Beth heard the screen slam for a second time. Footsteps pounded on the floor, leading down the hallway. They hesitated briefly and Beth could see a shadow caused by feet blocking the tiny sliver of light that slipped underneath the door. After a moment, they moved deliberately down the hall, each step causing Beth's heart to throb in her chest. She breathed out slowly, panic floating just beneath the surface. Beth strained against her bindings, testing for any weaknesses. When she reached her ankles, she rested her head against the floor, the hardwood felt good against her cheek.
Although Phillip had taped her hands together tight, he had gotten sloppy and taped her legs with her shoes still on. She said a silent prayer and toed her shoes off. After squirming against the duck tape, she had finally managed to work her bindings down. However, with each tick of the study's clock, panic threatened to overtake her. Finally, she managed to free her legs and shakily stood up. Fatigue had already begun setting in, the fear of the situation and the duration of her imprisonment had taken a toll on her small body. She hadn't eaten well since before the robbery, sleeping less than eating. Thoughts of Daryl battered her weary mind. He was out there somewhere. Dead or alive, she needed to know. He had rescued her and now it was her turn.
She turned her eyes on the mahogany desk. Just under a stack of papers, Beth saw the glint of a silver letter opener. It wouldn't do much to saw her bindings, but she figured that she could use the tip to loosen or tear them. She moved rapidly towards the desk, turning her back and inching the opener towards the tape with her fingertips. It took several minutes to work a hole into the tape. When she finally succeeded in puncturing it, she used her fingers to slowly work them open. All the while, tape ripped away tiny pieces of skin around her wrists, causing tears to flow silently down her face. Listening for steps in the hall, she started to work her arms up and down as she fought to free her hands. When the hole became wide enough to tear, Beth sighed a breath of relief. She could do this.
By chance, she saw the keys to Daryl's cuffs glinting from the corner of her eye. Lifting them with a tender hand, she placed them deep in her pocket and quietly exited the room. She had only been to Gareth's house once, but once had been enough. She glided gracefully down the hallway. Unlike in the woods, memory allowed her to navigate the house slowly and quietly. Peeking around the corner, she bolted into the kitchen and silently opened the old wooden door. It gave quietly. Her luck ran out with the screen, the damn thing creaked slightly when opened. She pulled it open as little as possible, flattened her body and slid through the crack. She tip-toed across the porch, losing her footing on the second step, she fell roughly to the ground. She mumbled to herself, convinced that the house was determined to get her coming and going.
She picked herself up. Seeing a barn not too far off, she figured if Daryl was around, and alive, he would be there. She ran the distance between the house and the barn. After reaching the large double front doors, she decided that she should try to sneak through the back instead. It took her a minute to pull the rusted metal shell open. Walking in, she was hit with the most awful smell. Decay. Not really death, just rotting and rancid. She looked into the stables on her left. To her surprise, there was a person lying on the ground. She could not tell if they were alive or dead. She whispered to them words of reassurance before departing to find Daryl.
The wind caught the partially open back door, causing it to bang lightly against the frame. Hearing the noise close behind her, her heart seized in her chest. Adrenaline surged through her and she ran away from the stables as quickly as she could. Keeping her head twisted towards the noise in the back, she ran headlong into a support beam. The impact of her head caused an audible cracking sound, but did not slow her down. Disentangling herself, she continued forward and straight into Daryl's dangling legs. His hands were bound by rope, the handcuffs had been removed and discarded on a workbench. She looked up to see the rope looped around a hook. At first, she was afraid that she couldn't reach to get him loose. With his arms stretched up, the rope was at least eight feet from the ground. She had no idea how she was going to get up there to cut him free. As she stood, watching him breathe, she felt a profound sense of relief and a wave of optimism washed over her.
"Daryl..."
When he didn't move, she raised her voice. "Daryl wake up!"
He remained motionless. Beth knew that she didn't have much, if any, time left. By now either Gareth or Phillip would have found out that she was gone. It was only a matter of time.
