the real people| TWD

thirty-three

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE,
peace.

"I'm gonna bring him back, I promise". Her dull, blue, eyes looked past him, as if he weren't even there. Her skin sickly pale and coated with sweat, sticking her blond hair to her forehead. "I'm sorry".

Kenny reached up to brush some hair from her face, biting the inside of his cheek so hard he drew blood. "I'm so, so, sorry",

He was guilty he let this happen, guilty he wasn't there to protect her.

Beth Greene wasn't made for this world, just like Micheal wasn't. She was too pure, too kind and gentle; her heart's too big for her body, too big for a world this small. She was color and light when things now were gray; it was a black and white world and Beth was bright, sunshine, yellow.

Kenny reached down to take her cold, clammy hands into his own. He held them tight and brought them to his lips, planting soft kisses along her knuckles. "It's going to be okay, Beth, I'm going to make it okay".

There was no response.

"I promise".

Kenny gently placed her hands on her stomach before forcing himself to his feet; he placed one last, lingering kiss along her damp head before leaving her bedroom.

His mother got like this a lot.

Growing up, there would be periods of time when Carol would just, disappear. The woman would slip into her own mind and rot in her bed for days, sometimes weeks. Ed would call it  an 'episode' or a 'tantrum', he'd say she was doing it for attention, for pity. Richard would tell them she was sick and she just needed time to rest; but he never let it go on longer than a couple weeks. When their mother would get sick and Ed would disappear to avoid the responsibility of being a father; Richard would step up.

Dinner would be made, the house would be cleaned, dishes would get done. Kenny, Sophia, and Micheal would always be taken care of.

And then, after the third week, Richard would make it better. He'd force Carol out of bed, bathe her and change her clothes, he'd it her out in the living room and force medication down her throat. She'd fight, she'd scream, she'd cry— but she'd listen.

Kenny wished Richard was better so he could make Beth okay, so he could make her listen.

He needed his brother, he needed Beth.

As Kenny made his way down the stairs he wiped his face, trying to rid himself of any sadness or anger. He stopped in front of the screen door, "I'm okay".

It was his turn to step up.

He was going to make it better; for Richard, for Beth, for Micheal.

Kenny took one more inhale, slowly exhaled, and pushed the screen door open. He stepped out onto the front porch and let the door shut behind him. Glenn and Maggie stood at the bottom of the steps, reassuring each other it was all going to be fine. Rick stood besides the truck, loading their guns.

As soon as he stepped out, all eyes were on him. "You ready?", Glenn asked.

Kenny nodded, climbing down the porch and making his way towards Rick. "You good?", he tossed the boy a rifle, who caught it and moved to stand besides the passenger side door.