A/N Thank you for stopping by to check out my newest multi chapter Bethyl, Love's Long Road. This is a ZA AU. Although you'll recognize some adventures from canon, Love's Long Road is a complete re-imagining of Daryl and Beth's love story. I hope you enjoy!
00
She can't hide in this apartment another day. There's no food, no water, no power and those "things" will probably figure out a way to get to her anytime now. She's got to stop crying and get serious about getting out of the city.
Amy's never coming home. The truth sounds so cold and ugly, but it's real. If Amy were coming back she would have been here by now. When she left she took a kitchen knife, and the baton she still had from her days in the high school marching band, and set out to find them food. She's been gone a week now and things have only gotten worse.
Four days ago the power finally went out for good, it had been flickering on and off for days. Having no electricity is bad during the day, but it's so much worse at night. The city is cloaked in darkness, but it's not quiet. There's yelling and screaming and strange growls, and cries for help that never get answered.
Three days ago the water went from a trickle to not a drop. She was a little better prepared for that, she'd thought to fill every container she could find with water. But water's not enough. Yesterday she ate the last of the food in the apartment, two saltines. It's desperation time.
She's watched the creatures and the awful things they do from Amy's apartment window. That's the only good thing she has going for her, she's on the fourth floor and it appears those things don't know how to climb stairs. At least not yet.
For now, job one is getting out of the city and away from the chaos of non-stop traffic jams, desperate people and creatures who it appears are dead, but who've come back to life to eat the living.
Beth's getting weaker by the hour. She's got to make her move. She's has to at least try and get out of the city and get back to her parent's farm. Surely it'll be safe there. These creatures couldn't possibly find their way out to the remote rural areas.
The biggest problem she faces is how the hell is she going to get there? The farm is more than seventy-five miles from here. The toughest part about getting there is bound to be getting out of the city. Once she gets on the highway she can walk. Sure, walking's doable, as long as these creatures really are confined to the city. She'll have to see what the situation is when the time comes, for now, first things first.
These things are everywhere. How will she get passed them?
There's no way she's going to try and drive. She's seen how the traffic is and all the cars that have simply been abandoned and are now blocking the roads. Her and Amy's vehicles are parked in the apartment building's subterranean lot. God only knows what it must be like two stories underground. Beth doesn't dare to find out.
She puts a few things in a backpack and even that makes her emotional. She remembers buying the backpack for Amy two years ago when her friend was traveling to Europe after graduation. The memory causes a lump in her throat but she's determined not to cry.
She tucks a bottle of water, her hairbrush, her toothbrush, the last few Kleenex, and what's left of a purse size pack of moist towelettes in the backpack. At least she'll be able to wipe her hands. She's been out of clean clothes for a couple of days, but she borrows two pair of panties from Amy's drawer, along with two t-shirts and rolls them up, stuffing them in the pack. It's hot out but she feels the need to take a coat. Who knows how long it will take to walk to the farm, she may need it.
She can't carry it, she'll want her hands free to protect herself. In spite of the hot and muggy air, she has no choice but to wear it.
She plops down hard on the couch, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. Oh my God, oh my God, there's no way she can survive out there. She'll be lucky if she makes it a block. She has to put those thoughts aside, she has to try because what's the alternative? Stay here in Amy's apartment and starve to death? Maybe that would be best…it doesn't sound nearly as bad as being eaten alive by some creature from a horror movie.
No. She has to stop that kind of thinking. No one is coming to rescue her and she's not ready to just give up and die. She's on her own and she has to be strong. She also has to try and stay positive. She's got to have faith and hope, she's got to believe. She remembers her roots and gets on her knees, closes her eyes and prays for help on the frightening journey ahead.
It's time to quit stalling and get going. She gets to her feet, goes to Amy's closet, picks a mid-weight jacket and slips it on. She can't believe she almost forgot the most important thing, something to defend herself with. She goes in the kitchen and grabs the biggest knife she can find. She'll keep it tightly clutched in her hand so she's ready if one of those things comes at her.
