As usual I do not on The Walking Dead or any of its characters and the episode Sunday night left me crying like a baby D':

Chapter 3: Ambush

It wasn't often Beth was able to just stop and remember her life before apocalypse. During the days she tried to keep busy as much as she could so no bad memories would plague her mind but in the calm morning hours she found herself awake earlier than usual. With Judith still asleep peacefully beside her Beth started thinking back to when life seemed so much easier. She went to the movies, spent what seemed like hours at the mall, and she never thought she would say it but she actually missed going to school. She loved summers on the farm, even though it was hard work sometimes, she enjoyed it nonetheless. During those times her family was all together and happy. She'd give anything just to have one of those days back.

After the group ate breakfast Rick announced he, Michonne, and Glenn were going on a run. As they were getting their car ready Carl ran towards his dad. "Hey dad, can I go this time?"

Rick glanced at the others before back to his son. He had been promising Carl that he could go on a run with them at some point but he was still apprehensive about it. If anything happened while he was gone he knew Carl was a good enough shot to help the others. "Maybe next time, I want you to stay with your sister and Beth. Make sure nothing happens to them, ok?"

Reluctantly Carl agreed. Turning around he headed back to the cellblock. From the door he watched the car drive away, Daryl and Maggie opened the gates for them and then they were gone. Inside he saw everyone doing their normal routine. Hershel sat in his usual spot reading his bible, Carol was eating her breakfast with Merle sitting at a table away from everyone else, and then he found Beth singing to Judith softly in her cell. "Hey Beth," He sighed, sitting on the cold floor in front of them.

"Oh hey Carl," She smiled, putting Judith's bottle aside. "Your dad and everyone leave?"

"Yeah, they just left." She could tell by the look on this face he was troubled.

"He'll come back, Carl, he always does."

Carl shrugged. "I just wish he would stop treating me like I'm just a kid. I mean, he lets me carry a gun why can't I go on runs with them?"

"You will, maybe he just thinks you're needed here. Trust me I know how you feel. My daddy still sees me as his little girl with pigtails beggin' him for a pony." She tried to make a joke but when he didn't laugh she continued. "My point is, it may take some time but he won't see you as just a kid forever. We all have to grow up fast in this world."

Carl nodded his head and then a smile broke out on his face. "You had pigtails?"

"Hey, I was six!" She laughed.

In town Rick and Michonne were in an old supermarket gathering supplies while Glenn stood on watch. Scanning a few aisles of the store he spotted the baby formula along with teething rings, diapers, and pacifiers. Grabbing them he stuffed everything in one of his bags while Michonne looked for food. "There's not much left," She whispered picking up what she could.

"We're gonna have to find a new town. This one's been picked through." He told her. "If you see a map or anything grab it."

Looking at the shelves she didn't find anything they could use but a book at the bottom caught her eye. It was an Atlas, it looked like someone forgot it with its torn pages and wrinkles but it would work. Holding it up she showed it to Rick. "Perfect." He said heading to another aisle.

Tapping his finger against his gun Glenn kept his eyes on the look out. Scanning up and down the road he thought about Woodbury. The Governor was still alive and who knows what he would do for revenge. He thought about the prison and everyone there. Daryl and his brother were back giving him some kind of reassurance. Merle may be an asshole sometimes but Glenn had to admit he could take care of himself and the others if anything happened. He just had a nagging feeling in his gut that something bad was going to happen. Those kind of feelings he just couldn't shake off. He just hoped he would be there for Maggie when it does.

Hearing the door of the store open he saw Rick and Michonne coming towards him. "What did you find?"

"More formula and some batteries but that's all. We're gonna have to find somewhere else to go for supplies." Rick explained.

Michonne put the Atlas on the hood of the SUV. "There's a town a few miles away but we've never been there before. We could be heading right into a herd of walkers."

"We don't have enough ammo for a few walkers let alone a whole herd of them." Glenn pointed out.

Rick sighed. "Ok we'll head back to the prison and talk to everyone, see what they have to say. Either way we have to find another town otherwise we'll starve."

It was after lunchtime when Beth asked Carl if he wanted to take a walk around the yard. Judith was down for her nap and Hershel was inside if she needed anything. Outside Maggie stood at the watch tower eagerly waiting for Glenn to return. Beth knew how she felt, even though he had been on so many runs she felt anxious whenever Rick was gone. 'There you go again,' She thought. 'Let it go, Beth. Its never going to happen.'

"Dad says we're gonna start a garden," She heard Carl say breaking her away from her thoughts. Being around him made her feel guilty. Here she was fantasizing about his dad who was twice her age while trying to be Carl's friend.

"Really? I'm sure my dad would love that." She sighed, her hand resting on her gun out of habit. "He hates feeling like a burden ever since he lost his leg."

