Chapter 2 – Far Too Real
"Look I told you," Beth said, her head falling back in frustration. "The last thing I remember is standing in a hospital hallway where my family was trading a couple of wanna be officers for mine and a friend's safe return. Then I was shot in the head and..." Beth motioned to the room in explanation. Blade stood with his arms folded and an unreadable look on his face. Didn't help that he never took the dark glasses off, but Beth wasn't going to complain while she was the one being forced to explain her story for the millionth time and he had all the ammo.
"Right," Blade said as he dug through his drawers until he came across a medical case. Beth's eyes grew wide when she noticed the needle and syringe he pulled out and stepped toward her.
"I'm not on any drugs," she hollered as he grabbed a hold of her arm, holding her in place as he shoved the needle into her arm and drew blood. Beth grimaced as her body stiffened from the rough assault. When he removed the needle, he swiped a finger through the small amount of blood seeping out of the wound and stuck his finger in his mouth. Beth's face scrunched up in disgust watching him do it, and flinched when he pressed some gauze on to the still bleeding wound.
"Don't taste like there's anything extra there," he said absently as he moved across the room to a microscope. "But we'll see what the blood has to say."
"How do you know what the blood would taste like with the drugs in it?" she asked, hesitantly standing up to move closer to him.
Blade never took his eyes off the sheet of glass that he pushed the blood on to as he explained. "Contagious blood, drugged blood, drunk blood...hell even a pregnant woman's blood all has a different taste. You can always tell what's going on with the person through the blood."
Beth frowned at him, still confused about his statement. She watched him work as he clicked the dial down, muttering short 'Hmm's' but otherwise not bothering to explain how he knew the different tastes of blood. Beth was just about to ask him when the sound of a door flying open and Scud's unmistakable voice as he hollered out, "got the food" from across the garage.
Beth looked up to see him carrying a large paper bag and a cup carrier with two large drinks squeezed inside.
"It's not the steak and eggs I was looking forward to, but burgers and fries will do just as well for," he said, pausing as he looked up at Beth's gaping mouth. "For now any ways."
Beth's eyes grew wide as she rushed toward the table and watched Scud open up the bag and pull out a large burger wrapped in aluminum foil. The hot greasy smell hit her hard and she snatched the burger from Scud's hands without much thought other then to quickly unwrap it. When it was revealed, she stared at the gooey mess that was seeping from the foil and took a moment to lick her lips before taking a huge bit out of it. Beth closed her eyes, on the verge of a full blown orgasm as the flavor of burnt meat smothered with ketchup and mayonnaise mixed with all the vegetables burst into her mouth. She moaned as she took another bite, and didn't bother looking up until she took one more.
When she did, she noticed Blade smirking at her, his head shaking as he turned back to her blood sample and Scud's mouth hanging open as his eyes traveled over her.
"What?" she asked, grabbing a cloth to wipe at her mouth. "I've haven't had a burger in nearly three years. Sue me."
Blade chuckled while Scud passed her the drink. She took a sip of the refreshment, relishing in its fresh taste before turning her attention back to the burger that was already half consumed.
"So what have you been eating these past couple of years, lettuce?" Scud asked as he unwrapped his own burger and took a bite.
Beth smiled, shaking her head as she thought about her diet lately. "Bits of Hamster and lab rat for the past few months and then whatever we could kill in the forest before that."
Blade rose an eyebrow at her, and Beth shrugged. "I told you, I've been living the apocalypse lifestyle. You eat whatever you can find."
Scud scoffed, "where? in a basement?"
"No, back woods of Georgia to be honest with ya," Beth replied, finishing up her burger and leaning over the table to look for the fries that Scud promised. She missed the raised eyebrow from the young man as he handed over the food she was looking for and Beth gave him a gracious smile in response. Still missing the way his eyes studied her before looking away to his own food. It was about then that Blade came over scratching at his jaws.
Beth noticed his stare, and looked up at him. "Clean?" she asked.
"Hmm," he replied, looking over to Scud. He nodded his head over to the other side of the room, and Scud nodded. Beth gave them both a curious look but decided to keep quiet. She may be finding herself safe from any walkers and psycho survivors, but that didn't mean there weren't other types of dangerous people running around long before the dead started coming back.
