Staying Alive//TWDFanFic

Thirty Two

-6 Years Later-

I'm making my way to the kitchen as Beth jumps out from the hallway closet, trying to scare me, "Roar!" I jump back and act like she scared me, "Oh my god, you scared the poop out of me!" Beth laughs as she runs off to the kitchen, I follow her as she goes into the fridge to grab the jar of peaches I made from the garden. She giggles as she opens it, sticking her grubby little hand in and handing me a peach slice, "Here you go, Mommy." I try to hide my disgust as I take it and put it in my mouth, it tasted like it had dirt on it but I just made an 'mmm' sound before saying, "Yummy." I forced myself to swallow it before grabbing the jar, closing it and putting it back in the fridge. "Go clean yourself up, you're going to be late for school." She pouts for a moment before stomping off to the bathroom. She's more and more like Daryl every damn day. We've been in Alexandria for about 5 years now, Daryl left a year ago to continue on his search for Rick but he wasn't really around much before that anyways, he couldn't handle being here because of Negan. He tried for Beth but it just didn't work out. I haven't seen him in a year, I don't even know if he's alive at this point. I can't help be mad that he just up and left us behind but I understand why. Beth is 6 years old now and asks about Daryl a lot but it's gotten to the point where she doesn't do it as much anymore, which I'm happy and sad about, I hate him a little more each day that he's gone but how much I miss him overrides any hatred.

Michonne has been trying to get me to join the council for years now but I always decline, I help out in the gardens and mostly keep a low profile around here. I teach the kids who want to learn, music, whenever I can but its rare for that to happen nowadays.

I take Beth to the school building before making my way to the garden. I'm there for an hour or so before I see Judith and a few others coming through the gates with people I've never seen before. Michonne approaches them and I could tell by her demeanor that she was extremely irritated about whatever was going on. I just sighed and went back to what I was doing. It was almost time for Beth to be done with school so I went back to the building and waited outside until all the kids started coming out. Beth was one of the last few, she ran up to me excitedly before jumping up into my arms. I chuckled, "You have fun with Debbie today?" She nodded excitedly, "Yes, I drawed you a picture." She handed me a drawing of what looked like Daryl as she said, "It's Daddy, we don't have no pictures of him so I wanted to drawed one." I exhaled deeply, "Looks just like him." I felt sad as I looked at the drawing but I forced a smile so she wouldn't pick up on it, I set her down and grabbed her hand, "You want to help me in the garden today?" She nods excitedly, "We can get more peaches!" I chuckled, "Yes we can."

Later that night, I had Debbie watch over the house as Beth slept so I could go make my nightly visit to Negan. I didn't start visiting him until Daryl left, I don't know why it started but for some reason I made it part of my routine. I visit him every night, once everyone else in Alexandria is in their homes sleeping or doing whatever they do.

I made my way in and as soon as I closed the door behind me, he stepped into the light of the lantern from his cell, "Ah, Josie, thought you weren't coming tonight, actually made me sad." I scoffed, "Right." He sat on the floor in front of the cell door so I did the same on the other side, "Anything eventful happen by the window today?" He shook his head, "Nope, no one stayed long enough for me to get any dirt this time. Hows Beth doing?" I shrug, "Same old, she's just a happy little kid." He smiles, "Thats good, does she still ask about Daryl?" The mention of his name stung me a little but I swallowed it, "No actually, the last time she asked was a few days ago now. She did draw a picture of him today though, I hung it on the fridge." I chuckled to myself as he sighed, "I'm sorry." I shook my head as I stared at the ground, "Don't be. It is what it is." He leaned closer to the cell bars, "You have to feel extremely lonely by now, maybe you should come in here and relive old times." He winks as I glance up at him, "I'll make sure you come first." I scoffed, "Stop it." He sighed, "Come on, I'm lonely, you're lonely, let's do something about it." I actually considered it for a moment but felt grossed out at the thought of doing anything like that with him, "Nah." He scoffed, "Well, shit." I chuckled, "You know that when you and I had sex that I didn't actually want to, right?" His expression dropped, "You seemed like you like it by how you acted though." I exhaled sharply, "I had to pretend you were Daryl to get through it." He sucked his teeth, "Come on, you're really not attracted to me at all?" I looked him over, "I mean, if you weren't the devil, maybe." He rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry, Josie. I didn't realize you felt like you had to do that." I scoffed lightly, "Yeah, right, if I wouldn't have done it, you would've done something to Daryl." He shook his head, "No, I wouldn't have. I know that's hard to believe but I really wouldn't have." I shrugged, "Well, too late to go back now, right?"