…. Chapter 58 ….

Daryl slowed down and kicked the Triumphs gears into neutral, purposely stalling the engine out so he could coast the motorcycle silently to the side of the road. The bikes tires sunk heavily into the dirt as they ground to a halt, leaving behind only the incessant clicking of the exhaust system as it began cooling off. Beth heaved a small sigh of relief from where she was behind him, happier than she could begin to say to finally be able to get off the thing. The trip itself hadn't been bad but she was glad it was over and that they had finally reached their objective.

With the remnants of the wind still ringing in her ears, she took a moment to look around only to see trees and nothing else. It made her doubt yet again that this Terminus place they were looking for even existed. The time the trip had taken was more than enough for her mind to run away with itself, much like it always did when she was on the verge of doing something scary. Her thoughts about it had fluctuated wildly, running a gamete of every possible fear and emotion while still daring to hope that it wasn't as awful as she had been told. Worrying about it had taken its toll and now that they were here, she was ready to see what they were dealing with so they could finally do what needed to be done and get it over with.

They'd been riding nonstop since leaving the barn earlier that morning and had thankfully only gotten into trouble once. Daryl had inadvertently run them into a massive group of walkers just outside of Lizella, a small rural town about ten miles from Macon. The horde had been too large to bypass, even with the majority of it ensnared in the military grade barbed wire coils that had been left on the highway for that exact reason. Without the mental capacity to know how to untangle themselves, the walkers had created the worst kind of roadblock… one Daryl hadn't anticipated as he had sped determinedly around the corner.

Slamming on the brakes, he had peeled out the tires from under them but not before the Triumph was both seen and heard by all in their way. More walkers appeared from the woods that lined the highway to see what the commotion was about and their added presence had only made the situation that much more harrowing. With barely a moment to lose, Daryl had spun them around to get them out of there, leaving the hungry mass behind them in a cloud of exhaust fumes and burnt out rubber. She had looked back with her heart pounding, more grateful than she could begin to say that he had the fortitude and presence of mind to react to the situation as calmly as he did. A few more yards and they would've been over run.

With the highway no longer an option, they had resorted to taking the back roads in an effort to avoid running into any more problems. Daryl navigated them all completely unphased by the prospect. Although he had only seen a map of the area once to her knowledge, he seemed to ride each one instinctively... almost like he had an ingrained sense of where they went already implanted in his head. She had sat behind him silently marveling at his ability to do so. To her, it all but confirmed her belief that the man could find anything as long as he had the will and the determination to get himself there.

Beth's thoughts were pulled back to the present when Daryl balanced the bikes weight between his legs and took the keys out of the ignition. The silence around them was deafening and they both sat there for a moment as they each tried to catch their bearings. She made a conscious point not to say a word as he purposefully glanced around, his gaze darting into the trees so to assess the situation. Were they lost? Maybe this Terminus place was a lot smaller than she thought. Her overactive imagination had kicked into overdrive hours ago, completely convincing her that they were about to face an impenetrable sky high fortress surrounded by armed guards and attack dogs… maybe it was nothing like that at all... maybe she had worried for no reason.

Seeming to find nothing amiss, Daryl finally gave a cursory nod over his shoulder to indicate that it was safe enough for her to get off from behind him. Expelling the nervous breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding, Beth stiffly did so and waited at his side as he pulled the Horton from the handlebars. She had a thousand questions, so many that she barely knew where to begin… but knowing his proclivity to get irritated when she asked them, she just bided her time and watched as he took the moment necessary to get off the bike himself and situate the weapon securely on his back.

''What are we doing?'' She finally whispered, unable to help herself as the pressure became too much.

The anxious question cut through the air between them and Daryl glanced over to see her standing there twisting her fingers together.

''Was wonderin' how long it was gonna take ya ta ask.'' He mustered, the corner of his mouth smirking up despite itself. ''Ya practically chompin' at the bit over there.''

Beth just glared at him, not much appreciating the underlying humor in his tone. ''I can't help it! I'm nervous and you're not helping! Where are we? I don't see it anywhere! Are we close? Is this where you saw it on the map? Why aren't you saying anything?!''

