Beth woke up early that next morning. When she stood up and stretched she felt the dull ache between her legs. She liked it. It made her feel good knowing Daryl had been there. It was similar to when your legs ached after a hard workout and you knew you'd done a good job. She walked into the kitchen and found Carol there eating.

"Where is he?" Carol looked up, surprised to see her standing in the doorway.

"He went out on a run." Beth felt relieved, remembering she needed to get that pill. She walked over to the counter and poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"I'm sure Daryl really beat himself up over not finding Rick."

"He was pretty upset," she said, sitting down across from her.

"He just needs some time to move on."

"You don't think he'll find them?" Carol just shrugged and continued to eat. She hoped Carol wouldn't tell Daryl that. He didn't need to be discouraged about it.

Beth finished breakfast and got dressed.

"Where you headed?"

"Going to see Gwen and Brenna." Carol smiled and said

"They're back at home, Gwen's doing great." Excited to see her, Beth hurried out the door.

Daryl busted the glass doors open and went inside the pharmacy. He'd been on the road for an hour now and this place better have what he was looking for. He looked at the signs hanging from the ceiling, indicating what each aisle held. He finally reached the section and carefully moved along the shelves, looking for the pills he had come for. He almost jumped for joy when he found them. He shoveled the box along with several boxes of condoms into his bag. He started heading back towards the door but then stopped when something caught his eye. It sparkled to him from the other side of the store. He turned and walked towards it. As he got closer he realized it was a package of five hair barrettes. They were covered in crystals, each a different color. He picked them up off the shelf. Would Beth like it? She had to, all women seemed to love this kinda stuff. He stuffed it into his bag and then headed back out.

The long ride home gave him time to think more. He definitely had feelings for Beth. He had almost wanted to tell her he loved her last night but didn't want to freak her out. It'd only been a couple of days and he felt pathetic for even letting the words cross his mind. But it was what he wanted to say on impulse. He'd never said those words to anyone, not even Merle. It scared him. He was sure he wasn't feeling pure lust.

He was close to the town when he saw a group of cars coming up on the road. He slowed down, praying that he'd find another clue to Rick and Carl's whereabouts. Most of the cars had dead bodies inside and looked like they hadn't been run in ages. But on car, an SUV had hit a tree and was steaming from the hood. He felt his heart leap in his chest. He stopped and got off. He walked over to the car and checked to see if anyone was inside. He was relieved to see that it was empty and nobody had gone rocketing through the windshield. The air bags were out and puffed up completely. He went around to the front. The entire front of the car had been smashed in and was nothing more than a tangled mess of metal. He looked around at the ground and saw large droplets of fresh blood spotting the ground and heading off towards the woods. Running a hand through his hair he debated whether to go back to the town or stay here and track down whoever had been in the car. He went a little further into the woods and found a patch of mud. There were two people from what he could tell. A bigger set of footprints and a smaller set. Rick and Carl. He forgot about everything else and set off into the woods. He'd find them this time.

Beth felt an overcome by happiness when she saw little Gwen, happy and full of life again sitting in her high chair when she walked in. Brenna also looked much better, grinning from ear to ear.

"The doctor gave her a clean bill of health!"

"Thanks god."

"If you're not too busy it'd be nice to have you taking care of her again, I gotta go do some laundry."

"I would love too," said Beth, happy to get back into the swing of things. Brenna left awhile later leaving Beth and Gwen to play. Beth took out some toy plastic blocks and let Gwen sit on the carpet with them. She heard a quick knock on the door and got up to answer it. She opened the door to see Lily there.

"Hey," she said, "What's up?"

"I know you're babysitting, but do you wanna come down to the gardens again with the baby like last time? Help me gather some of the stuff?"

"Ya," said Beth, "Hold on." She went back inside and got Gwen's carrier. She strapped the baby in and went back to the door. "Ready to go."

The two girls headed down the street, talking yet again about life before the walkers. When Lily brought up boyfriends Beth didn't dare tell her about Daryl. Instead she talked about Jimmy. As they passed by an alleyway she saw Steve and a few other boys standing near the entrance. He saw her and a smirk spread across his face. He didn't say anything and just let them pass by. She saw Lily shot Steve a dirty look.

"He's such an ass."