Her hand is on the doorknob when she takes one last look back at the apartment and whispers, "Good-bye Amy, I love you." The tears well up again and she scolds herself, "No Beth, no," but she can't resist running over to the end table and grabbing the photo of her and Amy at the farm. She takes it from the frame, slips it in the backpack and leaves this place she's sure she'll never see again.
She opens the door slowly and peaks down the hallway, first to her left and then to her right, she doesn't see or hear anyone in the other apartments. As she's suspected, all the noise seems to be coming from the street below. She walks past the elevator and right to the emergency exit stairway, pushing the crash bar and stepping through the door.
She makes it down two flights before she encounters the first creature. Only his upper body is visible, the heavy fire door has been closed on him and he appears stuck. His arms reach out flailing and clawing as he tries to grab her, all the while the foul-smelling creature is making terrible non-stop growling noises.
Beth is fully aware of what he wants with her.
She presses her back as tightly as she can against the concrete wall opposite the snarling creature, managing to slip by and safely down to the next set of stairs. Her stomach is roiling and her heart is beating so hard she can hear the pounding in her ears, but she's gotten by one of the creatures and that's a victory.
How did this happen? What could possibly have caused it? The morning Amy left they sat and talked, speculating on what horrible new hell this could be. It's obviously something the world has never seen before. Is it some strange new disease? Or was some scientist manipulating genes in his lab when suddenly it all got away from him? Is it germ warfare perpetrated by some foreign enemy? What kind of disease kills people, then brings them back to life as monsters who eat the living?
She has no answers.
Amy, poor Amy. Beth finds herself closing her eyes and saying a prayer that Amy is okay. It's possible she is, Beth wants to believe that. A lot of things could explain why she didn't come home. Maybe the way back to the apartment building was blocked by the living and the dead. That doesn't mean Amy couldn't have found somewhere safe to hide. Yes, that's possible. If these undead things are possible, anything's possible.
Beth's going to hold out hope that somewhere and somehow Amy is okay and they'll see each other again.
Was it really just a couple of weeks ago that the future looked so bright for both of them?
Beth was determined to make a fresh start and she had so many big plans. She was going back to college in just a few days to wrap up her degree, but before she put her nose to the grindstone she was spending 10 days with Amy at her apartment in Atlanta.
Amy had done everything different than Beth. Her friend stuck it out at college and made her parents so proud they sent her on a month long trip to Europe after her graduation. Amy also scored incredibly well on her CPA exam and firms competed for her. She went to work for the biggest of the accounting firms and got herself a fancy apartment in Atlanta. She's been making a quick ascent up the corporate ladder ever since.
Beth chose a different path. She quit college in the middle of her sophomore year to follow her dream, a career in music. She's had the unpleasant and disappointing experience of a door slamming in her face at least a hundred times.
Eventually she had no choice, she had to throw pride out the window and take the little gigs no one else wanted. She's sung at every crummy bar and church festival in the state. Eventually she soured on the idea of a music career, but she still loves to sing.
She drove to the farm to discuss her decision with her Mama and Daddy, fully expecting a stern lecture and "I told you so." She was pleasantly surprised when instead of scolding her about her past decisions, they were encouraging and even offered to give her a little help with tuition.
There were six weeks before the new school year was to begin and Beth was staying with her folks during that time. She and Amy were on the phone one evening when her friend offered, "I've got a great idea Beth. I'll take some time off work, I have loads of vacation saved up. You come and stay with me here in Atlanta. We'll go to the aquarium, the zoo, museums, we'll see a concert, eat in some really nice restaurants, not to mention drink plenty of great wine and talk, talk, talk."
Beth remembers how happy and excited she was, "Oh my gosh Amy, that sounds so fun, I would love to. I still don't drink but I'd be happy to pour the wine for you. Yes, yes and thank you!"
The night before she left for Amy's she was watching the evening news with Mama and Daddy. That was the first time she heard the talk of, "A strange new flu suddenly affecting thousands and thousands of people around the globe."
