Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters/plotlines associated with it.

We sat in the cell block the next morning, picking at our breakfast. Beth rocked the newborn baby in her arms, cooing to her and feeding her the formula that Daryl and I had managed to get ahold of. Despite the beautiful new arrival, the atmosphere was still dull and dense considering our three losses, and also the absence of Rick. It was getting to Carl.

Benny sat opposite me, stirring oatmeal in the chipped bowl. He raised his eyebrows as I pushed mine aside completely. Usually I never passed up a chance to eat, especially in these conditions, but I just didn't have the heart to do anything right now. Benny sighed and mimicked my actions. Everyone sat around the block in silence. Beth was almost forcing a distraction upon herself so that she wouldn't have to also lapse in an unwanted and unwelcome silence.

"Everybody okay?"

Rick's voice surprised us all as he entered the cell block from the corridors. His face was void of emotion. He stood with his hands on his hips, glancing around at us all quickly and missing the baby quickly before resting his eyes solely on his son.

"Yeah, we are," Daryl grunted. "What about you?"

"I cleared out the boiler block."

"How many were there?"

"I don't know. A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl."

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies," Maggie offered, guilt still clear in her voice about the Lori situation.

She had told me what had happened last night in full detail. How she had had no choice but to put Lori through a c-section when they were locked up in the corridors. The woman had bled out and Carl had been the one to put her down fully.

"You don't have to," Rick shook his head.

"No, I do," She insisted.

"Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

"Yeah," Glenn stepped in. "We're running low on ammo, though. Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon. Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula. We cleared out the generator room. Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well."

"Good, good."

Rick didn't hesitate to depart from us when the plans had been fished out. Benny said nothing more. He stood up and picked up an axe and a pistol. With his mechanical skills, he had offered to go and assist Axel with fixing up the generator. I nodded at him as he passed, opening the door to the corridors and pushing his way through the dark where Rick had disappeared into not long ago.

I took the job of collecting up the bowls and washing them up in the tub of cold water that was propped up on one of the counters. The others started moving back to their cells in silence to find something useful to do. We really were lost without Lori and Carol. They had been the ones to take on the 'women' jobs. Sure, I had helped them out on many an occasion, but I often had other things to do. Now that Beth was busy with the baby and Maggie was prepping for a run, I really was in the dark doing this. None of the men would chip in, except Hershel, so it seemed that I would be the one keeping things in order around the place at least for today.

"Annie," Hershel said from behind me.

I turned around, drying my hands roughly on my stiff jeans and giving the older man my undivided attention. He propped himself up on his crutches, looking at me with sincere eyes.

"I'm going to go and talk to Rick," He explained. "Make sure nothing happens while I'm gone. I would trust anyone here with my life, but no one's in the right mind set right now."

"Of course," I smiled sadly. "Go and talk to him. Maybe he needs it."

Hershel nodded in agreement and hobbled off towards the door to the corridor. He had really gotten the hang of moving around. I turned back again and aimlessly stacked all of the bowls and plates that we had used, as if that would make a difference to the rest of the group. Sometimes a clean work space provided space for a clean mind. That's probably what we all needed right now.

I realised that I was now on my own in the main part of the cell block. Daryl had gone outside with Carl, Beth had taken the baby into her cell block to try and put her to sleep and Maggie and Glenn were getting ready for their run. I was truly alone right now. When being alone, it was dangerous. That was what gave you the time to think and to feel. I'd been trying desperately hard to push all thoughts and feelings aside in recent times, and it had worked so far. It had been good for me. I hadn't broken down in front of anyone. But with all the emotions bottled up inside, I knew that I would break at some point. And when I did, it would be bad.

Maggie and Glenn walked out from the cells and I glanced up from where I had been perched on one of the tables. It must have seemed like I was having a mental breakdown, doing nothing at all.

"You okay?" Maggie checked as she swung her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I nodded and followed her and Glenn over to the door. "You two be safe out there, okay? The last thing we need is to lose anyone else."

"Tell me about it," Glenn muttered. "Daryl and Carl out there? We're gonna need someone to open the gates for us."

"Yeah. They're out there."

Glenn nodded and Maggie reached forward, patting my shoulder reassuringly before they both slipped outside. I shut the door behind them and groaned aloud to myself. Even Benny had deserted me. I couldn't help but feel that I wanted to talk to a particular person, even though it was an irrational idea. Daryl Dixon was hardly the man to discuss feelings to, but I just wanted – needed – to sit down and talk with him. To have him understand me. He'd been so sweet recently, and I really thought that out of anyone, he would be the one I could trust with my biggest secrets.

It seemed that the prison had become Piccadilly Circus overnight. I glanced up again as Daryl, Carl and Oscar entered and starting prepping themselves with weapons. I sighed and moved closer to them, tugging on Daryl's arm and pulling him towards me and away from the others. He looked at me curiously as he loaded up his crossbow.

"What're ya doing?" He asked.

