Summary: Beth was 16 when she ran away from home, a bruise on her cheek and a fire in her heart. She never looked back, well, she did, sometimes, but it never made no difference. For three years she made it on her own, going from meal to meal until she struck a little luck. Unfortunately that's just when the world turns to shit. Fortunately she meets one Merle Dixon along the way.

Chapter One: She Bites

Beth shaded her eyes with her hand, squinting against the sun as she looked down the long line of cars blocking the highway into Atlanta. The traffic hadn't moved for hours, and as she stared down the road, she decided it probably wasn't gonna move at all. Biting her lip she looked at the group of people farther up the road, wondering if she should approach them. They'd been there for a couple hours now, big group of seven or eight. She thought she spotted one guy that screamed cop, even from this distance. Should she go see if they knew what the hold up was?

She'd avoided talking to people for such a long time, even before this whole disease scare, that her heart balked at the very idea of just strolling up to so many people. But if they knew what was going on it would be worth while. She huffed irritably at herself, disliking the way her heart thudded just thinking about approaching them.

There really wasn't anything for it. The blonde tossed her hair over her shoulder, the long length heavy on her back, and began making her way through the mass of cars. There were other people on the road, sitting in their cars, but she passed them without so much as a word. The only reason she thought about approaching the group was because there were women and children mixed in the bunch. Menfolk normally acted nice and proper when there was more than one or two women and a few kids. She'd learned that the hard way.

As she made her way closer she studied the group carefully. Observing people had saved her hide on more than one occasion in the last three years and she didn't intend to stop now. Especially when it seemed like the world was falling down around her ears.

There was an older lady and her daughter, her face worn and nervous as she kept going between her old beat up station wagon and the group of people. Her husband, Beth was assuming, sat in their car, looking like a fat toad with an expression on his face Beth recognized. Mean. Gotta watch him. The daughter was small and thin, with a shy expression as she chatted with the boy beside her. She looked maybe eleven.

The cop and his wife stood in the center of the group, pride of place. So they were obviously acting as some kinda head honchos. The woman kept glancing over her shoulder at the brunette boy, so it must be their son. Kid didn't look much like the dad but he did take after his mother. The cop was a big guy, his shoulders and arms broad enough to make her nervous. He had a confident face and his stance was strong, arrogant. To be watched.

An older man with white hair stood to the side, near an older RV, with a blonde at either shoulder. One was only a few years older than Beth and the other looked in her late twenties to early thirties. All three were frowning and the man and the older blonde stood with their arms crossed, looking up the road. All three were dressed nicely. Harmless. Upperclass.

An Asian guy, tall and thin, was kinda dancing around the edges of the group. His expression was nervous and flighty. He was tall but didn't have any real muscle mass. A runner not a fighter. Not a real threat either.

A Mexican family stood close by too, with two young kids. The couple stood close together, their hands linked. Based on their stressed but mild expressions, she doubted they'd be a problem. Beside them a large black man and a black woman stood, both discussing something serious between them. The guy was beefy, but they were driving a Christian groups van. Didn't cross him off the threat list but it lessened his threat level for sure.

There were a few others, standing off to the side but nobody that really caught her attention. A guy in a mechanics coveralls. A couple of younger guys that looked like string beans. Nothing too serious on the threatening scale.

What really caught her attention was a pair of rough looking guys at the edges of the group, leaning up against a old rusted pickup truck. The younger looking one was chewing on his thumb and staring off to the side. He looked scrappy and unshaven, but not violent. The way he hunched his shoulders just slightly and avoided looking at anyone else told it's own story. So she wrote him off as a threat, unless he was pushed into a corner. It was the scrappy ones that always fought back the most viciously, she would know.

It was the older one that made her radar blare red. He looked like every type of violent redneck stereotype she'd ever seen. He was maybe in his late thirties, but looked worn, like the way she'd seen drugs do to people. He was big, with broad straight shoulders and massive arms. A leather vest and a tight black cut off t shirt just added to the image. He was attractive, no doubt, but he had that manic flaring to his eyes that screamed druggie. And druggies would do anything when they were pushed, sometimes even when they weren't pushed at all. He was a big blaring red alert.

Unfortunately they were directly in her path to the group. And they'd notice if she made a point to go around them. Beth had some experience with his type of people and she knew if she let him think he was making her run scared he'd give chase, if for nothing else but to see her shake. That's what those type of people did, fuck with others just to see how long they could poke. No, her best bet was to act unaffected by his bullshit. Stride right up to them and act like she didn't notice how big he was or how rough he looked. When he saw that then he wouldn't make such an effort to get at her. Oh, she had no doubt he'd try to get at her but he wouldn't try so hard if she didn't run.

So she took a deep breath, tilted her chin up and strode right up to the pair, keeping her face pleasantly bland. "You guys know what's the hold up?" She asked, drawing more than a few eyes. She noticed that the two rednecks shared the same bright electric blue eyes. Brothers then, maybe.

