…. Chapter 46 ….
Joe untied the gag from around Beth's head and folded it up neatly before shoving it into his pocket. He regarded her unapologetically while he did so, the smug look on his face indicating that he didn't much give a shit that it had been placed there too tightly. He obviously thought that her angry outburst from earlier had warranted it, the heated looks she'd been giving him ever since not dissuading him of the notion. Either way, she was relieved more than she could say to be done with the damn thing.
Beth gingerly flexed her aching jaw in an effort to ease the residual soreness the gag had left behind, the whole time glaring at the man who had removed it. Pulling an unimpeded breath for the first time in hours, it instantly made her lightheaded and she inavertedly stumbled on the forests uneven floor. Quick to react, Joe reached over to grab her bound arm, hauling her upright to steady her back on her feet.
She looked down at the dirty fingers latched onto her skin and jerked her arm free of his grasp, completely ignoring the amused chuckle the haughty reaction immediately garnered. Too thirsty and tired to put up with his ridiculousness, she did her best to move as far away from him as the length of rope hanging between them would allow.
It had taken hours for the two of them to get to the point where they were now, although the dark storm clouds that had accumulated overhead could neither confirm or deny it. Joe had walked her deep into the woods, leading the way with what could only be considered a leash. With the coarse length of rope tied insufferably around her neck, he had pulled her along behind him despite the fact that she was completely and unequivocally resistive to the idea. Making damn sure that he knew it, he had ultimately decided then that it was in his best interest to gag her, doing so with a piece of cloth that he had on hand for seemingly such a purpose.
After ensuring the rest of the trek would made in the silence that he obviously preferred, he had them traipse through the sprawling area nonsensically, the whole time being sure to avoid the straight and narrow. The two of them had walked for miles, three or four at least… around muddy pits and fallen logs like the man had some kind of inherent map of their location. Being unfamiliar with the area herself, Beth had quickly become disorientated by it. With no distinguishing features or specific landmarks that she could make out, the trees and bushes all started looking disparagingly the same.
Joe didn't say a word from where he marched ahead determinedly and any attempt made by her to say something past the rag in her mouth was met with a sharp pull on the leash and nothing more. After about a hour she stopped trying. The man was obviously hell bent and adamant upon seeing his intentions through and she couldn't find it within herself to beg.
Trudging along behind him, Beth resigned herself to the situation at hand, doing so despite the fact that she could still barely believe it was happening. It all seemed so surreal... like something out of a bad dream. Even though she'd been informed of the part she was playing in it a while ago, for some reason it hadn't registered. With its stark reality beginning to make itself known, she subtlety went out of her way to leave any markers she could… a footprint in the mud here, a scuff mark there… small inconspicuous clues that would hopefully lead Daryl to her.
Completely occupied with what she was doing, Beth inadvertently stumbled on a tree root, tripping over it awkwardly before finding her bearings. With her hands tied uselessly behind her back, the effort to straighten up took her longer than usual. As unreasonable as it was to expect her to traverse the uneven terrain without her arms for balance, Joe didn't seem to care. The indifference radiating from the man made it clear that he would gladly drag her in his wake if that's what was necessary. With no other choice, she did her best to keep up with him, the rope around her slender throat seeming to tighten with every clumsy misstep she took.
Left staring grudgingly at his back, she fell back into line as they traversed their way around a pile of fallen storm debris. Her mind gradually began to drift, wallowing in the misery for not having anything else much better to do. Thoughts of her last conversation with Merle came flooding back to the forefront, the sound of it echoing hollowly in her ears. Stuck inside the despondent state she was in, Beth could still feel the anger she had at the man bristle sharply for recalling it.
Joe's decision stunning them both into silence, the elder Dixon had escorted her back to her room only to tell her that she was to be sequestered there for her own personal safety. He had insisted she get some sleep, seeming to feel it in her best interest. Why he would even care was beyond her. Now that she knew that Daryl was somewhere in the house as well, hurt and locked away a prisoner much like herself, the mere notion of trying to sleep was impossible.
