Lost Along the Way
Chapter 3, Frailty for the Dearly Departed
It was night and the only people that were awake were Carl and Kye
Their cell was locked from the outside like everyone else's. Carl turned his head to look at Kye.
Kye sighed and took off her shoes tossing them to the other side of the cell, placing her elbows on her knees her head supported by her hands.
"What's wrong?" Carl asked
"I'm exhausted."
Kye never feels the safeness she needs to fall asleep.
"I – I guess I'm just frightened… to have what happened happen again."
"Would it help to sleep with someone?" he asked the girl
Kye sat up and looked at him "Are you asking me to sleep with you?"
Carl's eyes widened and his face turned red "O- Only if it'll help…"
"I'll try sleeping on my own first…" Kye said getting up from Carl's bed and climbing up into her own. After a few moments Carl kicked off his shoes and fell asleep in his bunk
An hour has passed and Kye was so close to falling asleep, but her mind went to a thought she didn't want to think about and shot up. Kye hopped down from the top bunk and shook Carl a bit
"Carl?" she whispered
Carl sat straight up thinking something was wrong. "What happened, is everyone okay?"
"Everyone is fine… you don't mind if I climb in with you… do you?" she asked
His face went red again.
"I- I don't mind." Kye smiled and grabbed the small blanket from the top bunk while Carl scooted over.
Kye climbed in next to Carl and placed the blanket on the both of them. Carl's face was as red as a tomato; she was a bit red in the cheeks herself.
The girl moved around till she was comfortable and was finally able to sleep.
"Okay let's get the other car in, park west entry of the yard." Rick demanded
"Good," Said Daryl "Our vehicle's camped out there looking like a giant vacancy sign."
"After that we need to load up these corpses, so we can burn 'em."
"It's gonna be a long day." Stated T-Dog
"Let's ask Glenn and Maggie," Carol Suggested "We could use some help."
"They're up in the guard tower," Daryl stated
"Guard Tower," Rick asked "Weren't they just up there last night?"
"Glenn," shouted Daryl "Maggie!"
Glenn and Maggie took a cool minute to come out of the Guard Tower.
"Hey," Glenn said shuffling out of the tower while in the progress of buckling his belt. "What's up guys?" He said trying to avoid the situation. Daryl, Rick, Carol, and T-Dog chuckled away at them.
"You coming?" asked Daryl
"What?" Glenn asked thinking of something else and wasn't entirely sure of what Daryl meant. They laughed again.
"Are you coming?" Daryl repeated.
Glenn looked back at Maggie with an unsure look on his face
"C'mon, we could use a hand."
"Yeah, we'll be right down." Glenn replied instantly. Maggie groaned.
"So close" she whispered to Glenn walking back into the Tower.
"Hey Rick." said T-Dog grabbing Rick's attention.
Rick's smile disappeared when two of the surviving prisoner's walked out.
Rick strolled to the prisoner's.
"Come with me." demanded Rick; the prisoner's still walked closer.
"That's close enough." stated Rick "We had an agreement."
"Please, Mister, we know that." Said one of the prisoners while his arms were crossed "We made a deal… but you gotta understand… we can't live in that place another minute, you following me?" he said trying to convince Rick "All the bodies, people were new… blood, brains everywhere…They're ghost's."
"Why didn't you move the bodies out?" questioned Daryl
"You should be burning them." T-Dog said
"We tried… We did." He continued
"The fence is down in the far side of the prison," said the other prisoner "Every time we drag a body out those things just line up, we end up dropping the body and running back inside."
"Look we ain't got nothing to do with Tom, Omoss and Andrew… You tryin' to prove a point you proved it, bro." said the first prisoner "We'll do whatever it takes to be a part of your group just please, please, just don't make us live in that place."
"Our deal is not negotiable." Rick said "You either live in your cell block or you leave."
"I told you this was a waste of time." Said the second prisoner "They ain't no different from the pricks who shot up our boys… you know how many friend's corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw 'em out like… these were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dude's in the joint. Like Tom, Omoss and Andrew. Now we've all made mistakes to get in here, Chief… and I ain't going to pretend to be a saint but believe me," He continued
"We've paid our dues… we'd rather hit the road than go back into that shit hole." Rick looked back at Daryl for a thought of what he could do; Daryl shook his head, not believing a word of it. Rick sighed and looked back at them. They've decided to lock them up on their part of the prison.
