The events of that night were going to haunt Judith's dreams for years.
She was sitting on the bed in the guest bedroom, occasionally looking at the door with wide eyes as she hoped that Daryl thought she was simply asleep and didn't check on her before he headed to bed. There was no way she could hide all of her equipment and Daryl's vest fast enough before the man walked into the room. Not that he ever walked in without permission first, even if it was his own house. He always knocked then stood patiently on the other side of the door as he waited for an answer.
If Judith didn't reply after sixty seconds, which she had noticed was an unspoken rule for how long one should wait after knocking, he cracked the door a tad bit open to make sure the girl was okay. Most of the time she was asleep, so he simply walked up to her, pulled the covers up to her chin, moved her hair out of her face, then left as if he was never even in there. His touch was gentle despite his rough hands, which were that way from hard labor from a young age. As far as Judith knew, he started working when he was her age, which was almost unreal. If one didn't know him, they would think it was out of character for a man looking so gruff and rough to be so gentle, calm and kind. After a second of thought, she decided that applied to Negan and Jesus as well, whose appearances also didn't match with their personalities.
As much as she loved Negan and Jesus, Judith had to say that Daryl was her favorite.
Judith Grimes was a simple child, at least most people just assumed that due to nothing but her age. She played along and didn't break her cover, as she learned that sometimes it was best if you kept things to yourself. That was something her aunt Carol had taught her whenever they hung out on rare occasions. The weaker the people thought you were, the better. If they thought you weren't a threat, they would drop their guards and you would be able to read them like an open book.
Her daddy used to be a sheriff. After years of being retired, he still had that power around him, same with the skill set. He was able to read people like a simple morning newspaper, joined by a cup of coffee and a bagel. Judith liked to believe that she took the ability to read between the lines from him.
It was easy to figure out who exactly Daryl Mark Dixon was. Sure, some things didn't make sense on their own, but when you combined all of his traits and you let them weave themselves together like a twine it all made sense.
Judith saw his back. Some days after he had his morning swim which was a part of his morning workout, he didn't bring a shirt and instead got dressed after he went to the bedroom he was occupying. He was always the first one to wake up, but one day Judith woke up even before him. The passed each other down the hall and Daryl ruffled her hair affectionately. Just as she turned around to complain about her hair, her eyes widened and an inaudible gasp escaped her lips when she saw the lashes across his back that weren't in any sort of form or pattern. They were just random products of rage. Judith was quick to go back to her room before the tears started to run down her cheeks.
They'd spoken about domestic abuse at school. The topic was discussed often during the classes with the school's counselor every Monday and Thursday. While most kids from her class groaned and huffed, Judith even wrote things down and asked her father if what they taught them was true. To her, her father was almost like Google. Even if he was surprised at first at her sudden interest, after she explained that he simply knew a lot of people from his work and most likely knew a lot about psychology from being around all types of people, he was more than happy to discuss such topics like these. He made sure to warn her that every single person was different : they all had different coping mechanisms, different points of view and you should always be careful with their boundaries. Then, he analyzed whatever she had written down from school so far and they discussed the topics.
Her dad taught her that with domestic abuse with kids, there were two options, two kinds of the end result. There was the type who absorbed all of the abuse and eventually became the abuser. Then, there were people who worked hard to make sure they never became anything like their abuser, that was their biggest fear. That fear kept them fighting, gave them purpose and made them stronger and better people than their abuser ever was.
Daryl was definitely the second kind. Judith thought that it was such irony, with Daryl's favorite vest having angel wings and all. He was an angel himself. There wasn't something that could make her think otherwise. Not after she saw the way he treated her and her brother. Not once did he raise his voice at either one of them like some of their father's other friends who assumed that just because they were Rick's friends and their mother was dead, they could be their parent as well. Daryl was always there for them. Whenever Carl called him and asked him to pick him up from somewhere, Daryl got in his truck and did as told, no questions asked. One time while Judith and Carl were hanging out in the living room, Judith just mentioned that she would kill for a red velvet cupcake. A couple minutes ago, Daryl said he needed to run some errands. Not even half an hour later, he returned with a huge, red velvet cake that they all couldn't eat for a week. Daryl was always there to listen to them when they needed to get something off their chests and they needed advice. Judith could go on forever about why she loved Daryl as much as she did.
