I sat in a wooden rocking chair, swaying back and forth with Judith in my arms. The three day old baby was swaddled in a thick, soft blanket. I smiled sadly to myself, looking down upon her now flakey skin. Beautiful, Lori had breathed. I couldn't help but think back to that moment every time.

"Como estas?"

Adam peered out from the door. His hands were bloodied, almost slipping off the mop he was holding. Judith and I were in the nursery of the abandoned Woodbury Hospital, which was ten miles from the prison. The entire room was a mess; tables and chairs were knocked over, the cupboards ransacked, and there were blood splatters all over room.

And here I was sitting in a rocking chair feeding a newborn baby.

"Bueno." I replied with look of displeasure on my face. Luckily, Adam could take the hint better than Carmen could. My sister never cared how I would feel, even towards her. Adam scratched his shortly trimmed dark hair before talking to himself in Spanish. He was saying how coming here was a mistake because of Woodbury. Those bandits at Woodbury wouldn't think to go near the place since the town was completely taken over by walkers. The only way you could reach it was through the sewers. Most of the traveling to buildings we did was through the sewers anyway.

Sky and Carl volunteered to be the clean-up crew. Their job was moving dead bodies before scrubbing down the entire room top to bottom. There were a couple of rooms that Carmen wanted to operate in, mainly just the emergency room. There was so much blood dried out everywhere. From splatters to slashes, it told a story in itself. Civilians had been lined up and gunned down by the military. Apparently, the military had not only fired walkers, but on civilians and patients in the hospital as well. That was a new kind of fucked up.

Judith hiccupped once from consuming too much formula at once. "Oopsy, someone's got the hiccups!" I cooed to her, before turning to Sky and Carl. "Where did you put all of the bodies by the way?"

Sky and Carl looked once to each other once. That was when Sky snickered, looking genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. "Let's just say that the term 'skeleton in the closet' is in the past," she joked.

I rolled my eyes at her lame attempt at lightening up the mood. Although it worked for me, the same couldn't be said for Carl. The young boy had no emotion on his face. Not that I could blame him, Lori had only died three days ago. We lost Beth and T-Dog as well. I couldn't count how many we had lost. It hurt too much thinking about it.

"Why don't you just throw the bodies out the window?" I suggested.

Her face lit up. "That's a great idea!"

"When will Carmen be ready to give Judith her shots?" Carl asked in a monotone voice, completely changing the subject. "We shouldn't be here for much longer."

"They're scouting the hospital out and making sure no walkers are in different parts," I answered. "Give it some time, Carl."

"They also need to look for the medicine." Sky added.

While they cleaned up the nursery, Carl looked for some supplies such as; blankets, diapers, baby wipes, baby formula, and toys, all for his newborn sister. Alex came running in laughing with his arms up in the air. The two-year old toddler crashed through all the stacked blocks on the floor.

These children had no idea what they were in for in this life. Hopefully, they wouldn't have the fear that we did. Maybe growing up with walkers would be somehow normal to him.

Eventually, Alex got bored of that and started tugging on Sky's dark hair and pinching her cheeks. Sky sat on the floor entertaining the little two year old. "Juga conmogo!" Alex cried out, waving a toy at Carl.

"He wants you to play with him," I translated. Alex still slurred a lot of his words, both Spanish and English. That made it hard to understand him at times. Carl shook his head and went off onto the other side of the nursery. Alex tilted his head with confusion. Carl wasn't as eager to play with him as Sky was. I felt so bad for the kid for losing his mother like that.

Carmen eventually came in with a couple of vaccinations and a medical kit. "Alright, we prepared one of the rooms," she beckoned to me. Carl immediately was at the door while Carmen curtly turned to Sky. No light in her darkest brown eyes. "Sky, watch Alex," she ordered, turning her heel and leaving the room at once. "You two, come with me."

"Next time say please." Sky grumbled under her breath.

The three of us stalked down the hallway, our footsteps echoing. It was dark inside the hospital, with wheelchairs, hospital beds, papers, supplies, and junk scattered across the tiled floor. There was so much blood all over the floor and walls. Luckily, most of the walkers had been rounded up and trapped in some rooms. Adam stepped over a heavily mutiliated body. "I found the emergency generators, need those up?" my brother-in-law inquired. "We could use some of the machinery here."

"Not nessesary,"

"Why not?" I inquired.

