Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 54 (Stay on the Tracks)

They were completely surrounded by the dead. Some had followed them from the prison, most had just been attracted by the sheer amount of gunfire at explosions. As they ran through the woods, doing their best to avoid the dead.

Beth raised her gun to shoot a walker that was close to her, but she was out of ammo. Daryl quickly fired an arrow at it, and it dropped to the floor. He gestured for Beth to run ahead and grabbed his arrow before running after her.

They got to an overgrown field and kept running until they both collapsed in the grass and tried to catch their breath after running for so long. They'd just lost everything.

The one person on Daryl's mind was CJ. He had begun wondering if he'd imagined hearing her voice calling for him during the attack. He would rather that, than the alternative thought of her calling out because she was hurt or trapped.

Daryl had always been quick to assume the worst. In his mind, he was trying his best to be hopeful. To believe that everyone got out and it wasn't just him and Beth that made it. But in the end, his pessimistic side always won out and he decided everyone he knew, everyone he cared about, everyone he loved, was gone.

The two of them made camp in the middle of the woods. They had no food, no water, just a small campfire that Daryl had made. He had barely uttered a single word to Beth, and she was getting tired of the silence.

"We should do something," she spoke up quietly. He didn't respond. "We should do something," she repeated loudly. "We aren't the only survivors. We can't be. Rick, Michonne, they could be out here. Maggie and Glenn coulda' made it out of A-block. CJ and Carl, they might have escaped the courtyard. They could have!"

His eyes glanced over to her at the mention of CJ's name, but he soon averted his gaze back to the flames in front of him. He couldn't let himself get his hopes up. Not after watching their home get destroyed for nothing.

"You're a tracker," Beth continued as she stood up. "You can track. Come on! Sun will be up soon, if we head out now, we can..." she stopped talking when she realised she was getting nowhere. "Fine! If you won't track, I will." She grabbed her knife and stormed off into the woods.

Daryl hesitated before eventually getting up of the floor and stomping the fire out. He picked up his crossbow and followed Beth. He may have disagreed with how optimistic she was being about finding everyone, but he wasn't about to let her go off by herself when she has no clue where she's going or what she's doing.

They walked until the sun rose and came across a clearing. Daryl crouched down and brushed a few leaves away from a footprint he'd spotted in the mud by a log.

"Could be Luke's, or Molly's," Beth thought aloud. "Whoever they are, means they're alive."

"No," Daryl mumbled. "Means they were alive four, five hours ago."

"They're alive," Beth shot back angrily before walking away. Daryl looked down at the footprint again and sighed before following her.

They followed a path for a while, coming across a grape bush by a small clearing. Daryl noticed some flattened grass and a few grapes that had been squashed on the ground, like they'd been stood on. "They picked up the pace right here," he observed, making Beth come back to him. "Got out in a hurry. Things went bad."

"Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith," Beth retorted.

"Faith. Faith ain't done shit for us," Daryl muttered. "Sure as hell did nothin' for your father."