... Chapter 38 ...

Traversing the length of the cable as fast as he could, Daryl finally made it over to the adjacent building to swing himself up onto its rooftop terrace. He swiped his dirty hands down his pants before silently gesturing over to Beth for her to head over as well. The sound of his own blood was racing steadily in his ears as he watched her slip carefully under the cable, wrapping her legs tightly around it to support herself. As soon as she was situated, she began moving towards him hand over hand, crossing the fairly narrow expanse much the same way as he had done before her.

Daryl took the moment to catch his breath, still somewhat surprised that she had blown up on him like she had. His insistence that she stay behind wasn't intentional and it sure as hell didn't speak to her capabilities. It was more of a gut reaction... one that couldn't be helped... and it had convinced him a while ago that he'd rather have her safe and sound than risk the heart stopping distraction seeing her in trouble always seemed to cause.

While he hadn't seen a damn thing wrong with it, Beth obviously thought differently. All it took was seeing the glimmer of tears in her eyes to make him realize just how fucked up he was being. By getting his way he had effectively ensured that she couldn't win for losing. What was the point in taking the time to train her if he never gave her a chance to use her training?

After explaining his thought process to her the best he could, he was left wondering when it was exactly that everything between them had decided to become so complicated. It seemed like the more emotionally and physically attached he became to the girl, the more mixed up she had him feeling inside. He had always done things a certain way and had never thought twice about it. Not much caring about the consequences past that, he had never felt the need to justify his own actions to anyone until her.

Daryl came back to the moment to see that Beth was halfway across the span that lay between the two buildings. She was making surprisingly good time, especially considering both the height and the distance. Just when he felt comfortable enough to release the anxious breath he'd been holding, her hand inadvertently slipped from the thick cable she was on. Grabbing for the thinner one that ran adjacent to it in a panic, her lower body had no choice but to follow, leaving her dangling precariously by just her arms over the oblivious masses below.

''Beth!'' Daryl bellowed, barely believing that such a thing had just occurred within the span of a single heartbeat. Hefting himself quickly onto the ledge of the roof, he prepared himself to go out after her.

''Don't!'' She gasped out, trying desperately to reach back over to the original cable, ''I got it!''

He was completely undeterred. ''Nah, fuck that! I'm comin' out!''

''No! It won't hold you! This cable isn't as strong as the other one… I can feel it! Just give me a chance, I can do it!''

Having no choice but to concede, Daryl watched from the sidelines with his heart now racing out of control. He was stuck in a frustrating quandary as she tried once again to reach for the wire. The effort it was taking had exhausted the girl to the point where each attempt elicited a determined huff of frustration and finally deciding that he had given her all the time he would allow, he swung his legs over the side of the shingles to snap out, ''That's it goddamn it! Stay tha hell still…''

Just when it seemed like for once she wasn't going to argue, the cable she was on snapped noisily from the other side, the popping sound it made reverberating sharply through the air. Beth didn't get a chance to utter a word as she went careening down with it, hanging on for dear life as she barreled through the second story window below him. Daryl watched her do so like it was a nightmare happening in a slow motion. His body seized automatically like he'd been uppercutted in the gut.

''Beth!'' He yelled down, leaning precariously over the ledge to see the cable as it fluttered loosely against the wall and not much else. The walkers below were now staring up at him in confusion, having just been showered in a flurry of glass.

Running over to yank on the terrace door, he slammed his fist against it to find that much like the others, it only opened from the inside. On the verge of completely losing his shit, Daryl was about to climb down the side of the fucking building himself when he heard the push bar from the other side of the door depress quietly. He stepped back in disbelief as the girl opened it with a shove, looking somewhat contrite but other than that not much the worse for wear.

Feeling like he'd just been run through a gamete of hell that he neither asked for nor wanted, Daryl's fear matriculated into anger as was his nature. ''Are ya fuckin' kiddin' me right now! Ya could'a been killed out there!''

Seeming to realize that his fury had nothing to do with actually being mad and was more because she had just scared the heck out of him, Beth latched the door and said as breezily as she could manage, ''Well, we needed a way in. I just found it by going in through a window...''

