Chapter 20
Carol heaved herself from the ground, reaching out her hand to help Daryl up. He huffed and batted her away, shuffling further towards the wall.
"You gotta rest" He reminded her.
He was probably right but if she stopped for too long she couldn't be sure she'd ever get going again and right now Daryl was more of a priority, as his increasingly blood soaked hand would testify.
"We can rest in Alexandria" she told him, offering him a soft smile that definitely didn't reach her eyes.
She offered her hand again and this time he took it, pulling himself to his feet and standing toe to toe with her. His hands rested so naturally on her waist, thumbs forever drawing circles on the skin he found there. Carol straightened his shirt under his vest, avoiding the intensity of his gaze. He loved to watch her whenever she was near him. Even if she was doing the most mundane thing in the world, like laundry, he'd watch her every move. She used to think that it came from a place of curiosity. Later she figured it came from concern. Now she could only conclude it came from infatuation.
He moved his hand slowly from her waist to stroke her cheek before cupping her chin and tilting her face to him. He waited for her to open her eyes before pressing a soft kiss against her lips, lingering there just out of reach for what felt like a lifetime.
"I love you too" he muttered, so quietly it might have been blown away in the wind.
Carol hitched her breath a little and a frown crossed her brow as she searched his eyes. She didn't think there had been a time in their entire history where Daryl had verbalised a single feeling or emotion to her. He preferred action or perhaps just straight up denial. How many years of pining had they wasted?
When she kissed him again she was attempting to give him all of her soul. He held her close and she could feel his heart thumping fast in his chest. She was suddenly swept away with an overwhelming fear of that heart falling silent.
"Let's go" She finally spoke, squeezing his hand as it fell by his side. "Can't be much farther"
They climbed down from the ledge and began what they hoped was their final trawl through the sewer. She could almost feel the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin. They had no idea where the sewer would lead to or how they would then get to Alexandria but freedom was definitely within their reach.
The tunnel took a sharp turn right and opened into a large square room. The water was past knee level now making movement slower and harder work. There were pillars and thick green moss coating the walls but most importantly there was light and birdsong!
On one wall stood a huge round opening sealed by rusted iron bars. The water at their feet filtered into a trough guiding it through the opening and out to who knows where in the distance. Debris gathered around the bottom; dead rats, leaves, wood and other sewage paraphernalia.
Daryl ran over to the bars and gave them an experimental shake. They seemed solid despite being weathered by the years. He shook them again, a bit more violently but there was little give. He fumbled around looking for a latch or a lock. In the distance, far away in the tunnels Carol heard voices. The commonwealth was coming for them.
Carol watched as Daryl clasped both hands on the bars and tried to pull and shake and twist with all his might. His arms trembled, the veins sitting prominent on his taught muscles. He was sweating and shaking with the sheer exertion of it when he stopped, breathing heavily to press his head against the bars.
Carol listened for the voices, attempting to predict how many or how far away but it was impossible down here. The sound bounced off the walls and twisted round for miles. They could potentially be as far back as the fire but they could also be a few steps away about to bear down on them with all the power of the commonwealth armoury.
She re-joined Daryl trying to prize open the bars. They both pulled and pulled to no avail. She got down on her knees desperately digging through the debris for something they could use for leverage or brute strength. She pulled out large logs of driftwood that snapped in her hands and long pieces of metal that simply bent out of shape.
Finally, she pulled out a big solid rock and began hammering it against the grill at the waterline. The noise was immense and she was certain it would draw their would be captors quicker but this was the last resort.
Daryl threw himself to the ground and began kicking into the grill with all his might as it bent and chipped bit by bit. Shards of rusted metal began crumbling away under their barrage until there was a gap in the bottom big enough to slip through.
Daryl nodded at her to go, the sounds of the commonwealth soldiers becoming ever more present. Every instinct she had told her to stay, that the space wasn't big enough or that sliding through raw sewage was not how she wanted to spend her day however Daryl urged her again to get moving and so she held her breath and slipped under the water and through the bars.
One of the ragged metal bars snagged on her shirt and she thought for a moment she was stuck there. She started thrashing and pulling back but Daryl took hold of the fabric and tore it from its prison. She emerged on the other side coughing and spluttering but free.
Daryl put his arms through the bars, taking her face in his hands to verify she was ok.
"Your turn" she wheezed, still struggling to pull enough breath into her lungs. She tried not to think about the gunk in her hair or the way her clothes now clung to her body. She certainly didn't want to think about how she currently smelled.