She could still remember how overwhelming heart wrenching it had been to see him after Tony had pulled her from the the back of the LTD. Dehydrated and dazed, she had thought him to be a dream… an achingly wishful one but a dream none the less. Having worried herself about him to the point of tears, he hadn't seemed real and with her overactive imagination having run amuck, she had accepted it as such, convincing herself of it until a sudden rush of blood to the head had taken her down to the ground. Taken away from the scenario and all of the disparaging aspects that came along with it, a vague recollection of seeing his face was the only thing she had remembered.
She woke up some time later alone, locked away in a strange bedroom with just the remembrance and an awful headache for company. A later conversation with Merle had confirmed that Daryl was actually there and for the first time since since she'd been taken, she tentatively started to believe it.
With no possible idea how he could've found her, it wasn't until she saw him a second time that she began to wish that he hadn't. Merle had taken her downstairs where she had seen him standing with the others, the multiple cuts and bruises on his face indicating that he had been beaten. He had looked so relieved to see her unhurt that his whole body had practically sagged over with it. Because it was Daryl, that relief quickly turned to fury, having been misled by Tony to undoubtedly expect the worst. Even from where she was standing across the other side of the room, she could see that he was practically seething with it.
A volatile aspect of his nature, his anger would undoubtedly getting him killed. The consequences of such a thing had hit home for her immediately, enough to where she had stewed about it all the way back to her room. Just who the hell did Joe think he was, playing with their lives like this? Did he think this was some kind of sick and twisted game?
Needing an answer, she had chosen to ask Merle, despite everything inside of her seriously not wanting to.
''Why is he doing this?'' She had demanded, regretting it almost immediately.
Merle looked somewhat surprised by the question as well, probably because she had done nothing but shoot silent daggers at him from the moment he had been told to take her back to her room.
''Who tha hell knows,'' He had muttered, sounding more disconcertingly like his brother than she could've ever thought possible. ''Man's got issues that no one's got tha cajones ta call him out on. Maybe he's pissed, maybe he's bored… maybe he jus' wants ta kick back an' watch tha world burn, who can say.''
''Obviously not you!'' She found herself unintentionally accusing as she spun around in the doorway so suddenly that he'd almost ploughed into her. ''How can you do this? Daryl's hurt and thrown in a hole somewhere and you don't say a single solitary word about it? And this stupid thing he has us doing do tomorrow, I guess you're just fine with that! What kind of brother are you?''
Not used to getting called out for being the asshole he was, Merle's face had darkened. ''I don't have'ta explain myself ta you so ya best jus' stop right there before ya go gettin' ya self all riled up! You couldn't wrap ya pretty little head around tha things I do or tha goddamn reasons why I do 'em! Hell, even my own brother can't an' he's kin! You ain't!''
''Well, thank god for that!'' She had imparted furiously, ''Because if this is how you treat your kin, I'd sure hate to see how you treat your enemies!''
With the parting shot being said as loudly as she dared, she had stormed into the room allotted for her and slammed the door shut in the man's infuriating face. The tears had gathered almost immediately, as they always seemed to do when she put her feelings on the line. Sniffling from under the weight of them, she had slumped down on the bed only to hear the bedroom door open unyieldingly from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder as Merle barged in, looking seemingly determined to finish what had been started. Upon realizing it, she had swiped quickly at her eyes, preferring to gladly keel over and die than to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was almost at her breaking point.
Much like Daryl, he was too damn observant for his own good.
''You're somethin' else, ya know that?'' He had uttered incredulously, coming around the side of the bed to glare down at her. ''Swear ta god, from tha moment I first laid eyes on ya, you ain't done a damn thing but give me a rash of shit over somethin' I can't do nothin' about! I ain't in charge around here! There are rules in place… codes ta be abided by an' penalties ta be paid for those that don't abide by 'em. It ain't my choice ta see my brother have ta do this but that don't mean jack shit ta them!''
He paused for a moment, seemingly confused when she wouldn't even look at him. The unyielding set of her shoulders had spoken volumes and he'd felt the need to try again… this time digging himself into an even deeper hole as far as she was concerned.
