Life

Andrea sat on the old, overly beat up couch that sat in her living room. It had been in the house when they had first gotten there, almost five years before.

It was a decent house with all the bottom windows boarded up even though the last walker any of the group had seen was two years ago. The house had many others near it. Once, it had been a small village, but the apocolypse turned it into a place for the dead to wander.

A large house went to Lori, Carl, Rick, and Jason, the child that Lori had been pregnant with when they had resided at the farmhouse. Dale got a little two bedroom house with Carol. T-Dog was in a small house with a pretty little woman they had picked up in their travels. More people gathered around the original group, trickling in from almost everywhere. The group that had been there first; Rick and Dale and Glenn and all the others had found the little safe haven first. They settled themselves in and let any other survivors stay there as well.

Daryl and Rick had worked together to hook up a large generator that ran off of the sun, so the lights in the houses worked, as well as the toilets. There was even a little playground set up for the kids, and a survivor that had just come in started up a library in her smaller house. Together, they were all rebuilding a small society, complete with a judicial system.

Andrea had been drafted as a lawyer on a few petty theft charges. She found though, that the law was no longer exciting to her. Her excitment was now found in new little discoveries or surprises. She loved to help think of ways to improve daily life. She became a sort of inventor, creating things that helped do laundry(unfortunately, the generator didn't produce enough power for a washing machine) or cook. She found this more rewarding than delivering facts to a judge.

Andrea had gotten a decent sized house to share with Daryl. But it was no longer just the two of them in the spacious abode anymore. Some years earlier, she had gotten pregnant, and the child had been born a girl.

"Momma?" A little girl's voice spoke, the child entering the room.

"What's up, Amy?"

"Is Daddy back from hunting yet?"

"Not yet, sweetie, but I'm sure he will be soon," Andrea answered, letting her daughter climb into her lap. Amy was what Daryl had suggested they name the child and Andrea agreed. Her sister Amy deserved this, if nothing. She had been young and should've been able to live her life. Now, maybe, Amy's soul could find some rest in knowing she'd be remembered.

Andrea's child Amy had her mother's blonde hair and her father's dark blue eyes. She idoled both of her parents. She wanted to learn how to shoot like her daddy and be smart like her mamma.

"I hope Daddy brings backa deer. I don't wanna have squurrl again," she spoke, mispronouncing squirrel. Andrea listened to Amy continue on in her young voice, enjoying the peace of the moment. "I bet he's gonna get you those pretty flowers you like too."

"Do you now?" Andrea smiled, thinking of the wildflowers her man had brought her before.

"Yup! And I asked for one of the pretty blue ones. I hope he gets me one..." Amy trailed off, looking up at her mother with big blue eyes.

"I think he'll get you a whole handfull."

"You think so...?"

Andrea smiled again. "This is your daddy we're talking about. I think he'll bring you a whole bunch, even if he has to go to Texas for them," she answered the child. Amy laughed happily. She really did have an amazing father.

"You wanna go to the park, sweetie?"

"Will you push me on the swings?"

"Of course, baby."

Andrea helped her child get her shoes on and took her hand. They were just about to leave when the door opened and a certain southerner entered, crossbow slung over his shoulder. "How are my two favorite girls today?" He said in his southern dialect. "Ya ain't runnin' out on me, are ya?" Amy giggled and Andrea smiled warmly. Daryl stepped foreward and placed a quick kiss on his woman's lips. He had slowly learned how to be a bit softer, to not always be so callous to everything. "I brought you girls some flowers." He lifted his hand to show a bouqet of deep blue wildflowers.

"How'd your hunt go?" Andrea asked the equivalent of 'how was work'.

"I got a deer 'bout a mile north 'a here. I dropped it off with the boys." The boys were some men who had volunteered to cut and clean any meat that the hunters brought in. "Where you two headed?"

"We're going to the park, Daddy! Wanna come? Mommy is gonna push me on the swings!" Amy spoke excitedly.

" 'a course I'll come, baby girl." He set his crossbow down. He had started to part with it more and more with in the last year. Walkers didn't seem to be an issue anymore. It was even rare for a wild animal to wander into camp.

Amy grabbed her father's hand as well as her mother's as they walked out the door. She skipped as they continued on down the street, hopping through the crudely drawn hopskotch squares as she passed over them.

Daryl looked over at the two most important women in his life. His lover and wife, Andrea, with her beautiful blonde hair and blue-green eyes. And his daughter, the child he never thought he'd have. Amy had her mother's hair and his eyes. She was smart and talented. Andrea had taught her a lot already. She was already reading almost any book she could get her little hands on.

Daryl smiled as the trio approached the park and Amy ran to the swings. He took Andrea's hand as they followed after their daughter. "How was yer day?"

"Fine. Amy helped me pick the house up some. She played with her toys and then took her nap when she was supposed to," the blonde informed. "What about you? Anything big happen, besides the deer?"

"Nah. As always, not a single Walker. Didn't even find any kinda body," he explained, squeezing his hand gently.

"Good," she whispered.

"Momma! I wanna go on the swings!" Amy called, ushering her mother over.

Andrea laughed, and let go of her husbands hand to go over to her daughter.

Daryl stood back and watched them, Amy laughing as she swung high in the air. Andrea motioned him over, a broad smile on her face. Yes, she had come along way from years earlier when she contemplating killing herself. They had both come along way since then. He had her now nd he had their daughter. He no longer heard his brother's voice or got angry as often.

No, he had a life now. And it was good.