Here we are with the next bit. (top story - you were on to it!)
Chapter 76 – Blue Zenith
Tahlia's world tunneled in, faded to black, and then, like a stage show where, in the darkness, a spotlight pins the main character down, illuminating him and only him, all she could see was Daryl.
Daryl, with his arm inside a walker's mouth.
Then, at warp speed, everything came hurricaning back.
Light. Color. Noise. Air.
The crisp cool and orange hue of the late afternoon; the fetid stench of the dead strewn around; the desperate screams from a pit of terror inside her.
And Daryl. Daryl. Daryl.
She saw him in snapshots as she burst into frenzied action.
A snap of him raising his knife, jamming it into the skull attached to his arm, as she spun into a ferocious 360 degree turn and decapitated three walkers at once, blood spraying in her wake.
A snap of him shoving the corpse away, pulling his arm to his chest, a hollow look in his eyes, as she ducked the undead ragged claws that swiped at her next, slashing upward and splicing a skull in two.
A snap of him leaning down and prying the dead fingers from his ankle, freeing himself, staggering back, as she threw herself against the last body in her way, driving it to the ground and sending her blade through its brain.
A snap of him whirling to face her, eyes sky-bright and harrowed, lips moving in the shape of her name, as she ran, ran, ran for his life.
"Daryl!" screamed Tahlia, only steps away from him now. "Hold your arm out! Hold it out! Gotta take it off!"
His face changed in an instant, eyes widening at the sight of her - a tiny, terrifying warrior charging at him, lethal weapon brandished high, and he held his hands out in front of him, motioning for her to stop.
"Whoa, Tahly! Slow down!"
She didn't slow at all, so, instinctively, Daryl jumped back and pressed himself against the truck, cradling his arm protectively against his chest. "Tahly! Stop!"
"Daryl!" She was in front of him now, stationary, but wild-eyed, panting hard, katana in the air. "Hold your arm out!"
"Don't swing that thing at me! Gonna take my fuckin' head off!"
"Daryl!"
"Drop that sword, girl!" Daryl commanded, keeping all his limbs tucked close to his centerline.
"DARYL! HOLD YOUR FUCKING ARM OUT RIGHT NOW!" Tahlia yelled, tears sending her vision into blurry watercolors.
"Jesus! Would ya just…?"
In one deft movement, Daryl spun in towards her so his back was against her chest and grabbed hold of her sword wielding wrist, trapping her arm under his, against his body, then he squeezed her wrist hard, forcing her to loosen her grip, and her katana clattered to the asphalt.
"Can't see nothin' when ya cryin' like that!"
"Daryl, please!" she begged desperately, sobs wrenching her body. "Please let me… let me… we've got to…!"
"It's ok." he said softly, turning into her, pinning her tightly against his chest.
"It is not fucking ok!"
Moving her to arm's length, in a low voice Daryl said, "Look at me."
But Tahlia just shook her head miserably, her heart shredded and fast dissolving into nothing.
"Look at me, babygirl."
Slowly Tahlia lifted her gaze, eyes brimming, breath hitching.
"It's ok." he repeated. "I ain't bit."
Tahlia stared at him as if he were speaking a different language. "What?"
"I ain't bit." Pulling up his sleeve to reveal his forearm, there was a faint jaw-sized red half-moon mark, but no broken skin.
"What?!" Tahlia asked again, her voice ragged with hysteria.
Grabbing his arm, she turned it every which way in her hands, inspecting it closely. Then, still unable to believe what she was seeing – or rather, what she wasn't seeing - she whipped out her knife and sliced through the cotton seam at his shoulder (ignoring his half-assed protest of, "Hey! My shirt!") and tore the whole sleeve free, tossing it away as she ran her fingers over the entire length of his arm.
Looking up at him in distraught confusion, Tahlia stammered, "But… but I saw…?"
"I know," nodded Daryl, then glanced down at the corpse splayed on the ground and nudged it with his foot. "But, look! It ain't got no teeth!"
Only then did Tahlia notice that the walker seemed to be an elderly man with stringy white hair, a deeply lined face and, sure enough, gums that were grey and mottled and empty.