Carl, even if he was "too old for emotions" or whatever, loved the man just as much. That was why he immediately agreed when Judith proposed that they fixed his vest as a way to thank him. While he was running some of his errands, he bought whatever they were going to need so Judith could start work. Then, he discreetly pulled the vest off the hanger in the closet and simply put it in the closet in Judith's room. While she was working, he would sit on the bed and keep watch, while also keeping her company and offering assistance when it was needed.
Judith was working on the vest as she impatiently waited for her brother to come and help her. Spark was cuddled on the foot of the bed, fast asleep and purring contently from time to time. As far as she knew, Jesus and Negan were somewhere towards the front of the house, in the kitchen or maybe the living room. Daryl was either with them or he was the reason why Carl didn't show up.
Just as she picked up another small container of paint to add a new layer, she heard something. She looked at the window, the curtain wasn't allowing her to see what was going on. Daryl warned her and her brother that sometimes racoons, possums and other animals hung out on the balcony and around the roof of the house during the night. However, Judith was sure that whatever it was, it wasn't a possum or raccoon.
The balcony was big, actually really big. It went around the house, from the guest bedroom, down the side of the house and to the bedroom that Carl was currently occupying. There was a table and chairs, Judith sometimes hung out there when she wanted to sketch and Carl sneaked back there when he felt like having a cigarette. The balcony also had a staircase that went down in a spiral all the way to the dock. It was something between a balcony and a porch, Judith definitely had no idea whose idea it was to build it like that but she liked its massive size good enough not to have complaints.
However, the design of the balcony was her least problem, what was her problem was whoever was out there.
Judith watched enough horror movies with her uncle Shane without her dad knowing to know that whoever went to explore always died first. However, she couldn't sit there and do nothing. The trespassers were quiet enough, so quiet that if the adults were still in the kitchen or living room in the other side of the house, they would never hear them and someone could get hurt. By the sound of it, they were already making their way in and Judith didn't have time to alert Daryl or the others. The only main exit to the balcony was through Daryl's room, however Judith had sneaked in through the window once when she didn't want to disturb Daryl and that meant that whoever was outside and looking for a way in could do the same.
Judith immediately got up from the bed and went to the window. She quickly but quietly and without moving the curtain locked the window before she pulled the key out of the lock and put it under the lamp on the nightstand. She took a deep breath as she thought about her next move. While she went to get the adults, the strangers could break in and they could all get seriously hurt. Carl was most likely asleep and vulnerable in Daryl's room, which meant he was the easiest target and was in biggest danger. Judith wasn't about to let anything happen to her brother.
Her footsteps were quiet, her socks made no noise as she focused on stepping from heel to toe in the way Daryl showed her back when they were in the forest one day. She was sure he was going to be proud. However, she needed to concentrate on the task at hand, needed to be careful and mindful or her steps and breathing.
All of that flew out of the window when she heard Carl's muffled scream and commotion from inside. She was already two steps away from the door so she didn't care if her footsteps were loud. Just when she heard something else fall, she flung the door open. The voices from the living room stopped, which meant that Negan, Jesus and Daryl had heard the commotion. Even if they said anything, Judith wasn't able to hear a thing aside of the ringing in her ears as the adrenaline put her in a fight-or-flight mode.
She wasn't exactly sure what she expected, but what she saw was most certainly not it. Her eyes were wide in horror as she took the scene in front of her. Three men, from what she could make out in the darkness of the room, were hovering over the bed. Carl's limp body was on the ground by the bed, his body in an unnatural angle that made him look dead. Judith took a couple steps back when she noticed the dark liquid that pooled around Carl's head on the floor and made his brown hair seem like a catrane mess.
One of the men stepped closer. The horrible smell answered whatever questions Judith had about the weird mask on his face. She couldn't help the shrill scream that ripped from her throat as she turned on her heels, but it was too late. The man immediately lunged at her, taking her to the floor in an attempt to quiet her. Judith couldn't help the tears that trailed down the sides of her face as the man held her by the neck as he started to gag her with a rag he pulled from his pocket. He didn't say a thing as he stuffed the rag as far as he could, not caring when Judith started to choke as she tried to fight back. The other two were mumbling something to themselves, discussing whether they should kill her or take her as well. There was a whistle from outside, which meant the ones in the room weren't alone. One of the man's hands was removed from her neck and Judith tried to scream when she saw him reaching for something in his belt, but before he could even get whatever he needed-
"Don't you touch her! "