I started another story...Yay!

Chapter One:

Beth Greene was standing in line to receive her diploma; she knew her name would soon be called.

She had done the impossible, even by her standards. She had worked tirelessly, graduating high school at seventeen, going to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, with a focus on biology. Her goal was entrance into the Emory University School of Medicine. They only required 90 hours of college credit with a 3.5 GPA for admission, and Beth worked tirelessly to achieve it. At just nineteen, Beth was accepted to Emory with 96 hours of college credit, and a 4.0 GPA.

That is where the real work began. She didn't know what she wanted to focus on, she just knew that she wanted to be a doctor. She wanted to help people, but she also knew that, because she was so shy, she didn't exactly want to "work" with people. That's when her sister, Maggie, suggested that she consider becoming a forensic pathologist.

"Working with dead people?" Beth had asked upon Maggie's suggestion.

"Yeah, murder victims and stuff. Great pay, good hours. You'd like it." Maggie told her. Once Beth did her research, she decided that was the path that she'd take. After an internship at the FBI crime lab, she decided that she definitely wanted to do it. Beth had wanted to help solve crimes anyway, before becoming a doctor. It was crime that made Rick Grimes, a dear family friend, a widower. Maggie, who was herself a lawyer working for the Fulton County District Attorney's Office in Atlanta, knew about crime and evidence all too well, and that is when Beth decided to solve crimes by evidence.

So, after four years of hard work and determination, she was set to do her residency with the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, under doctors Edwin Jenner, Carol Peletier, and Eugene Porter. She was so excited she could hardly contain herself, and then, she heard her name.

"Elizabeth Opal Greene!"The Dean announced. Beth walked forward, receiving her diploma, and saw her screaming family in the crowd. Her father, Hershel, who was a veterinarian, had never looked prouder. All three of his children had excelled; Shawn owned his own surveying company, Maggie was a lawyer, and now, Beth was a doctor. After graduation, the family celebrated with a lunch in Atlanta. Beth was joined by her parents, Hershel and Annette, by Shawn and his fiancee, Sadie, and by Maggie and her new husband, Glenn. Also in attendance were longtime Greene family friends, Otis and Patricia, and Rick, Carl, and Judith Grimes.

"I still can't believe you graduated, Bethy!" Hershel exclaimed, taking a bite of chicken parmesan. Beth had picked an Italian restaurant, and was digging into her ravioli.

"I can't either, Daddy. And I start work tomorrow!" Beth said happily, sipping her sweet tea.

"Yeah, an' I'll be able to keep an eye on you!" Rick teased. After solving a huge case of a missing child a year ago, Rick got an offer from Atlanta PD. He was now a detective, and he loved every minute of it.

"Of course. I can't ever seem to get away." Beth giggled. Rick was like an older brother to her, he'd been around often because of his late wife, who was a niece to Hershel and Annette, She lived with the Greenes until she married Rick, and her death had shattered them all.

"Well, just remember, Dr. Jenner is okay, Dr. Peletier is a genius, but Dr. Porter is a creeper. He's gonna hit on you, a lot. Just, be prepared." Rick said.

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Beth replied, nodding. Truthfully, she wasn't sure what to expect.

"Not to mention, some of the police officers you work with are kinda...Frustrating sometimes." Rick added.

"Oh? How?" Beth asked.

"Well, we got one...Her name is Michonne Benjamin. She's Special Victims...But geez, that woman has a thousand yard stare if I ever saw one. She can find anyone, and if she can't...She'll scare you into confessing. Then, there's one, who isn't technically Atlanta PD, but he's still crazy. His name is Morgan Jones, and he's a US Marshal. He's balls to the wall, all the time. There's a few rookies that are over-enthusiastic, like Tara Chambler. She's new, but completely harmless. 'Course, we got tons of rookies, Glenn was one once." Rick joked. Glenn, Maggie's husband, was a patrol cop, and though he was often goofy, once you made him angry, it was over.

"And, then there's the homicide cop everyone hates to work with." Rick joked. Glenn laughed, apparently knowing who it was.

"And who would that be?" Beth asked.