"Oh my God." She stared down at the body for a moment longer, then looked back up at Daryl, her hands flying to her forehead. "Oh my God! I can't believe that it… because it…" Her words fluttered into nothing and she sucked in a sharp breath, then abruptly she turned and strode a few steps away, then dropped into a squat, curling forward into herself, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.
"Aw shit, Tahly." Daryl went straight after her. "C'mere."
In one easy movement he lifted her to her feet, and she spun into him, burying her face into his chest and locking her arms around his neck, as he wrapped one arm around her and stroked her hair with the other until he felt her shaking subside.
With a sniff, she pulled back to look at him, swiping her arm across her eyes. "I thought that was it!" she cried accusingly. "I thought that was fucking it!"
"I know." he agreed solemnly. "Me too."
"Don't you ever get bitten by a fucking walker again, Daryl Dixon!" she fumed, whacking him across the chest. "Or I will kill you, I swear to God!"
He chuckled at her nonsensical ferocity as he caught her hand in his. "You are more terrifyin' than any walker."
She glared at him for a second longer, then she was on him again, kissing him desperately, pouring herself into him, twining them together.
When she finally pulled back, she pressed her hands to his face, stroking her thumbs gently across his cheekbones, studying him intently.
"Are you ok?" she asked tenderly. "Are you ok after that?"
He nodded, rubbing his cheek against one of her palms. "Close call. Too fuckin' close. But I'm ok."
"God, that's some luck, Daryl! No fucking teeth! Jeez, that has got to be the worst thing I've ever seen. I was so goddamn scared that I'd lose you, you have no idea!"
Daryl fixed her with a flat look. "Actually, I have a very good fuckin' idea of exactly what that feels like."
"Oh." Tahlia made a face. "Right, yeah, of course you do. But that was still... I just can't... God." she said emphatically, dropping her hands to fist the front of his shirt as she pressed her head against his chest. "I think we should move into that tower, effective immediately."
"With ya on that." murmured Daryl as he pulled her close against him and kissed her hair, a shudder of pure relief passing through his body. "Let's get the hell outta here."
Side by side, they quickly checked the rest of the tanks for fuel, then collected up their box from the store and made their way back to the RV. Although on edge and hypervigilant, they covered it over with easy banter and gentle ribbing, Daryl doing his best to keep a smile – however shaky – on Tahlia's face.
He understood it better now, why she often clawed for lightness when things got too heavy.
That experience had been harrowing – a stomach-dropping moment when his world bottomed out and time stopped, like it was stopping forever, like it was up. His life flashed before his eyes, but not the life he'd already had, no - it was snippets of what might yet come, images of all he might miss out on if his light was extinguished now. But it was a narrow miss, and that now had him soaring a little higher than before, knowing that he was still here. Knowing that more time was yet to unfold in front of him.
And he didn't want to dwell on it, on what had happened. Didn't want to look back and sink down into the sludge of The End. All he wanted to do was immerse himself in the now-moment, stretch out and feel every corner, lap up every second and greedily hope for more.
Driving a couple more miles, they found a secluded spot in amongst the trees to park up, and after efficiently setting up alerts around the RV and sharing a quick meal on the roof while watching out over their surroundings, they decided to head inside and shut themselves in for the night.
"Ya wrecked two of my shirts today." noted Daryl as he held up his shirt that she had been wearing that afternoon, all covered in splatters of walker blood, and the one that she had torn the sleeve from.
"Gimme that one. I'll take the other sleeve off, too. Much better look for you. Anyway, you don't need to wear a shirt right now, get over here. And bring the Red Vines."
Daryl chuckled and made his way to the bed, where Tahlia immediately climbed onto his lap and wound herself around him. Although outwardly she seemed her usual self, he could tell that she was still shaken by the way she'd been in constant contact with him since the incident.
"Don't gotta stay out here. We could go back to Alexandria, if ya want. Come back another time."
"Is that what you want?" she asked, peeking up at him. "You're the one that had the close call."
"Naw. I'm fine 'bout it. Think maybe it's worse to see it happenin' to someone than to actually experience it."
