Black Roses

“Hershel!” Rick called as they headed back out into the courtyard. They had successfully turned off the alarms but the damage it had done was obvious. Dozens of walkers were now banging against the wall. It was probably one of the scariest days of his life. They suspect that Carol was now dead as well as T-Dog. They found T-Dog’s remains as they headed out and also Carol’s scarf. Hershel hobbled over with his youngest daughter, Beth.

“You didn’t find ‘em?” Hershel asked. They had stayed outside in the courtyard in hopes that the others would return in vain. Nothing. Just a desolate landscape that had shown a world that was overrun by cannibals. It was heartbreaking. They had spent the last week attempting to make it livable and now they might’ve lost six members. Each one of them had a special place in everybody’s hearts. Glenn had high hopes that Maggie as well as the rest of the group would be standing outside when he arrived. However there was just Hershel and Beth. “What about T, Carol?”

Daryl shook his head. He was afraid that Rose wouldn’t come back. Parts of him told himself that there was no way that Rose could be dead however other parts of them dreaded for the worst. He didn’t know if his heart can take anymore. The possibility of Rose still being alive is the only thing that is keeping him together right now. Losing one of his dearest friends, Carol broke his heart. One of the first people to show him that human nature isn’t always evil or bad. She taught him how to be patient and tolerant within the group. “They didn’t make it.”

“That doesn’t mean the other didn’t,” Rick jumped up. “Beth, you saw Rose taking the rest. It’s ROSE! She would never let anything bad happen to Lori, or Maggie. Especially Carl. We’re going back! Daryl and Glenn, you come with me. I’m sure she’s somewhere within this prison waiting for us to find them.”

A distinct newborn baby’s cry filled the silence in the air as the group slowly turned around to locate the sound. Maggie slowly opened the gate with Carl and Rose close behind her. She was sobbing, unable to say a word as Rick moved towards them. Rose turned slightly to reveal the newborn baby in her arms with a protective aura as if she was the mother now. Her actions alone had resonated with the rest of the group. Rick dropped his weapons, not willing to believe it was possible. “Where is… where is she?”

Daryl watched how Rick attempted to go into the doors that they just came through. However Rose stopped him with such gentleness that Daryl had to double check that it was Rose. “No Rick. Don’t.”

“Oh no…. no! No,” The poor man began to cry. Lori… was dead. His wife. The woman that he had been horrible to for months now. The woman that he loved but forgot how to love. Glenn moved to embrace Maggie who was also sobbing uncontrollably. Daryl noticed how Carl stood close to Rose with a stony face, as if Rose was somehow comforting the boy by being close. Rick glanced at his son and fell onto the ground, “Ahh no!”

They all huddled together, mourning the loss of three lives. But suddenly, Rick sat up. Rose didn’t like the vacant look in his eyes. He looked… crazy. Rose narrowed her eyes at Rick, seeing hints of confusion on his face. She wasn’t the only one to notice Rick’s state of mind. Daryl saw it too as he approached Rick slowly.

“Rick,” Daryl whispered as he waved his hands in front of Rick’s face, hoping to get some sort of response. But there was none. Rick just vacantly stared at Daryl. Daryl tried again, “Rick!”

Hershel tore his attention off the grieving leader and onto the newborn baby. Rose did the right thing by holding the baby close to her skin. He saw that Rose had pulled down her t-shirt down and was holding the baby in the center of her chest, giving it skin to skin contact. “Let me see the baby.”

Rose narrowed her eyes onto Hershel, unsure if she wanted to let the baby go. She felt like it was her only source of sanity. The only thing that kept her there instead of escaping. She hated emotional situations with such passion. Rose bit her lips as she slowly handed the newborn over to Hershel. The baby needed to be checked. Daryl slowly approached Rose and Hershel. Rose’s face remained unmoving as ever but there were splatters of blood on her face. He wasn’t sure if it was walker’s blood or worse, Lori’s. Maggie and Carl looked like they had been to hell and back while Rose just simply stood silently. The only thing that was different about her was the loving glance in her eyes.

Daryl was hurt. He had spent sleepless nights, thinking about this woman. She drove him mad. Hell he confessed his love for her. Daryl sobbed in her arms when he realized that she was going to live. He loves her. But he had never seen that kind of look in her eyes. Not even once. Not when she told him that she “liked” him. Here she was with an adoring look in her eyes for a newborn. A baby that wasn’t even hers. Daryl knew it was silly. It was a baby. How could he be jealous of a baby? But he was.

