Thank for taking the time to read. This is my first shot at this, I am not a writer nor want to be, I am just an woman with a very active imagination! I wanted to start this story towards the end and then go back to the beginning with the next chapter. I value your imput, you may find this nothing but ramblings, but do want to know if you think I should continue on. I will do the disclaimer thing. I dont have claim to anything Walking Dead ..ect ect.. hope you enjoy!
Another sharp contraction tore through her body, the waves of pain moving across her abdomen and down her thighs. Sweat ran down the back of her neck,down her face and in between her breasts causing her light cotton dress to cling to her . Her hands gripped the arms of the chair, knuckles white. Still, she said nothing. She could feel Hershel's eyes on her,practically boring into her, as he stood next to her rocking chair.
"Stace, you can't sit out here much longer" he told her. " I'm timing them even though you aren't sayin' anything you take a death grip on that chair when they start, and I'm guessin' they're about 5 minutes apart now." Hershel reached down and picked up her wrist, timing her pulse which was racing.
" I know that you are the doctor and I'm just a vet," he continued on, "But still we both know you are in active labor and the last time I checked, at 7 centimeters. Soon we are going to have to get you inside or you're goin' to have that baby on this porch." He put her hand gently back down on the chair.
" I know "
Stacie gave him a slight nod, her voice just a whisper, as if speaking would take an excessive amount of energy that she did not have. She wouldn't look up at him,instead continued staring straight ahead,her sad, jade green eyes scanning the long driveway up to the house where she sat on the massive wooden porch and rocked slowly,her right hand rubbing her belly , watching, waiting,praying.
The military academy had become their safe haven when they came upon it almost 6 months ago. They claimed the giant President's Mansion as their own, killing the remaining walkers that roamed aimlessly on the campus . It was just as secure as any military base. A high security fence not only surrounded the entire property the of the campus but an additional one built of bricks and gated, surrounded the house. They reinforced it in every way they could, and it had held. Also It was obvious that some form of a military unit had taken up residence here when the whole world went to hell, weapons,food and medical supplies were abundant.
There were 13 of them , 14 if you counted Sam, which everyone did.
Sam , Stacie's German Shepherd, her constant companion . He had proved invaluable to the group as he had saved their lives many times over, his bark and growl always alerting them that walkers were near, even when they hadn't been spotted yet. He was now sitting on the porch next to her, not leaving her side, as if knowing the turmoil that engulfed his mistress . Her left hand ran absentmindedly over his shiny black and sable coat as she continued to rock slowly back and forth.
Herschel let out a sigh and turned to Maggie, who was perched on the railing that surrounded the vast porch.
"Keep an eye on her please?" he asked.
Maggie, who had also been staring off in the same direction as her friend, turned to her father and nodded. Herschel took in the look of worry in her face , not just for what her friend was going through, but herself as well. His eyes wandered over the faded t shirt she wore, Glenn's of course, and down to the now promenent bump in her belly.
"They are going to be just fine" he told her,patting her arm as he turned and walked inside.
Maggie turned to Stacie, and could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, was this going to be her fate also? Sitting on the porch in labor waiting, watching, praying that the father of her child would still be alive and return home to her?
XXXXXX
It was a rescue mission,possibly a suicide mission, with a slim to none chance of being successful. They all knew it. Four days ago..after Daryl had been missing for over 2 months, a glimmer of hope. Rick and Glenn came upon a lone elderly man,near death, crawling along the the middle of the road, as they once again had gone out if hopes of finding Daryl alive. The man, who was in such bad shape they almost mistook him for a walker, was ranting and not making much sense, but they could put together some of what he was saying.
He had been kept in a prison run by a lunatic who kept men and women captive and had them battle walkers to the death for his and his group's entertainment. As the delerious man went on and on about all the horror , he kept mentioning a man, another captive, who had carried a crossbow, and his brother who was missing a hand. How the two were kept in a cell only to be taken to the "arena" time and time again to take on the walkers in a battle to the death. He went on to say how at night, the younger of the two men would cry out in his sleep,horrible anguish in his voice, always something about "Stay" and couldnt understand why anyone would want to stay there much less cry over it.
Rick and Glenn both knew instantly. Daryl was still alive. Calling out his wife's name as he slept,trapped in an endless nightmare. It also appeared that Merle,too, was alive,and from the description the man gave the only place they could be was the prison.
The elderly man,emaciated and dehydrated, passed away quickly thereafter. It sadden Rick to have to put his body into a ditch and put a bullet in this man's head,but knew if he didnt he would turn quickly and be dangerous.
