We have been wandering around searching for food and shelter. My dad, T-Dog, Daryl, and Carl went into a house to see if it was clear, the rest of us stayed with my mom. She was about eight months pregnant now, and we were desperately searching for a safe place to stay where she could have the baby.

The rest of us went into the home when it was safe. We sat down in the living room. No one said a word, we had to be quiet. The only sound was Daryl pulling feathers off of an owl, and Carl opening a can. My dad picked it up, it was dog food. He threw it in the fireplace. When, I looked at Carl, he looked slightly embarrassed. Everyone had a look of no hope.

Suddenly, we heard T-Dog go, "pssst." We saw walkers coming outside. We had to go. We hurried and packed up our stuff, and took off.

We were driving for awhile, we stopped in a road to look at a map of the area. Carl, Beth, and I were on point while everyone was discussing what to do. My dad and Daryl decided to go hunt. I went in the car with my mom.

"Don't worry, mom." I started. "We'll find a place sooner or later, we will." I tried to reassure her.

"I hope so." Was all she said.

Times were tough, we had no food. My parents weren't getting along. I mean…they're weren't like arguing or anything, they just weren't talking. You obviously can't have an argument with someone who's not speaking to you. It was awkward. Also, Carl was different. He had grown up a lot. He and I weren't as close anymore as we used to be. It made me sad.

Dad and Daryl came back talking about a prison that was overrun.

"I think we can do it." He said. "We can clear it."

I always trusted my dad's decisions, however, when I saw how big the place was, I had some second thoughts; not to mention the ones walking around in the courtyard.

My dad cut the fence open, and we all slipped inside. Glenn and Daryl tied it back up, so nothing could get in. We ran around and up to the gates.

"If we can shut that gate, prevent anymore of them from coming through, then we can take out the rest in the yard." My dad stated.

"I'll close it." Glenn suggested.

"No." Maggie said. "Suicide run."

"No." My dad then said. "I want Glenn, Maggie, and Beth to lead as many of them away to the fence over there." They started running.

"Daryl, get up in the tower." He turned to Carol. "You've become a pretty good shot. Take your time, we don't have ammo to waste." Daryl and Carol headed up to the tower.

He then told Hershel, Carl, and I to take the other tower. T-Dog stayed with my mom.

"I'll run for the gate." My dad stated.

We covered him, and shot the walkers as he ran to the gate. Once, he closed it, we all killed the rest of the walkers and ran down into the big open space we now had.

"We haven't had this much room since the farm!" Carol said.

We were sitting around the campfire eating and talking.

"If we can keep the walkers away from the water, then we can make this a good place." T-Dog said.

"What we need to do is plant some seed." Hershel said. "Tomatoes, cucumbers."

"That's his third time around." I said pointing at my dad who was up by the gate checking the place out. I don't know how he could see in the dark anyway. "If there would have been a problem, he would have found it by now."

Carol walked off to go join Daryl up on top of a bus, standing guard.

"This will be a good place to have the baby." Beth said to my mom.

I looked around at everyone, and saw how down they looked. Now that I had something to be happy about, I could have my job back.

I glanced at T-Dog, we've become pretty close over time. "T-Dog's over there like, before the world broke down I was a Saucier down in San Antone." I did my best to imitate him, people started to smile. "I bet I could collar up some of them greens. Yeah, noodle some crawfish out the paddy, yo. Ha! And now some crab apples for dessert, now, ya hear? Hell, Yeah! Ha!"

When I finished, everyone was laughing so hard they were like crying, especially T-Dog. It made me feel good.

"I forgot how funny you are." Glenn said.

"That was from the movie Tropic Thunder." I stated.

When things calmed down a little, Hershel asked Beth to sing something.

"Not that one, daddy, please." Maggie said.

"What about Parting Glass?" Hershel asked her.

"No one wants to hear." Beth said.

"Why not?" Glenn asked.

"Okay, fine." Beth started to sing. It sounded real nice. My dad must have heard, he came walking over to us along with Daryl and Carol. Maggie joined in singing with Beth. I can sing too, but I'm not going to. My mom gave me a look. I just shook my head; I don't know that song anyway.

"Beautiful." Hershel said when his daughters finished.