Taking pity on her, Daryl reached over and pulled her towards him, untangling the tense knot she had made of her fingers to hold her hand loosely within his own. ''Calm ya storm, princess. I'm jus' takin' a moment ta listen to tha area, that's all. It's a old hunting trick an' one that comes in handy when visibility is limited an' ya can't see anythin' around ya for shit. Even tha most camouflaged of prey will give away its position by making a noise of some kind, most times it's just a matter of waitin' for it. I jus' wanted ta know if there was anything here we should be worryin' about.''

''Well… is there?'' She said, unwittingly straining her hearing into the distance for herself.

He worried at his lower lip. ''It's hard ta say… if anythin' I'm thinkin' it's a little too quiet.''

''If that's the case, maybe Terminus isn't here at all," She volunteered, "Maybe the map is wrong.''

"Nah, it's here alright... 'bout half a mile that way… through them trees."

Beth could feel herself getting testy as her nerves immediately ratcheted back to where they were before. When he didn't feel the need to elaborate further, she gritted her teeth and wondered if the man got some kind of twisted enjoyment from playing this game of twenty questions with her all the time. Lords sake, if he could be just a bit more forthcoming with his information, she wouldn't always need to ply it out of him so ridiculously!

"Then why's being too quiet a bad thing?" She was quick to ask, unintentionally exposing herself. "Isn't that what we want? Seriously Daryl, what part of me not being able to read your mind is so difficult to understand?"

Seeing that the stress had gotten the better of her, Daryl took the fuel out of her fire by taking a moment to explain himself more fully.

''It's bad 'cause tha place we're walkin' into is probably armed to tha teeth. Hell, we've seen proof of that ourselves. Remember back in Piedmont, tha men with tha guns an' tha fortified truck? Ya don't have a need for those things 'less ya hidin' somethin' or protectin' somethin'. All that bein' said, tha fact that they ain't got no one patrolling tha area don't sit well with me.'' Pausing for a moment, he chewed pensively at the calloused skin next to his thumb nail before surprising her by stating, ''I dunno… that's jus' where my head's at about it. What d'ya think?''

The steady cadence of his voice had calmed her much as it always did, allowing Beth to think about the question as seriously as he meant it. ''Umm, maybe it's just part of their ruse… you know, the front they put up to draw unsuspecting people in. It would be really hard to maintain something like that if there were armed guards stomping all over the place.''

Daryl just nodded, letting her know without words that he agreed with her reasoning. With the conversation about it over, he heeled the kickstand up on the motorcycle and wheeled it carefully into the brush, covering it up to the best of his ability with an array of broken branches. When he reemerged from the shadows he was holding a handgun that Beth had never seen before.

''Here… this is for you.'' He said, passing it over. ''It's only got four bullets in it but it's better than nothin'. Merle wanted ya ta have it. He said he put so much work in ta fixin' ya up that he'd hate ta see it all go ta waste.'' When she gave a knowing smile, he did too, ''What can I say… that's how my brother lets ya know he cares. Anyways, ya know how ta use it?''

Beth easily ejected the clip to check the bullets inside it before reloading the gun and pulling back the slide. As she did so, she happened to glance up to see Daryl staring at her pointedly, his questioning gaze narrowing.

''You don't live on a farm your entire life and not know how to use a gun, Daryl.'' Was all she could think to say for herself, ''I've always known. Everyone just assumes I can't because… well… it's me, I guess.''

''Christ sakes, if knew how ta shoot this whole time, why tha hell didn't ya jus' say so at the prison?''

''If I had, would you have listened?'' Beth asked, not upset at all by the preconceived notion she had long learned to live with. If anything, she had always found it understandable to be overlooked, especially with someone a lot more capable like Maggie around. Relegated to the background, she had been left there ever since by never speaking up for herself.

The look that crossed Daryl's face was answer enough and Beth gave a self depreciating shrug in recognition of it. ''I'm not trying to say that to make you feel bad... it's just a fact. I was constantly surrounded by strong people… people like you and Michonne who had adapted much faster than me. How was I supposed to compete with that? Then Lori died and Judith came along, I was left behind to take care of her while you all went out on runs. Even if I wanted to go, it's not like anyone would've let me. At that point I… I didn't even mind… at that point I had convinced myself that babysitting was all anyone thought I was good for.''

