Wake the Dead

I was laying in a room on the ground all alone. It was dark and dead silent. I looked around and noticed my stomach was huge, like I was 9 months pregnant. All that I heard was a dark voice in the distance whispering. I wonder if it was a boy or a girl. The voice echoed and bounced all over the room and I tried to sit up, but a shooting pain in my stomach made me fall back down. The pain didn't stop though, and then it got worse and worse. It felt so real. Something was clawing at the inside of my stomach, the baby. It must have just turned, it's probably starving. I heard that creepy voice whisper in the distance. I tried screaming, but nothing came out and all of the sudden a hand had broken free from my stomach.

I shot up screaming bloody murder. I suddenly felt dizzy and everything was spinning, I was dreaming. I heard people talk in the distance. "FI!" It sounded like Syd's voice, but I was to dizzy to even see anything. "Is she awake?!" I heard a familiar raspy, southern voice say. Daryl? I tried to get to the voice, but ended up falling back out of dizziness and everything went black again.

*

I felt a cold hand on my head that caused me to slowly blink open my eyes. The light was really bright at first, but then when I got used to it I saw Hershel standing above me. "Good to see you're up. How are you feeling?" He asked me when I processed where I was... In the same room Carl had been.

My body didn't feel numb anymore, but my mind did. "Uh- hurts a little, just throbbin I guess."

Hershel nodded "That cut on your stomach had to be stitched up, but the one on your leg was just cleaned and bandaged." He sat down at the edge of the bed and looked over at me. "Did you know you were pregnant?"

I had a hard time getting the words out, but I managed. "Y-yes." Was the baby still alive? I knew this wasn't a world for children anymore and I never even imagined being a mother, but I wanted my baby to be okay.

He stood back up. "I'm very sorry." Those three words were enough to answer my question. I felt my body start to shake, that man had killed my baby..

"The cut was just deep enough to kill the fetus. I opened the wound up a little and cleaned everything up for you, so now you just need to heal."

He called it a fetus. Baby sounded too terrible, but it was just a little baby. I needed air, I needed to breathe. "Can I walk around? I feel okay."

He sighed. "I would probably tell you that you should stay on bed rest for at least the day, but you don't look like you are going to do that, are you?"

I shook my head no and Hershel gave me a weak smile, "Just take it easy." And with that he walked out the door.

I looked down and saw that I was wearing one of Daryl's sleeveless shirts, but my pants had to be cut off to access the wound on my leg. I sighed and then noticed a pile of clothes and a glass of water on the bed side table.

I slowly sat up, not wanting to become dizzy again, and grabbed a pair of shorts on the table and slid them on. I then heard the door creak open. I looked up and was greeted with a weak looking smile from Rick. He shut the door behind him and came and sat in a chair across from me. "How are you feeling, Fiona?"

"Numb." Was all I said as I reached over slowly and grabbed the glass of water, drinking it all. I was numb physically and mentally. "What happened earlier?" I asked him becuase I was confused how I got here or what was going on when I woke up before.

"We were all just sitting by the RV when we heard Daryl's motorcycle and him yelling. I saw him run towards us holding you all covered in blood. Your blood." He paused. "Daryl put you in here and Hershel cleaned and fixed you up. Daryl and Syd stayed in here for a while, but Daryl was just driving himself crazy so he went hunting and Syd eventually fell asleep so we moved her to your tent." He looked right into my eyes. "What the hell happened out there?"

I tensed up at the question. I guess Daryl hadn't told them anything, he was too worked up. I don't know if he would be pissed at me or never want to talk to me again. Would he even want our baby? I guess he doesn't have to worry about it now.

I threw the glass across the room, earning a bad reaction from my stomach. I cried. It was more of a scream cry, but I felt tears fall out of my eyes. I had masked my emotions so well that I couldn't cry before, it was impossible, but now I'm just so physically and mentally drained I couldn't push it away.

Rick had rushed over and sat next to me pulling me into a hug. I sobbed into his chest and tried to tell him what went down. "T-These guys they, they were hurting Dary-l-l. They tied us up a-and they were gona.. T-They were gona r-r-." I had a hard time getting it out through embarrassing sobs.

"Shh, you don't have to tell me." Rick said trying to calm me down.

I felt so weak. Rick was seeing how weak I was and I hated it, he will never take me seriously again. I pulled away from his hug and slowly stopped the crying. "No. I will tell you." I paused, feeling Rick's worried gaze on me. "They didn't get too far with doing anything to me, because I found my knife and got the rope they tied me with off." I said looking down to my bandaged wrists. "I killed the guy on top of me. Didn't even think twice about it, just stabbed em. The other guy he-he came over and-." I didn't finish, I just looked down to my stomach and put my hands on it. "I wonder if it was a boy or a girl." I mumbled in a whisper.

