, Andrea," she said once whoever it was she was calling picked up, "Do you know what's going on at the mall? I was just finishing up a transaction when the lights went out and the emergency door closed. I'm stuck in here with a customer."

He tried to gauge her reaction as she listened to Andrea's response and took no comfort in the fact that those baby blues just got wider and wider.

"But, there's no way I could have checked email today," she was saying, "we were slammed and I've been the only one here since three."

Another pause.

"So, what do we do?" she asked, voice starting to get a little desperate, "we can't just spend the night in here."

Oh damn skippy, they weren't spending the night. Daryl would tunnel his way out with a spoon before he spent the night in here.

He pulled his own phone out of his pocket and dialed Rick. If anyone would know what to do, it would be him.

"King County Sheriff's Office," the receptionists voice said when his call connected.

"Deputy Grimes, please."

"He's out of the office, sir" the reply came, "I'll forward you to his cell.

After waiting through another round of rings, he was relieved when Rick answered.

"Grimes."

"Rick, s'Daryl, you gotta minute?"

"Yeah, I'm camped in the parking lot of the mall all night," Rick replied, "Ain't got nothin' else to do."

"You're at the mall?" Daryl asked, relief flooding his whole body.

"Yeah, I have to babysit the computer genius who's rewiring the security system tonight," came the casual answer, "What's up?"

"I'm stuck in the mall," Daryl said, trying not to let his tone indicate his rising discomfort.

"Why the hell are you in the mall?" Rick asked.

"Had to get fitted for a suit for Glenn's wedding," he hastily explained, "anyhow, I was cashing out and it went dark and the door slammed shut. I'm trapped in here with Beth Greene."

"The whole mall's on lockdown for twelve house," Rick explained, "Everything has to be locked up tight while this guy does his thing. I was told that all the store owners were notified and told to leave fifteen minutes earlier than they usually do."

"Well, the damn dress shop didn't get the memo," Daryl snapped, "can't you just ask the computer guy to lift the security for long enough for us to get out?"

"Hang on," Rick said to Daryl, and then farther away, "Eugene, there are a couple people still in the mall, what can we do to get them out?"

Daryl waited with bated breath and looked over to see that Beth was watching him, having finished with her conversation.

"Daryl?" Rick confirmed that he was still there, "I hate to tell you this, but apparently this is one of those can't-be-stopped-once-it's-started things. This guy says that aside from rewriting all the computer code, which he says would take him days, there's nothing he can do to lift the safety door locks until 6:00 a.m."

Daryl was silent and fuming. How in the hell, in the 21st damn century, could this be happening.

"He says that he can turn the power back on for your store though," Rick continued sheepishly, "Did you say you were in Andrea's Bridal?"

"Yeah," Daryl ground out, resisting the urge to hurl his phone against the opposite wall.

"Sorry, man," Rick said with finality.

"Ain't your fault," Daryl managed before clicking the phone off.

Beth was looking at him appraisingly as he hung up.

"So, my boss says we're stuck til six in the morning," she said, her tone defeated.

"Rick Grimes says the same," he sighed, realizing that pitching a fit wouldn't solve anything, "they're gonna get us the power back though."

"Well that's something," Beth replied awkwardly, "there's some stuff in the fridge that we can probably scavenge for dinner."

"Nothin' else to do, right?" Daryl said, trying and failing to match her optimism.

She smiled nonetheless, and he felt it shoot all the way to the center of his gut. Damn, this girl was pretty. Aside from the fact that she was Maggie's little sister and that she was going to school to be a nurse, he didn't know much about her. Glenn had said that the two of them would be walking together for the wedding - maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"What kind of food do you reckon there is?" he asked, realizing that it had been a solid couple of hours since his peanut butter and jelly.

"Hmmm, there's probably a Ramen noodle or two," she mused, "Some crackers, maybe some leftovers?"

And then suddenly, as if she had just been graced with the world's most brilliant idea, Beth's whole face lit up.

"What?" he asked, wondering if she'd remembered some secret entrance that would get them out of this.

"There's also four bottles of champagne."

He supposed that would do as well.

Reviews are as much fun as finding the champagne during an emergency!