Daryl turned to listen for the soldiers and then sadly back at her.
"I ain't getting through that" he told her mournfully.
Carol looked down at the gap despite being aware that she had barely made it through and the reality of the situation suddenly dawned on her. Her eyes grew wide and fear infected her entire body. She held onto the bars, pulling with all her might and screaming the word no over and over until her voice cracked and Daryl simply placed his hands over hers and met her eye.
Tears drew thick white lines down her face cutting a woeful path through the grime as she clung to those bars.
The fact he had his hands so firmly over hers was the only reason she hadn't fallen to the ground. He pressed his forehead against the bars, the light just catching his eyes and illuminating the sorrow she saw in them. Carol mirrored the action, their foreheads prevented from touching by the unforgiving orange metal. Her tears were now catching in her throat and shuddering from her lips. She tore her hands away, her arms slipping easily through the bars to gather his face.
Carol drew her hands across his face, felt the outline of his jaw and traced the scar across his eye. She brushed his hair behind his ears and gently traced the shape of his lips. She memorized every detail from the mole above his lip to the old scar beside his ear. His lip began to tremble and she could feel her heart breaking in two.
The feint light of flashlights began to jump around on the sewer wall and they knew their time was running short.
"You need to go" He told her in a low, controlled voice.
Carol shook her head, her hands continuing to rest on his cheeks so she could feel his stubble beneath her fingers and his breath as it left his lips. He fixed his jaw and she felt the way his muscles moved under her hands.
Daryl hardened his stance physically removing her hands from him.
"Go"
Carol didn't think she could physically move her body. She was paralysed standing there shaking and sobbing. She pressed the heels of her hands against either side of her head and fell to her knees. She mouthed the word "no" unable to form actual words it seemed.
"Please..." Daryl begged her, he was crouched now, trying to get through to her to keep her safe but she knew she couldn't leave him there. She wouldn't do it.
Anger suddenly burst into her body. How dare he do this to her when she had told him she wouldn't promise? When he knew she'd rather be hung in the gallows in front of a baying crowd than be forced to stand there and watch him be stolen from her. She slammed her hands angrily onto her legs, then the water, then the ground slamming her fist into something metal.
Carol reacted immediately, scrambling in the water and pulling out a large metal pole. She instantly rammed it into what she expected was the weakest bar and pushed her weight against it. It snapped off, at least partially. Elevated by this she moved on to the next and the next, snapping the bars off one by one.
The flashlights got closer, they were distinctive now and the voices were clearer. Carol's body was screaming in pain but she pushed through breaking two more bars. Daryl kneeled to slip through but it still wasn't big enough.
One more.
Carol took a deep breath, slammed the metal into the bars and pushed with all her might. It wouldn't budge and she could feel the metal bend beneath her. Desperation began to sting at her eyes again, fat tears dropping into the water under her feet. She tried again, Daryl gripping the offending bar from the other side and pulling right along with her. She heard the sound of ripping metal as she pushed her entire body weight against it. The bar finally snapped and she fell to the ground smashing into the water onto the rocks and metal below. Daryl slipped his body through the opening in the bars and out of the sewer to freedom.
He grabbed her hand without even taking a breath and pulled her behind him as they ran up an embankment and around what remained of a small building. They sunk into a corner of the rubble, making themselves as small and quiet as they could.
Carol had to fight an intense urge to throw herself at his feet and kiss every inch of his body. The thought of losing him had almost been too much to bear. She shivered uncontrollably and tears still fell from her eyes. That had been too close.
The commonwealth guards made it to the outer wall of the sewer and she could hear them checking the perimeter the stones and rubble crunching under their feet before declaring that they were probably lost in the sewer somewhere. The sound of them moving back through the sewer was like beautiful music.
She slowly became aware of an itching, burning pain. Adrenaline and relief had kept her running but her ordeal had caught up to her. White lights blinked and danced in front of her eyes and her body felt heavy like it was being dragged down into the dirt at her feet. The feeling spread quickly like an explosion had ripped through her. Heat filled her up from a distinct point in her stomach.
"Daryl…" She breathed, low and pained. He turned to her, a sweetness in his eyes that soon turned to chalky skinned fear "Don't leave me…"
He dashed to her side, pressing his hand across her face. She felt a sense of calm knowing he was safe and by her side. It washed over her like a wave on the shore and let the blinking lights expand until they were one sharp sheet of intense white light. Carol let out a sigh of relief and clasped her hands around the shard of metal protruding from the side of her abdomen before she quietly passed out against the wall.