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Beth had made her third lap around the prison courtyard, and was annoyed to see Daryl standing in the same positon he had been in since she began her run. He was leaning against the prison wall, smoking a cigarette, and regarding her judgmentally. She paused in front of him, resting her hands on her knees while she caught her breath.

"You stoppin' for some reason?" he grumbled without bothering to look up at her.

Beth stood up, placed her hands on her hips and stretched out her back. She wiped the heel of her hand across her forehead, in an attempt to remove the sweat that painted her forehead. "Yeah, I'd like to know why I'm the only one who's runnin'. Don't recall seein' you throw on jogging shorts any time lately." She grinned at him.

Daryl finally gazed up at her, and sighed before throwing his cigarette on the ground and rubbing it into the ground with his boot. "It's about preparation Beth. I prepare in other ways." He said, casting his glance towards the ground. "There are some things I can't prepare you for. But making sure you can outrun anything that tries to nab you ain't one of them."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Beth grinned, challenging Daryl. She was mostly buying time to catch her breath, a fact which she was sure Daryl was aware of, but if he was going to play along, it still meant a breather for her.

But he didn't want to play along. Instead he looked up at her with a fire in his eyes. He closed the distance between them, making Beth stagger back on instinct. "Killing walkers ain't the same, Beth. The light's already left their eyes. You take a human life, you take that seriously, you got me?" Daryl's voice was low and ragged. He was breathing heavily, and all Beth could do was nod.

"I can't prepare you for what comes after you take a life, Beth. And you will have to at some point, that's just how it is now. But I want to keep you from that as long as I can. And that starts," he paused, lightly pushing her away with a small grin, "with you runnin'."

Beth returned his grin, but groaned as a clap of thunder rippled among the clouds. "Daryl, its gonna rain!" she whined.

"Best get movin', then. You got two laps to go."

/

Rick sighed as he poured the water over Beth's body. She had passed out and he had carried her. He'd run until he couldn't anymore, and then walked to a small house. He'd barricaded the front door, and hoped that would be enough.

He was really cursing himself. He hadn't been thinking straight, at all. He hadn't checked the bodies. Some of them could have turned, or worse be alive and looking for them. He should have made sure to put them all down. He was pretty sure Joe was alive. He didn't know about the others.

But Beth, His mind reminded him. When he had found her covered in blood, naked, he feared the worst. He had rapidly searched her body for wounds, but found none. The body behind her was mangled and bloody, and after Rick realized what happened in that room, he was convinced that the dead man hadn't gotten even half of what he deserved.

She was naked. Rick's blood boiled at the memory. Beth was unresponsive, even now as he tried to wash away the dried blood that caked her body. He didn't know how far the man had got, but he knew it was too damn far.

Rick dipped Beth's hair in the bucket. The water was dirty; he had gotten it out of a creek. But he couldn't let her sit here like this, covered in blood. He gently rubbed some soap he had found under the bathroom sink into her hair. Rick was trying not to think about it, but looking at her now was breaking his heart. Her eyes were open, but instead of the normal brilliant blue, they were dull and gray. She was slumped forward, naked, with the water tainted with her blood slowly running down her body.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Rick cursed himself. Just another person he had failed. He had lost Lori, he had lost Judith, and Carl and Michonne… and now Beth… Rick stopped dutifully washing her, and looked back into her eyes.

"Beth" he tried tentatively, begging her. "Beth." She blinked, but didn't move. Rick felt the tears starting to form in his eyes. "BETH!" he yelled at her, sobs taking him. He stood and yelled in anger, before kicking the toilet behind them.

Rick fell to his knees and dried his tears with his dirty hands. No. He wasn't going to let his guilt and anger get in the way of giving Beth whatever she needed. He dipped the rag back into the bucket of water, and began dutifully scrubbing and the dried blood around Beth's ashen lips.

He finished washing her in silence. He retrieved one of the towels from under the sink, and wrapped her up gently before carrying her to a bedroom. He dug through the drawers of an armoire in what had once been a master bedroom. The bed was a large maple frame, with small leaves detailing the woodwork. The dresser matched, and Rick wondered why he bothered to notice anymore. He found a black Georgia Tech sweatshirt, and matching sweatpants that were way too big to fit Beth, but at least they were something.

