Chapter 14

Beth woke up after being jostled slightly out of her deep sleep. She realized that Daryl was dreaming when she felt him twitching and shaking. She pulled his head against her chest and ran her hand through his hair. "Shh, you're just dreaming Daryl. It's ok." Beth whispered as she continued to run her hands over his head and through his hair. Daryl started to settle before sitting up quickly and bed taking deep breaths, trying to slow his rapid breathing. It was still dark outside, nowhere near time to wake up. Daryl settled back against the pillows rubbing his face with his hands, slowly exhaling. "You want to talk about it?" Beth asked as she reached over smoothing his sweaty hair out of his eyes. Daryl shook his head.

"Nah, let's try to get a few more hours of sleep." Daryl rolled back onto his side, placing his head on Beth chest again closing his eyes. It was easy for Beth to fall back asleep, but Daryl just stared at the wall lying as still as possible to not disturb either Judith or Beth, the nightmare that he had been having had shook him to the core. He hated remembering his dreams. Any that he actually remembered were ones he'd rather forget, and he was never able too.

****Daryl's Nightmare*****

Walking through the forest towards the prison after a successful hunt Daryl had a few rabbits hung on a rope off his back and a small buck over his shoulders. As he got closer to the prison he saw that there were walkers between the fences, pressing against the gate. Sprinting to the fence he threw his kills over into the trunk the truck that Glenn was driving, running over the infestation of walkers. He could see Beth on the fenced in walkway between the cellblocks with Carl and Judith, safe for the moment, and he quickly loaded his bow to start taking out walkers. He heard a cry and when he looked back again, Beth was 9 months pregnant on the walkway, holding her stomach while Carl kept yelling for Hershel. He stabbed a walker through the eye, looking up to see Carl, Beth and Judith gone, and the door to the tombs swing shut. Daryl hurried towards to tombs, walking through looking for Beth. He kept getting further and further into the prison, coming up on to the execution room, only to find Beth strapped to the table and Hershel and Rick in there, Rick was holding her down, and Hershel was sharpening a machete, before taking a few practice swings towards Beth's swollen stomach. Merle appeared beside him. "Lest you could have done was give her some of my hillbilly heroin 'fore you let her daddy hack her up Darla." Daryl had woken up right when Hershel swung the huge knife into Beth abdomen.

Daryl spent the next few hours watching the sun slowly come up. He had planned on going hunting today, and he would, but first he had to get Beth to talk to Hershel. He got out of bed without waking Beth and went down to the bathroom, quickly peeing and washing his hands and face. He ran into Glenn and asked him not to leave on the run without talking to him first, he might have a list of a few things they needed.

Daryl made his way up the stairs after asking Hershel to meet with him and Beth after breakfast. He saw the Beth was still asleep, so he started to get everything ready for when Lil'Asskicker woke up. When she started to stir, Beth slowly sat up rubbing her eyes. Daryl picked the baby up and received a slap to the face from Judith for not being Beth. He quickly handed an irate Judith to a giggling Beth. The baby calmed almost instantly while still glaring at Daryl.

"Judy is not a morning person Daryl." Beth replied, standing up with the baby and walking towards the door. "I've got to pee Daryl, will you bring her bottle and diaper? I'll change her downstairs and feed her while we eat."

"You feeling better enough to handle the stairs with the baby?" Daryl asked packing up the diaper bag with everything Beth would need for the day.

"I feel a lot better, can you grab a pair of yoga pants, socks, panties and the loosest shirt you can find for me? My sunburn sure feels a lot worse though, there's no way I'm wearing a bra today."

"If you stay in the office you can walk around naked." Daryl joked as he threw Beth her change of clothes and watched as she lay the baby down on the bed, quickly changing and scooping Judith up. Daryl held on to her arm as she made her way down the stairs into the washroom. Daryl held the baby while Beth ran into pee quickly. Judith stuck her bottom lip out and whimpered while Beth was gone, but didn't try to hit Daryl again, he took that as a small victory. Beth emerged after a few minutes smelling like the mint of the toothpaste he had used earlier. She took the baby back before walking towards the cafeteria. They joined Maggie, Glenn and Hershel at a table. Carl had gone out to take over for Rick on guard duty; Rick was already sleeping on the couch in the corner. Carol mentioned that he wanted to get just a few hour of sleep before getting to work in the garden,

"How are you feeling Bethy?" Hershel asked. "You look better. The loose shirt will make it easier for me to check you burn."

