Calm Before the Storm

Beth hummed, bouncing lil' Judith on her waist as she passed through the cell block. The usual group of scavengers were out on a run and should be back any minute now- hopefully with some more formula for Judith. And honestly, she was hoping for Rick to spend some time with Judith so she could have some time with anyone other than the baby- not that she didn't love this lil' girl to death, sometimes Beth needed someone who would actually respond to her chatter.

Daryl was the one to lead the group back towards the prison, his motorcycle heading up the group as they made their way back. There was always the risk of finding less and less food now on these scavenging trips, but they had dared to venture a little further each time. A little more distance could prove a lot more useful than originally thought. The prison had been a way out from any civilisation, and venturing too far was always risky... But with Judith, every risk was worth it for Rick. He pushed for them to go a little further, and Daryl had supported him. It had paid off. The loud rumble of his bike cut through the mundane groaning of the walkers, signalling to whoever was on watch to open the gates for them all.

Beth's head perked up slightly at the sound of a revving engine making its way past the gate. It was always pretty quiet 'round here, especially when people were gone, making it easy to spot the cars return. Starting to make her way out, "Lets go be their welcoming committee, " she cooed to Judith. The lil nugget giggled in her arms and Beth smiled tiredly. She pushed through the doors of the cell and squinted under the bright sun. As the bike and BMW made their way up the driveway, Beth counted the number of people who were coming back. Checked for signs of trouble.

After assessing that everyone who left came back, she smiled and jogged towards the gate. Maggie went with today and she would be happy to see her sister back in one piece. Since Beth never went on runs unless in a sticky situation, she often feared the worst. And after Zack's death she felt every right to.

As the motorcycle came to a halt in the prison grounds, Daryl took a moment to look back at the group he had returned with. They had neither gained nor lost any members, and every day that went by without a death was always considered a victory. He relaxed slightly,the crossbow slung over his back barely even a burden to carry anymore. It was strange, the more that he had time to think about it... This had all seem to become normal now. The prison felt like a home, and this group of survivors felt like a family. He looked forwards once more, watching Beth jog towards them. The child in her arms seemed to grow more and more with each passing moment. As unfriendly and shut off as Daryl seemed, he always held a special place for Lil Ass Kicker.

Feeling a firm hand come down on his shoulder, Daryl looked towards Rick. Both men gave each other a short nod before he dismounted himself from the bike. Slowly but surely, strength was coming back to Rick, and with it, the group grew stronger too. It was a hard thing to rebuild, but they were all getting there in their own ways... Daryl had never really seen Beth as strong, but he was coming to see her in a different light following Zack's death.

Rick was the first to make his way to Beth, placing the bin full of supplies he had on the ground next to her and scooping his daughter into his arms. Beth bit her lip and smiled at the two of them, gently ruffling Judith's hair and looking up at Rick. "How'd it go?" She asked and he answered with what was on her mind, "We got the formula and some other things. I'll let you take a look inside," his voice was gruff but she could tell that he was still getting back into the swing of things. She was proud of him.

Daryl was making his way up and Beth smiled kindly at him, his rough exterior not affecting her view of him. He always looked pissed off 'bout somethin'- she could understand why, it was so much easier to be angry in the situation they were in. But things were going so well, she wanted him (and everyone else) to be happy. She never expected her life to turn out like this, but she wouldn't trade her new family for anything. She wanted to be with them when the world came back into place.

Rick handed Judith back to Beth and started carrying his supplies inside and Beth hesitated to follow, looking back at Daryl. He called her Lil Ass Kicker, and although he barely mentioned it, he loved to hold her and give her formula. It was a little moment that they'd share together once every day or so.

(sorry about the delay how sappy would you like me to make Beth? Should she already have a little crush on Daryl or gain one the more the spend time together?)

Daryl had always been the kind of guy who looked pissed off about something or another, and usually he was pissed off. At the start of all this, there was a sense of unresolved rage that dwelled within him. There was a lot in his life that wasn't given a resolution, and a lot of it had left him furious. Over the years of it all, he'd learnt to deal with it in a more mature way. He no longer lashed out for no reason, he was able to think clearly... But he never really wanted anyone close enough to him to trigger that anger again. It was a mindset of no one could hurt him if they couldn't get close to him. He'd grown detached from a lot of people, the new people to the camp... There was never any guarantee that they'd stay. He wouldn't call himself happy either, but more content.

