Show Me a Life With Blood and With Beauty

I walked until darkness hit. I debated where to go since nothing really was around and I after the scene I saw and how the man told me to stay on the tracks. I decided to sit down next to the tracks and just watch every direction the best I could. It was a peaceful uneventful night until I heard moans in the darkness. I couldn't really see what direction it was coming from. I tried to pick up everything I had taken out of my backpack to see what I kept when I had to run. I ran down the tracks and tried to get away from the walkers that were chasing me, while doing so I ran smack into one and barely had time to grab for my knife and stab it. I quickly stepped over it and kept running. I remember running til day break. Slowing down a bit and picking back up the pace. I didn't hear or see the walkers behind me as day break hit. I sat back down and went through my backpack. 'Shit... where is it?!' I thought as I was looking through everything. Back when we were at the prison, and while out on the run he found a jewelry store and found a few rings with birthstones and got one for my birthday and one for his and used his best guess for Miracle's. 'How could I lose it?' I sat there almost ready to cry.

I sat in the same spot and tried to remember where I had it last. I didn't take it out while at the funeral home. I must have left it when I had to run.. I thought. I looked through my backpack one last time. I kept it right next to my diary. I felt around and didn't feel anything, besides the diary. I knew I had to keep moving. I hadn't seen a Terminus sign for a while I was on the tracks so I knew I had to be on the right path. I came to a map that had 'Maggie Go To Terminus - Glenn' I felt my knees buckle. Maggie and Glenn? They made it? I stopped for a minute and thought 'What if Beth died? What about Maggie? She's lost so much already and to lose her sister...' I smiled as I felt the tears burn my cheeks. I'm not the last one. Others made it out. I kept smiling and walked with my head held high. I started to humming a song that I can't believe I even remembered. I kept on humming until I saw a walker stagger out of the woods. I ran up and stabbed it in the head and kept on walking.

Days passed and I still wasn't any closer to 'Terminus' and I was exhausted. I kept walking only to take breaks when needed. The babies were getting heavier by the day 'Well atleast I'm working off this pregnancy weight.' I said to myself. I remembered it like it was yesterday finding out I was pregnant and the dangerous birth. How Daryl was when I first told him, and how I saw the fear in his eyes when I first put his hand on my stomach and when he yelled in my face about getting pregnant and how he wanted to make sure the baby and I were okay when all was said and done. How he was there for me through everything, how when I went into labor he blamed himself when I found out I had to have a c-section. He blamed himself for so much. He blamed himself for his brother's death because he should have gone with him when he went to go kill the Govenor, but was stuck with me because I thought I miscarried. Daryl was a real hardass, but underneath that he was sensitive. Hell he could have joined in on that sicko's plan and not thought twice. He didn't know me, I was just a random girl who made the wrong choice by trusting someone. He told me later on that the reason he was out there was because of Sophia. I think back and I'm happy and sad. Sophia went missing and because of that Daryl saved my life. He might have not been able to save her life, but he saved mine. I'm still standing because of him.

I came to a map finally after days of walking with no hints. I looked and saw the lines weren't getting shorter. I mumbled 'How far is this place?' I had to keep walking, and a few walkers crossed my path and I thought I could take them out until more came and I knew I didn't have a fighting chance. I started running, and the scenery passed by like a blur. I couldn't lose this group of walkers no matter what. I ran until my lungs were burning. I looked over my shoulder and thought well this is how its going to end... I grabbed my knife and tried my best to split the walkers up and take out a few. I managed to stab about 3 and then they came back together. I remembered that I gave the gun back to Daryl, I just didn't want to keep it and he said one of us needed to so he offered. I managed to start running again. The moans behind me were scary. I didn't want to go out like this, with 2 infants who didn't even get a shot. I tried to take out a few more and start running again. I took out 1 this time and was going for a second one and it lurched at me. I screamed as I pushed it off. I stepped back and tried to go for its skull again. Direct hit. I had 4 more I needed to kill. I took off thinking maybe that will end the chase. I looked behind me and apparently they lost interest in the chase. I found a gutted walker and it looked a few days old. I remembered what Daryl taught me if I can't get away from them join them. I quickly stuck my hands inside the opening and found a bunch of blood and guts. I started to smear it all over my clothing trying my best to avoid the places the babies would be.

