The prison group were all gathered in the cafeteria awaiting Rick. He had returned and informed everyone of what they found. Darryl's rep of being the resident bad ass went up among the other survivors almost instantly. After all he had been tortured and then dispatched the kidnappers while rescuing Beth. Patrick had even thought of making a Darryl action figure a few weeks ago but the council shot his plans down. He wondered if they would approve when he made it back.
Herschel and Carol began to quiet the others. Time was an issue and they needed to get the search started quickly. Rick made his way through the door and stepped onto the small stage.
"Ok, So after we made it back last night we had a meeting with the council. Darryl Knows the woods better than anyone and from what we could gather they were doing what they could to avoid being tracked so trying to catch up to them would be near impossible. Instead we will attempt to meet them before they make it here. We don't know what kind of shape they are in." He trailed off at the thought.
"I want to be ready to move in fifteen so gear up and meet me at the gate" Rick finished and stepped down to join Carl. "You're in charge of the prison defenses. We don't know anything about the kidnappers so I need you here. Look after the farm and the others." Carl nodded and moved on to help the others prepare for the trip.
Fifteen minutes later at the gates the group was geared and ready. Michonne,Tyreese,Sasha, Rick and Carol would head out and hopefully meet the two survivors within a mile or two but understood 6 miles in was as far as they were permitted. The kmart wasn't but 8 miles away however through the woods it would be slow moving for their friends and their speed would be determined by whatever injuries either had sustained.
"Lets head out" Rick told his comrades. As he moved to the opening gate he was stopped by Herschel. "I know you have been taking some time off recently.. I just wanted to say thank you for doing this. I know you'll bring them home." The wise old man said patting Rick on the shoulder before moving away to allow the gate to be opened.
After two miles into the woods the groaning of a nearby walker herd was steadily increasing. Rick worried that they may be cut off if the herd was moving their way which made him worry more that Darryl and Beth had already been cut off by the sea of dead. He knew Darryl was resourceful though and hoped they had managed to avoid any groups of walkers.
"You hear that?" Tyreese whispered back to the rest of the search party.
"Of course we hear that." Sasha snickered a little at her big brother. "They're still a ways off" She said trying to calm his nerves.
"Think they'll make it before that herd gets here?" Carol asked Rick while the survivors tip toed through the trees.
"Yeah" Rick said in his most convincing tone. Unsure if he was lying. He could never tell anymore. He just knew they had to hope. "Lets spread out a little more now. They should be close and we don't wanna walk right by them."
A few hours earlier the sun was shining to brightly to keep pretending to be asleep so Beth finally pulled herself from Darryl's side and crawled out the opening to stretch her legs. She looked around cautiously peeking through the opening before moving all the way into the open. It was a restless night but she was surprised by how rested she actually felt. It was then that Darryl decided to stand up inside the makeshift shelter exploding it to pieces.
"See, Sticks." He said dryly while a small grin broke out on the corner of his lips.
"Jerk" Beth replied with a slight giggle and the two started back towards the prison.
Around three hours into the luckily uneventful but slow moving trek the two were forced to rest again after Darryl took a spill over a stump.
"We can sit for a bit. You may be bleeding internally" Beth looked at Darryl sincerely. He had taken a hell of a beaten. The bruises and dried blood made Darryl look like a painting. Beth could hardly believe he was standing.
"What did I " Darryl coughed up a small bit of blood into his bandanna. "Say about the big words" he choked out smiling at Beth. He'd been through worse.
"Come on then" He said. "They'll be out looking for us. Shouldn't have to make it much further." Beth moved to help Darryl up before hearing the groaning in the distance. "We need to go." Beth said quietly.
They stayed as much in a crouch as possible walking over the leaves without making any noticeable noise.
"It's their nose you gotta worry about." Darryl reminded her. "Can't let them catch our scent on the wind. Stay low and lets move tree to tree."
"Ok" Beth replied understanding the concern. Walkers were slow but groans like that suggested a fairly large group and the Walkers get riled up like sharks in a feeding frenzy and suddenly you're surrounded.
"You ever watch shark week?" Beth whispered as they kneeled behind a tree.
"Never watched much t.v." He replied scanning the environment for their next destination.
"Oh" she said and asked him simply. "Why?" not noticing his eyes dart to the ground before returning to plot their next move.
"Come on, It's not social hour." Darryl snarled and made his way to the tree.
"Jerk" Beth mumbled and started to follow the suddenly very grumpy redneck to their next spot of cover.
As Beth moved to follow Darryl a filthy hand suddenly grabbed her by her face,covering her mouth and began pulling her to the ground before she could let out a sound.