Complicated ✔

Ch. 84 - Back in Atlanta

KATHRYN'S POV

We sat in silence in the dark car, following the tail lights to the car that had passed us about an hour earlier. Daryl hadn't been one for showing affection of any type, and the only time I'd held his hand had been back on the farm, but right now he let me keep his free hand in mine as we grew further and further from our group. There was no telling where we were going, but that didn't stop us, this was our only way of finding Beth again. Daryl squeezed my hand at that moment, almost like he could feel where my thoughts were going.

"We won't leave without her," he said, glancing at me for only a second before turning his eyes back to the road. "I know," I said as I watched the world around us zoom on by, "I'm just glad to know that we're heading to where she could very well be." We stayed quiet after that, both seeming lost in our thoughts. "How we doin' on gas," I asked after a few minutes, leaning over to look at the gauge on the dash. "We're good for now," he said, causing me to look up at him as he peered at me before I sat back.

DARYL'S POV

"How do you know those people in that car are the same people who took Beth before," she asked as she sat back in her seat. I watched as she sunk down some before lifting her feet up to place them on the dash in front of her, getting comfortable for the ride and however long it may take. "When I was with her before," I said as I stared at the road ahead, "we got cornered in a funeral home. She got out before me, while I drew the walkers' attention away from her. When I got out, she was just gone. And a car with a white cross was pulling away."

"Like the one we're following," she said, putting two and two together as she looked to her knees in thought. "Yeah," I said, even though I knew I didn't really need to answer her for her to know that she was right. It was pretty obvious with the way I'd reacted when the car drove by to start with. "You know your dad's gonna wonder where we went off to," I said after a few minutes, looking over at her when I mentioned her dad. "Yeah I know," she whispered before peering up at me, "he'll understand."

It got quiet again between us, the usual comfortable silence we got whenever we were together and alone. "The usual plan," Kat asked after a few minutes. "Yeah," I said glancing over at her, "follow them and see who they are. If they got a group we'll watch them and see what they can do then go from there." "Okay," she said before looking ahead of us, "they're heading north on I-85. Depending on where we are, do you think they're headed back to Atlanta? Maybe?" "We'll see," I said as I continued to follow behind before the familiar skyline to Atlanta appeared before us.

KATHRYN'S POV

As we entered the city, a sort of nostalgia came over me as I remembered when we were here last time. It was about a year and a half ago I'd have to guess now. When I felt the car pulling to a stop, I snapped out of my thoughts and peered ahead to see the car we'd been following had pulled to a stop at the street corner. "The hell they doing," I asked before glancing to Daryl. He glanced at me for a second before looking back and seeing the car in front of us be put in park. Quickly, Daryl turned the car off so if someone got out then they wouldn't hear ours running in the silence.

We sat there waiting, before the passenger side door opened to reveal that there were two people in that car instead of one. "There's two of 'em," he said as we both watched the man walk out of sight just past a building. "That means there's possibly more," I said glancing to him, "we'll need to be careful." He looked to me and nodded before looking back ahead. Seconds later, a loud bang sounded from beside me, causing us both to jump and turn our attention to my window. There, banging one the glass and snarling, was a walker.

Rolling my eyes and letting out a sigh, I looked back ahead of us to see the guy walking back to the car. This time I could make him out a little better, and leaned forward to get a better look. "Is he a cop," I asked in disbelief as the guy climbed into his car. Glancing at Daryl, he merely shrugged before we watched the car pull off. When he tried to turn the car back on, it wouldn't start. "Shit," Daryl muttered, "tanks empty." "If they were just driving through the city," I said looking ahead, "then they would've taken the bypass."

"Yeah and they didn't," he said before looking around, "they must be holed up here in the city somewhere." "The walker brought it's buddies," I said nodding ahead of us to the slowly approaching heard. "Gotta find someplace to hole up till morning," he said nodding. Looking around, I realized I knew where we were. Pulling my knife out, I looked to Daryl. "I know a place," I said, "it's a couple blocks from here. We can make it." He nodded before watching me roll my window down and stabbing the walker there. Once that was taken care of we climbed out. "Follow me," I said before taking off, Daryl easily keeping pace with me.