Despite her concern about Daryl and the rest of the group and all of their fates – would they be able to stay in the place they now called home, or would they be forced out again, like the prison? – Beth quit fighting sleep after dozing off and jerking awake a few times. She decided she felt secure enough with the doors barred and Mika keeping watch, and she knew she desperately needed the rest.

However, her dreams were not peaceful. Daryl's face dominated, but he looked older, war-torn, like he was giving up. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't force dream-Beth to reach out to him. Eventually he led her to a graveyard. Every grave held the name of someone they cared about – Hershel Greene, one read. Glenn Rhee and Maggie Rhee. Carol Peletier. Rick Grimes, Carl Grimes, Judith Grimes, all clumped together. Then Daryl led her to the last gravestone. Daryl Dixon. "No!" she tried to scream, but she couldn't, the wasted effort making her throat burn.

She awoke suddenly and leaned to the side of the couch to vomit on the floor. The retching made the searing pain in her throat even worse. "It's okay, it's okay," someone murmured, sounding like her mother, but still lost in her dream, Beth couldn't tell if it was real or imagined. A cool cloth was pressed to her forehead and she leaned back into the pillow, shivering so hard her teeth clacked together. "She's sick," the voice said. "I knew she looked way paler than usual."

"What do we do?" another, fainter voice queried. No reply came and Beth sank into darkness.


When she woke up again, Beth couldn't tell how long she'd been passed out for. Someone had laid a blanket over her and it had wound itself around her head in her sleep. It was still light outside, but she felt as if she'd been dead to the world for days, so it could easily be the next morning. She sat up slowly, wary of dizziness, and cast her gaze around the silent room. Silent but for the groans. She jerked in surprise as she glanced out the front window and saw a parade of walkers passing right in front of the house.

They were trundling by in their customary step-drag-step fashion, and it didn't seem as if they'd noticed Beth…yet. Her breath coming in short gasps, she moved by millimeters until she could drop to the floor, staying out of view. She noted that some invisible hand had cleaned up her vomit from earlier. There was no sign of either Mika or Judith, and Beth prayed they were safe in the back room. Could she make it there without attracting the attention of the walkers? What if they weren't there? Were Daryl and the others safe? Her mind raced as she tried desperately to decide what to do. She still felt weak and unbalanced, and she cursed herself for roaming all through the woods when she already knew she wasn't feeling well. She crawled forward a foot or two and lifted her head just enough to watch the shadows bypassing the house. In less than thirty seconds, she counted more than a dozen walkers. Her pulse quickened as she wondered where they'd come from and where they were going now. What if they attacked Daryl and the others? Flattening herself to the floor once again, she shuffled to the hall that led to the back room, making sure to grab her knife off the coffee table as she passed it.

"Mika!" she hissed as she neared the back room. "Jud-" She cut herself short as she glanced up at the door. 'DEAD INSIDE' was streaked across it in long, dripping letters. "Oh God," Beth whispered, her throat thick with unshed tears. There was only one option left: get outside, face the walker herd, and try to find someone, anyone who could help her.

A/N: This chapter is VERY short, and that is partially because I'm not sure where I want to go with this next. So, if you'll help me out, please take the poll in my profile. What do you want to see next? Do you want to see what happened while Beth was asleep OR do you want to be left in the dark for a bit longer and just see where Beth goes, etc.?