"We better all turn in." My dad said. "We've got a big day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"We're going in." He stated. "I know everyone's tired, but we gotta push just a little bit more. This place could have food, weapons, medicine. It could be a gold mine."

I understand where he's coming from, but it what be nice if we could hold off just one more day. We just settled down.

My dad walked away, and my mom followed. I hope they don't start arguing now. It would be embarrassing.

"So, Abby," I looked at T-Dog who was giving me a look, "story time?"

"Ugh." I looked at the ground.

"You haven't told any in a long time." Glenn said.

"Sweet Sabastion Boc!" I yelled. "It's like a can't escape it." I was just joking though.

"We'd love to hear one, if ya got any." Hershel said.

I scratched my cheek and sighed. "Alright."

"I'm gonna tell a scary story." I said enthusiastically.

"I'm not sure we can take it seriously." Glenn said.

"Shut up." I calmly said to him, making a few laugh.

"So, anyway, This is a true story and I'm going to make this very detailed." I cleared my throat. "Alright, so this one time, we had this family reunion thing at a lake, and I really didn't want to go. So, I convinced my parents to let me stay home by myself. They were a little wary about it, but it was only for one night so they agreed to it. Now, I was liked geeked that I had the whole house to myself for a day. You know how it is, so anyway, I called some friends over, and we ordered pizza and just hung out and stuff. Well, my one friend, Winnie, who was like really into the paranormal, suggests like we go down to this old abandon house on her street. She was like really weird, but we all were like really into the idea. I like adventures so I figured it would be cool. So, we go to this house, it's like really gross inside. Dirt and dust everywhere, mold on the ceiling."

"Sounds like my house." Daryl joked. Carol laughed and nudged him with her elbow. Oh, wonder what's going on with them?

"Okay, so, we're looking around and stuff. My friend, Matt, was filming the whole time. We asked the usual questions like if anything was there, and what to you want, ya know, stuff like that. Well, we stayed there for awhile, and nothing was happening. We're all disappointed. I'm pissed that we wasted our time. So, we're leaving, and I realized that I forgot my jacket inside, so I go back in and get it and I just get this really weird feeling. It made me get goosebumps. I hurried out of there, and got in the car. So, we get back to my house, and we're messing around and laughing and stuff. Well, we decided to watch the video of us in the house, even though nothing happened. Figured we get a good laugh out of it. We're watching it, and laughing at how dumb we all are, then in the video, I asked if there was anyone there, and…I swear to God that this is real now…we heard someone whisper, "mom and Henry." We were all so shocked, and played that part on the video over and over again."

"Are you sure it just wasn't one of your friends?" Maggie asked.

"No, because I made everyone swear that it wasn't them!" I said. "Plus, it didn't sound like any of us."

"That's really creepy." Beth said quietly. She actually looked a little scared, maybe?

"You haven't even heard the best part yet." I said my famous line, which was followed by a few laughs.

"So, later on after everyone left, I was like kinda freaked out, but see, I've always been able to convince myself that something didn't really happen. So, I kind of got over it, and forgot about it. So, I went bed, and I remember this next part so clearly," I said wide eyed, "I had work the next day, so I set the alarm on my phone, and had just laid down and was starting to doze off when, my bedroom door just FLEW open! As if someone kicked it! And, like I said, I was the only one home! It wasn't one of my friends messing around."

I almost wanted to laugh at the looks on everyone's faces.

"I called for my dog, he came running up the stairs. So, I took him and my phone and slept downstairs."

"What would that do?" Glenn laughed.

"I don't know, but I didn't wanna be up there." I said, everyone laughed.

"That was a good one." Carol said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't beat the butterfinger story." Glenn said. "Or the dirt bike one where you ran over your friend." He laughed. "The best!"

"Well then," I started, "looks like I'm just gonna have to think of one to top those."

"We'll see." Glenn said.

The next day, my dad, Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, and Maggie went into the prison. They already cleared the front of the building. I wanted to help too, but my dad said he'd feel better if he knew my mom was safe with us. I understood that. The rest of us drew walkers over to the fence, and killed them.

The five of them came back out a little later, and said it was clear. We all brought our stuff in.

"We'll start cleaning tomorrow." My dad said. "We should all probably turn in early. I know how tired everyone is."