"Daryl Dixon. He's been a detective 'bout four years now. The pathologists hate him, the rookies hate him, hell, I reckon the district attorneys do, too. He's not the easiest man to get along with. But, his record for solving murders is the best one in the entire department. FBI's wanted 'im for two years an' he keeps sayin' no." Rick said. Beth chewed on the last ravioli on the plate, contemplating Rick's words.

"Nervous yet?" Glenn joked. Beth forced a smile. In truth, she was terrified. She had no idea what to expect, and she had no idea what she was getting herself into.

However, she'd figure it all out on Monday, when she began her residency with the Medical Examiner's office.

Monday morning arrived quicker than Beth thought it would. She was up before the sun; getting her things ready, making a pot of extra strong coffee, and hoping that her first day would be uneventful. She was so nervous that she was trembling, nearly dropping her cup of coffee as she read the newspaper.

Why am I nervous? That's right. I'm awkward. Beth thought. In truth, she'd spent more time in her books than she ever did with friends, that's why she didn't have very many. She needed to be there before 8:00, which meant that she needed to leave by 6:30. Her small apartment in Atlanta didn't mean that she was immune to traffic. She went over various scenarios for the day in her head, nervously contemplating each one until she almost made herself sick. When she arrived, she was met by a middle-aged woman with short, gray hair, who was wearing black scrubs with a turquoise trim.

"Hi! You must be our new resident, Dr. Elizabeth Greene." The woman greeted. Beth nodded, smiling weakly.

"My name is Dr. Carol Peletier. I'm one of the examiner's here. There are a few residents joining us, but we had a mix up and they won't be here until later in the afternoon. Come on in, we'll get you set up and you can meet everyone." Dr. Peletier offered. Beth followed her into the morgue, where she would be spending most of her time. The first person she met was a man with blonde hair, who was rather tall, and had a friendly smile.

"This gentleman here is Dr. Edwin Jenner, PhD. He's a pathologist, but he's also got a PhD in epidemiology. He used to work for the CDC, but he prefers the cold ones to the warm ones. Sorry, morgue humor." Carol joked. Beth giggled, still incredibly nervous.

"You must be the new resident. We heard a lot about you." Dr. Jenner greeted.

"Good things, I hope." Beth said.

"Well, you're certainly the youngest one we've seen here, 'sides Eugene." Dr. Jenner said.

Beth nodded, and Carol took her over to a heavier set man with a dark haired mullet, who was clearly entranced in his notes.

"This weirdo here is Dr. Eugene Porter. He's from Texas originally, but he moved to Atlanta a year ago." Carol explained.

"The crime cases in Houston weren't near as interesting as they are in the New York of the South. Besides, I knew with my intelligence that I could easily make my way to the top here. You must be the new intern. Call me Eugene, especially because you're hot." Dr. Porter said. Beth was taken aback until Dr. Peletier pulled her to the side.

"He's a little weird, but you'll get used to it." Dr. Peletier said. Then, Beth was introduced to the lab assistants. There was Bob Stookey, who did most of what they called the "dirty work", Abraham Ford, who was close friends with Eugene, Amy Harrison, a bright, young girl who's sister was a lawyer, and Karen, a very nice dark haired woman. The department seemed small, but Beth was the one of only five medical school graduates who were actually concentrating on forensic pathology. It seemed most liked their patients alive.

The first case that Beth was studying was, indeed, everything she'd feared. She'd seen cadavers, yes, but she'd never been up close to an actual dead person before they were embalmed. It also didn't help that Eugene was overseeing the autopsy.

"Oh boy, looks like this one's been dead a while." Eugene said. Beth nearly gagged; the sight was repulsive.

"So tell me, Dr. Greene, what seems to be an obvious problem with this unfortunate man, here?" Dr. Porter asked.

"He's...Been dead a while." Beth said, noting the badly bloated and discolored body. She had to swallow the bile rising in her throat as Dr. Porter cut the man's chest open.

"Oh boy! That is not a pleasant smell." Dr. Porter exclaimed, opening the man up. It appeared as if the man had been dead for several days.

