Beth's next few days at the hospital were more or less the same as her first; she followed Doctor Edwards and helped on the rounds, she cleaned and gathered supplies, and she did as she was told. She saw Noah about the place, and the two of them often exchanged looks, and the little glances helped Beth to feel less alone. The couple of nights she had spent in the hospital were difficult, as her room darkened around her and she lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her hands on her belly, her mind on Daryl.

She imagined him out there somewhere, camped around a small fire, his face dark and miserable. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into him, lay her small body against his, feel his strong arms around her, his stubble against her neck. She needed him now more than ever, needed his reassurance, his comfort, his strength.

And when she woke with the queasy feeling of nauseous in the pit of her stomach, her mind was on Daryl. It was his baby that was causing her discomfort, his baby that kept her awake at night in fits of panic. It was almost too difficult to believe, too unreal. It was easy to just imagine she was sick - her life at the prison, her life with Daryl felt a million miles away now.

'Are you really in there?' she whispered one morning, as she woke to the usual sound of the ticking clock. Her hands lay flat against her stomach and of course no one answered her.

Beth had been at the hospital for a few days when she got the idea; she was passing the room of the still unconscious Gavin Trevitt when she spotted the equipment wired up to him. Remembering the way Doctor Edwards had examined him, Beth set out to find the doctor and pose her question to him. She found him in his office, sat back in his oversized chair reading a book. The office all around him was a mess; books and papers covered the surface of his desk, whilst even more joined paintings and boxes on the office floor. It looked as if he had tried to horde everything from life before the fall in one small room.

Edwards looked up as Beth arrived in his doorway, her hand raised ready to knock on the open door.

'I used to feel like I was drowning in research' he sighed, putting the book down on the desk before him. 'Now the oceans are dry and I'm suffocating in boredom.'

'You're lucky' Beth said as she stepped further into his dimly lit office. 'If you feel safe enough to be bored, you're lucky.'

Doctor Edwards regarded her for a moment, then smiled.

'What can I do you for, Beth?' he asked.

'Well,' Beth said, wringing her hands together before her scrubs, 'I remembered the sonogram you gave that man, Gavin Trevitt, and I wondered whether you could do the same for me. For, you know, the baby.'

Doctor Edwards sat back in his chair, his hands laced in front of him. Then he clapped them to his thighs and got up.

'I think I can.' he smiled.

Edwards led Beth to a vacant room and instructed her to lay upon the made up bed.

Gingerly, Beth climbed up onto the bed and lay back, feeling a little foolish as Edwards played around with the monitor beside her, plugging different things in and turning dials. Beth took the time to look about the room; it was no different to the one she had woken up in three days ago, with the white walls, the light blue flooring, the ticking clock that Beth counted the seconds down on.

'Okay, if you can lift your top up for me.' Edwards said.

Beth pulled the top of her scrubs up to reveal her pale stomach, her hands shaking slightly. Her stomach looked no different than it usually did, and Beth turned her head slightly to see if any angle showed any difference. It still looked flat.

'I only have a little of this,' Edwards said, producing a bottle. 'This is going to be cold.'

Beth nodded and braced herself as Edwards squirted the clear liquid onto her skin. He spread it around a little, and goosebumps appeared across Beth's skin as she sucked in her breath. Then he placed the transducer onto her belly.

The monitor beside her flicked, and a grainy image appeared. She watched the screen as Edwards moved the probe over her, pressing lightly.

'See here?' Edwards said, pointing to the screen. 'Here is your baby.'

Beth pushed herself up and stared at the screen. It was grainy and confusing. She shook her head.

'This section here is the head,' Edwards said, circling the monitor.

Slowly, Beth nodded.

'Your baby is about 4 inches long, I would put you around fourteen weeks,' he said. 'I'm not a midwife but everything looks good.'

'So that's – it's real?' Beth asked.

Doctor Edwards smiled.

'Yes, it's real.'

Beth swallowed. Her heart was beating firmly in her chest. The image on the screen began to blur as she stared at it, her eyes welling with tears. It was real. There really was a baby inside of her.

'Fourteen weeks,' she whispered.

'Yes. By now your baby is fully formed, even the toes and fingers are becoming distinct, even growing nails, if I remember rightly.'

Beth swallowed again.

'When will I – when will it show?' Beth asked shakily.

