Wake the Dead

I brought my head off of Daryl's shoulder and summoned my strength. I had to be strong for Rick and Carl.. I looked up and saw that T-dog and Carol where missing. "T-dog and Carol?" I asked Daryl, my voice a whisper. He just shook his head no. I took in another deep breath at the thought of what could have happened. The baby started to cry louder and squirm more in my arms as I held on to it.

I looked over and saw Rick was struggling, looking like he was in another world. Carl walked over and I handed him his baby sister, and then went over to Rick who had his hands on his knees. He was staring right at me, but looked like he wasn't seeing anything. "Rick. Rick you with me?" I asked as I crouched down to his level. Rick looked at me, but then in a quick movement he grabbed my machete and then ran into the prison. People called out for him, but I knew he needed this. "Let him be." I said as Maggie walked over.

"Good news is, she looks healthy." Hershel said as he inspected the baby. "But she needs formula and soon."

I stepped over to them, ready to do anything that needed to be done, but Daryl stopped me. "No. No way. We ain't losin anybody else. I'm goin for a run."

"I'll back you up." I said bluntly, not caring about my broken arm, I had to do this for Lori... He knew there was no stopping me so he nodded and threw his crossbow on his back. He started to take the lead and told everyone what they needed to do. It was nice to see how he stepped up and became a valued member of the group, and I definitely loved seeing him be leader, no disrespect to Rick of course.

"You three get the fence. Too many pilin up we got our selves a problem." Daryl told the prisoners and V. "Fi, Glenn, Vamanos!" He yelled. The others didn't move, so he ordered again. "Come one! We're gona lose the light!" He grabbed the keys and threw them to Glenn so he could open the fence. We all ran over to his motorcycle and Glenn was trying to tell us places to go, but Daryl said they where all ransacked.

"Is there any place that hasn't been looted?" Daryl asked as he put his crossbow down and slid on his poncho. "Wasn't there signs for a daycare or something down the road aways?" Glenn asked, making a bell ring in my head.

"Yeah, there is. They could have lots of formula." I said to all them. Daryl nodded and then started up his motorcycle. Glenn handed me an empty backpack and I slid it on then sat behind Daryl, holding on to his waist. Glenn unlocked the gate for us and shut it after we drove through, heading off to this unknown daycare.

We drove around for a while, but ended up on dirt roads most of the time. The playground of the daycare was in sight and Daryl drove onto the grass leading up to it. We both got off the motorcycle and I pulled out my knife while he got his crossbow ready. "Stay tight." He told me and then we went inside of the fenced playground. There were swings, sandboxes, and jungle gyms that would have seemed fun, but now its just creepy.

I walked past Daryl and peeked through the windows of the building. I didn't notice anything odd so I took my knife and smashed open the window while Daryl watched my back. I climbed in, knocking everything off the desk that was against the wall and jumped down to the ground with a soft 'thud'. I looked around and saw that everything was a mess, looking like people ran out in a big hurry. The walls were covered in paper hand prints with children's names on them. I bet 90% of them are dead...

I stopped myself from thinking like that and pulled the back pack off my back and walked over to cupboards by the sink. I opened them up and found some empty bottles, blankets, diapers, and some clothes which I quickly stuffed in the bag, but no formula. I heard Daryl come in the window now, letting out a grunt as he jumped to the ground. I quickly looked through the rest of the drawers, but found nothing useful.

I then followed Daryl out of the room, since he was the one with the flashlight, and crept into the hallway. We walked as quietly as we could down and I peaked into a room real quick, but saw everything was gone inside. I heard some banging come from the room next to us, and quickly tip toed over, with my knife ready. Daryl did the same thing, but came from the other side. He slowly pushed the door open for me and I spun around, ready to attack, but saw nothing except the close doors moving.

