Atlanta 1:10 pm.

Beth held the pistol in her hand as Noah walked down the flight of stairs, he had the shot gun as he wanted to make the officers less suspicious then if he had the pistol. Their plan was for him to walk out first and Beth would wait a bit behind and they'd do that until they made it to the first floor, then she'd try to shoot an officer and he'd stab the other with her pocket knife . At least they hoped their plan would work out, they knew plans sometimes never worked out.

But this plan had too, it was their last hope. Their only hope.

There wasn't any proof that they were even still in the building, or alive for that matter. But just to be safe, they had to have a plan. And even though it wasn't the best, for now it was better than nothing.

Beth shifted the bag on her shoulder as she waited for Noah to leave her sight before she slowly walked down the set of stairs, the walkers that were in the stairwell were no longer alive. Beth figured that due to the knife wounds in their heads. She knew the officers were around, weather or not they were in plain sight was the question that still remained.

She looked down and watched as Noah walked down another set of stairs before she descended down, they were almost to the bottom and they hadn't come in any contact with the officers...yet. It was almost inevitable that they would, it was something she was not anticipating.

Noah was cautious as he walked down the stairs, and with every corner he turned he waited for human or monster to jump out at him. Beth gave him her pocket knife so he'd have something instead of a bulky shotgun, he refused but she insisted. And she was stubborn, so he could say no.

He gripped it in his hand as he rounded a corner, he peered down the stair well that looked into the lobby. It was empty as far as he could see. And the emptiness scared him more than a room full of people. He looked up and saw Beth standing there waiting for him to walk down, he inhaled sharply and counted to three before he started walking down the last set of stairs; his heart thudding against his rib cage and pounding in his ears.

When his feet touched the landing the sound of someone cocking a gun made his heart slip into his stomach, but this was the plan and he had to keep telling himself that. He slowly raised his hands in the air, letting the shotgun fall to the floor.

"Turn around slowly, Noah."

He swallowed and slowly turned around, there in front of him stood officer Tally. He was aiming his gun at Noah's head, ready to take him out just in case he tried anything stupid.

"Where's Beth?"

Noah looked down, he shook his head slightly." S-She...got bit."

Tally inhaled." Where is she now?"

"I left her upstairs, I-I took care of it."

He looked down with a shake of his head." Dawn's going to flip."

"I tried saving her, but she lost too much blood."

"Alright, you're gonna have to tell Dawn." He lowered his gun and walked over to Noah." C'mon. We'll come back and get her later" He put his handcuff's on his wrists." No more trying to get away ya hear? next time you might just die."

Noah nodded and with one good push he was thrust into the lobby; stumbling over himself a bit. He looked up and immediately saw the black charger driving by slowly, he squinted as he watched it almost come to a complete stop. He could barely see inside due to the tinted windows, but he could still see silhouette's.

"That must be Shepherd and Gorman ."

He rolled his eyes with the mention of those officers, he never liked them. They were all assholes, which meant more of them for him and Beth to have to shoot. Just when Tally began to speak, the car doors to the charger flung open and a man holding a crossbow ran out with a woman running fast behind him. Tally raised his gun as both the man and woman entered the lobby.

"Drop your weapons!" Tally yelled.

"Fuck off." The archer grumbled. He nodded towards Noah." Who the hell are you kid?"

He swallowed." N-Noah."

It clicked, that's who the officers were talking about when he mentioned Beth. But he didn't see Beth anywhere, panic suddenly bubbled inside of him. He didn't want to think that they've come this far just to hit another dead end. Or worse.

"Where are my men?"

"None of your business." He inched closer; keeping his crossbow aimed at the man.

Noah glanced over at Tally, he was always the weak one out of the officers, but when threatened he would kill. With one swift move, Noah kicked Tally - his foot colliding with his shin. The man dropped his gun and fell down clutching his leg and groaning in pain, he showed no mercy for the man as he was the one who watched Dawn beat him senseless. He kicked the gun towards the desk as Tally tried reaching for it, he stepped on the man's hand and listened as he screamed in agony.

"Please.. Please, stop!" He cried.

"Beth!" Noah called.

Daryl's eyes snapped over to Noah." Beth? She's here!"

Beth heard the commotion and was scared that something was happening to Noah, she hurried down the stairs and quickly saw that their plan had worked. Tally was down on the ground and Noah was standing over him. She glanced up and she saw Daryl and Maggie, her eyes immediately welled. They were alive, she knew it all along. Daryl stood there in shock as Maggie hurried over, Beth pushed the chair out of the way that was near the entrance when someone grabbed her from behind. She yelped as he held a knife up to her throat, pushing it into her soft delicate skin.

