Daryl's POV

It was dark by the time we got back to the prison.

Glenn sniped one that was in our way from the top of the guard tower and Axel banged on the fence with tools, leading the walkers out of the way while Oscar opened the gate and shut it quickly behind us.

I didn't have to stop or slow down for even a second as the inner entrance gate was already open and Big Tiny opened the second one as I drove up the gravel path, using my feet on the ground to keep it steady until the wheels were back on the pavement.

I didn't bother parking my bike correctly, I stopped it 20 feet from the chain-cage protecting the cell block door, and was almost off quicker than Maggie.

I grabbed my crossbow and followed Maggie inside, almost running inside.

The second she was in the door Maggie called for her sister and went to one of the metal tables everyone's sitting around to start making the formula, while I went straight to Carl and the crying baby.

"How's she doin?"

A loud cry answered my question before he could and I reached my hands out for her. Her head fits in my hand like a softball.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Carl apologized to the baby wrapped in one of Lori's shirts, like he's done something wrong, as he passed her to me.

I quietly shushed her as I maneuvered her into my arms until her head was safely tucked in the crook of my elbow and I carefully rose back up, gently swaying back and forth and bouncing her just a little.

Her cries quieted but didn't stop until Beth came over and handed me a bottle.

I took the warm bottle from her and put the nib against the baby's mouth.

"Come on. come on." I softly nudged and the gentle encouragement worked. She opened her mouth and started sucking on the bottle and as soon as it was in her mouth she quieted down completely.

A smile pulled up the corners of my lips.

I breathed a chuckle and glanced up. The relieved smile on Maggie's face was contagious. And we shared a little moment of assurity before I looked back down at the baby. We did it. We made it in time.

This little girl in my arms is gonna be ok.

And another unconscious smile pulled my lips tighter, reaching all the way through my eyes as she looked at me. Little dark brown eyes, the same shade as her mother's and Eve's hair.

"She got a name yet?" I asked Carl, trying really hard to keep the smile on my face small. That's hard when you're holding the newborn baby you just succeeded in saving while the hungry little sucker gulps down the warm formula like she breathes the stuff. I only know one other person who eats like this.

"Mm, not yet." Carl shook his head. "But I was thinking, maybe Sophia."

I froze but watched him carefully, quietly waiting for him to continue.

"Then there's Carol too. And…" Carl took a sorrowful breath. The kid looks like life is slowly being drained out of him. "Andrea, Amy … Jacqui. Patricia. Or… Lori — I don't know." He shook his head turning away, and looked down at his shoes; discouraged and hiding under the brim of his sheriff's hat.

"Yeah…" I breathed, looking back down at the baby as she started to get a little stronger, a little more aggressive in sucking the formula out. "You like that? Huh? Little ass-kicker?"

"Right?" I looked up as chuckles circled the room and the mood almost instantly lifted. "That's a good name, right?"

"Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?" I tilted her up a little more, moving around a little in just the one spot.

It only occured to me a minute later that I just — that Eve really has been influencin' me. Usually she's the one to lighten the mood, intentionally or not. Or maybe I'm just seeing her everywhere cause she's not here.

the fact Rick ain't here right now, means he's still out of it and shit Somewhere in the back of my head Eve's voice saying focus on 'er, and .

The baby somehow is keeping me focused, but it didn't last long. As soon as she was done with the bottle, I handed her off to Maggie, who was more than happy to hold her.

Now that the baby's fine, everyone else is fine, and Rick's dealing with himself. The only thing left is Eve.

She's the only one missing now and I know she's alive. Running around the tombs probably having a panic attack somewhere, feeling trapped like she can't get out. Probably dehydrated, exhausted, maybe even delirious by now.

I chewed on my lip before switching to my thumbnail, pacing a hole in the floor as everyone moved into the cell block and Randall came in from watch duty to trade places with Axel.

I gotta get her outta there.

"Hey."

I jerked a little as a hand grabbed my shoulder, looking up to find Glenn, Randall, Big Tiny, and Oscar.

"She's gonna be ok. She's Eve." Glenn tried to reassure me.

'That's exactly why I'm worried.' I took my nail out of my mouth, switching back to chewing the loose skin on my lips.

"So what's the plan? We just gon' go down after her or what?" Randall asked, getting straight to the point.

Oscar shook his head. "We can't just go down there blind. Man, you saw how dangerous it was in the daytime, never mind when it's pitch black."

"I know where Eve keeps her night vision goggles." I finally stopped pacing. I saw her put them in the front pocket of 'er bag the last time she cleaned 'em.

"That only covers one of us though, the rest of us would be flying blind." Glenn crossed his arms.

"We've got the flashlights."

We all looked as Hershel came back into the room and stopped next to me. "Eve is smart. She won't just be runnin' around wasting her energy."

"She'd find a place to hide. Hunker down." Glenn nodded, knowing Eve longer than any of us. He knows more than even I do about how she thinks in a pinch, cause he thinks in almost the exact same way.

