Claimed - Chapter 9

Sadly, I own no part of The Walking Dead. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

101 followers and 50 reviews? How cool is that?! I'm kind of nervous about this chapter…I hope it comes out okay. I'm sure reviews would help calm my nerves…hint hint…wink wink…nudge nudge. Let me know what you think – and enjoy!

Beth was too nervous to eat, but managed to force more than a couple bites down. She knew she'd need her strength, and there was no telling when their next meal would be. She felt herself shiver, partially from nervousness, partially from excitement, but mostly because a strong wind had picked up. She could almost smell the rain in the air. As she looked around at the group, she watched the men. Thankfully they were all still asleep, but their sleep was becoming restless with the sudden drop in temperature. "Shit," she thought to herself, and glanced anxiously at Daryl. The look on his face showed that he had noticed, too. Wordlessly, he grabbed some sticks and added them to the dwindling fire, hoping it would be enough to stave off the chill in the air, at least long enough to afford them a chance at escape.

Once the fire was burning brightly again, Daryl stood up and silently finished preparing to leave. He had pulled out the long sleeved shirt that they had found in the rucksack for Beth to wear; it would help protect her from the elements, but it was also a drab color that would help conceal her in the forest. Any advantage he could give them would help. He made sure Beth's ankle was wrapped well and her boots were tied tightly. Beth swore her ankle was doing fine, but Daryl wouldn't take any chances, especially when it came to her safety. He had already left her to fend for herself more than he liked, and didn't want to tempt fate any more than he had to.

Daryl looked down at Beth, who had followed his lead and stood next to him. "Ya ready?" he asked softly.

"About as ready as I'm gonna be," she replied, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. She hoped her smile would make her look less nervous than she really was. The look on Daryl's face indicated otherwise.

"Hey…"He put his warm hands on her shoulders and rubbed up and down her upper arms, trying to be supportive. "It's gonna be okay. You remember what yer lookin' for?" She nodded up at him, her eyes betraying just how apprehensive she was about actually doing this.

Beth ducked her head under his chin and wrapped her arms around him. He couldn't help but reciprocate the action, pulling her close to him. Daryl pulled away slightly, and without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her, softly. He felt the slightest pressure of her returning the kiss. He released his hold on her and immediately sought her bright green eyes again. "Alright, Greene. Let's get to it," he whispered. She took a shaky breath and nodded up at him. It was now or never.

Daryl shouldered his crossbow and Beth's rucksack. He had packed as much extra weight into the backpack that he could find, including some rocks Beth had found around the campsite They wanted to weigh Daryl down as much as they could so it would look like he was actually carrying Beth on his back as he had earlier in the day. He would have to stomp around in order for his tracks to look convincing; there was no way they could fit enough rocks to match Beth's weight into the bag. Still, every little bit would help.

He nodded at Beth and she withdrew her knife and flashlight, and began walking toward the opposite side of the campsite, closest to the train tracks. He watched as she began moving awkwardly through the brush and bramble. He saw her stagger around a little, not walking in a straight line at all. He hoped to God this would work. She had been learning how to track from Daryl, and could identify walker tracks. Now he just prayed she could reproduce them accurately enough. He saw the beam from her flashlight light up the bark of the trees. Daryl knew he had to trust her, though he couldn't stop from worrying about her. Reluctantly, he turned away from her and headed off in the opposite direction. He had more ground to cover, and wanted to be sure Beth wouldn't be waiting for him for long.

He began stomping away, not following any precise path. Normally he'd be careful not to disturb the bushes or branches that crossed his path, but this time he wanted to leave a definite trail, wanting the rest of the group to follow him rather than Beth. Daryl fought the urge to rush. If he ran, like he wanted to, they would know he wasn't really carrying Beth. He had to keep his pace relatively slow in order to make it look convincing.

He kept a relatively straight course through the trees, aiming for the stream he had found earlier. Hopefully Joe and his boys would think they'd waded through the water so they wouldn't leave any more tracks...and they'd be right. Daryl would use the rocky creek bed to cover his trail as he continued his roundabout way back to Beth.

After reaching the stream, Daryl headed north, upstream. Now he could pick up the pace. He could also lighten his load a little, scattering the rocks in the bag here and there as he walked. He finally reached his checkpoint, where he had left a large, leafy branch, maybe a mile from where he first started walking through the stream. The branch would help in covering his wet tracks. He began heading northeast, still in the direction of the train tracks, but also leading away from the campsite. He could afford to move more quickly than before now, and was careful to not disturb the foliage as he had before. He knew Joe's men weren't the best trackers – that's why they needed Daryl's help to find the man they were after – but they'd be able to pick up obvious signs like he'd been leaving earlier. Daryl was confident he'd be able to hide this part of trail from them well enough.

