The Walking Dead: Starting by Saving Amy Chapter 72 72: Prayer Under the Moon, Beth's Initiative

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Beth raised her head, her eyes filled with tears.

She saw that there were no wounds on Leon, only that he now held a shotgun and a hand axe in his hands.

Leon's gaze passed over her shoulder, looking toward the two dark spots tied under a tree in the distant forest.

"It seems we have neighbors."

Beth looked in the direction Leon was staring.

She couldn't see anything clearly.

But she understood what Leon ant.

Fear gripped her heart once again.

Leon didn't explain further; he pulled Beth back to the cave.

Inside the cave, the lingering warmth of the campfire remained.

Leon unfolded the rough map he had scavenged.

The terrain of this forest was sketched out in pencil on the map, with streams and valleys marked.

Next to a marker drawn as a cabin, the word "Camp" was written.

"They said there are five more people in the camp. Their leader is injured, has tetanus, and has no dicine."

Leon pointed to the mark on the map.

Beth looked at Leon.

She didn't know what Leon was thinking.

Leon's finger tapped on the map, and then he shook his head.

"A dying boss and a group of desperate subordinates—this combination is too unstable."

"We're not going to find them?" Beth asked in a low voice.

"No," Leon answered crisply.

"Our goal is to find Rick and the others, not waste ti here with a group of lumberjacks."

"Their existence is a variable; we should stay away."

Leon made his decision.

His logic was very clear.

Any factor that could threaten Beth's safety or slow down their journey had to be eliminated.

Leon put the map away and took another look outside the cave.

"Before dark, I will go and deal with those two captives, and we will leave here first thing tomorrow morning."

Deal with.

These three words made Beth's body stiffen for a mont.

She knew what that ant.

Leon noticed her reaction.

"Beth, rember, rcy to the enemy is cruelty to yourself."

"If I let them go, they will bring the rest of their people to find us."

"By then, we would be facing seven n who are starved crazy."

Leon's voice was calm, rely stating a fact.

Beth bit her lip and nodded.

She knew Leon was right.

In this world, there is no longer room for tenderness.

...

Two days later.

They had already left that forest.

They were traveling along an abandoned country road.

For Beth, these three days were a baptism that completely transford her.

Leon no longer treated her like a delicate girl who needed protection.

He taught her how to skin prey with a dagger.

How to find the driest firewood.

How to obtain edible starch from the roots of plants by the creek.

Leon even gave her the captured hand axe and taught her the most basic chopping and hacking movents.

"Aim for the neck, or the joints."

"Those are the spots that take the least effort."

Leon's voice was always emotionless, but every movent was demonstrated with absolute clarity.

Beth went from resistance and dry heaving at the beginning to numbness and acceptance later on.

Blisters had ford on her hands; the hands that were once only used for playing the piano could now skillfully process a wild rabbit.

One evening at dusk.

They were resting under an abandoned bridge.

Three Walkers, attracted by the movent on the road, ca stumbling over from the other side of the bridge, hissing.

Beth gripped the hand axe nervously.

But Leon pressed down on her shoulder.

"Don't move."

Leon drew the desert eagle from his waist, raised his hand, and fired.

"Puff." "Puff." "Puff."

Three soft, muffled sounds.

The heads of the three Walkers exploded with precision.

They swayed and then fell limply to the ground.

The whole process took less than a second.

Leon put away his gun, his expression unchanged, as if he had just done a trivial thing.

Beth looked at the three fallen corpses, then at the profile of the man beside her.

Adoration, awe, and a kind of emotion she couldn't even describe herself were growing wildly in her heart.

Such strength.

It made her feel an unprecedented sense of peace.

Night.

The moonlight was beautiful, its silvery radiance spilling over the babbling creek, creating sparkling points of light.

The campfire crackled, driving away the chill of the night.

The two sat side by side by the fire, in silence.

The roasted fish gave off a fragrant aroma.

But neither made a move to eat first.

Beth hugged her knees, watching Leon's well-defined face illuminated in the firelight.

For the past few days, Leon had always kept watch alone after she fell asleep late at night.

Several tis, when she woke up in the middle of the night, she could see Leon sitting at the cave entrance or by the fire, his back straight, like an unshakeable mountain.

She knew that her safety was built upon this man's exhaustion.

"Leon."

Beth suddenly spoke, her voice very soft.

"Hmm?" Leon responded, his gaze still fixed on the fire.

"I... I want to sing you a song." Beth's voice carried a hint of imperceptible nervousness.

Leon turned his head and looked at her in surprise.

Beth's face was flushed in the firelight.

She didn't dare look into Leon's eyes, keeping her head down.

"I wrote it myself."

Leon didn't speak, just nodded.

Beth cleared her throat.

