A Painful Place (Walking Dead Fanfiction)

Chapter 24: Familiar

Tilly’s head bounced lightly against the chilled car window as she slept, the motion doing nothing to bring her out of her exhausted slumber. She had driven for a couple of hours and allowed Beth to rest before trading places and finally succumbing to her own fatigue.

Their journey was slow-going, even having the luxury of a vehicle. Their meager supply of gas needed to be conserved as long as possible and they couldn’t afford to come up on anything too quickly and wreck, especially in the dark.

Beth glanced over to the redhead as she slept and smiled to herself. Though Tilly was still a stranger to her, knowing she was close to her group made her feel familiar. Since she’d been separated all those weeks ago and thrust into a cruel, unknown environment that feeling was one she craved. She reached over and gently patted Tilly on the knee before turning her attention back to the dark highway ahead.

"Washington, DC- 5 miles" a large green sign announced as she pulled onto a stretch of interstate covered with stalled vehicles. She thought back to the crowded highway near the farm where they had all reunited after their home was overrun, and cleared her throat to chase away the memory of losing Jimmy and Patricia that day.

“Hey Tilly, wake up,” she whispered as she gently shook her new friend’s arm.

“Hmm?” Tilly startled a bit as she woke. “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine,” Beth smiled. “We made it.”

Tilly looked out of the windshield at the dark skyline ahead as Beth slowly navigated between the abandoned cars. The moon illuminated what was once a glittering city, now gone black. She could just make out the silhouette of the Washington Monument ahead of them.

“You think they’ll ever build a monument for everyone we lost during this plague?” Tilly asked casually.

Beth shrugged, “Maybe, if things ever go back to normal.”

“You don’t think they will?”

The girl pushed a wisp of tangled blond hair out of her face before answering. “A long, long time from now, I guess. Right now it all seems too far gone.” She paused for a moment as she stopped the car, unable to find an opening big enough for them to drive any farther. “Do you think it’s a good idea to go into the city at night?” Beth questioned. "We could just sleep in the car tonight."

“It’s not a good idea to go in there at all,” Tilly chuckled, “but we can handle the geeks. The night will at least provide us some cover from any people who might be hiding out in there.”

“We should find high ground,” Beth suggested as she unbuckled her seatbelt and gathered her meager belongings. “We’ll be safe from the walkers and have a better vantage point to spot the group.”

“Good thinking,” Tilly agreed, patting the girl on the shoulder, “and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find some more weapons. We’re not going to get very far with just a gun and a couple of knives.”

Beth walked ahead of her a bit and tugged on the door handle of a black pickup truck. "We should search these cars as we go along," she suggested, not waiting for Tilly to agree before climbing into the cab and opening the glove compartment.

Tilly automatically stepped beside the vehicle, knife in hand, and began keeping watch of the area as Beth searched. A few minutes later the blond hopped to the pavement and smiled as she held a small pistol.

"Well, look at that," Tilly drawled, holding out her hand and gladly accepting the gun from Beth. The weight of the weapon in her grip was comforting, and it quelled her nerves a bit. "You're really damn lucky, ya know that?" she joked, wrapping her arm around the younger girl's shoulders.