'I would say soon,' Edwards nodded, 'in the next couple of weeks you should start to rounden up. And the sickness you've been feeling, if all goes well that should stop too. But everyone is different.'

Beth nodded again, at a loss for words.

'The thing is,' Edwards said, and he pointedly looked away from Beth as he spoke, his voice a little unsure, 'and I know this is all new to you – but now is a good time to think – to decide – whether to carry on with this pregnancy.'

'What do you mean?' Beth breathed.

'Well. Is this a world you want to bring a baby in to? Life as a young, single mother was hard enough before the world fell to pieces.'

'I'm not a single mother.' Beth said quickly.

Edwards looked at her.

'The father – he's out there, and I'm going to find him.' She said.

Edwards nodded.

'Okay.' He said. 'Let's get this off of you.'

Beth had just finished mopping up a vacant room and was resting up in her bedroom, massaging her shoulders with her fingers and looking at the print out of her scan. It was still difficult to believe it was real, but as she stroked her thumb over the grainy image, Beth smiled.

'I guess there's no denying it now,' she said aloud to herself, her voice small in the room around her.

There was a knock on the door; Beth looked up to see Noah in her doorway.

'Hey, want to get some fresh air?' he asked.

Beth cocked her head at him, she knew entirely well herself how overrun the lower half of the building was, she could see the walkers in the streets from her bedroom window. But Noah was smiling at her.

'Okay,' she said, a little confused, but happy enough to oblige.

She pocketed her photo and followed Noah out into the corridor. He took her down to the stairwell and up to the roof, pushing open the metal door. Beth felt the cool breeze of the outside hit her face and she instantly felt overcome with relief.

The two of them stepped out onto the gravel that lined the roof, and Beth looked around at the large open space, the plants that were growing, the butts collecting the rain water. It all looked pretty self sufficient. She wandered over to the veg plots, admiring the different things growing, thinking back to their own pretty successful plot at the prison.

'You know, this city was bombed.' Noah said. He had walked to the edge of the roof and was looking down. Beth let the vine of a tomato she had been touching fall from her fingers and joined him. She looked out across at the blackened buildings, falling down all around them.

'Doctor Edwards told me Dawn and her crew were evacuating the building when the city fell. Everyone they had gotten out died.'

Beth took a deep breath of the fresh air as she looked out over the streets below; she imagined what something like that would do to a person.

'Now she lets people in, lets Edward's help them, so long as they provide service for it.' Noah said.

'She just doesn't let them leave afterwards.' Beth said.

Noah shrugged.

Beth sighed and walked away from the edge. She sat herself down by the plants, the gravel digging into her as she sat, but she ignored it.

'How do you plan on getting out of here?' Beth asked Noah.

He walked over towards her and sat himself down beside her.

'I'm not sure.' He said. 'I'm still working on it.'

Beth nodded.

'Let me know when you figure it out,' Beth said. 'I'm coming with you.'

Noah looked at her, regarding her profile as she looked out over the roof.

'You want out?' He asked.

'Yeah,' Beth said. 'I have to.'

Noah kept his eyes on her as she sighed and took something out of her pocket. She looked at it for a moment then Beth handed him the scan of her ultrasound. Noah took it; he looked at it for a long time before turning to look at Beth, a soft smile across his naturally friendly face.

'You're pregnant?' he asked.

Returning his shy smile, Beth nodded.

'How come?' Noah asked.

Beth chuckled lightly and turned back to look out over the skyline, out at the grey sky.

'Before I was here, a group of us lived in a prison just north of highway 34-'

'The west Georgia correctional facility?' Noah interrupted.

Beth smiled.

'Yeah.'

'I know it.' Noah nodded.

'It was a good home to us for a long time.' she said. 'And there was a man there, this good, kind man, and over time we grew close - I guess we fell in love,' Beth giggled.

Noah laughed too, and the sound was pure and fresh amongst the dying backdrop of Atlanta.

'And this happened,' he said, gesturing to the scan he was still holding.

'And this happened,' Beth confirmed softly, taking it from him and looking down at it again herself.

'So, does he have a name, this love of yours?' Noah asked.

Beth felt herself blushing.

'Yeah,' she breathed, and her lips felt weird as they formed his name. 'Daryl Dixon.'

'Daryl Dixon,' Noah mused, 'sounds like a comic book character.'

Beth laughed this time.