Then, an ethereal and clear singing voice rang out in the quiet night.

"The dark night falls, the world has no light..."

"I thought hope had been buried..."

"You walked out from the sea of corpses, your figure against the light..."

"You said, don't be afraid, I am by your side..."

The lyrics were simple, and the tune carried the youthful innocence of a girl, but the emotion within was searingly sincere.

Beth sang about the experiences of the past few days, singing about her journey from despair to rebirth.

She sang about how Leon taught her to survive, how he protected her, and how he used his actions to tell her that she was not a burden.

The singing gradually faded away.

Only the sound of the campfire burning remained in the air.

"Thank you, Leon."

Beth raised her head; this ti, she bravely looked straight into Leon's eyes.

The moisture in her eyes was shimring.

"Thank you for making feel that I can still go on living, living... aningfully."

Leon looked at her.

The girl before him was no longer the naive little girl on the farm who only knew how to play the piano and pray.

In her eyes, there was sothing more called resilience.

Just as Leon was about to say sothing.

Beth suddenly leaned in.

A warm, soft touch pressed against Leon's lips.

It was a clumsy kiss.

It carried a girl's trembling and a desperate courage.

It was fleeting.

Beth's face was completely red, flushed to the roots of her ears.

She lowered her head, her hands nervously twisting the corner of her shirt, not daring to look at Leon.

"I... I like you, Leon."

She used all her strength to say those words.

The voice was faint but firm.

Leon didn't move.

He could sll the faint fragrance in Beth's hair and feel the lingering temperature on his lips.

He did not reject this kiss.

Because he could feel that what this kiss contained was all the sincerity Beth could offer at this mont.

After a few seconds.

Leon reached out and gently, but firmly, pushed Beth's shoulders, creating a little distance.

Beth's body trembled.

She slowly raised her head, the light in her eyes dimming.

Rejected...

A surge of bitterness welled up in her heart.

"Beth."

Leon's voice was very serious.

"Listen to ."

Leon looked into her eyes and said word by word, "You are only sixteen; you are still too young."

"Everything you have experienced—death, fleeing, fear... these things can distort human emotions."

"What you feel for now is very likely just a form of dependency, because in this current environnt, I can protect you and give you a sense of security."

"This is not true liking."

Beth bit her lower lip, tears swirling in her eyes.

"It's not..." she countered softly, "I know what dependency is, and what... what liking is..."

"Then tell , what do you like about ?" Leon pressed.

"I..." Beth was stumped.

What did she like about Leon?

His strength? His calmness? Or the sense of security he gave her?

It seed to be all of those, and yet it seed to be more than that.

She liked watching Leon's focused profile as he processed prey, liked listening to Leon recount those cruel survival rules in a flat tone, and even liked the way Leon looked when he was sternly reprimanding her.

These feelings were mixed together.

She couldn't distinguish them, nor could she explain them.

Seeing Beth's confused and aggrieved look, Leon's heart softened.

He didn't want to hurt this girl who had just summoned the courage.

Leon reached out and gently wiped away her tears.

"Listen."

Leon gazed at her, his eyes softer than ever before.

"I will make a promise to you."

"When you co of age, if at that ti you are still certain that you like —not dependency, not gratitude, but pure liking."

"Then I will accept you."

Beth was stunned.

She stared blankly at Leon, forgetting to cry.

"Before that..."

Leon continued, "I will protect you like an older brother, and teach you all the skills that can keep you alive."

"Until we find your family, or a place that is absolutely safe."

This promise was like a ray of light, instantly dispelling all the loss and grievance in Beth's heart.

Leon did not reject her.

He simply set a deadline, a test for this affection.

This was gentler than any perfunctory acceptance or cold rejection.

Beth nodded vigorously, tears in her eyes.

"Mm!"

Her face blossod with radiance once again.

It was a radiance mixed with shyness, joy, and hope for the future.

Two years.

She would work hard to grow up and beco strong.

Strong enough to stand side by side with him, instead of always hiding behind him.

The atmosphere beca warm and subtle.

The firelight danced, reflecting the girl's shy, timid smile and the young man's gentle, tolerant gaze.

This was a beautiful mont.

A mont that was extravagantly luxurious in the apocalypse.

However.

Just in the next second.

Leon's expression changed abruptly.

A violent, needle-like stinging pain exploded from the depths of his mind.

It was Spider-Sense!

Leon stood up abruptly, his body instantly tensing.

His head turned sharply toward the pitch-black forest on his side, which was deep and bottomless.

Hawkeye Vision and Night Vision activated.

The darkness faded from his field of vision, replaced by a world of gray and white lines.

Deep within that forest.

Leon "saw" it.

An existence radiating malice.

Was approaching.