Beth and Noah found a once incredibly trendy clothing store that, surprisingly wasn't completely raided, it still held various things such as jewelry, clothes, shoes, bags, and random items. However, it wasn't a normal shopping trip, with Grady still looming over them they only needed little things that would last them a while. But, somehow in the mix of it all Beth got distracted and began looking around. She came across a plain bracelet with a cross, she examined it with a smile, it was perfect.
She turned around after plucking the bracelet from the bin; ready to find the dressing room, when she saw a couple of cross body bags and fancy purses. They hung next to the boots, which Beth would be needing. The bag that stood out the most to her was a dark purple bag, the color reminded Beth of red wine. She walked over and plucked it off of the hanger, it was lightweight but sturdy and had many compartments.
She found herself folding the few shirts she found and laying them neatly in the bag, and it was filling quickly but with Beth's unique folding tricks, there was plenty of room left over. Eventually, she would need larger shirts, with her pregnancy advancing it was almost impossible to ignore that need.
She took the clothes that she picked out to wear and walked to the dressing room, the clothes weren't anything special, just a plain green tank top, a pair of blue jeans and cowboy boots that looked almost identical to her previous pair. The dressing room was anything but welcoming, it was cold and there were boxes and clutter thrown everywhere. As she made her way further into the rows of stalls, she saw blood smeared across the wall towards the back. She inhaled sharply, quickly adverting her eyes down to the clothes she held, she couldn't stand to look. But she had to get dressed, the longer they stayed in the city, the more chance they have of being caught.
After dressing in the clothes she picked and discarding the disgusting scrubs, she began pulling her boots on and for a second, just a second, she had forgotten where she was. She half expected Maggie to ask her to come out and show her what she looked like, it wasn't until Noah called into the dressing room that she was thrust back into reality; she frowned.
"I'm in here."
He knocked lightly on the first door." Find some stuff?"
"Yeah, some." She said as she glanced in the mirror. Her jeans were tight on her but that was expected since the jeans were never worn before. She sighed. Or maybe she was just gaining weight.
Noah nodded and leaned against the wall; waiting.
"I'm glad that I found this stuff, in a couple of months I'm gonna be gettin' fat." She opened the stall door and walked out holding her bag.
He pushed off the wall holding a backpack of his own." Ready?"
She nodded." Yup."
Beth followed him out to the middle of the store. Despite still having trendy clothes, it was falling apart. Pieces of the ceiling caved in at one point, water damage, the floors busted up in different areas, windows busted out. Noah stopped abruptly; standing completely still, Beth had almost ran in the back of him. She peered around him and saw the few walkers shuffling by, normally it wouldn't of been a big deal, but they had no weapons and it was a very big deal.
He looked over slowly, careful to not attract the walkers just outside." Behind the counter."
Beth nodded and slowly dropped down to the ground, she crawled over behind the counter and sat against it; her heart in her throat. She was becoming frustrated and scared that they couldn't and wouldn't come up with a plan in time, they were practically sitting ducks - they did possess any weapons, nor did they have transportation. They needed to leave before Grady came up with a bigger and better plan to sweep the city for them.
"We need a plan." Beth whispered as Noah crawled over to her.
He nodded.
"Well.. Say somethin'." Beth said." I don't know the city all that well."
He opened his eyes." There's stairs in the back."
"There is?"
He nodded and rubbed his face." Almost always is."
"Where does it lead?"
"An apartment usually, sometimes store owners live above their stores. Sometimes it's just a storage place."
She nodded and grabbed the pocket knife she swiped, so maybe they had one weapon. It still wasn't enough to feel safe. But right now, if a walker was to stumble in here and behind the counter, they'd at least have something. Noah peered over the counter and counted at least thirty to forty walkers, enough to make a small herd. He rolled his eyes as he slowly sat back down.
"How many?" She whispered.
"A lot."
She frowned." Great." She whispered.
...
Grady Memorial. 7:45 A:M
"I don't care what it takes, get them back!" Dawn yelled.