Hershel took a breath in. "Rick's been down there quite a while. It's possible he's cleared enough of them outta there that you won't need to get very far to find her."

"But what if she's farther?" Big Tiny chimed in and as much as I hate it, he's got a point.

I shook my head. "She was leadin' walkers away from Carl and the baby, she wouldn't risk stayin' too close."

"She also wouldn't risk goin' too far though right? You know, in case somethin' happened." Randall looked between me and Glenn.

Both of us shook our heads.

"If they were chasing her, she'd try to keep a decent lead on them and kite them as far as she could until she thought it was safe."

"So we goin' around in circles then. If she's as smart as you guys say she is, we ain't never gonna find 'er like this." Oscar shook his head.

"We'd have to clear the whole prison." Tiny agreed.

"She won't survive that long." Hershel shook his head, unfortunately agreeing and looked at me and Glenn. "I know neither of you are gonna like this, but we could wait."

You're right. I don't like that.

Glenn sighed and looked around at all of us in the circle. "Eve's come back from running off before — in Atlanta, on the farm — twice on the farm actually, but can we really just put our blind faith in that and rely on her track record of coming back?"

"We don't have to." An idea suddenly came to me. "It's possible she's already makin' her way back but we can't just do nothin' and leave it all up to 'er."

"So what do we do?"

"We can start clearing a path on this side." The knot in my gut started to loosen as a plan came together in my head. "We gotta sweep the tombs anyway, we can't leave all them walkers down there to wander their way in 'ere."

Glenn nodded, picking up on where I'm going. "We know the last place Maggie and Carl saw her was the boiler block and Rick was halfway there when I tried to get him earlier. She wouldn't have come back towards the cell block, and we know she didn't go the other way cause we cleared that out looking for Carol and T-Dog. So we know which direction she went."

"That's a good place to start." Hershel nodded.

"I recommend we proceed with caution and don't go too far while it's dark. We don't know how many are down there and there's a high chance of mistaking her for a walker if she sneaks up on you."

"She will." I muttered without thinking and Glenn hummed, Randall nodding, both agreeing.

"You need to make sure you can find your way back easily, and if she's hurt it'll complicate things."

"If she's hurt we need to find her as fast as possible." Glenn stressed.

"Which could mean the opposite." Oscar chimed in and we all looked at him. "If we go too slow we might not find 'er in time. But if we go too fast we could wind up gettin' all of ourselves killed before we even get to her."

"God I wish we had walkie talkies." Glenn breathed. "It would be so much easier if she could just call and tell us she's ok, or where she is."

I nodded, and started chewing on my nail again for a second.

"Alright, we've got a solid plan." Hershel started. "Now you should all take some time to rest. It's been quite a day."

I immediately shook my head but he stared me down with his eyebrows raised and came towards me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I know you're anxious to find her. I also know that you know better than any of us that she can handle herself. You don't wanna hear this, but even though she may need us to do the heavy lifting this time, you can't do that if you're exhausted."

I looked down. Still not willing to just leave 'er out there all night.

Glenn stepped in. "We can take it in shifts. Instead of going down as a big group, we can go 2 or 3 at a time. That way we're never not making progress."

"I like that plan." Randall chimed in.

"Randall, and I will take Eve's goggles and go down first." Glenn motioned between the 2 of them and the kid nodded in agreement.

"I'll do a double shift and take Tiny and Axel down next." Randall volunteered and both of us nodded at him as thanks.

Glenn pointed back at me. "Then you and Oscar go in the morning when the sun's up."

"I'm coming too." We turned our heads to the cell block and Carl stood in the doorway. Jaw set and looking much older and more serious than a kid should.

"I wanna help look for Eve too."

Oh she is gonna kill me for this but… I nodded.

He saw her last, if he wants to come with I ain't gonna say no. We don't have enough man power right now to be picky. Sides, I trust him. Kid's one of the best damn shots I've ever seen, and he's got more experience than Oscar, Axel, and Tiny combined.

"And we'll just keep going like that in rotation until we find her."

I nodded and we all agreed before breaking off, everyone except me, Hershel, Glenn, and Randall heading back to the cell block.

"Alright." Glenn grinned at Randall as he turned. "Let's go catch us a ninja."

Randall grinned back and the two of them headed to the cell block to get what they need before they head out.

I gotta give them the goggles before they go but Hershel sighed, and squeezed my shoulder, holding me back for a second. "Sun will be up in a few hours. Try to get some rest, Daryl. You're gonna need your strength."

I didn't even try to nod. I ain't gonna be able to sleep without her nearby.

Eve's POV

My heart pounded in my ears. A cold sweat coating my skin like a film.

A small drop rolling down the side of my face and made me swipe at it with the back of my knuckles.

My breaths stung every inch of the way, all the way in and out with every fast pant. My sore throat tighter than leather skinny jeans and drier than the red sands of Mars.

My whole jaw is tense, even though my mouth is open.

Every muscle in my body aches but I'm surprised I'm not used to it by now. It doesn't ache nearly as much as it used to though and my legs hurt least out of everything. I guess this is a good sign that my exercise is paying off.