Beth, Carl, and I walk into a cell.

"So gross." Beth said.

"Yeah, remember the storage units?" Carl said.

Beth sat down on the bunk bed. "Ya know, it's actually kinda comfortable."

"Really?" I said. "I feel like I'm going to get lice or something from this nasty shit."

They laughed. Carl went to climb up on the top bunk, but Hershel was suddenly there and said, "find ya cell yet?"

"Uh, yeah. I was just making sure Beth was safe." Carl walked out. I smiled at the two of them and followed Carl.

"You have a thing for Beth, don't you?" I teased.

"What? No, I don't." He lied.

"I can tell." I said.

"Shut up." He said and walked away. Ouch!

I went upstairs to check on my mom before picking a cell right next to hers. That way, I'll hear her in case something is wrong. I looked down at my dad who was sitting on the ground by himself; he looked so worn out. It made me sad.

The next day, my dad, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Hershel, and T-Dog went looking around the prison for food and supplies.

"Think they'll find anything?" Beth said.

"I hope so." I answered.

"They will have to find something." Carol said. "This place is huge."

"Not necessarily." My mom said.

Come on, mom," Carl said, "it's dad. He WILL find something."

My mom sighed. He's been like that lately with her. I guess he's sick of being babied. That I can understand, but he's harsh at times.

We all heard screaming shortly after our conversation. Carl ran to unlock the gate, and the others came back pushing Hershel on a cart.

"It's Hershel!" My dad yelled. "He got bit! We had to cut his leg off!"

They hurried and put him in a cell.

"We have to try and stop the bleeding!" Carol said.

"Go get the extra sheets on my bed!" My mom told Carl.

"Is he gonna die?" Beth asked, starting to cry.

My mom hugged her. I put my hand on her back. "No. Everything's gonna be fine."

I didn't really know that, to be honest. I felt like I was in the way, so I stepped out of the room. I saw Maggie and Glenn hugging.

We heard yelling coming from another room.

"What's going on?" I asked my dad.

"Prisoners." He said.

"What? But-"

"Don't panic. We're taking care of it."

I got Carol some more blankets off the other beds. I looked over and saw Beth crying.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." I told her. "I know it looks bad, but even if…even if the worst happens, you still…have Maggie…and me…and everyone."

"He's gonna be okay." She said. I think she was in a bit of shock.

My dad and the others came back with food. We all went out to see what they found; It was mainly corn, but corn is still food.

"Awesome." I said. I smiled at my mom. She would get some good nutrients.

My parents were talking, probably about the prisoners. I went back into the room with Hershel. My dad and some of the others were taking the prisoners out to kill some walkers. Apparently, they had been locked up all this time so they had no idea what was going on.

Maggie came into the room, and asked if she could talk to her father alone. We of course respected that.

"I don't know how I feel about criminals staying with us." I said to my mom.

"Your father will take care of it." She reassured me.

"Yeah, I know, but we don't know them." I stated. "It still feels weird.

Carl came walking into the room with a bag of medical supplies.

"Where did you find this?" Carol thanked him. She started to wrap Hershel's leg immediately.

"I found the infirmary." Carl stated.

"What? By yourself?" My mom asked.

"Yeah. It was no big deal." Carl shrugged. "I killed two walkers."

"Okay, do you see this," my mom pointed at Hershel, "this happened with a group."

"Get off my back!" Carl yelled to her.

"Carl!" Beth snapped. "She's your mother, you can't talk to her like that."

"Look I know you wanna help but-" Carl ran off before my mom could finish.

She just sighed. Carol took Glenn outside, she said she needed him for something.

"Mom, I know you're never going to stop worrying about us, but he's not a little kid anymore."

"I know, but…why didn't you go with him at least?"

"I didn't even know he left."

"See, that's the problem." She began to get angry. "He just wanders off like it's no big deal."

"I'll talk to him." I suggested. "He probably won't listen, but…I'll try."

I found Carl in his cell.

"Hey, you okay?" I said.

"Yeah." Was all he said. I walked in and sat down next to him on his bed.

"Look," I sighed, "I know you got embarrassed back there, but mom's right. You can't just wander off like that. It's dangerous."

"I didn't get hurt."

"You could have."