Carl walked down the cell block stairs to find Kye.
She looked behind her as soon as she heard footsteps come down the stairs; her face turned slightly red. Kye got a lot more sleep than she normally did last night.
"Hey." Carl greeted and sat next to her
Kye smiled "Hey." She replied when Beth and Lori walked in with some crutches for Hershel. Kye stood up and went with them into Hershel's cell, Carl followed. Kye crossed her arms watching as Hershel made an effort to lift himself off the bunk.
"Just take your time." Lori said to Hershel
"Daddy don't push yourself." Beth demanded
Hershel stood on his remaining foot and took the crutches from Lori "What else am I going to do? I can't stand looking at the bottom of that bunk any longer."
Kye glanced at Carl as Hershel readied himself to try and walk with half a leg. Kye moved back slightly so Hershel would have enough room to walk out.
"You know, I think I'm pretty steady." He looked over at Lori and began walking out of the cell
"That's a good start," Lori stated "Wanna take a rest?"
"Rest?" Hershel chuckled at the thought "Let's go for a little stroll."
Hershel began walking out the cell and everyone else followed him. It took a while to reach the outside where the rest, Lori opened the door to the outside and waited for Hershel to walk out.
Beth, Kye and Carl followed behind Hershel to make sure he didn't fall backwards. Once they all reached the stairs Hershel took his crutches and stepped down each time
"Daddy take your time." Beth told her father. Hershel lost his balance for a second but he gained it back. Soon enough they reached the bottom of the stairs and they were strolling towards where the rest of the group was.
"You cleared all those bodies out?" questioned Hershel "It's starting to look like a place we could really live in."
"Hey you watch your step the last thing we need is you falling." Lori warned keeping one hand on his shoulder to prevent him from losing his balance.
Daryl held open the fence for Rick and Glenn "Looky here" He nodded at Hershel and the rest
"He is one tough son of a bitch." Glenn stated referring to Hershel
"Alright Hershel!" Glenn shouted cheering him on.
"Shh, keep your cheers down." Daryl said pointing to the walkers on the outside fence
"Aw man, can't we just have one good day?" Glenn said to himself
"You're doing great daddy." Beth said cheering on her father
"Ready to race, Hershel" Carl asked challenging the man in a joking way
"Give me another day," replied Hershel "I'll take you home."
Maggie held up her hand to her eyes to block the sun so she could see her father walking around, she had the biggest smile on her face.
Lori was looking at Rick and he was looking at her. Kye raised her eyebrows and listened carefully, she heard groaning getting loader as they stood there; she slowly turned around
"Walkers!" Kye shouted and took out her gun waiting for the other's to recognize the walking corpses.
Carl instantly turned around and pointed his gun.
"No!" Rick shouted when he heard Kye's warning. Rick and Glenn started running; Maggie and Lori started taking down the walkers with a head shot. Carl began shooting at the walkers, hitting each and every one of them. Hershel quickly followed Beth to safety while Glenn immediately started tying the broken fence.
Kye was a few feet away from Lori shooting away at the walkers when she ran out of ammo
"Are you serious!?" She yelled at the object in her hands.
Lori looked to her side to see what Kye was shouting about and realized what was going on
"Lori!" Maggie signaled for her to come over to where she was and Lori gave Kye and Carl a look to follow her.
Lori opened one of the door entrances and made sure Maggie, Carl and Kye got in safely after that she shut the door and followed them.
Maggie instantly turned around as she saw a group of walkers headed their way
"This way" Maggie demanded, pointing the other direction for them to follow. Maggie helped Lori run a little faster since the weight in her stomach slowed her down.
When they had gone far enough from the group of walkers Lori froze in place.
"You gotta keep up." Maggie stated
"Something's not right" Lori said soon after the prison alarm started ringing.