"Shit, baby doll, you old enough to drive let alone be out here on yer own?" Red alert called out with a lewd little whistle. As he did he ran suddenly heated eyes down her body, taking in her unfortunate choice of shorts and tank top with way too much skin on view. She knew she looked all of fifteen but she wasn't no fifteen year old, to blush and let him bother her. No, she'd had enough of people like him in her life.

"I ain't a baby and certainly not a doll, asshole, I'm nineteen and I asked you a question." She said blandly, not showing an ounce of fear as she raised a brow at him, feigning boredom. She caught the cop approaching at the corner of her eye. Which made her anxious all over again, what with both guys being big and bulky.

"Look'it that, Darylina, this one heres got bite, and she's even legal." He drawled, straightening from his slump against the truck. She suddenly realized she might have made an error in judgment.

Xxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx

Merle gave the little Blondie another look over, feeling his cock heat up sudden like. She was sweeter than a peach, she was. She had on a little tiny pair of shorts and a scrap of a pink tank top, showing skin everywhere. Despite being a short little firecracker her legs looked about a mile long, disappearing into a pair of worn cowboy boots. He decided the smooth firm skin of her thighs would probably taste just about like heaven. Her blonde hair, lookin' nearly white in the sun, would look something hot clenched in his fist as he found out if she was just as fiery in bed as out. Her tits filled out her top real nice like, not nearly as big as he normally went for, but the rest of her more than made up for that. Her big blue eyes were lookin' back at him right in the eye, proving she was either brave or an idiot. The cynical set of her pouty pink lips said she had a set of brass tacks hidden in those tiny shorts.

"Yeah, I bite all right, and you won't like it none." She told him, her eyes flicking over him and then Daryl before returning to his face. Like she'd just dismissed him entirely as a threat. The little turn of her mouth said as much. He found that bothered him. More than it should.

He took a step closer, ignoring the restraining hand Daryl set on his shoulder. "I don't know, sweetness, if it was you doing the bitin', I just might find it in me to like it."

"There a problem here?" The cop butted in, stepping up like he was gonna get between Merle and the little blonde peach. His face was hard as he met Merle's eyes but Merle just grinned back at him. Cops like this one hated nothing more than being ignored as a threat.

"Nah, there ain't no problem here, I can defend myself, thank you." Blondie put in, drawing the cops eyes. She tilted her chin and met the bastards eyes straight on. Merle and Daryl were probably the only ones that noticed the way she shifted so she faced both Merle and the cop more squarely. Easier to defend herself. He was sure he'd seen a twitch of irritation pull at her lips too. Seemed like Blondie didn't like cops either.

"This one here bites, pig, said so herself." Merle said in sudden amusement. It seemed like it wasn't only Merle the little spit fire liked to bite at. He leaned back into the truck, Daryl's hand falling away as he did so. His irritation was gone, his mood fickle, like it always was when he was high as a fucking kite.

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx

Beth wanted to scowl at the damn cop but only just managed to keep her face bland. That's all she needed, a white fucking knight that she didn't order or want. She flicked a look at Red Alert, who now looked relaxed and fully amused at the cops expense.

"Biting...aside." She said slowly, crossing her arms and returning her gaze to the cop. "Do you guys know what the hold up is about?"

The cop looked at her for a long moment, his dark gaze speculative. She liked it even less than she liked the looks Red Alert was giving her. At least in his eyes was the honest heat she was used to. The look the cop was giving her was significantly different.

"Nah, can't tell what's causing the problem." He finally said, jerking his head towards the rest of the group, an indication to follow him away from the red necks. She didn't like the sneer he gave the two men as he turned and she felt almost reluctant to follow him.

Glancing at Red Alert, she caught his sardonically amused eyes for a second. He looked like he'd never seen anything more amusing. He looked relaxed and confident, sprawled back on his truck in a pose she found reluctantly attractive despite his piss poor personality. Little Brother was already chewing on his thumb again, his eyes only meeting hers for a split second before looking off to the side again. She gave them one more look over before following after the cop, who headed straight for his wife at the center of the group.

"Let me introduce ya to everyone." He said as he strode into the group like the king of the castle. "This here's Lori and her son, Carl." So not his kid then. She met the woman's thin smile with a nod and a polite turn of her lips. The son waved and her smile widened into a grin as she waved back. "That there is Carol, her daughter Sofia, and her husband Ed..." And around and around the introductions went until she'd been introduced to the whole circle. "And I'm Shane." He added last with a charming smile, or what might have been charming if she didn't know better.

"Beth Greene." She said to the group at large. She felt about like she was five at a summer camp.

"Where are you coming from Beth?" The older man, Dale, asked smiling at her pleasantly. Like this was a typical meet and greet or something.

"A town 'bout twenty miles thata way." She said vaguely, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.