He caught Beth's smile out the corner of his eye, as he packed up the supplies from the side satchels on his bike. She was a strange one, in terms of how Daryl felt about her. He had long accepted her as a part of the group, ever since she proved her usefulness. But there was also a sense that he couldn't get too close to her, regardless of how shut in he made himself. She was just a kid, one who had had her life stripped from her as soon as the world went to shit. It felt better to try and keep his distance. Pursing his lips inward, he gave her a short nod, and returned to unpacking his bike.

Despite what he told himself, about staying distanced from her, he couldn't deny he loved to hold Judith. He hesitated for a moment before sighing, and pulling his crossbow from his back. He carefully left it perched on the seat before stepping over towards Beth and Judith.

(it's fine i've had a pretty crazy weekend anyway! uh, maybe she could already have a bit of a crush on him?)

Beth rocked Judith and cooed at her before handing her over to Daryl, then reaching in her bag for Judith's bottle. Once Daryl had Judith situated in his arms (he always was a little awkward about holding her the first few moments- something she noticed whenever he held her, as if he was scared of dropping her or hurting her) and handed him Judith's pre-made formula.

"How was the run?" Beth asked, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. She enjoyed being around Daryl; there wasn't a doubt in her mind it was mostly because he was a main provider and protector of the group. Even Daddy knew it, even if the two of them got off to a bad start, the two men had a very mutual respect for one another, and even if Daddy didn't like Daryl, Beth had from the start.

She couldn't harbor the anger over what happened at the barn. The family had come too far together to let grudges be held over that. All that mattered now was that they were (relatively) safe inside the prison and had things under control.

@ bucky.

There was always a moment of panic whenever Daryl first handled Judith. He was always oddly afraid that he was going to hold her wrong, or worse, he'd drop her. He knew how precious she was to everyone in the prison, and he didn't want to be the one who did something wrong... So far, he'd done pretty well. Just like Beth, he had stepped up to help out with Judith when Rick suffered his break down. They all had to band together to make sure she was safe, and well cared for. Not only for her sake, but for Rick's.

He adjusted the child as he held her, cradling her in one arm so he could take the bottle of formula from Beth. It amazed Daryl just how well Beth had adjusted to the role of Judith's care giver following the events in the prison... She was just a kid herself, and it struck Daryl as odd when she first took on the role. It didn't seem fair that she was having to act like a mother, or a nanny, when she should be growing up herself. Then again, it's not like things were normal anymore.

"Alright," Daryl murmured, eyes focused on Judith as he fed her. It was hard to decide what constituted as a good run these days... Finding just one or two items was good. Finding anything that looked like it would help them survive was good. But the near by places were growing sparse, and eventually, they would have to branch further out. "We found a house with a kids room... Had a few things we could use for Lil Ass Kicker here."

@ bucky.
It always amazed Beth how soft Daryl's eyes would get when he looked at Judith. It was as if he'd never seen anything so pure or innocent before, like he literally couldn't believe his eyes. Beth imagined what Daryl's life was like before the world ended, and she didn't want to judge, but from the little stories he'd sometimes tell about his time with Merle didn't seem like something she'd write home about. She always wanted to ask him if he'd ever actually held a baby before Judith, but she was scared of breaking some sort of invisible boundary. She could only imagine him reacting the wrong way to her question, him tensing up and handing her back the baby and grunting something like, "You think I never held a kid before?" before storming off and ending the time they spent together.

Daryl's quick temper hadn't flared up too often lately, things had been running so smoothly at home- crops where coming in, everyone was doing their jobs, people where happy. Things sort of felt like normal, which was something she never thought she'd say again, not after a winter on the road. But the prison.. there was still hope for them.

After a few moments went by and she didn't say anything, Beth was painfully aware of the fact that she was lost in her thoughts and didn't respond to Daryl's statement. She felt her cheeks burn red and she quickly responded, "That's a relief. She has plenty of things but it never hurts to have extra. Anyhow, she's the best baby I've ever seen. She deserves to be a little spoiled."