"Beth!" Maggie yelled.

Daryl grabbed Maggie's arm pulling her back, he let his bow slip from his hands. He slowly inched closer his eyes focusing in on Beth. He wasn't completely weaponless, he had his gun in his belt and his knife in his sheath, but the stupid fuck that had Beth didn't need to know that.

"Let her go." Daryl said as he watched Beth's eyes frantically glance between Maggie and him.

The man laughed." We need her."

Maggie cocked her gun." Let her go and I won't shoot."

"You shoot me you'll regret it."

Daryl touched Maggie's arm, she glanced over; her panicked eyes staring into his. He shook his head." Don't."

"W-What?"

"They'll kill her."

He put his hand over Maggie's and slowly lowered the gun down to her side, she inhaled a shaky breath. The man tightened his grip around Beth - pulling her into him, Daryl watched in horror as the woman he... Beth stood before him with a knife to her throat. One wrong move and she was gone.

"Take me." Daryl insisted.

The man snorted." We don't want you!"

"Bob." Noah said as he moved up beside Maggie, he looked down then looked back up almost as if he were hesitating." Take me instead, she needs to be back with her family. I got no family."

Bob snorted and looked at Daryl and Maggie, then back to Noah. His arm slowly began sliding from around Beth, Noah inched closer to them reaching his now free hand out towards Beth's arm. Bob tightened his grip around the blonde once more.

"Any closer and I'll slit her fucking throat!"

Noah backed away with his hands raised some, he didn't want to get Beth hurt. Not when she was so close to going home.

"Dawn just want's Noah and Beth, I bring you two; she'll kill me."

"So?" Daryl questioned." Ain't like you matter much to me."

Bob laughed and violently pushed Beth away from him, the push was so hard that she stumbled almost falling. Daryl grabbed her arm breaking her fall, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She gripped his vest and looked up at him with a slight smile, but before he or she could say anything Daryl heard the click of a gun behind him and felt the cool metal of the barrel pressing into his neck.

"So you're the man this bitch has been complaining about." Shepherd laughed and grabbed Maggie by the hair; yanking her over to his side, she whimpered in pain." Drop the gun sweetheart, or you'll surely die."

Maggie bit her bottom lip as she let the pistol drop from her hand; it clattered to the ground, Shepherd just laughed.

"You listened. I like this one." He nodded towards Bob and inhaled." Alright, one of two things here. You all come back with us, or we take Beth back. Dawn needs her the most, but I'm sure Dawn wouldn't mind having more wards."

Daryl bit the inside of his cheek, he had Beth back and that was important. If they must take a detour, then they would. Daryl glanced behind him a little, he saw the position Maggie was in and felt his gut twist in two. He did something that he'd soon regret and he was sure of that, he nodded slightly at the man.

"Fine." He grumbled." We'll go."

Shepherd took his gun slowly away from the back of his neck." Good." he looked down at the ground." Tally get your ass up."

Beth pulled away from Daryl and looked up at him ready to speak, but Shepherd grabbed his and Maggie's arms and ushered them out. Bob grabbed Beth's and Noah's and followed out behind Shepherd.

Maggie was pushed in the station wagon first and immediately embraced Glenn who was sitting in the car with his gun pointed at Gorman's head, but once he saw how upset Maggie was he lowered it. Noah was pushed in the middle of Shepherd and Gorman while Beth and Daryl sat in the back with Bob behind them sporting a loaded gun; ready for anyone to make a move.

"Dawn's gonna be happy to see you Beth, she was worried about you."

"What does she want with my sister?" Maggie yelled.

Beth laid a hand on Maggie's arm and shook her head." I'll tell you later."

Shepherd laughed." Dawn's excited because Beth here is in a situation.."

"What the hell does that mean?" Daryl asked.

"I'm pregnant." Beth blurted out.

...

Rick and Carl sat with Judith, Mika and Tyreese while Tara went to use the bathroom. He had a really bad feeling about it all, he should've went. At least he'd know what was happening instead of guessing. He watched as Mika picked flowers and handing them to Judith every so often making her laugh, the sound of a baby laughing made Rick smile. It took a lot to make him smile after all the bullshit he'd been through in the past year.

"You think they'll be okay?" Mika asked.

Rick looked over and smiled, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head." Yeah, they'll be okay. They're strong and smart."

"Anybody seen the other three?" Tyreese asked.

Rick sighed as he stretched his legs out in front of him."They said they were goin' to find a vehicle big enough for all of us, so we're probably gonna have to stay here until they get back."