''I'm between a rock an' a fuckin' hard place here! In case ya didn't know, I ain't had it as goddamn easy as him since we both left Atlanta. I've been forced ta do shit that would make ya cry them tears for hearin' it. He's had Rick... an' a home with a nice comfy bed… an' you, right there in it with him…''
''So what are you saying?'' She had sputtered indignantly, cutting him off mid-sentence, ''That this is all some kind of payback? Why, because he made better choices?''
''Was one of them choices ta not come after his own fuckin' brother?'' He bit out in return, pointing his finger angrily down at her as if it could drive the stubborn question home, ''Huh? Was it ta leave me behind?!''
With that she had flown to her feet, sick of him towering over her and not wanting to be out done. The man had some nerve! For all of his talking, the only thing she heard was one bullshit excuse after another, none of which was helping Daryl in the slightest. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing he could possibly say that could justify his indifference and she wasn't about to let him off the hook for it that easily, no matter what perceived transgressions he felt he had the right to complain about!
''Was one of yours to abandon him when he was a kid?'' She had said furiously, jabbing her own into the solid mass of his chest, ''Huh? Was it to leave him behind? I've seen the scars! He came after you in Atlanta, which is a hell of a lot more than what you doing for him right now! If it's a matter of choices being made, you've made yours so there's nothing left for us to discuss! Get out!''
At her frank dismissal, Merle stepped back and threw his arms up in the air, the look on his face one of utter disbelief. ''Christ almighty! There's jus' no fuckin' winning with you! What do ya want me ta do here, huh?! Go downstairs an' kill everyone in sight? I do that an' I might as well jus' sign my brothers death warrant 'cause he'd be dead long before tha bodies hit tha floor! Is that what ya want? Ya may not know it but both y'all have got a much better chance of survival if he jus' does this fuckin' thing tomorrow! I think you're underestimatin' that fact… tha same damn way ya underestimatin' him!''
Emotional and already on the verge of losing it, she had swallowed hard to cry out, ''I don't care! I love him and I don't want him out there!''
With her chest heaving, the tears had begun to overflow immediately, rolling down her face despite every last reserve she had called upon to keep them from doing so. Hanging on by a thread, she had been so worn out and depleted that the very mention of Daryl dying was all it had taken to send her careening over the edge.
Furious with herself, she had sunk back down on the bed, wishing that Merle would go away so she could think clearly for a moment. The last thing she wanted to do was to show any kind of weakness but she hadn't been able to help herself, the situation and everything it entailed crushing down upon her to leave her reeling in its wake. Sitting there in the aftermath, she had steadfastly refused to look at him for fear of losing what little composure she had left to give. Instead, she had just stubbornly crossed her arms, drawing deeply within herself to pretend that her nose wasn't running and the tears weren't dropping noisily into her lap.
Merle had stared down at her completely at a loss, the expression on his face indicating that he hadn't expected her to start bawling like that. Looking as uncomfortable by it as his brother would be, he had regarded her cautiously, almost as though wishing that she had just stayed angry… or had hauled out and hit him… or anything besides the display of female emotion she was currently subjecting him to. His anger seemed to deplete in the face of it though and he sighed heavily for knowing it, walking away from her to go over and stand in the rooms still open doorway.
''Y'know, he'll likely say tha same damn thing 'bout you,'' He had said, pausing with his hand on the knob, ''but much like them tears of yours… there ain't nothin' for it. You should get some sleep, get ya head on right. I'm headin' downstairs ta tell my brother tha same thing.''
He gave a cursory glance over his shoulder to quietly ask, ''Ya got… I don't know… anythin' ya want me ta pass along?''
She couldn't even bring herself to look at him. Instead she had just wiped at her nose on her sleeve and said with as much conviction as she could muster, ''Nothing I would trust you to tell him.''
''Suit ya self.'' Was all he said, leaving the room with her in it to lock the door firmly behind him.
Emotionally drained, she had sat there a while, despondently wondering if he was at all conflicted by the choices he made. It didn't take long to realize that she didn't care to know.
