(no subject)

At this point, if Beth had the supplies, she would nail the apartment door shut.

They'd had warning and so they had done their best to prepare, but even so, she hadn't had any idea what it would really be like and just how much it would remind her of things she'd much rather never think about again. The final moments at the prison, the chaos and violence, the screaming and sounds of people in pain. How it had felt to be yanked away from everyone, not knowing if she would ever see them again. The fear of that loss, fear of the dead and the living alike.

The hospital.

It's more chaotic than the hospital, but that doesn't matter. It's in the lack of rules she sees the similarities, in the people who are going to spend tonight doing whatever they want without thinking even a little of others. That frightens her deeply, but she does her best not to show it. On a night like tonight, they all need to be at their best. For each other and most importantly, for Judith.

But now Beth is really wishing she'd bought some wood and nails to keep the apartment door shut. They've done their best to barricade it, the heaviest furniture pushed across the threshold, but that doesn't stop people from hammering on the door, screaming obscenities and shouting to be let in.

It's mostly for their sake Beth hopes they don't get through. The people waiting for them might not look like much at first glance, but she and Carl are both armed and have been through too much to let some coward like these people hurt either of them -- or Judith -- ever again.

(no subject)

It's not often Beth has a chance to ride anymore, but she still loves going to see the horses at the stables.

At home, they'd had four and Beth had been the only one of her siblings to have her own horse. Not because she was more well loved by her parents (though she was, she knows this, especially by her father) but because she had been far more interested in caring for a horse than Maggie or Shawn had ever been. She misses them, misses caring for them, but right now she doesn't have the time or the money to dedicate to something like that. Going to the stables when she has free time works as a good substitute, though, and she actually has the afternoon off for once.

She could spend it working, she knows she could find plenty of things to fill her time, but she figures she deserves a day off every now and then. Curtis would tell her to take the time off, he would tell her she works way too hard and so she decides he's right -- even if he hasn't actually said it to her -- and heads for the stables.

It's a nice surprise, catching sight of a familiar face when she arrives at the stables and Beth's expression brightens as she heads for Serena.

"Hi," she says happily. "Fancy meetin' you here."