ꜰᴏᴏʟ'ꜱ ᴍᴀᴛᴇ || ᴛᴡᴅ

080: ʙᴇᴛᴀ ᴍᴀʟᴇꜱ

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Rachel had found the apartment building back when she was out scouting a week or two ago. She'd found someone must have been staying there, since there was a hidden supply stash and the staircases were barricaded, but she'd been there four times, set up little tip offs incase someone actually lived lived there, but nothing was ever moved. 

She checked the piece of wool she placed in the stairs wells, seeing it in the exact same position she left it, and climbed upstairs  with the others. 

She set Henry and Lydia to keep watch, since they were pissing her off kissing around corners. They could've just started an all out war, but here they were, kissing. It just made her more pissed off.

Danny was tired, and like his brother, tended to just do as you said when he missed a nights sleep. He kept yawning, following Rachel around the building as she made sure the people could climb up the barricades, while the walkers couldn't. Use it as a chokepoint, was Danny's idea. 

"It's stupid." Danny wrote on his paper, showing it to Rachel as they sat on a table upstairs, sharpening their knives.

"What's stupid?" She took her headband/scarf off, shoving it in her back on her back as she began to braid her hair. "Well, specifically."

"Lydia and Henry. I get helping people. I want to help her. But the whole . . . " He tried to think of a word to write that would describe it. "'romance' of it is pissing me off."

"I agree." Rachel said, once she read it. "If you're gonna save someone, save someone. Don't always have to be in love with them." She was quiet for a minute. "If I date someone, it'll be far in the future."

"Why?"

"Kids are stupid. I also just . . . you and Carl were the only people my age I could tolerate. And you two were like my brothers."

"I don't want anyone disturbing my peace." Danny wrote. "I like my life, some g̶  person would just wreak that."

Rachel nodded. "I know what you mean. I really like life out in the woods."

They heard the walkers before Lydia and Henry told them they were there. Which just made them both more pissed off. 

"You don't wanna kill them, do you?" Rachel asked Lydia, and they made their way into the darker apartment, the windows boarded up. 

Lydia shook her head.

"Henry, stick with Danny." Rachel looked at Danny for confirmation, and he nodded. "Lydia, you're with me."

Rachel lead Lydia to a closet, which she hid inside, after much convincing. With Danny and Henry covering the south stairwell, Rachel went to the North.

She stood with her bow ready, but not pulled back, not knowing how long they'd take. 

The door burst open, and she waited, seeing that one of them was hidden behind a door.

But the other two weren't. 

She pulled back her arrow, shooting one of the Skins in the shoulder, and ducked back, pulling out another arrow from her backpack, knocking it and running.

The apartment was unfinished, meaning there were white plastic sheets handing between rooms. Why, she didn't know.

She slowed down, keeping her footsteps deliberate, pulling her knife out and holding it in one of her hands, listening.

She heard footsteps to her right, and saw an axe on the table. She could be quicker with that, not needing to pull it out.

She put her knife back, and her arrow she tucked into her belt loop, grabbing the axe and lifting it.

A silhouette appeared on the other side, and she swung the axe as high as she could, though it was heavy, meaning she only managed to swing it into the Skin's chest.

He let out a gurgle, and she ran, pulling her arrow from her jeans and putting it back in her bow.

She heard running, from her left, which was a wall, and suddenly remember some game. It was only a few pixels, but it was something to do with a purple wall. Something chasing you, smashing through the walls. You only heard it because of the-

She jumped back right as a huge man smashed through the wall, diving for where she had been. She raised her bow, pulling it back, but the man swung his arm, hitting her into the wall behind her.

But the arrow still flew, landing in his arm and making him yell.

"Where is she?" He hissed, pulling a knife from his belt. "Where is she?"

Rachel scrambled backwards, bow fallen, back in agony. But she got to her feet, anyway.

The man, Beta, swung at her, and put his whole body into it. She ducked, noticing an opening after his swings. There was too much in it, too much momentum. She could use that.

She ran away from him, and he followed, yelling like an animal. She felt really stupid. Why hadn't she just stayed at Hilltop? Let Daryl handle this shit?

She reached the elevator, which was covered with a sheet, and froze, but then felt Beta grabbed her by the backpack. She slipped her arms out, making him throw it to the wall as she turned. He swung, and she ducked under his arm, getting behind him and slashing at his back.

He yelled, blood spewing across the floor, and backed up, slamming her between him and the wall, making her fall and drop her knife, only for him to turn and grab her by the neck with two hands, slamming her against the wall.

"You and your people mean nothing to me." He grunted, and held her far enough away that she couldn't reach anything but his arms. "Your world is already dead. All I want is the girl."

Rachel heard footsteps, and pulled her feet up, kicking him in the chest and knocking him back.

But he still had a grip on her, even as Daryl ran out of nowhere, and ran into Beta, knocking him into the elevator shaft.

"Daryl!" Rachel croaked, and he grabbed her arm, managing to her her away from Beta as he fell, leaving the pair standing there, and a loud thud sounded.

"You okay?" Daryl looked her over, eyes falling on a cut on her eyebrow.

She nodded. She didn't really care for the cuts and bruises. She wanted him to get his yelling over with.  "I'm fine. I have to go see the others."

"Yeah, found them first." He followed her, as she made her way to her bag, snatching it off the ground. "The fuck you thinkin', running out here after that girl?"

"I wasn't running after her." Rachel sighed. There was no point. She was in trouble, he wouldn't see it how she did. "Are they all alive?"

"Henry's missin' a chunk of his knee. Just stop for a second, will ya?"

"We can talk on the way to Alexandria." She pushed open a door, seeing Danny, Henry and Lydia, with one of the new people. Connie. "Everyone good."

Danny raised an eyebrow at her, looking at the blood coating her face as he bit a bandage he was tying on to his arm.

"Yeah, I know." 

Daryl walked in after her, taking them all in. "Alexandria's closest. We'll head there, get you three patched up."

Henry shook his head. "we can't. If her people find out she's there-"

"We won't stay." Rachel said. "We'll . . . work out where to go from there, but it won't be our settlements. "

Daryl looked at her for a moment, before grabbing Henry's arm to help him walk. "Come on."

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sorry, this one is unedited. I'm not writing today, just finishing the book I'm reading and posting this speedy