It's been so long since my last update so here's a quick recap of where we are:

Beth is in the U-Bahn tunnels on the East Berlin side, looking for a way through to the West. She's being held at gunpoint by Abraham, Tara and Rosita.

Blake is furious that Beth has disappeared just days after he released her from prison, and has just questioned Maggie over Beth's whereabouts. Maggie has pretended to have fallen out with Beth, but is not sure whether Blake believes her.

Lori has just discovered that Blake has been bugging her and Shane's apartments because of Beth, and she is royally pissed. She's gone to Rick, supposedly to ask him to get her out, but really because she suspects he knows where Beth is and she wants to get revenge on her, and a reward for herself.

Rick and Daryl have just fallen out over Rick's desire to help his former wife, whom Daryl suspects of duplicity.

Merle's overheard their conversation and now knows for sure that Daryl, Rick and Beth are traitors. Daryl sees Merle hurrying away and realises the game is up.

Thank you to Nine Bright Shiners for her fabulous notes!

Onwards! This is the SECOND LAST chapter. I can't believe it's nearly over.

…

The two girls stared at the tall, red-headed man. 'Shoot her?' said the one with dark brows and shoulder-length hair. 'Are you nuts, Abraham? We don't shoot other Berliners.'

Abraham cast his eyes to the roof of the tunnel, exasperated. 'Goddamn, don't say my name.'

The other woman looked thoughtful a moment and then turned to Beth. 'I'm Rosita. That's Tara. And our friend here, I swear, is not going to shoot you.' She glared at Abraham. 'Are you?' she asked, her voice hard.

Abraham dropped the gun he was holding to his side. 'Great. Just great. How do we know she's not going to run to the Stasi now?'

The one called Tara handed Beth's gun back to her. 'His bark is worse than his bite.' Tara gave her a thoughtful look. 'Is it just you, or are there others relying on you?'

Beth tucked the gun down the back of her trousers. She looked at each of these strangers in turn. They'd frightened her, but she didn't blame them for their caution. If she came clean with them they might do the same with her.

She nodded. 'There are others relying on me. I've been down here for days on my own, searching. I can't go back to the surface. The Stasi are looking for me.'

Rosita wrinkled her nose. 'That sucks. It's the pits down here.'

'I'm just looking for a way through for my people,' Beth said. 'If we work together, maybe we can all get what we want.'

Abraham gave her a narrow look. 'What's in it for us?'

Beth could see that it was him she was going to have to convince, but she didn't have the energy for an impassioned speech. She was just going to hope her honesty and desperation was enough. 'Nothing, I suppose. Just the knowledge that we're on the same side, united against the Stasi. We're stronger together.'

'You're trouble, missie. You've already got the Stasi on your tail. And besides …' He laughed, changing weight from his left foot to his right, almost swaggering. 'We don't need you.'

There was something about the cocky way he spoke that gave him away. 'You've already found a way through to the West. Haven't you?'

…

Go to hell, Merle. Mind your own damn business, Merle. 'Fuck you too, baby brother,' Merle growled to himself as he hurried away from Daryl's flat.

So Beth was looking for a way over the Wall and Blake's brunette secretary was getting antsy to get out, too. This was real interesting. Everyone thought old Merle was a thicko, good-fer-nothin' waste of space. Even that fancy commandant sittin' up there in HQ with his big desk and his fancy uniform. Had he got any leads about Beth? Merle didn't think so.

Everyone had underestimated ol' Merle. He was going to show 'em. And he knew just where he was going to start.

…

Blake looked over the border guard standing in front of his desk. Another Greene to grace his office in less than twenty-four hours. Too bad it wasn't the one he was interested in.

'Take a seat, Private Greene.'

Greene remained at attention. 'Thank you, sir, but I prefer to stand.'

Something about Greene's overtly obedient manner reminded Blake of his military days, and he took a sudden dislike to the young man. He didn't recall his army days with any affection. Being a soldier in the Wehrmacht and fighting for that madman had been demeaning, and he'd almost been glad to have been captured and put into a POW camp. His only regret had been that he'd had no way of communicating with Hannah. Had they had a boy or a girl? he'd wondered over and over again those long, hot nights in Northern Africa. Did she still love him? Were they safe? Were they waiting for him somewhere away from the bombing?

'Very well. What have you come to see me about?'

Private Greene fixed his eyes somewhere over Blake's head and said, 'My sister, sir. Maggie Greene. She's been acting strangely these past few weeks. I think you are aware that my other sister, Beth, has disappeared.'

Blake ground his teeth together. Aware that Beth was missing? It was all he could think about. 'And?' he bit out.

'I think Maggie knows where she is, sir.'

Blake looked thoughtfully at the private. People were so willing to betray their loved ones to ingratiate themselves with the Stasi. It never ceased to amaze him. What did Greene want from him? A pat on the back? A promotion? If he came through with some information that led to Beth's whereabouts he could probably see to it.

Would Private Greene still do it, though, if he knew what Blake was going to do to his sister?

It wasn't Beth's betrayal of East Berlin that made Blake hate her. It was her betrayal of him. He'd wanted her, confided in her. She let him think that she'd confided in him. Had she been playing him the whole time? He didn't know, and it was the not knowing that kept him awake at night, shifting angrily beneath the sheets.

Blake sat forward, writing two numbers on a scrap of paper.

'This is the number for my direct line, and the phone number of my flat. If you see Beth I want you to call me immediately.' He held the paper out to Private Greene, who took it with an expression of pleasure.

…

Beth pulled the scarf further over her hair, ducking her head as she hurried toward Daryl's flat. The day was misty and cold, but the snow had finally melted and Berlin was wreathed in grey instead of white.

