I guess this chapter has some graphic stuff in it, though I'm not exactly sure what is classified as "graphic" or not. A warning for those who care, but I guess personal values will dictate whether you find it graphic or not. I tried. Review please!

Anything that can go wrong—will go wrong. Murphy's Law. Well, screw you Murphy. Of all the thoughts that had to have been going on in my head, that was all I could think of. I repeated it in mantra as Carl stood guard by the door that wouldn't close. We had taken refuge in a small room that could have either been an electrical room or storage, but now it only housed dust and mold. Maggie and I stood beside a panicked Lori. She grasped a dangling chain fiercely and gritted her teeth together to prevent from screaming.

"Contractions?" I asked needlessly, hands against her shoulders to help her stand.

She managed a nod and set her jaw. Maggie shushed us and stared at the door. The groaning and shuffling passed on, but we waited until Riddick lowered his tail before we resumed talking.

"What are those alarms?" Lori gasped out.

"Don't worry about it." Maggie insisted. "Let's lay you down."

"Get her pants off." I instructed. "If we lay her down, she might not have the strength to get back up."

"She's not a cow!" Maggie snapped.

"Well it's all I know!" I hissed back, trying desperately not to panic.

"The baby's coming now." Lori interrupted in a voice that left no argument.

"We have to get back to the cell block and have Hershel-," Carl started, already darting forward to grab his mother's arm.

"No, we can't risk getting caught in the hallways. We'll have to do it here." Maggie said, catching my eye. "I know it won't be the same, but we can do this."

I inhaled sharply and rubbed Lori's back. I had to stay calm. I had to keep everyone else calm. There was no room for panic in an operation like this. Logically, I knew, but my emotions were all over the place. Lori's breathing picked up as she tried to suck in more oxygen.

"What's wrong, can't she breathe?" Carl demanded.

"She's fine." I insisted. "Let's get her pants off."

With Maggie's assistance, we removed the clothing from her lower half and helped her support herself against a metal table. I risked a glance at Carl who was holding on tightly to Riddick, his eyes wide with fear. I had been taught that loved ones in operation rooms only led to bad things, but I couldn't see any other way to avoid it.

"We might need your help delivering your baby brother or sister." I told him, reaching over and laying a hand on his shoulder to keep him focused on me for the moment. "Can you do that?"

He nodded stiffly but his ashen face told me otherwise. Riddick seemed fidgety in Carl's grip, his head shaking from side to side between the door, Carl and I in agitation.

"Good." To Maggie, "Do you know how to check if she's dilated?"

"Yeah." Maggie said, but her voice held traces of doubt. "I think so. Daddy told me how, but…"

"I don't know how far for a human." I admitted. "So that's up to you."

Maggie nodded as she bent her head to check. I crawled over to Lori's head and did a quick TPR check.

"You okay?" I asked.

Lori shook her head and rolled her neck to try and stretch her muscles.

"I can't tell." Maggie said from behind me.

"I gotta push." Lori groaned.

I let out a shaky breath and bit my lip in uncertainty.

"Okay," I said, casting Maggie a look.

"Let's get her up." The oldest Greene sister instructed.

Between the two of us, we pulled the heavy woman to her feet, letting her support herself on a chainlink fence. When she was fully righted, she took a few deep breaths before pushing. Her face contorted in pain and my hands shook to do something while my mind raced.

"Somebody…!" Lori sobbed out.

Maggie grabbed her hand and Lori snapped out of her stupor. "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay."

As she repeated those two words, my mind flashed back to the quarry and Jim. Shaking the thought aside, I forced myself to return to the present.

"Your body knows what to do, let it do all the work." Maggie soothed.

My mind left the situation at hand once more and brought up a piece of long forgotten information. A warning bell, louder than the sirens overhead, flashed through my head as I remembered a transcript from some medical textbook.

Risks of Breech Birth…causes may include…the baby has a hyperextended head…the cervix is not fully dilated when the mother begins pushing…

No.

