𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 | Daryl Dixon

55 | SEE WHAT I SEE

Driving through the pitch-black night, only the red glow of the taillights on the leading car to guide them, Tori noticed the roads become more and more familiar the further they went. 

The two-lane road soon grew into five, a concrete barrier separating one side from the other. She looked past Daryl out the window on his side, seeing the silhouettes of abandoned cars, all piled up and crashed together, facing the other way. Whilst their side was totally clear.

Before them, the skyline was black. Only the outlines of skyscrapers barely visible in front of the hight moonlight. Her hometown. Atlanta.

She hadn't been near this city since the day the CDC was destroyed. Never had a reason to. Life these days was about moving forwards, and never looking back in case you saw something you weren't prepared to relive. And yet, here she was. Slumped down in a passenger seat of a car with no lights whilst Daryl drove, following the first lead they'd had to Beth Greene since she was taken.

Tori decided not to talk for the drive, seeing how Daryl gripped the steering wheel, squeezing the life from it until his knuckles were white. Since their reunion at Terminus just yesterday, he hadn't told her much about what he did after the prison. Just that he was with Beth, and that he lost her. 

She could see it now, when she glanced over at him, how determined he was to find the girl, and get her back to her family. The same family that Daryl and Tori had essentially ditched to take this journey. Tori knew that they'd be worried. But this trip and any upset caused from it would all be worth it if they did manage to find Beth.

The city was filled with ghosts. The cars pulled up on the streets were rusty, vines growing up the sides, blocking the dusty windows. Dry leaves had blown from the trees out surrounding the built-up areas, crushed down to nothing but dust, blanketing the concrete road. The car ahead of them came to a stop at the end of the street, and Daryl slowly pulled to a stop, shutting the engine off.

"Duck down," he mumbled. "The hell are they waitin' for?"

Slumped in their seats, they watched from afar as the car ahead switched off its lights. A second later, someone got out of the passenger side, meaning there was two of them, at least.

Tori squinted to try and see better, noticing the figure wearing an all-black uniform, a logo etched into the short sleeves, and a gun holstered onto a belt. "Is that a cop?" she thought aloud.

They watched, even keeping their breathing low and silent as the cop wandered off along the road, around a corner, out of sight. The darkness made things seem so sinister. Their minds running through possibilities of who the cop was, where he was going, what he was doing. There was a tension in the car, building to the point where it was tough to let her chest rise and fall with an even breath. Steam started to fog up the windows as they waited, letting the seconds turn into minutes.

The air was becoming thick again, just like in the church. Walls closing in, skin tingling like bugs were crawling up her arms and legs.

The hard slam of a hand hitting the window next to her made her heart stop, a sharp gasp inhaled through her mouth as she turned her gaze to the walker that clawed at the glass. Her body was still shivering; she took a moment to realise that Daryl had reached over to her, his hand placed on her thigh in an instinctive, protective grip.

Ignoring the walker, the two of them watched the cop reappear, dragging some kind of vines and debris off the road, throwing it onto the sidewalk. He got back into the car, the lights came back on, and it drove around the corner.

Daryl quickly turned the keys, only for the engine to sputter for several seconds, then go completely dead. He tried again, only being met with the same sound.