Focusing on her fries and drink, Beth tried to drown out their words as they stood huddled together whispering about her. There wasn't much she could do about it though. As far as they were concerned she was the crazy one talking about traveling back in time and the dead walking around eating people. Not that their talk of people biting on her neck, and drinking her blood sounded any better.
"Damn," Beth said under her breath. "How do I end up with the monsters."
"Maybe it's your purpose to fight them," said Blade as him and Scud returned to her. Beth raised an eyebrow at him but remained silent as both men stood around her. One on her side, rim-rod stiff with his arms at his side and the other scratching at his jaw while looking down at her.
"Let me guess," Beth said as she wiped her hands on the napkin. "One way trip to the looney bin right?"
Blade's frown deepened. "Nope."
Scud glanced at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "We're getting you a bus ticket to anywhere but here."
Beth gaped at them, her eyes darting form one guy to the other as she froze in her seat.
"It's the best option we have for you," Scud continued, looking to the table as his hands curled in on themselves. That in itself told her he didn't totally agree with the decision and Beth jumped on that.
"You can't, " she started, standing so that she could face them at her full height. "I have nowhere to go. No one will take me in. They'll think I'm insane, and definitely call the police on me. I'm just lucky you haven't already!" she continued, looking mostly at Scud to plead her case. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and looked to Blade as he lite up. A silent communication passing between to the two men. Blade shook his head, and Scud release the smoke that he inhaled.
"Sorry, babe, that's the final word."
Beth jumped around the table to him, practically getting in his face as she asked, "what the hell am I supposed to do out there? I don't even have an ID. Any information I give will come up as some nine year old child. Come on!"
"Come up with a new name," Blade suggested, his voice remaining even as Beth's mind worked frantically to figure out her predicament. Shaking, she looked at him. Her eyes pleading with him to come up with a different option.
"I..." she began, looking for another argument.
"You'd be better off then sticking around this life," Blade said, turning away from her. "I'll help you come up with a new identity, but otherwise you are leaving tomorrow."
Scud gave her one last apologetic stare, but moved toward the front of the garage with Blade.
"So that's it?" Beth crossed her arms as she watched the two retreating figures.
"We have work to do, and we're already behind." Blade grabbed a bag off the table, and Scud moved to gather up a few of the weapons scattered about.
Beth let out a long frustrated huff as she spun around. Tears prickling at the edge of her eyes as she tried to think about what she was going to do.
Beth stared blankly at the TV chewing on her thumbnail. She never chewed on her nails, that was always Daryl's nervous tick and now it looked like she picked it up when she reached the end of her rope. What the hell was she supposed to do out in this world. She didn't have any experience with regular people or jobs. Seeing as the world ended just as she was old enough to really start thinking about was she was going to do. Her own real experience was taking care of babies and killing walkers. What the hell was she going to do with that?
Cursing her luck for the millionth time, she grew silent when Scud walked to the back of the garage. It'd what she'd been doing for the past couple of hours. Every time one of them would come close, she froze up and kept quiet. Not like anything she said would change their minds anyways.
"Hey," Scud said as he stood just off to the side of the television. "We're headin' out. You gonna be okay here?"
Beth gave him a side glance but otherwise went back to watching some mindless TV show. "Sure me and Adrian will have it all figured out by the time you get back."
Scud rose an eyebrow at her words. "Who?"
Beth gave him an incredulous stare as she waved toward the TV. "Oh come on. Even I recognize Adrian Monk. The OCD detective."
Scud rolled his eyes, but moved to walk past her. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he grabbed up a bag that she knew was packed with weapons and an idea came to her. "Can I come along?" she asked, turning so that she was leaning over the back of the couch. Scud looked at her, studying her for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah, it's dangerous."
"I can handle myself, really. I know how to shoot a gun and I'm pretty good with a blade." Beth explained, standing from the couch. "Hell, I can even shoot a cross bow if you got one."