"I reckon you're right." She fed one end of a licorice rope into his mouth. "But I'm ok out here if you are. I'd like to keep going." Then she shoved the other end up his nose.
"Ugh, fuck off." Daryl pulled the Red Vine out and whipped her butt with it as she giggled. "Alright, jump up for a sec."
"No! I'm sorry. I won't do that again."
Daryl chuckled. "Not coz of that. I gotta piss."
"Can't you just do it here?" asked Tahlia petulantly. "We'll change the sheets."
"Up." Daryl shoved her unceremoniously off him and onto the bed as he got to his feet.
"Don't go outside!" Tahlia knew she was being childish, but she'd never seen Daryl have a close call like today and she'd always stupidly assumed he was untouchable, so seeing something unthinkable happen to him like that was really fucking awful and she was still just kind of trying to sort it all out in her head, so yeah, she was being insufferably clingy, but fuck, fuck, fuck that had nearly been it, so...
"I won't. Just gonna do it straight out the door. But if you step in it tomorrow, that's on you."
When he was done he came back to the bed and Tahlia crawled straight into his lap once again, wrapping herself around him.
Daryl let her settle in before broaching his next question. "So… how long can I expect this koala-cling thing ya got goin' on to last for? Y'know, just so I can reschedule plans and stuff."
"Four to six weeks." she said without missing a beat, her voice muffled against his neck.
Smiling into her hair, Daryl wound his arms around her. "Guess I can handle that."
Sleep evaded them both for most of the night, and after making love with a ragged edge of desperation in the midnight silence, they clung tight to one another and shared quivering breaths and stuttering heartbeats, but no words until the morning light.
It wasn't long before they were on the road again, and as the miles rolled under their wheels, Daryl could feel Tahlia's nervous energy building like a current in the air.
He said nothing, because how could he tell this woman whose hopes were always floating somewhere beyond the clouds not to get her hopes up, and instead just resolved to hold her together at the end of day, regardless of what they found – or what they didn't.
Giving the city a wide berth, they skirted well south of it and trundled over wide open expanses and rolling hills, dwellings few and far between, no obvious signs of inhabitants, save for a few roaming corpses here and there. Turning down a narrow backroad, Daryl began to wish they had a less conspicuous and lumbering vehicle – they could be seen for miles. Even the bike would have been better because at least in a hairy situation it had speed and maneuverability. With the RV, they were basically just sitting ducks.
Next to him in the passenger seat, Tahlia tensed as they rounded a wooded corner and drove past a length of dead grape vines, leaves yellowed and curling, sparse clusters of old, dried fruit hanging along the lines.
"This is it." breathed Tahlia, her eyes firmly fixed out the window.
Pulling over at the side of the road, they climbed out of the RV and with dust of the long unused, unsealed road swirling around their ankles, they stood in front of a faded wooden sign that was clacking gently in the breeze.
As Tahlia stared at the engraved looping cursive of the words Blue Zenith, a heavy wave of nostalgia crashed over her, washing the air from her lungs, drowning her in vivid memories.
Countless times she'd driven through these gates, knowing that, no matter how dark the shadows on her heart, happy times lay ahead; countless days she'd spent in amongst the vines, squealing as spiderwebs broke over her face; countless hours she'd spent in the winery, surrounded by oak barreled walls and looming stainless steel vats; countless evenings in the tasting room with Uncle Jack and Aunt Jem and the workers for a drink and a chat and a laugh after a taxing day; countless mornings waking in the house on the hill to Monty the rooster's crowing and Uncle Jack's whistling and Aunt Jem's bustling and the smell of bacon and eggs and fresh brewed coffee and the heart-bursting warmth of a home.
"Tahls." Daryl was in front of her now, catching her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. "Y'ok?"
"Mm-hmm." she hummed distractedly, eyes still darting all over the place. "Just… last time I was here was Christmas. You know, the Christmas before everything went…"
"Hey." Squeezing her - reassuring, grounding – Daryl's tone was soft but serious. "Know this place holds a lotta memories, and I'm feelin' for ya, but I need your head in the game. Don't know what we're walkin' into, so you gotta pay attention. Can't let ya'self get all distracted. Least not 'til we've cleared it. Ya hear me, Tahly?"
