AN: I know I said this update was going to be sooner but I got busy with study and family. Sorry. Anyway, here it is! And remember to review.
A week had passed since Beth and Morgan had teamed up. Morgan was at first concerned that he was going to have to baby the petite girl but her memory was coming back. Slowly and broken but it was there. She remembered that the world had turned bad and she was pretty good with a gun. Morgan was surprised when he first saw her put down a walker. She was stronger than she looked and so Morgan decided to not treat her like a weak person. He told her the things he knew about Rick, hoping to jog her memory further. She would wonder out loud about specific memories, feeling let down that Morgan could not confirm nor deny them. Mostly, their travels had been in silence.
They walked through the trees, shoes crunching on the fallen leaves. The birds sung softly above them, so beautifully, so contrasting to the state of the world. Beth hummed quietly under her breath, trying to match the pitch of the birds.
"I think I lived on a farm." Beth spoke up suddenly, her voice sounding especially loud in the quiet forest. When Morgan didn't say anything, she continued. "Then a prison. Why would I have lived in a prison?"
"Safety," Morgan shrugged, "you stay where you can. Move when it's safe." Beth chewed her bottom lip, deep in thought.
"Then I lived nowhere." She spoke again. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Then… In a shack." She looked at Morgan hopefully. He shrugged again and her face fell. She hung her head, sniffing. She pulled the cross from her bag and ran her fingers over some names. Beth started chewing her bottom lip again, her blue eyes roaming over the names. She had a really strong feeling of déjà vu. She was so lost in thought that she nearly screamed when Morgan's arm flew out in front of her, halting her almost rudely. She swallowed her fright and looked up. Morgan pointed, his arm completely out stretched. Just outside the tree line was a large herd of walkers, growling and snapping, coming towards the woods.
"Where do we go?" Beth whispered, her hand on the pistol on her thigh. Morgan glanced around, trying to see if any of the walkers had made it into the trees. He put his hand on her hand over the pistol and removed it slowly. The walkers didn't seem to smell them yet but they were getting closer.
"Morgan." Beth whispered urgently.
"That way." He pushed her deeper into the woods. "Walk along the tree line, go deeper if they come to close. Use the machete to put them down."
"What are you going to do?" Beth asked, concerned.
"I am going to follow you, in a moment, go." He pushed her lightly in the direction she was to go.
Beth hesitated so he pushed her again.
"Go." He ordered. She nodded, slipping away and walking quickly through the trees.
Beth walked quietly but deliberately. She kept scanning her surroundings, keeping an eye out for any walkers that got too close. She heard a growling behind her; she withdrew the machete and spun around, bringing the blade down through the walker's head. She grunted as she pulled the machete out of the walker. She backed into a tree, breathing heavily. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall. She didn't want to cry, she wanted to be strong, but everything was so weird. She remembered the walkers and how to kill them but she hated it, she hated this new world. She rubbed her eyes, getting rid of the tears and stood up straight, looking around for any more walkers.
"Beth!" Morgan called, running through the trees. He motioned for her to start running as well. She opened her mouth to ask him if he was okay but instead choked out a scream. Behind Morgan was a herd, chasing him. She pushed herself off the tree and started running in the same direction as Morgan. She pulled the pistol from the strap on her thigh, ready to shoot anything that got in her way.
They ran, stumbling through the trees, managing to keep just out of reach from the walkers.
"Morgan!" Beth gasped, stopping suddenly. "Look!" She pointed. Ahead of them was an abandoned camper. Morgan nodded wordlessly and they ran towards it. Morgan took her machete and used it to pry the door open. Beth stood at his back, aiming the pistol.
"It's opened." He panted, falling into the camper. Beth followed hastily, slamming the door shut. Immediately after she closed it, walkers rammed into it, hungrily snapping and hitting the door. Beth leaned all her weight against it and put on the door's own bolt. They both scanned the camper, looking for something to put against the door. Beth could feel the door bowing under the weight of the walkers. There seemed to be nothing in the camper. Morgan went to the window opposite Beth and looked out. No walkers and a bit of a fall. The camper seemed to be on the edge of a hill. He knocked out the window and pushed the flimsy bed up to Beth.
"It won't stop them." She said breathlessly, pressing harder into the door.
"It's not meant to. It will slow them down. We're going to jump out the window. It's a bit of a drop but it shouldn't hurt too much." Morgan explained. Beth nodded and moved so that just her hands were pushing against the door. Morgan shoved the bed in front of the door and placed his hands on it.
"Go, you jump first." Morgan jerked his head towards the window. Beth went over to it and looked down. She dropped her machete out first, then hooked her leg over the frame. She looked back at Morgan before dropping from view. Morgan took a deep breath and ran from the door and quickly hopped through the window. As he reached the window, the door made a loud crack and the plastic of the camper gave way.
By the time he reach the bottom of the hill, Beth was up and had her machete.
"We need to move." Beth said, helping him up. "The camper will probably fall down." She pointed at how the camper was getting closer to falling down the hill.
"Okay." Morgan stood up and brushed some leaves off of himself. "Let's go." They walked away from the hill, into the trees. They heard a loud screech of metal and looked back. The camper seemed to be anchored into the ground by a metal foundation. The stress of the walkers pushing against it was causing the bottom of the camper to push along the foundation. They started running.