Scud raised an eyebrow at her, but otherwise remained quiet as he flipped through his arsenal. He picked up a small automatic, checked to see if the chamber was loaded and held the gun out to the small girl. "Prove it."
He motioned toward a couple of dummies set up, and Beth didn't hesitate to grab the gun from his hands and move into position. Taking a moment, she took a deep breath and just as she released it she pulled the trigger. The bullet flew just to the side of the head, but still managed to hit its target and she looked at Scud with a smile on her face.
"Again," said Blade from the corner of the room. Beth's head fell back in frustration but she turned toward the target's again. Again she aimed and managed to hit the other dummy just off center of the forehead.
"Why you keep aiming for the head?" Scud asked as he stepped closer to examine the bullet wounds.
Beth shrugged, not really thinking about the answer as she said, "you always aim for the head." She looked at him like it was the most obvious answer in the world and Scud looked to Blade who stood there smirking.
"I like her. Keep close, and don't go looking for any trouble." Blade jumped into his car and took off before either one could say anything else. Scud let out a heavy groan as he motioned toward his van. "Come on then."
Beth smiled in triumph as she climbed in to the passenger side, giddy now that she'd managed to talk them into letting her tag alone. Who knew, maybe she could talk them into letting her stay too. That is if she could prove she was useful out on their hunt.
They were quiet during the car ride and Beth found that just as nice as she watched the city lights zoom past them. The New York skyline looked gorgeous and she couldn't stop herself from leaning against the back of the seat and just taking in the view.
"Never been to New York, huh?" Scud asked when he looked over to see her staring out the window,
"Nope," she replied, barely glancing at him before looking back out the window. She could see the Statue of Liberty now, and she kept her eyes glued on it.
"Yeah, don't look at it to much any more myself, but it is a nice view," he said absently and Beth nodded in agreement. Not long after that they turned off into a darkened alleyway and Scud parked at an angle toward the back.
"What are we doing?" Beth asked as Scud moved to the back of his van. Beth followed along and shouldn't have been surprised to find a small desk with various computer screens hanging off the walls. Scud made quick work of turning on the monitors, and setting up his equipment as Beth found a stool toward the side and sat down.
"Monitoring," Scud replied when he settled into his own office chair tucked away in the opposite corner. He pointed toward one of the screens that showed a small warehouse like place.
"That there is vampire hangout, and B is going to go in there to ask a few questions while we sit back and make sure shit don't hit the fan to hard." Scud sat back, smiling like he just told some good joke, but Beth couldn't help feeling a little confused.
"Vampires?" she asked, still not believing that such things existed. If they did, then where were they when the walkers were roaming the earth.
"Hey, don't start with me zombie girl." Scud pointed a finger at her, and Beth smirked at the name.
"Fair enough." She conceded, leaning back against the van's wall and watching the monitors. One of them showed up in night vision while the other showed a normal camera recording, but otherwise nothing notable was going on for several minutes until a couple of people walked in, and then nothing yet again.
Beth looked over to see Scud rolling up a joint, and she narrowed her gaze at him. When he moved the paper to lick at it and seal it up their eyes met, though Scud said nothing as he continued to light it up and take a drag. The smell hit her hard and she looked back at the screens to keep from staring at the man until he held the joint out to her.
Beth stared at it for a long minute, thinking about how she'd been such a good girl all her life and it still managed to get all fucked up and twisted around her. Before everything could hit her too hard she grabbed the joint and took a long draw from it. The smoke hit her lungs and before she could hold it in long enough like she'd seen him do she doubled over, coughing up the putrid smoke. Scud smirked at her response and took the joint back.
"Never smoked before, huh?" he asked, taking a draw on the joint himself. Beth shook her head, wiping at her mouth as she watched the smoke light red and then disappear in the darkness of the van. Scud held the thing out to her a second time and Beth looked at it with more trepidation this time.
"Come on, the first puff is always the hardest." He held the joint up, and Beth eyed him as she thought about another time inside a wrecked trailer home with another man that looked exactly the same. The moonshine had gone down rough at first as well, but after that first drink she almost sucked it down like water.
