Rick sent Ty and Daryl to drag Ellen from the house, as Bob held a gun to the rest.

"Want to tell me the truth now?" Rick asked her, leaning into to her face.

"I don't know what the hell this is all about, but I..."

"This is about you lying. 'Our men are dead', you said. Never came back from a run. Come to find out, the men you were with left and you gathered all the children and ran!"

Spittle flew from Ellen as she yelled back, "What the fuck did you expect me to do? Let them rape the children, you sick bastard?"

"Of course not! But you could have told me who would be following your tracks when I let you come in next to my family! No warning! Nothing but lies!" Rick yelled back at her.

"You don't understand!" Ellen screamed, "you don't understand how sick they were. What they were doing to the children!"

Rick suddenly softened, his face and voice going gentle, "I do understand evil, Ellen, and once you saw that we were not like those men, you should have told us."

The woman was sobbing before him, "You might have kicked us out! How was I to know?"

Daryl stepped up, "Fuck your fears when you first got here. Now you know us. Tell us about these men."

...

Since so many were comfortable with Beth, she had gotten the most well-rounded picture. When addressing his group as a whole, he pinned her to explain.

"Ellen owned a daycare, and when the world went crazy, some of the kids never got picked up. A group of them were surviving as best they could, mainly families, with everyone doing their best to raise all the kids. Four men joined them, acting as if they were part of the group and acted nice at first, but whenever one of their men left on a run, they never returned, just the four would make it back. A few weeks ago, the last of their men died. Only those 4 men were left and they started demanding payment for supplies, but not just from the women, but from the kids, too. Apparently, after Red was attacked and raped repeatedly, the next time the men left, Ellen made them run. Seems like she overheard two of the men talking one night about this neighborhood, how it had been cleared of walkers. So, even if they don't know that this is where the group ended up, they know we are here."

As Father Gabriel dropped to his knees in prayer, Rick took over, "We are now on perimeter and tower shifts around the clock, everyone gets a flare, and if you see anything, any living people, fire it off. I know it's cold out there, so bundle up. I know we're tired, but we'll sleep in shifts, too. Nothing matters but our protection."

Everyone nodded but Carol, "I knew taking them in would get us all killed."

Beth got in Carol's face, "Weren't you listening? They already knew we were here. Helping those kids hasn't endangered us any more than we were already."

"Enough," Rick said, "what's done is done."

...

With the extra watch duties, Rick, Daryl, and Beth rarely even got to sleep at the same time. She felt like she only saw them in passing. It was necessary, she knew, but still, she missed them. She took 2 watches a day, but spent the rest of the time either caring for Judith, or making sure everyone was fed.

A week after the other group arrived, Carl asked Rick if he could meet the other kids. Beth took him over, and it was fun watching him bond with John, a dark-haired kid who was about Carl's age. Red sat in the corner, always separate, glaring at Carl.

"What's her problem?" he whispered to Beth as they left. When she told him what Red had experienced, he was immediately sympathetic. Beth had tried speaking to the girl on multiple occasions, but anger and distrust poured from Red in waves. Ellen told Beth that Red hadn't spoken since the men had raped her, not even to Ellen.

So one afternoon when Beth found Red alone in the kitchen, Beth cornered her, "Our group got attacked once. Daryl and I escaped together, but then some other men grabbed me and took me from Daryl. For weeks I was raped by so many different men that their faces started to merge. They kept me drugged, but I remember it. When Rick and Daryl rescued me, I had to make a decision, put it all behind me or let it eat me alive. I was already in love with both Rick and Daryl, so I dove into them. They don't even know they healed me with their love."

Red's face had shifted from anger to sadness to anger again, and for the first time Beth heard the girl's high pitched voice, "How could you ever want anyone to touch you again?"

"Love. Love can heal you. Everyone here cares about you, Red. You have to decide whether what those men did is going to destroy you or make you stronger."

Tears appeared in the girl's eyes and she whispered to Beth, "I think they broke something inside of me."

Beth hugged Red, uncaring as the girl's tears soaked her shirt, as the girl sobbed and sobbed.

...

As Rick went to grab a few hours of sleep, Beth was leaving to get Judith from Carl. Rick grabbed her in a hug, crushing her to his chest, "God I've missed you. I love you, sweet Beth."

She helped him get undressed and buried her face in his neck, as he told her, "Someday this threat will be over and we'll all be together again. Come lay with me for a minute."

He carried her to the bed. As they laid there, Rick stroked Beth's hair, sighing at the feel of her against him, as the exhaustion of the day seeped in him. He barely felt her kiss his forehead as she slipped away.

...

Daryl was bone tired. Walking in their room, he perked up slightly to see Rick asleep. He always seemed to sleep alone these days. Tossing his clothes over a chair, he quietly snuggled beside Rick, curling into the other man's back. Rick mumbled something, and as Daryl put his arm around Rick stomach, Rick laced their fingers.

Hours later, that's how Beth found them. Considering she could use a couple hours sleep, she also undressed, but then sat on the edge of the bed, watching them. Her conversation with Red ran through her mind, and Beth had told the girl the truth. These two men had saved her, in every way.

Everyone was exhausted, not just from all the watch duties and walks of the perimeter, but also from staying hyper-vigilant all of the time. She figured Rick and Daryl were averaging about 5 hours of sleep a day. If she curled up into all of that manhood, she'd never be able to stop touching them and they needed rest. Laying on the far end of the bed, she let the sound of their breathing lull her to sleep.

When Daryl woke, he was sandwiched between them. He was so rarely in the middle, not that he minded, but it felt really good, and as always, it amazed him that they actually loved him. He thought back to his life before the apocalypse, back when he'd just been some redneck asshole following Merle around. Being with the group had changed him. Rick had changed him. Rick had so much integrity, was willing to sacrifice himself to save others, and always tried to do the right thing... And Beth, her bright, joyful spirit showing him a mysterious mix of beauty and strength... They blew his mind. Beth liked to say she was the luckiest woman in the world, but Daryl knew the truth. He was the lucky one.

Being in the middle, he realized he could touch them both. He licked his finger and reached between Beth's legs, stroking her sweet little clit. With his other hand, he began pumping Rick's hard on. Though they woke fairly quickly, both just let him love on them. Beth came first, as usual, then scooted down and started sucking Daryl, her hot, wet mouth felt incredible. As Rick came, he joined Beth, and they took turns sucking him. So damn erotic, he thought, as he watched them. The pleasure was almost too much, and he threw his head back into the pillow as the orgasm hit him.

...

It was that very evening when a panicked Abraham noticed Rosita didn't return from her watch duty.