Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from The Walking Dead.

This is my first attempt at writing a Walking Dead fanfiction. I hope I do you all justice. The characters are not mine, I'm just playing with them. Let me know what you think in a comment.

Thanks y'all,

~C

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They ran. That was all they could do. They ran from the undead. They ran from the evil that had yet to be picked off from the disease. They ran from place to place. Her entire existence now was running. His entire existence was to keep her safe, to keep his girls safe. They had first met on her father's small farm, hidden from the world. From there they ran and found the group again. Then came the prison, and with the prison, they saw everyone they cared about slaughtered. They weren't sure if anyone got away, but they knew many had died.

He saw his best friend murdered in front of his very eyes by a man called 'The Governor'. He saw the one woman, kind enough to treat him like a son eaten alive. He saw everyone, one by one, slaughtered as this town moved in and claimed the one place they had felt safe. Anyone who still lived was in hiding, split apart from everyone else, unable to be found. The group that had welcomed him, needed him, had been ripped apart at the seams. With no leader, he did all he could. He found her in all the chaos and she had the baby. He did all he could. He grabbed them, got in the nearest vehicle, and ran. The only person who noticed them escape was her father. He had smiled, relieved she had someone to take care of her. He died shortly after.

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In the beginning, there was nothing but sadness.

"Take me back." Beth whispered.

"I can't do that and you know it." He replied, focusing on the road ahead.

"We don't have anything Daryl! Everything I had, it-it's gone now!" she said sobbing.

"I'm sorry. I promised your dad I'd take care of you. Ain't nothing going to happen to you or Judith. You understand me?" he said, gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter.

"My family is gone! I don't want your protection. I want my Daddy. Everyone I love is go-."

"I lost everyone I loved, too!" Daryl yelled, taking her by surprise.

"Daryl, I'm."

"No, you listen here. I lost my brothers. Rick and Merle, they were all I had. Rick wanted me around, sometimes Merle did too. Carol was the closest thing I had to a mom. She was my biggest defender. You ain't the only damn one who lost people." He said glaring at her.

She had no reply. She knew he was right. She was making this all about her instead of working with him and helping him. With the baby asleep in one arm, she reached over and grabbed his hand, ashamed at the way she was acting. Squeezing softly, she could feel him slowly relax.

"I'm sorry. Please look at me." She whispered.

Slowly he looked up at her. He had always kept everything bottled up. He never lashed out on anyone, much less a lady. As usual he was overcome with guilt. A guilt that he shouldn't have bared on his own. A guilt that had been instilled in him at a young age. The guilt that he was to blame, that everything was his fault. The same old thought raced through his mind. Maybe, if he had done something different, they wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe everyone was better off without him there to screw things up.

"We just need to regroup. We can figure this out. Together. We have to, we both have people depending on us now." She said looking down at Judith.

The baby looked like Lori. There wasn't much of a resemblance to Rick. Still the man had loved her like his own until the day he died. She was so small, so fragile. Beth was her prime caregiver, since her mother died in childbirth. Judith would now grow up without her birth parents, but Beth would make sure that she was loved and cared for. She had to. She realized that she couldn't be the emotional little girl everyone perceived her to be. She had to be strong, like her Daddy had been for her.

"We are all she has left. I'm not letting anyone or anything hurt you Beth. You and Judith are all I got now. Like it or not, we're a family now. I'll make sure we find somewhere to make us a home."

"I trust you, Daryl. With my life."

That was all he needed to hear. He knew what he had to do. He had to give Beth and Judith a life. As much of a life as he knew how.

"So do you have any idea where we are going? I don't think we have enough gas to just drive around without having a clue."

"I know where I'm gonna take you. You just relax. I saw you grab a bag, what all was in it?" he asked.

"Call me cautious, but I got Rick and everyone to agree to keep a bug out bag of sorts with Jude at all times. Like, no matter what, that way baby girl would always be nourished and protected." She said embarrassed.

"Still don't tell me what's in the thing." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, um, well. Ugh, it has a couple cans of beans, a can of formula, powdered milk. Different veggies from the garden, clothes for Jude, and a couple different canned meats."

"That should be good enough until we get where we are goin'. Your dad give you any seeds or anything? We can start a garden."

"I don't know, honestly. They said they filled the bag up. All I know is it's heavy as all get out." She huffed.

"Get some sleep. If I'm right, we'll be there in about 6 hours. I'll wake you up if we need to switch vehicles."

"Okay. Be careful. If we have to stop so you can rest, let me know. It's fine." She said cuddling Judith closer to her.

"I don't want to stop. It ain't safe." He mumbled.

"Alright. Good night Daryl."

"Night Beth."

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When Beth woke up, it was daylight outside. She groggily reached around. Suddenly she began to panic when she couldn't find Daryl or Judith. Jumping out of the car, she started shouting for him.

"Daryl?! Daryl, where are you?"

With no response, she fell to her knees, sobbing.

"Oh God. Oh God." She cried.

"Will you hush up over there? You're gonna attract something we don't wanna find." Daryl said as he walked over to where she was.

Beth jumped up, and ran full sprint towards him. Grabbing Judith from him she slapped him on the chest.

"Don't you ever scare me like that Daryl Dixon!" she cried.

"Oh c'mon! I was just taking Judith to the lake. Calm down. Geeze. I can't be the only one zen around here" he huffed.

"You could've woken me up, or let me know what was going on. I thought I'd lost you both and I thought I was alone." She cried hugging Judith closer.

"It's alright. Just keep your voice down." He said awkwardly as he kicked his foot in the dirt.

"Where exactly is here?"

"Welcome home. Unless you don't like it. And if that's the case, suck it up. We're isolated, and right now, I wanna stay hidden."

"Home?"

"Yeah, come here." He said walking ahead of her.

The two walked up a small dirt road, that branched off into even smaller paths. The paths were edged with flowering Crepe Myrtles.

"Daryl, where are we?"

"We are on Boone Lake in Tennessee. When I was little, and my mama wanted me to get out of the house for a little bit, she always sent me to my grandparent's house. See, Mama came from a family that was better off than others, but when she married my father, he made them her quit talking to them. At least that is what he thought. Mama would send me here when things got really bad. Not like he ever realized I was gone anyways. This was my little piece of Heaven."

He quit talking as they made their way to a decent sized log cabin. On either side of the door, there were two yellow tulips. Greenery had found its way up the sides of the walls. With no one to constantly take care of it, the yard had grown up, engulfing most everything in its path. To Beth, it looked like one of her Mama's favorite paintings.

"Daryl, it's beautiful."

"Yeah, well, my grandma finally died a little less than a year before all this shit hit the fan. Merle never came up here, so I figured I was the only one who knew about it. They used to have a cleaning lady named Laura who'd come up here and clean. Judith and I were cleaning up so you wouldn't have to worry about it. Mama's old crib was in the attic, and there was still a lot of canned stuff. But there is a lake not too far from here, I can fish. And there's a lot of wild life, so I can hunt. But we're secluded. So you're safe. We're all safe."

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Let me know what you think! I'll update soon!

Love,

~C