Taking the joint, Beth took another puff, inhaling deeply as she managed to hold the smoke in for a moment longer before releasing it of her own free will this time. She felt light headed for a moment, but as she handed it back to Scud her mind calmed and a smile spread across her face.
"See," he said, smiling as he took his own turn. "Not so bad." He passed it back to her and for a while they remained silent as their focus went back to the screen that still showed an eventful night.
"Bet you never had a drink either," Scud said, lighting the joint up again. Beth smiled, her eyes going distant as she remembered that day.
"I have actually," she replied, earning a raised eyebrow from the man across from her. "Moonshine, first and only time I drank."
Scud nodded as his eyes traveled over Beth with a new appreciation. Beth gave a small smile, but her eyes were somewhere else as she remembered that day. "yep" she muttered not even realizing that she was speaking.
"You miss him, don't you?" Scud asked, cocking his head to the side as he stared her down. Beth furrowed her brows together, not realizing she mentioned anyone in particular.
"Whoever it is your thinking about. You miss him. I can tell." He explained looking toward the floor. Beth shrugged as she began peeling at the skin on her hands. "He saved my life," she replied, not bothering to elaborate.
"Thought you said you was shot in the head?" asked Scud as he gave her a quizzical stare.
Beth shook her head as her fingers rubbed at the gash on her forehead. "That was my own stupidity. Nothing to do with him." Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about the stupid move, and she barely noticed Scud passing her the joint again. She took it and inhaled, trying to forget about that life now. Reminding herself that those people, those times, were a million miles away. In a different life altogether.
Scud stood up and pulled a box from one of the top shelves, Beth watched curiously as he opened the carton and the smell of donuts filled the air. She hadn't realized she'd gotten hungry until she stared at the food, and Scud waved the box toward her.
"Krispy Kremes, huh?" she asked, taking one and tearing a piece off it to pop into her mouth.
"Only the best," Scud said, half smiling as he grabbed one for himself and placed the box on to the table. Beth stared absently at the floor, her hands still peeling the donut apart but not bothering to eat anymore as she thought about her life now. Trying to figure out what she was going to do. Scud, for his part, remained silent as his focus went back to the screen, realizing the girl needed a moment before he noticed the group of people heading toward them.
"Shit," he muttered throwing his own donut down and ducking under the table to come back up with a couple of guns. "Come on, zombie girl. Time to put those shooting skills to use."
Beth was pulled out of her memories as she stared at the screen, barely registering Scud's words before a gun was flung at her, and Scud grabbed her arm pulling her out of her seat.
"What?" she asked, barely getting the word out as she was dragged out of the van, and then shoved toward a ladder in the back.
"Just get up there and shoot anything that doesn't look human," he explained. Beth barely had time to register his words before he turned toward the on coming crowd, and Beth looked over to see them rushing forward. Their faces were covered in the shadow, but the light above showed pale, white skin and sharp nails that lunged forward as they ran at them with supernatural speed.
Feeling the fear rush through her veins, making her pulse quicken, Beth climbed the ladder and slide on to her stomach so that she wouldn't make such an easy target. She noticed Scud on the ground with two guns aimed out, bullets flying and she focused on his targets in front of them.
They looked human enough from the distance, but their unnatural speed and the continued snarling as they rushed toward Scud told a different story, and Beth took aim. One of them ran forward, nearly on top of Scud as he ducked down, barely missing one of their blows.
"Oh no you don't," she hissed, aiming the gun and shooting just as it landed behind him. The bullet missed, and Beth cursed as she took aim a second time, cursing herself for not practicing more. In her defense, walkers were much slower and didn't jump whenever they attacked their victims. The vampire ducked her second bullet, but the third bullet hit him square in the back. The creature snarled as the silver started eating at his skin, and he arched his back from the pain allowing Scud the time he needed to blow his head off with his own weapons. He sent a smirk up to Beth, who responded in kind and she aimed for the next vampire that was looking to take Scud's head off.
