Chapter forty-seven:

"Put your lighter in the air and lead me back home

When it's all said and done and follow where the air goes

I hear you night after night calling out my name

And I'm finding myself running to meet you

I didn't want to escape

From the bricks that I laid down"

"Break in" Halestorm

Daryl felt his body hit the hard ground, knocking his brain around in his skull causing a ringing in his ears. His bike felt heavy on his leg, like defeat. The growl of a walker got him moving again but it wasn't going to do much harm so he left it. Pressing his head back down in the burnt soil, he stared up at the canopy of brown leaves above his head.

It reminded him of the very first time he met Heaven, way back when they were kids. He hadn't know it was her for years afterwards. Not until she had told him the story of meeting a boy in the wood when she wanted to kill herself. It was an odd twist of fate, but a pleasant one. If he stretched out his hand, he would have been laying just as they had been…

X

May 1984

"Now don't come back into the woods again, ya hear?" A young Daryl demanded, turning back to look at the girl he had finished showing how to fish.

Her yellow sundress was covered in mud and algae stains and her knees were scraped and dirty. But she didn't seem to mind, which was odd. At first glance she appeared to be a goody-goody that was afraid to get a little dirty. Instead, she had dug up her own worms and jumped into the water to catch a fish that had stolen her fishing pole (which was just a bit of fishing wire tied to a stick).

If they hadn't been from different worlds maybe they could have been friends. She was interesting enough. Hell, when he told her he had seen her panties she had replied with "I'll show ya mine if ya show me yers". And if he was honest, he was a little tempted.

"Sometimes I have to." She mumbled, stepping over a fallen tree. "When my uncle comes home… I have to hide somewhere."

Daryl stopped in his tracks. She didn't notice and bumped into his back with a soft thud. He looked up and she followed his gaze. The stars were out, shinning bright in the night sky, twinkling down through the hole in the canopy of trees.

Without a word, she dropped to her knees and laid out under the stars. It was already late, her mother would have the whole police force out looking for her. Might as well have made it worth it. Daryl watched her for a minute before joining her. Her small hand found his, their fingers lamely twisted together. She smiled at him and he returned it.

X

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Heaven paced the inside of the house she had been forced to take shelter in.

It wasn't too far from the others but with the thousands of walkers out there, it was far enough. Beau fussed in his basket and she was quick to race to him and quiet his cries. She closed her eyes tight, squeezing back tears that threatened to spill. No, she wouldn't be weak. Not now. Not yet.

She had seen the church earlier. There was something about it that made her uneasy. It was so close to the wall, one gust of wind could knock it right down, tearing apart their world in a second. A needle in the bubble they had trapped themselves in. Giving Beau his pacifier, she strapped him to her chest, making sure he was bundled, no skin showing.

Then she pulled on a pair of jeans that barely fit and tugged on Meryl's old jacket. She could almost hear his voice, telling her not to do something stupid but to do it anyway. His voice had been visiting her a lot lately. Neither heaven or hell must have wanted him so he was stuck in limbo. The thought made her laugh.

Slipping her gun in her hip holster, she readied her knife and stood at the back door waiting for her moment. It was stupid, such a stupid idea. But she had to get to the others. She refused to run. Refused to leave them behind. So, with her go bag on her back, she slipped out between the gaps in the groups of walkers and raced towards the closest house she could get to.

Each pit stop she made she would sit and catch her breath, pressing a hand to her belly feeling for movement. Carolina would flutter in her tiny space letting her mother know she was okay, she was still there. Beau had fallen asleep, his one-eyed teddy in his chubby hand, tucked into the harness of the carrier.

"Dear Lord, if yer up there. Let me make it. Let them all be safe. Let him be safe." Then she would move on to the next house and repeat it all over again.

It was dark when she finally made it to the infirmary. She had spotted Rick and Michonne rushing towards it and followed from a side alley. There was a wetness between her legs but she pressed on, beating Rick to the door and collapsing to her knees mere feet from it.

Denise went towards her to see where she was bleeding but Heaven screamed at her.

"Take care of him! Leave me!"

Beau started to cry and she struggled to shush him. When her legs didn't feel like jello anymore she stood and went into the room. Michonne was trying to help their make-shift doctor but was antsy to go help Rick. Heaven unstrapped Beau and set him down in a bundle of pillows. He would quiet down soon, but for now they needed her. Carl needed her.

"Michonne, go." Heaven approached the operating table, rolling up her sleeves, the coat long discarded. "I've got this."

The swordsman gripped her forearm. "You're bleeding."

"I know." Heaven put her hands where Michonne's had been. "I can handle it. It happens. Now go."

X

When it was all over and when Michonne had caught up to Daryl she told him about Heaven. She never thought there would be a day that she would see sheer panic cross his face. The hunter took off towards the infirmary. With each heavy boot fall he said a prayer for her. With every gasp of breath his lung screamed for, he asked the Lord or any god for strength. That rosary slapped against his heartbeat.

He burst through the door and turned into the room to find Heaven standing over Carl, helping to stabilize him. She looked up through her tangled hair and locked eyes with him. While breathlessly welcoming him back her knees gave out. It was then that he noticed blood seeping through the fabric between her legs. He raced forward and caught her, going to the ground with her.

"I'm fine. We're fine."she glanced over his shoulder towards the mound of pillows where Beau was gnawing on his rosary. Then she took his large hand and pressed it to her bloated stomach. "We're fine."

There was movement below his palm. Daryl broke into sobs and held her tight to his chest, rocking them.

"Thank you, Jesus." He choked out, pulling back to cup her cheeks and get a good look at her. "Thank you, God."

Daryl kissed her like he was a man on death row. Like it would be his last. If she were to die… if their children were to die… then he'd just give up. But he didn't have to. Not yet.

Not yet