"Are you bit?" questioned Carl
"I don't know," Lori replied "I think the baby's coming"
"Mom" Carl asked with a worried expression as the group of walker's caught up with them. Maggie lifted Lori as much as she could and followed Carl and Kye to look for safety. More walkers were coming from the front of the hall so they had to turn left. Kye realized they passed the boiler room that she slept in the night before she went with them.
"Boiler Room" Kye stopped Carl and nodded in the direction of the room. Kye stepped back and opened the boiler room door for them to enter. The rest of them ran in while Kye was attempting to shut the door but it wouldn't close all the way.
Kye gave up quickly with the door and ran to where they were she saw Carl scan the room for walkers. They all went silent as they heard the group of walker's pass by. Lori started hissing and gasping in pain holding onto a chain that had been attached to the boiler.
"What are those alarms?" asked Lori
"Don't worry about it," replied Maggie
"What if it attracts them?" Carl asked but he was ignored
"Lori, let's lay you down." Maggie suggested
"No, baby's coming now."
"We need to get back to our cell block and have Hershel help-" Carl stated
Maggie cut him off "No. we can't risk getting caught out there, you're going to have to give birth to this baby here." Lori started breathing in and out, deep and fast.
"What is she doing can she breathe?" Kye asked in a bit of a panic
"She's fine," Maggie replied "C'mon let's get your pants off"
Maggie began taking off Lori's pants and laid Lori on the boiler room floor.
"I'm gonna need help delivering your brother or sister, you up for it?" Maggie asked Carl
"I'm gonna need your help also." Maggie turned her attention to Kye and she nodded. Maggie spoke to Lori for a second. Everything was going by so fast for her, but it felt so slow.
"I can't tell." Maggie said
"I gotta push."
Maggie helped Lori up so she can push while standing. Lori grabbed on to a bar and pushed as hard as she could.
"Somebody!" Lori shouted.
Maggie immediately took her hand.
"I'm okay." Lori breathed out heavy
"Just keep doin' it your body knows what to do let it do all the work." Maggie told Lori.
Lori started pushing again
"Good, you're doin' great."
Lori pushed harder this time
"Lori stop don't push something's wrong."
Lori ignored her and kept pushing.
Maggie took a look at her hand and saw blood all over it she immediately took Lori and laid her on the floor again. Carl came up beside her
"Mom," Carl checked to see if his mother would respond "Mom look at me keep your eyes open."
"We have to get you back to dad." Maggie said taking Lori's hands in hers
"I'm not going to make it."
"Lori, with all this blood I don't think you're fully dilated, pushing isn't gonna help." Maggie said
"I know what it means," Lori said "And I'm not losing my baby."
"You've gotta cut me open."
"No… I can't." Maggie shook her head
"You don't have a choice."
"I'll go look for-" Carl got up ready to walk out the door
"No." Lori shouted and Carl turned back around
"Look Carol's the one that practiced that, Dad only taught me the steps, Lori, if I-"
"Please." Lori begged
"I have no anesthetic, no equipment."
"Carl has a knife." Lori Stated
"But you won't survive." Maggie stated holding on to Lori's knees.
"My baby has to survive, please, my baby, for all of us" Lori said
"Please, Maggie, Please" Lori shouted and Maggie shook her head with tears in her eyes
"Please." Lori repeated. Maggie pulled up Lori's shirt slightly.
"You see my old c section scar?"
"I can't." Maggie shook her head in refusal
"You can, you have to." Lori looked from Maggie to Carl
"Carl, baby I don't want you to be scared okay? This is what I want, this is right." Lori took her son's hand and held it in her own "Now you take care of your daddy for me alright? And your little brother or sister, you take care of them."
"You don't have to do this." Carl sobbed
"You are gonna be fine. You are gonna beat this world, I know you will. You are smart and you are strong and you are so brave, and I love you."
"I love you too." Carl cried
"You gotta do what's right, baby." Lori said "You promise me you'll always do what's right; it's always so easy to do the wrong thing in this world… so if it feels wrong to do it, don't do it, don't let the world spoil you." Lori wiped away a few of Carl's tears with her hand
"You're so good." Lori said
"You're the best thing I ever did, I love you." Lori took Carl in her arms "I love you." Lori repeated "My sweet sweet boy, I love you"
Maggie cried harder as she watched the scene.
