Wishes : Chapter One

"The thing is, I've been starting to get afraid that it's easier just to be afraid. But this morning Daddy said something, "If you don't have hope, what's the point of living?" ~ Beth Green, The Walking Dead

She sat huddled beside the fire with Daryl across from her, searching through her backpack for one of her few possessions that she had saved from the prison. Beth Green opened her journal, staring at the pages as her blue eyes misted over. She told herself it was just from the smoke that drifting up from the burning twigs. She didn't cry anymore. At least, that's what she had been saying for more than a year. But today, everything changed. Today she had weeped. She had shattered like a delicate crystal heart.

The words on the page blurred before her tired eyes as she quietly read her own handwriting. She could remember her excitement as she had written these words. Her diary entry read:

"Hey, I know it's been awhile, and I'm going to be honest. I forgot about you. After the farm, we were always moving. But something happened…something good, finally. We found a prison. Daddy thinks that we can make it into a home. He says we can grow crops in a field, find pigs and chickens, stop running, stop scavenging. Lori's baby is just about due. She'll need a safe place when it comes. The rest of us we just need a safe place to be. I woke up in my own bed yesterday…my own bed in my own room. I've been keeping my backpack, keeping my knife close. I've been afraid to get my hopes up, thinking we can actually stay here. The thing is I've been starting to get afraid that it's easier just to be afraid. But this morning Daddy said something. 'If you don't have hope, what's the point of living?' So I unpacked my bag, and I found you."

Beth's diary entry ended with the following passage: "So I'm going to start writing in you again. And I'm going to write this down now, because you should write down wishes to make them come true. We can live here. We can live here for the rest of our lives."

She scrambled for a pen from the contents of her bag. When she located it, she clutched it in her hand. That life was over. It ended when she and her older sister Maggie were forced to watch their daddy die right before their eyes as the Governor sliced his head from his shoulders with a razor-sharp sword. Beth had fallen into her sister's arms and cried. She wept as she had not cried since the farm- after she had witnessed the death of her mother and her older brother. She had attempted to take her own life out of fear and helplessness, but thankfully Maggie and Lori had stopped her. She decided to live! She decided to be strong! She'd fight for survival... so there had been no room for tears. There had only been the hope that her daddy had spoke of with so much passion. He had been a wonderful man- a doctor who saved lives. But cruelly his life was taken and Beth would never forget that horrific moment when he was beheaded right before her eyes.

After Hershel Green's death, the Governor's people had attacked, killing and maiming those who had lived safe from the walkers at the prison. Beth was separated from her sister. She ran looking for little Judith, Lori's baby daughter and the other children she had been caring for so tenderly. Sadly, she hadn't been able to find any of the little ones. A bus was leaving the prison as their people were boarding in a chance of escape, but Beth got there too late. If Maggie boarded the bus with her husband Glenn, that meant she was gone. Beth had been left behind.

Beth was frantic as she looked around for a means of escape. She had nothing but her backpack, containing just a few of her possessions. There was murder and chaos all around her. Beth didn't know where to turn as the Governor's men were torching and brutally killing those she loved.

Then from out of nowhere, Daryl emerged from within a cloud of smoke. "We gotta get out of here!" he yelled. "Come on!"

Beth followed him, rushing away from the violence and bloodshed as they left the prison that had become their home. They escaped on foot into the woods. Beth could hardly keep up with Daryl's swift strides, but whenever she got even the slightest behind, he'd look back for her, waiting for her to reach his side. They ran for miles, until they were far too exhausted to take another step. The two had killed many ravenous walkers along the way.

Daryl set up camp, erecting a small shelter out of branches and twigs. He then built a fire as Beth set there silently, in a state of shock. Her daddy was gone... GONE. And where was Maggie, her dear, older sister? It was just her and Daryl now, and although she knew he'd protect her, Beth was scared. She missed all their friends. They had become more than friends; they were now a family.

