Shawn sat in the chair, watching his cousin Lacey pace the floor of the living room. Every couple of steps she paused to look out the window overlooking the driveway and road. His fingers were crossed and his thumbs twiddled around each other, he sighed as she peered through the curtains one more time. "Lace, why don't you go check on the kids? I'll get Bethy."
Something heavy sat in his gut. He had the feeling that trouble with a capital T was gonna be rolling up to their gates anytime soon. They couldn't afford to have that with Beth's 19th birthday rolling up soon and their mama dead. Contrary to what his dad believed, Shawn knew they weren't coming back: his mama, Miss Charlene with her hair up in rollers and always peeking out her window when he and his sisters would come over for one of her cookies, Jude and his stupid skateboard, There was nothing. Contact with the base and through them, the CDC was shot down a week ago. He watched his cousin go up the stairs, shaking his head as he heard the sound of female voices.
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Anything Beth Greene could have come up with wouldn't be enough. Nothing could force her to leave her bedroom at this point. It was the closest to her parents' room. The closest to her mama.
The thickness in her throat just built up. It was getting hard to breath as the sobs began to overwhelm her. Beth leaned against the wall watching the younger kids play a game. She just wanted answers.
Shawn stood on the other side of the door, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt like a horrible big brother. He wanted to take this pain away from his baby sister. From his Bethy. He could protect her from many things, but this was not one of them. No matter how hard he tried. No matter how much he wanted to.
His hand tightened on the knob one last time before he twisted it and pushed open the door. He cleared the floor and had her gathered in his arms. Just holding tight.