Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize. Although I don't know a fangirl out there that wouldn't love their own personal Daryl Dixon.
AN: I AM SOOO SORRY! I am so sorry it's taken over two months to get this chapter up guys! Truth be told, I just finished it. I didn't have writer's block or anything I just didn't feel like writing. Finally today though I decided to write and ended up finishing the chapter. I plan to write more tonight though so hopefully I will have a few chapters written over the next few days.
P.S. I have also decided to write this story into season 4.
Chapter 31
The next ten minutes had went by in slow motion and in fast forward all at the same time for Adrian. Much to their dismay, Lori had been unable to give birth naturally to the baby, so Maggie had been forced to give her a C-section that had unfortunately killed Lori.
The baby, which turned out to be a girl, was alive and well from what they could tell, but to say that they were all traumatized and in shock at the moment was an understatement.
Maggie had the baby wrapped up in Carl's jacket to keep her warm. Maggie, who was holding the baby, and Adrian were at the door when they heard the shot, signaling that Carl had shot his mom to keep her from turning. Adrian didn't even remember the walk from the room where Lori's body was to outside.
Adrian and Lori had learned to like each other over the past few months and while Adrian knew she wouldn't mourn her loss as much as some of the others, but she would mourn her and miss her.
Adrian somewhat snapped back when she heard the baby cry. She remembered seeing everyone else on the other side of the yard and they all turned in their direction when they walked out of the door. Maggie was trying to speak but was too upset to do so while holding the baby, Carl was still holding his gun and silently crying but didn't say anything. Adrian knew on some level that she was in shock, and knew she must have looked it too by the deeply concerned look on, not only Daryl's face, but the rest of the group as well.
Rick finally was able to ask where Lori was but none of them were able to answer him. Once Rick finally caught sight of Carl's face though he knew that his worst fear had been confirmed. His wife was dead. Rick was openly crying now. Glenn walked over to Maggie to try and calm her down, while Daryl cautiously walked up to Adrian.
He had seen her in shock only once before and she hadn't reacted well to any sudden movements. Finally making sure that she saw him and acknowledged that he was there, Daryl firmly pulled her to him. He was still holding his crossbow in one hand so used the most of his other by wrapping it around her shoulders and placing it on the back of her head in comfort.
Feeling Daryl against her made Adrian finally snap. She threw one arm around his neck and the other around his waist and squeezed. She buried her face in his chest and openly started to cry along with Rick and Maggie. Although Adrian knew what she wanted her body to do, it just wouldn't cooperate with her. She knew she had to breath but she just couldn't manage to get enough air.
"Adrian, babe, you gotta calm down 'fore you pass out." Daryl told her, making her look at him so she would understand. After finally being able to get a few deep breaths of air, Adrian was finally able to speak while salty tears left muddy tracks down her dirty face.
"Daryl, she's gone. She's gone Daryl. She gone." she kept saying over and over again. "I know. I know. You need to calm down though." Daryl said still holding onto her tightly. After a few minutes Adrian and Maggie had finally calmed down but Rick had went silent.
Everyone looked over to Rick to see a dazed expression on his face. Daryl let go of Adrian a little reluctantly and went over to Rick to see if he could get a response out of him.
Hershal had finally looked at the baby and declared that she was healthy but that she needed formula as quickly as possible or she would die as well. Daryl then stated that he was going on a run to get everything that they needed. Maggie and Glenn then stated that they were going as well. Adrian had at some point migrated over to where Hershal was with Carl and the baby.
Daryl pulled Beth over to the side and spoke to her. Daryl looked over at Adrian then but seen that she was still in a mild form of shock so he quickly called for Glenn and Maggie to hurry up. In the end it turned out that only Daryl's bike would fit anywhere they had to go so Glenn was left behind.
"Yo, Glenn." Daryl quickly called to him before he ran for the gate. "Keep an eye out on Adrian for me, will you? She don't seem to be handlin' this any better than she did after Kale. Just keep a close eye on her if you can. I'm afraid she might end up havin' another breakdown and I won't be here this time to control it." Daryl said to him.
Glenn quickly nodded, knowing that Adrian having another breakdown was something they seriously didn't need or want again before he ran to open the gate.
An hour or so later Adrian found herself in the tunnels with Glenn looking for Rick. They found bodies of walkers after every turn they made. They finally came upon a large number of bodies and just starred for a minute. Glenn then looked over and seen Rick standing with his front to the wall that had fresh blood splattered on it and a bloody, gory ax in his hand.