"Lori, stop pushing, something's not right!" Maggie's voice quavered as Lori let out a piercing scream.

I winced and cast an anxious look towards the door, Riddick squirming free of Carl's hold and bounding off a few paces. His tongue hung from his mouth and heavy panting showed he was as distressed as the rest of us. Turning back to the pregnant woman, I saw that Maggie's fingertips were coated bright red. Blood. Lori swayed on her feet, and I just managed to grab her before she plummeted to the ground.

"Mom!" Carl started forward, but Maggie held a hand out to him.

"Stay back, Carl!" I ordered, lowering the woman's limp body to the ground and I felt her neck for a pulse, feeling the fluttering beat pound against my fingers.

He ignored me and fell to his knees next to her, gripping her limp hand. "Mom, open your eyes. Look at me!"

Hazel eyes cracked open and focused on him dazily.

"We have to get her back to Dad." Maggie insisted, wiping her hands on her pants to try and rid of the liquid.

"Maggie…" Lori whispered, an objection on the tip of her tongue.

"Lori, look at me." I said. "Your baby is breech, okay? Do you know what that means? We need to get you back to Herschel."

"I know what it means." Lori nodded her head in a resigned manner. "And I'm not losing my baby." She looked at me intensely. "You have to cut me open."

I blanched and recoiled, my lips parting to form an objection.

"No." Maggie beat me to it.

"You don't have a choice." Lori whispered.

"I'll go for help." Carl went to stand. "I'll take Riddick-,"

"No!" Lori snapped.

"Listen, Carol was the one who practiced that stuff, not me." Maggie insisted, trying to talk Lori away from the subject.

"Or me." I added.

"Please." The pregnant woman breathed.

"I have no anesthetic, no equipment-," I tried to reason, my voice beginning to tremble.

"You have a knife."

I was quiet for a long moment. "Lori, you won't survive."

"But my baby has to survive. And you're its best chance, Als. Please, my baby, for all of us. Please!"

My vision blurred and I desperately tried to halt the barrage of images that leaked into my mind.

"Thank you." Lori whispered to me as she clung to Carl, my first day at camp.

I grabbed the front of Lori's shirt, causing her to drop her laundry basket. "Listen here," I snarled. "I don't like you. Now it would probably be best if you stay away from me, but if you got an issue with me, say it to my face instead of getting your bedbuddy to do it for you!"

"That's a problem. We need to mourn and bury our dead." Lori snapped. I waited a few beats before nodding.
"She's right." I ignore the surprised look she sent my way.

"Where's Shane and Rick?" Lori demanded.
"I don't know." I said, "Still beating the bush."
"Why aren't they back?" Lori asked.
"I don't know. Jesus, woman! You ain't their mother! Back off!"

The grenade blast shattered the glass and shook the room. Lori slipped as she tried to get up, and I grabbed her arm, hauling her with me. Together, we jumped out of the broken window and ran away from the CDC.

"This is a graveyard." Lori said. "I'm not sure how I feel about this."
"Well, no one cares how you
feel about it." I muttered under my breath.

"I'm going to go see Carl," I said, heading towards the house. I paused. "If that's okay?"
"Sure. Thank you, Alice." Lori smiled.

"Shane is right! Fort Benning! Why is it such a bad idea?" I snapped.
"You just want to go there so you can look for your brothers who are most likely dead!" Lori spat.
I flinched back like I had been slapped. Shane and Daryl moved before I could. Daryl stepped in front of me and Shane grabbed my arm as I lunged forward.

I handed Lori the Gatorade, the woman accepting it with a grateful look.
"Thanks."
"I don't like the pink ones, anyways." I said.
As Herschel walked away, searching the road for any threats, Lori spoke up.
"Alice."
"Yeah?" I asked, fiddling with the knife on my belt.
"We're…" She trailed off. "Well, we're friends, right?"
I looked at her sharply, a little stunned and a little perplexed. She stared at me, expecting an answer.
"Yeah, I think we are." I nodded.
"Good." Was all the pregnant woman said, sounding oddly pleased. Hormones.

