Okay, first of all, I obviously don't own the walking dead. Secondly, I'm rating this M just in case as I don't know where this is really going right now, but I will have a disclaimer if things get pretty heavy. Thirdly, that being said, I welcome beta readers and suggestions and ideas. Which means as long as you all show interest, I will keep writing.
again DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE WALKING DEAD OR THE CHARACTERS I just like to write about them.

~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~TWD~*~

"We all have our jobs to do" is what Beth had kept telling herself while trapped in the cell block with Judith. She'd been pacing, bouncing the baby on her hip, singing to her and wondering to herself how old she actually was at this point.

She wondered if every time her dad looked at her, was he seeing the woman she'd become, or the baby he used to bounce on his knee. SO much had happened in such a short amount of time. In comparison to the rest of Beth's life, the prison was only a blip, a small insignificant chunk of the whole thing, and yet it'd had become her way of life.

She'd never had a child, but she was a mom to a beautiful baby girl. She'd never had to shoot a gun in self defense before all this and now, it was the only reason she was standing today.
Then she looked down at Judith, this smiling child with bright eyes and plump cheeks when she'd realized that this is the only kind of world Judith would ever know.

It'd been a few days, she wasn't quite sure how many as the days tended to blur together now, and it wasn't uncommon for her to be left alone with Judith for large portions of time. Sure Rick would check in on her, but if he'd had a hard day of building, or planting Beth would always volunteer to keep his daughter over night so he could rest.

At this point she was undecided about who was the better leader, who had made the right calls and where things had gone wrong. Rick had always been a leader since she'd met him, and seeing him take a back seat to things was awkward to say the least. Almost as if He was trying to pretend that Lori had never existed, and the prison was a secluded community.

Though where Rick had stepped down, Darryl had stepped up. After the death of his brother he'd just carried on. He made calls in a pinch and he picked up the slack that Rick had been neglecting to take care of.

It was funny to her to be honest, trying to figure out who was the alpha when in actuality it'd been Hershel who'd determined her job, who'd given her purpose. There were days where she was grateful to have a place. Those days were getting fewer the older Judith was getting. As the tiny tyke had grown, so did her temper, appetite, and independence. Hershel had been adamant that Beth could handle it, as if a few nights of babysitting would have been enough to prepare her for a child she didn't even have the pleasure of conceiving.

Beth loved Judith, as much as a young woman who had a adopted an infant with little knowledge of how to raise one could. Carol had been a huge help though, whenever she wasn't teaching or cooking, Carol would swing by and give Beth a bit of a break, especially when Judith was teething. If not for Carol, Beth wouldn't have been able to be a good mom. Though she'd never say that she was Judith's mom out loud, it seemed every key member of the group had an unspoken agreement that Beth was.

Of course, Darryl had never gone more than 48 hours with out seeing Judith if he could help it. There were a few runs, tracking trips and delays where he'd had to spend time away from the prison, but usually Judith and Beth were the first people he'd come see after delivering any bad news if needed then taking a shower. The way his eyes sparkled when he held her lifted Beth's spirits. She envied the way Judith seemed to ease any tension in whoever was holding her, and felt guilty that the little girl was the reason for so much of her own stress.

Both Darryl and Rick had noticed her cracking along the edges lately. The way she'd screech whenever her hair was pulled, or would have to set her in her crib for a few minutes just to calm down. They saw who she would visibly turn pale whenever she heard the baby cry any more. So Darryl talked with Rick who'd agreed that it should be brought up at the council meeting.

Unfortunately the next council meeting had to be about the flu, who had it, how to stop it, and what to do about the people who were already ill. Before anyone could make a difference that whole world flipped for all of them.

Beth was already lucid from the loss of Zack, but now she'd been stuck in a cell block with a baby, and a few other children, and minimal adult help. She'd actually yelled at a toddler, who had in turn just cried harder and earned her a scowl from one of the children.

Judith had just fallen asleep in her crib when Darryl walked into the cell block. He was still wearing a breathing mask to be safe, but when Beth had made eye contact with him was when she finally let some of the stress go. She smiled for the first time in days and slumped against the concrete wall next to Judith's cell entrance.

"You alright?" Darryl's face twisted into concern when he'd stopped a few feet shy of where Beth stood.

"Never better. Why?" Beth said flatly, her smile fading on her lips.

"I thought you didn't cry anymore." Darryl reached for her cheek but she stepped back from his touch.

"I must just be tired, I didn't even realize... I think I'm just going to go lay down, could you ask Carol if she'd mind taking over for me for a bit?" Beth started to push herself away from the wall when Darryl cleared his throat.

"It was her. She killed Karen, so Rick sent her on her way before Tyrese found out." He shifted his weight on his feet and looked at the ground for a second.

The silence between them resembled what Darryl had seen coming, a calm before a storm. He watched her jaw clench, the way her cheeks had flushed with rage for the briefest of moments before her eyes relaxed into an emotionless visage. He noticed the way she sniffed, wiped her face, and rubbed her eyes before retreating back into Judith's cell and sitting on the bunk across from the sleeping baby's crib. He shouldn't have, but he saw her slump forward, elbow on her knees and head in her hands.

It was time to call another council meeting, and this time, he'd be her voice no matter what else was going on.