Glenn and Adrian slowly approached Rick while Glenn tried to get though to Rick who had a look in his eye that Adrian knew, which caused her to slowly pull out her large hunting knife from the back of her pants just in case. Glenn then made the mistake of touching Rick which caused Rick to grab Glenn and shove him against the wall, pushing his forearm firmly against Glenn's throat.
Adrian slowly crept up behind Rick but didn't touch him in fear of him accidentally hurting Glenn. Glenn then raised his hand to let Rick know that he meant no harm and after a minute Rick shoved Glenn away from the wall and away from him. Seeing her chance, Adrian quickly kicked the ax out of his hand where it landed a few feet away and spun low to kick Rick's feet out from underneath him.
She then quickly jumped on top of Rick using some kind of trick to trap his arms between her calves and her thighs so he couldn't hit her or throw her off and sat on his bloody chest while holding her knife firmly to his throat but not enough to break skin. "Adrian!" she heard Glenn cry out from behind her in alarm. "Now you listen to me, Rick." Adrian growled down at the now widowed man.
"We understand. We do Rick! But no matter what, you don't attack your own!" she said through gritted teeth at him. "I know that look in your eyes because I've seen it before and believe me when I tell you, you don't want to know who can go apeshit faster because I promise you, you won't win." she told him a bit more calmly.
"Now. You don't have to clear this on your own. You may have lost Lori, but you still have Carl. And now your little girl. So you take the time you need but don't get stupid enough to where it ends up that you can't make it back to them." she said.
After getting a look at Rick, Adrian then untangled herself from around Rick and stood up. After she had taken a few steps back Rick got up, grabbed his ax, and then walked off down another hallway.
It had been a full twelve hours since the baby had been born, whom Daryl had dubbed Lil Ass Kicker. They were all trying to come to terms with their losses. After Daryl and Maggie had left to get supplies for the baby, Adrian had been told that they had lost not only Lori but also Carol and T-Dog.
It had turned out that one of the inmates that they thought were dead had survived after being chased out of the prison and had decided to get revenge on them by letting the walkers that were inside the prison loose and then turned on the alarm to draw more walkers.
Oscar and Axel had earned the trust of Rick by leading them to the generators, which was where Andrew had been waiting for them with a fire axe. After Rick's gun had been dropped in the fight, Oscar had picked it up and killed Andrew.
Adrian had been glad to hear the news that Axel and Oscar had been allowed into the group but hadn't been able to summon up the strength to actually be happy. They had gained two new members but had lost three old members of the group. It may have only been three in actuality but pain of their loss made it seem like they had lost so many more.
Hershal and Beth had taken over the care of Ass Kicker until Maggie and Daryl had made it back with the formula. Adrian had been up in her cell when they had made it back but had been at the door and had seen something she never would have thought she would see.
The big, tough, bad ass Daryl Dixon holding a baby. It seemed to melt everyone's heart to see Daryl holding her in his arms, feeding her, and calmly talking to her. Everyone managed to smile when he decided to call her Lil Ass Kicker, even Adrian.
After Ass Kicker had been fed, burbed, clothed, and rocked to sleep everyone went to their own cells to deal with the events of the day. Daryl had went up to his perch and disposed of his poncho and crossbow before he made his way over to Adrian's cell, which she rarely occupied.
She didn't say much after he walked in and he didn't push her to. Daryl had known Adrian long enough to know that if she didn't want to talk, no force of nature could make her until she was ready. After a while he was able to talk her into laying down with him but knew she wouldn't sleep, but to his surprise he did.
When he woke up a while later it was to find Adrian gone. He seen a candle lit in Adrian's cell and got up to see if she was okay. What he seen when he got to her cell was Adrian sitting on her bed, rocking back and forth while feeding the baby. He was surprised that she managed to do all of that walking without waking someone. But if there was one thing he knew about her it was that even though she had been with them for so long now, she could still be ninja silent when she wanted to be.
"I never thought I would hold another baby. Even before the outbreak, I never though I would hold another baby." Adrian whispered. "Never thought of having kids of your own before all this happened?" Daryl asked, curious. Every woman he had ever met had their heart set on having a good time for a while but then they were all about getting married and having kids.
Adrian didn't answer his question. Only smiled sadly at Ass Kicker. "When I wasyounger, I had that dream that every girl has. To meet a nice, handsome guy. Get married and have children. But I guess I always knew it was never meant to be." she said as a few tears ran down her cheeks.