It was well over an hour, maybe two, when Daryl reached the train tracks again. Careful to tread only on the wooden railroad ties so he wouldn't leave footprints in the dirt and gravel that lay between the beams, he made his way back south. He walked the distance to where they had left the train tracks earlier, marked by a large honeysuckle plant on the edge of the woods. He glanced around, but couldn't find Beth. He distinctly remembered telling her to wait by the flowering bush for him, that it would provide enough cover from walkers or anything else that came her way.

He forced himself to be patient for five, maybe ten minutes, before panic began to set in. What the hell had happened? Where was she?

The wind that had started up before they left began to pick up speed, and Daryl noticed the clouds moving in to cover the moon, plunging him into pitch black darkness. He was a good tracker, but he wasn't good enough to find her in the woods in the dark. Fighting every instinct he had, he remained where he was and forced himself to sit against a large walnut tree and trust Beth to make it out on her own. He hoped it would pay off.

Fat raindrops began to fall around him.

XXXXX

Beth did her best to stagger around convincingly through the brush and bramble. She recalled all the walkers she had seen, especially when she had helped clear the fences surrounding the prison. They all seemed to move by dragging their feet along the ground, rarely in a straight line...almost as if they were a bunch of drunks. Smelly, gruesome, hungry, decaying drunks. They also only used their arms to reach out and grab their prey, so she tried to keep her hands hanging at her sides, letting the branches that crossed her path brush against her as she moved.

Keeping the knife in her right hand and the flashlight in her left, she silently ambled through the forest, veering left and right at random, drunkenly. Beth wanted to conserve battery power, so she only clicked it on every ten steps or so, scanning the trees. Daryl had marked a path on their way into the woods for her to follow out. She didn't want to stay too close to his path, fearing that Joe and his group would notice the notches carved into the bark of the trees and make following them too easy. She did her best to keep the notches on her right for a while, then ventured far to her right to put the notches off on her left, even taking care to back track a little. She figured that Daryl was going the long way around, so she had time to make sure and do a thorough job.

She had just started turning her path back toward the train tracks, when she froze, her ears picking up a sound breaking the silence. There was a slow shuffle, the definite sound of leaves and small branches being stepped on, then finally, the sound she'd come to dread most – the deathly growl of a walker. It was still a ways away from her, she could tell, off to her right. She didn't dare turn on her flashlight while it was near her. She prayed it was only a lone straggler and not just the beginning of a herd. She readjusted her grip on the knife and focused on her steps, hoping the walker was heading in the opposite direction...towards the camp...and would leave her alone. Maybe it had smelled the campfire and was drawn to the scent of all the cooked meat.

She wasn't so lucky. She could hear the growls getting closer though she continued her staggered walk. She had to keep it as consistent as she could, no easy task with a walker getting ever nearer. She kept up her pace as long as she dared before shuffling around and facing her "walker stalker" head on. She stood, waiting for it to close the gap between them, taking notice that the walker following her was a female who couldn't have been much older than Beth...at least when she had died the first time. She steeled herself, then easily slid Daryl's hunting knife into the girl's temple, dropping her instantly.

Beth couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in herself at taking out the walker so effortlessly. However, now she was faced with a new dilemma. If Joe decided to follow her pseudo-walker tracks, they would find this twice-dead walker and know that her tracks were a fake. She wracked her brain, trying to come up with ideas, trying to think like Daryl. She couldn't stand to risk those awful men following her and Daryl. The best thought she could muster was to follow her own tracks back the way she came and double back, a couple times if necessary. She knew Daryl would still probably have a ways to go until he made it to their meeting spot, but she was running out of time. At this rate, he'd get there before her. It couldn't be helped, though. She had to do her part to keep them safe. She resigned herself to using the precious batteries in her flashlight to find her way back along her own tracks. Every once in a while, she would veer off course and loop back around, hoping to throw off anyone who may be following her.

Beth continued this way until her flashlight began to flicker and dim. She hurriedly switched it off, hoping she didn't have much further to go. She'd spent so much time backtracking, she needed a minute to remember which direction she needed to start heading. The wind that had picked earlier was blowing stronger now, and she noticed the clouds starting to move quickly in front of the moon. She needed to decide fast before she lost all her light to find Daryl's notches in the trees. By sheer luck or the grace of God, whichever it was, she saw a marked tree just ten feet in front of her. She ambled to her left another ten paces, then veered in the direction the last notch had indicated. She wouldn't come out exactly at their meeting spot, the honeysuckle bush, but she'd figure that out when she got back to the railroad tracks.

Looking up ahead, she thought she saw the trees beginning to thin out just as the moon was completely covered with the swift-moving rainclouds. She kept her slow, stumbling pace, trying to keep her pounding heart from dictating her speed. She trudged along, still swerving, avoiding making a bee-line toward the forest line. She hated being away from Daryl, hated making him wait on her, hated this feeling of uneasiness without him. It was more than just needing him for safety or protection. She needed him. The thought of being dependent on Daryl in so many ways scared and delighted her all at once.