She looked around the barn and spotted a small wooden bench. It certainly wasn't tall enough, but it was a start. It was probably two feet off of the ground and her eyes scanned the area for anything else that could give her a boost. At the corner of the workbench was a stack of three 10 gallon buckets. Bingo. She dragged the bench close to Daryl's legs and stacked the buckets on top of the bench. It looked precarious, and unlikely, but she had to give it a try. She climbed up on a small piece of exposed bench. There was only about two inches of empty space, the rest was completely covered by the buckets. It started wobbling and tipping. She looked around for something to make the thing more stable. Nothing. She moved the bench further from Daryl and closer to the rafter's crossbeam, figuring that she could use it to help her climb. She repositioned her buckets and up she went. It was the perfect height, but a little far from the target. One false move would send her tumbling back into the barn floor.
She stretched out her arm, slowly. The bench and buckets wobbling wildly to the side. She realized that she had her eyes closed and reluctantly opened them. To her surprise. Daryl's eyes were open and watching her. He looked like he was more than a little amused. He inclined his head towards his pocket and she could see the telltale line of a pocketknife. Since he would be unable to grab it, she was going to have to dig it out of his pocket. Frick.
She jumped back into the barn floor. Moving the bench closer to Daryl's legs, she used them to pull herself onto the bench and buckets. The added weight was causing the rope to cut deeply into Daryl's wrists. She could see blood dripping down the ropes. He grimaced, but didn't cry out. Once she was balanced, she reached timidly into his pocket. Her fingers probed, trying to push deep enough to get her hands on his stolen knife. Her fingers made contact with cool metal and she breathed out a sigh of relief. Looking at Daryl's face, she saw that he was blushing deeply. She quickly ducked her head, and flipped open the knife, sawing at the ropes. The knife was fairly sharp and the pieces quickly frayed apart. Daryl dropped to the floor and she lost her balance, tumbling down on top of him. He wrapped his arm around her, giving her a small squeeze and then pushed her away.
They could vaguely hear the scraping of one of the front doors being opened. Reacting without thinking, She grabbed Daryl by the arms and began to pull. Together, they ran towards the back of the barn, opened the door and out they ran. With each step, she thanked god that Phillip had been so careless.
Beth's feet ached. The ground that they had been running over was littered with tiny rocks that dug into her painfully. As she slowed, Daryl gripped her forearm, urging her to continue. When they neared the trees, a man stepped out. Daryl and Beth stopped moving, looking at him and waiting for him to make his move. Instead, he lifted his open palms in front of him, indicating that he was unarmed. He reached inside of his coat pocket, causing Daryl to push Beth roughly behind him. The man pulled out a badge and held it out for them to inspect.
"Officer Grimes, you got some shit timing." Daryl narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the officer.
"Yeah, I figured that out on my own. Come with me, got some questions for ya." Rick pulled a radio out of his pocket and called for a car. Beth clung tight to Daryl, he was now the only thing holding her upright.
"Ain't so sure that's a good idea." Daryl pushed Beth back a step and squared off with the man in front of him, causing him to laugh.
"You can come with me the easy way or hard way, by the looks of it, you ain't got much fight left so you should probably just come easy."
"Can you state your name please."
Beth looked briefly at the mirror that she knew to be a two-way. "I'm Elizabeth Greene, Beth for short."
"Can you briefly state the nature of your relationship to Gareth Blake."
"I met him at an AA meeting, used to sing for him, said he like it." Beth turned her eyes to her hands and picked at the cuticles. "Can I talk to Daryl?"
"Not just yet, got a few more questions for you. What was your relationship with a Ms. Carol Peltier?"
"I didn't have any special relationship with her, she was my boss." Beth blushed slightly, still stinging from the revelation that Carol had conned her way into Beth's life. Even so, she still cared enough not to help the cops catch up with her.
"What can you tell me about the brothers Merle and Daryl Dixon?"
She tried to keep her eyes forward and face level, schooling herself into indifference before attempting to answer the question. "Don't know Merle, but Daryl found me in the woods after I ran away. He tried to help me get to safety." She looked pointedly at the cop questioning her, "I would like to see him, I don't mind being helpful, but I want him in here."
