Shattered Wings

Chapter Seventeen: Trunk Part Two

They had been riding for about an hour when Daryl began to slow down, Beth was admiring the scenery as they rode and watched as they passed by walkers without care. When Daryl started to slow down Beth popped out of her headspace and focused. Suddenly she realized there was a walker standing in the road ahead of them, Beth didn't understand why they didn't just drive past it like all the rest. When they came to a complete stop, she let go of Daryl's waist and watched as he grabbed his crossbow off his back, aiming it at the walker. "Daryl..." Beth lowered her voice, "What's wrong?" Beth looked forward to the walker so she could study it. This was when she clocked the fact that it hadn't moved. Not even twitched, not once. "Daryl..." Beth slowly got off the bike, looking out at the walker. It was...it was staring back at her. It's eyes focused...Did their eyes do that?

Suddenly the walker quickly took off into the woods, it was running. Beth was confused, she watched as it ran into the trees. Daryl took a few steps forward, "Come on!" He started to run in the direction of where it had ran. Beth looked around, confused. Quickly she grabbed the keys off the bike and shoved them in her pockets before running after Daryl.

They jumped over rocks, branches, and ran around stumps. Beth didn't really understand what was happening, why the walker ran and why they were even following them, but she trusted Daryl. After running for at least fifteen minutes Daryl slowed down, losing track of the direction the walker had run. "Daryl..." Beth caught up to him, catching her breath, "Wha..."

"Sh..." Daryl was looking around.

"What was that? Was that a walker?" She lowered her voice.

"Nah," he shook his head, listening around them. "Come on..." He started off toward a road in the distance, Beth began to wonder how far they had gotten off their path. Did Daryl know where they were? "There!" He whispered out to her, pointing toward the road. The walker they had been chasing was standing out on the street, Daryl and Beth got to the opening of the tree line and it began to run again, it was now that Beth began to notice something.

"Daryl!" She called out, trying not to be too loud, "We're not chasing it!" They turned a corner and the walker had disappeared, Daryl and Beth starred out at the scene in front of them, "It's leading us..." She breathed out, staring at a giant herd of walkers standing in front of them. The growing and gurgling began and the heard began to move toward them, every single one of them aware of Daryl and Beth's presence.

"Come on!" Daryl started off down another street, but there stood another herd of walkers. This one was smaller than the other, but still threatening. "Shit..." Daryl backed up into Beth and shook his head, "This way!" They ran down the last road, both herds merging behind them and Beth began to panic.

"We can't keep running, they will follow us." Beth turned to Daryl who was looking all around them.

Beth was right, they couldn't lead the herd. "Follow me." He turned down the road behind them, stabbing a few walkers with arrows as they moved, Beth even took a couple out with her knife, Daryl looking over as she did and surprised with how she was handling herself. As they started down the road Beth noticed they were headed further away from both Alexandria and Warren, Daryl thought this out and he must've known where they were. "Better be ready to get cozy!" Daryl ran up to a car and yanked the trunk open, they were both having flashbacks when they had left the prison and one night they had to outrun a herd in the rain, they did so by hiding in a trunk of a car, but that one was much roomier than this. Daryl looked down the street where the herd was turning toward them, "Get in!" Beth threw out a couple suitcases that were in the back and climbed in, Daryl followed behind her, leaning over to look at Beth, "Give me yer belt." Beth looked down and undid the belt she had on, raising her hips to pulled the belt free and handing it over to Daryl who used it to tie the trunk closed so they wouldn't be locked in. They sat in silence until the growling and the herd closed in, Beth closed her eyes as the walkers bumped into the car causing it to shake. Somehow this was worse than before, at least the storm covered up a lot of the walker sounds before. Daryl sighed, "Shit!" Walkers must've bumped into the car so hard the trunk clicked closed, they were locked in, "Fuck..." The trunk was pitch black. Daryl could feel Beth's legs pressed into his, they had to be close as the trunk was so small. Hearing her breathing he reached over to find her hand, grasping it in his own as he pressed his head back and listened to the grunting outside.

Beth felt his hand clasp her own, she closed her eyes again and shook her head, "Deja vu." She whispered.

Daryl laughed softly, "Yea..." The herd didn't seem to be going much of anywhere anytime soon, the bumping on the car had softened, but their sounds were still there. "We may be in here for the night."

"Maggie's gonna worry." Beth shook her head, turning to look at Daryl but only seeing darkness. "What was that?"

"Whisperer." Daryl grunted, angry with the word, "We haven't seen much of them since they lead a herd to Alexandria."

"Whisperer." Beth repeated.

"They skin walkers, wear their skin..." Beth understood now why not only the walker ran, but it starred back at her.

"They lead us to the herd," Beth shook her head, "but how did they know we'd be out here?" 

Daryl took in what she said, he let it sink in and he realized she was right, there was no way they would have known that they would be headed for Warren. "Unless...someone in Alexandria is a spy..." Daryl took a deep breath, "But no one there hasn't been there for a while..."

"Oh my God..." Beth breathed out, she felt Daryl squeeze her hand.

"What?" He was intrigued.

"Fiona." Beth laughed to herself, it wasn't funny though, "Wow."

"The pregnant one?" Daryl shook his head, "Damn it!" He said this louder than he meant, a walker began to bang on the car. Fiona hadn't been in Alexandria that long, she was the only new person.

"Good job." Beth listened to the walkers banging on the car.

There was nothing they could do right now to help Alexandria, they just had to wait.