Keep Breathing My Angel

Silence fell over the group as the news sank in. Rick glanced at Lori then looked down sorrowfully.

"So no matter what, we... we..." Angela couldn't get the words out. She refused to look at anyone. Just started straight ahead at the dim light of the lantern.

"We die, we turn." Rick confirmed.

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Carol questioned.

"I didn't want to put more worry on the group." Rick said looking at her.

"That wasn't something you should have kept to yourself. We should have been told about it." Lori said harshly hugging Carl close and keeping a hand over her stomach.

Rick went to say something else, but sudden movement caught his eye. Angela rose to her feet and began to leave the room as quickly as she could.

"Angela." Rick called, but she didn't listen and kept walking. "Daryl, go get her?"

"Yeah." Daryl replied as he got to his feet and went to leave the room.

"Saw her go upstairs." T-Dog mentioned as he passed. Daryl sent him a nod in thanks.

Angela was found in one of the upstairs bedrooms, looking out the window that they didn't bother boarding up since it was on the upper level and out of walker reach. She had her arms around her body, hugging herself. Daryl stood in the doorway for a while watching her for a minute and hearing a sniffle come from her every once in a while.

Eventually he walked into the room closing the door behind him. Angela jumped at the sound, turning quickly on her heel, but relaxed once she saw it was Daryl and turned towards the window once again. When Daryl realized she wasn't going to speak or move from her spot, he made his way across the room in a few strides and leaned against the wall facing the girl he cared about.

"You okay?" He questioned softly still not completely sure how to go about talking to her when she was upset. Angela shook her head in response as silence fell over them again.

"It doesn't matter." Angela said suddenly.

"What doesn't?" Daryl questioned not sure of what she was talking about.

"I could have never protected her. Even if she survived the farm, eventually she would have turned anyway." Daryl realized she was talking about Layla.

"Ya can't talk like that. Ya know you did all ya could to keep her safe and if she was here you'd still do the same, no matter what we find out. She would have been safe."

"There is no such thing anymore. No where is safe, if one of us die for some reason or another we turn, not to mention we're constantly running. Tell me what's so fucking safe about it?!" Angela cried, turning to look at him. Tears were falling down her face again.

"I ain't gonna let anything happen to ya. Ya got me protectin' ya, so yer pretty damn safe." Daryl said leaning down towards her face to make his point.

Angela walked closer to him when he leaned away and wrapped her arms around his waist. He placed his arms around her pulling her tightly to him as she cried into his chest.

"What's the point anymore? There's no escape from death, no escape from the disease that runs the earth. Why are we still trying to survive when we could end it so much easier?" Angela asked once her tears slowed up.

"'Cause we can't let this world beat us. Ya gotta stay strong Angel. Can't lose ya, I won't." Daryl admitted. Angela pulled away slightly to look up at him.

"I still don't see the point of living, don't see any hope coming from surviving, but I will. I'll try to stay strong." Angela said and Daryl accepted it. The only reason he saw for surviving was Angela and if he lost her there wouldn't be much of a reason to keep going.

Looking into Angela's sad eyes, he place his hand on the back of her head and kissed her deeply. There was no way he could lose her, he didn't know what he would do if he did, he was just thankful she agreed to continue on, that she would try to survive for him.

He hoped that soon she'd realize she was truly cared about and that her loss would be devastating, not only to him, but the entire group. Mainly he hoped he could find a way to return hope for a new day, new life, to her and give her a reason to fight on, but for now he'd be there for her as much as he could and pray that would suffice until then.