I walked further in, allowing Daryl to follow behind me. He put his flashlight in his mouth as I gripped the door handle, this time I was going to open it. I looked at Daryl, then back to the door and quickly swung it open in one movement. We where greeted by the hiss of a possum, but Daryl immediately shot it. "Hello dinner." He said as he went to grab it. I rolled my eyes at him and started to look through the other cabinets.

I opened up the ones above my head and saw multiple cans of powdered formula. "Jackpot!" I called out and started to put them into my bag. I found a few more cans and some more baby clothes through out the rest of the room. Daryl was waiting for me outside of the doorway so I quickly zipped up the bag and walked out, leading him to the window we smashed. He went in front of me and slid out the window first, then offered me a hand to get out.

When I got down I looked over at him as we walked back to his motorcycle. "What the hell happened?" I asked him, causing him to raise an eyebrow at me. "At the prison. How did the gates get open?"

"That prisoner that ran away from Rick cooked himself up a plan, but failed." He said as he looked ahead.

"I wouldn't exactly say he failed.." I mumbled as I remembered Lori's screams.

We got to the bike and I put the backpack on, but before I could sit, Daryl spun me around and quickly pressed his lips down to mine. I was shocked at first, but then my whole body reacted to his touch. I had been waiting months and months to kiss him and be in his arms again, so my body was on fire. I quickly kissed him back with as much passion as my body allowed me to show him.

I put my hand up to the back of his neck and pulled him into me more, never wanting him to let go of me, but eventually he had to; we had a baby to feed.

When he broke away I felt my lips tingle and his eyes looked deep into mine. We stood there and looked at each other for a while, but then we both noticed that the sun was starting to go down, so we quickly hopped on the bike and drove off.

I knew Daryl had been waiting to do that as much as I was, but was still uncomfortable with doing it in front of the others. I gripped onto Daryl tighter as we drove back, I finally had him..
When we got back to the prison it was now completely dark. Glenn, V, and the prisoners started to take out the walkers that where near the entrance as we drove up. They opened up the gate right as we drove up and then quickly shut it behind us. I jumped off Daryl's bike and ran towards the prison and into the cell block for the starving baby.

I immediately heard the babies loud cries as I ran in and saw Carl holding him, surrounded by the others. I quickly ran to the nearest table and dumped out my bag. Maggie came over and helped me whip up a bottle of formula. I grabbed it and then walked over to Daryl who was now holding the baby.

I was surprised at the sight, but then I instantly felt my heart melt. I handed him the bottle and he started to 'shh' the baby as he fed her. He rocked his body back and forth a little and I couldn't help but let my self smile. Daryl looked up at me and gave me one of his rare happy smiles, making my heart pound.
"She gotta name yet?" He asked Carl.

"Not yet, but I was thinkin.. Sophia... There's Carol, too.. Andrea.. Amy... Jackie... Patricia...Syd..." I tensed up immediately at the sound of her name and felt my face fall. "Or Lori... I don't know." Carl trailed off. I saw V put a hand on his back for comfort and then it was silent.

"Yeah? You like that? Huh? Little ass kicker?" Daryl cooed at the baby. He looked up again with that heart melting smile. "That's a good name, right?" He asked, causing everyone to laugh a little. "Little ass kicker, you like that huh? Yeah sweetheart?" He continued to coo at the baby. I felt my heart melt at what I just experienced; definitely the softer side of Daryl.

He caught my gaze once again and gave me a small smile as he walked over and handed the baby to me. She was still wrapped up in Carl's jacket as I cradled her in my arms. "Beautiful." I mumbled and looked up to Daryl who was still standing by me with his bright eyes. I reached my broken arm slowly up and grabbed the bottle from him as I continued to feed her.

I sat down at the table I was standing near and just looked down at the beautiful baby as I heard the sounds of her sucking on the bottle. I didn't realize that I had a small smile plastered on my face, probably the first since a year ago...

She eventually finished her whole bottle of formula and I set it down on the table. I hadn't noticed that everyone had gone to bed, but I was now the only one sitting here, besides Daryl who was cleaning his arrows at the table across from me. I slowly stood up and brought the bottle back over to where the rest of the supplies was. I noticed that the baby was slowly starting to get droopy eyes.

