Disclaimer: Nothing in the Walking Dead universe belongs to me. Just my OC characters are mine, thanks.
Summary: It was because she had to keep moving. She had to find someone; anyone who could take her daughter and look after her. She couldn't just leave her alone in this godforsaken world, with nothing. No food, barely any water, and no warm clothes. She prayed fervently to God that they could find someone who would be good to her.
Some Kind of Miracle
The pain was almost unbearable. It felt like liquid fire had been pumped into her blood and was now taking over her circulatory system. Her entire body throbbed with the pain of it.
Yet, when she looked down at her daughter and she smiled up at her with wide blue eyes, she smiled back. The sadness was hidden behind her smile, and she felt the familiar ache in her chest when she thought of how much time they had left.
Not much.
The blood was dripping slowly down her arm, and she felt the droplets roll down her fingers and fall from her fingertips.
She wasn't sure how she was still walking she had lost so much blood.
It was because she had to keep moving. She had to find someone; anyone who could take her daughter and look after her. She couldn't just leave her alone in this godforsaken world, with nothing. No food, barely any water, and no warm clothes. She prayed fervently to God that they could find someone who would be good to her.
Tears stung in her eyes just at the thought of what she was leaving her with.
"Mama?" Her girl asked from beside her, her little hand tugging on her uninjured arm forcefully. She looked down at her, suddenly drawn from her inverted thoughts.
She smiled, "What is it, love?"
She pointed further ahead, "It's a big house."
She moved her eyes up to spot what she had been pointing at. It was in fact a prison, and there were civilian cars parked out front.
Hope moved through her like a tidal wave.
"Do you think you can walk as fast as you can with Mama?" She asked her, adrenaline beginning to pump through her and give her strength. This might be an answer to her prayers.
When she nodded yes, she grabbed her hand and began to walk as fast as she possibly could. With her good hand she had a hold of her daughter, and with her injured arm she still carefully carried the only weapon they possessed. A glock was tucked under her armpit, because she had nowhere else to put it. Her jeans were too loose to hold it, and she had no belt.
When they reached the fence of the prison yard they found bodies littered everywhere. There were none of the monsters walking about, yet.
She had moved their pace to a slow jog, pulling her daughter along as quickly as her little six year old legs could carry her.
"Anybody!?" She cried out, her voice hoarse and dry from dehydration. "Help us!" She cried again, her desperation dripping from her words.
She looked up into the guard tower of the prison and just knew that someone was watching her.
"Please!" She cried looking straight up there. She knew there was someone there, she could feel it. "Don't let her die this way! Please!"
She felt that her heart might burst when the door to the tower opened, and then suddenly the yard was flooded with living, breathing people. Tears began to drip down her cheeks as one of them approached.
She saw him eyeing the blood that had now soaked her entire right side.
"I'm not bit." She told him, her eyes swimming from the pain that had now decided to make itself known. "I was shot."
She put her hand on her daughter's head softly, ruffling her blond hair up a bit.
She leaned against the chain link fence, her energy wearing out.
"Please…" her voice was barely a croak. "My daughter…"
When the words had left her mouth her vision began to black out, and she felt her face press uncomfortably against the chain link fence and she tumbled to the ground unconscious.
…
"She isn't going to make it." She heard a voice talking somewhere around her, but she couldn't be sure. "She has lost too much blood."
She drifted in and out of consciousness, her eyes fluttering as she fought to open them.
"I can't…" She was trying so hard to beat the darkness that was trying to consume her. Her brain kept telling her to close her eyes; that she was so, so tired and she needed to rest. Yet, her heart kept telling her to fight it. She needed to make sure that her girl was being taken care of, that she would be alright here.
In the end she could finally open her eyes.
She was staring into the face of an older woman, who looked to be in her mid thirties with short cropped graying hair.
Her eyes told her that she was kind, and she could see the sympathy that lurked in their depths. This woman was a mother just like her, and she knew. An immediate connection was felt between them as they both stared into each other's eyes.
"My… my daughter?" She managed to ask, her eyes darting back and forth to find her. The woman grasped tightly to one of her hands and smiled softly.
"She is safe here." Relief flooded through her, seeped right down into her core.
It felt like she was lifting one hundred pound weights but somehow she managed to force the muscles of her face to smile.
"Will you take care…" The woman shushed her with a nod, and she relaxed against the pillow.
Anxiety fluttered in her chest and she felt like she had to tell her. She had to.
"Tell her, " She found strength in the passion of her words. She needed to know. "I will love her forever. Tell her always."
Tears began to drip down her cheeks. Thank goodness she didn't need strength to cry.
"Can I see her?" The woman nodded before she turned around and told someone something. She hissed as pain seeped down her arm, and she felt the darkness looming over her again.
She fought it with everything inside of her, and forced her eyes to stay open.
Moments later she felt the bed shift, and she looked down to see her daughter sitting by her feet. She had a terrible frown on her face, and her eyes had already begun to fill with tears. Children always knew, somehow. Perhaps they could feel it deep inside.