'What's he like?' Noah asked.

Beth sighed.

'He's... tall. Taller than me. And handsome in a rugged sort of way. Quiet. He's sort of brooding, sullen, serious. But he has a pure and loyal heart. He's strong and sweet and caring, and deep down, he's sensitive.' Beth wiped her eyes across the back of her sleeve, trying to hide the tears that had formed there.

'You miss him.' Noah said.

'Yeah,' Beth sighed.

'Is he...still alive?' Noah asked softly.

'Yeah.' Beth said. 'I hope so. The prison, it was overrun, and we all had to escape. I got out without him and I woke up here.'

'You said he's strong. He'll be okay.'

Beth nodded.

'He's a survivor.'

'What else?' Noah asked.

Beth smiled. She pocketed the photo of her baby and wrapped her arms around her chest.

'He rides a motorcycle,' she said, to which Noah rose his eyebrows and grinned, 'and he hunts with a crossbow.'

'Sounds badass!' Noah laughed, 'I'd love to see the two of you together!'

Beth laughed again too. Then she looked across at Noah, at his sparkling eyes, his full smile.

'You will,' she said. 'When we get out of here we will find him and you can meet him.'

Noah grinned.

'I'd like that,' he said. 'I bet he's missing you both.'

'Ah,' Beth said, looking down, 'he doesn't know about the baby.'

'Oh?' Noah rose his brows once more. 'Well then we have to get you back to him. You and the baby.'

Slowly, Beth nodded.

'Yeah,' she said.

'Beth!' Edwards called to her as she headed back into the corridor from the stairwell. 'I need you to check in on Mr Trevitt for me.'

'Okay,' Beth said, coming to a stop before him.

'He's stable for now, due for another 75mg of Clozapine.'

Beth nodded. Edwards patted her shoulder before he walked away.

'Oh!' Beth called after him, making him turn to look at her. He rose his eyebrows over the top of his glasses. 'Thank you for this morning.'

Edwards' face relaxed into a smile and he nodded. Beth smiled back and went to check on Trevitt. She set about crushing up clozapine and mixing it together with water, humming softly to herself as she did. She syphoned the mixture into the syringe and walked across the Mr Trevitt; he still looked worse for wear, and Beth was gentle as she administered the shot into his veins.

'Still at it?'

Beth turned to see Noah, mop in hand.

'Hey,' Beth smiled.

Suddenly, the monitor behind her began to beep and the body of Mr Trevitt began to fit. He writhed against the bed, his chest convulsing in painful arches.

'No,' Beth gasped, 'no, no.'

Alerted by the sound of the monitor, Officer Dawn Lerner came running into the room.

'What did you do?' She demanded. 'What did you do!'

'I -' Beth gasped as the body of Trevitt fell calm and the monitor flatlined.

'He was fine before you two were alone with him! Something happened. What happened!'

Doctor Edwards arrived in the doorway, looking around the room in shock.

'I-' Beth stammered, but Noah interupted.

'It was an accident,' he said, 'Beth left to get some gauze, I was mopping, I must have unplugged the ventilator somehow.'

'That's not - ' Beth began.

'It was only for a minute.' Noah said. 'I got it working again.'

Beth stared at Noah; she was shaking. She couldn't understand what had just happened, and she stood there shaking, staring across at Dawn.

'Take him to my office.' Dawn said to her officer who was standing just outside the door.

'Dawn it was an accident.' Edwards said to Dawn as she went to follow. She looked at him, but walked past.

Beth stared out of the door, then hurried to Doctor Edwards.

'That's not what happened,' Beth said, 'He just – he just started seizing.'

'Seizing?' Edwards frowned. 'You gave him Clonazepam right?'

Beth frowned, shaking her head.

'Cloz – Clozapine. You said Clozapine.' She said, unsure.

Edwards just sadly shook his head.

Beth winced as the sounds of blows landing came from Dawn's officer, followed by the whimpering of Noah. Beth went to push past Edwards, but he held her back.

'I have to stop it!' she gasped.

'You can't.' Edwards said. 'You can't stop it.'

Beth pulled away from him and ran to her own room, closing the door behind her and shutting out the sounds of Noah's pain. She went to her window and pressed her hands against it, feeling the cold of the glass against her hot skin. She closed her eyes and took several deep, shuddering breaths.

Had she just killed a man?

