The farm fell early. Her dad couldn't accept that the creatures were dead and at the time Beth clutched onto that idea with everything she had; would have done anything to believe her mom and brother were still alive. Now she knew how foolish they'd all been -although kicking the thought proved to be a difficult task.
Otis had been loading a body into the barn when he was bit by an undead neighbor that got loose. Her momma and Shawn had already become sick-loaded into the barn with the others at that point… They all got out while Otis was on the ground, being eaten alive; it was Beth who'd seen the whole thing from her spot on the field, she who ran to tell the others.
Despite her best efforts, they still lost three people that day: Otis, Patricia and Jimmy. They'd also gotten split up in the small herd: Maggie and her dad locked themselves in the house while Beth ran along the long road leading towards their property. She'd wanted to go for the woods but was more likely to get lost in the lush greenery… also more likely to fall if she was being honest with herself.
A few years ago, she spent a lot of time on the neighboring farms with their grandkids. So she had an idea of where she was going, making her way to the old treehouse easily- as if she still went there every day like she did when she was younger. The ladder was old and rickety at this point… probably eaten to hell by termites. Despite that, the place held up pretty steadily. It was smaller than she'd like but big enough to lay down and get a good night's sleep, big enough to be comfortable when awake. Her plan was to hole up in the tree house for a day or two until the zombies in their yard wandered somewhere else; after she'd go back to meet up with her dad and Maggie.
Honestly, the youngest Greene hadn't even thought about what she was going to eat until a few of the walkers from the barn wandered underneath the small wooden treehouse she made home for the night and took the option of her leaving off the table. It would have been pointless to scavenge from her neighbor's house anyways- she was fairly sure Otis and Shawn had already done that after they became sick.
After falling asleep and waking again without seeing anyone sick, Beth decided to try her luck going back home. She didn't want to stay away for so long that they thought she was bitten but also didn't want to risk getting bitten on her walk back, it was a fine line to balance.
She was getting more weak with hunger each hour that passed. They'd been lucky up until that point, not having to starve at all… She hadn't eaten breakfast before all the people escaped the barn and going twenty-four hours without food had her stomach aching for some nourishment. If she didn't move soon, she'd lose her chance; become too weak to fight.
Gripping the pocket knife that Thomas left in the treehouse after his last visit, Beth found herself anticipating the short walk back to the farm. It was pretty likely that there will still be sick people lurking around, maybe even her mother or her brother… and if she didn't defend herself, she'd end up just like them.
Not able to help it, tears sprung from her eyes at the mere thought of what she'd have to do to them. Her father would never approve, be devastated if he knew she was even thinking like this but something about the incident with the barn made her realize how truly hopeless everything was. It snapped her back to reality, made her realize how idealistic her dad was being. No one was coming to save them: they had to save themselves. She knew it but the thought still made her want to curl up into a ball and cry, just give up before she gets torn apart regardless.
After taking a few minutes to wallow in the situation, she got her composure once more and climbed down the latter once she was sure the area below was clear. Her neighbor's yard was both peaceful and ominous- the yard looked exactly the same as it did before the sickness took over. It was too easy to get lost in the memories it used to hold, too easy to let your guard down when you were in it.
Flipping open the small blade and gripping it until her knuckles were white, Beth made her way along the road that would bring her back to her farm with a grim look on her face. If she was going to be honest with herself, she wasn't sure if she was ready to fight these things. After a second she rolled her eyes at her own thought; no one was ever ready to fight these things. You just had to do it if you wanted to live.
When she saw the farm the breath caught in her throat. She'd expected the people to walk somewhere else once they weren't being contained, maybe kind of thought her mom and Shawn would stay on the farm and all the other sick people would scatter. Most were still in the yard: some were standing idilly, others were wandering around and knocking into anything that got in their way. There was no way that she could get into the house yet.
Backtracking before they turned and saw her, Beth eyed the direction she just came in. A few miles away was the grocery store in town- there wouldn't be much left at this point but maybe a few cans of something. She'd take anything, truthfully. Deciding to hide in the treeline, Beth made her way through the woods in her yard towards the stables. Most of the infected were near the barn or the main house, if there was one or two near the stables she could probably outrun them. She moved slowly through the woods, trying to be as quiet as she could but finding it extremely difficult.
The stables were hidden in the treeline of the property and she suspected that's the reason she got lucky- not finding a single infected person to fight as she put the saddle on her brown horse, Belle. She doubted she'd get that lucky when putting her back in the stables, the sound of her hooves hitting the ground likely to draw attention towards them. She didn't know much about the sickness but she knew being loud only drew more of them to you.
The ride into town was eery, she didn't usually ride her horse on actual roads before everything went bad. There didn't seem to be another soul on Earth; the thought making her heart ache with a hollowness she didn't know was possible. She knew that her father and Maggie were alive in their home but found herself wondering how long it'd be until she hugged them again, riding up to the grocery story and tying Belle to the bike rack in the front of the store quickly.
She didn't see any walkers and the thought only made her more alert, not wanting anything to sneak up on her. Surprised at how much was actually left, Beth grabbed enough cans to last her probably about two weeks if she rationed. Struggling to put the heavy backpack on her shoulders once more, she finally succeeded and made her way towards the front of the store again.
Freezing as she looked through the front window to see an infected person wandering towards Belle, she debated what to do for a few moments. A second later, Beth pulled the front door open and ran up to the person, stabbing them in the neck a few times as she held them away with her other hand. She was covered in rotten guts before she knew it but the thing was still coming so she moved her stabs to a more specific region: their head. After a few jabs to the top of the head, it fell beside her quickly enough.
"I'm sorry." She spoke to the dead person sadly, letting a few tears trail down her cheeks before untying her horse and getting on her again. What her father didn't know wouldn't hurt him.