Chapter 2
Beth closed the trunk of Gorman's car and turned to face Officer Shepherd and Doctor Edwards; she knew the appropriate and polite thing to do now was thank them for everything they had done for her and given her, but she honestly didn't feel like it and wasn't convinced they deserved it. She glanced back at the car, into her own reflection, and nearly instantly she heard her Daddy's voice, 'But an argument can be made that maybe they earned it, Bethy.'
She sighed and turned back to the two of them, "Thank you," she said, a little more rushed than she had meant to, but she said it. They both nodded tightly, as though they themselves had had the same thought process and were uncomfortable, shifting slightly in their shoes.
"Remember to go East for the supplies you're looking for." Shepherd reminded her. Beth nodded and pulled the key fob out of her pocket, she didn't know what else to say and standing around was starting to send ants up her pants.
"Well, Goodbye." She ducked her head and moved to the driver door, popping it open and moving into the car.
"Thank you," Edwards said suddenly, stopping her from closing the car door with his hand on the frame.
"For what?" she shrugged, looking up at him.
"Dawn."
Beth felt a shiver pass through her that only furthered her recent belief that Dawn was quite genuinely haunting her, and possibly further than just in this hospital. She couldn't believe they were actually thanking her for essentially killing Dawn, and she couldn't help the immense urge to spit in his face. Her jaw clenched and she nodded once, closing the door and not really caring if Edwards had the common sense to move his hand or not. She tried not to picture a smirking Dawn sitting in the back seat of the car as she turned the engine and pulled away. Beth did not look in the rear view mirror even once as she drove, none of the retreating figures the reflective surface held had any importance to her. And if it did show her Dawn, she might just puke all over the steering wheel.
She headed East towards the large super store they had told her about. It was 8 miles out and she took the whole ride in silence, thinking of what she would tell everyone once she found them. She smiled at the thought of their shocked faces, of the snotty faced crying sister she would embrace. Of cold blue eyes that would sting her with the intensity of their disbelief until he could finally touch her, feel her. She let the warm longing sensation uncurl in her chest, deciding she could have that thought carry her the whole way to Richmond. She sipped from her water bottle and nibbled on a bag of granola as she drove, switching to playing a wishing game in her head of what she hoped would be in the store.
Wouldn't a crossbow just be fantastic? Oh, I hope that store has one!
She dodged the odd walker here and there along the road, but for the most part she hadn't encountered anything strenuous. She pulled into the parking lot and stared up at the large square building.
"Looks big and scary."
Her imagination(she hoped) filled in the silence with Dawn's voice and Beth wished for a moment she could punch herself in the face. Imaginary Dawn's laughter echoed around the dark corners of Beth's mind as she exited the car. She shook it off and drew up the hand gun they had given her, thankfully with a silencer included. It was a last resort weapon these days, but still a weapon and she thought she heard an echo of her Daddy's warmhearted chuckle when she reluctantly thought again on where she might be if it weren't for Grady Memorial Hospital and its inhabitants. The thought nearly made her pause as she fully considered the weight of that debate. She approached the large windows and heaved her shoulders, her head dropping just a bit. She lifted her head and rolled her shoulders and tapped the silencer against the glass several harsh times, creating sound to draw them out just like Daryl had taught her. She waited what felt like a long enough time before she moved to open the door, just in time for five walkers to come stumbling out heading right for her.
Beth gasped and started to panic, moving backwards recklessly before his voice penetrated her senses, 'wha' you doin' girl? Grab somethin' an' take care of 'em, damnit.'
She steadied herself and aimed her gun, taking the closest two out with a single head shot each. Beth turned and scanned the ground as she briskly walked further out leading the remaining three walkers out into the open parking lot when a rusted metal pole grabbed her attention. She pushed the gun into her waist band at her back and swiftly lifted the pole from the ground. Turning towards her sworn enemies, Beth wasted no time in swinging the pole into their heads one at a time, sending them to the ground, and then sending the sharp rusted end straight through their foreheads. She panted and leaned her weight onto the pole, waiting for the blurry pulsing around the edges of her vision to fade and once again focusing on her breathing. She glanced around her, making sure the fight hadn't drawn the attention of any other uninvited party guests. Slowly, she gathered her strength and will and lowered the pole back to the ground quietly. Drawing her gun and staying on the alert, Beth moved back towards the store.
The front of the store hadn't held much for her, a few cans of soup and beans and some hard candy, a bottle of water that had rolled under the shelves. The middle of the store had clothes and shoes, bags and hats and gloves and coats. Beth grabbed things with abandon from these sections, not caring how any of it might fit her because of her desperate need for clothing and thicker pieces for winter at that. She only spared time to try on the boots and find the best fitting ones. Those she needed to fit her well or she'd end up with a broken ankle. She found a suitable pair and threw them on top of the growing pile in her shopping cart. She moved to the bag section and picked up a fairly decent sized duffle bag, pushing clothes into it. She popped open the bag of panties she found and set one pair to the side along with a pair of jeans and socks. She shoved all but one of the random tee-shirts she had collected into the bag and set it to the side with a new bra as well. She fit everything into the bag and closed it, standing up straight, Beth fell silent and took in her surroundings once more. As certain as she could be of her privacy, Beth hastily changed her clothes. She ripped her old ones off so quickly and harshly they had torn in her hands. She pulled on the new outfit and shivered somewhat. Walking back to the clothes she snatched a jacket off its hanger and briskly donned it. She went back to her cart and grabbed one more duffle bag before moving further into the store. She found the hygiene section and practically pissed her pants with sheer joy. She just about ransacked it clean; Soaps and cleansing products, pads, tampons, condoms, shampoos and conditioners. Beth Greene took whatever she could get her hands on, thoughts of Maggie and Glenn rolling through her head when her fingers grazed the boxes of contraceptives. Thoughts of sculpted marble arms and burning blue eyes. She shook the sexy time images of him from her mind and moved on to the pharmacy. Not much was left but she did find some Motrin and cold remedies as well as a few pills she recognized to be antibiotics. She added them to her bounty and moved on, determined to find the hunting section.