"I didn't." He snapped.

"I can't stop you. You're going to do what you want, but just try to be more careful. Mom and dad don't need anymore stress and worry, got it." I said.

"Yeah." He sighed. Maybe I actually got through to him.

We both jumped up when we heard yelling. I looked out of the cell. "It's Hershel!" We both ran down to the cell Hershel was in.

"What's going on?" I asked my mom.

She had a hand over her mouth, and was beginning to cry.

"No." I said. She nodded.

Oh no no no!

I could hear Maggie and Beth crying together. I just looked at the floor.

"I'm gonna go find dad." I said. She just nodded again.

I walked down a hall and heard someone yell. I pulled my gun out and quickly rounded a corner. I saw one of the inmates headed right towards me, my dad was chasing after him. I held my gun up, and he stopped. I heard a noise to the right, that distracted me. The guy came running at me and pushed me to the floor. It happened so fast, I didn't really have time to react. I almost just killed my first human.

My dad helped me up, and we chased after him. He ran to a gate outside. Once, he noticed all the walkers, he tried to come back in, but my dad locked him out.

"Come on! He yelled. "Let me back in!"

"Ya better run." My dad said. So, the guy started running, we could hear him screaming as we got away from the door.

"Are you alright?" My dad asked me.

"Who was that? What's going on?" I yelled.

"That was one of the inmates, his name was Andrew."

"Why were you chasing him?"

"He tried to attack, so did his friend." My dad said. "Now he's dead just like his friend."

I sighed and put my head down.

"What are you doing down here anyway?" My dad asked me.

I remembered about Hershel. "Uhh…I was looking for you…it's Hershel." I looked up at him.

He just looked at me for a minute before sighing, and running a hand through his hair.

"Is everyone else okay?" He said.

"Yeah…well I hope." I said. "But dad, what are we going to do now? We don't have a doctor, and…the baby…"

"We'll deal with it." He cut me off. "This is what happened, and we'll deal with it, right?"

"Yes." I put my head down.

He put a hand on my shoulder. "I know you're worried about mom, but everything will be fine, okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Okay." He straightened up. "I want you to go back to mom. I've got something to take care of, and…I'll tell the others."

I nodded, and then we went our separate ways.

We had Hershel's funeral later that evening. It was so sad. I felt really bad for Beth; she lost so much family already. All she has left is Maggie. I told myself that I would help her fill the void. I watched as her and Maggie cried. I wish Hershel would have been able to hold on. Things are going to be a lot more difficult without him.

Later that night, I was talking to Beth.

"I'm really sorry about your dad." I said. "He was probably the nicest person I've ever met." It was the truth.

She slowly nodded with tears in her eyes. I had no idea what I could say. There's nothing that would make her feel better. If I ever lost my dad…I don't even want think about it.

It was back to work the next day. My dad, Daryl, Carol, T-Dog, Glenn, and Maggie were outside moving cars around so it would be easier to take off if we needed to. My mom, Carl, and I stayed with Beth.

"Why don't we go outside, and get some fresh air?" I suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." My mom said. "I think we all could use some."

The four of us walked outside. My dad smiled at my mom when he saw us. She smiled back. I think they were starting to come around. That would be great.

"Walkers!" Carl yelled.

I turned around and there were so many of them behind us! Carl and I immediately started shooting at them. There were too many though, we had to get away.

"Come on!" I said grabbing my mom's arm. We ran over to a gate with Carl following.

"Where's Beth?" I yelled.

"Sh went up in the stairs and locked herself in." Carl said.

Okay, good. I thought.

We went into the prison, and down the hall, but walkers came from that direction so we ran in a different direction. There were more of them coming! They kept coming from every direction. Suddenly, these loud alarms started going off.

"This way!" Carl yelled. We ran down another hallway, but my mom stopped. She moaned and bent over.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I yelled.

"I think the baby's coming!" She looked at me horrified.

Shit!

We heard more walkers coming.

"In here!" Carl yelled. We went into a room, and Carl slammed the door shut. We should be safe in here. I looked at my mom who was in so much pain. I don't know if I can do this!

"Mom, lay down!" I said.

"We need to get back to the cell block so Carol can help!" Carl yelled.

"No, there's no time. This is happening now." I stated.

