Disclaimer: Still don't own anything involving TWD.

I'm trying to keep my story canon with season five. However, the plot will differ considerably from the one of the show. I'm using the odd line from the show here and there in the dialogue. As I don't have access to the show, my memory might not be 100 percent accurate as to what words were used. I hope you can overlook any errors that might occur where the borrowed dialogue from the show is concerned.

Also, thank you for the reviews and I'm quite excited that my story has ten followers so far. Hope I can keep the interest up. Now, on with the story.

3. Chasing

Daryl's POV:

Did she really think he wouldn't notice her leaving? Oh, she was real stealthy about it. No one else noticed her deliberate spot in the corner nearest the door. And when everybody were relaxed and minding their own business; that's when she made her move. She'd slipped out so quietly, capitalizing on the other's moment of relaxation. Daryl had seen a streak of sadness cross her features as she took one last quick look over her shoulder, and then she slipped through the door and let it slide closed behind her.

He let her get a couple of minutes head start, knowing full well where she was heading and that he'd catch up with her easily. What he couldn't wrap his head around was why. Why was she running? It couldn't just be about what happened at the prison. Maybe it was him. Maybe she didn't feel the way about him that he'd thought? But then why had she hugged him so tightly when they had reunited the day before? The love he'd seen in her eyes was real; nothing fake about it. As he stepped purposefully through the trees, he thought that it must have something to do with what happened with the girls. That, and about the other secret he knew she was trying so damn hard to hide from him. He couldn't quite figure out the reason for that either. But as soon as he caught up with her, Daryl was going to demand some answers.

When Daryl reaches the car, he can spot Carol in the dim moonlight. She's checking the car over, seemingly debating with herself whether to take it or not. Deciding she's not going to get the chance to make that choice, he steps out from the trees.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

Carol just stares at him, fear written all over her face. Releasing a breath, she give a little shake with her head and says: "I don't know".

"Yeah?" Daryl asks. "Well, I know exactly…" Out of nowhere, a car rushes by out on the road. A car Daryl's seen before. Without a second thought, he starts bashing out the taillights on their own car. Confusion is written all over Carol's face. Daryl moves around the car with impressive speed and as he yanks the door on the driver's side open, he yells to Carol: "Come on! They've got Beth!"

Carol only hesitates for a second, then she rushes forward and jumps into the car.

Carol's POV:

The silence inside the car is deafening. It's so quiet, she can hear her own heartbeat. She swears she can hear Daryl's heart beating to. So fast. He's agitated; his body strung tight. In the light from the moon, she can see his knuckles whitening against the steering wheel. The sudden possibility of finding Beth is of course a major cause of his current state. But mostly, she thinks, it's because of her. How stupid of her to think that he wouldn't come find her. He notices everything, of course he would have picked up on her behavior. Ever since that morning, when he caught her vomiting in the forest, he'd know something was up. She should have known that he'd watch her every move after that. Question was, how much did he know? Why had she even gotten in the car with him? She'd tried to get away from him and here she was, cooped up in a car chasing another car that might lead them to Beth.

Beth. She wondered what had happened between them when they'd been on the road together. Yesterday, when he'd hurdled himself into her arms, she'd felt so much pain coursing through his body. His entire being screamed with hurt and she couldn't help but think that somehow Beth was part of that. Did Carol think that something romantic had occurred between Daryl and the girl? No, she didn't. If there was one thing Carol knew about Daryl, it was that he did not love easily. Having professed his love for her, she knew that Daryl's heart belonged to her. But somehow, Beth had had an effect on the man. She'd learned from Maggie that Beth had been taken while they were fighting walkers. Memories of Sophia drifted into Carol's mind and the way Daryl had reacted after her own little girl had walked out of that barn. The angry words he'd thrown at her outside his tent, hadn't masked the pain on his face. The guilt. That's it! Carol thought she knew now why Daryl cared so much about getting Beth back. After the prison fell, he'd been responsible for Beth. And then he'd lost her. To his mind, he'd failed Beth. Getting the girl back to her sister would somehow rectify his mistake. Or so Carol thought.

Not wanting to address the elephant in the room (or the car really), Carol decided asking Daryl about Beth was the best way to break the silence.

"So, you were with Beth after the prison fell?"

Daryl glanced at Carol, then looked back to the car in front of him.

"Yeah. We were together for a while. It was alright. Holed up in a funeral home for a couple o' days. Then we were attacked by walkers and she got taken. Chased the car for half a day, but it was too late. She was just gone".

The look on his face told Carol that she was right; he did feel responsible for what had happened. She placed a hand on his right leg and gave a little squeeze.

"You did everything you could to get her back. I know you did. You're still doing it. Just like…" Like with Sophia, she had almost let slip, but stopped herself. There was no need to bring that up. But Daryl had caught on to what she'd begun to say. A low growl emitted through clenched teeth.

"Let's see who they are" indicating the car in front of them, "and then we'll do what we have to do to get her back".

Carol nodded and the two of them settled back into the uncomfortable silence. Carol felt it was a foreboding of things to come. Avoiding the real issue for the moment and focusing on the car up ahead would do for now. But eventually they would have to address what had happened back by the car; and some other things that Carol wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to talk about. Eventually, they would have to stop chasing shadows and face reality. However frightening it might be.