Beth ripped the pages out of her diary, tossing them carelessly into the flames. The dry, yellowed papers went up in a cloud of smoke. She then began to write within her journal. "Dear Daddy," she wrote. "Today Maggie and I watched you die. I MISS you! I am going to miss you the for rest of my life. I thought we were safe within the fortress of the prison. I thought we were all protected. I thought nothing could ever hurt us. I was wrong. I will never be so naive again. I have to harden my heart... but it's not easy. You know that's not me."

She paused for a moment as she attempted to put her racing thoughts into words. "Daryl's here... and we're going to find the others. I will never stop looking until I find Maggie and the others. Because of you, I will always have hope. Because of you, I believe in wishes and making them come true. I wish that Daryl and I would survive the night. That will be my first wish. Thank you, Daddy. I know you're up there looking out for us. Your loving daughter, Elizabeth Green."

"Whatcha writin'?" Daryl asked from across the flames.

"Just writing a bit in my diary," Beth replied.

"About me?"

"No. But you can't read it," she said as she stuffed the journal back into her bag. "It's private."

He scoffed, leaning back against a tree. His dark eyes were scrutinizing her as though he were attempting to read her secret innermost thoughts.

"Daryl, we're not the only ones still alive, you know. Tomorrow we'll have to go tracking... to find Maggie and the others."

Daryl shook his head, a scowl upon his face. "Ain't none of them still alive. They're dead- like your father. I couldn't save him either."

"No!" Beth cried out. "You're a tracker! You could find them..."

Daryl looked away, staring into the flames, so Beth stood up. She reached for her knife, exclaiming, "Alright then! I'll track them on my own! I don't need you, Daryl Dixon!"

She clutched the ivory handle of her knife as she rushed off into the vegetation, leaving Daryl at the camp. He let out a curse as he used his bare hands, throwing dirt into the flames. Then he picked up his crossbow, following after Beth. He hoped her impulsiveness wouldn't get them both killed. "Beth!" he called after her.

He caught up to her in a matter of minutes as she was tromping through the trees. "Come back to the camp," he said. "It's cold... and we both need some sleep.'

"Promise me tomorrow you'll help me learn to use your crossbow," she insisted.

He nodded. "Alright. You need to learn how to protect yourself."

"And promise me we will try to find the others," she continued.

The dark scowl came back to Daryl's face. "Tomorrow we'll need to find food, supplies, and shelter."

"And while we are searching for those things we need, we'll also look for Maggie..."

Daryl sighed. "Come on," he said as he took Beth's hand.

Reluctantly she followed him back to camp. She used her backpack as a pillow as she lay down in the tiny shelter Daryl had prepared. He lay down beside her, silently protecting her if a walker should stumble into their camp.

"Go to sleep," he ordered her when he caught her staring at him.

She smiled softly and closed her eyes. If there was anyone she wanted to be lost with in a forest full of deadly walkers, it was Daryl Dixon. He'd protect her. She knew he'd do everything in his power to see that she survived. Behind his rough and rugged exterior, she knew he had a good heart. His skill with the crossbow was amazing. How many hungry walkers had he killed with his most beloved possession? How did he always manage to land on his feet?

Truth was, Daryl Dixon intrigued her. Considering he was the strong silent type, she had no clue how he felt about her. Perhaps he saw her as nothing more than an annoying nuisance, despite the duty he felt to protect her. Tomorrow she'd show him that she wasn't a weak, weeping woman. She'd show him how tough she could be, despite her petite size.

As she drifted off into dreamland, Daryl silently watched her. His hand twitched as he longed to caress that unruly blonde hair of hers. She was far too young for him... much, much too young! Beth was only eighteen...

She hadn't seen the horrors he had seen. She knew nothing of the pain he had endured. He kept all that inside, hidden in the dark rooms of his tortured soul.

He hadn't been with a woman since long before the walkers had began to roam the earth. It had been ages since he had touched a woman and he knew he'd never had one as sweet or as precious as Beth. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He closed his eyes, laying his cheek on the ground as he was lulled by Beth's soft breathing. As he drifted off into slumber, he was hoping they'd survive the night.