Welcome to the third installment of my Teddy/Daryl Walking Dead fan fiction. This takes place immediately after the end of Season 3. Enjoy!
Chapter One: New People
The noises that came from the common area woke me up. I still hadn't gotten used to all the people here. Over night, we went from ten people to over thirty people. It would take some time to get used to. Daryl and I had a hard time finding alone time when there were only a few of us now it was near impossible.
"Good morning!" Karen chimed as she walked by my cell.
"Morning," I grumbled climbing out of bed. Daryl had left my bed hours ago to go on a run with Michonne. I liked Michonne. She was quiet when she got up in the morning.
Knowing that I couldn't drown out the noises any longer I found my pants and shoes and dressed. I rubbed my eyes, grabbed the toothbrush out of my toiletry bag, and made my way to the bathroom. A line, great. I grabbed a bottle of water and walked outside.
The new comers were afraid of the growling walkers outside so I knew they wouldn't venture out there. We had spent the days since the attack trying to clean up the yard. Daryl and Michonne were out to get supplies to fix the fence. I brushed my teeth and rinsed. I sat down on the bleachers, watching the sunrise.
"Good morning," the phrase had started to grate on my nerves until I turned to see that it was Rick saying it this time.
"Morning," I grumbled again. I smiled a little when Rick took a seat next to me.
"What's wrong?" he asked me.
"Bathroom lines," I said.
"Of all the things in the world that's what's bothering you?" he asked.
"Yep," I said smiling.
"You want to go in for breakfast?" he asked. I nodded and stood up with Rick and walked inside. All eyes were on us when we walked into the cafeteria. The talking had gone down to a whisper. It let me know that I may have been the topic of discussion.
"Do I have something on my face?" I asked Rick. I looked down to make sure I had nothing on my shirt.
"No," he smiled.
"I thought I was out of fucking high school," I stated. I walked with Rick into yet another line. Rick and I walked together in through the line. Oscar welcomed us with a smile.
"Sorry," he said, "There's not much left." He scooped a little on my plate and some on Rick's.
"Thanks," I said to Oscar. I sat down at the one empty table, Rick and Oscar took a seat next to me.
"It's nice to see all these people," Oscar said.
"Guess you haven't had to wait in line for the bathroom," I said.
"I'm used to crowds," he said.
"I guess it will take some time to get used to the extra people," I responded.
"Can I join you?" Tyrese asked. He was probably the one new comer that I liked. He and his sister, Tasha, stayed out of my way.
"Sure," I said eating the last of my oatmeal. "How's the clean up going in the lower levels?"
"Slow but sure," Tyrese replied.
"Do you need help?" I wanted desperately to get away from all these people and volunteering to kill walkers was not something these people would do. Also, when the lower levels were cleaned out we could spread them out and not be living on top of each other.
"I need you to work on training," Rick said.
"Training?" I asked, "Training for what?"
"Not what, who," Rick responded, "I need you to start a training class for the new people. Most of them couldn't kill a walker. They need to be able to protect themselves."
"Are you sure I'm the best person for this?" I asked.
"I think it would make it easier for you to get along with them if you got to know some of them," he replied. "Besides you ran the self defense class back at the station."
"Ok," I said, "I guess I have better people skills that Michonne and Daryl. Is this afternoon soon enough?" He nodded.
"I'll be headed down now," Tyrese said standing up, "Good luck with training."
"Have fun," I said with a smile. He grabbed my tray for me and took it to the kitchen. Tyrese was an attractive man. He had the strong arms of a football player. I had always meant to ask him about his life before this but hadn't had the opportunity.
I stood and made my way to the bathroom again. No line this time and no toilet paper either.
"What the fuck," I grumbled coming out of the stall. I ran into Arianna, a 13-year-old girl that had joined us. "Sorry. I didn't know anyone else was in here."
"That's ok," she said to me, "I was looking for someplace to be alone too."
"I understand that," I said to her washing my hands in the cold sink water.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked.
"Sure," I dried my hands on a towel and walked with her back to the common area.
"What do you know about Carl?" she asked. Her cheeks flushed. I smiled. Carl had an admirer.
"What do you want to know?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said shuffling her feet. "He's cute but he doesn't talk much."
"He's got a lot going on," I said, "His mom died not long ago."
"Oh," she said, "Mine died before all of this. My dad got us to Woodbury and then he went out with the Governor and never came back."
"Sorry," I said squeezing her shoulder. "You want to join my defense training class later?"
"Ok," she said. I found another person from Woodbury I could tolerate. Arianna trotted down the hallway to the common area.
I smiled and walked back to my cell to gather my weapons for my demonstration. How was I going to teach little old people and prepubescents about self-defense? I needed help. Rick and Oscar were working on getting the yard cleaned. Hershel was teaching the younger children. Sasha, Tyrese, and Oscar were cleaning the lower levels. Michonne and Daryl were out on a run. Maggie and Glenn were on watch.
"Carl?" I called to the guard shack.