Feeling bad about something he himself had been guilty of, Daryl pulled her to him with a resigned sigh, seemingly unable to help himself. Beth sniffled noisily into his jacket as memories of feeling alone and unappreciated came rushing back to haunt her unintentionally. The fact that she'd felt that way had been nobody's fault but her own. She had just found it much easier to accept everyones assumptions about her rather than to try and put in the effort needed to refute them. After everything that she had been through since then, she was determined not to cry about it though. She had come to far to warrant that lonely girl a single solitary tear.

Daryl pressed his lips into her hair and pulled away, doing so as if he had suddenly realized the amount of time they were wasting. ''As much as I'd love for us ta stand here all day huggin' it out like we ain't got a care in tha world, we got shit ta do an' not a whole lot 'a light left ta do it in. We gotta get a move on.''

Nodding that she understood, Beth drew a deep breath and stepped away from his warmth, shaking off the residual feelings she had about the moment. She hadn't intended for it to get so emotional but there was nothing she could do about it now. Her thoughts about the past were hers and hers alone. They weren't anyone else's problem to deal with and they definitely weren't Daryl's. He obviously didn't feel that way about her now and that was all that mattered.

Daryl pulled the Horton from his back and had them cross over the road they'd been standing next to to reach the trees on its other side. As he set the weapon against himself, he glanced over to see her shove the gun he had given her into the waistband of her jeans so she could pull her knife from its holster. If the game plan was to do this quietly, Beth figured it was much more suited for the job.

"Ya ready ta do this?" He asked, seeming to need more reassurance.

She gave a small smile, feeling a lot better now that her air had been cleared. "Contrary to popular belief, I was actually born ready."

Daryl smirked in response, appreciating the unexpected levity. ''Jus' remember who said that first.''

With that he disappeared into the thick of the woods, trusting that she'd know to follow in behind him. Beth did so as silently as she could, trying her best to match the sureness of his steps. As confident as she was in her new found abilities, this was definitely his area of expertise so she consciously deferred to him whenever possible, letting him lead the way. She watched him closely the whole time, heeding his instructions as he let her know what he wanted her to do with a succession of silent hand gestures. It wasn't long before he got them close enough to Terminus to where they could see the fence that surrounded its perimeter. As soon as it came into view Daryl ducked out of sight, causing her to quickly do the same behind the tree she was crouched down next to.

Beth peered around its trunk so she could get a better view of just what it was the two of them were looking at. The six foot tall fence seemed to go on forever, indicating the massive size of the compound that lay hidden behind it. Slain walkers bodies were strewn at it's base… most of them dead, others not so much. The occupants of Terminus were obviously defending their perimeter much like they had done at the prison, by stabbing any threats directly through the chain link. Large sheets of corrugated metal fortified the panels from there, making it impossible for them to see anything past that. They provided an extra layer of protection while giving no indication of what the place looked like beyond each one.

With no distinct activity to be either seen or heard, Beth suspected that they were at the rear of the compound. Her theory was confirmed when Daryl motioned for her to keep going towards where he clearly thought the entrance would be.

Flanking the fence line, she made her way silently through the trees, using the overgrowth for cover as she purposely tried to stay as inconspicuous as possible. There was a span of open terrain laying up ahead and proceeding cautiously, she stepped free of the brush to be astounded by what she saw.

Multiple train tracks all came into view, miles upon mile of them running adjacent to each other for as far as the eye could see. All of them lay directly in their path and were something they wouldn't be able to easily get around, not without being detected. On them sat hundreds of decrepit box cars that were all in various states of disrepair. Left rusted and ruined in the weather, the ones closest to her were marked with graffiti. Beth held a hand up to her eyes so she could read what it said.

Welcome… Arrivals… Safety In Numbers. All of the short messages were sprayed on their sides in silver metallic paint. Daryl suddenly came up behind her to grab her arm and pull her behind the closest one. With both of them safely hidden from sight, he slumped back against the wheel of the carriage and took the moment to catch his breath.

''Yeah, well… this ain't good.'' Was all he offered, saying out loud what they both already knew.

''What do you think it is?'' She found herself whispering in return, ''A train station or something?''

''Out in tha sticks like this? I doubt it." He purposely took another look around, "I'm thinkin' it's more of a maintenance yard… y'know, tha kinda place where trains go ta die. With people inclined ta stick to tha tracks once they found 'em, they'd likely end up here. That was probably tha point tha whole fuckin' time. These bastards used tha tracks like they were tha yellow brick road but I bet ya that ain't no Oz.''