"Daddy I don't want you to worry too much about me. You can check out my sunburn after I get the baby fed and you finish breakfast." Beth replied cradling Judith and slipping the nipple of the bottle to her lips. Judy started nurse, looking around the table, then right back to Beth. Daryl rubbed a hand over the baby's head before placing a bowl of dry granola and berries in front of Beth, along with a mug of tea.

"Glenn said you might have a list for use for our run today Daryl." Maggie asked between bites of her breakfast, "What could you have possible left behind at the last time you were out?"

"Maggie quit it." Beth replied. "Daddy I haven't gotten my period since before we left the farm. I have no way of knowing if I am late or not. Maggie's is going out to get me a pregnancy test. Daryl wants you to make a list of any and all medical supplies you might need if I do happen to be pregnant. Which I might not be." Beth replied quickly, not letting Maggie continue teasing Daryl. "I wanted to wait and talk to you in private, but apparently Maggie get's too much joy at watching Daryl squirm." Beth moved Judy to a sitting position and supported her chin, leaning her forward so she could tap her on the back until she burped a few times. She quickly adjusted her against her stomach, Judy looked around the table yawning while Beth slowly ate her breakfast.

"I guess some of your symptoms could be from a pregnancy. I won't lecture you on being safe, I know neither of you are stupid." Hershel replied taking a notebook from the bag he carried around before drawing a map to a small clinic he worked out of a few times and making a list of everything he'd need to perform surgery. "I'd be good to have these surgical supplies on hand for emergencies, another bite to an extremity and we know that if we act quick I can save them." Hershel ripped out the two pages and handed them over to Glenn. "Take all of the IVs and intervenes medication you can find. We need breathing tubes and hand held ventilators. Check for real suture kits Maggie, they work better than thread, fishing line is the best substitute."

"Daddy you're being awfully calm." Maggie replied, adding Hershel suggestions to the list.

"Life's short Maggie. If Beth is pregnant we'll do everything we can to make it an easy and smooth event. There's nothing we can do now either way. Are you and Glenn going to stop being intimate now that there's been a scare?" Hershel asked. Maggie's jaw clenched, immediately getting her father's point. "I didn't think so. You'll continue on being careful and safe, like I know my Bethy was. The Lord has blessed us with this safe haven. He might bless me with a grandchild before I join him in his kingdom. That's not something I ever thought I'd have after the farm."

"Daddy you're freaking me out. Come on Glenn, lets go, we're burning daylight." Maggie replied taking her dishes to Carol. Hershel got up and moved the shoulders down on Beth's shirt, hissing slightly at the obvious pain her sunburn must have been causing.

"Maggie you might want to get some burn cream too if you can find it. Vitamin E oil, anything. Bethy's burnt pretty badly."

"I'm gonna head out and see if I can't find us anything for supper." Daryl moved away from the table, dropping a kiss on top on Beth's head like he always did on his way out the door, catching a dirty look from Carol when he nodded to her. He didn't have time for this. He needed to get out and back to make sure Beth didn't strain herself today. H hoped that all of the snares had caught something.

Beth opened one of the carriers that Daryl had grabbed on that first run, the sling was still wet from when Rick had quickly got her into the shower the day before. Judy was a little more restricted in the carrier, but she also felt much more secure against Beth's chest. Beth started to gather all of the dirty dishes and scrap any left overs into the garbage. She stacked the dirty dishes beside the wash bin and put some water on to heat to wash them. She started to do the dishes and heard a sigh, looking up to see Rick staring at her.

"I thought we agreed that you were off all other duties Beth." Rick stood up and walked over, grabbing the sponge from Beth's hands, dropping it in the washbasin and leading Beth over to the couch. "Just sit down, I'll finish."

