Chapter 18

As the sun began to set and the street outside became deserted, they prepared to make their break for the other room. Daryl had been standing at the red door for around 40 minutes watching people passing by and waiting for the right moment to strike. When they were out there there was no turning back.

He nodded back to her when it was time and they stepped out into the wide corridor.

This building was beautiful, huge high ceilings and polished marble floors. They must be nearing the town hall area where they had been taken on that first day. The doors were double fronted with little frosted glass panels and plants on either side of each individual door mat.

They stuck out like sore thumbs squelching around in their sodden, dog-eared boots and sweat stained clothes. If a single resident saw them, they'd be done for.

The second sewer room was just a few yards away, the big red door almost glowing at the end of the corridor as they picked up pace towards it. Daryl wrapped his hand around the handle at the same moment a woman with a tiny dog left her apartment and smacked straight into Carol.

Carol was knocked clean off her feet, slamming against the wall as the dog yapped at them both. The woman looked them over in confusion before she screamed, a loud piercing scream that was sure to alert the entire building. Daryl put his hand over her mouth and nudged his head towards the sewer room door which Carol opened. He dragged the woman inside and Carol followed, closing the door behind her.

The woman fought a little more, thrashing her legs around and dragging her nails down Daryl's hands but eventually she relaxed. Carol leaned against the door breathing heavily and listening out for any guards or neighbours. The dog had stopped yapping but now whined and scratched at the door.

"Ill let you go" Daryl told the woman "But you scream again, and I'll kill ya, ya hear?"

The woman nodded and Daryl released his hold on her. She ran across the room and pushed herself into a corner where she sobbed, big frightened sobs.

Carol pressed against the outer door a little harder as panic started to rise in her chest. A hostage had never been part of the plan. She looked at Daryl with big wide eyes hoping he had already thought of a solution but his set jaw and the nervous chewing of one of his nailbeds gave away that he had nothing. He scouted the room quickly before joining her at the door.

"What's the plan?" she whispered.

Daryl frowned at her, his eyes telling her that the fate of this woman was not good. Carol huffed a breath of air through her lips and looked over at their hostage. She hugged her knees close to her body and looked rapidly around the room. She'd clearly never experienced anything like this before.

This room was almost identical to the last one. Big white boilers groaned away and filled the air with heat, a heavy door led towards the sewer with a padlock and chains. There were no rocks or crowbars lying around here though. They'd need to think of another way to open the door.

"I'll check out her place" Daryl offered, and she responded with a nod, stepping aside to let him scoop up the little dog and disappear into the apartment.

Carol moved slowly across the room towards the woman, crouching down in front of her.

"What's your name?"

The woman didn't answer, she shook with fear and gasped between sobs, fearing for her life. She genuinely felt sorry for her, Carol had had a tortured life, but she knew that being taken away when you were just carrying on with your life was not an easy thing to experience.

"We're not going to hurt you" She assured her quietly.

"Dana" the woman managed to sob "My name is Dana"

Carol smiled a soft smile and nodded. Dana was a petite young woman, maybe mid twenties, with jaw length blonde hair and brown eyes. She reminded her of Sophia, of how Sophia could have been had she lived. It enamoured Carol to her even more and she had to actively supress her maternal urges to protect. Daryl returned to the room with a hacksaw and a bottle of water which he tossed over to them. He watched as Carol offered Dana some water. She knew he could see the way both their hands were shaking.

Daryl met her halfway across the room, sinking his head to whisper in her ear.

"She's got a kid" he muttered "Little girl"

Carols heart just about stopped right there and she knew Daryl would feel the same. She could imagine him creeping around the apartment and coming across a little sleeping child. Dana might survive after all. They couldn't be the reason a kid woke in the morning without her mommy. Daryl silently handed her a length of rope and a handkerchief and moved on to attempting to hacksaw the chains.

Carol returned to Dana and began tying her hands to the pipe next to her.

"What's your little girls name?"

Dana started breathing faster and crying uncontrollably. It was a tactical question. She wanted Dana to know that they knew about her but also to know that they hadn't harmed her. Carol placed a hand on her leg and indicated that she had to be quiet.

"She's safe, we won't hurt her either" Carol told her "As long as you let us leave here without causing a scene"

Dana nodded and Carol started tying her legs together weaving the rope in between her feet in a figure of eight. Dana's wide eyes watched her, tears running rivers down her cheeks.

"I need you to swear" Carol warned her with a stern tone. It was important she understood. "If I can't trust you, we'll need to take that little girl out of her bed and away with us and you'll never see her again do you understand?"