After that it was just a bunch of chit chat. The talk really grated on her nerves but she tried not to let it show. She just wasn't used to being around this many people at once anymore. At one point she mighta been the social butterfly but after the last three years on her own, she'd more than learned her lesson. People were sketchy, they did bad shit all the time. There weren't any stopping that. So these people could be polite and chit chat all they wanted, they just weren't showing their true colors yet. Granted, there were good people out there, but she sure as hell hadn't met any in the circles she ran in. Not for three long years anyway.

All the while she could feel Red Alert's eyes drilling into her back.

Xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxx

"Now that's a fine damn ass, baby brother." Merle muttered, watching little Blondie as she was introduced to the group by Mr. High And Mighty Cop. His eyes were on her ass, which looked just about perfect from his angle. He imagined it looked perfect from just about any damn angle. "Like ta get my hands on that ass, bet it's nice and tight."

"Keep yer fuckin' hands ta yerself, Merle." Daryl grunted, spitting to the side and aiming a glare at him. "She's way past yer league, old man."

"Nah, little girlies like that love ta jump in the sheets with ol' Merle." He told his brother with a cocky grin. His eyes tracked her ass and he groaned as she shifted her balance onto her other foot, making that tight ass do amazin' things. "'sides, she's not as sweet as she looks, got herself a fiesty side. You see that look she gave the pig when he stepped in?" She'd looked about like she wanted to take a hunk out of the bastard, and not in the good way.

"She been done wrong 'fore." Daryl told him, still glaring at him, but it'd been years since Daryl's glares had been anything more than an annoyance. "Ya saw it jus' as well as I did, you don' need ta be addin' yer shit in there too."

But fuck if baby brother wasn't right. Girl'd been done wrong by somebody. And the way she made sure nothin' with a dick ever went behind her back, he was guessin' it was the not takin' no for an answer type of wrong. Which didn't that just fuck up all ah Merle's fantasies? He may be a grade A asshole, he admitted that with no small amount of pride, but he weren't no rapist, and that was a fact. Not even on his highest methed out trip had he ever gotten with a girl that said no. Girl wants ta be a slut and sleep with anythang that moves, that's one thing, but takin' when it's not offered? That's taboo and there weren't no changin' that.

"Fucking shit." Merle growled with a grimace and Daryl turned away with a nod, knowing he'd deflated Merle's interest for now.

Merle just kept looking at the sweet little blonde thing. She was one mighty fine piece of ass, she was. But she was damaged goods, and that meant hands off. Not 'cause she was any less attractive but 'cause he knew she had baggage. Emotional baggage. Involving feelings and shit. Things that Merle never, ever, ever got involved in. Commitment was out the window, it was just never ever gonna happen. Fuck that shit. He liked one night stands and being so drunk he couldn't remember who he was.

"Can't hurt ta look at the sweet thang though." He added after a minute, his brows furrowed like he was in pain. Which he was. Her ass was getting' him all kinds of fired up and his jeans felt just a little too tight all of a sudden. Fuck, since when did he pop one up just lookin' at a girls ass?

Daryl blew out a breath besides him but he ignored him, still looking at sweet sugars fantastic ass. Really she had to be the hottest little number he'd seen in years. He wouldn't mind being bit all to hell and back, long as it was her sweet mouth doing the bitin'. So he'd look and he'd tease, and he'd talk up a good game, but he wouldn't be touchin' her. She probably wouldn't want no piece ah shit like him touchin' her anyway. She weren't like the girls in the bars he picked up like flies. No, she was a class above all them. There weren't no worn lines on her face, no makeup cakin' up her skin. She looked healthy, not fat and not too skinny, not like she'd just shot up or had a joint. She was a sweet little thang despite her bite and Merle didn't ever let himself touch sweet thangs. Not ever.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx

Then Atlanta was bombed and the world went to shit fast. Beth was undecided for a long moment whether she should follow the group up to the quarry or continue somewhere else on her own. But she'd learned that prey was easy to pick off when it was alone, especially a girl, so in the end she followed them up the gravel road, her little Toyota pickup taking the road easy. If it took watching Red Alert go up with the group to make her decision, well, ain't nobody gonna know about that but her.

A/N: So obviously I really changed things around. Beth will be with the group from seaspn one on instead of later. Also I made Merle younger than he was in the movie. I did this not because I think he was too old, cuz ya know, love is love no matter who it's between, but because I think a younger person would last a little longer in a Zombie Apocalypse. I mean Merle in the series is like pushing 50 when he dies. And he was one handed. I think any 50 year old would be pretty freakin worn out after all that so I changed his age to like 35 and Daryl to like 30. So, yeah. And obviously Beth is gonna be a little different in my fic. She's lived through different things than the canon Beth and so she's not gonna be the sheltered sweet girl she was in the show. So, yeah, all of that. Enjoy!