I walked over to the table Daryl was at and sat a little aways next to him. We sat in silence for a little while, but Daryl eventually ruined it and suddenly turned so he was facing me. "What happened to ya durin winter?" He asked, his voice quiet.

I was confused at his random question and didn't really want to think about it so I just looked at him. "W-What? Why?"

"Ya seem so different..." He whispered, noticing the baby was almost asleep.

I rocked her a little and looked back up at him. "Everybody's different."

He seemed to get a little angry that I wasn't telling him what he wanted to know. "Fi..."

"What Daryl? What do you wan't me to tell you." I hissed at him. It was dark besides a few lanterns so it was hard to make out his face, but I could tell it wasn't as happy as it was before.

"Ya told me yesterday that I didn't know what the hell ya went through durin winter, so I'm askin." He snapped, still keeping his voice quiet.

I didn't respond right away, instead I looked back down at the baby that was now sleeping soundly in my arms, well technically my arm, my broken one wasn't providing much support. "I did what I had to do so I could survive and find you." I said, not looking up from the baby. "I made some bad mistakes, but it's only because I knew if I didn't go with them that I would die and not be able to find you." I continued, but I was more of trying to convince myself that if I didn't go to the group that raped me and got some of their food and supplies, I would have died.

"Them?" Daryl asked, confused on what I was talking about.

I looked up at Daryl and decided right then and there I wasn't going to tell him the exact truth. I couldn't. "I was starving so I went with this small group who offered me food." I started, keeping my voice strong. "Turns out they were all just a bunch of assholes. They broke my damn arm and beat my up so they could take the last of my supplies and what not. Left me in the snow, freezing, practically dead." I stated, completely avoiding the worst parts on purpose. "But, V found me and brought me to his group."

Daryl was listening very hard and was trying to search my eyes for any indication of emotion to give me away, but I quickly stood up and looked at the baby. "The rest of the time before that I was jus' runnin around cold, starving, and alone. Not much to go into." With that I turned around and walked back to the table with the baby supplies on it. Lil' ass kicker already had a diaper on, so I just grabbed a blanket and slowly wrapped her up in it, trying not to wake her.
I looked down at her, still amazed by how adorable she was and couldn't help but ask my self; what if this was mine and Daryl's baby? I quickly shook the thought from my head when I heard Daryl come up behind me. "Follow me." He said and then led me up the stairs.

He led me to an empty cell that he used to keep all his stuff in. I sat down on the lower bunk, my stomach barely even hurting anymore, as he walked over to his bag and dug through it. He stood up, then held something out and I noticed that it was my notepad that I left back at the cabin. I can't believe he kept it, or even went to get it in the first place. I shifted Lil' ass kicker so I could reach out my broken arm and grab it.

He stood there awkwardly as I flipped through it, but then gave in and sat down next to me. He took off his crossbow and leaned against the bed. "Thought ya might want it." He said as he looked at me. The pages were worn and the whole thing was in bad condition, hell he carried it all winter with him, but my pictures were still clear as day. "Thank you." I said as I looked up at him, our eyes meeting. He nodded and I then slowly scooted back on the bed so my back was against the wall and my legs where out in front of me. "You got a pencil?" I asked him.

He thought about it for a second, but then started to dig through his bag again. He then got back on the bed, back leaning against the wall, too. He held his hands out, signaling for me to give him little ass kicker. I leaned over and slid her into his arms, trying my best not to bump my broken one. When he got her all situated and cuddled up in his hold, he handed me the pencil. I took it and then curled my legs up a little and let my shoulder just barely rested on Daryl's as I flipped open to a new page.

I could feel his eyes watch me as I started to draw little ass kicker.

I don't know how long we had sat there in the bed, but all I knew that I felt complete again in Daryl's presence like this. He was right; I was different, but when I was with him like I was now, I felt sane again.