Swallowing hard, Tahlia gave a resolute nod. "I'm here. Promise you."
Wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, Daryl kissed her forehead, then tugged her towards the entrance of the drive where a large fallen tree lay splayed across the gravel, barring vehicle access.
Inspecting the clean cut at the base of the tree, Daryl frowned. "This has been down for a while, but looks like it was felled deliberately." He chewed his lower lip for a moment before leading the way around the edge of the tree, steering Tahlia into the middle of the driveway away from the yawning stretches of dead tangled vines on either side. "Could be walkers in there. Stay clear."
Moving slowly up the gently sloping driveway, they soon came to a trashed wooden building on the left – windows smashed, roof caved in, looted and ravaged.
"Cellar door." said Tahlia faintly. "For wine tasting."
Peering in to what looked to be once a small bar with a long bench, wine and vessel racks lining the back wall, upturned stools and broken glass now littering the floor, Daryl shook his head. "Nothin' in there. Keep goin'."
The vines closed in around them, an overgrown tangle on either side of the winding driveway as their feet crunched on the chip stones, and soon they came to the main house up ahead. Even before they reached the fence, it was clear to see that the house had held no life for a long time. The front section was a burned-out shell, the rest fallen into disrepair, walkers roaming the overgrown yard.
"Damn." said Daryl, gaze sweeping the area, sparing a brief thought for how it was strange that the walkers were all inside the fully fenced area and the gate was securely locked. "Looks like ain't been no one in there for a long time. Hey. Tahls, what are ya doin'?"
"Nothing."
She had moved right up to grip the slats of the wooden fence in her hands as she peered intently at the lurching walkers beyond.
They both knew what she was doing.
Trying to see if she recognized anyone amongst the dead.
Daryl caught her elbow. "C'mon."
"I wish I could go in there." she murmured, leaning further into the gate, then quickly stepping back as a gnashing-toothed undead corpse slammed into it.
"Why? Crawlin' with walkers. Whatchu want from there?"
"I don't know." sighed Tahlia. "A photograph, maybe?"
"Shit, girl." huffed Daryl, because although she wasn't asking him to, he already knew that he'd happily take on that yard full of walkers just to see if he could find a sniff of a memory for her to take away. "Let's clear the rest of the place then see if we still wanna go in there."
"Yeah." Tahlia sucked in a breath and turned to him. "Yeah. Let's check out the other buildings and then take it from there. Come on. Winery's this way."
They made their way to the fermentation building where they took down a few walkers that were lurking amongst the wine vats, and the same in the barrel room, a strange feeling pricking at Daryl all the while that he just couldn't place.
The large storage and machinery sheds lay beyond that, and as Tahlia paused to poke her head into a storage cellar crowing that she could see some supplies still piled in there, Daryl moved on without her and crept further around to the barn, shoving a door open and peering into the gloom, his eyes taking a second to adjust to the low light as he stepped inside.
The shadows shifted and the hay crunched below his feet.
Slipping his tongue out to wet his lower lip, Daryl's brow creased slowly as he slid his gaze around the cavernous space. Machinery in the back, benches, tools, ladders, bits and pieces…
All that irrelevant in the moment, because the only thing he could concentrate on was the fact that the air smelled fresh in here. Too fresh for a space that had supposedly been shut up for so long.
Daryl's skin prickled in warning as he crept slowly forward, his crossbow cocked and ready, feeling like he was moving through the leftover presence of a being in the air.
That window on the far side that looked out onto the pond wasn't as dusty as the others, and, catching his lip between his teeth, he crossed the sunlit space towards it. On that table, a mug, coffee dregs staining the bottom in murky brown.
Pressing his fingers to the ceramic side, Daryl's every cell shot to high alert.
It was warm.
He froze and sparked up all at once.
He needed to get to Tahlia. He needed to get them to safety. He needed to get them out of here.
Taking one step backwards, a pump action shotgun cocked far too close to his ear for comfort, and he stopped stock still.
And right behind that sound, a female's voice, low and jagged and dripping with venomous threat.
"Drop your weapon before I put a hole in your fucking head."