Kye watched the scene as tears streamed down her face, a shaky breath letting out every few seconds.
Carl cried louder and Lori kissed his cheek
"Okay, Okay now." Lori said while Carl moved away
"Maggie when this is over you're going to have to-"
Maggie tried to speak but Lori wouldn't let her
"-do it, it can't be Rick… Alright… it's alright."
Carl handed Maggie his knife as Kye kneeled next to Lori.
Lori looked up at Kye and gave her a weak smile
"It was lovely meeting you, it was a short 'get to know you' but I enjoyed it…" Kye tried her best to smile back at her without breaking down
"Can I ask you a favor?"
Kye nodded
"Watch over him for me." Lori asked whilst pointing to Carl.
Kye glanced at Carl and nodded
Lori looked up at the ceiling and took a few breaths
"Goodnight, Love."
"I'm sorry." Maggie said as she cut open Lori's abdomen, Lori instantly screamed she couldn't take it so she passed out from the pain. Maggie set the knife down and opened up the skin a little more
"Carl give me your hand." Maggie demanded
"What?"
"Carl, please… I need you to keep the sack clean okay? If I cut to deep I'll hurt the baby" Maggie slid in her hands in search for the baby in the womb
"I see it, I see its ears. I'm gonna pull 'em out…I can't tell if this is the arm or the leg."
Maggie began pulling the baby out but it wasn't crying; from what anyone could tell it wasn't breathing either. Maggie messed with the feet to see if the baby would move. It didn't. So she started tapping on its chest. didn't work. Maggie flipped the baby into her other arm slowly and rubbed the baby's back in hope it will start crying.
The sweet sound of a newborn babies cry filled the room
They all sighed of relief; Carl instantly took off his jacket and handed it to Maggie.
Maggie wrapped the jacket around the baby and cut the umbilical cord.
"We've gotta go." Maggie stated
"We can't leave her here… she'll turn." Carl stated and stood up.
Maggie pointed to her gun in her pocket while holding the new born baby
"No." Carl said
"Carl."
"She's my mom." He said as Maggie walked away.
Kye stayed by Lori's currently dead body.
Maggie walked by the door to check for walkers and Carl turned around to see Lori's corpse and Kye.
Kye stood up and looked at him with sympathy in her eyes.
He stared at his mother's dead body then looked up at Kye, his eyes began to water again and he burst into tears. Kye started walking to the door but stopped to where he was at, she looked to her side to glance at Carl who still had his eyes on her.
Kye looked down and walked to Maggie. A few moments passed when a couple of walkers left the hall, Maggie shut the door and stopped to hear a loud bang. Kye's hand came directly to her mouth and tears came flowing. Carl came around the corner ignoring both of their presences. Kye watched Carl leave the boiler room and Maggie follow.
Kye stood there for a while but she caught up with them. Maggie opened the door they originally ran in earlier that day. Rick was yelling about going to find them, he stopped as soon as he heard a baby cry.
Rick looked over to where the sound was coming from and Kye, Carl, Maggie and the baby were coming out of the door; but no Lori.
Rick started walking over to them and dropped his axe.
"Wha- Where is- Where is she?" Rick tried as hard as he could to speak without bursting into tears. Maggie didn't answer so Rick started walking to the entrance they came out of
"No, Rick, No." Maggie said struggling to hold him back with the baby in her arms. Maggie let go and Rick stayed, he started crying and looked over to Carl.
"Aww… No." Rick said bending down to Carl's height; he realized what his son had to do. Rick completely broke down
"No~" Glenn took Maggie in his arms.
Rick fell to the ground, sobbing his heart out while Kye walked up behind Carl, She put a hand on his shoulder but he didn't bother. Kye took her hand back, collapsing on the stairs and sobbing into her hands. She didn't want this to happen to him, to anyone. She knew the pain, the pain was something so terrible.
A/N: The end was extremely hard to write without crying. Next chapter is probably going to be Kye when the heard attacked her home, because I have to wait for the next episode of TWD. It's only four days. Reviews make me happiest which give me an awesome amount of motivation…