"He's been dead by my guess, four days, judging by the decomposition of the organs." Beth said.

"That's exactly right, Dr. Greene. Tell me, what else do you notice?" Dr. Porter said, taking out the man's organs.

"His heart is enlarged, and his kidneys looked diseased...But his liver is three times the size of normal, and it looks like there's a buildup of bilirubin, which would explain the jaundiced appearance of said man. My guess would be cirrhosis." Beth explained.

"Dr. Greene, I have to say, in all my time as a medical examiner, I'm actually impressed. This man was a known alcoholic, to top it off he had hepatitis. His liver definitely killed him. Good work." Dr. Porter said, clearly pleased. The next autopsy, however, wasn't as easy to look at.

"So, our victim here is a 23-year-old female, compass tattoo on her leg. It appears that she was attacked, but we don't know the cause of death." Dr. Peletier explained. Beth almost couldn't look at the girl, who was nearly her age. When they cut open her chest, Beth nearly vomited.

"Beth, you know you're going to have to deal with this." Carol said.

"I know...But she's my age." Beth said. The young woman had obviously met a very violent end; and it was hard to imagine her last moments.

"Well, Beth, what do you see?" Carol said. Beth noticed the girl's ribs were broken, and so was her hip. She noticed several contusions on the skin; including the poor girl's face.

"Obviously, someone beat her." Beth said. When they examined her skull, Beth almost lost it.

"Blunt force trauma. Someone beat her head in, or—beat her over the head." Beth said, dry heaving.

"Very good, Dr. Greene. Now we just need to get you a stronger stomach." Carol said, "It doesn't get easier, but you are able to deal with it."

"I just...Don't understand how someone would want to intentionally hurt a person." Beth told her. Carol nodded.

"Unfortunately, you see it all the time. It's rough, but you do." Carol replied.

Just as they were wrapping up things at the end of the day, the phone rang. Dr. Peletier took the call, and she looked frustrated.

"Seriously? Who's at the scene now?" She asked. Beth furrowed her brows. Do we have to see another body today? She asked herself.

"Alright. I'm gonna gather a couple of my residents and take them with me. We'll be there in thirty." Carol said, hanging up the phone.

"Jenner! Detective Grimes just called, seems we have a drowning out by Lake Lanier. I'm taking Greene and Espinosa with me. Wanna come?" Carol asked. Jenner nodded, and followed them out to the Medical Examiner van.

"This is the fun part: pickin' up the dead ones." Jenner joked. Beth didn't find it particularly funny; though she knew she'd have to find a sense of humor eventually.

"Did you call Mamet?" Jenner asked Carol. Beth and one of the residents, Dr. Rosita Espinosa, looked at each other.

"It's his last day of vacation, I figured we'd save the deado until he got back." Carol replied.

"Who is Mamet?" Beth asked timidly.

"Oh, Dr. Milton Mamet. He's another pathologist, works mostly with serology and toxicology. Brilliant, but shy." Carol explained.

"Anyway, prepare yourselves, ladies. Drownings are not pleasant." Jenner told them. The girls nodded, getting out of the van upon arrival. Carol and Jenner arrived first, walking up to Rick and a surly looking man who was not dressed like a typical detective.

"I'm tellin' y'all, that man didn't just "drown", he was killed. His body was dumped." The surly man said.

"We're not ruling it out yet, Dixon. We just...Deal with deaths like this." Rick said.

"When are we pulling the dead guy out?" Jenner asked, "Or are we just gonna water log him?"

"Can you be a little more sensitive? It's a young guy, it was probably an accident." Carol snapped.

"Y'all ain't listenin' to a word I'm sayin'. Someone killed him, and dumped 'im up in that lake." The detective argued.

Once the victim's body was extracted, Beth could see the detective was right. He had an obvious stab wound to the back.

"I think your theory's right, Pookie." Carol said to the man. He grunted.

"Who's the newbies you got taggin' along? They your lackeys or somethin'?" The man asked.

"These are two of our pathology residents. This is Dr. Rosita Espinosa, who comes from Corpus Christi, and Dr. Beth Greene, from here in Atlanta." Carol said.

