Chapter 4

The Walkers stopped coming out of the hotel after about twenty minutes. There hadn't been that many of them and the small numbers made Daryl suspicious. Maybe there just hadn't been that many people in the hotel? Maybe there were more trapped inside rooms with no way out? Still... it seemed to him that they'd encountered surprisingly few walkers in the town and it gave him an unsettled feeling.

Slowly, they made there was through the halls. Here and there they could hear the sounds of walkers trapped in rooms scratching to get out, but for the most part they got through to the roof without too many run-ins with the undead. Before they got to the roof Beth grabbed a number of sheets off the beds on the fourth floor. She had brought a small can of paint from the garage with her when they left that morning, and with the last of it she painted a large crossbow on the tied together sheets. With Daryl's help she secured it to the roof. It didn't end up covering as much of the building as she'd expected, but it was definitely large enough to catch the eye of anyone coming through town or driving past on the highway.

"That should catch their eyes if anyone from our group comes through town," Beth said, peering down the side of the building and out across Luthersville, half hoping that Maggie had materialized instantly when she put out the sign. "You see any sign of anyone who's not a walker?"

Daryl shook his head, taking advantage of the height to get a clear view of the surrounding area. Octobers are fairly mild in Georgia, and the day was crisp and clear, but at best he estimated they could see about two miles in each direction. If someone came to town, they'd see them for sure, but if they never did…

He hated to think about it. The group had become closer than family to him, and now it was just him and this pretty smart little girl. No, not little girl. He remembered going to her to deliver the news about Zack's death. She'd looked resigned and upset, but she was no hysterical teenager. Not anymore. He remembered how she'd hugged him that night, ignoring his awkwardness and burying her head in his chest. It was different then comforting her over her father's death last night, then she'd been oblivious to anything but the pain, and he couldn't blame her.

But the first time… she'd known exactly what she was doing, and gone for it anyway. If these few days had proved anything, it was that Beth was the kind of girl who acted deliberately. While they had all been focused on running the prison she'd all but become a mother to Judith.

The thought of the baby snapped him back into the present. She'd let the question about seeing anyone hang, Beth wasn't the kind of person to push conversation when silence would do. She was just staring out over the town, lost in her own thoughts, the light of the late afternoon sun making her hair shine like pale gold. In that instant he knew that no matter if they found the others or not he'd lay down his life to make sure she survived. He was about to suggest they go down when she gasped and ran to the edge of the roof.

"Daryl! Do you see that?" she said pointing to a figure in the middle of the road on the other side of town. He couldn't make it out perfectly, but it was moving slowly towards the town. He wouldn't have picked it out from any other walker, except that it looked oddly misshapen in the front, when he saw it pivot, and clutch something in its hands.

Someone had arrived sooner than they expected.