A/N: Alright, so... Yes, this is my obligatory OFC fic... I WILL NOT FEEL GUILTY! We all wish we could have Daryl! All of you!

Ahem, anyways, now that that is out of the way... Yes, this is an OFC fic, although I do hope this will be a little different than some that you've read. In a way, it's not really an OFC fic in what we all think of them as. There isn't going to be a lot of lovey-dovey crap, or what you might consider 'romance'. Norman Reedus has stated repeatedly that he doesn't think Daryl is capable of a functioning romance with anyone, because of how mentally and emotionally damaged he is. And I'm going to try my damnedest to stay true to that idea.

Warnings: Mentions of past abuse (although I'll try to keep the graphic crap to a minimum), language (it is Daryl, after all), violence, angst, and etc, etc... You get the idea.

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my female character. I make no money off this, so no copyright infringement takes place. : )

My name is Jesse. Never really had a last name. Well, actually not having one wasn't the problem. Real problem was, I had about seventeen between the time I was five, and the time the world as we knew it ended. Hell, to this day, I can't remember what my last name actually was. Earliest one I remember was 'Harris'.

But my foster parents at the time –when the world went to shit –were the Lindowskis. Tried telling me and the other three kids they had that everything was gonna be just fine. That all we had to do was just hole up inside, and wait it out.

I knew better. Whatever was happening outside wasn't something we were gonna be able to wait out. People eating each other in the streets wasn't exactly something you just 'waited out'.

So I ran. Filled my backpack from school up with Pop-Tarts, Band-Aids, Neosporin, and the warmest clothes I had, and left. Never looked back.

We were all living in this little suburb, right outside of Atlanta. I figured with what I'd seen on the news, my best bet was to get as far away from the city as possible. I figured I knew enough to get me by in the woods. One of my foster parents had been a forest ranger. He'd taught me how to hunt, fish, trap… How to survive in the wild.

Don't know how long I was out there before I stumbled across the little camp in the mountains. Maybe two months. Maybe three. But they took me in. Some guy named Shane –ex-cop –decided I wasn't much of a threat, told me I could stay if I wanted.

Hell, maybe I was a little desperate for human contact. Maybe I thought staying with a group would be safer. To this day, I'm not real sure why I took him up on his offer to stay.

Most the people at the camp didn't interest me. Like a bunch of scared sheep, they huddled to the ex-cop for protection. And after twelve years in the Georgia Foster System, I'd learned to be self-dependent. Didn't want –or need –anybody. So they scrounged up a little pup tent somewhere, and I set up down by the water. They all tried giving me some shit about not being safe away from the group, but I figured I was probably safer down there, in the open, than up top there with all the trees giving the Geeks plenty of cover.

The only problem with staying was the two brothers. Merle and Daryl Dixon. They apparently had the same thought I had –or given what I'd come to find out about Merle, maybe the group had banished them there –and had set their camp up about fifty yards from mine.

First time I'd seen 'em, I'd went up to the camp to ask if they had any sort of soap. I knew after a couple months living in the woods, I was probably riper than some of the walking corpses I'd come across.

And there was the older one. Merle. Leering and eye-balling me across the main fire pit like I was some sort of meat.

"Hey there, missy. You's kinda cute," Came the chortled voice on the other side of the fire.

Jesse grimaced, but ignored the large, ugly man sitting just behind her, as she waited for the long-haired brunette woman to bring her a bar of soap.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you, filly!"

Finally, she turned, one hand resting on her hip, the other hovering a few inches from the buck knife hanging off her belt. "Yeah? And I'm ignoring you, asshole," She said quietly, forcing herself to hold the man's stare.

"Oh ho ho! Will ya look at that! Seems like we finally found ourselves a feisty one! Eh, Daryl?"

Jesse's gaze drifted to the smaller, younger man crouching by the chair the loudmouth sat in, her eyes daring him to join his brother. He locked glances with her for just a moment, before speaking.

"Jus'… leave it alone, Merle," He grunted, turning his attention back to the fire.

"Oh, c'mon now, Darlena! That ain't no way to be! Hey, girly! You any good with that pig sticker?"

Starting to get irritated –what the hell was taking the damn woman so long to find a bar of fucking soap? –Jesse smiled as sweetly as she could at 'Merle'.

"Dunno. Why don't you come over here, and help me find out, pig?"

She wasn't sure what she was expecting. Maybe for him to get out of the chair, and take her up on her offer, maybe a little bit of scorn, a few veiled threats…

But his laughter definitely wasn't on the list.

"I like you, girly! You got spunk! Hell, I think you'll do alright."

"Here's the soap, honey."

Jesse turned, heart thumping in her chest, at the woman behind her holding out a bar of Irish Spring soap.

"Sorry we don't have anything… well, for girls, but…"

"It's soap. You wash with it. Don't much matter what it smells like," Jesse muttered, grabbing the proffered bar, and stomping her way back down to the shoreline.

Never one to put too much stock in modesty, Jesse had stripped down to her underwear and white tank-top (lord, she missed her drawer full of bras), and dived in, keeping a firm grip on the soap in her hand as she swam out towards the middle of the lake.

God, it felt good, she thought as she began scrubbing away the months of muck and grime that had built up. She'd tried hard to keep herself clean, but water was scarce, and soap scarcer still. The last time she'd really been clean was the shower she'd taken before she left the Lindowskis.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed in the water. Knew it didn't seem near long enough, but the sun was starting to set. Last thing she needed was to get pneumonia or some shit from staying in the water too late.

She was almost out of the water when she spotted him.

"Well helllllloooo, missy! My day jus' keeps gettin' better an' better!"