Rick sighed as he turned to dress Beth. He didn't know what to do. She was listening, if he said 'raise your arm' she would. But she wouldn't say anything to him, no matter how much he begged. She didn't seem to mind that she was completely naked, other than occasional shiver, and the telltale goose bumps that littered her body. Rick minded, and noticed of course, and it was making him angry. He'd carried Beth out of that house in nothing but Daryl's vest. Even now, as he gently instructed her to raise her arms as he pulled the sweatshirt over her head; he spent the majority of his strength not looking at her; he couldn't.

He finally had her dressed and in bed. He knew he should be on a sort of watch, checking the house, things like that, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her here like this. Instead he just pushed the dresser against the door, and ripped the sheet off of the bed, tying it to a blanket in case they needed to go out the window.

Rick took Beth's frail hand in his, and sighed as he looked into her eyes, and gently combed the stray hairs that were scattered around her face out of her eyes.

"Beth, I don't know what to do here. I need you to come back for me. I can't do this alone, Beth. I can't." he stopped. He didn't know what to do. What could he say to her?

"I wish it could have been Daryl here for you Beth, he would have known what to say to you." Rick moved his free hand, to rub the bridge of his nose.

"I didn't want to tell you this, Beth, but this one time we were at the prison, do you remember? It was right at the beginning. I had just lost Lori. The governor wanted to attack, and I… I was lost Beth. But you handed me Judith, and you were singin' that song. What was it?"

Beth blinked.

Rick coughed and adjusted on his knees next to the bed. He couldn't believe what he was about to do, but if there was a chance it could help Beth, he would do anything. He took a deep breath, and began to softly sing, in his halting rough voice.

They hung a sign up in our town
"if you live it up, you won't
live it down"
So, she left Monte Rio, son
Just like a bullet leaves a gun

Rick coughed, and looked for any kind of sign from Beth. But she just stared at the ceiling.

With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
She went and took that California trip
Well, the moon was gold, her
Hair like wind
She said don't look back just
Come on Jim

Rick stared at Beth as a tear rolled down her cheek. She made no move to wipe it away.

Oh you got to
Hold on, Hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You gotta hold on

Her tears were coming stronger now, as Rick used both of his hands to squeeze hers tightly. He finished the song, and he sang another chorus, his voice stronger now, willing to do whatever it took if it meant bringing back Beth.

She still hadn't made a move when silence filled the room. Rick sighed in defeat as he began to let go of Beth's hand. As Rick made to get up, her hand squeezed his. Turning around quickly, he saw her looking at him.

"Don't stop." She whispered, her lips chapped already from disuse.

Rick laughed in happiness, and wiped tears from his face. He crawled onto the bed next to Beth, and kissed her head before pulling her into his arms.

"The song's over though, Beth." He said, still laughing in relief.

"Sing another" she whispered, her eyes still wet.

Rick panicked slightly; he didn't do a lot of singing. He wiped away the tears that stained Beth's cheeks before moving to dry his own.

I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech, and a hell of an engineer—
A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, hell of an engineer.
Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear.
I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer.

Oh! If I had a daughter, sir, I'd dress her in White and Gold,
And put her on the campus to cheer the brave and bold.
But if I had a son, sir, I'll tell you what he'd do—
He would yell, 'To hell with Georgia!' like his daddy used to do.

He felt Beth chuckle against his chest.

I know that was a little saccharine, but I wanted something a little sweet after last chapter. Beth's not magically better because Rick sang to her (although...) so we'll still deal with her first kill a little more.

I'm officially over 100 reviews! Thank you so much, that's a big deal to me. Thanks to Kaylah, Quest, moriahhh, Emma, Bethany, and my two guests... One of which was my 100th review! She started her review with "omg poor Beth!" I agree, haha. Poor Beth... Don't worry, they'll get some happiness yet. :) Since I can't PM you, send me a message and let me know if you want a one shot! If I don't hear from you, I'll message my 101 review.

Thank you all again!