Disclaimer- I do not own anything Walking Dead related. I just like to play with the characters and see where things go.
Summary- Judith Grimes also known as the lil' Ass Kicker is 18 and all grown up. She is on her own in the world of walkers and bad people having gotten separated from her older brother Carl a few years prior. With her family gone can she make it in this world. Will a chance meeting with a surely 16 year old change everything. Follow Judy as she makes her mark on the world gone to hell.
Flashback
"Judith you have to go to school today." Daddy said from the stove in the fancy kitchen in our house at the Alexandria Safe Zone.
"But daddy why, Carl isn't going." I whined, earning a glare from my dad in the process.
"Well kid you are 7 and Carl is 19 now which means he is done with schooling. You my dear still have a few years to go." I groaned as I downed the milk in my glass before grabbing the book with my school work in it and walking to the door. Aunt Maggie met me at the steps with Ben before walking us to the school building. Carl was outside the walls with Aaron learning how to track people to bring them into our town.
"Aunt Maggie will you tell us the story of Miss Beth again?" I asked her.
"Which story do you want to hear?" She asked me as Ben jumped up and down beside her excitedly.
"The one about the songs and the horses and the farm and..."
"So you want to hear her life story again?" She said with a smile.
"YES PLEASE." Ben and I shouted together as we jumped up and down.
"Alright well, Beth Greene was my little sister. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and she loved her horse Nellie..."
End Flashback
"So Judy, where is the rest of the family?" Jackson asked me as we kept up a good pace walking through the forest.
"Don't know, got separated from them when I was eight. It was just me and my big brother up until I lost him a few years ago. He's a survivor though so I don't think he is dead." I replied, hoping I was convincing him but really I was trying to convince myself.
"Well let's start by looking for my parents, then move onto looking for your brother."
"That's a good idea since you know they haven't been gone as long. Where do you think they would go?"
"Maybe that farm that my mama was raised on." He said shrugging his shoulders with a slight grunt. I smiled brightly as I came to a stop and faced him. "What?" He questioned in a grunt.
"You mean the farm?"
"I aint gotta clue whatcha talking about girl."
"Hershel Greene's farm."
"Yeah."
"It is so pretty there, right after I lost Carl I ended up finding it and seeing all the pictures left behind." I said excitedly.
"I don't even see how it's still standin'" He said quietly. "Listen what happens if we don't find anyone else?" He asked me seriously. I stared at him and realized how scared he must truly be feeling. Here he was sixteen and on his own essentially. Now he was stuck with some stranger who he had only heard baby stories about. His blue eyes were hooded and partially hidden behind his hair.
"Then we survive."
"Really?"
"Yes really, Jack you and I we stick together now. We are essentially from the same group only divided." I tried to explain. "Family sticks together."
"My dad tried to tell me once how he never really felt he fit in with the group but they all did their best to make him feel wanted and needed. It wasn't until my mama got through to him once they were on their own that he really felt it though."
"I'm thinkin' that was more your mom then the rest of the family." I laughed. He smiled a shy almost smile as he thought of his parents.
"I'm positive Aunt Maggie would have loved you. She would have gotten over the initial shock of her little sister being with Daryl." I told him. "I wish I could remember them."
"My mama was very fond of you. She loved ya like ya were her own." He said quietly. "We should get moving, try and find shelter for the night."
"Yeah your right." I agreed as we began to walk again. About an hour later we stumbled upon a small cabin nestled between two tall oak trees. The door was closed and the windows looked to be boarded up already, but hey what place in this world wasn't already boarded up. "Let's check this place."
He nodded silently as he moved ahead of me to the door knocking a few times to get the attention of any walker that might be locked inside. When no sounds came back he slowly edged open the door and stepped inside his knife at the ready, I slid my knife into my grip and followed after him. We slowly cleared the three room cabin and met back in the living room kitchen area. "All clear."
"Let's barricade the door and settle in." I said to him.
"I'll get the doors covered if you wanna start getting dinner and a fire going." He suggested. I nodded my response and got to work building a fire in the small fireplace. Darkness would soon cover up the smoke from the chimney. I pulled out a few cans that I had stored in my backpack and found a clean pot in the kitchen. "All clear."
"Perfect." I replied as I dished some of the beans into a bowl for him and then myself. The dark had finally taken hold outside and the cabin remained warm from the small fire and the lingering heat from a hot summers day.
"Judy can I ask you a question?"
"Of course." I said looking up to meet his blue eyes. I hadn't really noticed how handsome he was, I never really wanted to see it before. I have heard all the stories of his parents and I know the idea of what DAryl looked like and I had seen that photo of Beth back at the farm, so I would only expect their child to be just as good looking. Is it wrong of me to think like this about him, he isn't technically family after all.
"Do ya think there is a place out there that we could find one day. You know a safe place."
"I had a safe place once, nothing stays safe forever so no I don't think there is any place out there that we could find that would be better than just wandering alone. How would you even do in a large group of people?"
"I aint never been around more than two people at once."
"It's suffocating most of the time, so many people always watching your every move, but then again it's nice knowing you have all kinds of people to watch your back." I told him. "Truthfully the only group I ever want again is my… our family." I finished. He nodded his head in understanding before digging into his dinner. "What kind of school did you go through?"
"My mama taught me reading and writing and math."
"was she a good teacher?"
"I guess, I don't know any different." I laughed realizing my own mistake. "You an me, we will be fine."
"Yeah we will." I replied.
A few hours later a loud bang hit the door, I jumped high in my seat next to the door as I had decided to take first watch. Jack jumped from the small sofa that looked so tiny in his hulking presence. Our knives and guns were at the ready as the barricade was being pushed. "Back away. We are armed." I warned in my most menacing voice.
"JUDITH!" I heard my name through the door recognizing the voice immediately, my eyes went wide as I began to pull the barricade away from the door.
Please let me know what you think of this story and let me know who you think is the person on the other side of the door?