Daryl couldn't help but feel protective over Judith. In such a tough world, they were barely scraping by... And Judith had no way of protecting herself. She relied on the entire group, but it didn't seem like such a tough burden to bare. Not when every little thing they achieved seemed to bring a smile to Judith's face. They all wanted to give her the best possible childhood they could in their situation. At least she had four walls and a rough over her head. He may not have let on, but Daryl would hurt anyone who even looked at Judith funny. By a strange extension, it applied to Beth too. At such a young age, she'd stepped up to take care of Judith, and it hadn't gone unnoticed. He'd be damned if anyone touched either of them.

He stared at Beth for a while, adjusting Judith in his arms once more as he waited for a reply from her. "You seen many babies?" He teased gruffly, glancing back down at Judith. Sometimes Daryl's sense of humour went unnoticed, being mistaken for a rather serious or judgemental comment. It was more that he wasn't great at conversations, or opening up. It was still something he was trying to work on. But he still kept his cards close to his chest for the majority of the time.

@ bucky.
Judith cooed in Daryl's arms, causing Beth to giggle while she nodded. "In highschool, I took a baby class. A few times a week we worked in the daycare at my school. The tiny ones were my favorite. " she said grew quieter as she spoke, wondering what happened to those fifteen or so kids. They were all under five years old. She paused, taking a deep breath and reminding herself that was no use in cryin'.

"When everyone started to panic, the first thing parents did was stop bringin' their babies to daycare. Didn't want'm to get sick, too, you know?" She reached out and stroked Judith's rosy cheek. "I'd sing to them," she remembered, "but I guess that's not much of a surprise." Beth took this moment and decided to run with it, "What about you? Seen many babies?"

Daryl could see the question had struck a chord in Beth, and he certainly hadn't set out to insult her. It explained why she was so good with Judith, but it did remind him of how the world had been before... The kids who never got to grow up, or got separated from their parents, their families. Daryl knew what it was like to lose a family member, but he didn't want to imagine the pain of losing a child. It was a reminder as well of how young Beth was, and how far she had to come in so little time. There wasn't much room to be a child anymore, and Beth had grown up quickly. She was a valuable member of the group now.

"S'what I would have done," He murmured, his thumb brushing against Judith's face. "If I had a little one like this. I wouldn't have let her out my sight..." Daryl had no idea how to be a parent, and despite his gruff exterior, he probably would have panicked a lot. Even if it was just a cold going round, he'd want to make sure his kid was safe. "Only this one... Babies aren't very good trackers or hunters."

@ bucky.
"Babies are good at other things," Beth replied, "right Judith? She can, well, she holds her own head up," she mused, smiling down at the child in Daryl's arms, "she never cries. I think her and I are taking steps towards her walking.. It won't be long until you're out there with her, teaching her how to hunt."

She tried to imagine Daryl as a parent, she imagined a frustrated Daryl holding up a tiny baby, explaining to the unknowing baby 'bout the dangers of daycare when the flu was gong around. He definitely wouldn't let his own kid out of his sight. He barely even let Judith out of his sight when he was home, though he wouldn't admit it, even if she was just sitting on the floor playing with red solo cups.

"Well you've gotta keep your head up in this world," Daryl mused, giving Judith's chin a small bump with his fingers. The small gurgle of laughter she let out brought a smile to Daryl's face. He was glad she didn't have to be worried, or scared about anything in this world yet. Not when she had someone like Beth around to keep her safe. "Hell, I bet she'll be great with a crossbow... But we don't have to tell Rick that yet."

The idea of Judith slinging a crossbow around would probably send Rick insane. None of them really considered how they were going to raise Judith in the new world. She'd have to learn everything as though it was normal for a small child. That scared Daryl slightly. "Maybe she should stick learning music from you for now..."

