Night in Wyoming gets below zero. Like, way below zero. The gates to the outside could only shield so much wind from it's in habitants. As she stood in line to receive her weapons from the commissary, she was just in awe by how tall the walls actually were around Jackson. It towered over her like skyscrapers, shielding away the vile and eminent threat of death at every turn. The wall was the only thing between her and runners, clickers, stalkers, and evil people. As soon as she left those gates, she was no longer safe, and had to fight for her life once again, but she was happy to do it. Happy to defend her home and to make everyone safer and more secure, and even happier that she wasn't alone. Her partner for the night was also a good friend, and as much as she wished it were more than that, she knew it could never be. They were both too old for this kind of stuff, and she knew that.

Beth always liked looking at the sky at night, at least in Wyoming. The sky wasn't filled with as much light pollution and the stars shone that much brighter. The sky was littered with stars, and the moon was almost full but not quite. It bathed everything in its path in a soft, white ambient glow.

"Hey Tabetha, you ready for tonight?"

The commissary clerk asked as Beth walked up to her.

"Hm? Oh sure. Obviously, I'm the best for the job. I'm so good that they are sending me with a chaperone to make sure I don't kill too many infected," She joked, "gotta leave some for the rest of y'all."

The commissary chuckled, and surrendered some weapons over to her. It was her usual: A hunting rifle, and a handgun. She couldn't pretend she knew what caliber it was; She never took time to learn anything about guns except how to shoot. She slung the hunting rifle over her shoulder, and locked her handgun in the holster around her thigh. She walked over by the gate to await dispatch and to wait for Joel to show up. Everyone that was already there was huddled up trying to get warm and yawning. These late night/early morning patrols were a beast to deal with, but she would rather do it at this time than in the late mornings. She liked to sleep in.

"Hey Beth, sorry I'm late."

Joel apologized, adjusting the hunting rifle on his shoulder.

"Had me worried that you were going to let me show you up, glad to see you could make it"

Beth giggled as she was given a horse for her patrol.

A humorous glint appeared in his eyes, and that made her feel good. He rarely smiled, or even humored her stupid jokes. Even though it was dark out, she could see the twinkle in his eye as bright as day. It caused her heart to flutter. Oh, how handsome he is. His hair was in complete disarray, and his jacket wasn't buttoned up properly. His masculine, chiseled jawline was as sharp as ever, and housed his uncontrolled beard. It showed that he woke up at the very last second and hurried to get dressed like usual, how typical of the man. What was she going to do with him? Regardless of how cold it was outside, it filled Beth with warmth that they were about to spend the next few days stuck with each other. She lived for the days that they were on patrols together, it showed her a side of him that she doesn't get to see as often. His aggressive, protective side that kicked in when danger was approaching. What a man.

"Anyone in there? Let's go!"

Joel exclaimed, snapping his fingers in her face.

He snapped her out of her thoughts, and she came crashing back to the cold bitter reality that awaited her outside the gates. She didn't remember ever getting on the horse, or even leaving the gates, but here she was just sitting right outside the settlement staring off into space. Shit, that was going to get her killed. She scolded herself for slipping up like that, and looked over at an annoyed Joel. She nodded her apology and they kicked off on their horses, taking off into the darkness of the night with nothing but the moon and stars to give them light. Riding in the wind was definitely going to give her frostbite, if not hypothermia. Nobody should be out in this cold, especially those as old as they were. How did Joel manage to stay so fit, and have a seemingly unending well of stamina in the deeper pits in his soul? He was like a tank. Her knees were already hurting because of the cold; She was afraid that if she didn't stay moving, she would freeze in her place from the inside out.