"What?" he shouted back to me harshly.
"Do you think you could help me with defense training?" I asked.
"Why?" he demanded.
"Cause I need help," I said back. This was one of those moments I started to forget he was a kid and wanted to smack him in the mouth. I breathed in and out.
"Can't you do it yourself?" he stated.
"I think I preferred the silent treatment. You're turning into a little ass," I said. His jaw dropped open. I had never spoken to him that way.
"Ok, I'll help," he said.
"You get to be the punching bag," I said with a smile as we made our way to the cafeteria. He smiled.
More people had come for training than I had expected. Dozens of people sat around the cafeteria. I climbed up on a table and started.
"Good afternoon," I said, "Today we are going to learn how to take out walkers. Has anyone here ever killed a walker?" Carl and Arianna raised their hands. "Good, anyone else?" They all looked confused. "Ok, well walkers are slow. So use that in your favor."
"So your advise is to run?" an older man yelled from the back.
"Running is good if you're outnumbered. Don't get yourself into a situation you can't handle. Another thing to remember is to pick a buddy. Don't go out alone. And always have a weapon," I continued. "Carl, you want to help me?" He nodded and I jumped down off the table. "Come at me." He started at me. "The brain is the kill zone on walkers." I fake jabbed Carl in the head. He fell to the ground.
"Aren't people just as dangerous," a middle-aged woman said.
"They can be," I said remembering the Governor. These people probably knew the Governor's terror better than I did. "We'll cover that next time. Thank you for your help, Carl. Do we have any questions?" The room fell silent. "Ok remember the head and don't go out alone. See you next time." Carl and Arianna lingered behind as the rest left.
"Hi," Arianna said to Carl. "That was very informative."
"Yeah," Carl said. His cheeks started to flush. I chuckled to myself. Young love. I left them to their awkward talk.
"So you survived?" Rick asked me.
"I guess," I responded. "I told them to run, stay in pairs, and stab walkers in the head. Seemed like common sense stuff."
"It was good," he said.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I watched from the back," he said.
"Oh cool," I said, "I hope you don't mind I hit your son in the head."
"Just glad to see him involved," he smiled. "Thanks for doing this."
"Daryl back yet?" I asked.
"I think so," he responded, seeming a little disappointed.
I ran out to the courtyard. He and Michonne had just pulled in and were unloading supplies. I found myself watching the muscles in his arms flex as he lifted the load of wood out of the back of the truck.
"Teddy," I jumped when I heard my name called I looked and it was Arianna.
"Arianna, what do you need?" I asked.
"Ari," she said.
"Huh?" I said turning my gaze back to Daryl. I felt like a teenager again watching him. I smiled knowing those arms were all mine.
"My name," she said, "Ari."
"Oh ok," I said, "What's up?"
"I just came to see if I could help," she said. Ari was what some would call Emo. She had dark hair and pale skin. Her ends were dyed purple. Woodbury had a hair salon, I guess. She wore combat boots and ripped jeans.
"I guess we could help unload," I said walking with her to the truck.
"Hey babe," Daryl said stopping to kiss me softly on the lips. I rested my hands on his hips and pulled him closer. I moaned softly against his lips. "Better stop so I can get done."
"Ok," I reluctantly released him. "You need help?"
"I'm good," he responded. "I did get that stuff you wanted. It's in the front."
"Thanks," I said and grabbed the bags from the front. "See you in a bit." I walked with Ari back to the cellblock.
"You need help," she asked me inching her way into my room. It felt a little weird to have a preteen girl follow me around. I guess she had no family to look after her. She was looking to me.
"If you want," I pulled curtains out of the bags that Daryl had brought. "Just trying to give us a little more privacy."
"Daryl's really cute," she said putting together the rod.
"I think so," I said smiling.
"He's your husband?" she asked.
"Yeah we just got married about a month ago," I said smiling.
"I thought I'd never see another wedding," she said. She was tall for her age, almost as tall as me. She helped me run the rod through the curtains and hang them over the cage door. "You guys look good together."
"Thanks," I said. "This looks much better."
"You guys gonna to have sex tonight?" she blurted out. I was shocked by the comment.
"Maybe," I said.
"That's nice," she responded. She stopped before saying more. "I'm going to help with dinner." She hopped down the steps. I shook my head and fumbled through the rest of the bag.
"Where's your shadow?" Daryl asked from the doorway.
"Ari went to help with dinner," I said and pulled him in the cell. "How do you like it?"
"It looks nice," he pulled the curtain closed; "You want to skip dinner?" He pulled me close.
"Whatever would we do?" I asked running my hands up his arms.
"I could think of a few things," he leaned down and kissed me. I found the collar of his shirt and ran my hands down his neck. I opened the buttons of his shirt and dropped it to the floor.
"Teddy!" I heard Ari yell from the other side of the curtain. "Dinner's ready!"
I sighed and said, "Guess we better pick this up later." Daryl pulled his shirt back on. I opened the curtain and we walked to the cafeteria together.