Staring at her in complete and utter disbelief, Daryl could feel the nerve endings that lined his jaw tick into overdrive as he ground out tersely, ''Y'think it's funny? That kinda shit right there is tha exact reason I wanna leave ya locked up all tha time! I done told ya that I can't handle tha fuckin' heart attacks you're givin' me an' then ya come up here an' act like it's no big fuckin' deal? What tha hell!''

Beth swallowed hesitantly and came over to where he was standing, approaching him slowly much like one would do a wounded dog that was all bark and no bite. Staring up at him, she placed her hand gently on his chest. Confused by the tactic, Daryl knew she could feel the organ he had just mentioned thundering away in his chest uncontrollably. She didn't say a word and he didn't need her to... everything around him seeming to decelerate to a crawl.

Caught in a moment he hadn't anticipated, he pulled a deep breath under her strangely calming influence. His fingers came up to thread tightly through hers without his consent and he pressed her hand against his skin, taking the time that he hadn't even known that he needed to appreciate the fact that she was ok.

When he was done and felt like he could breath normally again she stepped away to give him back the space she must have thought that he wanted. Daryl shook off the residual effects of the heart pounding moment and its aftermath to ask her how things looked from inside the building. He felt awkward while doing so but at least he was now able to focus somewhat back on the task at hand.

''Abandoned, just like everywhere else… at least the top two floors are." Beth shrugged, "I don't know about the store itself though…''

''Well, we're here so we're gonna find out. I'm 'bout ready to be done with all this anyways.''

She nodded in agreement and followed him downstairs, making sure to stay back as he swung the Horton through all of the buildings obscured corridors. Reaching the auto part stores backdoor, Daryl paused with his fingers on the handle before turning around.

''Remember, this is a mom n' pop kinda joint which means it's likely nothin' more than a cluttered shithole,'' He whispered pointedly, ''Watch your footing an' stay close. You're gonna have ta keep an eye out for trouble while I'm lookin' for what we need, I can't do both... so if ya see anything jus' tap me on tha shoulder an' let me know…''

Seeming to appreciate the fact that he wasn't telling her to wait out in the hall, Beth just nodded and pulled her knife, taking the request as seriously as he meant it.

Daryl pushed the door open and swept inside, the crossbow stationed firmly at his cheek. He was met immediately by a large male walker that stumbled out noisily from the back room. Dressed in blood stained overalls and a ratty Zeppelin t-shirt, it went down easily enough, a bolt through the skull seeing it through. Stepping silently over the now prone body, Daryl barely noticed as Beth plucked the expelled bolt from the corpses rotten skull to shove it in the side of her boot for safe keeping. He knew she would give it back to him once the job was done.

Snapping a new bolt off from the rack on the Horton, Daryl set it in place and locked it down before leading them in further. The store was narrow but longer than he had expected and looking around he could see that it was chocked to the ceiling with all manner of parts and accessories... everything that the only parts store in town would need. As predicted the place was in shambles, racks were tipped over and boxes torn open, but the worst aspect was the groaning noises coming from somewhere in the darkened chaos. The two of them were not alone.

He glanced back over to the girl to see that she knew it too.

Using silent hand signals, Daryl indicated that he wanted her to take the right aisle down while he took the left, making sure to point out the stores hidden recesses so she knew to stay aware of them. Beth nodded that she understood and they both headed in, losing sight of one another as the tall shelves obscured all contact between them.

As soon as she dropped out of sight, Daryl found himself straining to hear anything amiss from where she was at, reminding him yet again why his original idea of leaving her behind had initially been so appealing. Finding it distracting as shit, it made it a hell of a lot harder than it needed to be for him to concentrate on what it was he was doing.

He saw a sudden movement in his peripherals and swung the Horton over to see her through a small gap in between the display cases. Pausing, they both expelled a nervous breath as he quickly lowered his sights. Christ, that was close. With no time to acknowledge just how intense the situation was, they carefully continued making their way down their respective aisles, their weapons both held high and at the ready.