Today's patrol was one of the bigger ones, that circled on the furthest perimeter around Jackson. It was a two-day task, with 6 outposts to sign in to and to check for infected. This was usually where most infected would be, on the outer perimeter. Since it was winter, a horde wouldn't be unusual out there. She never understood why infected traveled in hordes at all, but it was like clockwork. As soon as winter arrives, so do the hordes. Tommy often made jokes when she first moved in, and she would chalk them up as just that: jokes. It wasn't a joke though, it was as natural as the weather. So, now the winter was especially dangerous as a traveler. Or even to patrol, since patrol mainly only traveled in pairs. This patrol trail was considered very dangerous, partly from the increased amount of infected but also because hunters and wanderers stayed about this far from the Jackson settlement. They set up camps, they hide out and wait for patrols to arrive and ambush, or they snipe people to take the clothes off their backs. Beth was thankful that Joel was with her, because he used to do what the hunters do, and know how they think. Therefore, he can usually stay away from them and avoid them at all costs. She could only recall being captured once, but they guy didn't even get her past the trees before Joel had the drop on them. She would never forget the look in his eyes when he was scared to lose her, and the look of hatred, anger, and pure vengeance when he disposed of them.

They rode their horses to the first outpost, some two miles outside of Jackson. It took a few hours to get there, but she was relieved when the old bell tower came into view. It was the safest one, being a few floors up and the only way to get up there was a ladder. It allowed them to sleep and to scope out the area without being blindsided by an infected or hostile human. When they rode up to the tower, they rode the horses into the small closed in garage connected to it and tied them up and closed the heavy metal door. The familiar garage sparked a sense of security into her, and made her feel better about being back out on patrols. The workbench that Joel made for them to work on their weapons and to hold supplies for their expos, and seeing as this place was locked and nobody had bothered breaking into it for the entirety of five years since she's been on patrols, she never had to worry about leaving supplies behind to be stolen. It was almost a home away from home to her, she even had some of her old photographs and drawings hanging up on the walls. Joel even had an old beat-up guitar that he kept here, and would play it when they were stuck there by a storm or horde. He played Johnny Cash a lot, but when she asked if he liked him, Joel would just smirk and shake his head. She never really knew what he meant by that, but assumed that he didn't care for the old singer. But why bother learning his songs if he didn't like him? He never made any sense in anything he did, maybe that was what drew her in to him. She would give anything to be sitting by the fire with him while he played his music right now, being out in this cold had her shivering for warmth.

Joel immediately started cleaning his weapons while she shouldered her heavy backpack off to rumble for some water. Surely it would be frozen by now, but toughing out the severe cold for two miles straight had her parched. She grabbed her water bottle and gulped some down; the cold water burned her throat as she swallowed it, but it did quench her thirst. She watched her neighbor and friend curse under his breath at the metal in his hand. He was hammering what seemed to be a makeshift silencer on his handgun. His revolver peeked out at her from his backpack, and she admired the worn-out handle. It had definitely seen better days, but Joel didn't leave home without it. She couldn't help but notice the way his arm flexed when he lifted the gun to examine his handiwork. How could one man be so handsome?

"Are you going to sign us in?"

Joel asked, looking back over his shoulder at her daydreaming.

She blushed at being caught, and nodded at him. "Yeah, sure. Sorry"

She walked by the workbench that Joel was working on to check the log book. The last log, from the night before, stated that a small group of infected were spotted at the local pharmacy. The pharmacy was a few streets over, so it wouldn't take them long to check it out. Joel's arm brushed against hers as she signed the logbook, causing her heart to flutter.

"A group of infected was spotted at the pharmacy. When we get into the bell tower, we can check it out"

Beth explained, putting the pen down and stepping back to give Joel some room.

Joel grunted a reply, if one could even call it that. He smiled at his handiwork as he studied the gun under the light of the workbench. "That'll do just fine."

They gathered their things and climbed up the ladder into the bell tower, Joel made her climb up first so he could catch her if she fell. What a gentleman. He closed the latch door behind him, and they settled in to their new home for the rest of the night/morning. There were chairs set up to sit and scope out the area, and some sleeping bags rolled up to the side for overnight stays. Joel had some plastic bins up here to store supplies, food, and weapons. Beth liked sleeping in the bell tower, it was safe and she got to look up at the stars. Joel's soft snoring often soothed her to sleep. She watched him pick up the binoculars and scope the area. His lens hovered over the pharmacy, and he huffed. That couldn't be good.

"I see four inside the building, and two wandering around the front. It'll be hard, but doable. You up for a supply run?"

Joel asked, looking back at her.

She couldn't help smiling at the older man. "Sure, lead the way old-timer."