The thing that has most of my attention is the tremors in my hands.

I've been holding my knives so tight that my hands are cramped closed around the hilts. I can't even feel my fingers anymore, I was just so focused on not dropping them that I channeled the shake of adrenaline and fear roaring through me, trying to stave off blind panic and keep these in my hands.

The shake in my hand doubled as I finally stopped to take a breather.

'Ah, shit.'

I forced my breaths in and out of my mouth, trying to use Daryl's voice in my head from my previous attacks to help me regulate and try to calm down from the brutal panic attack I can feel clawing at the edges of my mind.

The attack loomed over me like a dark cloud the second I stopped running and slowly the tremble is just building and building.

'I can't — I can't do this. I have to —'

The anvil of awareness dropped claustrophobia on my head like a cartoon. And I used what I know is gonna be the very last of my wits in the span of one short breath to rip a set of keys off a dead guard and duck into the first cell near a light source — from a tiny ass little window — and slammed the gate behind me. The noise it made wasn't even an afterthought.

My knife clattered to the ground and I grit my teeth trying to lock myself in but the shake in my hand made it a thousand times harder to get my arm through the bars and actually get the key into the lock.

Ironic how this is the only safe solution I've got while I lose my mind, but as soon as it was locked I practically threw the keys onto the dusty bed and stumbled over my own feet as I ran to the corner, slamming my back against the wall and collapsed on the concrete floor.

The blood on my boots slicked down and I tried to pull my legs up three times before they finally stayed up and I put my head down, curling into the tightest painful little ball I ever have.

I kept trying to breathe, but it isn't helping as much as just closing my eyes and trying to picture Daryl's eyes.

The exact shade of blue and the tiniest flecks of a more tan color around the center and how the rim is a darker blue. How sometimes — in the forest sunlight usually — they almost look green. In lower light they look more like a dark teal and almost like they're one solid color. From a distance and the way he usually squints they almost look brown. And on rare occasions they look almost grey.

I grabbed at my chest, as the muscles around my heart started to spasm, sending violent deep twinges of pain through my whole torso. Like something's attacking me from the inside.

I gasped, trying to breathe through my nose, my eyes stinging and small drops slipping out to create wet trails of salt down my face.

At least my mind isn't the only thing I lost.

I lost my entourage throughout the good few hours I've been down here. Like a rat in a maze trying to find an exit.

There are so many walkers down here.

I don't know how long I've been gone. It's already gone dark. I have to get back. I told Carl I'd be back.

All I can think about is whether or not they got out or if I didn't lead enough of them away or if there were too many in the cell block and they got chased farther in like I did — in that case this was all for nothing. Without me down here and a crying baby their chances of surviving are — 'Stop. Stop stop, don't think about it.'

I know Beth and Hershel are probably safe. I know Daryl, Glenn, and Rick are probably safe. I know Axel, Oscar, and Big Tiny are probably ok.

I hope T-Dog and Carol are too. I don't know where Randall was during all the confusion but I hope he's ok too.

'STOP. Just stop.'

I grit my teeth, breathing harshly through my nose.

I shouldn't think about this right now.

Until I know for sure, I'm going to assume the only person who isn't ok is Lori. Everybody can handle themselves, there's no reason to assume otherwise.

I glanced up at the room and immediately noticed my knife on the ground next to me.

'When did I drop it?'

Even in the dark some ambient light from outside allowed me to see the other blade sitting just inside the cell door.

I tried to grab the knife next to me and painful twinges sizzled through my hands like a firework in the center of my palms. My hands. I can barely curl my fingers, it feels like I've been dangling by my hands for hours.

'I'm fine. I'm ok. It's fine. The door's locked, I have the keys. There's a window right there, that means there's gotta be a door nearby. Just breathe. I don't hear anything, the floor is stone, if there was something out there I'd hear it.' I touched my fingers to the concrete beneath me and sighed in relief at how it felt against my burning hand but it came out as more of a shudder.

I took a deep breath through my nose and focused my eyes on the window, on what's outside it, on the sky. Trying to ignore all the pains in my body and focus on the cold around me; From the wall to my back, from the floor to my hand.

The stomach turning smell of rotting flesh, dead meat, and old blood. But distant enough and familiar enough that defending against the urge to gag isn't too difficult. Especially since the burn in my nose is so fresh I can hardly smell anything at all.

I don't know how long it was before I started to feel better. Or when I started thinking about airships, but slowly my breaths began to calm. Evening out more and more. Mental and physical exhaustion taking hold as I brought my knife into my hand and just held it, running my thumb over it like someone holding my hand. A very specific hand that I've become more accustomed to being here when I need it than I realized.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed your escape from reality, and I'll see you next chp! Don't forget to Favorite, Review, and Follow for more!

If you like what you read and have a , hop over and buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi! ( Miimaas) /miimaas

Tips would be much appreciated, or just check out my profile and follow me! So even if you can't support, I'll at least know that you would if you could.