AN: Thank you all for your amazing comments on the first chapter! Your huge response was unexpected and very inspiring! I hope you all continue to enjoy my exercise in slow burn romance. :) (And also an exercise in actions scenes, or sort of action scenes) I'm already impatient for the story to move along, so I can't imagine what you all think!

Warnings: violence.

Chapter Two

Rick parked the truck in front of Patton's bar. It was on the corner of the main intersection of town and Beth peered out at the familiar yet ghostly buildings. It was weird seeing the town she grew up in looking so desolate. Maggie had gone into town on a few occasions for supplies but Beth hadn't ventured off the farm until it was overrun. Morgan pulled his jeep up alongside the truck and the five slowly exited their vehicles, watching to see if the sound of their vehicles drew in any walkers, but none appeared.

Gathering supplies went smoothly but there wasn't much left. They took a few common medications from the pharmacy, the small grocers had mostly been cleaned out of canned and dry goods but they found a few salvageable items. Rick and Morgan were packing up what they had managed to find in the bed of the truck when they heard the sound of an engine. Beth felt a pang of hope surge through her, was it her daddy? Otis? She left her spot of safety beside Duane and rushed to where Rick and Morgan were to get a better look, but the car that swung into view was not one she recognized.

Rick and Morgan were standing with her at the tailgate while Duane was sitting in the passenger seat of his dad's jeep and Jimmy was standing at the front of the two vehicles keeping watch for walkers. Rick tugged Beth back behind him as the car stopped a few yards away in the middle of the street.

"Well, look at this!" The driver laughed as he climbed out.

"It's been awhile since we saw any new faces." Another other man agreed as he got out of the passenger seat.

"Well, new alive faces." The driver corrected. He was average height, brown hair and eyes, with a goatee. The other man was very large, sweaty and wore several chains around his neck. They both had accents from up north that Beth wasn't sure about, Jersey? Boston?

"Same here," Rick nodded in greeting. Morgan just frowned at the newcomers and reached for his rifle he had set down on the tailgate.

"Easy now, we mean no harm. My name is Dave, this ugly fellow is Tony." Dave gave them a friendly smile but it didn't seem genuine to Beth. Something seemed off about them to her, they gave her a weird vibe that she didn't understand.

"Rick Grimes, this is Morgan, Beth, Jimmy and Duane." Rick spoke for the group and Morgan seemed content to just glare suspiciously at the newcomers.

"Beth… well, ain't you pretty sight for sore eyes." Beth shrank further behind Rick as Tony leered at her. She was relieved when Rick's hand fell to his Python. Clearly Rick wasn't going to trust these men as easily as he had trusted her and Jimmy.

"Whoa, Tony, don't you go scaring people. Sorry, he has no manners." Dave held up his hands to placate Rick and Morgan. But he still gave Beth an approving look that had Beth more than uneasy. "We've got a group of people as well that we're travelling with. You guys just passing through?" Dave nodded to the two vehicles that were obviously full of supplies.

"Ain't nothing here," Rick answered affirmatively. "You said you're part of a group?"

"Yeah, we've got about 35 people now, we've been collecting all different types of people on the road. We drove down here from Philly. We haven't seen many people in Georgia though, only a young kid we picked a week back. We have women and children too." It didn't sound like they had Rick's family with them, and Beth hoped that Rick wouldn't want to join these people. Dave was putting on a nice face but it felt fake and Tony kept glancing at her like she was a meal.

"Philly is a long ways away. Where you headin'?" Rick asked.

Dave shrugged and leaned back against the hood of his car. "No destination... We tried Fort Benning a few weeks ago, it was a bust. Some of us have been thinking about finding a nice farm 'round these parts."

"Plenty of land out here but be careful. Only a few days ago a big herd of 'em walkers came through the area."

"You familiar with the area? You sound like a local." Dave's gaze seemed calculating but he still wore an easy smile.

"Nope, just passin' through. We were in Atlanta but it's all gone." Rick's tone was polite but he wasn't friendly, his posture still stiff and Beth felt her heart pounding even though she couldn't say why.

"We should team up, you all look capable. Plus, safety in numbers and all that." Dave's voice was smooth, and Beth saw Rick's shoulders tense. He still had his hand on his gun too.

Rick shook his head, "Sorry, but we'll pass. We're not looking to stay in the area."

"You sure about that? You've got some kids with ya, they'll be safer in our camp." Tony spoke up again, but the way he said camp made Beth feel like she'd be safer anywhere but in their camp.

"We said no." Morgan finally spoke, his voice a low warning. The rifle was still in his hands but it was pointed at the ground.

"All right, all right, we mean no harm." Dave straightened up and walked a few paces towards the bar.

Beth then noticed that Tony had a gun in his hand that he was holding casually. Rick turned slightly to keep both men in his sight. "You know how to use that?" Rick asked and gestured at Tony with the hand not on his gun.

Tony scoffed, "Of course. This beauty Dave took off a cop."

"I'm a cop," Rick replied in what had to be his cop voice. He was in jeans and a flannel today, but he still had an authoritative air in his stance.

"He was a dead cop." Tony's casual scorn had Beth inching backwards a bit, she wished she was with Duane in the Jeep, or out of sight in the truck.

Dave interrupted and changed the subject, he must have picked up on their unease, "any drinks left in the bar?"

"We didn't go in. It's all yours." Rick offered. "We'll be taking off now."

"What's the rush? Why not have some drinks with us?" Dave opened his arms in a welcoming gesture.