She didn't think much about it because that's just what news people do. They sensationalize every story and purposely scare viewers, enticing them to come back for "more of the story." That's what Daddy always says. Just in case though, Beth started taking her Vitamin C. There's never time to be sick.
If only she would have known then that this time it was different, but that's really no way to think. There was absolutely nothing she could have done to prevent any of this from happening. She has to try and find something good to hang on to, like the fact that at least she was able to talk to Mama and Daddy before the cell and landline service quit working. She was able to tell them how much she loves them.
She and Amy had a couple of carefree evenings too, before everything went so horrifyingly wrong.
For now she has to focus on getting out of this building, and that's not going to be easy. She can hear them through the fire door that exits to the building's main floor. The strange growling sound tells her the small lobby is full of those creatures.
What if she does, by some miracle, manage to make it out on the street? There will be hundreds more of them just waiting to devour her. Oh my gawd what a gruesome thought, but she feels like she'll have a better chance on the streets than inside, if she can make it that far.
She can run. She's never cared for going to the gym, never liked yoga or aerobics or Pilates much, she always preferred to go on long runs for exercise. Maybe now it will pay off with more than just a healthy heart. Who knows, being able to run long distances might save her life.
She zips up the coat thinking it will be harder for something to grab hold of it that way. She pulls a hair tie from her pants pocket and puts her hair up in a ponytail, tucking it as best she can down the back of her shirt. She's got the backpack as tight and secure as she can get it.
The time is now and she's as ready as she'll ever be, but before she pushes the crash bar to face her fate, she closes her eyes and prays for strength and courage, and "Please, keep me safe. Please."
What's best? Push the door open fast and make a run for the building's big glass entrance doors, or take it slow and easy and try to slip quietly passed the creatures? She opts for bursting through fast and running like hell.
Just as she suspected it would, the sound of the heavy door is loud and immediately alerts the creatures to her presence. She's lucky though, they're feasting on something in the opposite corner. She doesn't know what, she doesn't want to know what. She runs toward the exit as fast as she can, grabbing the handle of the door just as one of those things grabs onto the sleeve of her coat.
It's strong and determined but she's more determined. She uses her knife to stab at the creature's hand and arm which distracts it enough that it's grip weakens, and Beth quickly pulls away. She gets out the door and starts running for her life.
As she's running, she remembers all those football games her brother Shawn played during high school and college. The whole family would go to every one they possibly could, and she can almost hear her sister Maggie being silly as she pretended she was the play by play announcer. "It's Shawn Greene with the ball. Ladies and gentlemen just look at that boy go! He's juking to the left and juking to the right. Look how expertly he avoids being tackled."
She's got to do the same, be like Shawn, juke to the left and then to the right to avoid these creatures. She's managing, it's awful and her lungs are burning but she's making distance and she's still alive. Then it happens.
She doesn't know how or why, but everything just got very different, and far worse than it was as she suddenly feels herself being surrounded by those things, at least six of them. There's no way she can get away, but she's not going to go down without a fight. She stabs and stabs with the big carving knife. She's thrusting the weapon into what she thinks must be the heart, the stomach, even backs and arms. Nothing seems to phase theses things, they just keep coming at her.
She's sure her fight is over for good when she loses her balance and falls backward to the sidewalk. It's so horrible and so frightening, one of the things seems to be salivating as it's mouth comes for her, and she can see more of them right behind it. This is it. The end.
Beth's saying one final prayer, asking God to please make the end come quickly, when out of nowhere an arrow flies. It hits the creature dead center in the forehead and the thing immediately falls over, landing half on top of her.
She's fighting to get out from under it when she feels a strong hand grasp her upper arm and she's pulled free and to her feet.
It's a human, a live human. He pulls the arrow from the creature's forehead, wiping it across his pant leg as he hollers at her, "C'mon girl, we gotta go."
00
A/N There you have the start. Please leave a comment. There's a chapter photo on my tumblr blogs, gneebee and bethylmethbrick, I hope you'll take a look. I'll be back next Thursday with a new chapter of Love's Long Road and I hope you'll be back too! Until then remember, I love ya large! xo gneebee