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

Chapter 48 - Ellie

I had never seen Beth look like she was about to lose it. Ever since I had met her, she'd been nothing but a strong woman that I could proudly look up to. But it was understandable considering she was on the verge of losing someone she loved. Someone we both did. When I had told her that I had found that automotive station, it was as if something in her clicked and she suddenly remembered what it was that she had to do. When we got to the station, she and I looked all over the place for something that could stop Joel's bleeding.

"Beth! I found some duct tape," I said when I'd come across a roll in one of the drawers I had searched through.

"Good. Bring it over here," she said.

I handed it to her and she got to work. She had taken out one of her shirts and folded it to reach either side of his torso. She taped the shirt in place. That stopped the bleeding but we needed to stitch up that hole in him before it got infected.

"Did you find a first aid kit by any chance?" I asked.

"No. And I know what you're thinking. We need to stitch him up and as quickly as possible. Otherwise his wound will get infected. I did find some booze though. That'll help when we find something," she said.

"Where do you suppose we look?" I asked.

"I don't know. We just gotta hope we find something soon," she said.

I looked around and my gaze fell on an old mattress. Having Joel draped over on one of the horses wasn't the brightest way to go about things and so that gave me an idea.

"What if we strap him into that and have Fiona and Callus pull him?" I said still looking at the matters.

Beth turned to see what I was looking at. She looked back at me and smiled. She then leaned over and kissed my forehead.

"You're such a smart, kid. You know that right?" she said.

"I have my moments," I said.

"Alright. Let me bring it over and you'll help me put him on it," she said.

"Sounds like a plan," I said.

She went over and brought the thing closer to us. Together we heaved Joel onto it and pulled out some blankets from out pack. We then used the rope we had found to make sure he was securely placed onto it. After that, we used the rope we had left over to attach to the saddles of our horses.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

We both mounted the horses and took off in search of a place where we could find a first aid kit.

After a few hours, we stumbled across a sign that said a shopping mall was half a mile away. Beth looked to me.

"It's worth a shot," I said.

She nodded and we journeyed on. Once there, we found the store closest to the entrance and set up there. Beth shut the shuttered doors while I searched for anything that resembled a kit. Nothing.

"Shit," I said.

Beth came over to me.

"Nothing?" she assumed.

"Nothing. I mean accidents happen all the time, right? The owners of this place didn't think of having a first aid kit in case of emergencies?" I retorted a little annoyed.

"Guess that means we're gonna have to go through the mall to see if all business owners were as stupid as this one," she said.

That got me to chuckle.