Rick shook his head, "Sorry."

"That's an awful lot of supplies you all have, where've you been looking?" Tony asked.

As Rick's attention was drawn back to Tony, Dave reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. Rick noticed the movement and without hesitation drew his python and fired. Rick hit Dave with a headshot and Tony, shocked at Rick's sudden move, fumbled with his gun while Rick turned and shot him in the chest. Duane screamed and ran for his dad, Jimmy ran forward yelling and Beth burrowed into Rick's back. Her heart was pounding in fear but she didn't feel afraid of Rick. Morgan retreated with his son to calm him down and Rick turned to Beth to soothe her. Beth nodded that she was okay and Rick walked forward to grab the guns from the bodies.

"What the—why did you do that?" Jimmy cried. "They seemed like nice guys!"

"Nice guys?" Beth exclaimed in disbelief.

"They wanted our supplies and they wanted Beth," Rick replied calmly as he checked the magazines on both guns. "I wasn't letting them have either." Beth felt a sense of relief wash over her at Rick's words. His tone was so sure, like his words were fact. Jimmy looked mildly chastised.

"You did the right thing Rick," Morgan agreed. Duane was calmer now, but still looked scared. "I was about to do the same thing."

"We should get out of here quickly, we don't know if their friends will be showing up lookin' for 'em." Rick stood and took the two guns to the cab of the truck where he had his sheriff's duffel full of weapons. The others agreed and soon everyone was loaded back in the two vehicles and back on the road.

They didn't drive far. Beth suggested they stop at the Miller farm about five miles outside of the town. The majority of the Millers were locked inside her family's barn so she knew the farm would be relatively safe. The house had been locked up until Rick jimmied a window open and the house was walker free. Everyone stayed inside the house except for Rick who was out taking a sweep of the grounds.

Now that they had a moment to stop and think Beth didn't know how to describe what she was feeling. The Miller house had been a terrible idea, the house was laid out differently than her family's own but everything reminded her of the house she grew up in. They even had the same edition of the Bible. The innocuous book sent a pang through her chest and her eyes burned as she held back tears as she thought of her father. Her daddy had been—and wasn't thinking in the past tense painful—a very religious and devote man. What would her father think of Rick?

Rick had killed two men right in front of her. It had all happened so quick, one minute they were alive and the next they weren't. But that man, Tony, had looked at her like she wasn't a person but like she was an object to possess. Beth had felt a completely new fear that she had never experienced before. Beth knew she had grown up sheltered with her overprotective father and older siblings, but even she knew what terrible things those men could have done to her. Was she already so jaded that she thought the worst of people? That it was okay to kill someone? Someone that they didn't have concrete proof that he was bad? Or hadn't done anything wrong yet? What if those men had only wanted to rob them, was that a crime punishable by death now?

Beth shook herself from her spiraling thoughts. Rick had been a cop. Rick was still a cop just without a functioning justice system. He knew what was right and wrong. Rick had taken them in and she believed that if they found other good people Rick would take them in too. She had to trust Rick to do the right thing.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a reminder of all the good her father had preached, so Beth took the Miller's family bible and packed it into her bag before heading off to salvage anything from the kitchen.

"Beth... why are you taking a frying pan? I think you need to stick with the bat. Or a shovel." Jimmy looked skeptical as Beth inspected the heavy, cast-iron skillet. Jimmy had been on hunting trips with his dad since he was twelve so after a quick safety lesson with Rick he had been entrusted a rifle and had given his bat to Beth. That had been before they returned to the Greene farm and Jimmy still hadn't had a chance to use it yet.

They were still in the Miller's farmhouse and Rick hadn't returned yet, not that Beth was keeping track. Much. "I'm not using it for a weapon, I'm using it for cooking."

"Cooking?" Jimmy seemed to not grasp the idea and Beth rolled her eyes.

"I don't know about you but I'm tired of eating lukewarm canned food." Plus the Miller's used gas much like her own family had so the stove should work just fine.

"Beth has a point," Morgan spoke up. Beth started a little, she hadn't heard him approach and she mentally berated herself, she had to start paying more attention to her surroundings. "A good meal could go a long way to improving morale."

"What's this about food?" Duane asked as he popped around the corner after his dad. He had found one of the Miller boys' comic book stash and already seemed to be in a much more cheerful mood. Morgan raised his eyebrows like a 'I-told-you-so' look.

They were interrupted by three sharp raps on the front door signaling Rick's return. Beth didn't realize how tense she was until Rick cautiously opened the door and her shoulders eased.

"We good?" Morgan asked, his voice was serious again.

Rick nodded, "Just a few stragglers. I took care of 'em. I also found an orchard." Rick held up a bag.

Beth knew that the Millers didn't have an apple orchard, so she eagerly approached Rick and peeked into the bag. "Peaches! My favorite!" She cried in triumph and Rick handed over the bag with a small smile. And Beth, before she could stop herself, leaned up on her tippy toes and planted a quick kiss on Rick's cheek. She wanted to thank him for more than just finding peaches. She wanted to thank him for taking in her and Jimmy and then protecting them from walkers and humans alike. She blushed as she stepped away from Rick and avoided looking at Rick's surprised face or Jimmy's disgruntled look.

Perhaps peach cobbler would be a better way to thank him. And with that thought Beth rushed back to the kitchen while babbling about cobbler.

AN: I adore Michael Raymond-James, but the poor guy sure gets killed a lot on shows. :) I couldn't resist having Dave in the fic.

Review please?