A/N: Here's the longer Meth chapter.

I wanna give a BIG thank you to Athlete Girl for the wonderful idea/help for this chapter. I hope it turned out alright, lol.

Thank you to: crazstiz, velvetemr73, jazzyoungroberts and Athlete Girl for reviewing!

And thank you to everyone that has also read, favorited and followed.

As always, please review.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Beth-

I had fallen asleep and was suddenly awoken by the sounds of voices outside.

"Yeah, I saw that ol' redneck comin' outta here."

"He ain't comin' back anytime soon. Let's see what he's got in there."

I grabbed Judy and placed her in one of the bottom cabinets in the kitchen while I peered out of the hole in the wall I had seen Merle lookin' out of.

I spotted two men. Two large men who were heavily armed, "Shit." I whispered and grabbed my knife.

Where was Merle? Why wasn't he back yet?

I heard their footsteps on the porch and I froze.

I've never been up against a living person, except for Daryl when he trained me but other than that my experience was just with walkers. My mind flooded with questions. What if I couldn't fight them off? What it they hurt me? Who would be there to protect Judy? Oh my God, what if they hurt her?

I felt myself jump as they kicked in the door. I couldn't make it to the cabinet where Judy was without bein' seen so I crouched down and crawled under the small table that was in the kitchen.

"Looks like he ain't the only one stayin' here," one of them said.

I could see the other pick up one of my shirts, "He's got a girl with 'im."

"I didn't see anyone leave with 'im. Reckon they're still 'round here?"

"Has to be pretty close 'cause there's baby clothes here, too. I'll look around, you stand watch 'case he comes back."

That was when Judith started to cry. He walked into the kitchen and started opening the cabinets. When he got to hers, he bent down to open the cabinet. Thankfully he had his back to me as I crawled out from under the table.

I thought of Judy and how I needed to protect her. Sure, these men could've been good people but I didn't trust them.

I raised my knife and silently and quickly approached him the way Daryl had taught me.

Just as I was about to plunge the knife into his skull, I was grabbed from behind and the knife was knocked out of my hand.

When I was thrown to the floor I tried to reach for my knife but one of them stepped on my hand.

"Don't even think about it, Darlin'."

The man that I had snuck up on climbed on top of me while the other pinned my arms to the floor.

He pulled out his knife and ran the smooth blade down the side of my cheek, "Don't worry, princess. We won't hurt you too bad. Ain't that right, Pat?"

The other man, Pat, chuckled, "Well, not nearly as bad as Delilah will." He looked down at me, "She'll have fun with you sweetheart."

The man on top of me put his other hand around my neck and squeezed until I couldn't breathe. My eyes involuntarily closed as the pressure on my neck increased.

Though my eyes were closed, I wasn't out.

I felt Pat release my arms and stand. I heard him say, "Jesse, I'm gonna head back to camp an' let the others know what we found here. Don't rough 'er up too bad or Delilah'll have your head." Then he left.

I felt Jesse, the man that was still on top of me, move one hand down my arm and then under my shirt to grope my breast.

The hand that was on my neck released it's hold. He took his knife and cut the front of my shirt open and moved down to unbutton my pants, "Mmmm, you're a sweet lil' thing, princess. I bet you taste even better than ya look."

He moved off me and began removing my boots and pants. As he was doin' that, I slid my knife closer.

He moved up to straddle my legs and bent over, licking my neck.

He was occupied, this was just the opportunity I needed.

My eyes shot open and I plunged my knife into his neck.

I could feel his blood gush out onto my chest.

Just as I was pushing his body off mine, Judith started cryin' again. I hurriedly put on my pants and grabbed Judith out of the cabinet and I held her close to me.

I glanced over at the mans lifeless body and fought the urge to puke.

Still holding Judith, I knelt down and plunged my knife into his skull. Just to be safe. After pulling it out of his skull, I wiped it on my pants leg and put it in the sheathe.

I carried Judith into the other room and fed and changed her.

When she had calmed down and fallen asleep, I placed her on the blankets.

The front of her little outfit was covered in blood. I looked down at myself. I was covered in blood too but I couldn't do anything about it now.

I heard the telltale moans of walkers and my attention snapped towards the door. It was still open. I unsheathed my knife and walled over to close it.

Before shutting it, I looked out to see how close the walkers were but I was relieved to see Merle's knife go through the lone walkers head. He had two squirrels in his other hand.

I squealed and ran towards him, "Merle!"

"What Sugar?"

I quickly started rambling, "Merle, there were two men...One left to tell the rest of their group..."

"Whoa, slow down there, Sugar! Let's get inside an' ya can tell me why tha fuck ya covered in blood."

I nodded and followed him inside.