Carmen looked at me. "It would only attract the walkers attention."

"That's if you dun' attract the walkers with all yer talkin'." sneered a familiar Southern accented voice. I heard the noise of boots squeaking through out the hallway. Relief washed over me and I felt as if my heart being lifted up into the clouds. I knew who it was.

Daryl. Daryl was here. I couldn't help it that my cheeks turned slightly red. I liked having him around, especially when I had to deal with a cold bitch like Carmen. "Hey, Hick, didn't know you were coming." I smiled up at him.

"What a pleasant surprise." Carmen said in a bored voice.

Daryl raised his eyebrows once at me in a cocky way. "I ain't leavin' y'all here alone, especially Ass-Kicker, with all dem walkers."

Daryl was staring at me the entire time he said that, I wondered if that was the only reason. Carmen glowered at him, nothing but contempt for the man. "We'd actually be better off alone," Carmen sniffed. "We don't need any more accidents."

"No need to get all uppity, Carmel." Daryl stated, purposely messing up on her name. I could tell Daryl wasn't going to put up with her coldness any longer.

"Carmen." she corrected him.

"Fine." Daryl scoffed, clearly not caring. He was as such a smart ass sometimes, that used to really annoy the hell out of me when we first met. In a strange way, now I treasured it. Daryl could always make me laugh and smile.

The four of us went into the hallway, where the emergency room used to be. Adam had managed to clear out the hall and one room. I placed Judith on the moveable hospital bed while Carl unwrapped her blanket. Judith whimpered from the loss of warmth. Carmen did the usual; heart rate, breathing, weight, length, height, and temperature. She also cleaned Judith's umbilical cord stump. Judith was okay on all of those. Then, Carmen pulled out the dreaded shots. Two of them.

"This is the vitamin K shot since newborns usually have low levels of it, needed so the blood can clot better in case of injury," Carmen explained to Carl.

"My sister isn't going to be injured." Carl declared, in a slightly antagonistic voice.

Carmen continued on as if he hadn't said anything, "The other is the first Hepatitis B vaccine she needs to take."

"The first?"

"They take the second one at two months, and the third one in about five months after."

With that done, Carmen then sanitized Judith's chunky thighs with a wipe before injecting the vaccine into it. We all winced in distress for Judith. It was a split second before the needle was out, that was how quick Carmen was. However, it was still very painful to Judith. Immediately, Judith burst into tears, before crying even louder at the second shot. The more painful and anticipated one. After she was done, Carmen lifted Judith up in her arms and began patting her lightly on the back.

"It's okay now, we're all done, sugar." Carmen said in a comforting way to Judith. After a few moments, Judith had calmed down and began gnawing on Carmen's shirt. It was as if Judith had never received her shots. If only I could forget as easily as a newborn baby could. At least Carmen knew how to be a mother. Judith was going to need that.

Carl hastily took his baby sister out of her arms. Clearly, he was anxious to leave, Carl hadn't stopped fidgeting. Carl eyed Carmen wearily She then crossed her arms. "Your baby is healthy and of course, not infected."

We would've known if she was infected a long time ago, Carmen, I thought critically to myself. Carl nodded before placing Judith in the carrier, wrapped up in her blanket again. Adam entered the room with Alex in his arms and Sky beside him. "Al coche está listo, el amor." Adam informed me and Carmen. I could see Sky roughly trying to translate that. I had been trying to teach her Spanish these past six months.

Daryl placed his hands over his ears, immensely irritated that he couldn't understand us. "Speak English!" he spat out. "This is America, not Mexico!"

Carmen's darkest brown eyes darted to him. "Don't you mean ' 'Murica'?" she mimicked, poorly imitating a Southern accent on purpose. I could see Daryl darken at that. I let out a small sigh. Here we go again, Carmen trying to start a fight again. "No." Daryl answered back, looking at her like she was dumb. I could tell that he was trying to restrain himself from yelling back. I wondered if it was because I was here.

"Carmen, please!" I begged, then saying in a quieter voice. "Not here."

"Then where? When?"

"How about never.:

Adam gave her a look too. For once, he was actually putting in some input. Even if it was just that look. I hated how subservient he was to Carmen. I hated how it was Adam that took Carmen away from us. He placed a hand on her shoulder and I couldn't help but glower at Adam. Stress faded from Carmen's brow. With a dirty look, she said. "Fine, but we're leaving."

