As always, I don't own The Walking Dead, Beth, or Rick. Thank you guys for reading and reviewing!

Beth was sleeping fitfully. It seemed like the walkers were in her dreams. She could hear them groaning and scratching. She couldn't see anything, but the sound of rain and thunder mixed with those other-worldly groans. She heard those noises constantly. Living in the prison, they were always gathered at the gates, to the point where every day people went to go clear them off of the fence. That sound… it perforated the fence, the grounds, and yes, even the walls. There were times, though Beth never admitted it, that she cried herself to sleep just to have something else to listen to. It was why she sang so much. Anything, anything at all, to cover up that noise.

Beth's eyes snapped open. The sounds weren't in her head, they were here. They were outside. There was a herd surrounding them. Beth sat up in bed at the realization, and her mouth instinctively opened to scream.

In the same moment, Rick's hands were on her. One hand gently but firmly covered her mouth in warning, the other snaked around her waist, his palm firmly pushed against her stomach, as he pulled her body into his own. Beth was shaking in fear, and as she turned to look at Rick, his face did nothing to allay those thoughts. His eyes were serious, anxious, and pleading. She understood, and nodded her agreement to his unspoken request. Rick slowly removed his hand from her mouth, and moved it down by her leg. In the darkness she could feel him palming for the cold metal of his gun beside her. His other hand stayed still on her stomach and her labored breathing was anything but calmed by its presence.

Beth clamped her eyes shut. She reached down and grabbed a handful of blankets in one hand, and found Rick's jeans, bunched around his knee, with the other. Her mind raced as she tried to access the situation. The walkers weren't scratching at the walls, they were moving. That itself was a miracle. It meant they didn't know they were in here, which Beth realized that was probably due to the rain… it was covering their smell. But the slightest noise was sure to draw them this way.

Beth groaned inwardly. This meant she couldn't get her knife, which was in her holster by the bed, or the crossbow. She couldn't risk the creaky bed or any number of things falling and alerting them to their presence. If the walkers realized they were here, they were done for. The cabin was tiny; it would not withstand a herd. Even if she and Rick were both armed, it wouldn't be long before they were overtaken. And worse, there was no way out. They literally had no choice but to wait, and hope the walkers passed them, unnoticed.

The lightening flashed through the cracks in the walls, and rain dripped through the roof. Beth gripped at Rick's jeans, and he pulled her closer. His beard pushed against her neck, and his breathing was labored in her ear. Beth bit her lip in frustration. They couldn't talk. They couldn't reassure each other. Their bodies were pushed together in the dark and Beth was doing her best not to cry.

Rick chanced a whisper in her ear, and his lips tickled her skin.

"Try to sleep."

She nodded, but knew the odds were slim. Still, she allowed her head to roll back, resting on Rick's shoulder. He adjusted his arms slowly, so that they were around her waist. The noises the walker's made pervaded her thoughts, forming a perverse lullaby, and soon she knew no more.

/

Rick was afraid, annoyed, exhausted, and uncomfortable. When he had come back to the cabin, barely after sundown, Beth had already been curled up in the bed asleep. He certainly wasn't going to wake up the poor girl just to apologize to her. He had eaten a handful of cereal in silence, contemplating his regret. With the sun down, he had gone ahead and crawled over Beth into the small bed, though he knew it was too early to sleep. He was lamenting the loss of his rabbit when it started. He heard a few growls, and some shuffling, but he hadn't paid attention. A few walkers were annoying, but nothing they couldn't handle, and they would probably move on with little to no fanfare. But as the rain started, their moans mixed with the thunder. Rick's eyes were open and alert as he waited for the herd to pass.

Beth had begun to twitch next to him, and he worried that in her sleep she might be too loud. If anything drew the herd's attention to them, they were eternally fucked. So when Rick saw her eyes pop open, and her mouth part to yell in realization, and his hands were on her like lightening. One hand gently over her mouth, the other grabbed her to calm her as much as possible.

He begged her, he begged her as much as he could with his eyes. Don't scream, don't talk, don't freak out. Rick knew Beth was smart, but sometimes, when people are afraid, they do stupid things. Once he saw her eyes soften, and she nodded in agreement to his unspoken words, his exhaled laboriously.

He reached down to Beth's side for his pistol, as she dug her sharp nails into his knees. His jeans did little to protect against her. Rick prepared his pistol as best as he could, primed to fire toward the door if the cabin were breeched. He knew it was useless. If the walkers were alerted to their presence, there was nothing they could do. Rick swallowed. He had limited ammo, but he knew, if he had to, that he would save the last bullet for Beth. Her hair tickled his mouth as she pushed against him, and he resisted the urge to drop the gun, and just hold her close. Images of a torn apart Beth, face distorted in pain and suffering, covered with blood was enough to renew his focus.

It was dark, and only the lightening and the moon illuminated through cracks in the cabin allowed for any light. He couldn't see much beyond what was right in front of him. He clung tightly to her with his free arm, like a life raft, afraid of movement. She unconsciously shifted beneath him, in fear and thought.

"Try to sleep." He whispered to her. There was no reason for her to be awake, not really, and if he could spare her the worry, he wanted to do so. She nodded, and he felt her body lean back against him. He adjusted, and again aimed his gun at their barricaded door, prepared for a long night.

\\

By the time the light started to filter into their cabin, Rick no longer heard any shuffling, groaning, or scratching. In the past few hours, he had heard less, and less, and Rick finally admitted to himself that they had made it through the night. Rick found himself breathing normally, something he hadn't even realized he was struggling with. He closed his eyes finally, after a full night of careful watching, and they stung as tears of relief filled them slowly. A sob wrenched his throat, and he brought his hands to his eyes. His exhaustion, and god, his relief slowly took him.

Beneath him, Beth shifted, but he didn't move. He didn't want her to see him like this, although God knows she'd seen him cry already, he was embarrassed. But Beth didn't say anything. Instead he felt her contort, until she was in front of him face to face. She was whispering, it's over, we're okay over and over and she began tentatively peppering kisses on the hands that covered his eyes. His hands moved slowly backwards, revealing what he was sure was nothing but red eyes, stained with sleeplessness and tears. Rick met Beth's soft stare and she gently grabbed his hand, placing one soft kiss in his palm, never breaking their eyes' connection. Rick wasn't interested in lying to himself any longer. He needed this woman. Almost independent of himself, his hand moved to Beth's cheek, then down through her golden hair, to the back of her neck. All Rick could see were her small pink lips, as he drew her to him.

And that's when he noticed the smoke.

A/N: Ugh, I'm sorry it took me this long to get something this short out. I don't know how I feel about this chapter, so I'd really appreciate feedback on it. It was much easier to see in my head, and kind of hard to write. Obviously, there was only really 1 line of dialogue. I hope that didn't make it too boring to read. I've never written a chapter like this, so any constructive criticism, I'd be happy to take. Thank you guys so much for sticking with me!

Also, I don't know if any of you are 'Team Delusional' but I'd encourage you to go check out some of the theories... there are some crazy ones, and some not so crazy ones, but its all very interesting to me. Whether Beth ever returns or not, she'll always have a special place in my heart, and I'm looking forward to writing about some of that spuck and hope in the upcoming chapters. :)