I rubbed my backpack lightly with some blood. I grabbed my water bottle and wet my hands a little and tried to get the blood off my palms. The smell was horrible, I ended up puking serveral times before I got away from it. The sun baked the blood deep into my clothing. Night quickly approached and I found a tunnel and decided to set up there for the night. The night seemed to carry on forever. The babies didn't really sleep and I had to manage to keep them quiet. As soon as dawn approached I got up and looked at the tunnel opening and saw it.. 'Glenn Go To Terminus - Maggie' - I had to be getting closer I thought to myself. The tunnel was pitch black. I decided to try my best to get through it. I started walking through and tripped over something. I saw the opening on the other side and made a run for it. I smiled and blinked when the sunlight hit me on the other side. I couldn't quite remember how many days I had been out here. I knew that I survived a few more days, but couldn't. I remembered the last time I wrote down the days was 3. I tried my best to keep track of the days anyways because I wanted to know how long I survived. I kept walking and a few more walkers stepped in my path and I took them out. I was exhausted and hadn't really slept since the traincar. The babies were hungry and I was hungry, I managed to find a few berries along the path I was on and gathered a few. I switched between the berries and feeding both babies. I never really pictured my life as a mother, I guess me and Daryl never really had kids on the brain. I baby sat a few children and loved them to death, but I never really planned my own. I guess I loved the children I took care of because at the end of the day they got to go home and I didn't have to watch them 24/7. Judith I didn't have a choice, I had to endure her crying and crankyness, and then to find out that after a one night stand I got pregnant. I loved my daughter with all my heart and nothing would ever change that.

Days and nights passed, and each day I remembered how it felt when Daryl was around. I wondered if he was okay. I wondered about Beth. Nothing really was going on so I decided to just take a break and pulled out my diary and saw a page marked. I opened it to the page and it had something written inside. 'I wanted to let you know that you're an awesome friend and a great mother. You stepped up when most people would back down. You and Daryl make a great couple and I know he's going to keep you both safe if something happens. You and Daryl are also great parents for 2 people who had to step up and deal with an unplanned pregnancy and I don't know many people who could do something like that in this world. I consider you a sister I never had and Daryl a brother I never had. Keep your head up.' I knew Beth wrote it. I smiled because she was so innocent in this world. I missed her and Daryl bickering back and forth. I remembered what she said 'Pretty soon I won't need you anymore.' when he let her train with the crossbow. If Daryl was gone she was so wrong. No matter what happens I realized I need Daryl more than I ever thought I would. I kept walking and saw more signs and I stood there and looked at the map. I wanted to get to this place so badly. I was starting to wonder if it even existed. I walked a few more supposed miles and saw in front of me a bunch of buildings. I knew that this had to be 'Terminus' and almost got to the gate when a bunch of walkers came out of nowhere and into the middle of the path. I ran into the woods hoping to lose them. I had to dodge trees and branches. I was running and didn't see a hole and tripped and put my hands out to make sure I didn't fall. I ended up banging my wrist up really bad. I picked myself up off the ground and kept running. My ankle was hurting like hell. I had scratches from branches and thorns all over me. I found another way to go to Terminus and was about to head that way when all of a sudden a loud explosion happened in front of my eyes. I stood at the fence and saw walkers all around and a fire.