Before the officer could deny her request, a tall man walked inside. She recognized him as the man that had found her and Daryl. Officer Grimes. She eyed him cautiously as he whispered into the other man's ear. Following orders, the officer left them alone. He looked openly at Beth and extended his hand to her.
"We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Rick Grimes. I'm going to take over the questioning from here." His drawl washed over her, putting her at ease. "I know that the last few days have been rough, to say the least, but it's over now. Do you have any questions for me?" He stood aside as the door opened and an angry looking Daryl was ushered inside.
The officer sat Daryl next to Beth. Their limbs settled close to each other on the cold metal table. She looked back at Rick.
"Where's my daddy and Maggie." She saw a shadow cross his face. His expression betrayed him and she could feel the blood rush to her head. Tears burned her eyes as she waited his explanation.
"Yer father, Hershel, he was murdered by Officer Walsh. I'm very sorry." He waited for a moment before continuing. "Yer sister escaped, but she's in the wind. We haven't seen or heard from her. Any idea where she might be?"
Beth dropped her head onto her arms, shaking her head. Small tremors ran through her body and Daryl watched a moment before gently stroking her back with his cuffed hands. He looked at Rick and gestured towards the cuffs with a nod of his head. Obligingly, Rick released him and stepped outside to give them a moment. Daryl turned her gently towards him and pulled her face into his shoulder. He whispered to her, nonsensical words of reassurance. Their relationship had changed so fast. From hostage to something much much different. It wasn't romance, it was deeper, bound together by heartache and hurt. In the few short days that they had been together, he had felt more companionship than the last five years spent with Merle. He breathed in her smell, allowing it to envelop him. He felt a subtle tightening in his chest and a few tears escaped into Beth's hair. Even after two days in the woods, she still smelled like sunflowers and wheat.
When Rick returned, he found them holding each other in a mess of tears and limbs. He cleared his throat and looked away as they tried to regain their composure.
"We ain't chargin' you with anything. Neither of you. Found a cabin full of dead men and one more dead man at the Blake home. As far as I'm concerned, we still have two suspects at large. Must be several states over by now." He nodded his head to Daryl. "I'm sorry about everything you've been through Ms. Greene. We will come by and finish getting yer statement in a few days, but we got a pretty good picture of what happened. None of it's yer fault."
"How is any of this connected? The robbery...Gareth." As she reached his name, she sobbed violently. "Where is Gareth."
"The robbery was a way to pull the police away from the station so Officer Walsh could steal evidence from the locker. Something that belonged to Gareth or the Blake family must have been in one of the bags." He paused and waited for her to comprehend what he was telling her before looking in Daryl's direction. "Senator Blake lied, we didn't find Gareth in the pond."
"He took those girls didn't he?" Rick nodded his head slowly and she continued. "I saw their pictures on a cork board when we came in. He picked 'em because they looked like me, didn't he." Her face was masked in pain.
"Ya can' think like that Beth, it's not on you, it was on him. T'ain't yer fault." Daryl interjected, tightening his hold on her as if she would float away. Rick nodded his agreement.
"You should go ahead and get outta here. One of my officers will drop you off. Daryl, a word please." Beth stood up slowly with some help from Daryl. Extending her hand, she told Rick goodbye and indicated that she would be waiting in the hall. Once Rick and Daryl were alone, he motioned for him to step closer.
"Gareth is still out there. She's in danger as long as he's still free. But, that ain't what I wanted to talk to you about." Daryl crossed his arms over his chest.
"Get on with it then." His gruff response caused Rick to chuckle.
Between you an me, I know you didn't just find Beth wanderin' in the woods. I ain't takin' you in, well," Rick scratched his neck, looking for the right words, "mostly because, until we find Maggie, you're all she's got left. I don't know what happened these last few days, but brother she's keepin' you outta trouble." Rick clapped him on the back and walked away, leaving Daryl alone in the room. He wandered out behind him.
"Let's go home." Daryl nodded his head. He looked down briefly as Beth entwined her fingers with his, pulling him behind her.