Carl looked to his right; gazing out at the road that seemed endless." Wish we were back home."

Rick laid a hand on his young son's back and gave a little rub, he knew how important a home was to him. He just wished he could provide that for him and Judith, make their lives safer finally.

"Maybe we'll find a safe place someday, but for now we gotta keep moving until we find that place."

Carl looked over at his father and sighed." Someday? someday when?"

Rick looked over at Tyreese, the man just looked down at the ground. Before Rick could speak Tara came out of the woods behind them, scaring Rick half to death. But she was all smiles.

"Guys, I think you might wanna come see this."

...

Daryl looked at Beth, shock, fear and confusion running through him. Was it his?

"What?" Maggie asked.

Beth looked down at her hands." I-I'm pregnant and it's Daryl's." she said her voice cracking a bit.

"Woah." Glenn mumbled.

Daryl's blood ran cold, he was caught between a rock and a hard place. First hearing that she was pregnant, then hearing it was his, and now being given a look by Maggie. He sat back and held his head, this couldn't be happening.

"What about condoms Beth! I mean, this isn't the time or place to be having babies."

"You don't think I know that!" She yelled.." I know that Maggie, I know that very well! But we can't change this, a-and I don't want to change it."

Maggie rubbed her face violently with her hands." I can't believe this."

"Can't believe what? That I'm not a little sixteen year old that you can boss around? or that goody two shoes you all pegged me for? I'm nineteen Maggie, more than capable of doin' a lot of things on my own. Including havin' a baby."

She sat back up inhaling then exhaling, Beth could tell she was angry just by the way her jaw was clenched. However, Beth was angry too, angry at her reaction. She expected her to be happy that she was happy. She noticed that the car quickly became silent, due to their fighting. Beth sighed and stared ahead as the car drove up a small hill, her stomach twisted in knots as the hospital came into view. She turned towards Daryl and nudged him gently, he looked over quickly.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded." I'm fine. Are you?"

"Peachy."

Her lips formed into a thin line." You don't sound it."

"Don't know how to sound fine. Bein' held hostage, ain't no reason to be fine."

She reached down and grabbed his hand; threading their fingers together, his eyes glanced down down at their hands. He was still in shock, and it probably didn't set in completely that Beth was pregnant. Under any other circumstance he probably would've been more shocked and scared even, but right now they were in a slight bind and his mind was preoccupied with so many other things. Like surviving.

"I'm five weeks." She said.

Daryl swallowed. He looked down at her stomach, it had to be his. He looked back ahead as sudden fear washed over him, so maybe it was finally sinking in. But he couldn't be in his head now, he had to make sure Beth was okay and get them all out alive.

"They said I'm really healthy too. I had an ultrasound and saw the baby, I got a picture too. But I left it." She frowned.

Shepherd snickered." You'll be able to retrieve your things just as soon as we get back."

"She wasn't talkin' to you asshole." Daryl snapped.

Bob pressed the gun to the back of his neck." Say one more thing cowboy, you won't ever see your kid."

Daryl's breathing picked up as his mind was racing a mile a minute, they needed to get out. He felt Beth squeeze his hand tighter and he looked over, her face was white almost as if she was seeing a ghost. He looked ahead and saw walkers, they were stumbling over each other trying to get to the car, Shepherd slowed down and spoke on his radio to the car that was behind him.

"It's a herd." Maggie said.

"We know how to deal with it." The man said.

"Sure looks like it."

Daryl glanced behind him. Bob smirked. Daryl let his eyes linger on the man as he turned back around, the herd of walkers were now closer than just a minute ago. Daryl realized that they didn't know what they were doing like they claimed. He looked over to Maggie and Glenn, they stared at him with fear and questions raging in their eyes. One of them being how the hell would they get out of this?

And to much of his dismay, he didn't know how to get out of this. Beth's hand squeezed his tighter, he knew she was afraid.

The walkers slammed into the car scaring Shepherd, the man gripped the steering wheel and put the car in reverse. He gunned it and ran into the car behind them, everyone jolted forwards. Daryl nodded to Glenn and opened the door, he hurried out pulling Beth along with him. He hit a walker in the head with his crossbow that was shuffling towards them, it stumbled back just enough for them to get out of its reach.

"Go Beth!" He shouted and pushed her ahead of him.

Bob jumped out of the car and pointed his gun, Maggie ran up behind him and shot him in the back his head. He fell back against the car, walkers eventually swarming his body. Maggie and Glenn started sprinting towards Daryl and Beth, Daryl turned around and was about to tell her to go when she grabbed his hand and began running. He didn't expect her to grab his hand, he really didn't. He started running with her almost tripping over the sudden jolt of moving after stopping for so long.