As the first tear rolled down my face, I didn't bother to wipe it away. Lori grabbed my hand and placed it on her stomach, lifting her shirt to bare her navel. A thick pink line stretched just under her belly button.

"You see my old C-Section scar?" She asked me.

"I can't." I protested, trying to pull away. "There has to be another way."

"You can." Lori said, her grip surprisingly strong. "You have to."

She reached for her son with her free hand, releasing me.

"Carl. I don't want you to be scared, baby. This is what I want. This is right."

Carl nodded and sniffed.

"You take care of your Daddy for me, alright? And your little brother or sister."

"You don't have to do this." Carl sobbed.

I placed a hand over my face and struggled to take deep breaths. Maggie's arm encircled my shoulders, and the two of us tried to draw strength from each other.

"You're gonna be fine." Lori assured him with a smile. "You are going to beat this world, I know you are. You are smart, and you are strong, and you are so brave. And I love you."

"I love you too." Carl whispered.

Lori looked at him for a long moment. "You gotta do what's right, baby. You promise me you will always do what's right. It's so easy to do the wrong thing in this world. So if it feels wrong, don't do it, okay? If it feels easy, don't do it, don't let the world spoil you."

Lori raised a shaky hand to wipe the tears falling down Carl's cheeks.

"You are so good. My sweet boy. You are the best thing I've ever did and I love you!"

She pulled him into an embrace and murmured to him. By now, my shoulders were heaving with the sobs I was trying to keep under control. Kissing him on the cheek, Lori released him and took a deep breath.

"Okay. Alice, Maggie, when this is over, you have to-,"

Maggie shushed her, eyes shut tightly, nobody in the room ready to hear the words.

"It has to be you, it can't be Rick!"

I nodded and squeezed her hand tightly. Lori sent me a small smile.

"It's alright." She whispered reassuringly.

"Hey, Lori." I said quietly, sniffing. "We're friends, right?"

She huffed in disbelief and her lips tilted as she recalled the same conversation.

"Yeah. I think we are." She whispered.

With those words of parting, I reached for the knife that was hooked to my leg, easing it out with steady hands even as the rest of my being shook.

"Good night, love." Lori sighed to the air.

"I'm sorry." I managed out before I slid the knife cleanly across the scar.

Immediately, Lori let out an agonized scream and her head flung to the side.

"Stop it, you're killing her!" Carl shouted, reaching to stop me.

Maggie grabbed onto the boy and pulled him away from the operation and turning him away. The two of them fell over as Maggie struggled to pin him against her. As he cried Lori went suddenly silent, her body shuddering. I knew at that moment I had only minutes to find the baby and cut the umbilical cord. Setting the knife aside, I delved into her abdominal cavity, searching for the uterus. My hand connected with a solid mass.

"Maggie." I stuttered out, feeling suddenly weak. "I need you."

Maggie released Carl, the younger boy pressing his face against the concrete floor. She darted back to me and kneeled, poised to help.

"Put your hands where mine are." I instructed. "I need to find the head."

We worked silently as I figured top from bottom and nicked the uterus, finding the arm.

"I got it." I said shakily. "I'm going to pull the baby out."

Even with my warning, the sight of the infant emerging from its mother was intense. I cradled it in my arms as I watched for any sign of life. Carl stood behind Maggie now, new tears falling as he caught sight of his baby sister. Riddick had wandered closer as well, lips pulled back slightly over his teeth and ears flat back.

"Maggie, cut the cord, quick." I ordered.

She took my knife, but hesitated as Carl placed his hand on her shoulder. The message was clear. Maggie passed it to him and let him slide the blade along the cord, severing it. Still, no sign of life. I rubbed her chest, letting my knuckles run along the middle of her collarbone. Still nothing.

"Flip her over." Maggie suggested sullenly.

I did just that, giving the baby's back a few hard pats. Still nothing.

"No." Carl whispered.