"Rick I can't do nothing all day. I was just going to wash the dishes and wipe down the tables. Then I was going to go sit in the shade outside and talk to Daddy while he works on the garden."

"Now you can watch me clean up before watching me and your dad in the garden." Rick replied before slipping his hands in the water and washing all the bowls, cups and mugs, leaving them on an old towel to air-dry. He moved over and started washing down the tables, finishing before picking up Judith bag, moving it to his shoulder before helping Beth up and guiding her outside. He grabbed the blanket he had been using on the couch before. He walked with Beth to the garden area, looked around and then started to lay out the blanket in what he took to be the coolest, shadiest place close to where he'd be working with Hershel.

"You bring some magazines or something to read?" Rick asked. Looking through the bag. He found a few small baby toys, bottles she had pre measured with the powdered formula, diapers, receiving blankets, and their hats. "What are you going to be doing all day? I'm not letting you work Beth."

"I'm just going to stay in the shade and play with the baby Rick. I'll bring some breakfast to Carl, bring him lunch later. That's it. I'll be going inside after lunch to put Judy down for a nap. I might give her a bath later. Nothing strenuous." Beth replied settling down on the blanket and leaning back against the wall to the prison.

"You can sing to us while we work Beth." Hershel replied as he hobbled over. "Sort through these seed packets for me. See if there are any seeds for some herbs. I'll have rick bring over the small boxes we made. We'll fill them with some soil and you can plant us an herb garden. While you rest in the shade."

"It's be nice to have some music while we work." Rick replied, not thrilled that Beth planned on walking around at all, but he figured he'd just offer to take the meals to Carl and let her work on the herb garden sitting down. Beth slipped Judith's hat on and kissed her cheeks, making the baby laugh. Beth slid the carrier off and laid Judith on her back on the blanket and shook her rattle for her before letting the baby put it in her mouth. Beth placed a small stuffed alligator close by before handing rick her hat.

"I'm going to out of the sun all day Rick, if my hat fits you can borrow it." Beth replied before settling down around Judith. "We need to get you a straw hat like Daddy has." Rick adjusted the back of the hat and slides it on. "Go on, I won't get up and work Rick. I'll stay right here. She handed a paper bag Carol had given her for Carl to Rick. "Take this to Carl, I'll bring him lunch though." Rick took the bag and walk towards the tower. "What do you want me to sing Daddy?"

"Anything you want Beth. It'll be a nice distraction."

"Alright, how bout some Tom Petty?"

"Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

Gonna stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground and I won't back down

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground and I won't back down
No I won't back down."

Rick followed the sound of Beth's voice back to the garden, and saw that she was sitting against he wall again with her knees up in front of her and the baby sitting back against them. Judy was smiling while Beth sang to her.

"Lori used to always try to sing to Carl. He hated it. Lori couldn't sing like you though." Rick replied before bringing over the boxes they had already made for the potential herb garden. Hershel had brought over all of the packs of seeds and Beth pulled them closer, keeping a hand on Judith as she flipped through them.

"What'd she use to sing?"

"She always tried to sing Shania Twain or the Dixie Chicks. We weren't really much for lullabies."

"I never really like Shania much. How about some June Carter and Johnny Cash?" Beth asked before a commotion at the fences caught her attention. There was a woman with a sword and shopping basket standing there, looking in while trying to fight off walkers. Carl quickly ran down and shot the walkers with his silencer gun.

"Dad she's hurt help me get here in!" Carl cried. Rick ran over and ran through the gate Carl had thrown open; he picked the woman up over his shoulder and ran back through, bring her over to Hershel.

"Some maniac grabbed two of your people. I heard them talking about this place before he snuck up on them. Pretty girl with a Korean boy. I know where he took them. Their leader ordered him to follow me after I demanded to leave their camp. He's not a good man. I think he kills other surviving groups. Name's Michonne."

Much like all things Walking Dead, I don't own any of the song lyrics I use or may use in future chapters!