After some time, they finally reached the source of the noise that had been playing with their nerves so dangerously. Three walkers were stationed at the stores front window, scratching mindlessly at the glass in an effort to join the throngs that were wandering around outside. Stepping carefully around a fallen rack in his way, Daryl lined up the crossbow and looked for the liveliest of the three. Beth had cleared her aisle as well and waited for his mark, gripping her knife that much tighter as he took aim.

His finger depressed the trigger, the released bolt slicing through the air and the walkers frail skull only to impale itself into the window, causing the glass to crack.

''Shit!…'' Daryl cursed under his breath, barely believing he had just done something so stupid.

The hissed expletive had barely left his mouth when the other two walkers turned to see them, stepping over their downed companion without a thought to stagger clumsily over. Daryl pulled his knife and took out the first one easily enough, stabbing it resoundingly under its chin. The second veered towards him immediately and he grabbed it by its gory neck, its jaws snapping at the air ferociously as it latched its fingers painfully into his arms. He held on to it tight as Beth sunk her blade into the base of its skull, silencing the damn thing for good. Letting the body drop to the floor along with the other two, Daryl didn't dare allow himself to huff out a breath of relief. Instead he snatched up the crossbow and rushed over to the broken window, dreading to see the damage done.

''That weren't what I was goin' for…'' He muttered, using the same line that she had said earlier because it was true.

Ghosting his fingers over the crack, he could practically see the fracture expanding. Making matters worse was that the commotion they had made inside the store had attracted the attention of the walkers outside of it. They began pressing themselves against the thin slats of wood nailed up haphazardly to the windows frame, trying to investigate the source of the sound. As he backed away from the glass, Daryl could hear the wood begin to buckle.

"Shit!" Daryl said again, only this time louder and a lot more urgently. Grabbing Beth's arm, he pushed her past the front counter. "That's it! Time ta go!"

With the glass shot to hell and the boards that protected it insufficient, he reckoned that they had about a minute to find what they came for before the horde broke through. Reading the tags on the messy aisles as fast as he could, he glanced over to where Beth was now nervously watching the walkers gather, ''Go upstairs an' wait for me up there, jus' gotta find one thing…''

''I'm not leaving you.'' She said, her shoulders locked in defiance.

The broken glass suddenly gave from the pressure and shattered into pieces, allowing the air to be instantly filled with the sounds of the dead. With the boards now being the only barrier straining to hold them back, Daryl chose not to argue, instead handing her the crossbow so she could make herself useful and reload it. Digging frantically through the clutter while she did so, he finally found the part he was looking for and not a damn moment too soon as the slats began to crack one by one.

''Umm, Daryl?...'' Beth started, her eyes widening as the wood snapped under the pressure.

He glanced over before hurriedly saying, ''Go! I got it…''

Beth quickly ran for the stairs as the walkers broke through, those in front practically falling over themselves in a frenzy now that they were unobstructed. Daryl followed behind her, tipping over more racks behind him in an effort to slow them down. Snatching the crossbow back, he took the lead as they both flew upstairs, bursting out onto the roof to slam the door shut behind them.

Daryl felt his stomach drop when he remembered yet again that the door only opened from the inside. Just one shove on the push bar and the walkers that they were trying to avoid would suddenly not be so goddamn easily avoidable. With Beth staring up at him realizing it too, Daryl felt his brain spin into overdrive, the sound of the horde clambering their way up the stairs hindering all capacity for rational thought.

''Next roof over?'' Beth panted out, obviously thinking quicker than he was under the insanely tense circumstance.

Daryl gave the suggestion as quick of an assessment as he could feasibly manage. Unlike the compacted row of buildings that got them here, the ones on this side of the road had much wider spaces in between them. The dumpster lined alleys that separated them led to an access road likely used for deliveries. ''Nah, we can't make tha jump... an' with our shitty luck we'd probably jus' end up stuck over there as well.''

She ran over and skidded to a halt at the edge of the roof, looking past the masses still clamoring in through the window below to the other electrical cables that led back across the street, ''Back the way we came then?''