I closed my eyes tightly and shook my head in despair. The feeling of warm fur brushing against my arm had me tensing. Riddick sniffed the infant cautiously, something between a growl and a whimper rumbling in his throat. Before I could move the child away, he gave the baby a firm lick over its face. As if he pushed an on button, she burst into wails. A collective gasp echoed throughout the room as I stripped out of my shirt, leaving me only in my tank top. Grabbing my knife, still bloodstained, I slipped it into its sheath. Wrapping the child, I cradled her in my arms, performing small rocking motions to try and soothe her.

"We have to go." Maggie ordered, too relieved to do anything but stand up and head for the door.

"We can't just leave her!" Carl's voice shattered the moment, gesturing to Lori. "She'll turn."

With my arms occupied with a tiny person, Maggie took the initiative to step forward.

"No." Carl objected, take a small step back.

"Carl-," She tried, tears still staining her face.

He pulled his gun out and faced us with squared shoulders. He didn't look like a little kid anymore, and he hadn't looked like one for a long time. His face was red and tear stained, eyes solemn and melancholy.

"She's my mom."

At that moment, I couldn't take it anymore. I turned away and headed towards the door, pressing the shaking baby closer to me. My head hurt, my chest, my eyes. It hurt. But nothing compared to the sound of the cracking gun shot. The baby jumped in my arms and began crying once more, and this time, I cried right along with her.

Our walk back up to the surface was held in terrible silence. I was a murderer. Maybe not by choice, but I was. My knife ended Lori's life. And I was holding her baby. My footsteps echoed, bouncing off the walls. Riddick stayed glued to me his shoulder brushing my hip with every step. Carl was at the front, his face stony and unresponsive. Maggie brought up the rear, her sniffles barely audible over the baby's whimpers. As we neared our cell block, we were cautious.

Our fears were ungrounded when we realized that someone had come through already and killed any remaining Walkers. I broke away from the rest of them and headed towards the door that led outside. It would be the only place left to look. Maggie followed and pulled the door open for me, and the baby let out a low whine at the sudden brightness.

As we pushed through the gate, I met Rick's gaze first. Instant guilt hit me, so hard that my lip started trembling. I opened my mouth to try and say something, but all that left was a choked sob. Rick blinked a few times, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Astonishment flowed over his face as he took in his baby girl. Then, as his eyes moved past me, they turned cold with dread.

I could only imagine how I looked, my arms covered in blood for the umpteenth time in the past two days, an equally as messy infant swaddled in my flannel and crying. Tear tracks and agony etched deep in my face. I took a few steps closer cautiously before faltering. Maggie fell into Glenn's arms, sobbing against him.

Rick approached us, shaking his head. The axe he held slipped from his grasp and clattered against the asphalt. He stalked back in forth in front of me, an utterly heartbroken look on his face.

"W-Where," He stuttered. "Where is she? Where is she?"

Once again, I couldn't get anything to pass my lips but a sob. He went to move past me, probably intent on finding Lori's body. I juggled the baby's weight over to one arm and tried to grab Rick with the other.

"No," I whimpered. "No, Rick! Don't!"

He shrugged me off and spun in a circle before placing his hands over his face and weeping. I lowered my head and gnashed my teeth together as his agony turned into wails.

"No!" he cried. "No, no!"

A thud from behind me told me that Rick had collapsed, still moaning to himself. The baby squalled in my arms, jolting me back to life. Herschel was being supported by Beth as he made his way over to me. Gently, he touched my arm.

"Hand her over, Alice." He told me. "Let's make sure she's okay."

Uncomprehendingly, I did as I was told, relinquishing my hold on her and letting Beth scoop her from my trembling arms. I blinked and looked around, suddenly aware of all the eyes on me. Daryl looked the most cautious, eyeing me like I was about to explode. Rachelle stepped into my line of view, her eyes brimming with tears. She pulled me toward her, and I let her. My own arms wrapped around her as she tried to comfort me.

"It'll be okay." She whispered. "It'll be okay."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that, no, it wouldn't be. I closed my eyes.