Beth just nodded, unable to fault his analogy. The massive brown building with the word Terminus painted in grim letters above its windows looked as far removed from the Emerald City as it could ever dream to be.

''We should head back into the woods and see if we can find a way in from there.'' She said nervously, glancing back over to the front gate. ''We're way to obvious out here. If anyone's watching, they'd see us coming from a mile away…''

When Daryl didn't respond, she glanced over her shoulder to see him taking a much closer look at the box car they were hiding behind. Was he even listening? Her brows drew as she followed him around the side, only to watch in confusion as he struggled with the coupling on the door to unhitch it and slide it open. The god awful smell hit her before the sight did and she stepped back to see that the entire insides of the car was covered in a thick layer of decaying blood. It was plastered on everything... the walls… the ceiling… and it housed more maggots than she had ever seen in her life. Daryl immediately tried to close the door back up but not before a splatter of gore managed to escape its confinement and leak disgustingly onto the ground at their feet.

Completely repulsed, Beth looked around and see that a lot of the train cars had similar puddles accumulating beneath them, all of which were drying disgustingly into the gravel at their wheels.

''Fuck that!'' Daryl concluded sharply, seeing them for himself. ''We're outta here…''

Ready now to take her serious suggestion seriously, he began looking for the quickest way back when they both suddenly heard the front gates of Terminus rattle open in the distance. Daryl immediately shoved her back down behind the wheel, holding her there by the arm as they both watched four armed men disperse quickly into the woods where they had been.

''Shit!'' He was quick to hiss out, the ante on the situation now upped significantly enough to make him grit his teeth in frustration, "They ain't comin' out here for tha hell of it!"

Beth couldn't agree more! ''Oh my god... do you think they saw us?''

As if to answer her question, the loud speaker attached to the building crackled to life, causing her heart to plummet into her stomach. The voice on the other side cleared its throat before casually uttering, 'They're by the trains, you idiots'.

''Bastards have been watchin' tha whole time!'' Daryl gave her a shove to get her moving, ''Go!''

With no other option she took off running as fast as she could, heading in the opposite direction of the men to purposely make her way between the trains. She could hear the crossbow rattling behind her as Daryl brought up the rear, the sound of his labored breathing practically roaring in her ears. Not used to taking the lead, Beth quickly became discombobulated by it as the box cars and the tracks they sat upon all began to look disparagingly the same. Cutting over through one of the gaps that separated them, there was no way to tell if she was coming or going as they all seemed to close in around her.

Spinning around in desperation, her boot caught on a broken peg and she went sprawling down in the dirt. Without even missing a step, Daryl went to haul her to her feet by the scruff of her shirt when a hail of bullets ricocheted off of the train next to them. Coming out of nowhere, the gunfire caught them both off guard and they each went diving for cover… Beth scrambling under the car next to her while Daryl was left rolling beneath the one across from it.

Beth pushed herself to her knees, ignoring the gore encrusted rocks as they dug painfully into her palms. She looked around only to have her heart drop when she saw that the train he was hiding under was nowhere near her own. With the situation now spiraling out of control, he might as well have been a million miles away... a fact she instantly began to regret the moment she heard footsteps closing in on them from behind.

As if sensing her fear, Daryl put a silencing finger to his lips as he detected the movement as well. He began to inch his way out of the small space allotted to him, going slow so not to give his position away. Her limited vantage point didn't allow for much help so she was left just holding her breath as she watched his progress nervously. He was on the verge of clearing the trains undercarriage when he suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared from her sight, his body flailing across the gravel as he was dragged out from under the car by his bootstraps.

Beth gasped in shock, barely able to believe that just happened in the span of a mere moment. She quickly scrambled out from under her own to take off running...

''Come out come out wherever you are…'' A deep voice chimed, seeming to know full well who it was addressing.

She skidded to a halt as her blood turned to ice, now stuck in a quandary that was not of her making. Even if she wanted to move, her feet felt like they were now rooted to the ground...

''Nah, Beth! Don't ya even think about it!'' Daryl struggled to yell from where he was being held on the other side of the box car, ''Don't ya come 'round here! Run an' don't ya look back!''

