Chapter Info

Title: Keep Her Warm

Number: 25/?

Warnings: Angst, language

Author's Note: I swear there's a method to my madness... ;) Thanks for reading, comments are love!

Imagineer1392: I agree, she's so stubborn, she won't even listen to me... Haha, but thanks so much for your comment!

TheFaceOfAlison: Oh yeah, Daryl just... I think anger will hit soon enough. Thanks for your comment!

"I swear, I heard a shot!" The voice was out in the hallway, carrying into the hunter's room and waking Daryl from his sleep, not that it was too deep to begin with. He grumbled to himself and wiped a hand across his face to push away the blurriness of sleep. He didn't like being caught off guard like that, immediately wanting to know what was happening. He pushed himself into a sitting position and reached for Amaleen to wake her up, only she wasn't there. Frowning as he realized something was wrong, he forced himself to stay calm for just a few moments longer. She probably went to the bathroom and he had no reason to panic. If he did that, then nothing would get done. But he couldn't help the overwhelming sense of urgency and fear that pumped through him at the notion of having woken up without her.

Yawning softly, he stood and went out into the hall, grabbing his shirt on the way to button up. He saw Glenn, Maggie, and Rick in the hallway all speaking softly and he raised his eyebrow, shutting the door behind him. "The fuck's goin' on?" he grumbled, eyes narrowing at them in the darkness. An eyebrow rose as Glenn practically jumped out of his skin and looked at him with such guilt that it had his heart plummeting into the pit of his stomach. "What is it?" he demanded, voice rising.

"Look, don't panic," Rick said, voice trying to stay calm as well. But the fact that Rick looked ready to go back on his own words had Daryl's fists clenching.

"Where is she?" he said, his voice a low growl. Glenn looked away and he knew then that his assumption was right. Something had happened to Amaleen. "Where is she?!" he yelled, grabbing Glenn's shirt in his fists and shoving him into the wall. Maggie was right there to pry his hands off even as they trembled in fury and terror, but he didn't let go. Not yet, he needed to know.

"I let her take watch," Glenn said in a small, shaky voice.

Daryl's nostrils flared and even Rick gave pause and glared over at the younger man. "...what?" he said in a dangerous, hissed growl.

"I didn't want to!" he squeaked. "She said she wanted to help. To pay back a debt for us letting her stay. Plus A deck isn't technically leaving the ship..." At Daryl's glare he quickly shut up.

"We heard a shot," Rick said calmly, reaching over to help Maggie pry Daryl's fingers off. Finally the hunter let go with a growl and he spun to look at the deputy. "We don't know who it was."

"Then what the fuck we waitin' for? Let's go see what happened!"

He paused only long enough to grab his coat and crossbow, taking long strides to leave the ship, freezing wind immediately nipping his cheeks. Well it probably wasn't freezing, but anything up there was cold to him considering he was a Southern boy. He heard running behind him and Rick appeared with his coat on and rifle in hands. "We don't know who it was," he repeated. "It could'a been that other group."

"So ya'd rather discuss it in the hallway than look? Didja hear what Glenn said? She's out there, which means that if it is that other group, she's their target." His voice was barely a contained growl as he took long strides over to the captain's area and yanked open the door. Dread and terror filled him as he took in the blanket and thermos laying there, but no sign of Amaleen. Which meant she left the ship, or she was taken. Hands clenching, he looked up at Rick who looked equally disturbed. "We're findin' her," he snapped, moving out and running down the gangway.

"Amaleen!" he called, hearing growls near the fence pick up. His feet made hollow sounds on the docks as he moved, pausing as he saw two piles of something laying on the wood. Crossbow raise, he crept towards it and let out a noise when he saw it was two dead walkers, one stabbed and the other shot. Where the fuck did they come from? he wondered. Their doors were iron clad, which meant one of the breaks in the fence that he and Amaleen tied shut was loose. Teeth clenching, he realized they had no time to deal with that. Well he didn't, he had to look for her. He had never felt fear like this before, and since it was Rick beside him and not any of the others, he had no problem showing it on his face. He knew Rick wouldn't say a word. "Where is she..." his voice was getting smaller, more edging on his fear rather than his anger, the former quickly taking over.

"We'll find her," Rick said, the promise so strong in his voice that Daryl had to believe him. Daryl nodded and gritted his teeth. The waves were nearly deafening and it never occurred to him to look over the edge as he walked passed the walkers to go for the fence. The doors hadn't opened, there were no new marks to show that. Could the other group have been the ones to cut the fence? Send in the walkers as a divergent and then take her? They underestimated her skill as she knew how to kill walkers, the two behind him told him that. There were no footprints or tire tracks and so the two of them opened the doors and grabbed the truck to drive around a little, staying clear of North Morton and Beachville, keeping the headlights off as much as they coud.