"Ladies, this is detective Daryl Dixon, Atlanta PD." Carol introduced.

"What happened? Y'all run outta med students so ya just go pickin' up college freshmen?" Daryl asked. Rosita rolled her eyes, obviously having none of his business. She'd followed her (much older) boyfriend, Abraham Ford, out to Atlanta, as Beth had learned earlier, and she didn't much care for other men.

"You look awful familiar." Daryl said, pointing to Beth.

"Oh, Rick Grimes is my cousin. And Glenn Rhee, a patrol cop, is my brother-in-law." Beth explained.

"I knew it! Rick's got a picture of the family on 'is desk. Thought you was like twelve or somethin'." Daryl replied. Beth bit her lip.

"Twenty three, actually." Beth whispered.

"Holy shit, you're a baby." Daryl exclaimed.

"Alright, enough Daryl. Quit teasing my residents." Carol said sternly, as she and Jenner rolled the body up to the van, loading it inside. Once they were finally on their way back to the morgue, Beth asked the question that had been plaguing her.

"Pookie?!"

Carol laughed, nodding. "Yep, he and I go way back. He used to be my neighbor, before the divorce. Still babysits my daughters sometimes, too. But, I'm also dating his brother, so I see him a lot."

"His brother? Daryl has a brother?" Beth asked.

"Yep, Merle. We've been seeing each other about a year now. He's a contractor; he builds houses." Carol explained, "He's great with my girls."

"You've got children?" Rosita asked, looking at Beth.

"Yep. 3 girls. Sophia is twelve, Lizzie is eleven, and Mika is nine." Carol replied.

"That's really close together." Beth said.

"I planned it that way. Wanted them growing up close." Carol explained.

"Oh." Beth said. The drive was quiet the rest of the way to the morgue, and Beth was quiet as she drove home. She had no idea how to process the day's events. She'd never seen death that close before, and truthfully, it frightened her. However, she did like dealing with dead people, because she couldn't kill them accidentally. She didn't have to have a bed side manner, because they wouldn't care anyway. In truth, the pros outweighed the cons. She got to work with Rick often, and she really enjoyed Carol and Jenner's company. Eugene was really creepy, but she could deal with him. The lab assistants were nice (except for Abraham, but that was because he was just abrasive) and Beth was sure she'd make friends.

Overall, things were looking up. The residency was supposed to last a year, and Beth figured that she could swing that. A year was nothing, right? It was sure to fly by.

At least, that's what Beth kept telling herself the next morning.

"Alright, our victim is Peter Garrison. He's 25, Army sergeant, no history of drug use, alcoholism, or crime. Dr. Mamet is going to run a toxicology report on him." Carol explained. The other residents stood around, and watched as Carol cut him open, Beth still not feeling well.

"That wound in his back, near his spinal column. That missed his kidney, but it looks fairly superficial." A resident named Alex, said.

"It was to immobilize him." Beth said, not thinking, "Look at the faint bruising around his neck. His airway is crushed. He died from asphyxiation. He was smothered."

Carol looked up from looking at the man's insides.

"What'd you say, Dr. Greene?" Carol asked. Beth took a nervous swallow.

"Um, I said, he was smothered or strangled by something. Look at his neck." Beth said, pointing to the bruises. They were faint, but there.

"You're right, Dr. Greene. I didn't notice them, they were so faint. So we know he was strangled, but, now, we need to get DNA. What's the next step?" Carol asked.

"DNA. Check his hands, fingernails, hair, anything. If there was a struggle—and it looks like there was—then he should have his killers DNA on him." Rosita said.

"Yes. We also know he was chained at the bottom of the lake, so obviously, whoever killed him didn't want anyone to find him." Beth added.

"You're right as rain, ladies. Emory sent us the brightest, didn't they?" Carol joked.

"Thanks, Dr. P." Beth said, blushing. Before they could finish the autopsy, Beth could hear commotion on the floor above. Puzzled, Carol looked up to see the office assistant, Hannah, scrambling to make it to the morgue.

"Um, Dr. P, Dr. Jenner, Dixon and Grimes are here, about the dead one you got from the lake yesterday." Hannah said nervously.