Rick had gone silent in shock, realizing that I was pregnant. "Fio-" I cut him off and finished the rest of my story.

"After he had sliced me up, I snook up on him and shoved my knife in the back of his head. He was just dead in the blink of an eye. And the thing is I don't even feel bad about murdering him in cold blood."

"I'm so sorry, Fiona." He said with the most sincere look in his eyes.

"s'okay." I mumbled.

"No, it's not okay!" He said loudly, getting worked up.

"Well there is nothing we can do about it right now! Those guys are dead.. I killed them. It's over." I whispered the last part and then slowly stood up, trying to avoid the throbbing in my stomach and leg. Rick stood up and helped me own the door and down the porch steps, over to the group. Daryl was still not there, so I went over and climbed inside my tent.

Syd was sleeping on her sleeping bag, so I went over and shook her awake, I needed my sister. She slowly opened her eyes and saw it was me, then shot up. "Oh my god! Fiona!" She cried and then hugged me tightly.

She broke away from the hug and then looked me in the eyes. "Daryl came back here and I thought you where dead! I-I asked Hershel and he told me the baby was gone. What happened? Why? Who? Have you been crying? You cried? Oh my god, I love you so much." Sydney frantically babbled in sadness as she hugged me again.

I broke away from the hug and looked at her. "I am fine. I'll heal up nice and good soon. And we just ran into some bad people, but they're gone now." I wiped the tears off her face.

She sat back down on her sleeping bag. "I was worried sick. Everyone was worried sick."

I snorted at that, I don't think half the people here really like me.
"What? Everyone was, especially Daryl and Rick. Glenn was and hell even Shane was."

Shane? I highly doubt that. "Daryl?" I asked her.

"Yeah, he stayed with ya most of the time. He was freaking out to, pacing back and forth, but when ya asked him what happen he just yelled about some assholes. He ended up driving himself crazy and wen't to look for Sophia some more. Fi, did you tell him about the baby?"

Daryl was worried? "Uh, no, but he saw the pregnancy test earlier. Um, I'm gona go get somethin to eat." I kissed Syd on the forehead and then left the tent to feel everyones gaze on me. I couldn't take the looks they were giving me, none of them knew about my baby, but Rick, and they all still looked at me like I was glass. Maybe I was? Carol came over and handed me a plate of squirell meat that I thanked her for and sat down and ate.

Everyone was silent around me, which didn't really help me keep my sanity. I finished my plate quickly and put it with the other dirty ones. I was about to walk over to tell Rick I wanted to go looking for Sophia again, but i was stopped when Andrea yelled out "walker!"

There was only one, and Andrea wanted to take it out with her gun, but Rick yelled at her not to and ran over with Shane and Glenn to take it out silently. "I can get it from here!" Andrea said aiming the gun.

"Andrea don't shoot, they've got it covered. You're just wastin bullets!" I snapped at her, but her being stupid, she took the shot anyways.

She cheered when she hit it, but then stopped when Rick started screaming and carrying the walker back with Shane. But I saw as they got closer, it wasn't a walker, it was Daryl.
"You dumb ass! You weren't supposed to shoot!" I yelled at Andrea who had shock and guilt on her face. I can't lose Daryl, too!

"Go get Hershel!" Rick yelled. I ran quickly back to the house, ignoring the pain in my thigh, and flung the door open. Hershel shot out of his seat and looked at me shocked.

"Daryl's hurt, he's back and he's hurt. Andrea shot him." I said as I tried to catch my breath.

Hershel ran into the room I was just in and pulled the sheets back just in time for Rick and Shane to lay an unconscious Daryl down. "Is he dead?" I asked.

"No, he's just unconscious, bullet grazed his head." I let out a sigh of relief as Hershel spoke. "I need y'all to give me space, but Fiona I need you to help me strip him, he has multiple injuries on his side."

Rick and Shane left the room and I ran over and took Daryl's tank top off that was covered in blood. I then worked on pulling his jeans off, which I was struggling with because I felt it tug on the stitches in my stomach, but I finally got them off and threw them across the room. I was glad he was unconscious while I took his clothes off because if not it would have been really awkward.

Patricia came in with stuff for Hershel to clean, stitch, and bandage the wounds on Daryl. I looked at Daryl lying there unconscious and realized how much I needed him. Even if he hated me and we never talked again, his presence made me feel better, safer.