@ bucky.
Beth giggled at the thought of grown-up Judith welding a crossbow, taking after Daryl, "If only we had a piano, I'd teach her how to play." she mused. Daryl's hunting skills would definitely come in handy in tiny Judith's future. Beth had no idea how long this apocalyptic world was going to last- from what she learned from Rick, there wasn't any cure coming soon. She heard him speak to Hershel about the Atlanta groups incident at the CDC, and how the last scientist working towards a cure (that the scientist knew of, he claimed to be the last to broadcast his signal after the world ended) blew himself up and any chance of a cure. Maybe there will never be a cure, Beth's thoughts were tiny and in the back of her mind, sneaking up on her. We're all infected. We'll all turn when we die, and there's nothin-

Her no good thoughts where interrupted by Ricks calming voice calling out to the three of them, "How's everythang goin'," He asked, giving Beth his grateful smile and a pat on Daryl's back before focusing on his baby, "How are you doin, Jude? Havin' a good time with Uncle Daryl?" He cooed. Then he looked over at Beth, voice back to normal, and asked, "Daryl tell you about our run? We got her stuffed animal and found a car with two diaper bags. She's st to go," he said happily, "and now we can set one aside as a to-go bag."

Beth nodded, "I'll keep one in my room by my bag, just in case, you know," She trailed off, not sure where to end her sentence. Things had been going so well around here, it felt like everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For things to go bad again. But, plants where growing, they even had some pigs, and a horse (she only rode it once, though, since Michonne favored using Betsy as her mode of transportation over a car- or in Daryl's case, his bike.) Next time Michonne is home for a few days, I should go for a ride. She missed her farm so much some days, even all the work she had to do to keep it together. It was such a chore back then, she dreaded it some days, but now? She would do anything to have such a simple life. But at the same time, and she know she sounded crazy for thinkin' this, she wouldn't trade her life right now for anythin'. Taking care of Judith, havin' such a strong and supportive family, small moments like this where she watched the grumpiest man in the group let his guard down over the miracle of having a baby 'round.. Good things still happened. Even with the world being over, she still found so much good.

(my laptop crashed! i was so freakin' upset over it this week, but it was my own fault i forgot i turned my screen settings off so that it never went to sleep or put up a screen saver, my laptop was on and running 24/7 for idk how long and it crashed. luckily!!! it just needed to be shutdown for a few days. friendly reminder to always shut down your laptop every few days so it doesnt over work itself so i'm back again.)

Daryl let Rick and Beth talk, retreating into silence as he adjusted Judith on his hip. Daryl had never been particularly talkative, and he didn't mind going quiet for a while if Rick wanted to talk to Beth. Honestly, he didn't know how to act around Beth. He wasn't quite sure where their relationship stood. She'd come leaps and bounds since the farm, but he still wasn't sure if she was fragile or not.

"There ain't gonna be a 'just in case'," Daryl muttered. They'd spent years running, and trying to find somewhere safe. They thought they had it at the farm, but mistakes had been made. He may have been the 'tough' one of the group, but he was getting tired. He was tired of losing people, and never feeling like they had somewhere to settle down. There was nothing wrong with wanting some normality. Living in a prison wasn't normal, but at least it was safe. He was ready to start calling somewhere home.

The waves of new people joinin' them didn't help. Daryl had grown accustomed to their little group, and the more people joined the more people felt a need to interact with him. He didn't want that. He had his group, the people who knew not to mistake his gruffness for a dislike of them. They were used to socialising with him now and to an extent they knew how he worked.

Beth seemed to get it too.

They'd both lost people they were close to. She seemed to look at him and understand how tired he was. It through Daryl through a loop sometimes. She was young. He didn't think she quite got what it meant to survive in this world, not yet. She was still kicking, though.

(Oh gosh, that sucks man! I'm glad you managed to get it sorted, though!! Does it need any other repairs, or do you think it's cleared itself up now? Also sorry if this reply seems awful. I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing as Daryl )

@ bucky.

Daryl's response made Beth's heart flutter and an understanding smile formed on her face. She was glad Daryl was starting to feel like this was home, too, that this could be the solution they were looking for. Even after everything, Beth still had hope for the future. She couldn't say that for all the members of her community, and sometimes that made her doubt herself. Without meaning to, Daryl reassured Beth that her hopes were in the right place. If he thought the prison could continue to work, that was all the more reason to believe.

Her eyes shifted back and forth between Daryl, then to Rick while Rick took her favorite little angel into his arms. He kissed her forehead and cooed at her, causing Judith to giggle and spit up on herself. Beth giggled and wiped the baby's cheek and gave her a kiss as well before Rick mentioned dinner and walked towards the cell block.

