"Call me Ishmael—"

"—Call me already bored," Daryl interrupted, poking a hole in the screen of his tent with one of his arrows. I pretended that he hadn't said anything and continued reading from the book. "Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me—"

"—Shit, this book is boring!" Daryl complained loudly. I groaned once. Daryl was lying on his side and forced to listen to me read to him. "You can read me anythin' but that whale book."

I closed the book. "The book is called 'Moby Dick'," I stated, in a calm voice. But, anyone could tell that I was clearly annoyed. Daryl snorted loudly, with his typical bad boy grin showing. "They should've called the book 'Moby Dyke'." Daryl then laughed at his own joke. He thought he was so clever.

I rolled my eyes at the Dixon. "You're so immature sometimes," I snapped, before picking up where I left off. "Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth—"

Daryl snorted again.

"Oh, grow up, Daryl." I sighed at him. I couldn't help but smile though. This was keeping me more entertained than reading. Daryl grabbed the book from me, skimming through all the pages. "I dun even get what this stupid book is 'bout. Is it about a whale?" Daryl inquired, turning to me.

I gave a slight smirk. "Read it and find out."

"No, too borin'. Give me the general plot of it and maybe I'll read it."

"It's about about Captain Ahab's quest for revenge against a white sperm whale."

Daryl raised an eyebrow, like this story was stupid or something. "Revenge against a fucking whale?"

"The whale destroyed his ship and ate Ahab's leg." I reasoned. "His thirst for revenge is what destroys him in the end. Moby drags Ahab into the deep ocean and drowns him."

Daryl tossed the book into my lap. "Mhm, very interesting," Daryl hummed, closing his eyes. I could tell that he was not at all interested. But, I decided to keep Daryl company in his tent since he wasn't allowed to move for a few days. The others also didn't want Daryl to try and over exhert himself. So, they tasked me with showering him in attention. There was a gentle tapping on the tent. Both of us turned to see Glenn standing awkwardly beside the tent. "Hey, uh, could I talk to you for a second, Anza?" Glenn asked.

"Sure," I replied, turning to Daryl. "Don't burn the tent down while I'm away okay?"

"I'll try not too," he grumbled in response. He shifted a few times in his sleeping bag before trying to get some sleep. I walked a few yards away with Glenn. "What is it?" I then asked.

Glenn exhaled deeply. "It's Lori," he admitted. "C-Could you talk to her for me?"

"About what?" I asked.

"T-The baby, she wants to take anti-abortion pills and uh, I dunno if she's making the right choice."

"I can't say anything about that, Glenn."

Glenn frowned once. I could see that this was really upsetting to him. His slanted black eyes then looked into mine. "Look, I think she needs a friend, er, a female friend. Rick doesn't even know about the baby. She's really scared right now. Could you please—just talk to her?"

I sighed heavily before stalking off. "I'll do my best, but no promises." I muttered to Glenn. I walked towards the Grimes tent. There, I spotted Lori in there frantically ripping apart some pills. Her hands were trembling as she struggled to swallow a packet of them. The box read 'Morning After Pill'.

"You okay?" I asked, and immediately Lori knocked over the package of pills. They fell to the ground. She sighed in relief and placed her hand over her heart when she saw that it was me. Lori ran a hand through her long, messy black hair. "Scared the shit outta me." she breathed.

I sat down at the table in the opposite chair. "Sorry, wasn't my intention." I said.

Lori quickly grabbed the package and remaining pills off the table. She didn't want me to see them. "I know the truth, Lori," I said, with a slightly sad look. Lori then stared off, breathing deeply. She looked disappointed in herself. "Glenn told you?"

"Yeah, he's pretty worried about you, that's the only reason why. He wanted me to talk to you since he thought you needed a female friend."

Lori smiled briefly at that. It quickly faded away as she stared blankly at the table. I could see the distress and guilt in Lori's face. She didn't want to say anything to me. So, I decided to talk. "So, you not keeping the baby?" I asked.

"It's my choice," Lori answered, almost bitter towards me.

"It's Rick's too," I countered.

Her light green eyes met mine. I could see that she wanted to be angry at me, but she couldn't. Lori looked away in shame. "I...I just can't. I can't raise a baby in a monstrous world such as this." she said, her lips trembling. She covered her face with her hands and began sobbing. I got up from my chair to sit next to Lori on the bench. "Hey, it's okay, Lori," I assured her, placing my arms around her.

"No, it's not gonna be okay!" Lori cried.

I rocked her in my arms as Lori began full on crying. She clung to my shirt with her tears staining them. Now, I felt like I was the parent comforting a child. I looked back to see Sky staring from a few yards away. I gave her a slight smile before lifting Lori up. She blew her nose in a napkin. "This baby is better off not existing." Lori seethed, wiping away her tears.

"C'mon, you can't just say that like you know what's going to happen," I stated. "You should give the child a chance."

"A chance to what? Live a painful existence? To get ripped apart and devoured alive by walkers?" She asked with wide eyes, continuing to cry. I sighed heavily as I rubbed her gently on the back. "You aren't alone in this decision, Lori. This is Rick's child too. He isn't going to get mad at you for this. I think he'd be mad if you didn't tell him," I advised her. "You and Rick are married. You love each other and you should be deciding this together."