The man couldn't be more different from his brother if he tried. For every part of her that would gladly walk through fire for Daryl, there was an equal and just as fierce part that would unquestionably toss his brother into it. Merle had no redeeming qualities at all… none he could be proud of anyway... and considering the company he kept, that was saying something.
The rest of the night had been spent pacing restlessly around the room, feeling trapped and agitated as her anxiety began to get the better of her. At one point Billy brought her some dinner only to be resoundingly kicked out of the room by Merle. The elder Dixon had overheard him dropping one too many inappropriate innuendos and had quickly taken him to task for it, pulling him from her presence by the scruff of his neck. The uncomfortable interaction was the extent of her encounters with any of the other men in the house and that suited her just fine.
She had gone to bed thinking only of Daryl, her overactive mind running away with itself until she had fallen into a troubled sleep. Tossing and turning for the most part, the nightmares had come almost immediately - visions of him dying with a bolt in his chest, of herself struggling to get out from under Len. Joe's maniacal laughter had punctuated every scene as Merle and the rest of the men had looked on from the sidelines indifferently.
Daylight had started to bleed in through the windows when she heard the door to her room unlock. For a brief glorious moment, she'd thought that Daryl had escaped and that he was there to get her. She was to be quickly dissuaded of the notion when Joe walked in, dispensing with the pleasantries to tell her that it was time to go. Making sure she understood that any trouble caused would end Daryl's life all that much sooner, he tied her up before walking her out of the house, leading her to where she was now.
Having been lost in the recollection for at least half a mile, a sharp yank on the leash was all that was needed to abruptly bring Beth back to the moment. Finding the heavy handed tactic to be completely unnecessary, she squared her shoulders resentfully, glaring at Joe's back as the fire burning in her eyes gained traction.
They eventually came across a small clearing nestled deep in the woods, one that had been used as a makeshift campground of some kind. Joe stopped in the middle of it and took a look around, his sharp gaze darting into the tree line for movement. Bringing up the rear, Beth did the same, only to see that the small area had a burnt out fire pit, some abandoned camping equipment and not much else of possible use.
There were several large post dug into the ground, the purpose of which she didn't want to speculate on… but it was the thick tangle of trees surrounding them that was worrying. They were dense… way denser than anything they'd encountered to this point. With direct line of sight impossible, they would provide a huge impediment if the objective of the day was to engage in a warped game of hide and seek. The two men searching for her would be forced to rely on their tracking skills alone. By strategically choosing to bring her here of all places, Beth began to realize that Joe knew it too.
With their destination reached, Joe picked up the slackened rope from the ground and began coiling it up in his hands. Nervous for seeing the determined look on his face, Beth began to back away, feeling it tug at her neck as he worked his way closer...
''Easy...'' He said, using the damn thing against her like he was attempting to corral a frightened horse that wouldn't go back in its stall. ''C'mon now… I ain't gonna hurt you.''
As soon as he had her within arms reach, he turned her around and removed both the gag and the leash. Still chuckling to himself after the fact, he finished with the rope and threw it down next to one of the poles. Beth was left standing there eyeing him distrustfully while he did so, her hands still tied behind her back and her jaw aching something fierce due to the residual pain the gag had left behind.
The man looked over at her and sniffed knowingly. ''Yeah… I wouldn't have had to tie that so tight if you would've just behaved yourself… but hey, what can you do, guessing what's done is done.''
''So that makes it ok?'' She managed to croak, not buying it for a second. "Like any of this?''
''What's real funny is that you say that like it's something I should remotely give a shit about.'' He intoned nonchalantly, ''Truth is, I don't and what's more, I never have. The situation we have here just presented itself, all I did was take advantage of it. You wanna know why?''
Her eyes widened incredulously. ''I don't care why! Who the hell do you think you are, playing these stupid games with people? You're not some king on the mountain, you're just an post apocalyptic asshole with a bunch of stupid yes men to do your bidding!''
Joe's normally unreadable features darkened and he surged over to grab her by the throat.