She hit that one in the shoulder on the second hit, distracting it enough to allow Scud to take out his head as well, and Beth was grinning at their team work until one of them looked up at her, hissing as spit sprayed from it's mouth in fury. Before Beth could react, it jumped and landed behind her. Beth whirled, and shot the gun on instinct catching the guy in the stomach. He swayed back and stopped to look at the bullet wound that was smoking from where the silver hit him before turning his attention toward her. He chuckled at her failed attempt and Beth swallowed a real lump of fear. Go figure, her first night out with Blade and Scud and already she was going to die. 'Nope, nothing like a walker at all,' she thought as she took another aim. 'Except.' She remembered Blade not correcting her when she said you always aimed for the head.
The bullet landed dead center, and the guy looked surprised as he fell with a thump on to the roof of the van. Beth let out a sigh of relief as she kicked at the now lifeless body and turned when it landed on the other side of the van. She looked down on the scene before her to find that Scud was taking care of himself well enough, especially since Blade had returned slicing the vampires left and right. Another figure lay huddled on the ground covered in silver chains that were smoking as the man withered, but he was otherwise ignored until the others were dispatched.
"Ya alive up there, Z?" hollered Scud when the fighting stopped. Beth poked her head from the top of the van and signaled with an 'okay' sign down to him, not bothering to ask what the Z was supposed to stand for. He smiled up at her, and turned toward Blade who was hauling that pained man up and toward the van. Taking a deep breath, she laid her head down on the cold metal for a moment, getting her bearings about her before climbing back down in time to see Blade slam the door shut.
"What are we doing with him?" she asked, nodding toward the door.
Blade's eyebrow went up at her choice of words. "We?"
"Yeah, I helped him with the stake out and helped take a couple of them out." she nodded toward Scud and then the back of the van.
"You're not part of the we." Blade turned away, stopping long enough to whisper something to Scud before heading back to his bike. Scud nodded a response, and Beth let out a frustrated breath.
"Don't feel bad. You did good up there. B just takes a bit to warm up to people," Scud explained as he directed her back to the front of van. Beth rolled her eyes, but didn't comment as she got back in. All in all, she felt like a failure and as she slumped her head against the window, wondering what exactly she was thinking coming along with them.
The ride back was silent except a few moans coming from their prisoner in the back. Beth looked toward Scud a few times, but noticed he kept his gaze on the road so she kept quiet as well until they reached the warehouse, and Scud parked the van. Blade yanked the vampire from the back, and moved to drag him away. Muttering instructions for Scud to lock the place down and turn on the over head lights. He nodded in response, and didn't waste a moment to head toward the control panel while Beth stood leaning against the van watching him.
The over head lights came on, and Beth blinked a few times from the unexpected brightness, shielding her eyes she looked up to find Scud moving toward one of his work benches. When he didn't say anything to her, she moved up the stairs and into the room that she had woken up in. Judging by the clothes, and various magazines and CD's scattered about, Beth guessed the space was Scud's but he didn't say anything as she marched back into the room, and at the moment she was too exhausted to ask if it was okay to come back in here.
Lying on the mattress, she stared numbly at the TV as she thought about the nights events. Realizing that maybe Blade was right and she would be better off somewhere else. Not that she knew exactly what she was going to do, but it'd be better than staying here and pretending to be something she wasn't.
"I can't leave you," she hollered, backing away as the walkers swarmed against the doorway he was holding.
"Just go!" he waved her off, and Beth was forced to head toward the back of the house.
Something exploded, forcing Beth into a sitting position as she took a moment to look around her surroundings. The small, dingy room with the small TV reminded her where she was, and she rubbed at her head as she tried to figure out what woke her up. Staring at the TV, she realized it was late. The late night cartoons were playing and Beth groaned as she stood up rubbing at her eyes.
Running her hands through the tangles in her hair, Beth pulled it back into a messy bun as she looked over the garage. There was no sign of Blade anywhere, but there was a cloud of cigarette smoke and some banging coming from a corner so Beth headed in that direction to see what the commotion was about.
She stepped into a small cleared area with a dummy standing in the middle. Where the face should have been, a spider like thing clung to the front, flashing red for a moment before a beeping noise started. Someone cursed and a moment later Beth was slammed up against the wall. A rather large body that smelled of stale smoke leaned over as something exploded, and Beth curled into the person, her hands clinging to his shirt while he stiffened as debris hit his back and sides.