"Did you have a big garden back on the farm?"

"Yeah, my mom kept it up most of the time but daddy always helped whenever she asked him to. She said the plants grew better when they did it together."

Carl thought back to the barn, when they finally found Sophia. He remembered how awful he felt that day, that day he lost his best friend. They all lost someone precious that day. Things just seemed to spiral out of control after that. Luckily everything was looking up for them.

They made a complete lap around the prison, only seeing a few walkers at the fence but still no sign of Rick and the others. Walking along one of the cell blocks Carl asked. "Do you remember what life was like before all this? I can a little bit but...not much."

Beth frowned, she didn't to upset him. She had experienced a lot more in her life than Carl was able to at his age. "Honestly, my life was pretty boring. I worked on the farm mostly." She lied. "Maggie was the one that was able to move away. She always had a story to tell when she came home for the weekends. Most of them she probably couldn't tell me at that age."

He was about to say something else when they heard the loud sounds of a truck. "Who's that?" He asked pointing off in the distance.

Beth tried to focus on the oncoming car but it was moving so fast she didn't have time to process what was going on. When she heard the first shot her first instinct was move in front of Carl. Pulling him against her she rested her hands on his shoulders. She moved their bodies around to press them against the wall. Her breath caught in her throat as they hit the brick. Carefully they turned around to press their backs on the brick. Bullets hit the wall keeping them pinned down, her right arm was in front of him preventing him from stepping forward. Carl grabbed his gun but it was impossible for them to tell where the assailants were coming from. "Beth! Carl!" They heard Maggie scream over the gunshots.

"We have to get inside." Beth stammered.

Carl looked everywhere but there was no way they could make it into the cellblock without getting hit. When he looked back at Beth he saw her left arm was covered in red. "Beth, you're bleeding!" He exclaimed.

Looking down she saw a deep gash in her upper arm. A bullet had scratched her skin when they were trying to get them both out of harm's way. "I'm fine," She muttered but the sight of her own blood was making her queasy.

The bullets kept coming but then they heard a loud crash coming from the front gates. "That has to be my dad." Carl yelled.

Beth wished she could see but she was terrified to move. One wrong move and she could die or Carl could get hurt. Squeezing her eyes shut she turned to look at Carl then everything went silent. The bullets stopped but she still refused to move from her spot. She could feel the blood dripping from her fingertips, with the Georgia heat she was already starting to feel lightheaded. "Walkers!" They heard Maggie warn.

Pushing Beth's hand away from him Carl ran towards the front of the prison, his pistol in hand. Everything seemed to slow down for Beth. Her vision was going in and out. She was faintly aware of a door opening and shouts coming from what sounded like Daryl and Merle. Trying her best to stay conscious she pressed her hand against her wound trying to stop the bleeding but she could feel her back sliding against the wall. Then she found herself sitting on the ground. "They're back!" Carl yelled, she hoped he meant Rick and not whoever was firing at them.

In the car Michonne and Glenn were discussing what their best options were when it came to finding a new town when Rick noticed the gates of the prison had been busted open. "What the hell...?" He mumbled leaning forward.

"Look out!" Glenn exclaimed seeing a walker right in front of them.

Stepping on the gas Rick hit it head on making blood splatter on the windshield. Grabbing his gun they stepped out of the car firing at every walker they saw. From up ahead he saw Daryl and Maggie. "What the hell happened?!"

"The Governor ambushed us!" Maggie shouted running towards them. "Beth and Carl were walking around the yard when it happened."

"Carl? Where is he?" Rick was about to go into panic but then he saw his son off in the distance shooting at the zombies.

Taking off into a sprint he shot at anything that got in his path. When he reached Carl he was looking him over for any wounds while keeping an eye out for walkers. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Carl answered not looking at his father.

Soon the walkers were taken care of but Rick was still fuming. He should have been there when it started. Putting his gun back into his holster he saw Maggie running towards them. "Carl, where's Beth?" She asked.

Carl's eyes went wide as he took off. "Carl!" Rick called following him.

He stopped suddenly seeing Beth slumped against a brick wall. She had been hit, her left arm was covered in blood while her right hand rested on her lap also red. "Oh my God, Beth." Maggie gasped pressing her fingers to her sister's wrist. "She has a pulse but its faint."

"We have to get her inside." Rick stated bending down to scoop her into his arms. "Go find Hershel." He told his son as they hurried into the cell block. "Stay with me, Beth, come on. You have to stay with me." He kept whispering in her ear hoping on some level she could hear him.

So I hope none of this was too OOC for you. And I know we don't know much about Beth's life before the apocalypse but I just decided to write her as a typical teenage girl. Hope you like it :)