All I Ever Will Be
Chapter Four - Not Meant For This World
"Shit, shit, shit," Beth mumbled to herself, her fists and forehead resting against the door the man had locked. She'd tried the handle, but the door was definitely locked.
She turned around then, facing the room. To her surprise it was well lit, with two fluorescent lights secured to the ceiling. The room was made from concrete, just as the tunnel had been - a solid cell that she was now trapped in.
In the left corner of the room on the floor was a mattress, covered in bloody sheets, the stain deep crimson, turning brown in places, indicating it was somewhat fresh. Her stomach churned at the sight of it. Next to that was a small, empty table and next to that, bare shelves that were built into the concrete wall. To the right was a small doorway, without a door and she went towards it curiously.
The room had a small bulb that hung from the ceiling with a metal pull string that she grabbed. The light bulb illuminated the tiny room, no bigger than her old bedroom closet with a small basin with a faucet and a toilet that was filled with water. Beth was fascinated by it for a minute - this place had working indoor plumbing. Interesting.
She came back out of the room, grasping the doorframe with her fingers. Bringing her back to the wall, she slid down to the floor slowly, hugging her knees to her chest. The fear was coming. The pain, the emotions, the tears she couldn't help, she felt them coursing through her body. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to erase it all, trying to figure out what to do, knowing there was really nothing to do but wait and hope and pray.
If Daryl was here, he would know exactly how to escape. He wouldn't be sitting against the wall crying and she felt weak and angry as she thought about it. This was her fault. She'd fallen. She'd made Daryl come down and explore this place. He was trying to be cautious and keep them safe and she'd pushed him. He had known better, but she just had to have her way.
Her chest tightened as she let out a heavy sob, crying into her arms, feeling hysterical. Daryl could be dead and it was all her fault. She wasn't strong like Daryl or Maggie or Michonne, or intuitive like Glenn or Carl. She was useless. Just as she'd said to Daryl, she wasn't meant for this world.
In the darkness, Daryl woke, still laying on the ground. He was dizzy and disoriented and felt a little sick to his stomach. It took him a minute to remember where he was and he looked around frantically for any sign of Beth beside him.
"Beth?" he managed to croak even though he knew he was alone.
He was met with silence, his whisper bouncing off the walls of the tunnel. Behind him, the door was still cracked, letting in a small sliver of light and beyond him in the other direction was darkness. He felt around on the dirt floor, the ground edging up beneath his fingernails, for the flashlight or his crossbow, finding neither. A flash of frustration overcame him and he pounded his fist into the floor, knowing it wouldn't help, but needing an outlet.
He got to his feet slowly, his fingers finding the wall, helping to keep him steady. He rubbed his fingers over his face, trying to alleviate his headache, and it helped momentarily, but his sight was still swimming. Then, he heard footsteps in the distance, loud and hurried, coming towards him.
"Aw, fuck," he mumbled to himself as a body rounded the corner. He stood where he was, still, squinting to take a look at who was coming towards him. "Where is she?" he growled into the distance.
The man coming towards him was huge, fat and tall, but Daryl couldn't make out his features in the darkness. He came towards him, holding a hand gun in his left hand and over his right shoulder, Daryl's crossbow was slung. It was evident, even in the shadows.
"Yeah, shut up, okay?" the man said, coming around him, the scent of body odor following him as he did so. He poked Daryl's back with the gun, pushing him forward, forcing him to start walking. Daryl did just that, knowing that there was no other option.
They walked in silence, Daryl shuffling his feet slowly as the man behind him guided him with the gun against his back. He was taking in the surroundings as they rounded the corner and came into the concrete tunnel. There were a bunch of twists and turns and Daryl tried to remember each one so that once he figured out what the hell to do, Beth and he could find their way out of here.
The slowness seemed to bother his captor, who poked him harder with the barrel of the gun behind him. "Get movin'," he growled.
"Where we goin'?" Daryl asked hesitantly, speeding his pace slightly.
The man was silent. They continued walking and finally the man yelled, "Stop." He grabbed his arm tightly and Daryl turned to face a solid wall that had been slid to the side, revealing a room behind it. His captor shoved him into it and Daryl stumbled into a large circular room, made completely from concrete with a large circular pillar in the middle.
There was furniture scattered about, couches and bookshelves and in the distance some table and chairs. There was a series of doors on the far curved wall, all silver metal, and all closed shut. He looked around the room for any sign of Beth, but she was nowhere to be found.
Around the curve of a pillar was movement and Daryl made out the body of another person, shifting about slowly. If it hadn't been for his normal skin color and the swigs he was talking from a glass bottle, he might have thought he was a walker. He squinted in the distance, observing that he was chugging from a liquor bottle and realized the man was tanked. Oh fuck - this was just as unpredictable as it got.
"C'mon," the large man behind him said, grabbing his bicep again and dragging him towards one of the metal doors. He heard the clinking of keys and watched him as he inserted them in a keyhole, unlocking it and pushing the door open. He pushed him in forcefully, causing Daryl to stumble over his own feet as he fell into the room. The door fell shut and he listened to the lock click behind him.
"Daryll!" The sound of her voice filled him and he spun around, flooding with relief as he took in the sight of Beth before him. She'd been crying, her face wet with tears, eyes puffy and red. Her hair was messy and dirty - he'd been getting used to seeing it like that more and more.
"Beth." He let her name roll off his tongue as he came towards her. He reached for her and she leapt at him, practically knocking him over, wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his back and he caught her around her midsection - feeling her entire body in his arms. She felt familiar and safe, even though he knew they were far from being so. He squeezed her, like he'd never squeezed someone before, inhaling her scent, masked slightly by sweat and dirt.
And she was hugging him too, her arms tight around his neck, her head on his shoulder, face turned in towards his neck. "Thank god," she breathed. "What the hell are we gonna do?"
Daryl had no idea, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "We're gonna get out of here," he said. "That's what we're gonna do."