Chapter 1:
*Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from The Walking Dead, only my OC
Beth Greene was, by far, the weakest member in her group. The zombie apocalypse had been going on for an entire year, and she still had no idea how to fight her way through a small herd of walkers. She was never any good at shooting a gun or crossbow, and somehow, she was even worse with knives and swords. Before the invasion, she was a clumsy, timid, sixteen-year-old bookworm. But it definitely didn't help that, until recently, she had been within the safe confines of her father's farm during the invasion.
However, she wasn't entirely useless. She had taken on the role of being Judith's caretaker, since she seemed most fit for the job. In fact, Beth was the perfect guardian for Judith. She had always wanted to get married and become a mother one day, and had even enjoyed reading parenting books a time or two. Although she had to forgo the romance and the "I Do's," she was incredibly happy to become a mother to such a beautiful little girl.
She stood up slowly from her rather small, uncomfortable prison cell bed, holding the Little Ass-Kicker in her arms. "Rick, I think Judith wants her daddy. You know, you seem so busy trying to run things around here that you never have time to spend with your daughter," Beth says softly, with a deep look of concern across her face.
Rick's face, neck, and shoulders tensed up in anger as he leaned in and hovered over Beth.
"Well, who else is gonna step up and take charge?" he asked condescendingly, his loud voice echoing throughout the humid, heat-soaked prison cell. Despite Rick's efforts to continue leading the group, he had become emotionally and physically distant from them since his wife sacrificed her own life for the birth of their child.
Beth sat back down on the small, hard, uncomfortable bed, on which she had been sitting prior to her intimidating encounter with Rick. She remained quiet, pondering the rhetorical nature of his question.
"Look, I don't wanna fight with you, Beth. I love my daughter. But I'm in no condition to take care of her," Rick said regretfully. He knew that as long as they remained at the prison – the very same place in which Lori's life was taken – he couldn't be close to Judith without grieving over his deceased wife.
Just as Beth was about to respond, Daryl walked into the cell. He had originally intended to get Rick's attention regarding matters within the group, but he became sidetracked after seeing Beth and Judith sitting on the bed in front of Rick.
"Bring her here," Daryl ordered, motioning to Beth to hand Judith over. He grabs Judith and begins to pace, rocking the baby back and forth, while singing softly:
"Lil Ass-Kicker,
Lil Ass-Kicker,
Beautiful girl,
Quit being a stinker."
He chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I've never really been good at singing…much less making up songs for babies," He looked up at Rick, and the smile quickly disappeared from his face as he suddenly realized what he and Beth had been talking about.
"Hey look, man," Daryl handed Judith back over to Beth. He extended a small, friendly shake to Rick's shoulder. "We've all lost people we cared about. But she is your daughter, Rick. You owe it to Lori to take care of her and protect her." Rick scowled at the mention of Lori.
"Looks like Beth's handling it just fine." Rick turned to walk out of the cell.
"Rick! Don't you -" Daryl shouted.
"Just let him go…" Beth interrupted with a whisper. "He's been through enough already. Let him go."
Daryl was not usually one to find himself involved in Rick's emotional affairs, or anyone's, for that matter, but he had unexpectedly grown attached to Judith. He loved her as if she were of his own blood, although she was only one month old. He only wanted her to have what he was not fortunate enough to grow up with – loving, protective parents. Judith was already robbed of the chance to know and love her biological mother, but she had come to know Beth as her nurturer and protector. Daryl and Beth had only hoped that Rick would come through for her as well.
Beth laid the sleeping Judith down in the makeshift crib and kissed her on the forehead.
"Goodnight, Judith," she said softly, while caressing the baby's cheek softly with her fingers.
She turned around to see Daryl still in the cell, shooting her a half smile as if showing his approval of her parenting skills.
"Oh!" Beth shrieked. "You're…still here! Well, umm,"
Although her mind was racing, her thoughts failed to escape through her mouth. What do I even say to him? I've only talked to him maybe twice ever! She studied his features very carefully. How have I not noticed before, just how incredibly handsome he is?
She continued admiring Daryl's dirty, wispy brown hair. His messy, wispy bangs stopped right at his beautiful, piercing blue eyes. Oh, those eyes! Her focus then shifted to his broad, defined, muscular shoulders. Then his chest and torso, which was mostly covered by his black leather vest. But the vest didn't stop her from wondering just what he might have been hiding under there. Damn, he sure is mysterious, though. If only I were twenty years older…
"Beth? You listening?" Daryl asked, causing Beth to snap out of her trance.
"Huh? What? Yeah, sure," she replied, recovering from her thoughts.
Daryl chuckled and stepped closer toward Beth.
"You didn't hear a damn word I said, did you?" He smiled at Beth and extended his right arm out to give her a side hug. He must have done a lot of weightlifting before the walkers came, she thought to herself as she stared at his toned, inviting arms. She returned Daryl's hug, but turned her head away from him to hide her giddy schoolgirl smile. He playfully patted her on the head.
"Goodnight, kiddo," Daryl said softly, with his half-smile adding charm to his manly facial features.
Her heart sank upon hearing that word. Kiddo? She thought to herself. I'll have you know, I'm legally an adult! She mimicked his adorable half-smile and gazed up into his eyes. Her half-smile involuntarily transformed into that giddy ear-to-ear grin. Only this time, she had nowhere to hide.
"'Night, Daryl," she replied.
She led Daryl to the cell door and shut it behind him. After he was out of her line of sight, she plopped down onto her bed and drifted off to sleep.