"No – what are you doing?" I frowned. "I'm supposed to be keeping track of everything around here and everyone just keeps running off. What's going on?"

"We're gonna go check through the corridors, see if we can get a lead on Carol… We found her head scarf, so she mighta got further than we thought."

The words stung slightly but I nodded. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and glanced over Daryl's shoulder at Oscar and Carl.

"Ya comin'?" Daryl raised his eyebrows.

"Beth is gonna be on her own," I sighed and shook my head. "I can't this time. Just don't do anything stupid… 'specially not with Carl around. He's impulsive right now."

"Have I done somethin' to piss ya off?"

"What? No, no… of course you haven't. Where did you get that idea from?"

"You're being a bit snappy today is all… Alright, ya stay behind and keep an eye on Beth and the baby. We'll be back soon."

I pursed my lips but agreed with a hasty nod. There was no way that I could hold them back. It seemed that I was just trying to keep my small family tightly knit together so that none of them could break away and get hurt, but I'd managed to lose a majority of them in my worthless fight. They were dotted all over the place.

Daryl, Carl and Oscar all passed me and I went back to sitting with my head in my hands. There was no way that I could come back from this point. I was starting to believe that I was actually having a breakdown. I had reached my breaking point.

The baby's cries and wails from one of the cells echoing around the room made me tense and curl my hands into fists with frustration. It wasn't that baby in general, but simply the repetitive noise, which was driving me crazy.

Beth attempted to shush the child but her sobs continued. A baby in the middle of the zombie apocalypse really had been the stupidest idea ever. I almost felt like blaming Lori for it. It was unfortunate that I couldn't. In fact, I couldn't blame anyone for this simple occurrence of nature. That baby may have been the only light and hope that we had in this current world.

I chewed on a hangnail in anticipation, tapping my shoes against the floor and drumming the nails of my free hand against the steel table that I was sitting upon. It felt like an invisible clock was strung in the air, and I could hear the loud ticks of the time along with the baby's tears. I knew that I wouldn't be able to stand it much longer.

Eventually, after what seemed like days, I slammed my hand against the table and stood up, storming into the cell where Beth and the baby were sitting. Beth was rocking the small child in her arms, singing a soft lullaby to her. I paused and stood in the doorway, watching Beth with the kid. She was good, I gave her that. But of course, she wasn't skilled. The young girl had never had a child so probably had no idea what she was truly handling with. I was in the same boat as her. The only difference I had was that I had nursed Susie from a very young age.

"Let me?" I offered, approaching Beth and holding my arms out.

She nodded and eagerly handed the baby over into my cradled arms. I sat down on the bed beside her and swayed the baby gently in my arms. It took a few moments, but the feel of being under a different touch soon quieted her down due to her realisation. Beth watched curiously as I shushed the baby softly under my breath. It had been a long time since I'd even gotten close to a young child, so it was weird to be sitting here right now holding a perfectly healthy newborn baby. I just prayed that that condition would last long enough for us to salvage her life.

"How do you know what to do?" Beth whispered as the baby's breathing slowed down after around twenty minutes.

"I had a little sister," I said softly, smiling to myself. "I was fifteen years older than her. It was a pretty diabolical age gap, seeing as I was always ditched with her when I wanted to go out, but I've had a hand or two in handling babies."

The younger girl decided not to push anymore on the matter. She reached out and ran her hand against the smooth skin of the baby's forehead, smiling. It was nice to see such an innocent thing through all the chaos we had endured. She was the light at the end of the tunnel, in some sense. Except we were very far from the end of all this. It was weird to think that even this innocent little baby was infected. That she could easily become one of those things too.

Back in the cell block, I could hear the telltale signs of Hershel's crutches tapping against the floor. Beth jumped up and ran to greet her father. I set the sleeping baby down in the nest of blankets that Beth had put together for her, making sure that she was comfortable and safe. There was a crash of a door and the baby's eyes suddenly fluttered open again. I cursed lightly under my breath and slapped a hand to my head. Beth was leading Carl and her father back into the cell.

I glanced up. If Carl was back, then Daryl would be too. I moved out of the cell and in all my haste, almost knocked down a figure standing in front of me. Daryl raised his hands in surrender at my accidental attempt to charge right through him.

"You're like a bull in a china shop," He mocked. "Little ass kicker sleeping?"

"She was," I shrugged. "Until someone slammed a door shut…"

"Sorry 'bout that."

I rolled my eyes at Daryl and followed him out into the cell block, watching him lay down his weapons and sit at one of the tables. He motioned for me to sit down too and I took the place opposite him, resting my chin in my hands and watching him as he polished away at the crossbow. There was apparently nothing more important than a shining crossbow, even during the apocalypse.

"Did you find anything?" I asked once we had both completely settled down.

"Carol's knife," Daryl mumbled. "I'm sure she's out there, ya know? If she got that far, she has a fighting chance. She's way off from T."