“What are we going to feed the baby? Do we even have anything a baby could eat?” Rose quietly asked Hershel.

“The good news is she looks healthy,” Hershel finally put Rose out of her misery. She was so concerned that there would be something wrong with the little one. “But she needs formula. And soon or she won’t survive.”

The despair was so evident in Rose’s eyes. Daryl immediately got mad at himself. Who the hell he was to be jealous of a baby? Hell he should be ecstatic that Rose actually has emotions. She actually have the ability to love something. It means he had a chance. Daryl should be trying so hard to keep this baby alive. “Nope, no way. Not her. We ain’t losin’ nobody else. I’m goin’ for a run.”

Suddenly Daryl felt a little pressure on his head and looked down. It was Rose’s hand holding his. Her hands seemed so much smaller when they’re next to his own hands. Rose didn’t know who she was anymore. Everything she had done since locking themselves in that damp room was so alien and strange to her. For the first time in her life, she was responsible for two little lives. Sure she was responsible for the group’s well-being before. But that was just superficial. Keeping them out of trouble. Keeping them alive. But now these two little ones. Carl and the baby. She was responsible for them. Their emotional well-being. Their physical well-being. Everything. She couldn’t defy Lori’s last dying wish.

“I’ll back you up.” She vaguely heard Maggie offering to go with Daryl. But she didn’t want to let Daryl go. Their hands were linked together and it was surprisingly giving Rose strength to not fall apart in front of these people. Glenn offered to go, unsure if he wanted to let his Maggie go.

Rose swallowed uneasily, not sure if she wanted to be without Daryl or leave Carl and the baby with Rick who were obviously grief stricken. Daryl squeezed her hand gently, prompting her to glance up into his eyes. Everything that was instilled in Rose’s mind told her to run. Told her that humans would only slow her down. But her heart. Her heart hurts. Her heart told her that she needs to stay here for Carl and the baby. It wasn’t fair for them to go onto the road with her. It isn’t practical. But Daryl frightened her. She wondered if this was love.

“Okay. Think about where we’re going,” Daryl nodded and then turned away from Maggie and Glenn towards Beth, “Beth. Kid just lost his mom… his dad ain’t doing so hot.”

“I’ll look out for him,” Beth nodded. Rose exhaled a long breath as she forced herself to pull herself together.

As she let Daryl’s hand go, she turned to the prisoners, “You two get the fence. Too many pile up… we got ourselves a problem.”

“Glenn, Maggie. Vamonos.” Daryl alerted the other two that it was time to go. Rose stuck a quick kiss on the baby’s forehead and turned to Carl, bending down to hug him. But as she bent down, Rick grabbed an axe and stormed into the prison. The chaos that broke out within the group had Rose stepping up.

“Cut it out,” Rose snapped to the rest of the group, “We lost a tremendous amount of people. Rick is gonna have to do his own things. But now we focus on us. Us a group. Some of us are going on a run. The rest of you, I expect you guys to tidy up a bit.”

Daryl sprang into action and discussed the possible locations for baby formulas. He shrugged off his crossbow and replaced it with a sleeveless leather jacket. “There’s any place that hasn’t been completely looted?”

“We saw signs for a shopping center just north of here,” Glenn suggested. Rose, on the other hand, was assuring Carl that she was going to come back. She didn’t want him to feel like he was going to lose another female figure but she needed to act immediately if she was going to keep his baby sister alive.

“Yeah. But there’s too much debris in the road. A car will never get though that.” Maggie shook her head. Daryl glanced at Rose, remembering how she disappeared from his sight and the despair he felt. The strange comfort he felt when she grab ahold of his hand. She was breaking. He can almost see it. Her ice heart was slowly chipping away.

“I can take one’a ya.” Daryl whispered, already knowing the answer. Maggie offered to go and Glenn protested. Rose and Daryl’s eyes met again. No. There was no way that he was going to let Rose stay behind. “Rose. You ready?”

Maggie’s eyes snapped up, realizing that Daryl was leaving her behind with Glenn. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be offended or not. But the strange look between Rose and Daryl shut her up. Rose was the brave one. She led them to safety. What did Maggie do? She cried. She felt like a failure. But she wouldn’t dare protest when it came to two of the most emotionally distant people of the group. Maggie recognized the emotions between those two.

It was love. There’s no denying that it was love in their eyes.