Even When the World Comes Down (Sequel to Always & Forever)

Chapter 48 - Ellie

"Guess you're right. You stay here and I'll go," I said.

"Yeah. That's not gonna happen," Beth said.

"Beth. I can do this," I said.

"Ellie, it's out of the question. You really think I'm gonna let you go off on your own without any backup? We haven't cleared the entire mall. We don't know what or who could be lurking around out there," she said.

"You need to be here in case he opens his eyes. Your face should be the first he sees when that happens. I won't be long. I know Joel was afraid of what would happen to me but not you," I said.

"What do you mean not me? Kid if something happened to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I could have prevented that in the first place," she defended.

"I'm not saying that you don't care about me. I know you do. But I just mean, Joel didn't think I could handle myself in this world. That I was some naïve kid that needed to be watched every minute. And you never made me felt like that. You trusted me enough to take down those assholes that stood in our way after what happened to Joel. You've always made me feel like I could do anything. That I wasn't limited to my age. Please, Beth. Let me do this. It's the least I can do for the both of you," I said.

I really wish Joel was awake to hear all this. Beth was looking at me with tears in her eyes. I didn't mean to make her sad.

"Was it something I said?" I asked when she didn't say anything.

She cupped her mouth.

"It was everything you said. I had no idea you felt this way, Ellie," she said.

"Yeah well, we never had the chance to really sit down and discuss everything," I said with a shrug.

"Alright. If that's how you feel then I'll respect it. But if you're not back in an hour or so, I'm coming to get you," she said.

"Fair enough," I said.

She came over and gave me a hug. I hugged her back. It had been a long time since I felt this secure with anyone. I barely remembered my dad. And my mom left me with Marlene at such a young age that her hugs were becoming a distant memory. This feeling was one that I would never take for granted. Ever.

"I'll be back," I said as we parted.

"You better," she said.

Making sure I had my gun and knife with me, I went over to the shutter door that led into the mall and opened it. One last look at Joel and Beth and a nod of reassurance that was shared between Beth and I, I shut the door and locked it.

Right off the bat, I saw an escalator that led to the second floor of the place and took it. I had no idea where I was going but I knew that it couldn't hurt to look at the places that were not locked tight.

"Weston's Pharmacy. Yeah. That sounds like a good place to start," I told myself when I came across the first place that had a way in.

Hopefully they had what I needed along with some antibiotics that would be useful for Joel's pain. The second I was in, antibiotics was the first thing I thought to look for. Unfortunately, I had no luck in finding any. There were bottles I had found but no pills could be found. Idiots, whoever it was that decided to take the pills and leave the bottle. The first aid kit was the next thing. There wasn't any sign of that as I roamed around the floor. Maybe behind the counter? Nothing. There was another door that I was able to see through. My eyes lit up when I spotted the red and white colors in a rectangular shape I had been searching for. I turned the knob but was disappointed when I found out that it was locked.