"You can go looking again tomorrow. Don't beat yourself up about not finding her today. Sometimes these things take time."

"What, like Sophia? I ain't having that case on my hands again. I put my all into that and I got shit. Look where that took us as a group. I need to find her."

"Why are you so obsessed with always being the hero? Sure, it's fine to save lives and it's great that you want to, but you don't need to be there all the time. Heck, you can't be there all the time. If you could, I'm sure you would, but you can't."

Daryl's face screwed up in anger but he didn't raise his voice. In fact, he said nothing. I sighed and rested my face in my hands. My mind wasn't in the right place today. Everything I seemed to do come out as wrong. I couldn't even tell him what I thought of his search for Carol without sounding like a complete bitch. He wasn't the only one who wanted her to be alive, but he was the only one who wanted her to be alive this much.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just having a really shitty day and I'm not in the mood to hear about everything that we've had to go through."

"My fault," Daryl mumbled almost inaudibly. "Shouldn't o' brought it up. I knew it was gonna upset ya. You're weird and emotional like that."

"Wow, thanks for the consideration… Do you miss her, then? Carol?"

"I miss her like ya miss T-Dogg. You were close with him, weren't ya?"

I looked down at the mention of T. Daryl grimaced. His tone had almost seemed off upon requesting about T-Dogg. I couldn't imagine why. T had been my buddy through all of this. Perhaps Daryl had thought something else, something irresponsible, had been going on… Maybe he was pissed off about it.

"We were good friends," I agreed.

"Ya seemed like more," He muttered, surprising me.

"So? You and Carol seemed like more than good friends, if you ask me. You brought her flowers – now I know why you're so upset. You loved her, didn't you?"

"Don't be stupid, Annie."

His warning made me back down after my harsh words were spat. The woman could possibly be dead and here I was talking terrible things about her. I lifted my hangnail to my mouth again and started chewing away.

"Ya shouldn't do that," Daryl said in a demanding manner. "You'll bite right through the skin at the rate you're going."

"Whatever," I carried on tugging at the loose nail.

Daryl sighed and stood up. For a moment, I thought he was going to walk away from me in my bitchy mood. Instead, he moved around the table and slid into the seat beside me, taking my hand in his hand and pulling it away from my mouth, pressing it against the cold steel of the table. Blood had dripped from the small cut from where I had been violently pulling.

"Told ya so," Daryl rolled his eyes.

He wiped away the blood roughly with a finger and then pressed his finger against the cut, his own skin absorbing the small amount of blood that pulsed out of the minor wound. I sat in silence, watching his concentrated face in awe as he focused on stopping the bleeding from my finger.

"Ya ain't stupid, so don't act like it," He told me, breaking the silence.

"Neither are you," I whispered. "So don't go running around and getting yourself into stupid situations. The last thing I want to see happening is you getting hurt."

"That really the last thing you want happening? Ya telling me that you're gonna be able to sleep safe and sound at night as long as I don't go playing the hero?"

"No, play the hero, do. Just don't be irrational. You can't save everyone."

"Only one person at a time, right?"

"Right. And you can start with saving me."

"… Saving you?"

"My finger, I mean. You can start with saving me… via the finger."

Daryl smiled and chuckled at my choice of words. Deep down, I knew that I didn't mean that. I meant my original statement. But I was too embarrassed to say otherwise. Daryl obviously wasn't ready for any of my advances, no matter how small, and I wasn't even sure if I was ready. A blush must have been flooding my cheeks due to my thoughts as Daryl looked up at me with a confused expression.

Eventually, he lifted his finger from my own and rubbed the blood away. I looked at the dry, crusted blood around my finger and shook my head mockingly.

"Dr Dixon strikes again," I said in amusement. "That's gotta be the line you're looking down when this is all over."

"Huh… Ya woulda probably been a good doctor. Patient and tolerant and all that."

"I don't know… I'm not exactly the most tolerant person. I have a temper when I want to use it, Daryl."

"Would ya be tolerant if I kissed ya right now? Or would you blame it on my emotions like back on the farm?"

I glanced up in surprise at his question, my mouth probably falling open from shock. A small smirk played on Daryl's face and I froze as he moved towards me. It was a dangerous place to do anything of the sort, especially with Hershel, Beth, Oscar, Carl and the baby just around the corner, but he advanced anyway, as if he had read my earlier thoughts.

His warm breath hit my face and I had to blink to myself a few times before I finally truly understood what was happening. We had kissed once before and that had been passed off as a mistake. A reckless mistake with no meaning behind it but guilt and awry emotions.

Just as his rough lips were about to make contact with mine, the door to the corridors slammed open. I flinched at the sudden noise in the silence, drawing back quickly and looking at Daryl's almost pained face. He avoided eye contact awkwardly.

"Oh, don't let me stop you," Benny called out.

A/N: I suppose that this is just kind of a filler chapter so that I can include some more of Daryl and Annie's relationship before the next stage of the storyline comes into play aka Michonne and Merle :) Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!