When things calmed down, the man pulled back and Beth looked up to into a pair of blue eyes staring down at her. His hand lingered on her stomach, his fingers tips barely scrapping against her skin as they managed to send small shocks through her body. Beth pushed him back. Fearing the familiarity in that gaze as she attempted to move further away form him.
Scud took the hint, taking another step back as he asked, "You got a death wish or sumthin'?"
"Not lately," she replied, able to breath normally again now that there was space between them. Scud narrowed his gaze at her response and Beth motioned behind him.
"What was that?"
"Just a prototype that I've been working on." Scud explained taking a long drag from his cigarette. He let the cigarette hang from his lips as he grabbed another bomb and held it up for her inspection. Beth noted that it was the same thing he plucked out of her hands yesterday morning.
"What's it for?" she asked, taking it from him. She held it in her palm until Scud grabbed it from her and headed over to another dummy lying on the ground.
"See, you attach it to someone, like a disgruntled biter," he explained, dragging the dummy to the center of the floor. "and inform them that you'll blow them up unless they behave." He turned holding a small denotation switch as he made his way behind a bit of plexi-glass, signaling for her to follow him. "And if they don't behave..." he let the words trail off as he pushed the button. Beth heard the same beeping sound she heard moments ago, and then nothing. The dummy stood intact and the light on the small bomb went out. Beth looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Like I said, prototype."
"I see." Beth moved from behind the glass, and was quickly pulled back when the beeping went off a second time and barely managed to cover her ears as the doll exploded.
"And then there's that to," Scud said, squinting at the ruined remains of the dummy. He looked back to the table, and Beth followed his gaze to see dozens of those little bombs laid out.
"So I guess testing which ones are duds, and which ones aren't is out of the question." Beth looked up in time to see Scud agreeing, the look of defeat clear in his eyes.
Beth picked one up, flipping it over to really study it and then toward the other items spread further out on the table.
"Where'd you learn to do all this?" She looked toward Scud who was unscrewing the back of one of the bombs.
He shrugged before saying, "Mostly books and things I read up on, some schooling, some I learned from my uncle in the back of his shed."
Beth nodded as her eyes went back to the items in question. "Yeah, the old geezer taught me how to make home made bombs when I was only twelve. Can you believe that?: he asked, smiling at the memory. Beth smiled as well, realizing it was something he thought about fondly.
"What happened to him?" she asked, curious about the young man before her now.
"Blew himself up," he replied almost laughing. Beth met him with sad eyes, and Scud shook his head. "It was only a matter of time. He was always paranoid that the government was coming for him."
"Oh," she said, realizing Scud didn't hold any hard feelings about it. "What about the rest of your family?" She looked toward him, truly curious and noticed his face grow hard at the question.
"All I got left is my brother," he replied, paying more attention to the bomb now. "Asshole's locked up for a few years, but I'm hoping to have this gig wrapped up by the time he gets out."
Beth's eye furrowed together, a nagging feeling settling in the back of her brain telling her to ask for the brother's name but before she could get the words out a metal door sliding open caught their attention and Blade came over staring at her.
"She needs to be out of here by this afternoon," he said giving her a side long glance.
"You're not seriously still going to send me away?" she asked, taking off after Blade who was now heading up the stairs.
"It's the safer option," he replied, not bothering to give her a second look. Beth looked back at Scud who shrugged his shoulders as the bigger man moved to a room on the opposite end of the catwalk and slide the doors closed behind him.
"He can't..." Beth began, throwing her hands up in argument to be cut off by Scud.
"He can and he will." He pointed his finger in her direction as he dug around the main computer station. When he came up with a pair of keys, twirled them in his hand and nodded toward the van again.
"Scud," Beth said, crossing her arms in protest. She didn't want to leave. She didn't know anybody in this time, and the people she did know were either to young to do anything for her or were wrapped up in their own lives before the dead came back.
Scud stopped just in front of his van and stared at her."What do you want me to do? Set you up in my apartment and get you a job?"
Beth's eyes went wide as the smile grew on her face. Scud's frown deepened as he shook his hands at her. "No," he said, turning away from her. Beth smile grew wider and she took a step toward him.
