Even though Beth had searched every inch of the room she could reach, there was nothing she could use to cut the ropes, but she had felt a bit of triumph as she slowly worked with her teeth and tongue to spit out the gag.

Dejected now, she carefully sat down on the filthy floor. The screams from Cathy had ended before the sun set, and Beth just knew the other girl was dead. Perhaps even filling the bellies of those sick men. Even though horrible images kept running through her mind, a large part of Beth was focused on her men. She knew they'd tear apart the woods to find her. They would come, but she needed to be ready to help herself if an opportunity arose. She thought of Daryl's self-defense techniques, running through the many things he'd taught her so she could always protect herself.

"You're stronger than you look," he was fond of saying. A small smile tugged at her lips as his gravelly voice echoed in her mind, "and heavier too."

"You can easily disarm someone with your sweet, youthful face," Rick had told her one day, "That's a weapon, too, and don't ever doubt it."

Their voices in her head comforted her, and she didn't feel so alone in her own head, though with little Trip growing inside her, she reckoned she wouldn't be alone even there for the next 7 months.

"Mummy's going to do whatever it takes to get us out of this," she whispered to the tiny baby in her womb.

Though she hadn't meant to fall asleep, exhaustion kicked in and she dozed, only to be startled awake when the door opened. Through the palest moonlight she could see two men carrying a body.

As they set the body down with a heavy thump just inside the door, Beth heard the teen whisper, "Just a few minutes with her. I promise I won't hurt her."

The other guy apparently granted permission because as the door closed, the teen walked over to her.

"I think you're pretty," he whispered, running a hand over her hair. It took all of Beth's strength not flinch away from him, to act like she liked his touch.

"You got nice titties," he added, "and a nice ass. Just want to touch you a little," as Beth squeezed her eyes shut briefly before smiling up at him, "I think you're cute," she whispered.

...

They'd gone back to the town, gathered up the group, and more importantly to Daryl, the heavy duty flashlights. Everyone made camp at the foot of the hill by the abandoned van.

Maggie stepped up, "I'm going with you to search." Glenn limped forward to stand at her side, clutching a cane in his hand. His wounds had healed, but Bob believed there was nerve damage in Glenn's right thigh.

"Maggie, it makes no sense for a bunch of us to be roaming through these woods at night," Rick began, but Maggie held up her hand, and cocked her head in the same way Beth did. The gesture tugged at his heart.

"Well you can't stop me. I know you love her, but she's all the family I have left."

Studying the determination on her face, Rick finally nodded. Maggie quickly shushed Glenn's protests.

Abraham and Ty stepped back up, ready to start the search again, but Rick stayed them, "Out in the open like this, we need every person here protecting the women and children."

Sasha, Bob, Abraham, Ty, and Carl were put on watch while the others attempted to find space to sleep in the packed vans.

Armed with the heavy flashlights, Rick, Daryl, and Maggie disappeared into the woods.

...

"I know you like that," the teen was whispering. He'd forced Beth to stand, but in his lust, hadn't paid attention to the fact that her gag was gone. He held her against his erection, and it was all Beth could do not to twist wildly out of his hold. His hand were roughly molding her butt, and it hurt, how could anyone imagine that felt good?

But Beth moaned a little, to her ears it sounded like a dying animal, but the teen thought she was into it, which was all that mattered. He kissed her, wet and sour, and for the hundredth time that day, Beth choked back bile. As he broke the kiss, breathing heavy, Beth leaned in and began kissing his throat, placing large opened mouth kisses down the column of his neck. As he tilted his head back to give her better access, Beth opened her mouth wide and bit hard down into his jugular and then using all the strength she could muster, she ripped her head away, taking a chunk of the kid's throat with her.

He didn't die quickly like Rick's victim had, instead he'd started thrashing. As he fell to the ground, Beth sat on his chest to hold him still and turning sideways, she used her bound hands to dig a knife from his pocket.

Finally getting it open, Beth put the knife between her boots, laid on her side, and started sawing at the rope binding her wrists.

She hadn't ate or drank anything since the last time she vomited, so she ignored the dry heaves racking her body. The metallic taste of the teen's blood burned her mouth like acid.

By the door, Cathy's body groaned.

Beth sawed faster, convinced Cathy was a walker now. The knife dug into her flesh a few times, but she ignored the pain.

"Beth?"

"Oh my God, Cathy! You're alive!" Beth whispered loudly, and then checked herself. The teen had only asked for a few minutes with her and odds were, someone would be coming soon.

"The son of a bitches took my leg and ate it," Cathy's voice was wispy, and Beth edged closer, "they like to keep their victims alive and slowly eat parts of them."

"I'm so sorry, Cathy, I'm going to get us out of here," Beth assured her, sawing away at her bound hands, but she stopped at the sound of Cathy's light mocking laughter.

"Back in town, in one of the stores, there was a torso of a dead woman, like she'd been cut in half. I liked the necklace she was wearing, and since I thought she was dead, I leaned down to unhook it. Bitch came to life and bit me on the arm. I stabbed her through the head and put my jacket back on. I thought since it was a small bite, I'd be okay, but I'm not. I can feel it, Beth, feel it inside me."

Stunned, Beth reevaluated, "Think you can help me with these ropes?"