Finding it hadn't taken long, thankfully. She spared a few moments looking over fishing rods before deciding not to. She had spent longer in here than she had wanted to already, she wanted to find some more weapons, and get the hell out. She saw a counter and rushed up to it, stars exploding behind her eyes at the sight of the handful of big blades and their sheaths left in the display case. She hopped the counter with a bit of effort and a little too much blood rush through her still fragile brain. She slid the case open and grabbed every knife she could reach, immediately attaching one to her belt on the right side and strapped another to her left thigh. She dropped the rest into the duffle bag and continued her search for a crossbow. She scoured every aisle until she hit the auto care and turned, walking back through hunting. She wasn't finding anything and was starting to feel crestfallen when she glanced to the back wall behind the counter and nearly smacked herself on the forehead. There, hanging up high on the wall, were six displayed crossbows and three compound bows. Beth pondered over her six options as quickly as possible before considering what remained of the bolts that would fit them. She remembered the aisle she had found those in and rushed back. She examined all of them before realizing only two sizes remained, ones that looked like they would fit Daryl's and ones that looked about an inch and a half or two inches shorter. She grabbed all of them and rushed back to her stuff, she knew which bow the smaller ones went to. She tossed them in the bag and turned to the wall. Beth hopped the counter a second time but much more slowly, and with even more care she climbed the shelves along the wall to reach the smaller of the crossbows. She strapped it over her back and carefully climbed back down, making her way over the countertop a final time, she steadied herself with the cart and took a deep breath. She couldn't help the wicked grin that spread over her face as she walked back to the front of the store, Beth Greene, she told herself, you are a Bad Ass!
Beth drove until nearly an hour or two before the sunset, playing CD's to keep Dawn's ghost quiet and in its lane. She stopped and pulled off the highway sort of near some wrecked cars that would block her from the view of the main road they sat by. She took some time to set up noise-maker warning barriers and a small camp by the car to examine her new bow. She found that pulling it back was much easier with hers than it had been with his, and hers weighed about a third less than his, but it still had some decent heft to it. Beth attached her bolts to it and made sure her little camp was secure before she moved off into the woods to find dinner. And get to know her new toy.
The woods nurtured Beth like a soothing balm on her soul, the way the fading light danced around her and the breathtaking beauty of the stories the forest could tell. Stories read to her in Daryl Dixon's voice. She heard him every turn she made, every track she found, every insect she crossed paths with, every wild flower she saw. Every time she took aim and fired a bolt at any given target, his voice would mumble out her mental notes about her new bow. It shoots a little low, gotta aim higher. It's lighter weight and so are the bolts, need ta compensate fer weather. Lighter weight doesn't shoot farther and faster though, not surprisingly… Beth Greene felt connected to another human being again for the first time since coming out of her coma, yet was completely alone in the tress and tall grass. She could feel him in the breeze that cooled her lips and cheeks and the thoughts it stirred up had her cheeks heating up all over again.
'Get it together, Greene,' she chided herself, maneuvering through the bush, two squirrels bouncing against her thigh. She tried to distract herself with what Maggie would say if she could see her now; huffin' it alone an' huntin' an' makin' a camp. She smirked and almost giggled out loud, Maggie would be floored. She would want Beth to sit by the fire and keep her tiny hands warm and sing. Beth tried to ignore the way that thought actually stung a little bit. She made it into her little camp and immediately set to work making a fire before the sun completely set. She rushed through skinning the squirrels but figured whatever she missed could pass for seasoning, swiftly moving one over the flames to cook outright and the other higher up to dry in the smoke. She took the bit of down time to check Gorman's car, adding the remaining gas to the gas tank and praying it got her at least three quarters of the way full. She pulled out her map to look over her route, which had changed three times already that day due to herds of walkers or broken down cars. She had tried to push all the cars out the way the first block she had come to, but after pushing on that first car for 20 minutes and realizing that it had not moved a single inch, Beth went to consult the map.
Beth memorized her current decided route and examined two other routes she could go if need be. It was taking her longer than she wanted, she'd be lucky if she got even 50 miles outside of Richmond before she would have to stop tomorrow evening again. Beth sighed and rubbed her forehead, unknowingly by her scar at her temple, and folded the map back up to put back inside the car door. She went back to her dinner and flipped both pieces of meat, and recalled the first time Daryl had showed her to cook her kill. His hand engulfed hers around the stick they used to flip the meat, their thighs touching and small little grunts falling from his lips as he tugged and pulled relentlessly on her short arm. She felt her cheeks heating up again and growled at herself, feeling like such a child; but mostly feeling a deep longing, like something important and dear to her was missing. She tried to tell herself it was all the members of her family, but she could only think of one pair of crystal blue eyes she desperately wanted to see and fall into and oh those arms and his muscles and warmth and… Beth Greene knew she was doomed.