Ch.51
Rick decides to let them live. We held up our end of the deal. Now they have a cell block of their own. We can live in peace once again. Everything can only get better from here on I hope.
When we get back to our cell block, I walk up to Glenn and Carl. "How is he? Doing any better?" I ask them concerned for Hershel's well being. I worry that the worst had already happened. I didn't want to say it out loud, and I don't want to think about it. We need to stay positive.
"Hershel stopped breathing. Mom saved him. Ask Glenn." Carl announces. "Really? That's amazing." I say looking into the cell at Hershel laying on the bed. Thank God he's still alive.
"You did good. He's still alive." I walk up to hug Lori for doing the right thing. Rick walks in after me and goes straight for the bed, and I walk over to the head of the bed beside Rick.
"You'll be okay. You're part of our group. Bunch of tough members." I say rubbing Hershel's forehead. "He'll be all right." I smile at Beth and Maggie. "Thank you." they both express their gratitude.
The next minute, Hershel wakes up to all of us staring at him. "Oh my God." I softly gasp staring into his open eyes. "Daddy." Maggie and Beth coo at the sight of their father finally awake.
Rick unlocks the handcuffs when he notices Hershel waking up a normal person. I can't believe it worked. Hershel's alive and not a walker. I hope he has some really good painkillers in him right now.
"Welcome back. I'm so glad you're awake now. We were worried." I reach down to take Hershel's outstretched hand. "He's gonna need crutches." I say looking at Maggie and Lori. "We got that under control. Thank you." Maggie says hugging her dad.
"I'll be back in a bit." I say to Hershel before standing up and walking behind Rick. "I'm gonna give you guys some space." I smile at the two girls hugging their dad. "Get some rest. You worked hard today." Rick says before turning back to Hershel.
"What's wrong, babe?" Daryl stops me in the doorway. "Nothing. I figured they would want time with their father." I shrug staring back into the cell. He nods at my logic and follows me back to our perch to get some rest.
The next day, we're gathering up all the bodies in the courtyard. Maggie and Glenn seem to be missing again. "Now where are they at?" I softly say sighing at their frequent disappearance.
"We could really use Glenn and Maggie for help." Carol says walking beside me. "I think they're in the guard tower." T-dog inputs. "The guard tower? They were just up there last night." Rick states shaking his head confused.
I think Rick is that oblivious to what's going on around him. I have a feeling those two lovebirds stayed the night up there. Either that or they snuck out early in the morning to do it.
"Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl shouts trying to get their attention. Soon Glenn opens the door shirtless and buttoning his pants. "Rick, I don't think they left the tower last night." I snicker watching Glenn stumble out the door.
"Hey, what's up, guys?" Glenn asks us as if we didn't know what they were doing up there. "You comin'?" Daryl shouts at him to mask his laughter. Glenn looks at us confused and we start chuckling.
Daryl repeats himself again. "Come on. We could use a hand." he continues wincing up at Glenn through the sun glare. "Yeah, get your asian ass down here and help us. You can't be the only ones having sex all you want around here. We have things to do." I shout cupping my mouth so my voice echos.
We all burst out laughing at my comment and turn around to finish what we were doing. "I wasn't gonna say it, but I guess we all were thinking the same thing." Carol leans over to whisper to me.
"Well, someone has to tell him it's not all fun and games." I laugh smiling over at Daryl, who pulls me to his side. "We can have some fun later." Daryl whispers in my ear softly before kissing me.
Carol walks away quickly after telling us to get a room. "We haven't done anything." I exclaim shaking my head at her. "Not yet. What do ya say?" Daryl whispers feeling me up, and I give him a booty bump in anticipation.
"Is that a promise?" I smirk at Daryl behind me. "You bet." he grins winking at me. "You better keep it, then. I'll hold you to your promise." I turn around and grab him by his chin to kiss him.
"Do you guys want the guard tower next?" Rick interrupts causing us to pull away. I didn't think anyone else was still here with us. "Maybe." I say in wonder if he heard us smoozing or if he just knew what we were thinking.
"Come on, let's just go." I wave for everyone to follow. Then T-dog stops us with an unhappy look on his face. "Uh, Rick?" T stutters averting everyones attention to the cellmates we rescued before.
We stop in front of Axel and his tall mate. "We had an agreement." Rick states angrily turning our moods sour. "What do you want? We told you not to show your faces after we cleared your cell block." I grumble stepping forward.
Rick blocks me before I take another step. "Let me handle this." he says ushering me back beside Daryl. Axel continues complaining about their living situation. 'If he don't like that there's bodies everywhere, then move them.' I think to myself.
That Axel guy has really made a habit of begging us for something. He says he's desparate to be a part of our group. I don't know about this. We tried working with them before, but as a group. Maybe we should give them each a chance.
While Axel and Oscar are locked up on the other side of the gate, we discuss whether to bring them in as part of our group. We decide to let them stay for the time being. But if they cause any mishaps, they will end up like their leader.
I stay with Maggie while Rick, Glenn, and Daryl go gather some wood. I notice some movement out of the corner of my eye and turn quickly. Hershel's already up and moving.
"Hey, Maggs, look. Your dad is one tough old man." I state pointing in Hershel's direction. "Yeah, he damn sure is." she answers proudly staring at her dad. It's amazing how soon he's up and moving around.
In the background, I look past everyone to see walkers trudging behind them. Panic begins to rise in my chest. "Run!" I scream in a hurry at the same time that Carl turns around. Everyone bolts to save the ones in danger.
I can't believe this is happening. I thought we were going to have a nice day since Hershel is feeling better. We were having a peaceful day and these cannibalist geeks have to ruin it.
