A few months had gone by since the night at the farm. It seems like nothing is the same since that fateful day. Everything has changed. This group isn't what it used to be.
Rick has become distant from Lori. The two hardly even speak anymore. Actually, Rick seems to have silenced almost completely. He is our leader, dictator, whatever, but he doesn't talk all that much. Instead, he just uses hand signals. The night where he claimed we had no say in his decisions caused everyone to fear him. When he said we were all infection, we didn't trust him anymore. Now, we all just follow. He has kept us all alive so far. We haven't lost a single group member since the farm.
Lori has gotten bigger as well. Her clothes stopped fitting because of the pregnancy and we always seem to be scavenging for more. Normally, a pregnant woman should be excited for her unborn child, but she seems to be depressed all the time. No matter what any of us do, she never cheers up. I guess her family problems are the source for her unhappiness.
Carl is so young, but acts like a grown man. He loves his mother and father, but doesn't show it like he used to. In fact, he seemed to stop showing emotion all together. Growing up in this world can really screw up a child's mind. Unfortunately, Carl has become a victim to this hell.
Maggie and Glenn have gotten closer. They are never too far away from one another. Hershel treats Glenn like he's his son. It's kind of cute, actually. At least someone found joy in this life. Beth sees it, too. Glenn is a brother to her.
Carol has gotten stronger. She is no longer a burden like she claimed to be that night. She has trained with other members of the group on how to use a weapon and how to defend herself. She often goes out on runs with Glenn and Maggie and always comes back with something we need. If only her abusive husband could see her now. He definitely would think twice about messing with her.
T-Dog is the only one who hasn't changed. He's still quiet, but does what he's told. He keeps his opinions to himself.
I'm proud of Daryl. He changed for the better. He is Rick's right hand man. He has stepped up to help the rest of us. He always goes out to hunt whatever he could find whenever he got the chance. Every once in awhile, he gets lucky and kills a deer for us to cook and eat, but most of the time he kills squirrels. Daryl always checks up on me. He never strays too far. That was something I always loved about him. His hair has grown a bit longer and refuses to cut it. He tells me it keeps him warm in the colder weather. Even though I keep telling him to cut it, I can't help but grow attached to it. He looks rather good with the overgrown, wildman look. He still has his crossbow, though. That is one thing that certainly hasn't changed.
As for me, well, I don't do much these days. I'm bound to sitting in the car or on a couch that we find in an abandoned home. People actually pay attention to me. They are always asking me if I need anything or if I'm comfortable. I kind of enjoy the attention again. It had been awhile since I actually had this much attention. It was like a treat that this world seemed to take away from me. I am going to miss this. Hopefully people will still care after. There are times where I feel useless. When a group goes in to clear out a house, I'm stuck in the car, waiting for the all clear. I know I can't do much now, necessarily, but I still feel bad about it. Looking at it this way, I couldn't wait to be able to pitch in.
I have become awfully big these past few months. I can't even tie my own shoes at this point. I'm glad Daryl volunteers to do that. According to Hershel, I should be popping within the next few days. I'm big enough for him to give me a pretty good estimate for when I'm due.
I'm not going to lie. Even with the months of preparations, I am terrified. We have all the essentials a child should need including toys, formula, and clothes. Since we don't know for sure the baby's gender, we've just been grabbing anything that would work for a newborn. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a girl, but I guess it's better to be safe. We even have a little carrier for when he or she needs to sleep. All this stuff doesn't calm my nerves, though. I have so many fears when it comes to childbirth alone. Daryl promises that everything will work out, but I'm not so sure. There are so many things that could go wrong. Even if things go well, what's going to happen in the future? There's just so many things to worry about now, I don't even know how I'm functioning right now.
We don't even have a permanent home, yet. We are constantly bouncing from place to place. We never stay in one house or building longer than a couple days. Things always go wrong. Most of the time, it's walkers. There's always too many of them for us to handle. Even though we have come across more ammo, we can't risk using it. There are worse threats out there besides walkers that we are going to need the bullets for. Rick's dream of finding a place where we can live seems to be getting smaller and smaller everyday. I'm just afraid of having my baby on the road. Her screams could attract walkers or other threats. I've been asking him for months to try and find a more stable building, but so far, there's nothing. I don't think there's ever going to be anything.
After the farm, we tried our luck at Fort Benning, Shane's first choice. Unfortunately, it had been overrun and burned to the ground. Nothing was left. We tried to salvage what we could from the ruble, but we didn't stay long. Walkers were coming in from every angle and we needed to get out of there. At one point, we thought we weren't going to make it out, but somehow we did. I guess it was just another one of those miracles Hershel keeps talking about. I didn't see it that way, but we made it out. That's all that matters.
We managed to find a storage facility that seemed to be untouched by the apocalypse. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn managed to get a few of the units open for us to look through. Some of them even had beds and canned goods. It wasn't much, but it was something. We decided that this would be the perfect place to hold up for the next few days. This is where we currently reside. It's not home. It's just a spot along the way to our sanctuary.
Rick decided to take a few of the group members to look for supplies. Of course this group included the usual folks - Glenn, Maggie, T-Dog, and Daryl. Before leaving, Daryl kissed me on my cheek and said goodbye. This had become a small ritual that we did every time he went on a run. It just didn't feel right if we forgot to do it. I hated seeing him go out there so often, but had gotten used to seeing him go. There was nothing I could say that would stop him from doing what he needed to. This was his role now and I accepted it.
They were gone for maybe an hour or so. Everyone started to pick lockers they wanted to stay in. We even set up a little sitting area outside the lockers using chairs we found in the units. It was an adorable little set up. Hershel built a small fire and we all sat around it. It was quite cold, for it was winter after all. We didn't talk about much. I guess we just run out of things to discuss. Small talk seemed irrelevant.
We were all just sitting there quietly. It was a normal day in our small group of survivors, until it wasn't. I was sitting on my chair when I suddenly felt a warm liquid trickle down my legs. At first, I thought I had just urinated on myself, which I had read in this pregnancy book Daryl found me, was normal. Then it just kept coming. "Oh, no," I whispered. In a panic, I yelled, "Hershel!" It was time. I knew it had to be.
A/N: Sorry for the time jump, but I thought it would be a good idea. I'm really excited about this. IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! I have had this in my mind for months and now it is finally down and ready for you guys to read. I can't wait for the next chapter to be posted. Leave your predictions in the review section. Do you think it's going to be a boy or a girl?