''That just may be… but what you don't seem to understand is that this asshole's yes men are gonna be out here playing this little game with him. You see, it was never in the plan to have Daryl live through this… hell, Len won't either if that makes you feel better. Both are here for my fucking amusement because that's what I want!'' He tightened his fingers cruelly as if to hammer home the point. ''I want to see just how far they'll go, if they're willing to go the distance. If not, then I have Billy and Tony out there as well to see it done. It's like I told you, there's a price to be paid for everything, especially when you go against me… and them two boys are getting ready to fucking pay it!''
He released her with a shove, leaving Beth to fall in a heap on the ground. Slumped there gasping for breath, she tried not to let the connotations of what he was saying defeat her as intended. Her heart seized for hearing it none the less and she heard herself wheeze out painfully, ''Oh my god! You can't do that!''
He hauled her to her feet in response and dragged her over to the posts that were set deep in the ground nearby. Wishing more than anything that she had her hands free, Beth struggled against him the whole time, kicking and screaming as though her life depended on it. Manhandling her roughly, he tied her to one of them using the rope from before.
Joe clapped a hand over her mouth, his fingers digging into her flesh. ''Shut the fuck up! What are you trying to do, bring down the biters on us?!"
The angry look Beth was giving him over his fingers must have said that she couldn't care less because he dug back into his pocket for the gag once more.
"Goddamn, again? You think you would've learned by now...''
He tied it back around her head and finished what he'd started in silence, seemingly a hell of a lot more determined for doing so. The rope jerked tightly around her body as he knotted the thing, causing the rough wood to dig firmly into her hands. Strapped to the post and with very little recourse, Beth hung from it limply, an oxygen deprived dizziness starting to gain traction as her circulation was cut off from her arms and legs.
''You're a fuckin' pain in the ass, do you know that?'' He groused irately, feeling it alright to say so now that all was said and done. ''If Len had never seen you two assholes walking on that piece of shit road, hell… we wouldn't even be here...''
A snapping sound was heard in the distance and they both looked over to determine its source. Beth felt her shoulders fall despondently to see that it was only a walker. The commotion the two of them were making had garnered its attention and it was now clumsily attempting to make its way through the tangle of trees in an effort to try and reach them.
She looked back over at Joe to find him backing away, his hands held up as if the situation was beyond him. ''Sorry darlin'… but you're on your own. I hate to leave you like this… I really do… but you were always just the incentive driving this thing and nothing more. Only it ain't just Daryl and Len that you're going to be that for and I'm guessin' I should tell you that. You see, Billy and Tony needed an incentive as well… after all, they're putting as much on the line as anyone else and its been a long time since they've seen a good looking woman around here. I reckoned I owe them that much. You didn't think that your participation was just for Daryl's sake alone, did you?''
He paused upon seeing the stricken look on Beth's face.
''You did! Damn, that's too bad. Everyone participating today gets to try for the door prize sweetheart... and it don't much matter to me who wins it. You're just what I needed to keep morale up around here and in doing so, I get to kill two birds with one stone. To the victor goes the spoils after all and I get to watch it all go down.''
Joe looked down at his wrist and tapped on the face of his watch. ''Speaking of which, them two boys are probably getting pulled out of their cages right about now. Tony and Billy are rearing to go so it's time to see how this little game of mine all plays out. I sincerely hope you have as much fun playing it as I will.''
''You're sick.'' Beth whispered around the gag in her mouth, blanching at the thought of any of the other men finding her now before Daryl did.
The walker nearby reminded them both of its presence by tripping over a protruding tree root. Groaning noisily, it landed face down in the dead leaves at its feet. Joe smirked as he watched it try to awkwardly rectify itself, not giving a shit about the threat it presented to her in the slightest.
''Ah, looks like our friend here wants to play as well! Just so you know, we'd usually all just take turns fucking you before we fed you to the biters… at least this one here's taking its sweet ass time.''
When a disgusted glare was his only response, Joe disappeared back into the woods, the sound of his own twisted humor following on the air behind him. Beth watched him go with a dry lump of dread wedged in her throat, the potential direness of the predicament she was in making itself known.