Her thoughts flitted to the night before, when he held her in his arms. She still couldn't believe how bold she had been to reach up and kiss him...twice! She remembered how it felt when he had finally kissed her back, how his hand had cradled her face, how his goatee felt against her skin. Just thinking about kissing Daryl, feeling him pull her body against his, caused a warmth to spread through her, centering low in her stomach. She felt her face flush hotly as her mind continued to reminisce.

Her thoughts must have been wandering more than she realized. Realizing too late, her foot caught on a tree root and she began to fall forward, bringing her hands up to catch her fall. She wasn't hurt, was just shook, and thankfully the knife's handle stayed under her hand. Now her face was burning from embarrassment, thankful no one was there to see her act so clumsily. She lay on the ground for a moment, listening to make sure she was still alone, then climbed to her feet again, being sure to clear the root this time, and continued on her way.

She refocused her thoughts on getting to the train tracks. The trees seemed to be thinning out as she continued her serpentine pattern, the air seemed a little less dense. She felt a slight relief knowing that she was getting close, until she felt the first sprinkling of raindrops. All things considered, it wasn't terrible. She at least had an extra layer on to keep the chill out. Hopefully she wasn't too far off course and would be able to find Daryl quickly and they could continue their plan without many more obstacles.

In a matter of moments, Beth finally found the edge of the woods. Though she could barely see, she felt the texture of the ground beneath her change slightly, felt the incline leading up to the railroad tracks. She remembered the last notch she had seen was on her right, so she headed that direction, careful to tiptoe on the wooden beams between the rails. It felt good to not have to drag her feet anymore.

The rain was starting to pick up a little, big fat drops splattering the ground around her. The wonderful scent of the falling rain invaded her nostrils, mixed with the faintest trace of something flowery. She looked up hopefully, scanning the tree line for the honeysuckle bush. She had to be close. Feeling daring, she clicked on her flashlight again, scanning quickly. Not finding what (or who) she was looking for, she clicked the light off and continued down the tracks.

XXXXX

The rain hadn't let up; in fact, it had only started to come down heavier. Daryl was getting more anxious by the second. He'd never felt so helpless. He wanted to get up and start looking for her, but with no light to help him, and no idea which direction she had wandered, he knew it'd be a better idea to just wait. He needed to trust her... and he did. She wasn't the weak, vulnerable little girl he'd met two years ago at the farm. She wasn't the glorified babysitter from back at the prison. She was a brand new Beth, stronger and more confident than he'd ever thought she could be. She surprised the hell out of him every day. Despite his foul mood, he couldn't help the corners of his lips turn up just thinking about her. His smile grew as he thought about her, what they'd been through together, how she had changed him in that short time. He thought of her bright eyes, her easy smile, her soft lips against his…

He shook his head as his smile immediately returned to his customary scowl. What was he doing? This certainly wasn't the time to think that way about her. He was her protector first of all. He had vowed to himself to keep her safe and sound. Kissing her wasn't going to help in all that. He could easily lose himself in her sweet kisses, her warm embrace, but that only made both of them vulnerable. No, he needed to tighten that shit down. He couldn't afford to risk losing her for any reason, especially not because of his desire for her.

God, how he wanted her, to wrap his arms around her and never let her go. He still didn't think he deserved to be with her. She was so far out of his league, he felt crazy for even entertaining the idea of being with her.

But she had kissed him last night; she initiated the whole thing. Granted, he'd gone along willingly, and he'd even stopped it from going any further (man, he wanted to take it further). He wouldn't, though. He couldn't. Regardless of what she said, he wasn't good enough for her. Daryl shook his head again, trying to clear his thoughts. His head and his heart were telling him two different things, and it was driving him crazy.

Just by that, he could swear he saw a flash of light off to his left. It wasn't bright enough to be lightning. Daryl stood up and walked up the slight hill to get a clearer view down the tracks, but it didn't do a damn bit of good with all the rain falling around him. He stayed planted in the middle of the tracks, waiting – for the rain to let up, for another flash of light, anything. He thought he heard a change in the pattern of raindrops in front of him, and squinted against the water running down his face, trying to see what caused it.

Daryl saw another beam of light searching along the tree line, which was gone as quickly as it had appeared. He stepped toward the source, and heard the sound of raindrops landing on fabric. He couldn't help but grin. "Took ya long enough," his voice cut through the rain-soaked night between them.

He heard Beth's startled gasp, then saw the beam of her flashlight ghost over him, then vanish again. He heard her light footsteps growing closer, then the sound of her knife returning to its case. He felt her fingers graze along his arms, up to his shoulders and around his neck before pulling him down for a kiss.

I apologize if you think their escape was a little convoluted. I wanted to make sure to cover all angles…didn't want Joe's group to be able to follow Beth and Daryl easily. I'm not saying whether or not they'll even go after Beth and Daryl, just want to be thorough. Daryl may be a redneck, but he's not dumb, and neither is Beth.

I've got an absolutely hectic two weeks coming up. I'll update when I can, but please, forgive me if you don't hear from me until after May 4 (when all items on my list of things to do will have great big checkmarks next to them!).