Saved

A/N: I'll be honest. I haven't watched TWD in so long. I used to watch it every weekend with my sister but, ever since she passed, I haven't been able to do it. So, I'm going to try and make myself catch up on it so that I can have decently accurate events. For now, enjoy chapter 12.

I listened to Imagine Dragons – Believer for this chapter.

As always and forever more, this is in honor of my sister. I miss and love you.

Chapter 12 –

Beth shifted her feet in the boots she had just found. They were much too big for her. Her luck, though, as of late. It had taken her less than a day of walking to find this store. If it was even really called that.

She was in Paint Lick, Kentucky and it wasn't much of a city. More of a forgotten suburb. The blonde shrugged and wrapped some wire she had found around the ankles and shins of her boots and legs. Anything to help keep them tighter and on her feet. With a deep breath, she pushed herself to stand and gathered her things from where they had been beside her. Her feet shifted in the boots and she frowned. Blisters were definitely in her future.

Beth eased her way quietly out of the house she had taken a break in and glanced around. The walkers were smaller in number here but that didn't ease her wariness. Nothing ever did nowadays.

Her thoughts flashed back to that night at the funeral home and the car that had come from nowhere and then to the ambush she had gone through in Allardt, Tennessee, where she had been stabbed in the shoulder. Anything can happen in a second.

'Wait…' Beth's eyes narrowed on an empty pickup truck that was parked in the yard across the street. She walked carefully across the small street and inspected the area around the truck. A few feet away from the truck was something Beth had seen long ago, in the moonshine shack with Daryl. She grinned when she saw the pink, or what used to be pink but was now significantly faded from the sun, bra shaped container that, just like at the moonshine still, was full of cigarette butts. Or what used to be cigarette butts. They were old and had been sitting in the elements for a long while, Beth judged.

"Who would go into a store and walk out with this?!"

It was a question she still had and here she is, finding a second one. She shook her head and refocused on the truck. The truck with all of the hunting gear inside of it. Some of it she couldn't use. She didn't have the experience with a hunting rifle and it would ultimately weigh her down. The object beside it, she could use, however. A crossbow. A ladies crossbow. She tilted an eyebrow to the color of it but grabbed it regardless. The weight was good, not too heavy for her though she would need to continue building her upper body strength to keep it comfortable. She found a few more items in the pick up that were worthy of use to her. Another knife and some ammo to one of her pistols. Perhaps the owners of the truck had prepared for a hunting trip when the world ended…or perhaps they were attempting to flee to safety when the world ended.

'Stop thinking about it, Beth,' she thought to herself. Once her bag was full of what supplies she could use and carry, her eyes fell to the ignition of the truck and decided against it. Using some wire that she had left over from her boots, she created a strap, albeit an uncomfortable strap, for the crossbow and slung it over her shoulders.

With the sun setting, she set off to the east, continuing her trek to her family.

According to the marks on her jeans, it had been almost a week of walking when she stopped and stared at the sign for Williamson, West Virginia. She wiped her bloody knife on her jeans and let out a breath into the crisp fall air. Beth turned and looked behind her and took a deep breath. Kentucky had been pleasant, as a state. She had thoroughly enjoyed hiking through Daniel Boone's National Forest. It gave her a better opportunity to practice and hone in on her skills with tracking and hunting. Knocking her bow had gotten easier, though she was still incredibly slow at it. It was a fact that made her grit her teeth. Of course, she didn't expect to master it in the six days that she had had the weapon but she wished it would happen faster than what it was.

Beth was pretty proud of herself, though. She had managed to track and kill a rabbit with the bow. So, she was definitely improving. Her body was getting stronger. Her head still ached from the bullet wound but she had popped antibiotics and pain relievers, when she could find them, like candy for the past month to help fight any possible infections and the pain. The last glance she had made at her reflection a few days ago, showed her that she was healing pretty well.

However, she was exhausted. Healing was taking everything out of her. She pushed herself to walk from the moment sunlight started creeping into the sky until it was almost too dark to do anything. Everyday and, now, it was really starting to affect her. Prior to this, her dazed and injured condition made the long walks a haze. She often didn't sleep or eat while she was in her condition. Now, her body was returning to itself and demanding food and rest.

Beth sighed and resumed her walk into Williamson, her knife out and ready. She pushed herself to walk around the town, stopping only to investigate vehicles or items that were open and abandoned. She didn't want to risk a house just yet but she knew she needed to. The sun was setting and the temperatures were dropping. Beth eased her way to a small gas station, knocked on the windows, and waited. Nothing. She walked cautiously into the building, ignoring everything until she verified it was clear. Then her eyes took in the empty shelves. Typical. With the sun setting so low, the blonde shifted her bags and set off to a house to rest for the night.

Blue eyes snapped open. It was still quite dark out but Beth grabbed all of her things and knocked her crossbow and hunched down on the sheet on which she had slept. It hadn't been an ideal sleeping arrangement, the floor was hard and cold under her, but she didn't mind too much. Her exhaustion had lulled her to sleep as soon as she knew the quaint home was secure.

She strained her ears to listen for the sound that woke her. There it was. Heavy footsteps, not humanoid, more than likely a large animal. Beth's first thought was a black bear, they are found in West Virginia, though this close to Williamson, she didn't know. With how dark it is, there was no way for her to know. The blonde lowered herself back to her pallet, laying in a way that she didn't have to take her pack off but sleep did not come. She sat, prepared, until the briefest glimpse of light appeared on the horizon and with that and a clear escape path, she left.