They got back two hours later with an ashen Daryl and a fuming Rick. They couldn't look anymore that night, it was too dangerous as the headlights and flashlights only went so far, not to mention walkers and the dangerous group. Glenn was standing in the hallway when they came back downstairs, Daryl walking past him without a sound and into his room, slamming the door shut. Rick put a hand on Glenn's fallen shoulder, his face terrified and slowly Rick nodded. It was concluded that they had her, and they had to go looking for her tomorrow. Glenn went more pale and turned to run back into his room, Maggie on his heels. In the morning, they would look. Rick's passive face fell into a mask of anger and resentment as he stared up the stairs as if they could see him. They have no idea who they're fuckin' with.

.x.x.x.x.

The next morning, the rest of the group woke up to the news. Carl and Lori cried together in the common room while everybody else went about their duties. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, save for the occasional crash of water against the rocks. Daryl didn't come out of his room until Rick knocked and said it was time to go. When he came out, the barely noticeable tracks down his face told the ex-cop he had been crying and Rick didn't say a word. He clasped his shoulder as a sign of comfort and then headed up to A deck. The search party consisted of Rick himself, Daryl of course, Glenn who stayed away from Daryl as his look of guilt only increased, Maggie who backed him up one hundred percent, and T-Dog who wanted to find his friend. The rest stayed to keep things running as the group gathered on A deck.

Carol headed past them down to the docks, deciding on a better system to get water was to tie a string to the jug and dip it into the water. That way nobody's hands froze each time they needed more. Laying on her stomach, she let it down as it gave her both hands free to hold onto the string. The sun shone off the water even though it didn't really warm anything and she sighed, hoping they were able to find her. It was during her silent thoughts that she spotted something out on a rock about half a mile away. Squinting she saw it looked like clothes, rumbled and water logged. Shaking it away for a moment, she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she shouldn't and looked again.

"Guys!" she called up to the people on deck, causing them to look at her. "Get binoculars and c'mere!"

She saw them look at each other before T-Dog ran to grab them from the captain's area and then they all jogged to her. Carol took them and stood up, pulling the jug back onto deck and then wiped off her hands, bringing the binoculars up to her eyes. As she focused on the water logged clothes, her heart dropped into her stomach. "Oh my god," she said.

"What?" Rick demanded and Carol immediately handed them over. Rick took them and looked out and swore, handing them to Daryl.

Daryl frowned and took them and when he saw what the pile of clothes was, or rather who it was, he started racing off the docks in an attempt to find his way out there. That wasn't a pile of water logged clothes, it was Amaleen, ashen and nearly blue laying unconscious on those rocks. "Amaleen!" he cried, his heart beating wildly as they had no clue how long she had been out there. A sick feeling wormed its way into his gut as he realized that it had probably been since the night before, when they heard the shot. She probably got enough strength to shoot the walker just before she fell over. There were no ladders down, but it was short enough to jump to the rocks right at the base of the cliff. Still, even doing that, she was still half a mile away on rocks more into the ocean than they were, they needed a lifeboat or a canoe or something smaller to get to her.

Daryl didn't waste any time in jumping down, ignoring the pain as his ankle twisted awkwardly. He heard Rick jumping down behind him and it was his hand on his arms that stopped him from shedding off his coat and his weapons and swimming out to her. "Rick, she can't swim," he said, his voice shaking and he couldn't hold back his emotions even if he tried. It was Amaleen and she was the one person he cared for the most in the world, always had been. If he lost her then... Shaking his head, he looked up at Rick. "We can't leave her out there!"

"We're not," he promised, and Daryl could feel the deputy's fear waft off him. Already there was commotion on the dock and nearly everybody was out there. He saw Lori looking out at the rock Amaleen was on in horror, her fingers clutching her softly rounded belly as an attempt to comfort herself.

"Rick," she breathed, not looking away.

"We'll get her," he said.

Yelling up to T-Dog, Glenn, and Maggie, he had them search for a smaller boat to paddle out there. Daryl was practically bouncing, watching as wave after wave washed over her and knowing just how cold that was, he could feel it as the wind bit his face. If Rick didn't still have a hold of his arm, he would've broken away and swam out to her already. As it was, he felt the water slosh against his boots, so close to just taking off. His eyes never left her even as he heard more rushed talking and boots clattering against the wood. The worst part is he didn't know if she was alive, he couldn't tell from there. Her coat was so bulky against her and with the way she was laying there, he couldn't tell if her chest was rising or not. Her skin and lips were blue and the water just kept rushing over her.

"Rick," he whimpered.