Lori snickered once through the tears, before rubbing her forehead. "You sound like my marriage counselor," she laughed. "Said the most inspirational, pretentious bullshit to me."

I couldn't help but laugh too, before frowning with embarrassment. "If you want, I can tell Rick, though you kinda did just eat a bunch of those pills." I offered.

Lori picked up the Morning After Pills packet. She was deep in thought before turning to me. "No, I have to tell him," she stated. "I also have to puke these pills up. Can you tell Rick to meet me in the field? If that's alright with you."

"No, it's not," I reassured her. "It's fine."

Lori wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug. I smiled awkwardly, patting her on the back. "Thank you, Anza," she said.

"Whatever you two decide, Lori. It's not our decision." I assured her.

Lori smiled, getting up and walking out of the tent towards the wheat field. Sky walked up to me and hugged me from behind. I held onto her hand for a moment. I heard some footsteps dragging across the dirt. Rick found me and Sky in his tent. He looked at me with confusion and suspicion as to why I was there. "Have you seen Lori?" he asked.

"Yes, she's at the field, she wants to talk to you." I stated.

Rick narrowed his eyes as he stepped in front of the table. He picked up the blue packet of Morning After Pills. My heart sank. I forgot to hide those. I could see anger building up in Rick's face as he held the packet in his hands. He had been lied to. Rick stomped out of the tent towards the grassy field. I groaned once, covering my face. "Fuck." I cursed.

"What was that about?" Daryl asked, when I returned to the tent.

I sat beside him. "Oh, nothing," I lied. He snorted at that. Daryl continued to look at me with suspicious eyes. Then, I could see that he was geniunely concerned. "Somethin' wrong, prom queen?"

"No, everything is okay."

Daryl didn't seem convinced by my answer. Reluctantly, he returned to trying to read Moby Dick.

It had been three days since we were attacked by bandits in the forest, things seemed to be going to shit against. Dark was still weak from his gunshot wound, but knowing how stubborn he was, he would be walking around even if it killed him. That morning, most of us sat around the campfire. Carol was making bacon and scrambled eggs for everyone. Daryl limped over, still in pain from the gunshot wound, and sat next to me. I noticed Lori and Dale shooting us looks. Carl whispered something to Sky, who glanced over to us and laughed. Daryl narrowed his eyes. "What you two laughin' at?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Just something stupid." Carl smiled.

"Oh, really? Like what?"

"Nothing." Carl insisted.

I gave a heavy sigh as Daryl and Carl went back and forth at each other like a couple of children. I saw Carol smile and suppress a laugh while she cooked more eggs. Shane wasn't paying attention at all. He sat on the bench sharpening his hunting knife. I glared at him. I wouldn't be dealing with Shane for much longer.

Glenn gathered everyone around the campfire, and I knew why. After tensing up and unsure of how to say it, he said it. "So, um, there's walker's in the barn."

That calm and relaxed sunny morning immediately disappeared as everyone was suddenly tense and vigilant. Glenn lead us to the barn, holding Walker on a leash. The wolfdog began barking and scratching at the farm door. I stepped forward and wrapped his leash around his muzzle, preventing him from barking further. I didn't want Hershel or co. to find out that we were here. "Walker is goin' crazy, that must mean there are walkers in there." T-Dog pointed out.

We all stood a few yards away from the rickety old barn. Shane was the only one who went to look inside. He peered through a crack in between the wood. He returned to us with a disgusted look on his face. "We have to deal with this!" Shane snarled, now angry.

"We can't, Shane! We're guests here!" Rick nearly yelled, just as angry as his partner was.

"Screw that, this is our lives! That's more important than anything!"

"The barn is safe and secure, no walkers are gettin' out!"

"You don't know that!"

Everyone was silenced when the barn doors began to shake and stretch out towards us. The chains and piece of wood barricading the doors prevented that. A fearful Lori and Carol took Carl and Sky back to the camp. The rest of us stepped back from the danger. Shane glared at all of us intently as if this was our fault. He spat once on the ground before walking around the barn to inspect it.

I began to feel my shoulder burning. I clasped my hand over it. I could feel the ridged stitches all around the bite mark. Daryl noticed this. "You okay?" he asked, intently.

I nodded once. "The sooner I get out of here, the better."

I walked back to the camp. Daryl clung beside me like glue. He didn't leave my side until I was back to the campfire. Daryl offered to help me down into the chair, like I had broken my legs or something. "No, I'm fine, thank you though." I reassured him.

I could feel everyone's gaze watching me and Daryl interacting with each other. Carol was pretending to read her book, but I could see her eyes flickering to us. Rick and Lori, who were standing nearby, seemed just as confused by Daryl wanting to help me. I could hear Daryl breathing through his nose. Then, he turned around and stalked off without a word. I looked confusedly at the warm campfire.

Lori sat down in the chair across the fire from me. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you and Daryl...?" she began to ask, only to trail off. I immediately felt the heat flare up in my face with embarrassment. "What? No! Of course not!" I instantly denied, grabbing 'Moby Dick' and shoving my face into the book. Lori, Rick, and Carol all glanced at each other. But, even I didn't seem convinced by my own answer.