Chapter One –

Beth stood up from her cot in her cell and stretched, rising onto her tip-toes while lifting her arms up and twisting slightly, a sigh leaving her mouth when a pop was felt and heard from her back. The cots here in the prison were better than nothing, but there were some mornings when hers felt like it was the floor more than a cot. Last night had been one of those nights. She couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep, and it was late/early into the morning when she finally did.

She had always been an early riser; regardless of whatever time she went to sleep, so when the sun came shining through the windows of the cellblock, she snapped awake with a grumble. She really wished that she could sleep in a little more as she realized she was still feeling a little off, that it wasn't just a groggy feeling, but she knew it would be useless for her to try and go back to sleep now. Plus she knew that Rick was already awake and waiting on her with Judith.

She walked out of her cell and smiled brightly at Rick, happily taking the growing baby, who was making small whimpers and drooling like crazy in his arms, from him so that he could go out to tend to the animals and farm. Daryl walked by shortly later, and she felt her stomach flutter and knot.

"Good morning, Daryl," she greeted with her typical smile in place. The two had become closer as time went on but she felt that she still fell under the "acquaintance" category with him. He didn't talk a whole lot with her and his intense gazes often made her squirm and feel childish. He looked at her and gave a small quirk of his lip as a smile in return. That's a first, she thought to herself. Normally he just grunted at her, poked Judith and moved on. Especially in the mornings. Beth had often wondered if the hunter had been one of those men who needed their coffee to be able to function in the mornings. He surprised her even more when he came to a stop in front of her and watched her lightly bounce Judith.

"Mornin', Beth. How are you and Lil' Ass Kicker today?" He ran a gentle hand over Judith's fine hair and Beth watched as his eyes lit up with the affection he held for the what-she-estimated-to-be-almost-one-year old in her arms. His eyes moved to meet her gaze and she saw the warmth stay in his bright blue eyes. It made her ridiculously happy to know that he felt some amount of affection for her, too.

"I think she might be teething still, she's been a little fussy," she replied as she adjusted Judith on her hip and rolled her shoulder slightly. Daryl's eyebrows furrowed at the movement and the look in his eyes voiced the question she didn't answer.

"I'm…feeling a little rough. I think it's just because I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep last night," she answered and he nodded with a look of understanding on his face. So she wasn't the only one who tossed and turned on the cots at night. She was glad to know that it wasn't just her struggling to get comfortable. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by a gunshot that echoed through the cellblock. Beth saw his relaxed stance change immediately to a tense, battle ready one as his hands moved without thought to lift his crossbow. He stood protectively in front of her, turning briefly to look around the cellblock as she held Judith tighter to her. Daryl turned back to face her and she met his concerned gaze, his jaw set.

"You and Judith get in that cell and don't come out until someone says its clear, got it?" He growled out, concern for the two of them heavy in his voice as he carefully pushed Beth into a random cell and closed the door.

"Okay…be safe," she replied and hugged the baby closer to her. He looked her briefly in the eyes and nodded before running off. She could hear screaming and more gunshots and Judith began to cry, loudly, as echoes of the chaos bounced around the cellblock. It felt like hours, but Beth figured it had only been maybe ten or so minutes, before all the sounds came to end. The abrupt silence unnerving as fear gnawed at Beth's heart and stomach and questions about what had happened rose in her mind. The blonde couldn't help the thoughts about who had been hurt or lost as they pushed their way into her fear addled thoughts.

Beth felt herself growing uncomfortably warm and she quickly realized it wasn't because of her adrenaline. She felt a different kind of panic rise at the thought that she might be feverish while being so close to the infant in her arms. She held her breath and glanced at Judith. If she was feverish, she needed to get Judith away from her as quickly as she could. Several more minutes passed as Beth waited for someone to give an all clear and panic rose higher and higher in her at the thoughts that each passing minute only increased Judith's exposure to her fever while she also didn't know what had happened and who was hurt or dead in the surrounding cellblocks.

Beth's head snapped up at the sound of hurrying footsteps and she looked out the bars of the cell to see Carl and Maggie coming towards her, concern vanishing off their faces when they saw the two were unharmed. She threw the cell door open as quickly as she could and carefully handed Judith to Carl.

"I'm sorry, I don't feel well. I think I'm running a fever," she said as she quickly pulled her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth in hopes of it stopping any more of a risk of giving Judith whatever she had. She hoped that it was only exhaustion that caused it. She had felt like this a couple of times before the group had secured the prison and getting plenty of rest had taken care of it back then, she could only hope that this would be the same situation. Maggie's eyes widened and Beth could see fear building in her eyes.

"Oh, Bethy…no, no, no," Maggie moaned out as her eyes watered slightly. "We need to get you to daddy and Dr. S. Now!" Maggie grabbed Beth's arm tightly and started pulling her out of the cellblock and outside. Beth did her best to keep her nose and mouth covered as she was dragged, but Maggie's nails dug into her arm, causing her pain while confusion at what was going on and why Maggie was so upset flew through her mind. Beth's frustration grew and she finally slammed her feet down and refused to budge, her sister's grip turning painful as she tried to force the younger Greene to move forward.