"I thought he was so nice in the beginning." Lily turned to look back at her and said

"Guys change when you don't give them what they want." Beth hoped that wasn't what Daryl was doing to her. She trusted him considering they'd lived together for almost two years now.

When they reached the garden Beth placed Gwen down underneath the shade of a tree and gave her some toys to play with. They were gathering potatoes this time. It made Beth's mouth water. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had mashed potatoes. She stuck some in her bag to bring back to the apartment for later. the girls stayed occupied in their work, occasionally looking up to check on Gwen. Beth was taking a quick break when she heard a distant voice call out. At first she thought it might of been coming from somewhere behind them in the town but when it happened again, this time closer, she realized it was outside the fence. Lily must of heard it too because she stood up and said

"What was that?" The voice was clear now. It was male and calling out for help. The voice didn't call out again for a minute or so. Suddenly someone slammed against the fence.

"PLEASE! PLEASE HELP US! LET US IN!" This time it was a little girl speaking. Beth instinctively scooped Gwen up into her arms and held her tightly. Lily looked shocked. Beth saw the girl's face through the chain link fence. Next to her appeared a man, another little girl in his arms. she almost felt like she was in a dream when she recognized them. It was Tyreese. He was holding Mika in his arms and Lizzie stood next to him. There was blood all over Tyreese and Mika, he couldn't tell whose blood it was. She came out of her trance and quickly handed Gwen over to Lily and went to help them. She untied the wire binding the end of the fence to the pole and let them in. Tyreese must of recognized her as well because he said

"Beth?!"

"Tyreese? what's going on?!" Lily stood behind her, completely confused.

"You know these people?" Beth turned to her and said

"They're from my old camp."

"We need help," said Tyreese, looking frantic. "We got into a car accident." Beth saw that his arm was bleeding pretty badly. "We were in the woods and got attacked by a group of walkers. Mika got bitten." Beth felt sick to her stomach as she saw the little girl lying in Tyreese's arms. There was a big bite mark on her shoulder. She took quick action and took Gwen from Lily and started to strap her into her carrier.

"Will you run to Carol for me," she said to her friend, "Tell her she needs to get to the hospital immediately!" Lily, looking pale and afraid, ran off to find Carol. "Come on! I'll bring you there!" Beth ran as fast as she could, holding Gwen close to her as not to jostle her in the carrier.

Daryl moved through the woods, keeping his eyes on the ground. It wasn't that hard to track them. The large splotches of blood led him in the right direction. He looked up and was quickly met was a terrifying sight. A herd of walkers in front of him. Some had noticed him but others hadn't yet. He debated whether to keep going or turn back and head back towards the highway. He knew it would kill him to turn back now. He was so close. He quietly tried to move around the walkers. the few that had taken noticed were coming for him, hissing hungrily. It caught the others attentions and they turned to see him.

"Shit!" He ran, trying to make a wide circle around them, shooting the ones that got too close. then he noticed something different about the one closest to him. There was fresh blood around its mouth and dripping down its neck. It had eaten recently. The thought of either Carl or Rick getting bitten terrified him and he quickly shot the walker, wishing he had the time to look through its belly and see if it was just a rodent it'd eaten. He kept running and soon found the blood splotches again. They were much bigger then they had been before. He had the herd behind him but was quickly outrunning them. It was soon a solid trail of blood. He knew someone had been bitten or gotten severely hurt. He looked up in shock to see the chain link fence that surrounded the town. He looked behind to see the walkers advancing. He quickly untied the wire and slipped inside, closing it back up. He knew the fence was strong enough to hold against them. Unlike the prison fences, Richard had reinforced the fences with large tree trunks. He'd also stuck spikes on the outside of the wall to spear the walkers as they walked up. Were Rick and Carl somewhere inside the town? Part of him hoped they weren't. One of them was clearly fatally wounded.

Beth let tears fall from her eyes as she stood over Mika. The girl lay on a bed in the hospital. She heard Carol and Lizzie sobbing behind her. Tyreese looked like he was on a different planet. He was in completely shock. A tight bandage had done the trick for his arm wound but Mika had died soon after they had brought her in the room. The doctor had been the one to stab her cleanly in the temple, no one else had the stomach to do it. Beth looked down on the poor innocent girl. She looked angelic lying there peacefully. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she were sleeping. Carol had washed the blood away with a washcloth. Suddenly the doors burst open. Beth looked up to see Daryl. He looked absolutely exhausted.