Doctor Edwards was seemingly unaware of it all as he stepped into Dawn's office, as she demanded everyone do. When he walked in, all eyes turned from Dawn and landed on him. Even though he was supposed to know nothing, he became increasingly subconscious that his lie was written all over his face.
"Where the hell have you been?"
He cleared his throat." I was working with Joan, she's in critical."
Dawn nodded." This isn't about Joan. This is about Beth and Noah, they got out! DO you know anything, anything at all about this?"
He shook his head no, he hoped to be convincing. He was after all lying.
"I-I have no idea, when did this happen?" he adjusted his glasses.
"About an hour ago." Shepherd spoke." Me and Tally tried to run after, but we lost em'. St. Jaques, he was patrolling the main strip. He thought he saw them, but it was walkers. He said there was a big herd anyways, they'll either flush em' out, or kill them."
Dawn's hand connected with his cheek. The sound was excruciating, and he was glad that it was Shepherd and not him. He immediately clutched the side of his face and groaned in pain. It was already red as a tomato. She turned and stared at Edwards; chewing on the inside of her cheek, he could tell by the indent of where her teeth were. She nodded at him - he swallowed.
"Beth was with you all day yesterday, she didn't seem off did she?"
He shook his head." No, not at all. She seemed perfectly fine."
Dawn slammed her hand down on the table." Shit!" she turned around and held her head as her breathing became rapid." Shepherd, you and Tally get out there and find them. I want them both alive, no funny business!"
...
Beth and Noah were raiding a small gun shop, but it had already been raided before. Well for the most part. They did find a pistol and a shot gun, and two boxes of left over ammo. And now they were searching high and low for more, two boxes wouldn't be enough. Especially when they were all for the pistol. The shot gun had some ammo in it already which was relieving, but they both knew it wouldn't last long.
Noah was searching for more ammo in the oddest places, he looked in a purse that was left on the counter, in drawers, under a desk, in the bathroom... Anywhere really, they didn't have much to lose, well Noah didn't. Beth found herself laying a hand over her stomach as she sighed, she would've looked with Noah but someone had to keep watch.
"Psst."
She spun around and saw Noah ducked down behind a shelf, he waved her over and without hesitation Beth dropped down and crawled over. He gripped her arm when she was close enough and pulled her over next to him.
"I saw them, they're driving around."
Her eyes watered and she looked down." Great."
He crawled over to the back door and opened it a crack, he watched as the station wagon that was circling, drove by slowly then turning down a street. He knew this would be their opportunity to escape. He turned back to Beth and waved her over, she pushed off of the floor and hurried over to the door.
"They just turned down the street. C'mon." He pushed open the door and walked out. He pushed Beth ahead of him." Go!" He hissed. He watched as she began running down the grassy dirt path.
Beth glanced behind her to see if Noah was following, and he was of course. She turned back around and continued running, he'd eventually catch up. She hurried down the small set of stairs, her heart beating a mile a minute. When she finally landed on the asphalt she darted across to the other side, she hurried up on to the side walk and looked behind her, Noah was coming down the stairs slowly due to his limp.
She turned back around knowing he'd only be a second and reached for the door just as a walker slammed itself against the glass, it startled her enough that she jumped back. She looked behind her again and saw Noah jogging over, he was panting and out of breath. When he was close enough she grabbed his arm and helped him into the shade of the building.
"The door's locked." She panted.
Noah hung his head with a huff, he looked back up and without words he raised the butt of his gun and slammed it into the glass, the walker that was making noise stopped and lunged for them. The butt of his gun connected with the rotting face of the corpse, it stumbled back and fell to the ground. Noah carefully stepped inside the building, then helping Beth inside careful to not touch the broken glass. She walked inside the lobby of the building and looked around.
The walker on the ground groaned and tried standing, Noah raised his foot and slammed it down on his head; ending it. Beth swallowed and looked away, the sight of it's brain's and blood made her want to vomit.
