𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐔𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘐𝘐

9: Beth I

Beth
Part 1

Grady Memorial was a hospital in Atlanta.

Emphasis on was.

These days, it was less of a hospital, and more of a stronghold. It housed the living, kept them apart from the dead. And maybe, if you were lucky, it would keep you safe too.

Beth hadn't liked the looks of the place from the moment she'd awoken in her cot. She'd felt the bad blood that hung in the air so thickly that she had almost choked.

The place was run by a cold woman who was too focused on the old world. She had been a cop before the turn, much like Rick, Beth had noted. However, the common fact that they'd been cops was where Rick and Dawn's similarities ended.

Dawn led with an iron fist and a deeply tangled knot of deception. She was content on lying and letting her constituents behave however they liked as long as she could claim she had some semblance of control.

Beth had relentlessly defied this style of leadership at first.

Now she was used to it, a stinging pain on her cheek persisting at all hours of the day reminded her of where she stood among the residents.

Beth had been through hell since the world ended. Her house had burned to the ground, overcome by walkers maybe a year before. After this, Beth had thought she'd never find safety again. But then they'd found a prison and things had been good for a while. The prison, a literal prison, had been the place they'd holed up in. It had started out as a scary prospect, living in a place that had once housed criminals. But she had grown to call it home. Sure, a man who called himself 'the Governor' had been a nuisance for a while, but they'd stomped him out and welcomed his people with open arms. They'd proved that they were better than he was.

Besting enemies was something that Beth thought their group did well. They would be faced with evils like the Governor, and they always seemed to come out on top. They always seemed to reign victorious. The Governor had never been enough to bring them down. Good beat evil. That much was still in effect, even in the ruined world.

Then he'd returned and Beth had watched another home burn.

Escaping with Daryl had felt like hell. He was angry and cold and determined to hate everything that had to do with her.

But they'd grown to understand each other in the short time they spent together, and things had gotten better. They may not have made any progress in finding the others, but they had made progress in regaining themselves.

Beth was learning that good didn't always prevail, and God didn't always step in to save her. This hurt, it hurt to know that the end of the world really was the end of the world.

Then, everything had gone to shit once again, Beth remembered running away, like Daryl had told her to, and then being grabbed by two men much stronger than her. She'd been thrown in the back of a car, and hit her head on a seatbelt lock. The blow had knocked her out, that or the pain in her undoubtedly sprained ankle.

Then she'd ended up here, stuck in the hospital from hell.

She'd had a friend, Noah. But he'd been just as intent on escape as she was. She felt it was her duty to help him. She had to have been there for some reason. Right?

Beth was a firm believer that God would not have sent her to Grady Memorial for no reason. He would not have torn her away from her family twice for nothing.

So she had helped Noah to escape, she could only hope that he would make it back to his family. Meanwhile, she was still stuck, unsure of what her next escape plan should be.