It felt strange being back on the streets she'd said goodbye to, and she flinched whenever she passed another person. But it was too good an opportunity to miss. The three people she'd just met had a way through to the other side, and they were willing to reveal where the location was and work together if she could convince them that she and Daryl weren't amateurs who would put them in danger. Daryl would convince them, she was sure.

And then? she wondered, heart tight in her chest. She could be over the border that night with Maggie and Glenn. Daryl would stay behind, and he might as well be as far away as the moon, then, not on the other side of the same city. She tried to understand that he wanted to stay in East Berlin and help others get out. It had been what she'd wanted too until Blake had ruined it for her. But in the darkness of the lonely tunnels she'd wished that he might give it up to be with her, as selfish as that was.

She ducked gratefully inside his building and ran up to his floor. But hammering on the door drew no response. It was Saturday afternoon. Where was he? She'd be grateful even to see Merle right then because at least she'd have a safe place to wait if he'd let her in.

Ten minutes later the door was still closed, and Beth was getting antsy. It wouldn't do to loiter by his door, lest one of his neighbours get suspicious of her. She'd be better off coming back in half an hour or so.

There was a park a few blocks from his apartment and she went there, walking along the straight gravel paths, her hands deep in her pockets, feeling the cold seep slowly through her inadequate clothing.

Please come back soon, Daryl.

…

Lori sat on the park bench, scratching at the gravel with the toe of her leather boot. This time of year always got her down. Winter was giving way to spring, but it never happened fast enough. Every morning when she woke she hoped to see sunshine and blue skies, a hint of the warm air that would suffuse Berlin all through the long summer. But it was grey and clammy instead. Still, she didn't want to be inside with electronic ears listening to every move. Sometimes it felt like they were burrowing under her skin – little bugs, all with Blake's face on them.

She'd been in the park for nearly an hour, virtually on her own, when a solitary figure crunched past her. Lori glanced idly at the feminine profile, the lock of blonde hair that had escaped its headscarf.

It was too good to be true – but then, her luck had to change at some point.

'Beth?'

…

Beth turned at the sound of the woman's voice, her heart lurching. She saw Frau Grimes encased in a shearling coat, the tip of her nose reddened from cold, standing by a park bench.

Beth shook her head. 'I'm sorry, I –' She broke off and hurried away, not able to think of anywhere she had to be, or any reason why she would be in a park on a Saturday afternoon. Lori must know from the commandant that she'd disappeared.

'Beth, wait.' The woman hurried after her. 'It's safe, we can talk out here. No one's listening.'

She felt the woman lace her arm through hers like they were confidantes, but her grip was very tight. Beth shook her head. 'I have to go.'

'It's all right,' Lori said, dipping her mouth close to Beth's ear. 'I know. Rick's going to get me out, too. I'm with your group now.'

Beth stopped in her tracks, staring up at her.

…

Beth accepted the two fluffy towels from Lori with a grateful smile. 'Thank you. I haven't showered in days.'

Lori smiled and wrinkled her nose. 'I can see that. What have you been doing, digging a tunnel?'

She gave the woman an evasive smile and a half shrug. 'Something like that.' If Rick and Daryl had accepted her into the group then Lori was OK with her, but she knew better than to divulge all their secrets. 'Thank you for letting me come here, as well. I know it's a risk for you.'

Lori was dismissive. 'What's the danger if I'm getting out soon?

Beth put a hand on the woman's arm and said in a low voice, 'Watch what you say in here, all right?'

Something slid behind Lori's eyes as she looked at Beth. 'Oh. All right.'

Once in the shower Beth turned the hot water up as high as she could bear and scrubbed herself hard. In her head she drew up a list for herself. She'd get clean and warm, and perhaps get a change of clothes from Lori, and then she'd head back to Daryl's and leave a note under the door saying she'd be back every two hours till she saw him. Meanwhile she'd have to go to one of the safe houses. She couldn't keep putting Lori in danger by coming back here.

There had been something oddly wooden about the way Lori had said 'All right' when Beth had warned her to be careful what she said. Beth was thoughtful as she towelled herself off, but couldn't put her finger on what was nagging at her.

She stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in the towel just as Lori was putting the phone down. She almost slammed it down, and then gave Beth a rigid smile. 'Shane, wanting to come over. I told him it wasn't a good time. I've laid out some clothes for you in the bedroom, and there's some food in the kitchen. You must be starving.'

Beth was dressed in woollen trousers and a baggy knit jumper and eating pickles with gouda and brown bread in the kitchen when she heard the pounding of a heavy male stride somewhere on their floor.

Just a neighbour, she told herself. But the bottom fell out of her stomach as she listened to the footsteps sound along the passage. A long, confident stride. It stopped at Lori's door, and she heard it open.

It's Comrade Walsh, he's just let himself in.

But there were no sounds of greeting from Lori. No sounds at all, actually, except the blood rushing in Beth's ears.

Mid-chew, she stepped out of the kitchen and into the drawing room.

She'd forgotten how big he was, broad as well as tall. He filled the front doorway. For just the second time she'd seen him he wasn't wearing his uniform. The collar of his black leather coat was turned up and grazed the back of his head, and that and the black eyepatch made her heart thud with fear.

Lori stood to one side, smoking a cigarette, one elbow leaning on her crossed arm, not looking at either of them.

Commandant Blake's remaining blue eye was watching her, cold and unblinking.

'Hello, Beth.'

...

Uh-oh!

Night Bright Shiners and I were lucky enough to see David Morrissey perform a W.H. Auden poem at a refugee benefit performance the other week. He was wonderful!

HOW GOOD is the TWD S6 continuation! The last two eps have been perfection in my opinion. I was grinning all the way through Rick and Daryl's Excellent Adventure this week. 'That's my gun!'