Even When the World Comes Down (Sequel to Always & Forever)

Chapter 1 - Beth

Adjusting to life in this chaotic world was hard to say the least. After losing Sarah...things were never the same. Joel became distant which I really didn't blame him for. But at the same time, I felt completely helpless. There was nothing I could say or do to ease his pain. I got discouraged that I'd never be able to do anything for him. I felt there was no need for me to be in the picture anymore. We'd lost the one single person that we loved more than each other and that emptiness...it constantly screamed at us. So when he asked me to leave, I obliged. It broke my heart to see him in so much pain and frankly, I couldn't handle it anymore. I thought I could be strong for him. For the both of us but that just wasn't the case. He was still the man that I'd always love but maybe it was just time for us to go our separate ways. I think he needed some time to himself. I knew that he was more than capable of taking care of himself. The 15 years I was with him were proof of that much. Tommy leaving was another thing that he took hard. He'd never admit it but it was clear every time his name was brought up in conversations. I think he felt like a failure the day Tommy decided to leave us. Like the way he changed was almost too much for Tommy to take. As if the man this world made him into, scared his little brother away. But that wasn't the case. And there was no convincing Joel otherwise.

My father taught me some things before he died all those years ago. So I too was able to handle myself when it came to surviving. However, thanks to Joel, my skill set increased drastically. Having the knowledge of holding and firing not just one gun but multiple was all thanks to the man I married. He taught me how to clean, load and how the safety worked. I owed so much to him but unfortunately, there wasn't much I could offer him. After I left, I often wondered if he fell out of love with me at some point in the fifteen years after Sarah. Maybe he did and the truth was I forgave him for it. Because I knew that had things not become how they were now, we'd still be happily married with the life we were supposed to have. But that wasn't the case. The world had come down and everything before had become some sort of dream of the past. All that mattered now was surviving at any cost.

After Joel, I drifted from place to place. I had no idea what it was I was looking for. What I did know was that I had to stay alive. If there was the smallest chance that I'd see Joel again, then I had to keep fighting. For him and for Sarah. I had to keep on living because she didn't get to. There were times where I'd forget she was gone. Some nights I'd wake up expecting to see her next to me but then I'd remember. And doing so was always the hardest part of the day. But I know she wouldn't want me to give up. I know she'd want me to keep fighting. And so that's what I did. It was my way of honoring her. I missed her so much.

A couple of months after I left Joel, I knew that being cooped up in a quarantine zone was not for me. So, I decided to stay away from them as best I could. The military were the ones in charge of maintaining them but after the riots that had broken out a few years ago, trusting their "safety tactics" was something I never fell in line with. Then there was the Fireflies. Their sole purpose being to bring back civilization and the government to its former glory. I didn't see any of that happening any time soon so I found it better to isolate myself from everyone else who was still kicking

Three years later and I still hadn't managed to find a place to hang my boots long-term which was what I wanted. One day while on my search, there was a gas station that I had stumbled upon. I was short on food and so I pulled out my gun then proceeded to check it out. There was a couple of canned food items that I took and stored in my backpack. I did another quick sweep of the place but didn't find much. As I was on my way out, I heard some clicking. I stopped dead in my tracks to listen to where it was coming from. After a few minutes, I could hear someone screaming. 

"Help! Someone please help me!" a man's voice yelled. 

The clicker was occupied with the man so I could make my way out without being detected.

"Please!" the man yelled again. 

He sounded very desperate. I stood there weighing my options. I could go and help him but who's to say this man didn't turn out to be a low life like so many others I'd come across or, I could just walk out right now and have his screams haunt the nightmares that I managed to have every night. I didn't want that shit on my conscious and so I looked for a weapon that I could kill the thing with quietly. There was a machete that hung on the wall closest to me. I went up and took it off the wall then went toward the back of the store where the screams were coming from. There was a storage room toward the back of the station where I could hear the struggling. As I got closer, I could see the leg of the clicker then its body. It was fully invested with man that it ignored me making my way toward it. I lifted the machete and drove it through its abdomen. I then got hold of its shoulder and moved the machete upward as it tore through the shell around the flesh. I moved it up until I reached the head. Once I did, I sliced it off. Its blood was all over the place which I was pretty much used to. However I don't think the man was. He was all kinds of scared. He looked as if he hadn't eaten in a while. 

"Th-Thank you," he managed to say. 

"Sure," I said. 

I grabbed a rag and wiped the blood off the blade. I then turned to head out. 

"Wait. Please...do...do you have any food by any chance? I've been here for a long time. I was just about to leave to find more when that thing came after me," he said. 

"I saved your life. I'll leave the rest to you. We've all gotta learn how to survive somehow," I said turning to look at him. 

"I'm begging you. I'll make it worth your while, I swear," he said. 

"What could you possibly offer me?" I asked crossing my arms. 

"You were in here looking for food right? Well...I know of a place not far from here. I was thinking of hitting it when I got out of here," he said. 

"How could you know of a place when you've been here for a while?" I continued to ask.

"I have a map. Every other place I hit before landing here was wiped clean. All except for Lincoln. It's not far and it's mostly woods. I wouldn't be surprised if we found some worn down cabin or home. It wouldn't hurt to look," he said. 

I eyed him. I didn't trust him in the slightest. If he was pulling my leg, I'd be placing myself at risk by following him. But if he was right, I could always go and then kill him once we found a place to stay. It was a 50/50 chance that I was just gonna have to take. I was tired of moving place to place. I wanted to find a permanent place to be. I sighed. 

"Can you stand?" I asked. 

He used the wall to help him up. I pulled my backpack in front of me and pulled out a can of peaches and the can opener. "Here," I said. He reached for both items and went to work with opening the can. When he did, he slurped them up as quickly as he could. 

"Okay. Let's go. The sooner we get out of here, the quicker we'll find a place before night fall. Come on," I said. 

"I can't thank you enough for this. I'm Adrien, by the way," he said extending his hand to me.

"Beth. Now move. And for the record, if you try anything, anything at all, I will not hesitate to kill you. We clear?" I said not taking his hand. 

"Crystal. Let me just get my things," he said. 

I nodded and waited for him to get his backpack. 

"Okay. I'm ready. Shall we?" he said. 

"After you," I said. 

We left the gas station and began our journey to somewhere else.