Not much appreciating the unsolicited commentary, the owner of the voice hit him hard for giving it, the seriousness of the blow managing to reach her over the sound of her own panicked breathing. Swallowing hard at the lump of trepidation wedged in her throat, Beth sheathed her knife and pulled the gun Merle had given her... doing so despite the fact that she was completely at a loss at what to do with it in a situation like this. At this point she just wanted to even the odds a little and give Daryl more of a fighting chance.

''Now, Beth... don't you listen to that!" The voice tsked loudly, "I insist, please come around! That way we can all meet and get better acquainted! You'll see for yourself that I'm not such a bad guy and how all of this is just... one big misunderstanding! I ain't gonna kill him, I promise… but I just may hurt him, just a lil' bit!''

The threat was delivered with a sinister sounding laugh, one that instantly hardened her resolve to stone. Beth's fingers tightened around the gun she was holding, barely believing that she was having to go through this again. Seriously?! Was every living person outside of their group just automatically an asshole? How many more could there possibly be?! She would've sworn the turn had killed them off by now! Did they use it as an excuse to become an asshole or did their asshole-like tendencies just come to them naturally?!

The whole scenario felt like being caught in a bad dream... one stuck on repeat and with no end in sight. Here she was having to face down another one… one who was making things worse for no good reason and without cause or provocation! Well, this one was in for a surprise! She was done with being the victim! That wasn't who she was and that sure as hell wasn't who Daryl was either! The two of them had been through this enough!

With that conviction in mind, Beth rounded the side of the train car with the gun held steady in her hand and her eyes ice cold. What she found there was a stocky middle aged man with dark greasy hair, dressed in what looked like dirty riot gear overalls. He had Daryl on his knees and was forcibly keeping him there by gripping him by the nape of his neck. His other hand held a gun which he immediately pressed harder to the side of his captives head.

Daryl's gaze narrowed furiously for seeing her. Despite the direness of his predicament he barked out angrily, ''Goddamn it Beth! I done told ya ta run!''

The man behind him was grinning much like the idiot the loudspeaker had pegged him for and didn't seem to notice that she had a gun trained right on the center on his chest. Beth purposely cocked the hammer and bit out, ''You best let him go mister, unless you want to die right here… right now.''

''I don't think so, sweetheart." He responded as he aggressively dug the barrel of his own gun into Daryl's skull, ''I've got the upper hand, you know it and I know it. Drop the gun... unless you wanna watch me put a bullet in his ear and call it good.''

"If he dies, you die. End of story." She said, sounding a hell of a lot more assured than she felt.

The man spat into the dirt at his feet, not phased at all by the threat she presented. Beth was finding it hard to hear anything over the sound of her own pulse as it raced in her ears.

"Guessin' we'll see 'bout that. What you seem to be forgettin' is that you that came here lookin' for us. What the hell did you think you were gonna find? Some kind of fuckin' oasis?" He purposely tightened the grip he had on Daryl's neck, making him huff against him in anger. "I ain't gonna tell you again, drop the gun or I'll kill him!"

''No, you won't...'' Beth stepped in closer, ''Or you would've done it already. A place like this doesn't send out four armed guards to chase us around if the point was to kill us on sight. You had plenty of chances and none of you took them."

''Well, goddamn... aren't you a clever girl!'' He sneered, the black tone used shrouding his features, ''Good news is that you're right, I ain't gonna kill him. All that was said to get you out here. The bad news is that it don't matter... not to you. What ya don't know is that you had your chance too. When you see what's in store for you, you're gonna wish you had taken it...''

With that, he struck Daryl sharply on the back of his head, using the hard edged handle of the gun to knock him out cold. The blow sent him down to the ground to immediately take him out of the equation.

His crumpled body laying there was the last thing Beth saw before the same thing happened to her. Someone came up from behind to hit her as well, and as Beth fell to her knees she vaguely wondering what the man's threat had meant...

Darkness descended to make all other thoughts completely irrelevant. It welcomed her with open arms, removing her from the tense situation and everything that came with it as she collapsed down heavily into the dirt.

…...

I've spent a lot of time over the last few weeks figuring out how I was going to end WSLA and I'm happy to say that I have a fairly good idea now of how I'm going to do it. It will be so strange to not always be working on it once it's done but I will be happy knowing that I left something behind that so many Bethyl fans have enjoyed. That's a long way off though and many more chapters to write. Thank you to all my followers and readers, old and new.