"Ow, Maggie! Stop, you're hurting me!" Beth cried out, jerking on her arm to try and free it from her sister's vice-like grip. Her eyes squinted in the bright sunlight at her sister. "What the hell you're doing?!"

"What's goin' on here, you two?" Beth spun to face her father as he approached with Daryl directly behind him. Daryl's eyebrows rose with the sound of her cursing and she swore she saw a smile flash on his face before it was replaced with the grim, serious look he got after a fight with walkers.

"Beth's running a fever, daddy. I think she might have caught the flu bug that killed Patrick," Maggie explained. Beth froze and looked at the three of them as her dad's face dropped into one of concern. Her eyes moved to Daryl's and she saw that same concern and something else in his eyes.

"Patrick's dead?" Her face held her confusion and concern that only increased as she received a nod in answer from Maggie, who took a couple of steps back from her sister. "A flu bug killed him?" her voice rose slightly as she tried to understand what had happened. "Is that why there were screams? Did he turn? How many died?" Her questions went unanswered while the three warriors glanced at her and each other.

"Fuck," Daryl finally grumbled, earning a brief look of disapproval from Hershel. "What 'bout Lil Ass kicker?" He asked as he met Beth's eyes. Beth's heart sank.

"I passed her to Carl as soon as I could…Oh god, what if I gave it to her?" Beth began to panic and tears welled in her eyes at the thought of being the one to infect, and possibly kill, the child. Beth felt the panic tighten her chest and she found breathing to become more difficult around the sobs that began to shake her shoulders and escape from her mouth. She soon found herself in a sudden coughing fit and she struggled to keep her shirt up on her nose and mouth. Strong hands wrapped themselves hesitantly around her to help keep her upright as she violently hacked, one hand's thumb gently rubbing soothing circles on her skin.

"I'll take ya on down to Cellblock A, okay, Beth?" Daryl's gravelly voice rumbled beside her. She nodded and let him guide her into the building and into a cell that was closest to the entrance to the cellblock.

"Death row…that's fitting…" Beth coughed out into her shirt, making Daryl tense beside her. He roughly turned her body to face him and she felt the air crackle. She looked up at his face and once again had that feeling that she was a child under his gaze when she noticed that his face had turned stormy, but his eyes showed something else entirely. She couldn't place what she was seeing in his eyes but his anger made her flinch slightly.

"Don't talk like that, girl!" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a minute and he shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Yer gonna be fine. I'm gonna talk with yer dad and see about finding some medicine for ya…"

" 'M sorry," she mumbled so softly she worried that he couldn't hear her through the fabric on her face. She placed her hand gently on his arm and was surprised when he didn't tense or jerk away from her like he normally did. In fact, it almost felt like he had leaned into her hand for a split second before shifting slightly away from her.

" 'S fine...look, jus' get some rest, alrigh'? You'll feel better in no time," he mumbled out before walking away, the cellblock door closing loudly behind him. Beth nodded to herself, sniffling slightly to calm herself down. She looked around the cell and stared at the bed for a moment before realizing she couldn't sleep now. Her thoughts were whirling with the fact that this flu bug that she might have, had killed Patrick and, from what she had gathered by her father's silence, had made him turn.

Beth turned and walked out of her cell and looked around the cellblock. She glanced through the visiting room that was next to her cell and out the glass where she saw Daryl pacing and muttering to himself. She walked closer to the glass and sighed, catching Daryl's attention. He froze and stared at her for a moment before turning, his body language tense and angry, to walk off.

"You're right," she called out to him, making him freeze and turn back to her, his facial expression changing to one of confusion. "I'm gonna be fine, so is Lil' Ass Kicker, so you stop worrying yourself to death over there and go do what you need to do." She smiled brightly at him and he gave a soft grin.

"Yer daddy ain't gonna like you talkin' like that. He'll tell me I been a bad influence on ya," he replied, his grin turning into a smirk. Beth shrugged and smiled at his banter. "Now I mean it, get some rest," he lifted a threatening finger at the blonde and she nodded,

"Yes sir, Dr. Dixon," Beth replied, earning a snort from the hunter on the other side of the glass. She placed her hand briefly on the glass before turning to continue her exploration of the cellblock.

"That ain't restin', girl!" She heard echo from the visitor's room, making her laugh before coughing violently into her shirt. She took a deep breath and walked back towards her cell and the visiting room. She glimpsed across from her cell and saw another cell, but it had a window much like the visiting room's window. She contemplated moving to that room so that it would be easier for her daddy, Maggie, and Daryl (if he wanted to) to check in on her but felt her exhaustion and sickly feelings catch up to her. She lay down on the cot in her cell and decided she would move cells after a nap.