She met Dana's eye and held it for a time to ensure that she knew she meant every word. She didn't really intend to steal a child from her bed but if it ensured that they got away safely then she wouldn't hesitate to use that leverage. Dana was lucky she was getting to keep her life. Carol of the past would have slit her throat in that hallway and left her there for her dog to eat her blood.

"Let's go" Daryl demanded, tossing the hacksaw to the side. Carol twisted the handkerchief and tied it tightly around Dana's head with the fabric in her mouth. At the very least that should give them a head start.

Carol ran across to the door and followed Daryl down the dark stairway. She could hear Dana crying but thankfully she hadn't started screaming for help. Not yet, they needed to put as much distance between them as they could.

They travelled in silence for a while until they came to a massive chamber with branches of tunnels heading off in every direction. Eugene had told them to head north but that was only useful if you knew where North actually was. Daryl slid the bag off his back and handed her a sewing needle he had been chewing. He sat down on the ledge and filled a plastic cup with water then fished around in his pocket producing a fridge magnet he'd obviously stolen from Dana's house.

Carol quirked an eyebrow as he took the needle from her and rubbed it across the magnet over and over. She sat down beside him, holding the flashlight up so they could see what he was doing. When he was satisfied with the needle, he fished in his pocket again and found a wine cork, driving the needle through it before popping them both unceremoniously into the cup.

"Did you just make a compass?" she asked, impressed.

Daryl just shrugged and heaved himself off the ledge, reaching out a hand to help her do the same. He stood with his little homemade compass in the centre of the chamber then headed off into the tunnel to the left. The discarded compass flowed away with the water as Carol followed on.

These sewers didn't have ledges and they were forced to trudge through water. It was hard work and it didn't take long for Carols legs to start aching. She'd fallen behind a fair bit when they first heard voices.

Daryl stopped and raised his hand in her direction. She turned the flashlight off and pressed her back against the wall. They crept the next few feet, taking careful, slow steps in the darkness.

They'd reached another chamber but this one was filled with an orange glow. In the centre burned a fire and gathered around it was a group of around 8 young men.

They sat around drinking beer and smashing the bottles against one wall. This was obviously something they did a lot as that wall was piled high with broken glass of every colour. They laughed and joked and told awful stories about their lives and the things they'd done. This wouldn't be an easy fight. Carol and Daryl retraced their steps to a safe distance.

"I'll create a diversion if you can get to one of their weapons" Carol suggested.

Daryl was shaking his head and chewing on that thumbnail again "I didn't see any"

Carol frowned, back home it wouldn't bear thinking about what would happen to people if they left their town without weapons. She was beginning to wonder if the people of the Commonwealth even had access to weapons. Walkers were not a problem here; she'd not seen a single one since their stop over with Ezekiel. Removing the people's access to weapons was a good way to keep them in line.

"Some of them bottles look decent" He remarked.

A jagged edge of a glass bottle could be an adequate makeshift weapon. It would have to do in a push. Under normal circumstances Carol would distract the men and Daryl would sweep one away and commandeer his weapon to threaten the others. This would be slightly trickier, but she was still confident they could do it.

Carol nodded and made her way to walk back to the chamber when he grabbed her arm "Don't do anything stupid"

Carol smiled over her shoulder and squeezed his hand as she walked away.

"No promises" She sung when she was already far enough away that he couldn't stop her.

She burst into the chamber, breathing fast and coughing, falling at the feet of one of the now frightened young men. They scrambled around her and she crouched on the floor raising both her hands by her head and attempting to look as innocent and fragile as possible.

She quickly scanned the room; Daryl was right not a weapon between them. 8 men, all early twenties. They were relatively clean and freshly shaven. Definitely residents of the commonwealth. This chamber was huge and dry with a hole in the roof to let out the smoke from the fire. Graffiti was sprayed all over the walls and some broken furniture was scattered around the space. The wall of broken glass was much bigger than she had expected; this was a place they had probably frequented since they were kids, she suspected.

"Please help me" she breathed in her very best lost and vulnerable voice. Daryl loitered in the shadows behind them, shaking his head slightly with a small smile at her performance. He'd always found it bewildering that she could flip a switch and become someone new. Daryl was always Daryl. There was no pretending with him at all. He never tried to be anyone other than himself. She envied that a lot, pretending came as second nature to her. Sometimes she pretended so much she forgot what was actually real. She quickly averted her eyes and looked around at the young men "Can you please help me get out of here?"