Her body was shaking and she felt sick; Noah had lied for her, and he was paying for it, and a man was dead because of her. After everything she had done, everything she had fought against, she had taken a life. It was an accident, sure, but she had caused it.

Beth shook her head, fighting back tears. She didn't get to cry. She should have just listened.

She had been so sure of what she was doing, she had picked out the bottles and read them all carefully. He had said Clozapine, hadn't he? Beth was tired and maybe a little naïve, but she wasn't stupid. She had always been able to remember the names of medicines, that was never something she had had trouble with before.

Beth opened her eyes and looked out over the city. She balled her good hand into a fist. He had said Clozapine, she was sure of it.

Beth turned and left the room; she was getting out of here, and she was taking Noah with her.

She found him in his own room, holding a bandage to his face.

'My god,' Beth murmured as he looked up; his eye had swollen right up already and was already turning a nasty purple.

'It's okay,' Noah said to her, 'it's not as bad as it looks.'

'Why did you go that.' Beth said. 'You shouldn't have done that.'

'I couldn't let you take it,' Noah said, 'you're pregnant.'

Beth swallowed.

'We need to get out of here.' She said. 'The elevator is the fastest way down.'

'It's full of rotters,' Noah said.

'Then we fight.' Beth said. 'We can't stay here.'

Noah pursed his lips, musing it over.

'Dawn keeps a spare key to the elevator in her office.' He said.

'I can get that,' Beth nodded.

'I'll keep an eye on Dawn.' Noah said.

Beth left Noah's room and walked slowly down the corridor, back towards Dawn's office. She opened the door as quietly as she could and ducked inside, closing it behind her slowly, her body on edge as it clicked back in to place. She stepped carefully across the office and to the metal filing cabinet, which she opened and began to rummage through, pushing files aside. She moved down a drawer and pulled it open. There was a wallet on top. Beth pulled it out and opened it up. It was Gavin Trevitt's.

Beth pulled out the ID and looked it over. He had been a doctor. St. Ignatius Hospital. Beth stared at the small card in her hand, her fingers shaking. Had Edwards known this – of course he had known it. And he had said Clozapine.

Beth returned the wallet and was just about to move on when she noticed the body on the floor; it was Joan. Beth leant down to look at her. In one hand she held a pair of scissors, next to the words 'fuck you' carved into the floor. She had picked away at her bandages and let herself bleed out.

Beth stood back up, her breath shaking in her throat. Avoiding the body, she moved around the desk and ducked back down to look through the drawers. In it, she found the key she was looking for. Beth turned it over in her hand, then stood up just as the door opened and Dawn's lackey Gorman walked in. He paused in the doorway as he looked at Beth.

'Hey there,' he said. 'I hope I'm not interrupting.'

'Dawn was just asking for her key.' Beth said, straightening up.

'Was she now?' Gorman said. 'See, I was just with Dawn and I don't remember that.'

Beth swallowed.

'It's okay,' Gorman said. 'Maybe she doesn't have to know. Maybe there's another solution.'

He closed the door and walked into the room, approaching Beth.

'You know? A little win-win for both of us.'

Beth backed herself up against the desk, watching him.

'I was the one who brought you in, there when they examined you, I know all about your little secret. So I know you put out.' He purred.

Beth looked away from him, but he was so close to her she could feel his breath hot on her face.

'So how about it, Bethy? We going to work something out?'

Beth looked down at the body on the floor; she could just see the hand on the scissors. Gorman had not seen it yet, but Beth saw the way the fingers had begun to twitch. Swallowing, Beth turned back to look at him.

She nodded.

'Good girl,' he said, moving his hand to her hip. Beth held her breath as his hot hand moved against the fabric of her trousers, moving it up under her shirt to her skin.

'Now Joan, she's not much of a team player. Lucky for me you're not a fighter.'

Beth grabbed up the glass lollypop jar from the desk beside her and smashed it over Gorman's head, just as his hand moved up to her bra. He fell backwards with a shout, crashing to the floor in a sparkle of glass and lollies.

As he hit the floor, the reanimated body of Joan crawled towards him, a guttural growl escaping from her throat. She grabbed the man on the floor and bit down deeply into his neck. Blood and flesh gaped from the wound and Gorman screamed in agony. Beth grabbed his gun and ran.