Beth watched Rick until he disappeared from few and turned to Daryl. She wanted to open her mouth, to say somethin', anythin', but she felt herself at a loss of words. She felt her cheeks flush. Mentally chastising herself, she placed her hand on his arm and said, "C'mon, let's go eat," with a smile. She turned back around and started heading for the cell and rubbed her face with a quiet sigh. Beth wanted to keep a conversation with him, she did, she really did. It's not that she was intimidated by him or nothin'. She figured the worst thing that could happen was a grunt for a response or him tellin' her to be quiet, or that she talked to much, and she none of that bothered her. She just felt tongue-tied around him.

(I am not sure! I check for updates regularly, I'm still on windows 8.1 and it says that it wants to update to windows 10 but it always fails after like, gosh, half an hour. I run CC cleaner a few times a week, defrag it, do security checks pretty regularly, and my laptop is three years old and still runs pretty fast! I think it was just tired. I use my laptop at night for netflix (I don't have a TV in my room and I'm still scared of complete silence/darkness ) but during the day I usually use my moms brand new fancy Star Wars laptop, so I have been making sure to shut it down during the day and it's all back to normal. when i started writing that out i didn't expect this to be so long I love your Daryl! You're doing fine! We're both getting back into the swing of things!)

There was something about Beth that kept drawing Daryl back to her. He didn't give it much thought, and it wasn't something he was gonna start dwelling on anytime soon. She was a girl in his eyes, barely capable of taking care of herself yet. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed her progressing, finally clicking on to the new way of life. It was just difficult to shake the image he had of her at the farm. She still had a long way to go. With all that in mind, he couldn't explain why he felt he could hang around her.

As Rick took Judith from him, Daryl went back to unpacking the supplies he'd placed into the bags on his bike. Keeping to himself was just habit, and unpacking gave him something to do. He took out weathered plastic bags of supplies and set them down by the bike, intending to take them into the cellblock once everything he'd grabbed was accounted for.

With all the new people arriving in the prison, it seemed to send Daryl further back into his shell. Part of him felt that wasn't necessary around Beth. She'd been there from early one. She was like some sort of anchor.

He didn't even mind when she touched him on the arm. He simply paused, and looked up at her. He lifted the supply bags and followed her without a word.

@ bucky.

Beth tried to keep the flush from her cheeks as he walked behind her, suddenly a bit self conscious about how she looked. Her jeans hadn't been washed in a while, and because of how bad traveling in the winter was, her weight loss made her pants saggy on her. She repressed her feeling to groan in embarrassment- it was Daryl. He would not be looking at her ass. Daryl wasn't like that. He was, in his own way, a bit of a gentleman. That had surprised her when she got to know him better after the farm. From what she knew, he never even tried to get with any woman, and there were plenty of beautiful woman staying here now. She imagined his priorities were too focused on providing for his new family that all the other things that used to be important didn't matter now.

She was still adjusting to this new world. She wasn't thrown into it like the rest of them. On the farm, for the first month of two after the outbreak, life went on as usual- she just didn't go to school anymore, or hangout with her friends. She still worked around the farm, rode Nelly, made dinner with Momma and Patricia. She played piano and sang every day, wrote in her journal about what she was going to do "when things got back to normal," like Daddy always said. Daddy was so sure it was just something that was going to pass after a while, like all the other epidemics had. Someone always came up with a cure. When Rick told her father and the rest of the group about the CDC, she cried quietly after everyone had gone to sleep. She couldn't believe that this was the end, how the world was going to be forever. There's always hope. She believed with her whole heart that someone, somewhere out there, was going to figure out what happened, why it happened, and how to stop it from happening. For now she would do what she had to do to survive. Beth wanted to be around when things got back to normal.

After all those months on the road, the hard winter, starving and exhausted, finding this safe haven gave her the hope and the strength to keep going. She had a family, a community, she had a home. Maggie was always keeping an eye on her, telling her to always be prepared. And Beth was. She had her backpack in her cell full of everything she'd need if they had to go on the road again. She knew people underestimated her. It was as if the family forgot that she was just as able as the rest of them when they were on the road. Once they put Judith in her arms, she became just a babysitter. All the new arrivals at the prison thought it, and how could she blame them? She was just a daddy's girl who took care of a baby every day. She hoped that she'd never have to prove them wrong.

[ Should we have the Governer roll up to the gates next? Or when would you like to do that? ]