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

Chapter 28 - Beth

"Alright. You keep your eyes out for anything suspicious and you tell me. Okay?" I said as the two of us made our way down.

"Sure thing. Uh...Beth? Can I ask you something?" she said.

I stopped to turn and look at her.

"Yeah. Anything. What's on your mind, Ellie?" I said.

"I was wondering if you could show me how to work a gun," she said.

"Oh, Ellie. I would. But...you see, Joel made it clear that he didn't want you having one," I said.

"I know. Which is why I'm asking if you could show me how to use one. I'm not asking for one. Although, if I did have one, I could cover you guys too," she said.

"You're a smart little girl, aren't you?" I said.

She wasn't asking for one. What could be the harm in showing her how to use one? She had the right to learn how to defend herself after all.

"Alright, here," I said taking a seat on one of the steps.

"It's not a toy," I said handing her my gun.

"I know. You have to respect it, right?" she asked.

"Exactly. Now the safety is right here. Off you're ready to shoot. On you can't. Just make sure that when you have it off, you have something to shoot," I said.

She nodded and looked at it closely. A loud bang, caused me to take the gun from her and stand up.

"Stay behind me," I whispered.

I had us hide by a luggage cart and wait to hear anything else.

"How many are there?" a voice asked.

"I don't know. But we have to assume it's a lot if they were able to take out the crew on the road and the one here. We're gonna find those assholes and teach them a lesson," another said.

They were turning the corner but we were well hidden that they walked right by us and headed upstairs. When I was sure the coast was clear, I took Ellie by the hand and helped her to her feet.

"We gotta find Joel and get the hell out of here," I said.

"You got that right," she said.

In order to avoid drawing attention to ourselves, I made sure to hide away whenever we heard something. There was no reason to waste ammo if we didn't have to.

"Better to save ammo for the infected," I said once we were closer to the basement.

"But what if we come across one of the hunters and we have to use the ammo?" she asked.

"Well then, we use the ammo and hope there aren't any more around," I said.

There was a narrow hallway that we came across that led right to a door.

"Okay. We'll take this hallway. But we stay alert. If we come across anything, anything at all, I want you to run to that door. You don't wait for me. You just run, you understand?" I said sternly.

"But..." she started.

"Ellie, you just run," I emphasized.

"Okay," she said softly.

I pulled out my machete and held it firmly as we started making our way down the hall. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. When we were halfway, there was a bang that came from behind. I turned and soon after, there were a couple of infected that had spotted us.

"Ellie...run. NOW!" I shouted.

I watched as she quickly turned back around and ran for the door. I backed up and waited for the stalkers to get closer.