Not ready for a repeat performance of her first attempt at it, Daryl began looking around for other options. ''With tha other half of this horde heading out that way? Fuck that.''

Beth threw up her hands, his lackadaisical attitude making her testy. ''Well, what then because I'm officially out of ideas!''

Steadying himself, Daryl peered over the far side of the building, ''Hold up, I got one.''

Going over to where the snapped cable still hung loosely against the building, he pulled his knife and cut it from its coupling, pulling it up quickly to coil it in his hand. Doing his best to ignore the growing sounds made by the walkers traversing the stairwell, Daryl went over and tied it to the base of a satellite dish that was bolted about two feet down on the side of the wall, tightening the knot the best he could despite the awkward position he had to be in in order to reach it. He struggled momentarily with the rigid material that comprised the cable itself, ignoring the splinters of metal that dug painfully into his skin.

Behind him, he could hear the walkers starting to pile up against the door and he felt a cold sweat break out under the collar of his vest. He yanked hard on the cable until he felt the knot was secure enough to handle their weight. Beth slammed herself against the other side of the door like it would make the slightest bit of difference and whispered over urgently, ''Whatever you're doing, do it faster!''

The door unlatched and with a fervent wave of his hand Daryl indicated for her to run over, grousing as soon as she got there, ''Goddamn, you're so fuckin' bossy y'know that?''

Beth peered over the edge to see what he had in mind, noticing immediately that the cable would drop them into the walled area where the stores dumpsters were kept on the side of the building. There were a few walkers wandering through the long alley that it led to but nothing compared to the agitated mass that was currently funneling onto the rooftop terrace where they were at.

Daryl shimmied his way down first, figuring that if the cable was going to give out, better for it do so on him than her. Making his way down to the end as quickly as possible, he dropped the last ten feet to the ground and looked up to see Beth already grabbing for the wire to do the same. Her panicked glances over her shoulder told him without words that the walkers had seen her and several decaying arms reached out to grab a hold of her as she pushed herself from the ledge.

Now dangling precariously from the side of the building, she worked her way steadily down to the bottom of the cable as well, making a point to not look up at the walkers now watching her do so from above or look down to where he was doing the same from below. Finding the distance left between herself and the ground daunting once she got there, she paused upon seeing it, the coiled wire digging painfully into her hands.

''Ya plan on jus' hanging there all day?'' Daryl whispered up to her urgently, ''Jump!''

''I'm trying!'' Beth managed to snap out, for some reason her fingers refusing to cooperate with her intentions.

A walker fell from the top of the building, probably shoved off by the others as they all jostled for position against the narrow ledge. Its body landed on the concrete in a gory pile, close enough to where Daryl was standing for him to say quickly, ''Fuck that, jus' let go! I'll catch ya!''

''What?!'' Beth gasped down at him, the formidable distance between them seeming to grow substantially for her doing so. ''Are you sure?''

He positioned himself under her as another walker came careening down, the height again proving to be too much as the corpse splattered messily on the ground. ''Yeah, do it… I got ya.''

Realizing how dire the situation could quickly become, Beth swallowed nervously before closing her eyes and doing as he said, falling the sizable distance to land heavily in his arms.

''Jesus!'' He huffed out exaggeratedly, ''Ya sure you ain't gained weight since tha last time I had ta do this? 'Cause I swear ya weigh a ton!''

Beth could only stare at him open mouthed as she tried to comprehend what was for all intents and purposes a poorly timed joke. Daryl supposed the stress of the moment would make such a thing implausible, especially coming from him. It wasn't something he would normally attempt but he was just so fuckin' relieved to be back on the ground, where everything made sense again and he felt like he could think clearly.

Blinking in disbelief, Beth finally managed to sputter out indignantly, ''Oh my god Daryl! Will you stop saying that?! I am not that heavy!''

''Pfft… maybe ya are and maybe ya ain't,'' He smirked, trying his best to look serious as he set her down on the ground, ''Guessin' my back will be lettin' me know tomorrow…''

If the girl had anything more to say about his smartass commentary, it was cut off by another walker falling from the roof top above. The body landed heavily on the lid of the nearby dumpster to roll onto the ground. This one wasn't quite as decayed the others so it instantly began trying to find its bearings from where it lay sprawled on the cement, growling noisily as it started crawling its way towards them.