She gained her composure as she walked, taking deep, steadying breaths, Gorman's gun tucked in her pants against her skin, blood splatters on her shoe.

As she walked, she saw Noah and Dawn approach. Dawn was looking at her as she walked, and Beth felt her fear was visible on her face.

'Beth?' Dawn said.

Beth stared at her, her eyes wide. Her heart was pounding beneath her shirt.

'Everything okay?' Dawn asked.

Beth took a breath, but it hitched in her throat. She took another. Calmer.

'Joan was looking for you,' she said. 'I saw her and Gorman going to your office.'

Dawn nodded.

'Thank you Beth.' She said.

Beth smiled, made eye contact with Noah, then kept on walking. Noah followed her.

They headed towards the elevator and Beth took the key out of her front pocket from where she had stored it. Her fingers brushed against the photo of her baby as she did so, and it helped focus her mind.

As Beth unlocked it, the sounds of screaming and tearing fabric reached them. She gulped.

'Ready?' Noah asked her.

Beth nodded and he flung the makeshift rope, tied together from bedsheets, around her body.

Beth sat down at the edge, her legs dangling over, and looked down. Her flashlight could just make out the pile of bodies that lay at the very bottom. Slowly, Beth lowered herself, and began her descent.

It was difficult for Noah to keep her weight up, and Beth began to slip. She dropped her flashlight, watching as the light spiralled down and down, lighting up the walls as it went until it finally settled on the pile of bodies at the bottom.

Noah regained his grip on the rope and lowered Beth down to the bottom. Her feet touched the shelf around the bottom and she gingerly walked to safety, pressing her body up against the wall. Noah threw the rope down and began to climb down himself. He made it about half way down when suddenly an arm stuck through a gap in the elevator doors a few floors down. A walker was reaching through, and grabbed Noah as he swung wildly on the rope. Beth cried out as he lost his grip of the rope and he fell, falling past her through the lip and into the basement below, straight on top of the pile of rotting bodies. He lay there, groaning in pain. Beth stared down, panicking, then jumped down to join him.

She landed beside him on top of the bodies and quickly pulled herself up.

'Are you okay? Can you walk?' She gasped.

'Yes,' Noah nodded.

Beth headed to the gap in the wall, treading over the bodies underfoot, grimacing. She swallowed, trying not to take any too deep breaths and breathe in the smell.

Beth picked up her torch and headed out. She handed the flash light to Noah and took out the gun from her pants. They walked slowly, keeping their eyes open.

Suddenly a walker grabbed Noah's arm; Beth smashed the barrel of her gun into it until it let go.

'There!' Noah said, pointing to the door.

But the walkers down there had spotted them, drawn by either their scent or their noise. Beth gulped and aimed her gun. She swallowed her fear and shot, thinking of nothing but getting out of this place, getting back on the road, finding Daryl, having her baby.

Beth shot, and shot, and shot. Walker after walker fell, the gunfire echoing throughout the basement and ringing in her ears.

Noah had found the door; he pushed it open and daylight spilled out into the space. Beth ran to him and followed him out, the two of them running up the steps and away from the basement. The light was blinding and stars burst in front of Beth's eyes. They stepped out into the car park and looked around.

Beth ran to the fence; walkers were converging on them, appearing from every side of the car park. Beth turned to look to Noah, who was limping after her, his face a picture of pain. Breathing deep, she headed for the fence and ducked through the gap in it. She crawled through and stopped as a walker, lying on its back, reached up for her. Beth slammed her foot down on its skull. Noah fell through the fence behind her as Beth began to fire off shots into the approaching walkers.

But it was no good, there were too many of them. As they got closer to her, she began to kick them away, forcing them back. Noah ran past her and towards the gap in the fence beyond them as Beth worked as a distraction for the walkers. They knocked her to the floor and Beth tried to roll away and keep shooting, but then the sound of gunfire shook her. The walkers closest to her began to fall.

Beth pulled herself back up and ran, following Noah. She had almost made it when she felt a body collide with her. The breath was rushed from her as someone bundled her to the ground. Noah watched as Beth was kept down, her hands pulled behind her back. Then he ran.

Beth kept her head lifted off of the floor as someone clinked handcuffs around her wrists. She watched Noah escape, and as distressed as she was at having been caught, she felt a sense of relief at seeing Noah escape. She smiled as the tears welled to her eyes.