"What changed your mind?" Daryl asked, leaning against the cell door, crossing his arms. "My dad. After he came back for me, after he killed my grandfather, I knew any normal life I had dreamed of would never happen once he dragged me back. My dad was a mean, abusive drunk on the best of days, but his drinking buddy was worse. The nights that they would stay in and drink were always the worst." she said, never looking up from the baby.
"What happened Adrian?" Daryl asked, hoping she would answer. Daryl felt he knew more about her than the others but he knew he still didn't completely know everything about her. Adrian was quiet for a minute, deciding on whether to tell Daryl her deepest secret. Then she decided that it was finally time to tell him.
"I was raped. My dad could hold his liquor pretty well but he was a lightweight compaired to Kent, my dad's drinking buddy. I was caught by surprise the first time. Kent had never tried to touch me before and I couldn't understand why he was trying to then. I tried to tell my dad the next day, hoping that he would do something, but he just laughed at me. Said that Kent was always telling him that I was growing up to be a nice piece of ass. I was always afraid after that." she said, her voice never wavering.
"Your dad ever touch you?" Daryl asked, angry on her behalf. His dad had been a real bastard, and from her scars he knew that her dad had been one too, but hearing that he had went from being a bastard to a down right son of a bitch.
"No. Dad never touched me but he never stopped Kent when he did. Sometimes dad would be awake when Kent came after me but most of the time he would be passed out somewhere." she said.
"He the one you killed before the outbreak?" he asked, hoping he went slowly, however he died. "Yeah. I was fifteen when it happened. Kent an' dad had been drinkin' all day, mixture of whatever was available. Kent had already raped me twice that day. He came after me later that night with a gun. He found something out, a secret, and decided that I had to be taken care of. But I had heard him yelling about killing me after I knew dad had passed out." she told him, patting the baby's back to burp her.
"Kent may have been a mean drunk, but he was a stupid, mean drunk. I hid in my closet which was close to the door. He came in yelling about how he was gonna put an end to me while waving his gun around. I had already decided earlier that day that I had had enough and was gonna put a stop to it. I came out of the closet with a knife I had taken from the kitchen after dinner and stabbed him with it. I didn't know how to really wound anybody then so I just stabbed at what I could."
"I think I got him in the back of the neck, or close to it, a time or two. He went down but he wasn't dead yet. At some point he rolled over onto his back but he had dropped his gun. I grabbed his gun and shot him. Emptied the clip into him. His dick was one of the first things I put a bullet through. Last few went through his face." she told him, still not looking at him, but the baby.
"An' your dad never woke up? Called the cops, nothin'?" Daryl asked. He knew that she said she had killed a man before but he never would have guessed she had been so young when she had done it.
"No. Dad slept through it all. I thought he would have woken up with all the gunshots. We lived away from people so there was nobody to hear the noise either. Afterwards I gathered some clothes, all the cash in the house, took the gun and the knife with me, and bolted. Didn't stop til I ended up in Georgia. Ended up meeting a nice old woman after I had been on the streets a while. Marian was her name. Marian Hunter." she said with a small smile, finally looking at him.
"You jus' happened to have the same last name?" Daryl asked sarcastically. "No." she snorted. "I was only fifteen and a runaway. After a few days I told her why I had run away. Just the rape, not the murder. She was a widow and had ever been able to have children of her own. I took her last name and since no one there knew me, no one questioned it." she said looking back at the baby, gently stroking her sleeping face.
"I was sad, devastated really, when Marian died nine years later. But after the outbreak, I was glad that she went peacefully before all of this. I never would have been able to protect her. I wasn't even able to protect Seth long enough to get him out of the city." Adrian said standing, gently bouncing the baby back to sleep.
"What was the secret?" Daryl asked her, drawing her attention back to him. "What?" she asked, slightly confused at the question. "You said the night you ran away, Kent found somethin' out. A secret. What was the secret?" he asked her. Adrian got really quiet for a minute before she answered him.
"I was pregnant. He had gotten me pregnant and it made him angry. So he decided to get rid of me and therefore the baby as well. I killed my child's father and never regretted it." she said looking him in the eye.
"And the kid? What happened to it?" he asked, although he had a guess. "I kept him. Me and Marian raised him. He didn't survive the outbreak." she said, dropping her eyes and moving to walk past him.
"Say his name, Adrian." Daryl said, needing her to say it.
"I killed his father with his own gun to protect us. Irony is, I ended up killing my son with the same gun that I killed his father with. His name was Seth. Seth Hunter." she said leaving the cell to put the baby back to bed.