On the way back to the campus, Rick and Glenn rehashed some of the events that occured in the prison during the time the group was held captive there.
Stacie had killed the Governor during one particularly brutal afternoon.
She had been at the start of her second trimester, but that didn't stop the Governor from putting her in the arena to do battle. He dressed her all in black, head to toe, turning her into some kind of quasi-gladiatior.
It all back fired though when she and Merle, who the Governor forced into the arena to kill her as his brother watched, formed a brief had been so weak after her long fought battles with walkers, she was no match for Merle. After beating on her a bit, trying hard to make it seem convincing to the Governor without hurting her, Merle boosted her up over the wall where in an instant she drew her machete and beheaded the evil Governer. It cost a dear price, for soon after it was over, Stacie miscarried one of the twins.
"Bet you one of his henchmen took over." Rick told Glenn with a disgusted snort.
" Musta come across Daryl and Merle hunting and captured em', payback I guess"
"Then why not just kill them?" Glenn asked
Rick thought this over for a moment.
"Then what fun would they have just doing that? Those sick bastards are blood thirsty, as if a world full of walkers wasn't enough. Now they have to have made a sport of it." Rick let out a long sigh , thinking of Daryl and the torment he must be going through.
"We have to go back there and get them." Glenn looked over at Rick waiting for his reply.
" Going to be getting dark soon," he spoke. "Prisons a good 50 miles, we will have to set out early in the morning, take another person with us."
Glenn thought for a moment, then voiced the question that Rick had running through his mind.
"With the prison so far away, how did they find Daryl and Merle? Its not like the go out for miles hunting, that means they got close to us."
"That is exactly what I'm thinkin'." Rick admitted, but thought to himself:
"But they hadn't stumbled upon our safe haven, not yet anyways"
Upon returning to the front entrance of the Academy campus, Rick and Glenn got out of the beat up SUV they were driving and unlocked the main gate. Old and rusted it made a loud high pitched squeal as they opened it.
" Man, that is like ringing the dinner bell." Glenn said.
"Needs to be oiled that's for sure." Rick replied
Rick returned to the battered vehicle and drove through the gate and waited as Glenn closed it behind him.
"Pain in the ass opening and closing gates." he grumbled tp Rick as they proceded up the long drive to the gate of the main house.
"Well some day you'll be glad we do just that, keeps us safe in here. You also got a baby on the way don't forget, we need to be safe, all the times, at all costs." He paused for a moment.
"From both the living and the dead."
They both exited the vehicle again and manually opened the gate to the house, which opened with more ease than the main gate. Rick once again got into the SUV and drove through the gate.
After closing the gate behind Rick, Glenn followed on foot up to the portico of the massive house.
As they made their way up the steps of the entrance way Maggie and Lori, baby Emma cradled in her arms, came out of the house to greet them.
"We found somethin' out today, maybe somethin' good." Rick told them. "Lets go inside so I can tell everyone at once." He turned to Lori, kissed her briefly on the lips and leaned over and kissed baby Emma's forhead and asked Lori." Where is Stacie?"
XXXXXX
Rick gathered the group together in the living room where Stacie, in her final days of pregnancy, held her place on an expensive but worn couch, feet elevated by several pillows.
Andrea and Sam, as usual , sat on the floor next to her. T-Dog, who had taken on some what of a self appointed guardian role to the expectant mother took the closet seat possible to her, on the once grand staircase. Maggie, Hershel and Beth stood together near the vast fireplace while Carol, Lori and Carl sat on another sofa.
It was Stacie who Rick went to .
Dressed in one of Daryl's old flannel shirts with the sleeves torn off, 2 sizes too big, it made her deteriorating apperance even more pronounced. It was enough to shock him. Long gone were her "chipmunk cheeks" as Daryl called them when teasing her, the part of her beautiful heart shaped face that when she smiled ( which had been often back then) made her eyes squint . Her once tan face was very pale and haggard, her cheek bones now prominant. Those brilliant jade green eyes, which used to sparkle when laughing, and shoot daggers when angry, where now dull, as if the light had gone out of them. Her long blonde hair hung lifeless in a hasty pony tail. Her arms, once strong and muscular from years of working out , had lost all thier muscle tone. Her legs as well. When they first met her almost 10 months ago, she appeared to be on the chunky side, but as everyone had found out , she had been rock solid muscle from her years of service in the Marines. Now she was thin to the point of being emaciated, but her belly was another story, huge, swollen with Daryl's unborn child.. For a moment Rick had a startling thought:
"The baby is devouring her from the inside out"
Could it be possible? He, like the rest of them, were hoping Stacie would pass her immunity to the bites onto her and Daryl's child, but what if it was just the opposite? Jenner said they all were infected, which proved not to be true in Stacie's case, but what about Daryl? Just as he and Lori prayed to the days up to Emma's birth, that she would not be born only to die immediatly and turn. Prayers were answered after Lori, enduring a lon,g hard 18 hour labor, brought Emma into the world. Stacie, who attended the birth, held her up to them and proclaimed her:
"Perfect"
"She's perfect" Stacie had told them, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible but failed miserably. Daryl had been gone a month then. Her nights of crying to sleep now behind her,she now just felt empty, a shell of her former self. Only when the baby inside her made his presence known by moving or kicking, would a small smile play across her lips as she rubbed her hands over her abdomen.