I backed out of the room and walked into the kitchen to see Rick and Glenn sitting at the table. I sat down with them, but held my stomach as I went down, it wasn't very comfortable on my stitches to sit.. "Hershel's just cleanin him up now, still unconscious." I told them.
They both nodded and Rick slid me a glass of water. I took it and downed it all quickly. "I'm gona go find somewhere comfy to sit down in, maybe take a nap." I told them as I got up and headed into the living room. I slipped into a cushioned chair and immediately fell asleep, trying to keep my mind away from the depression that was tugging at it.

When I awoke I felt like I had only slept for a few minutes, but as I walked into the kitchen I noticed that it was more of like a couple hours. It was now dinner time and Carol and Lori where in the kitchen making dinner. They saw me come in and smiled. "We are makin dinner for Hershel and his people, to thank them." Carol told me. "We made a plate for Daryl, would ya mind takin it to him an see if hes awake?" She asked me softly. I nodded and took the plate, heading to the room Daryl was in. Shane and Rick were near the door so I used this as a perfect opportunity to tell them something.
I walked over and coughed to make my presence known, they both looked at me. "I wana go lookin for Sophia some more. Daryl found that little house a day or so ago and I wana go see if shes close by."

"You need to rest. You just got back." Rick said to me with worry in his voice.

"We're close to findin her! Shes around here somewhere and I can't stand here another minute knowing I could be lookin for her!"

"He's right." Shane added in. "You need to stay here and rest. We can't risk you getting hurt worse or lost."

"I'm fine. I'll be well rested by tomorrow mornin to go out!"

"No. Fiona. You nearly died today, you can take one day off." Shane said to me in a demanding tone.

"I already had today off! Are none of y'all takin this seriously? We got clues, Sophia could be close by!" I said to them starting to get angry.

"Fiona, you aren-"

"Fuck it." I cut Rick off and went into Daryl's room, shutting the door behind me. I set the plate down on the bed side table and starting pacing next to the bed. Another night that Sophia will be out there. Another day that I would have to sit here trying to push the monster away that was trying to drag me down. Why isn't every able body out lookin for her right now? I was growing angry, I just wanted to scream. Today has just not been my fucking day, that's for sure.

I grabbed the fork off Daryl's plate and threw it across the room letting out an angry grunt. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, because it felt like a bitch on my stomach, I wouldn't be surprised if I messed up the stitches. I let out a whimper in pain and went down on my hands and knees, keeping one hand on my wound.

"Fi?" I heard a hoarse voice come from the bed. I looked up to see Daryl was awake. "Oh, sorry." I said realizing I might have woken him up. "What were ya doin?" He asked me.

I stood up straight. "Uh, just brought ya some food." I pointed to the tray on the table and then turned around to leave.

"Fi." He called, but I just kept walking and opened the door. "Dammit, Fi! Come back here!" He yelled trying to sit up. I hesitated, but stepped back in the room and closed the door. He managed to sit up and lean against the head board. "Would ya please just fuckin come over here." He said in a stern, but tired voice.

"I don't wana." I said as I stayed near the door. He gave me a confused, angry look. "I don't have the patience or mood to have you mad at me right now." I said to him as I turned around to leave again.

"God dammit, I ain't mad at ya, Fi! When ya gona realize that I fuckin care?!" He yelled quietly at me. His words caused me to stop and turn around to face him. He did care. I sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting down at his feet. I hissed at the pain that sitting caused my stomach and Daryl scooted over to me, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Think I might'a fucked up some of my stitches during my little freak out with the fork." I told him.

"Let'me see." He said getting closer to me. I hesitated, but I gave in and he helped me take off the shirt of his I was wearing. I leaned back on my elbows so the wound was more accessible. He looked at me, but then looked down to my stomach. He put his hand lightly over the stitches and inspected them. His touch tingled on my skin, in a good way, and I got butterflies in my stomach, hell I was sitting in front of him in my little black bra.

He took his hand off my stomach and looked back over at me. "Stitches are fine. Ya just yanked at em a little." I slowly sat up, handed him his shirt back and reached over to the table, retrieving a clean shirt. I put my hands through the sleeves, but couldn't manage to get it over my head without wincing in pain. I gave up and put my hands in my lap and looked over at Daryl who was enjoying watching me struggle. "Can you help me?" I asked him.

He laughed a little at me, but then grabbed my shirt and guided it over my head. It was a tight, long sleeve black shirt that actually flattered my body pretty well, but after this morning, that is the last thing I wanted. I looked back over to Daryl. "Can I have your shirt back."

He saw the way I looked at the tight black shirt I was wearing and understood that I didn't want to be showing off my body, so he handed me back his plaid sleeveless shirt. I was tired of asking for his help so, I slid it on over my head first and then pulled it down, wiggling my arms out the arm holes. I sighed when I had it on and looked down at the ground, knowing Daryl probably had something he wanted to say on his mind.