I watched the walkers surround the people and devour them. I saw so much carnage, and it sickened me. This was a false hope all the way. All this work for nothing. I cried so much that I couldn't cry anymore really. What if Daryl was caught in the middle? What if Maggie and Glenn didn't survive? Someone is in these woods and it's not a walker, it's a person and they obviously have a gun. I grunted as I shifted the weight I was carrying. I wasn't very tall so 2 babies plus my weight and bags stuffed wasn't something I would normally do. I kept walking and found a nice shady area and just sat down for a little while. I heard moans off in the distance and readied my knife and all of a sudden nothing. Nothing. Dead silent. I heard a few guns go off and grunts from what sounded like a group of people. I tried my hardest to keep myself quiet. I covered my mouth and tried to muffle my cries. I couldn't tell what the people were saying but I knew they were close. I took off and then I heard it... 'We gotta go back. None of them deserve to live.' My eyes got wide. I heard another man say 'We got out. There's tons of walkers down there I think they are pretty well taken care of.' I heard a girl say 'Where's my sister?' silence. 'I was with the both of them. Something went wrong with the place we were staying. Walkers came down hard.' I heard the girl start to cry. I heard another man ask 'What happened to the others?' - I heard the man's voice break 'Like I said walkers came down and we had to run. I held them off as long as I could. I told them to run. I don't know what happened. I followed a car as far as I could and as you know I met that group. I don't know what happened to her.' - 'Are they dead?' I heard a different man say. '.. She's just gone. All of them are gone. All I have left of her is this, which I found coming this way.' I heard him try not to cry. I moved slightly and peeked over some grass and saw wings on his back. I pinched myself, and didn't wake up.

I stood up uneasy. I tried my best to walk over to Daryl. I saw the rest of the group talking between themselves and I kept walking and all of a sudden Daryl looked over his shoulder and dropped his crossbow on the group and ran up to me. He was crying, literally crying. I was crying. He looked at my bloody clothes and asked if I was okay. I shook my head yes. He looked into my eyes and those eyes pierced my soul. He looked at my head which I had a slight cut from when I hit my head earlier. He looked down at our daughter and picked her up and just looked at her. 'I protected her the best I could.' I stammered out. About this time I looked over at Rick and Carl who looked like they were fixing to cry. I stumbled over to them and said 'I've got a surprise for you.' I put my backpack on the ground and pulled Judith out who was asleep. They both looked at me in utter shock. Rick pulled me into a tight hug and I smiled. 'Tha..Than..Thank you.' He managed to say to me. I smiled and said 'We've all got jobs to do. Mine is apparently to be a mother.' I remembered how Beth used to say that all the time. From the earlier conversation I knew Beth wasn't there. We found a small creek and filled up our water bottles before another long trip to somewhere else. Daryl gave me his vest and said 'Go clean yourself up.' I went down to the creek and started to try to wash the caked on blood off my skin. The water was cold but it felt good on my skin. Daryl came down a few minutes later and said we were fixing to leave. I don't really remember what happened after that.

Daryl came into the creek and pulled me out of the water and started screaming my name. I passed out and swallowed a bunch of water and all of a sudden Rick came running with his gun raised. 'What happened?!' He said as he looked at me on the bank of the creek and Daryl trying to keep me breathing. 'She just.. I came down to tell her we were fixing to leave and I found her unconcious. She swallowed a bunch of water.' Rick kneeled down beside me and tried his best to keep me breathing. 'Come on baby. You can't go out like this. You.. you can't leave me.' Daryl kept saying over and over. Rick looked at me and then at Daryl. 'She looks dehydrated.' He saw the gash on the side of my head and brushed his hand across it. 'Daryl you know if she doesn't wake up-' - 'Don't you dare say that! She's going to wake up.' Daryl held me in his arms and I started spitting up water. He looked down at me and me up at him and his voice broke 'I thought I lost you...' I smiled slightly. 'Are you okay?' Rick asked me. - 'I'm a little light headed but I should be okay.' Daryl helped me to my feet, but I was wasn't able to stand let alone take a few steps. 'Daryl can you carry her?' Rick looked at the both of us. 'Yeah. You or Carl hold Miracle for us?' - 'Of course.' Rick said with a smile. Daryl lifted me up and carried me as we went to join the rest of the group. - 'What happened to her?' I heard Carol say. 'She's dehydrated. Passed out. Took on a bunch of water. She can't really walk right now.' Daryl as he shifted me around in his arms.