My mom laid down on the floor, and I helped her get her pants off.

I looked up at Carl. "I'm gonna need your help delivering the baby, you up for it?"

"Yeah." Carl said nervously.

"I gotta push, I gotta push." My mom said.

"Okay, let me see if you're dilated," I looked, "I can't tell."

"How do you know?" Carl said.

"I only know a little, I took Child Development in school."

My mom continued to push. I put my hand under her.

"Mom, mom, stop pushing. Something's wrong." I stated. I looked at my hand covered in blood.

The alarms finally shut off.

"With all this bleed, I don't even think you're fully dilated yet." I said.

"I know what it means, and I'm not losing the baby…you're going to have to cut me open." She stated.

Oh my God! Mom had to have a C-section with both of us. How could I have forgotten?

"No. I can't." I said. "Carol is the one who practiced that."

"Please." She said.

I shook my head. "I have no equipment or medication or anything."

"Carl has a knife." She stated. There was a brief pause.

"Mom, that's insane!" I said. "You won't survive."

"Please, you have to save the baby, for all of us," she said, "PLEASE, ABBY!"

I shook my head beginning to cry.

"Please." My mom quietly said.

I couldn't believe what was happening right now.

I lifted my mom's shirt.

"You see the old scar?" She said.

"Mom, I can't."

"You can." She said. "You have to." She looked at Carl. "I don't want you to be scared, baby."

"You don't have to do this." Carl said crying.

"You're going to be fine, both of you, you're smart and strong, and so brave and you're going to beat this world! And I love you," She started to get choked up, "both of you!"

We all started to cry. Mom continued, "You have to do what's right. It's so easy to do…don't let the world spoil you. You two are the best things I ever did. Oh, my babies!" We both hugged her and cried. She kissed us both. "Abby, you take care of your little brother or sister for me, okay, baby? And Carl and your father. Take care of each other." She said to both of us. This time I didn't wince when she called me baby.

"Okay, I'm ready." She looked at me. "Abby, when this is over you're going to have to…"

"Don't say it." I cut her off.

"You have to, it can't be your dad!"

"I know!" I sniffed. "Just don't say it." I wiped my tears away.

"Alright…alright." She said. Goodnight, love." She whispered.

I grabbed Carl's knife and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." I started to cut her open along the line of her scar. She screamed in horrible pain.

"Stop! You're killing her!" Carl yelled. My mom passed out from the pain.

"Carl, I need you to hold this open, so I don't accidentally cut the baby." I felt around. "I feel the baby, I can't tell if this is the arm or the leg…okay, I'm gonna pull it out now." I pulled the baby out. "It's a girl." I said. She wasn't moving. I patted her belly, she still didn't move or cry. I turned her over, and patted her back, and then I heard the best sound ever, as she started to cry. Relief set in and I asked Carl for his jacket so I could wrap her in it.

I quickly got up. "Come on, we gotta go!"

"We can't just leave her here, she'll turn." Carl said.

I thought and then pulled my gun out.

"No." Carl said.

"Carl.."

"I'll do it." He stated. I nodded and went over to the door. Moments later, I heard the gunshot, and then Carl walked passed me, his face expressionless.

We slowly walked outside. Everyone was there except Carol and T-Dog. I hope they're not gone too. I stepped out, trying not to cry. Everyone's eyes were on us immediately. My dad was looking at me so confused, holding the baby. He dropped his ax, and slowly came over to us.

He was shaking his head in disbelief. "W-where is she?"

A sob escaped from my mouth. He tried to go inside, but I stopped him. "No, dad, no." I grabbed his arm. He started crying, along with Carl.

"Oh no, oh nooooo no no no." He said. This is terrible, and I couldn't even cry.

My dad collapsed onto the ground and continued to cry. I hated seeing him like that; it was heartbreaking. I just wanted to go over and hug him, but I stayed where I was…

Hey, guys! Thanks for all your awesome reviews! I hope you're liking the story so far! I decided to change things up a little! Hershel did not survive getting his leg cut off, and it was Abby who delivered the baby, not Maggie! Please review, and tell me what y'all think of this chapter! If anyone has any interesting ideas, don't hesitate to tell me! :D Thanks! Love ya!