Taking a Chance

Chapter 5

The miles were going much slower than Daryl would have liked. They were still making decent progress toward Las Vegas, but it simply wasn't enough. They had been on the road about three hours when they felt it was okay to call Rick and Michonne. This time Gabrielle put the phone on speaker so everyone could talk.

"Hey, I have you on speaker so Daryl can hear," Gabrielle told Michonne.

"Let me do the same for Rick. Where are you guys?"

Gabrielle looked at Daryl and he looked back at her. "Hello? Gabby? Where are you guys?"

"Somewhere in fuckin' Utah, I think," Daryl finally answered. We haven't seen a town since we crossed the damn border. Rick, you so fuckin' owe me for this."

"Awe, c'mon Daryl you're getting to see this great country and not just the hills of Georgia. You're expanding your horizons," Rick laughed. He knew more than anyone that Daryl hated to be out of his comfort zone.

"Fuck my horizons! Last night we drove through the god damn Rocky Mountains. Crazy ass turns and sheer drop-offs. And don't get me started on the damn tunnel!" Daryl was riled up with pent up frustration.

"Tunnel? What tunnel? We didn't drive through any tunnel," Gabrielle said. What was he talking about?

"You bet your sweet ass we did. You slept through it last night, Princess. Fifty or Sixty miles of a long dark hole that was never ending!" he growled.

Michonne looked over at Rick and mouthed, "Princess?" to him. Rick shrugged his shoulders with a smile. His buddy must be having a hell of a trip. Rick knew that Gabrielle could be difficult at times with her pretentious attitude and he would bet money on that that the two of them were clashing. Rick was enjoying every minute of it.

"I finally see a sign coming up for the town of Richfield. When we get there, we'll take a break and get an idea of where the hell we are. We'll call you back then, 'kay?" Daryl suggested.

"It's a plan, bro, but if you guys can't make it, we'll just push the wedding back a few hours. We can do that," Rick reminded them.

Daryl shook his head. He didn't' want to delay their wedding. "Not if we can help it."

Gabrielle said goodbye for them and the call disconnected. "I can't believe I missed that tunnel. I completely forgot it was out here. I remember learning about it in school." She proceeded to tell him all about the Eisenhower Tunnel, which Daryl really didn't give a shit about. However, he did realize that besides being one of the hottest women he had ever seen, Gabrielle was also very smart. Just another reason, she was completely out of his league. The only reason he barely finished high school was for Mrs. G.

The scenery they saw while driving through Utah was incredible. In the desert, there were unbelievable rock formations along with the high mesas that came in every shade of red and orange imaginable and were simply breathtaking. Daryl wished he had his motorcycle with him instead of the car. He would have enjoyed riding that through the valleys and canyons that surrounded them. It was wishful thinking on his part as he knew he'd never get back this way again.

When they finally made it to Richfield, Gabrielle was able to use her phone to figure out they still had four and half hours to go. It was already two o'clock. "We're not going to make it," Gabrielle signed.

"Nope. Fuck." Daryl ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Call them and let them know what's going on."

They were sitting in a McDonald's parking lot. Daryl had already gassed up the car and they were going to grab lunch to go and take a quick bathroom break. Before they headed inside, Gabrielle made the call and Daryl got out of the car. He let her do all of the talking as he felt like he was letting his friends down, even though he had no control over the mess this trip was. He only hoped it wasn't an omen.