Beauty in Death - The Walking Dead

-one-

Strangers

Liz knew how dangerous the world was now. She knew that it wasn't safe to be out in the world like it used to be. No more Sunday dinners with the family or a stroll through the park, just running. Running and hiding – and then more running and more hiding.

Was this the world Liz wanted her two girls to grow up in? Of course it wasn't. She would give anything for things to go back to the way they were. She wanted more than anything for her girls to be able to go to school and have after school band practices and to be able to go to their proms and get married; to start their own families.

But that was all just a fantasy now.

Liz was out on a short run in a small town near the small cabin she and her girls were holed up in. She left them alone, promising she would be back within the hour.

They needed more of, well, everything. They were running low on supplies, and Liz feared that they wouldn't get to eat tonight if this run didn't go well. So far, she'd checked the small local grocery store and a gas station, only to find each had been cleared ages ago.

She sighed, throwing down an empty can of baked beans and ran a hand through her hair. "Goddammit," Liz muttered. "How can there be nothing here?"

When the people of the town fled, they must have raided every store in town.

Suddenly, Liz heard the store doors open with the ring of a bell. Her hand flew to her gun, she pulled it from her belt, and ducked behind one of the counters near the front of the store.

There must've been a walker inside the store, nothing she wasn't familiar with, nothing she couldn't handle. Liz took a deep breath and peaked over the side of the counter and what she saw made her gasp.

She quickly ducked her head beneath the counter again and covered her mouth with her hand, breathing as softly as possible.

Inside the store, there were three people; two white men and an Asian. Liz didn't think there was anyone left, she thought she and her girls were the only ones left.

These people didn't have any bags on them, and each only carried two weapons, a handgun and a knife. One of the men carried a crossbow, however. How had they survived for two and a half years with nothing but their weapons?

They must have a camp near here, Liz thought. Yes, that was the only explanation. Maybe they could take her and her girls with them. Maybe they could be safe with them...

Every instinct Liz had was telling her that it was a bad idea to let these men know she was behind the counter, but her motherly instincts were also telling her that she needed to try. She needed her daughters to be someplace safe. If these men had a camp, then she had to try, at least.

Okay, Liz, deep breaths, She thought. You can do this. On the count of three. One, two, three!

She peaked over the counter again, only to find herself staring down the barrel of one of the men's revolvers.

"Don't move."

She heard the click of the gun and froze.

Shit.

"Set your gun down and stand up," The gruff voice ordered. She did as he instructed and got to her feet. This time, she was able to get a closer look at the three men.

The Asian man looked young, no older than thirty, and had short black hair. The man with the crossbow was certainly unique. He had medium length brown hair and wore a denim vest with embroidered angel wings on the back. The man with the gun trained on her looked to be about her age, he was tall and had a beard.

"Who the hell are you?" The man with the crossbow demanded. He had a thick, gruff southern accent. He still hadn't set his crossbow down yet, it was making Liz very uncomfortable.

"Elizabeth Bradbury," She answered immediately. "Please, my daughters are waiting for me in a cabin outside of town—"

The man with the beard held a hand up and she stopped talking. He exchanged a glance with the two other men with him. Suddenly, as if they'd had some sort of unspoken conversation, the man with the crossbow set it down and the Asian lowered his gun. But the man with the beard didn't lower his.

"We're not gonna hurt you," He told her.

"And yet, you're still aiming your gun at me," She replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"We have no idea who you are," He replied. "I can't take any chances."

"Do I really look like that much of a threat?" Liz replied. "Why would I try to hurt you or your friends when I need to get back to my daughters?"

The man hesitated a moment, but then lowered his gun. Liz collected herself. "Thank you," She said.

The three of them turned to move on, but Liz stopped them. "Uh... hey!" She said. They stopped and turned their attention back to her. "I couldn't help but notice that you three don't have any, well, anything... do you have a camp or something around here?"

Please say yes, please say yes...

"No." He didn't even hesitate when he spoke. Liz's heart dropped. So they were lying.

Now, Liz didn't like to think of herself as the begging type, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Please," She said. "My daughters – they're only thirteen, we've been out here since it started and if we're out here much longer..." She trailed off. "Please. I'm begging you. I'll do anything."

They stared at her for a moment before the man with the beard gestured for his friends to follow him. They turned away from her and spoke in hushed whispers. Liz waited anxiously for them to finish their talk.

When they turned back around, she held her breath. The man with the beard approached her and, for a moment, Liz was afraid that he would just raise his gun and shoot her right in between the eyes. But he didn't. Instead, he began asking her a series of questions.

"How many walkers have you killed?"

Liz furrowed her eyebrows. This seemed like a somewhat ridiculous question to her, but she took it as a good sign that he was asking instead of telling her no.

"I... I don't know," She admitted. "Too many to count."

"How many people have you killed?" He continued.

"People?" Liz replied.

"Just answer the question," Crossbow said.

"None!" She exclaimed.

"Why?" The man with the beard asked.

She looked at him. "Because killing people is wrong," She said. "It doesn't matter how shitty the world has gotten, the only way anyone is going to get anywhere in this damned world is by sticking together, not tearing each other apart."

He nodded, seeming satisfied with her answers. "That's Glenn." He pointed to the Asian kid. "And Daryl." He nodded to the man with the crossbow. "My name is Rick, Rick Grimes. We have a prison a couple miles from here. You and your daughters can come with us, if you want."

Liz felt her heart skip a beat. She smiled widely and nodded. "Yes, thank you, thank you so much!" She said happily.

Finally, she and her girls were going to be someplace safe.

➵

So, there's the first official chapter of Beauty in Death. I hope you guys liked it!

Don't worry, Chloe and Kacy are going to be making an appearance very soon. Can't have a story without the main character, now can ya?

Also, I hope you all realize that Liz's official nickname for Daryl is now 'Crossbow' and that's what she'll be calling him from now on.

I crack myself up sometimes.

Read on, loves!

~Madison