Back: A Bethyl Survival Story

How to Move On

How to Move On

In the hallway, I try to catch my breath, before heading down the stairs a bit with Tyreese. When we turn to look into the living room, a walker is chowing down on a very alive body of Dr.

Putting a bolt through it's head, I'm taken aback when three more walkers stumble in from the back door that had been left open. I try to stab the one closes to me through the head, but it stumbles toward me faster than expected. I fall backwards against the stairs and hear Beth and everyone gasp.

"Get into the attic. Now! Don't come down till I tell you." I see Carol and Beth pull the ladder down with haste and everyone gets up, until Bentley calls to us below.

"Sarg! I'm not leaving him!" Right as his name is called Sarg jumps from beneath the stairs and growls as he bites down on the walker's neck, giving me enough time to kill it. I shove it off and push Sarg up stairs where, Carol and Beth hoist him up the ladder and into the attic with Judith and Bentley.

Tyreese is struggling with a walker that ha him on the ground. I stab it in the head, only I turn around to a walker biting my shoulder.

"Ah!!! Fucking Bitch!" I knock him off of me and Tyreese shoots him in the temple causing him to fall slain.

"It get you?" Tyreese comes over an looks at blood running down my front and back.

"Yeah. Shit. Dr." We look over an he's dead. Ready to turn, Tyreese puts him out of him misery before he becomes a monster.

"We gotta clean that wound up quickly. Come on." Heading toward the down stairs bathroom, Tyreese shuts the back door before any more come in. In the bathroom, he slides my shirt off and begins to scrub it with alcohol and peroxide. We cleans it for about five minutes to make sure it's clean. Then to clean it further and kill the virus he takes out a lighter and a bullet.

Lighting the end of the bullet until it gets really hot, he places it inside the bite mark hole and it burns my skin so bad. I clench my teeth through the pain. He repeats this for five minutes before he feels it's sterile.

He puts a patch of gauze on it even though it ain't bleeding and looks at me with sorrowful eyes.

"All we can do know is pray." Tyreese says and claps a hand on my good shoulder before leaving.

In the main house, we dispose of the walkers and take them out. We bury Dr. and say a few words in his honor. God will I miss that man. Heading back in we clean the floors so Bentley doesn't really know what happened. And after everything I said and down, worriment still harbors in my heart.

"Should we call them down now?" Tyreese looks at me and them up at the attic door.

"Before we do, Ty... I think I should be held somewhere... just for a while. Just in case. I don't wanna hurt anyone." My voice cracks at the thought of hurting my family. Beth.

"Where?"

"Chain me in the basement. I'm sure we can find some rope or something. Just, make sure it's tight. People who get bit usually only last two days before they turn... we'll wait it out." I head down stairs and he gives me that same sad token frown.

"Okay, man. Okay." Taking me down into the basement, we find a good length of rope an tie me to a water pipe in the corner. He gets me a cot from the camping gear that was left in the house and a pillow and blanket. "I'll bring down clothes and food. You'll be fine man."

"Just let the girls down. But don't tell Beth. I don't think I'll make it two days." I frown as I sit on the cot. Hands bound pretty tight, I stare at the wall and can hear Carol and Beth with everyone else come down the stairs. Panic in Beth's voice kills me.

"Where is he?" Beth pleads for information.

"In the basement. But I can't allow any of you down there, until we know he's okay." Tyreese's deep voice is calming. I lay on the cot and look up at the dusty ceiling.

Beth was wrong.

I won't be the last man standing.