"Fi." He started, but I didn't let him finish. "Your foods getting cold." I said quickly, causing him to remember he had the plate and pick it up. I walked over and picked up the fork and slowly made it back to the bed to hand it to him. The pain meds Hershel gave me must be wearing off, because I was starting to feel pain in every step I took on my leg.

Daryl eyed me, noticing I was in pain, but just took the fork and started eating everything in big bites. "Are ya gona go eat with everybody? I heard them talkin about makin some big feast thing." He asked me between bites.

"No. I don't want to be around everybody right now. Don't like the looks they give me." I said as I looked at my feet. I saw Daryl set his place down on the table and reach over and put his hand on my shoulder. He wasn't one for affection, so I was shocked, but shrugged him off and moved away.

"God dammit, Fi." He said for what seemed like the 100th time today. "You gotta fuckin talk to me."

"There's nothin to talk about." I mumbled as I continued to look at my feet.

"You almost died today! Look at'cha self!" He grabbed my bandaged up wrists to show me. "Those guys they almost- Fuck, you know what happened. You gotta fuckin say somethin, Fiona!" He practically shouted at me.

He had used my full name. I hadn't heard him call me anything, but Fi, so I knew he was being serious. I looked up at him with sad eyes. I wouldn't break down, not in front of him. "I-I can't. It's getting harder."

"What? What's getting harder?" He asked, leaning closer to me.

"To fight it." I mumbled. He gave me a confused look. "To fight everything! It's harder to be strong, god dammit!. I'M WEAK!" I shot up from the bed. Daryl grabbed my arm and then maneuvered so his legs were now on the ground, but he was still sitting on the bed. He pulled me towards him.
"You're not weak, Fi. You didn't deserve any of the shit that has happened to you." He told me. I fell to my knees in front of him. "I deserved the baby." I mumbled. "But, it didn't deserve me, I was to weak, that's why this happened." I was trying so hard to not break down in front of Daryl, but I was struggling.

"This ain't ya fuckin fault. You're not damn weak." He said, angry that I was so angry with my self.

I looked up at him. "This isn't a world for children anymore, anyways. It's better this way."

He just looked at me for awhile. I couldn't read the look in his eyes either. But, all of the sudden he leaned down and crashed his lips to mine. I was shocked, but then stood up straighter on my knees and kissed him back. He put one of his hands on my cheek and the other on my back, pulling me to him.

The kiss was soft, but passionate. His touch was comforting and made my skin tingle again. His lips were soft on mine as our lips moved together, fitting perfectly. We both slowly broke away and looked at each other. He pulled his hands away from me, realizing he just showed a big sign of affection, which wasn't like him. I heard a knock on the door and stood up.

Syd walked in cautiously. "I-uh sorry. I-I'm going to head to the tent for bed, ya comin?" She asked me

I looked back at Daryl and then back at Syd. "Uh, y-" I surprisingly was cut off by Daryl. "She's stayin here tonight." He said in a demanding tone.

I saw Syd try not to smile. "Alright. Fi, I love you."

"Love ya, too." I said to her before she walked out closing the door behind her. I turned back to face Daryl and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I ain't gona have ya runnin around when I'm stuck in here, ya do somethin stupid. Like try and go look for Sophia."

I guess he had heard that conversation I had with Rick and Shane. I raised my hands in the air, signaling defeat and put my boot on his knee. He looked up at me confused. "Untie it." I said to him

He gave me a look, but then sighed and took it off for me, causing me to smirk. I switched feet, struggling to put all my wait on my leg with the cut, but he quickly got my boot off.

I turned the light of to the room, but the light on the bed side table was still on so it wasn't completely dark. I walked over to the other side of the bed and just plopped down. I heard Daryl snort a laugh at me because I wasn't being too graceful.

He slowly put his legs back on the bed kinda slouched on the headboard. I looked up at the ceiling and put my hand on my stomach under my shirt. I wondered what it would be like to feel my little baby bump right now. I wondered if it was a little baby boy or girl, but sighed in sadness. It's better this way, nobody deserves to be born into this world. If Carl getting shot and Sophia getting lost doesn't prove that this world isn't for children anymore...

My thoughts were interrupted by Daryl's grunts of pain as he slowly laid onto his good side, facing me. "What'cha thinkin so hard about?" He asked me once he got comfortable.

I ran my hand over my stitches, it was weird not to have a bandage on them, but I needed to let it air out. "Jus' stuff." I responded to Daryl still looking at the ceiling. I felt his hand go on my stomach, over mine. "Ya need to stop gettin ya self worked up about it, Fi." He always seemed to know what I was thinking.

It wasn't long after that until we both drifted off into a deep slumber.