The grey clouds above rumbled with thunder as the first drops of rain began to fall. It didn't take long before it turned into a downpour, the storm overhead unleashing itself to saturate the clearing and everything in it. Without a sheltering canopy of tree limbs to protect her, Beth got drenched by it that much faster, making an already miserable situation that much more so. The rope she was tied with was chafing at her skin and she was cold, tired and now beyond soaking wet.
…and none of that meant a damn thing to her.
Daryl was somewhere out there about to come looking for her and he was unknowingly walking into a trap. He had been led to believe that Len was to be his only competition in the matter, that the two of them would be on their own. What he didn't know that the rest of the men in the house would be out there with them, all of them armed to the teeth with an expected purpose in mind. They'd undoubtedly kill him on sight if Len didn't get a chance to do so first and there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen!
With her own situation paling in comparison, Beth began to struggle fiercely against the rope, ignoring the pain it left behind as it sawed unforgivingly over her skin. It gradually began to loosen, the fact that it had soaked up the rainwater like a sponge helping considerably. Her chest heaving with the effort, she glanced over to see that the walker was almost at the edge of the clearing, fighting the tree branches equally as hard as it tried its damndest to reach her.
Beth gritted her teeth, determinedly refusing to allow either it or the rope test her resolve. The walkers pending arrival just gave her that much more of an incentive to try harder, even though she barely needed it with thoughts of Daryl consuming her as they were.
Using the lubrication the rain provided to its best advantage, she managed to kick her way out of the ropes tangled grip, fighting it tooth and nail until it finally freed her enough to let her fall to the ground. With the walker now having broken free as well, Beth quickly pulled her bound hands out from under the sprawl of her legs, removing the suffocating gag to meet it head on without a weapon or even a second to lose...
The water logged walker fell heavily on top of her, making her gasp from under its slippery weight before she was able to roll out from under it. She crawled onto its back, sweeping her wrists over its head to lodge the rope that bound them together firmly against its throat. Wedging a knee between its shoulder blades, she pulled with all her might, straining against the flailing corpse until its head detached disgustingly from its body.
Exhausted beyond belief, Beth collapsed down in the mud next to it, barely acknowledging that the walkers now severed head lay snapping angrily from nearby. Panting for air, she closed her eyes against the rain for a moment... wishing the world would stop so she could give herself a small degree of credit for managing to get out of at least one of the harrowing situations in which she found herself.
She pushed herself back up, groaning for the effort it required. Using her teeth to free her wrists from their bindings, she ran off into the tree line the same way Joe had gone, ignoring the rain or anything else determined to get in her way. She wasn't done yet, not by a long shot. The sole reason why she had fought so damn hard was still out there somewhere and she had still yet to find him.
Beth ducked under a low hanging branch, thoughts of Daryl making her run that much faster. If luck was on her side, she would get to him first, hopefully before anyone else. The two of them could then leave this place, putting the nightmare that it had become behind them to be nothing more than a shared memory that they'd never need speak of again. She could do it… but only if he was alright and the two of them were together.
He was all that mattered to her. He was her everything. Now all she had to do was to find him so she could tell him so.
…...
Please be so kind as to review, I really appreciate it and it's the reason why I do this!
Thank you to all my readers and followers, "What Still Lies Ahead" wouldn't be the story it is without you. Here are the answers to some of the questions I've gotten over the time its taken to write it.
- Yes, I made that picture myself, I wanted my cover to reflect the Daryl and Beth that I'm writing about.
- Yes, I do make changes to chapters after I post them, I'm always finding something I want to change.
- Yes, it was a conscious decision to write each chapter from either Daryl or Beth's perspectives, I think it adds something different to the story and I like writing as both.
- No, I don't know who's until I start writing it, whoever's is going to move the story along the way that I want.
- No, I actually can't write and/or post faster, the story would suffer and I don't think anyone would want that (I know I wouldn't!)
- No, Grady Memorial will not play a part in this story, way too many bad memories there for me.
- No, I am not going to write another story when I'm done with this, WSLA is a one-shot deal.