"Please, Scud," she said, clasping her hands together in a pleading motion. "You can't really send a defenseless girl out in the world without any real help, could you?" she asked. She knew she was playing off on her sweet and innocent looks, but her options were running low.
Scud scoffed at her words. "Defenseless my ass, look at you," he said, motioning toward her pouty lips and sad eyes. "I'm not falling for it and you're not staying in my apartment. Bad enough you took over my personal space here."
Beth took another step to him, this time coming to lean against the van just to his side. "Scud," she said in her softest voice.
"No," he replied not bothering to look at her as he climbed into the vehicle and started it up.
A ten minute drive was all it took before they were parked outside a run down building in the middle of New York. Beth stared at the nondescript bricked building with aluminum foil on nearly half the windows and looked back to Scud.
"It don't look like much, but I can promise the neighbors are nice and there's A/C." He shrugged before getting out of the car. Beth followed his movements, and together they headed up to the third floor. An old man peeked out his door as they came up the stairs but slammed it shut when he noticed the couple and Beth looked to Scud with a raised eyebrow.
"That's Mac, he don't mean no harm. Just don't get too loud and he'll leave you alone." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his set of keys so that he could unlock the door before swinging it open and motion for Beth to follow him inside.
"I told you, not much but..." he waved his arms around. Beth looked from the kitchen on one end of the room to what looked to be just another mattress on a beat up floor at the other end of the room, and a small sofa sat straight in the middle with a coffee table covered with papers and ash trays.
"Sorry about the mess, hadn't been back here in a couple of weeks. So it probably needs to be aired out..." he started, moving to open a few windows.
"And some," Beth added, looking toward the kitchen. Luckily, it was just a couple left over take out boxes and a few forks. No real dishes left in the sink or trash in the trash bin.
"Yeah," Scud replied, scratching at the back of his neck.
Beth smiled, as she came over and patted his arm in comfort. "I've slept in worse places," she said. Looking around the place, she could already see where she could make some improvements. It wasn't in any worse state then what the prison had been in when they found it. Scud nodded his head, not knowing how to reply to that so he looked around the place.
Looking toward the kitchen, he shook his head and pulled out his wallet. "Don't have no food around here so this should tie ya over until you can get a job."
Beth took the small amount of money and shoved it in her own pocket without looking at it as another thought struck her. "Don't you need an ID and what not to get a job."
"A legit one, yeah," Scud replied, rubbing at his jaw in thought. "Guess you can't file for a card with nine year old's numbers can ya?" he said, half smirking at her. Beth glared at him and his smirk grew wider as he started digging through the kitchen drawers. When he looked up, he was holding a disposable camera in his hands and muttering "cheese." He only gave Beth enough time to smile before the flash went off and he pocketed the small device.
"I'll get a hold of some old friends and see about getting ya a new ID and all that." He made his way toward the door, and Beth looked around the room one more time.
"What if I get into some trouble, or something?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she realized she was going to be left alone here. Scud stared at her for a moment before pulling some old mail over to him and grabbing a pen up to write something down. "Here's the number to the warehouse. If you need anything call, otherwise I'll be by to check on ya."
Beth nodded, still not staring directly at him. This was what she wanted after all. A place close enough to the only people in New York that she knew, but it still felt like she was being abandoned; though she didn't know why.
He was just out the door when he snapped his fingers and turned back around muttering, "Oh and don't be going through the boxes in the closet. It's personal shit and really don't anyone touching it." Beth nodded at his words, glancing at said closet as Scud continued. "And check the caller ID before you answer that phone. Not that you would recognize any numbers but the warehouse, but just watch who you answer the phone for, okay."
Beth nodded again, suddenly feeling like a child that was being left alone while the parents went out for the night. With her shoulder's slumped she watched as Scud closed the door, the place suddenly felt damper and less in habitable then before. 'At least at the prison I had my family,' Beth thought wryly as she looked around the room.
It smelled like stale cigarettes and something else that Beth really didn't want to know about, so she pushed up her sleeves and started on making the place livable for her.