Carl walked with Adam and Carmen down the hall, holding Judith in her baby carrier. Reluctantly, Sky tagged along with them. Their footsteps against the tiles echoed through out the halls. Before fading away entirely. I was about to take a step forward when Daryl gently grabbed my by the shoulder. He had a dead serious look on his face. "What is it?" I inquired.

The corner of his mouth pulled into a smirk. "Wanna learn how to ride a motorcycle?"

My eyes went wide, but then I gave a breathy chuckle. "Just as long as you're the one teaching me." I smiled at him.

As I exited the steam tunnels underneath the hospital, I was shocked at what I had saw. There was the ol' 87 red Suburban truck I stole from my annoying neighbor Debbie. Attached to the truck was Daryl's trailer, which had his Harley and my Yamaha. I approached my truck, gripping the grille guard in awe. Daryl stood beside me with his arms crossed and a wide grin on his face. "Can't believe you saved the truck," I breathed. "All of my belongings were in there."

Daryl patted me on the shoulders with his bare, muscled arm. "And still are," he gazed down at me. "Been takin' care of them for ya. C'mon!"

Daryl sped around to open the driver's seat, before getting in. I was left with the passenger seat, but I didn't mind him being the driver. Daryl was going to drive us to a secluded area where hopefully no one could find us. I was only worried that some walkers would appear. Daryl motioned back to his crossbow, a rifle, and handgun in the back. The trailer noisily bounced behind us as it was dragged through a few holes. Daryl was driving through a dirt path in the forest.

"You better not be driving a hundred miles again like you did back in Atlanta," I reminded him. "You aren't a NASCAR driver."

That made Daryl chuckle once. "I'll try not to, darlin'."

I noticed one of my photo albums on the dashboard. I grabbed it and flipped the cover open. It read 'Esperanza Alexandra Cruz' with my birth date written underneath it. The photo album that my mother had made even before I was born. Photos of my pregnant mother, me as a newborn, me as a toddler, me as a child, me as a preteen, and then it ended. Because my mother had died and never completed it. Thinking about it made me depressed, so I tossed it into the back. "Thanks for taking care of this, Daryl," I said to him in a low tone. "These precious mementos are all I have left of my family."

I rubbed the family photo I pulled from the album, taken when I was five years old. Dad, Mom, Carmen, and I were in it. All of our happy, bright smiling faces. It looked like nothing could tear that family apart. Not even walkers. But, it did. The death of my mother being the catalyst.

Daryl bowed his head once, a toothpick in his mouth. "Dun mention it."

"I just did though," I said playfully, giving him an innocent smile.

He rolled his eyes at that, but couldn't suppress grin on his face. Daryl stopped talking after that. His eyes were focused on the road. Trying to lighten up the mood and start another conversation, I asked, "I have a shit ton of stuff in this car that I have to take care of," I let out an exhausted sigh. "I could lose all of these sentimental items any day."

"True, but you won't lose the memories." Daryl answered.

That made me smile and light up my spirits. He was right. I wouldn't lose all the memories I had with my family. "Do you have any sentimental shit you have to take care of?"

He didn't respond right away. His lips were mashed into a straight line. "I do, but they're not precious to me. I wish everyday that I could lose them, but I can't. These scars will stay with me forever."

The scars on his back? I winced after he said that, hiding behind a curtain of my dark hair. Now, I had upset him and felt so bad for saying that. The last thing I wanted was to make Daryl miserable. It had been so long since I had been with Daryl. I didn't want to spend my time looking back. At least, not the whole time. All I knew about Daryl was that he had a terrible childhood.

He...did things to me, Daryl had said to me, back when he was teaching me how to do a twitch-up snare at the Greene farm. My stomach felt sick after remembering how Daryl worded that. But, Daryl teaching me how to hunt and survive was what stopped the animosity between us.

Daryl had a faraway look in his eyes and was gripping the stirring wheel tightly. "I'm sorry I said anything." I apologized, staring at my lap. I felt his calloused hand on top of mine. My eyes darted to him. There was nothing but kindness on his face, though his matted brown hair made it difficult to see his own eyes. His beautiful steel blue eyes. "Don't worry 'bout it, prom queen." Daryl replied. "We're gonna have a great day today, I'm finally gonna teach you how to ride that damn motorcycle you found. Haven't been able to do shit since then.

"Till now," I added.

Daryl nodded his head once. "Till now," he agreed.