Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead; the only thing I own is my OC Dani.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the fic, this is my first fan fic that I have ever written so hearings that you folks enjoyed the first chapter made me feel awesome!
I will try to keep the story line of the television show pretty in sync with the story but there will be things that are changed.
Chapter 2: Sleeping Sickness
Recap:
My eyes scanned the boy's face and my heart sank, both of my hands rushing up to my mouth trying to stop the small gasp from escaping.
His hair was much longer now and his baby face was shedding. He had certainly grown a couple of inches since the last time I had seen him.
"Carl?" I breathed.
"Aunt Dani" he said confused.
I can't believe it. My nephew is alive, and if my nephew is alive then there is a damn good chance that my sister is too. Dropping to my knees in front of him I wrap my arms around his waist. I couldn't help but let the hot tears roll down my cheeks. I hadn't been able to contact my sister or brother in law once all this shit had gone down and after a month of everyone dying around you, you start to lose hope that the ones you once cared about the most are either dead or undead.
"Where's your mom? Where's your dad!?" I ask eagerly placing both of my hands on his shoulders.
Carl was always the type of kid that when asked a question he would give you the answer right away. You didn't have to pry it out of him, he was an honest boy and my sister had done a good job of raising him that way.
He shuffled his feet looking down at the ground. Without saying anything he took my hand and led me up the dirt path to the seemingly magnificent sturdy walls of the prison. I couldn't help but look at him the whole time; he had grown up so much and definitely was not a little boy anymore. My head diverted away and looking straight ahead now I saw my brother in law.
The look in his eyes was that of surprise, confusion, and happiness… He walked at a fast pace towards me and grabbed my face in between his two hands looking me up and down as if to make sure I was real. He then brought me close to him in a long hug.
"Hi" I managed to choke out" A smile resonating on my face.
"I can't believe you're here kid" letting out a little chuckle and then a sigh.
Lori and I were nine years apart but since Lori and Rick had gotten married so young I was just a little younger than Carl when they started dating. Rick had always called me kid. I never liked it, especially once I wasn't a kid anymore. But now the word sounded so sweet. It sounded like home.
"Where's Lori?" I said concerned, my smile fading and worry creeping into my heart.
He took a step back and the look in his eyes said it all. There was no need for words. His eyes darted down to the ground and he slowly rubbed the back of his neck, grabbing his face to make him look at me the tears began welling in both of our eyes.
I felt like I had just been punched in the stomach. I couldn't control my body. I felt numb and limp as I collapsed to the ground. Thankfully Rick had caught me half way down. We sat on the ground and he held me as I cried. We sat there for what seemed like hours as he explained to me all the obstacles that they had face up until this point.
I couldn't believe it… My sister had somehow managed to carry a baby in this cruel world. Somehow through all of the pain I felt there was a small sliver of hope that made its way through when Rick told me about Judith and how healthy she was. If a baby can make it alive in this world then so can we.
Rick stood up and offered me a hand. "C'mon, there are more people inside that I want you to meet".
I pulled myself up and brushed off the dirt. I took the edge of my shirt to wipe away the tear marks which had broken up the dirt on my face making streaks on my skin. I was suddenly worried about appearance, I hadn't seen people in about two or three weeks and the group I was with before, well they were with me from the start. I had known them personally.
Meeting a whole new batch of people in a zombie apocalypse and I was worried about looks. Good Lord…
I took my hair out of the fishtail braid it had been in for the last couple of days, fluffed it out leaving my hair in long brown waves falling just below my breasts. I look down at my feet, military boots that I had taken from an army surplus store, olive cargo pants, a once delicately colored cream tank top that had since been stained by dirt and blood and a medium brown vest. You couldn't be picky with what you wear now these days that's for sure and anything that you did find was eventually going to get covered in gore.
I followed Rick into cell block.
"Everybody come out here please, I got someone I want ya'll to meet" Rick said. Slowly one by one people came out from sheets put over cell bars. I stood there feet together with my left hand holding my right arm. All shapes and sizes came out from beneath the sheets, young and old.
"This is Dani, my sister-in-law" Explained Rick "She is a part of the group from now on". At the word sister-in-law their faces seemed to light up a bit, I was first hugged by a woman who looked to be around 50. She said her name was Carol. She seemed very motherly and I liked her.
A woman about my age it seemed came walked up to me with an Asian man following close behind.
"It's really nice to have you hear, we're glad that Michonne stumbled across you" She gave me a warm smile and pulled me into a hug. "My name is Maggie and this is my fiancé Glenn". The man gave me a small wave and smiled. I nodded and smiled although the sound of the word fiancé almost brought tears to my eyes.
The siblings Tyreese and Sasha smiled and nodded from across the room. An old man who walked with a limp made his way up to me taking me in a grand embrace.
"Hello sweetheart, I'm Herschel". He kept his hands on my shoulders eyeing me like I almost wasn't real like Rick had done when he first saw me. It was nice to feel so welcomed by people I had just met. As I was scanning I saw a young, blonde girl with a bundle in her arms. I was filled with such bitter sweetness.
"Hi, I'm Beth; I suppose you'd like to hold your niece". She smiled innocently and handed Judith off to me.
I managed to choke out a small "thank you" as I took this precious thing into my arms. "She's absolutely beautiful Rick". All he did was smile down at this gift of life.
I returned my niece to the sweet young girl because apparently it was someone's dinner time. Walking out of her cell is the first time I saw him, for heaven's sakes I almost ran straight into him and knocked myself on my ass.
He caught me by the arm helping me regain my balance but quickly retracted once I was OK.
"I'm Daryl" he said. His voice was deep and raspy and it sent an old familiar shiver down my spine. "I didn' get the chance ta introduce myself earlier, didn' wanna innerupt yer time with little ass kicker over here".
"Little ass kicker eh?" I chuckled. "That's a good nickname". I smiled sweetly at him only catching eye contact for a second before his eyes dodged to the ground. He half smiled, nodded his head and walked away.
