Beth didn't care about rules anymore. She had followed the rules, and it hadn't changed anything. Her mom and brother had still gotten sick and been taken away from her, along with almost everything else. There was no more school, friends, parties, shopping, or even TV. Her world had been reduced to her home and the surrounding farmland. The only person she had left who wasn't family was her boyfriend, Jimmy.
He was now living with her, because he had nowhere else to go. This situation was something her dad never would have allowed before this sickness overwhelmed the country. Teenage hormones alone would have made it hard enough to resist going too far, but Beth was also restless and bored. After all the resistance she had put up before society ended, she now gave her virginity to him within two weeks of him moving in with her family. It hurt just as much as Maggie had told her it would, but what was that compared to the emotional pain she had endured?
She and Jimmy were exploring sex together, since he wasn't that much more experienced than she was. Then Rick's group had arrived on the farm and immediately brought turmoil and drama. Despite all the trouble, Beth was excited to meet so many new people. One in particular caught her attention. His name was Daryl, and he was completely different from the rest of the group. They were all fairly sociable, but he was quiet and kept to himself more. He hunted with a crossbow and appeared to have no fear of anything. To Beth, he was mysterious and seemed almost wild. She secretly thought of him as being apart from the rest of his group--the lone wolf.
Although he was much older than she was, Beth had never felt this kind of instant attraction to anyone before. Because she was so aware of him, it didn't take her long to realize that he was attracted to her too. She saw the way he watched her when nobody else was looking. Just one hungry look from Daryl aroused her more than when she was actually having sex with Jimmy. She wondered what it would be like to have those rough hands on her touching her in the most intimate ways.