Not giving him the chance to start talkin', I began tellin' him what happened. "Okay, so after you left, I fell asleep for a minute and when I woke up I heard two men outside. I hid Judith and myself, they kicked in the door, started lookin' around. Judith started cryin' and one of them was about to get her so I tried to...to kill him but the other man grabbed me. They held me down, the man that grabbed me left to tell the others in their group about this place. Anyway, the man that stayed, cut my shirt open and took my pants off..."

"He fuckin' took your pants off?"

"Yeah but he didn't do anythin'. I stabbed him in the neck, that's why I'm covered in blood. His body's in the kitchen but we can't stay here Merle! The other man said he was gonna bring their group here."

He looked at me as if he were tryin' to comprehend everything I had just said. Then he walked into the kitchen.

"Merle?"

"Aight, Sugar. 'Ere's what we gonna do. I'ma get rid of the body so we won't attract walkers. Then I'ma go find this man. We ain't leavin' this place."

I nodded.

-Later That Evening-

Merle had disposed of the mans body and then left in search of the other man.

This left me and Judy alone once again.

While there was still a little daylight left, I took it upon myself to clean the squirrels Merle had brought back -just another useful skill I had learned from Daryl. While they were cookin' I loaded some of our heavier stuff into the car, leavin' just a few necessities inside the shack in a bag.

When night started to fall, I made sure we were secure and prepared in case somethin' were to happen.

I let Judith sleep in her carrier while I tried to stay awake. I fought off sleep as long as I could.

I woke up to a loud banging noise on the door as Merle opened it.

His face was cut up and he had a stream of blood from a bullet wound on his left arm.

"Oh my God! What happened?"

"Get tha kid. We gotta go."

I got Judith and the bag of stuff and hurried to the car. Merle slid into the passenger seat, "jus' go where I tell ya to an' we'll be fine."

I followed Merle's directions but after a few hours it seemed like we were just goin' in circles.

"Where are we goin', Merle?"

"Another place me an' Daryl know 'bout. Why don't ya sing for me an' none of those sappy ass songs. Sing somethin' else."

I racked my brain for a song and could only come up with a few that I could remember that might not qualify as "sappy ass songs" so I began singin':

"If you ain't got two kids by 21, You're probably gonna die alone. Least that's what tradition told you. And it don't matter if you don't believe, Come Sunday morning, you best be there in the front row like you're supposed to.

Same hurt in every heart. Same trailer, different park.

Mama's hooked on Mary Kay. Brother's hooked on Mary Jane. Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down. Mary, Mary quite contrary. We get bored, so, we get married Just like dust, we settle in this town. On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go Where it stops nobody knows and it ain't slowin' down. This merry go 'round.

We think the first time's good enough. So, we hold on to high school love. Sayin' we won't end up like our parents. Tiny little boxes in a row. Ain't what you want, it's what you know. Just happy in the shoes you're wearin'. Same checks we're always cashin' to buy a little more distraction.

'Cause mama's hooked on Mary Kay. Brother's hooked on Mary Jane. Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down. Mary, Mary, quite contrary. We get bored, so, we get married. Just like dust, we settle in this town. On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go Where it stops nobody knows and it ain't slowin' down. This merry go 'round.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary. We're so bored until we're buried. Just like dust, we settle in this town. On this broken merry go 'round. Merry go 'round.

Jack and Jill went up the hill. Jack burned out on booze and pills. And Mary had a little lamb. Mary just don't give a damn no more."

["Merry Go 'Round" by Kacey Musgraves]

He was quiet throughout the song so when I had finished I looked over at him and saw how pale and sweaty he was. We had to treat his wound or it'd get worse.

The sun was starting to come up when I pulled the car over and turned towards him in my seat. His eyes were closed but they popped open when I touched his shirt.

"What'd ya think your doin', girlie?"

"Lookin' at your wound. We gotta treat it before it gets worse."

He looked around, "Aight. Grab the kid an' what ya need. There's a creek not far from here."

I grabbed Judith's carrier and the bag of medical supplies and followed him to the creek.

Once we were there, I opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of water and two Oxycontin pills for him to take.

After he took them, I built a small fire and gathered some bottles of water to give the pills a chance to work.

I removed the bullet and began stitching him up. He never flinched but I knew he was in pain by the way he clenched his jaw.

When I finished he went into the creek to clean himself up while I fed Judith.

He came back and just stared at me.

"Go clean ya'self up an' change shirts for fucks sake."

I looked down and realized I was still wearing the bloodied cut up shirt.

"Sir, yes, sir." I mumbled sarcastically.

"Hey, clean the kid up first then bring 'er back ta me. I'll watch 'er while you're in there."

Merle-

I watched her take Asskicker down to the creek and wash her up.

After she'd brought her back to me she went back down to the creek and removed her shirt.

I chuckled when I saw somethin' that surprised the shit outta me.

There on the small of her back was a little cross.

"Sugar ain't as sweet an' innocent as ever'one thinks," I smirked to myself.