Now here was Rick, standing in front of her, telling her what she had longed to hear these past weeks . Daryl was alive, or at least he had been a few days ago.
" I promise that I will bring him home to you, Stace." He told her.
Lori's sudden intake of air was not lost on the group. Having just delivered Emma barely a month ago, she did not want Rick to risk his own life again, to save someone, even if it was Daryl.
Rick turned to her,knowing from past experiences she was not happy about it . She said nothing, but he could see her pleading with her eyes. She knew what Daryl had come to mean to this group. They all had become family, but she did not want to risk losing her husband for anyone. Especially if it meant he was returning to the prison.
"I'm going too" Glenn spoke up.
"Glenn.." Maggie started and stopped, biting her tongue for she was used to this being Glenn's way. If there was any hope of Daryl still being alive he would be a huge asset to Rick in his rescue. He patted her now obvious baby bump.
"It will be ok," he told her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him, "I promise"
"Count me in" T-Dog spoke from where he sat on the stairs. He was thinking on how many times Daryl had saved his ass, and maybe he could help return the favor. He also thought about how much Stacie had come to mean to him, hell , what she meant to all of them. If he could help restore her happiness he would do what ever it took.
"Me too" Andrea spoke up quietly from her spot on the floor next to Stacie. She reached over and took her hand and squeezed it, and thinking how cold it felt. Stacie squeezed her hand back in a grateful gesture.
"Now we all can't go" Rick stated the obvious. "We need some here, just in case.." his words trailed off, but they all knew what the words "just in case" meant. Rick looked around the room, taking in the expression on everyone's faces.
"Rick"
Stacie spoke up softly. As he turned back to her she held out a trembling hand to him which he took. It seemed so small and cold in his, far from the firm handshake she gave him when Daryl first introduced her to the group.
"Please be careful," she told him, "if you find that there is no hope,p..please don't put your lives in any more danger then you have to." Her words caught in her throat and her eyes teared up.
Rick gave her hand a slight squeeze.
" I am goin' to bring him home to you" he told her ." Tell that baby to hold on til' his daddy comes home."
Stacie squeezed his hand lightly in return and a small smile came to her lips and her eyes lit a brief second Rick caught a glimpse of the old Stacie, the one that at first they were wary and sometimes had even been a little afraid of, then as trust grew, forever indebted to her for saving Carl and for all the wisdom she carried and brought to the group. Rick could clearly see why Daryl had fallen so in love with her, that it had changed him, molded him into the man he now was.
She released his hand and returned hers once again to her belly.
Rick looked up and caught Lori's eye, she gave a small nod of her head in approval. He turned and looked at everyone of them one at a time. Unanimously then all nodded.
" Bring him home, Rick" Hershel told him. "Might n' as well bring that mean spirited brother of his along too while yer at it."
Merle in the past was never one of the groups favorites, some still hold him partially responsible for Stacie losing the one twin , but at the same time credited him with saving her life so she could do what she did to ensure their escape from the prison.
Rick noticed a small grin come over Andrea's face that gave him that " a ha" moment . Andrea would be happy to have Merle back. For what ever reason he really did not want to know, but could imagine. From this whole " end of the world" disaster, rose the most unlikly of couples.
Hershel started to move from his place by the fireplace towards the kitchen. As he did so he briefly stopped in front of Carol and placed a hand on her shoulcer squeezing lightly. She looked up at him with her soft, doe like eyes, covered his hand with hers and squeezed his in return. She released when he started to move on out of the room. Their relationship now no secret to the group.
At one time Rick was sure Daryl and Carol would have partnered up, until that day in the woods almost 10 months ago.. when Daryl came across Stacie, who at first saved his life, then threatend to gut him for spying on her...
Thank you all for reading. My next chapter will go back to the beginning , how Daryl and Stacie's paths first cross and touch on some of her life beforehand . I also hope you will like Sam, who plays a major role in the story.