"Where are they?!"He stormed forward furiously, "Where's Carl 'n Rick!" Seeing him made Beth break down completely. She went and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his chest. He must of realized it was Tyreese and Lizzie standing in the room because she felt his body grow rigid. she looked up at him and said

"Mika's dead!" she slowly released him and let him approach the bed to see for himself. His face turned sheet white. She knew it was bringing back memories. Memories of Sophia and how he hadn't been able to save her. She knew this would send him spiraling downward even further. He had told her how he felt guilty for not being able to protect the prison. Now he was going to believe Mika's death was confirmation of that. He took a step back and she wrapped her arms around him again. He kissed her on the head and pulled her tighter to his side.

Daryl, Beth and Tyreese returned to the apartment leaving Carol and Lizzie to mourn by themselves. After all Mika had been like a daughter to Carol. They sat around the table, not saying a word to each other. Beth put Gwen on the table in front of her, sound asleep in her carrier. After the initial shock of Mika's death Beth had realized Judith was not with Tyreese. It had made her feel even worse than she already did.

Tears still fell silently down her face as she stared down at the table, a million things running through her head. Mika, Judith, the fact that Tyreese was now here and Carol had killed Karen. She looked up at Daryl and saw his grave expression. She knew he was thinking the same. Both of them had completely forgotten about the pills at the bottom of Daryl's bag. Tyreese finally broke the silence and said in a broken voice

"Tell me what happened." Beth knew he was talking about after they'd fled the prison. Daryl spoke up, saving her from having to do so.

"We ran for awhile, found a house, stayed there for awhile until it got overrun, then went back on the road until we found this place."

"You, Carol and Beth?" Daryl looked over at Beth for help. What should they tell him? Before she could even think about it, words were tumbling out of her mouth.

"No, just Daryl and I, I guess Rick didn't tell you before the prison was attacked." she saw Daryl's eyes flare, thinking she was going to reveal the truth, "He and Carol went on a run before the attack and they got separated by a herd. We had no idea what happened to her until we got here." Tyreese accepted her explanation and looked back down. She looked back at Daryl who had his eyes narrowed at her. She wasn't sure if he liked what she had said or not.

"The girls and I have been on the road ever since," she heard his voice fill with emotion, "We found shelter off and on but nothing we could permanently stay in, I wanted to keep looking for the group." He broke down completely. "I promised them I would protect them and I failed!" Beth put a hand on his shoulder, knowing there was not much she could do to comfort him, he just had to let it out.

"It's not your fault," she said, "Protection is never guaranteed these days no matter what. Mika's in a better place, with her dad and mom, think about that."

Daryl knew he had to get to Carol before she got back to the apartment. He had to make her aware of Beth's story so she would go along with it. He got up from the table and said

"I'll be right back." He gave Beth a comforting look before leaving. He couldn't believe what was happening. Tyreese was the worst person to show up and the town. Mika's death had devastated him like the others. Seeing the little girl dead gave him proof that he hadn't protected the prison like he should have. He tried to think of Beth's word, that protection wasn't guaranteed. He met Carol and Lizzie at the door leading outside. She looked horrible. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and she looked absolutely defeated. But there was also fear in her eyes.

"You run along upstairs Lizzie, I'll be right there. Beth'll be up there to see you. It's the door at the top at the far end of the hallway." Daryl waited for Lizzie to be gone before he talked. In a raspy voice she said "What am I going to do with him here?"

"Don' worry about it," said Daryl, "We told him a story about how you 'n Rick were separated on that run when he exiled you 'n that we didn't know where you were until we found this place." She nodded and said

"I'll stick to the story." She pulled him into a hug and said "Thanks, you didn't have to cover for me like that."

"We don' need anymore drama." The two went back upstairs to mourn with the others. Daryl's mind was spinning as they went back into the apartment. Beth was holding a crying Lizzie while Tyreese had his down on the table. Beth looked up at him with eyes full of sorrow. All he wanted to do was curl up in a soft bed with her and sleep, sleep until they both felt better or forgot about this whole thing.

Thanks DarylDixon'sLover, VampireTrekkie1701, K. Lynn Perks, hearts-without-chains and daywalker28 for commenting :) So now that Tyreese and Lizzie have arrived things are going to get much more interesting!