"Hold on," the deputy said, leaving his arm. Only then did Daryl look away and saw Rick being handed a small lifeboat that had been hanging on the side of their ship. Daryl helped him get it down and he jumped in, crossbow at his feet, as soon as it was in the water. They paddled over as furiously as they could, arms aching and neither of them cared. Daryl's heart was racing and he prayed to a God he hadn't believed in in a very long time for her to be alive. She would probably be sick and more than freezing, but she would be alive. They could make her better, as long as she was alive.

It seemed like it took forever when really it took between five and ten minutes to get over to her. Daryl winced at each wave that crashed over her and wanted to just wrap her up and protect her from it. He knew he shouldn't be angry at Glenn, but Daryl's orders were clear. She wasn't to be alone and she wasn't to leave the ship. Frankly he should be angry with her more than he should with Glenn, but the look of her lying there so helplessly and so cold, he just couldn't do it.

Finally they arrived and Daryl clambered off the boat as Rick made sure to anchor it so it didn't get away and strand them all there. Daryl immediately went to her side and gathered her up, taking off his coat and wrapping it around her, Rick handing Daryl his own to do the same. Rick reached for her and felt around her neck and paused before letting out a little sigh. "It's weak, but it's there. We need to go now, though. She's ice cold." Daryl nodded and picked her up, taking her back over to the boat they rowed over in. Hands gripped her tight and he couldn't let her go, Rick taking over the rowing for both of them as Daryl used the coats and body heat to try and warm her up. Her teeth were chattering and she didn't wake up even as the waves jostled the boat.

"Hang on, baby, just hang on," he said, his voice breaking. He looked up and saw everyone, even Hershel, standing along the dock waiting for her. "She's alive!" he called to them and heard a half-hearted cheer as everyone still worried about her health. The fact she didn't wake up even with the jostling of the waves and Daryl picking her up worried him to no end. She was probably too weak, she had been down there all night.

At the dock, Glenn and T-Dog were there to take her. Daryl carefully lifted her up to them as he and Rick anchored the boat and then quickly clambered up. Daryl took her back from them in his arms and ran his way up the docks, the gangway, and down the stairs to his room. Hershel came in immediately after him as did Lori who had dry and warm clothes and a couple blankets with her. The coats were shed quickly as Hershel sat beside her and started checking her. Wet clothes came off and Daryl knew that it didn't matter if Hershel was there, he was as a doctor and that was it. They got her out of her water logged clothes and into the dry clothes that Lori held. Blankets were put over her and Daryl stood to give Hershel more room, not liking to be so far away from her even though he could see her.

Standing in the corner, he chewed on his thumbnail, arms and legs crossed. He didn't move his eyes from her, let Hershel check her pulse and her breathing as Lori made her warm again. It worried him the most that even as the blankets and the warm clothes enveloped her, her skin and lips were still tinted blue and she hadn't stopped shivering. And she hadn't woken up, which worried him the most.

After Hershel's exam, he looked more grim than Daryl wanted him to be and he prepared himself to hear that she would never wake up. "Because of the cold, her body started to shut down," Hershel started out saying, causing Daryl's body to go rigid and Lori to gasp, her fingers rubbing harder to get the right color back into Amaleen's flesh. Rick wordlessly brought in a towel and Lori wrapped it around her long, wet hair to keep it off her skin. "Right now her heart is struggling to get blood through her body, and so the unnecessary organ functions have stopped. Her heart and lungs are still going, though, and that's important. The more she warms up, the easier it'll be for blood to flow through her body and her organs will start back up. It's best if she stays asleep, if she wakes it might be awfully painful."

Daryl slowly walked over as Lori and Hershel stood and then sat down next to her, running his fingers over her cheeks. "Is there anything else we can do?" he whispered.

Hershel shook his head. "We don't have the right kind of medication. The best we can do right now is wait." Daryl didn't like that answer, but he had to accept it. Slowly he slid down next to her, trying not to jostle her. His arm slid around her and he heard people slowly moving away from the room. The door shut and they were left alone. He tried to use his body heat to help warm her up, desperate to keep her safe. Hershel's diagnosis was grim and without modern medicine, Daryl knew her chances were slim.

It was only then, knowing he was alone, that he let tears slide down his face. His hand reached up, his thumb running over her purple lips, and the fact she still shivered made him hold her tighter. His teeth clenched as he fought back sounds that threatened to leave his lips. He didn't want anybody to hear his weakness. He pushed those cries and whimpers back until it was just ragged breath through his lips and he sniffed softly.

"Ya better come back ta me, ya hear? You come back ta me. Don't you die on me, you come back to me."

Please note: I'm NOT a doctor, so if this is incorrect, I apologize.