"Noah." She choked as she held her mouth." C'mon, we don't have-"
Beth noticed through the window that the station wagon stopped just at the corner of the building, she knew they had been caught. She raised her gun and pulled the trigger, the bullet shattered the glass as it tore through. It hit the car but only denting the exterior, which wasn't what was originally planned. Beth and Noah started running down a hallway that eventually led to stairs.
They were caught, Beth wasn't dumb. She knew Dawn would now have a reason to punish her, she tried to kill the officers. But she refused to get caught and go back to that God forsaken place, not after getting a taste of freedom. Not after knowing their secrets.
Surprisingly, Noah was right behind her as they ran up the stairs, she didn't expect that considering his leg. They managed to dodge walkers as they slammed against the doors as they raced up different levels of the building, they even managed to dodge the walkers that were up against the walls in a deep slumber. They didn't have much time to kill them, they'd just leave those walkers as obstacles for the officers. It'd buy them sometime at least.
To her right was a door, and without thinking much Beth pushed it open. The stench of rotting corpses brought her to a halt, she covered her nose as she cautiously walked in. Noah took a chair that was by the door and put it up under the knob, he grabbed his gun that he laid against the wall and started following Beth. He opened a few of the doors that they passed in the hall, none of which were any of importance to them. Just smaller offices that were trashed.
The putrid smell grew as they entered the much larger office, Beth doubled over with one hand on her knee and the back of her hand holding her mouth. Noah looked around and saw the culprits of the smell, two walkers laid on the floor; dead. He put his hand on Beth's back.
"You okay?"
She shook her head and spilled the little contents that she stored in her stomach, it wasn't much though, just a couple of crackers. She stood back up wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she gave Noah a smile showing her gratitude. He was after all looking out for her more than she was. Beth inhaled slowly then exhaled, the queasiness finally subsiding. She hurried over to the window that was behind the desk and peered down to the street below them, the car was now parked at front entrance with both passenger and driver side doors wide open.
Beth turned to say something to Noah but stopped and watched as he searched through the walker's pockets, she frowned. It bothered her but she knew he was only doing what was necessary in this world, survival of the fittest. You steal so you can survive, if not you die. But he had no such luck with finding ammo or food which Beth assumed he wouldn't, but he did however find a pack of gum. He tossed it to Beth after wiping it off on his jeans.
"Thanks."
"It's peppermint."
Beth smiled and looked down at the pack, she ran her thumb over the lettering before stuffing it into her back pocket. She walked back over to the window and stared down at the city below, it was scarier then her Daddy ever mentioned. But that type of scary was typical.
Suddenly something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, Beth adverted her gaze to her right and watched as a black charger drove down the street.
Grady.
"Guess they found more victims." She mumbled.
Noah walked over and peered out the window, he watched as the charger slowed down to a halt just a few blocks away. Noah didn't want to say it, but he had a feeling they already came up with their master plan.
"We gotta find a way out of here, it ain't safe."
"How?"
He shrugged." I don't know."
"I'm not goin' back Noah, I-I can't. I have to find my family."
He honestly didn't know what to do or say, he knew she was stubborn. And even if he wanted to do what he had in mind, she'd never go for it. He blamed himself for this, they wasted so much time shopping for new clothes when they could've been out of the city by now. He looked out of the window and folded his arms, he would save Beth if he had too. He would do it because she needed to get back to her family and to Daryl, the father of her child.
"Do you trust me?"
Her eyebrows furrowed." What does that mean?"
"Simple yes or no?"
She nodded." Y-Yes, of course."
...
Had so much trouble writing... Writers block.. It's not too severe, but took me a while to update :/
So Dawn's on a war path, but it's the norm for her lol
The tables have turned, Noah is helping Beth instead of the other way around. But will it end in bloodshed?
If I get a decent amount of reviews, I'll see if I can update tomorrow!
Also, Team Family will be a big part of next chapter :D
Review please, and be kind!
XoXo