"Hey, bug." She whispered softly, reaching out with her fingers seeking to find her small ones so that she could hold her one more time. When their fingers touched she grabbed her hand and squeezed it with every ounce of strength she had left.
She was in her arms in an instant, lying against her chest with her ear against her mother's heart.
"I love you, mama." Her heart broke inside of her chest. She felt her lungs shake as she drew her breath in. Tears fell freely now, wetting her white blond hair.
With the good hand she stroked her hair. "Did I ever tell you about the day you were born?" Her voice was barely a whisper, her strength waning with each passing second. The girl lifted her head from her mother's chest for only a second to shake her head.
"Your mama was really sick." She started, recalling the memory with a bittersweet fondness. "They told me that if you didn't come really soon that neither of us would make it." She paused so that she could reach down and plant a soft kiss on the crown of her head.
"They told me that I was too weak, that the sickness in my blood was to strong. They listed all of the horrible possibilities; that you would come out mentally retarded, or handicapped." She frowned softly, "But I told them where to shove it, that my girl would be perfect no matter what."
She took another shaky breath, praying inside that she had enough strength to finish her story.
"It was taking too long and so they came in and told me that I either had to try and push, or they would take me to have an emergency C-section. So I started to push. To this day it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do," She paused, thinking briefly that this moment was ten times harder. "After being in the hospital and waiting for over twenty four hours, finally you were there."
The little girl looked up with a sad smile on her face.
"They put you on my chest as they cleaned you up, and I felt your skin for the first time." Her throat constricted at the memory, "I couldn't stop crying. When you looked up at me with your little swollen eyes I knew that I was lost."
She stroked her soft cheek, and closed her eyes to press the tears out.
"You were perfect." She whispered into her hair when she rested her head against her chest again. "You were so tiny, barely over five pounds. They had told me it was a miracle, that all of the doctors had been certain that neither of us would live." She bit her lip, "You were my miracle."
"Is that why my name is French for miracle?" Her mother smiled and nodded softly.
"My Mirielle." She said softly, and with an intake of breath her body shuddered in pain. Time was closing in on her, and she felt that the fight with the darkness was almost coming to an end.
She took her daughter's hand and looked into her beautiful blue eyes. "Now I know that this going to be hard, baby, but I need you to be strong okay?"
Mirielle's face scrunched as she began to nod through her tears.
"I love you." She told her fiercely, "I love you so much that it hurts when I think about not being here…"
A sob escaped her lips, and she grasped her daughters hand as the pain began to take over. "I need you to remember how much I love you, and I am so sorry that I wasn't strong enough…"
She gathered her daughter up and gave her a tight hug and kissed her hair tenderly.
"I love you too, mama." Mirielle whispered, clinging to her mother as tightly as she could while she cried.
Taking one last breath her mother smiled softly before her eyes fluttered closed. The fight was over, and she let her body rest.
Mirielle held onto her mother and cried for as long as she could muster the tears. The pain inside of her chest told her that it was a pain she would feel for a very long time.
Before she knew it she had fallen asleep and was being woken up by Carol pulling her up into her arms and carrying her away. She struggled and cried out for her mother, but Carol only held her closer. Whispered to her softly, told her that everything was going to be okay. Mirielle wasn't sure if she believed her then.
She fought and cried until she fell into a fitful sleep in the arms of the stranger, Carol.
…
Carol had finally gotten the young girl to sleep, and as she held her and rocked her. She couldn't help the tears that fell down her cheeks. She could identify with the pain the little girl was going through, and so she held her even when she fought the comfort. Her heart ached when she thought of the pain the poor girl's mother felt when she had to tell her little angel goodbye.
It was something that Carol never got to do, and to this day Carol wondered if saying goodbye would have really made a difference. Would it hurt less? She didn't think so.
"What are we gonna do with the mother's body?" Rick's stiff voice came from above her and Carol looked up. She wiped quickly at the tear stains on her cheeks.
"Bury her." Carol replied softly, "Give her a memorial."
"We don't even know her name."
"Mirielle will." Carol said softly, "She needs this."
Rick nodded, running a hand over his face before he turned and walked away.
Mirielle squirmed in her arms, and Carol shushed her softly as she began to sing.
Somewhere over rainbow way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
And somewhere over rainbow blue birds fly
Oh, if birds can fly over rainbow
Why, then why can't I?
Someday I'll wish upon a star,
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
And troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me
As Carol cradled the young girl in her lap she suddenly felt comforted. The world around them was chaos; the human race was practically extinct, but in that moment as she comforted the motherless daughter she felt a sense normalcy. She was a mother. She had a purpose in life again. This was where she belonged.
She silently thanked whomever was listening for the child sleeping in her arms.
… The End …
I would like to know what you think, love it or hate it. :D
Oh and I don't own the lyrics to 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow',
M.C