"Maggie!" Beth glanced behind her.

"She's fine!" Daryl yelled." keep running!"

Beth's legs were killing her, they ached and burned every time her feet touched the concrete. She glanced behind her and saw some walkers gaining on Maggie and Glenn, she stopped abruptly and stared at the walkers as they took out a few.

"Noah." She whispered." We gotta get him!" she turned towards Daryl and pleaded.

"Beth, we can't." Daryl said closing the gap between them." Gotta get you back to the others alright."

She shook her head." No! Noah needs to go back to his family, I'm not leaving without him!"

Daryl sighed and bit the inside of his cheek, he didn't know Noah at all. But apparently Beth did, and he meant a lot to her. He didn't know why, but he did. He looked behind him and looked back to Beth." You an' your sister hide out somewhere, me and Glenn will find him."

Maggie and Glenn ran up to Beth and Daryl, Maggie doubled over out of breath. Loud screaming coming from the car prompted everyone to look back, the walkers who were interested in the foursome turned away and started back towards the car. Beth's breath hitched in her throat as she watched the walkers tear into the man who screamed, she covered her mouth and ran over to the building. She keeled over and threw up a little, soon she felt someone come up behind her and pull her hair back.

"It wasn't him." Maggie said as she ran over." Beth.." She ran over and stopped next to her." It wasn't him. It was the officer."

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, secretly thanking God that it wasn't. He'd become a good friend of hers and she felt obligated to see him go home to his family, like he was with her. She stood up and was handed a water bottle, she took it the bottle from Daryl and took a small sip before handing it back.

"T-Thanks." She sniffled and leaned against the wall.

Maggie put her hand on Beth's head." You're burnin' up."

"I'm hot."

She put the water bottle up to Beth's forehead, it wasn't much but maybe it would cool her down a bit.

"You eat?" Daryl asked.

"I'd rather find Noah first." She said." I owe it to him, I promised that we'd take him to his family in Virginia."

Daryl sighed and looked around." We really ain't got much of a choice do we?"

"No." She replied.

He nodded and walked to the edge of the building, he peered around and waited to see if there were any walkers. Glenn came up behind him, it became almost instinctive that you always had backup and that you always knew to back someone up. Daryl ran across the street with Glenn covering him, Maggie pushed Beth ahead of her so she wouldn't be last. Luckily the few walkers that were there didn't see them as they were devouring an animal of some kind.

"Who is this kid anyways?" Daryl asked, as they got behind the safety of a building.

Beth wiped the sweat off her forehead." A ward. He was the only one who talked to me, and the only one who wanted to get out as bad as I did."

They stopped just before an alley way and peered in, there was a rat eating something out of the trash. Beth's nose crinkled and she looked away, she had never experienced rats. Only field mice.

"He reliable?"

"Yeah.. Why're you askin?"

He sighed." Cause uh, I wanna know before we take him back to the group."

"I wouldn't lie to you."

"Ain't sayin' ya would. Just wanna know." He looked around the street; his finger laying loosely over the trigger...just in case.

The walk through the rest of the city was in silence, mainly because they needed to hear and they didn't want to be heard. Daryl kept his eye on Beth as well, it still hadn't sunk in that she was here. Up ahead rounding a corner was a man running, when Beth gasped Daryl knew it was Noah. He held Beth back for fear that walkers were the reason for him running, when he got close enough and there were no walkers chasing him, Beth ran over to him and hugged him.

"A-Are you okay!" She asked.

He nodded." He shot me."

Beth gasped.

"Nah, only a graze." He doubled over." Listen." He swallowed." We gotta go, Shepherd's back at the hospital."

"Alright let's go." Daryl said as he reached for Beth's hand. She looked over and he gave a nod, she gave him a smile; letting her hand lay within his.

...

Yay! They're reunited, and it only took ten chapters lol I was going to drag it on some more, but I literally couldn't. And this chapter was going to be a two part chapter, but I changed my mind and so I condensed it to a shorter version, but still held drama. And of course it ain't over just yet.

So nope, I couldn't just off Noah yet. It's important that he doesn't die just yet, and there will be a special reason for that :D

And you all are lucky too, I was going to have the officers bring them back to the hospital, but I talked myself out of that.

So I don't remember if I said it, but Grady will still be apart of this story for a while at least. I won't tell you when they'll pop up again, and I won't tell you how. But they will. *insert evil eyes*

Lol enough of my rambles, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please Please Please review!

Xoxo