''Let's go.'' He said quickly, eyeing its progress.

Daryl pushed against the large metal gate of the enclosure only to find that the damn thing was locked from the outside. He gritted his teeth in frustration, wanting nothing more then to kick it for being yet another obstacle they had to overcome. What had he said earlier about things being easy? Just one fucking time! Christ sakes, was it really too much to ask?!

As two more walkers fell from the roof, he stepped back and quickly gaged the height of the enclosure before cupping his hands and indicating for Beth to come over. Knowing instinctively what he had in mind, she set her boot in the brace his fingers made and let him heft her up on top of its wall. As she swung a leg over to situate herself on its ledge more steadily, Daryl said up to her, ''From what I saw tha alley ain't too crowded but there's enough to where we could be in for a world 'a hurt if we get hung up in it.''

From her new vantage point, Beth glanced down its length to verify what he was saying before whispering down to him nervously, ''How are we doing it then?''

''Like we did in Barnesville,'' Daryl adjusted the Horton more securely over his shoulder as he backed up to make the jump himself, ''We run. You first an' I'll bring up tha rear.''

''But what about food?'' Beth rushed to ask.

''Still gonna look for it, but not until we get clear of this death trap an' get to a place where I can fuckin' think straight. Run fast, ya hear? Don't look back an' don't stop for nothin', not even me. I mean it. If we get separated, ya know where ta go...''

Her brows drew. ''But…''

Another walker fell a few feet away from him, effectively cutting off any further discussion.

''Go!'' Daryl snapped, doing so with enough determined conviction to get her moving. Beth didn't hesitate, jumping down the other side to take off full speed down the alley as though the devil was on her tail. Fully intending to follow, Daryl ran for the wall with all the momentum he'd need to vault himself up onto its side. He was almost there when the walker that had barely missed him a few moments ago made a sudden grab for his ankle, sending him careening to the ground with enough force to leave him dazed and disorientated.

Rolling over, he used the brunt of the motion to boot the walker away with a solid kick to its decaying head. The crossbow dug painfully into his shoulder as the air that had vacated his lungs in a hurry now struggled to return. Through the oxygen deprived fog clouding his vision Daryl saw that it was starting to rain walkers down on him from above, their bodies launching from the roof as if knowing he was incapacitated and out of it below. Sprawled helplessly on his back, he could only watch them do so in a daze, inanely thinking how surreal the sight of them falling through the air was.

He could feel himself slipping into a blackened void, despite the persistent thought that he had something else that he needed to do… Fuck, what was it? The excruciating throbbing of his head was quick to convince him that it didn't really much matter. Whatever it was... must not have been important...

This was exactly how his nightmares had always foretold things would end for him... buried under the suffocating weight of a horde, atoning for the actions of his past. Every walker falling towards him seemed to morph into those he knew, those he remembered all too well… the CDC walker, the bridge walker… Patrick… Sophia…

Daryl closed his eyes from their grotesque faces, the large gash on his head leaving a trail of blood trickling around his ear to splatter steadily onto the cement beneath him. The repetitious dripping sound was strangely soothing and he found himself not much caring about the dead corpses landing heavily nearby as it puddled in his hair.

If this was it, well... then fuck it. It wasn't like he hadn't always known that there'd be a reckoning to be had.

Way he figured, he was probably long overdue.

…..

Thank you for reading as always! I want to apologize that this chapter took so long in coming. I had a bad case of what I can only surmise is writers block. With "What Lies Ahead" being not just my only story but also my first and only attempt at doing anything like this, I found it really hard to get over.

I love this story, I'm super proud of it and it has taken up a year of my life. The last thing I want is for the quality of the writing to suffer. But fear not loyal readers, all is back on track. Enough to where I am currently halfway through writing Chapter 43!

Thanks for your support and I look forward to reading your comments, should you feel inclined to leave one :)