I make my way inside with Maggie ahead of me. "Lori! Carl! You two okay?!" I ask in a hurry to shut the door behind me. "Yeah, we're okay. We're fine." she answers placing a hand on her belly and Carl's shoulder.
"Where's Hershel?!" I shout worried for the old man. "I think he's with Beth." Carl states staring at me and Maggie. "You think?" I exclaim as we round a corner where more walkers are waiting for us.
We quickly run in the other direction, then a loud siren blares throughout the prison. "What the hell! Really?" I scream covering my ears. I cannot believe our luck. This is terrible.
"Come on, this way." Maggie gestures for us to move quickly. I hear Lori grunt in pain behind me and turn around suddenly. "Lori, what's the matter?" I ask her worried she got bit or something.
"I think the baby's coming." Lori says clutching my shoulder when I reach her. Shock surfaces on all our faces at her statement. "Oh my...are you freaking kidding me?! Not right now!" I panic even more. "No, I'm not freaking kidding you, Mae! The baby's coming!" she screams at me as she encounters another contraction.
There's walkers around every corner, and we have to find some place safe to deliver the baby. Carl opens a door to an empty boiler room ushering everyone in. Lori clutching onto the wall for dear life now.
"Just breathe, Lori. Remember your breathing." I tell her holding onto her arm. "We're gonna have to deliver this baby in here." Maggie says helping Lori take off her pants for the birth.
"You up for delivering your baby brother or sister?" Maggie asks Carl as Lori gets into position. The look on his face is of utter fear as he stares off into space. I think he's afraid of what would happen. We all are.
"Lori, you're doing great." I encourage her to continue pushing. Her screams echo throughout the silent room. "Lori, wait. Something's wrong." Maggie says with blood running down her arm. "What's the matter?!" I yell terrified for the mother and baby's sake.
The alarm finally stops buzzing, but we can't rest yet. Lori's in labor. "You've lost a lot of blood and I don't even think you're fully dilated yet." Maggie says in a panic to Lori.
"So what do we do? Just wait?" I question. "I know what this means. You're gonna have to cut me open." Lori says staring at Maggie. "I'm not gonna make it." she continues while looking at me.
"No." I silently tell her. "Use my previous scar as a guide." Lori continues explaining what the best thing to do is. "No! You can't...you can't die! This baby needs you! Rick needs you! Carl, me, and everyone else!" I scream while tearing up.
"Can you help take care of my baby? I know how you are with Carl." Lori asks me crying herself and I nod my head. All I can do is hold her hand while Maggie cuts the baby out.
The pain Lori's going through must be excrutiating. Being cut open without any antiseptics to numb the pain. Her screams cause me to cry even more. Carl looks away in horror. Shortly Lori passes out leaving us to deliver this baby.
At first the baby wasn't crying or moving at all. I cover my mouth thinking we lost the baby too. Then we hear a soft cry in the silence after Maggie pats it on the back. It's overwhelming at first, but relief hits me when the cries become louder.
"Carl give me something to wrap the baby in." Maggie commands then swaddles the baby in a shirt. "Come on. We have to go. Now." Maggie says standing up with the baby.
"We can't just leave her here!" Carl yells getting defensive about leaving his mother to die. "Okay, Carl. We need to save her before she turns." I say grabbing my gun on my hip. "No, she's my mom. I'll do it." he says cocking the trigger of his own gun. "Okay." is all I say to him.
I follow Maggie while Carl is alone with his mom. I slightly open the door to see a few walkers trudging through the corridor. I don't want to risk it yet. As I turn around, I hear the gunshot that took Lori's life.
I place my hand over my mouth as I silently heave into it. Then Carl walks out from around the corner after shooting his mom to keep her from turning. He has this look on his face that is so hostile that I doubt saying anything to him would help his pain go away.
"I'm so sorry, Carl. I wish I could help." I softly whisper so only I can hear. As we walk out the door, all eyes turn to the crying infant in Maggie's arms. Rick looks like he's about to cry. He keeps asking where Lori is, but I begin sobbing in front of him.
Rick breaks down in front of everyone when he sees me crying. I just cover my face hoping this awful memory will fade away. The tension is so great that everyone is filled with misery for our perished friend.
"Babe..." is all Daryl can say when he walks over to engulf me in a hug. "I couldn't...we tried, Daryl. We did everything we could." I sob into his chest. "I know. You did your best." he pulls my face up to look at him.
"Listen to me. This isn't your fault. Trust me. Sometimes things happen. You guys did what was best. I love you. More than anything. Just remember that." Daryl says staring into my glazed eyes and rubbing my cheek with his thumb. "I love you, too." I say before he pulls me in for a kiss and embraces me once again.
It's been several minutes since Rick started spacing out. "Yo, Rick, you in there? Snap out of it." Daryl says snapping his fingers in front of Rick. The baby keeps crying in the background. So far she's healthy, but she needs formula soon or she'll die. I can't let that happen.
"I'm running into town. I'm not having her die too. No one else is dying." Daryl says gearing up. "I'll stay with the baby." I tell him cooing over the infant in Carl's arms. "Welcome to this fucked up world, little one." I whisper softly to her.
"Okay. I can take one other person. Who's coming with me?" Daryl says glancing between Maggie and Glenn. Maggie decides to go with him while the rest of us stay.
"Keep an eye on Carl, too, will ya? Kid just lost his mom, and his dad ain't doing so hot either." Daryl says inching closer to me. "Yeah, I will. Love you, babe. Come back safe." I tell him rubbing his cheek. "I'll be back." he says kissing me firmly before exiting the prison.
"So what do we do now?" I ask looking toward Hershel and Glenn. "I guess wait for them to come back with formula. Until then, try and keep her happy." Glenn comments shrugging his shoulders.