"Alright, send 'em down." Carol sighed. Beth bit her lip as Rick and detective Dixon tromped down the stairs, Dixon eager for answers.

"Any news on our dead guy?" Rick asked.

"Well, the knife wound wasn't what killed him. Dr. Greene, why don't you explain this one." Carol said, motioning for Beth to step forward. Beth looked at her confused, not sure what she should say.

"Come on with it, ain't got all day." Daryl angrily huffed. Beth swallowed, and began.

"Um, well, the knife wound wasn't to kill him, it was to keep 'im from runnin' away, it severed two of his lower vertebrae, and that caused the nerves around his spinal column to sever. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Whoever stabbed him wasn't little, they stabbed him with enough force to do that. Then, they strangled him." Beth explained.

"So that means they wanted 'im dead." Daryl said.

"Guess so." Carol said.

"Any DNA results, you send 'em to us. We need anything we can get." Rick said.

"Mamet is working on that." Dr. Jenner said, greeting the police officers.

"Aw, Mamet, really?" Daryl asked.

"Yes, Daryl. He's running all the DNA evidence and toxicology reports." Carol replied.

"Alright. But he better not lose anythin' this time. He's already on thin ice." Daryl said.

Beth was lost in her thoughts, looking at the dead guy on the table. He was cute. Beth thought, all the cute ones get killed.

Wait. Was she really sad because she couldn't date a dead guy? Beth internally berated herself, until someone's voice startled her.

"We're gonna need to know everything about this man health wise. You up for that?" Jenner asked. Beth nodded, trying to suppress a gag at the fact that she would be primarily examining the body.

"Anything looks out of the ordinary, let us know. Keep us posted, doc." Daryl said to Carol. She nodded, and the two officers left. The autopsy continued until Beth left, around 7:30 PM. On her way home, she decided to text Rick and see if he'd like to get some takeout with her, Maggie, and Glenn. He replied that yes, he would. The kids were staying with his girlfriend until later, and he would love to join her. He said he would be bringing his partner, and that they'd be at her apartment shortly.

When everyone arrived, Beth had a full house. They all sat around the table, eating Thai takeout, swapping stories from their day. Currently, everyone was engrossed in a story that Glenn was telling about a domestic disturbance.

"So, no joke, this guy is like six-foot-two, 210 pounds, and he is terrified of his tiny little girlfriend. She was maybe—maybe—five-foot-one, but she was standing there, kitchen knife in hand, trying to stab him!" Glenn exclaimed.

"What'd you do 'bout it?" Rick asked, taking a mouth full of food in.

"Well, I cuffed 'em both, and THEN, I took her to jail. He was already packing his stuff. I couldn't believe how crazy this chick was. Thanks, Mags, for not being insane." Glenn said.

"No problem. We had a case today, a man shot his wife for trying to shave his beard." Maggie said, drinking a beer. Beth giggled.

"What about you, Beth? What about your day?" Rick asked.

"Y'know, cold bodies. Nothing too terrible." Beth said.

"You like openin' up the dead people?" Daryl asked. Beth looked up.

"Not really, but they don't scare me near as bad as the live ones." Beth replied.

"That's you, Bethy, avoidin' people." Maggie teased, "But, it's 'bout time for us to hit the dusty trail. We'll catch ya later."

"Alright, see ya Mags." Beth said, hugging her sister and brother-in-law goodbye. Once they left, it was only Beth, Daryl, and Rick.

"Well, I promised my girlfriend and her roommate I'd be back by 9. Best get goin' too." Rick said.

"Yep. We want those DNA results too, doc." Daryl reminded her.

"We don't talk about work after work!" Beth teased.

"Whatever. Just wanna find out who killed the guy." Daryl reminded. The men left, and Beth was again alone in her apartment. Maybe I should get a cat. Beth thought, getting ready for bed.

Beth laid in bed, quietly listening to the sounds of the city. She didn't like being alone, but that wasn't something she could easily change. Tomorrow, it was back to the morgue, back to the "deados", and back to solving crime.

And, unfortunately, she would still be alone.