LeeteukkieLover: Wow, thank you so much! That made my day. It's also quite a lot to read in one day.

I must say I'm pretty bad at updating but I'm trying to kick the habit because I have NOT forgotten about this, school sadly takes priority though. I have no intention of ending this soon. I started this and am going through with the show so to me I have to continue, but I absolutely love writing this so no sacrifices are being made. I just can't get to it as much as I would like to. Just last night I messaged a reviewer and told them I would attempt to update at least once a day every day this week and I AM GOING to do that if It kills me. This is my pitiful attempt to make up for some lost time.

As before, Lily belongs to me the rest belongs to whoever makes the amazing show Walking Dead and has captured a nation with their story and ideas and inspired people like me to write and others to draw.

With all that said, here goes a fairly long chapter. Enjoy.

That night as the group huddled around a fire enjoying a well deserved meal, Daryl and Rick took watch. Daryl wearing his poncho hopped up onto the overturned bus by the entrance to keep an eye on the entrance while Rick circled the prison grounds within the fence they were now behind looking for any holes or weak spot where walkers could get out.

Lily, with Hershel's help had been able to find some stray herbs and plants growing wildly that could serve as a crude form of medicine and vitamins and were for the first time they really had the time to be able to sit back and grind them up and give them a try.

No one had gotten sick during the winter, thank goodness, but it was always good to be prepared for the worst. Lily finished grinding an assortment of scavenged seeds and grains they'd found and wild blueberries and added them to Lori's food for the baby.

If Lily wasn't doing absolutely everything to make sure Lori's was healthy and Rick caught wind, he'd take her off to the side and ask her why she wasn't helping. She then would go into the spiel again about how she was an ER surgeon and then just surgeries and that babies were somewhat out of her range of understanding, but that she and Hershel were doing all that they could do.

The only real experiences Lily had with babies were those of her friends and the occasional pregnant woman who came into the operation room.

By far one of the most nerve wracking operations she had to do was remove a metal shard from a woman's stomach without killing the baby. The Tony and Jane, twenty-four weeks pregnant at the time, were on their way to get an ultrasound to check the health of the baby when a semi hit them from the driver's side of the car. The woman was suffering from severe bruising where the seatbelt was across her chest and stomach and the debris in her stomach. Despite the atrocious bruising from the seatbelt, if she hadn't been wearing it, there was no way to be sure just how much worse off she would have been.

So many other times people had been rushed into the ER because they got into a car crash. Half of them were wearing their seat belts and the other half weren't. All injuries had the same basic signs of being in a car crash, like facial injuries from glass cuts, the steering wheel, airbag, dashboard, side window, windshield. Lower back injuries like strains and sprains which would take a few days after the accident to show up. Brain and head injuries and neck injuries like whiplash were most common to car crashes, but all of those had nothing compared to blood. Blood was the most common thing seen with car crash accidents. While all patients had some or most of the common injuries, the severity was always different. If a person was hit head on vs from the side and they weren't wearing their seatbelt vs wearing their seatbelt the injuries could range from minor scrape to broken leg and whiplash. The possibilities were endless seeing as half the people lied about what really happened because they didn't want to get fined extra for not wearing a seatbelt.

Tony had been driving the speed limit when a truck ran through the red light ramming into them. The metal shard came from the front of the truck when the two vehicles collided and the grill of the truck went flying through the drivers side window scratching Ton'y face and inhaling Jane. When the shard hit Jane, she didn't feel it at first until she looked down and saw the blood. The first thing she did was feel her stomach to see if the baby was kicking at all and she felt no moment.

By the time she got to Lily, blood was running all down her side and leg to her feet. A hurried X-Ray was taken to determine where the shard was relative to the infant. The shard went in smooth enough was was jagged at the end and if pulled out would sever the umbilical cord hence killing the baby or forcing Jane to go into premature labor. Only fifty babies a year would survive being born at twenty-three weeks, but she was at twenty-four giving her the slight advantage over some others. Jane and Tony consented to early labor to save the baby so Lily was put between a rock and a hard place because Jane would bleed out before she was able to reach the nearest maternity ward.

Lily gave Jane a C-section to give the baby the best chance of survival and was able with the help of the available nurses to give birth to a healthy baby girl. Once the baby was born, the shard was removed. Jane insisted upon knowing Lily's name and Lily thought she was going to name her girl after her, but she told them her name anyway. They didn't name the girl Lily, but Daisy to serve as a reminder of how lucky they were to have been able to give birth and have her survive. All in all a happy ending which was worth the struggle, but not worth intentionally going through again. Lily just hoped Lori's birth would be somewhat less stressful.

With an experience like that under her belt, Lily was not surprised how worried Rick was for his child. Sometimes he could be a little overbearing but she was never angry at him because he was acting just like any normal father would be when his wife was pregnant except for the fact that the baby might not have been his and that they were growing up in a world full of the undead. Other than that he was a completely normal dad.

She looked up from her bowl and grinding rock and saw Rick making his third trip around the inside compound. It seemed like he was never going to sit down.

"Lori," Hershel said calling her attention. "I do believe Lily has something for you."

Lori looked at the blonde girl sitting next her her as she stared off at the prison. "Lily?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes," Lily snapped her attention back to the woman sitting beside her. "Spaced out for a second. Rick keeps pacing."

Lori smiled at the girl's slight nervous banter as she tipped the bowl in her hands back swallowing a mouthful of beans. "You have something for me?"

"Yes, as you know, Hershel and I have been collecting herbs and the few seeds we could scavenge from houses and plants this winter and early spring that we think could give you the vitamins and other nutrients one needs in order to have a healthy baby."

"The ones you think could help me?"

"Well," Lily looked over nervously at Hershel. "This has never been scientifically tested in a lab or at home by some research enthusiast and documented, but theoretically it will help you. Everything in this power is good for the baby. The baby has done extremely well so far and this could only help."

"What has Rick said?"

"He is still wanting us to do absolutely everything we can to ensure the survival of your child," Hershel answered.

"Ok," she accepted but not because she knew Rick wanted her to. She would most likely have accepted it even if Rick hadn't been involved in it's creation anyway. She was worried about the baby too, Rick wasn't the only one concerned about the baby's well being.

Lily poured the powder into the bowl of beans and Lori used her finger to stir the concoction together. The group scattered around the fire were watching how Lori would react to the baby strengthening formula. Once she was done mixing the two together, she licked her finger.

"Mmm." Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Not bad. This is good."

Hershel rested a hand on Lily's back. "Didn't I say it would work?" Lily smiled at him nodding. He was truly a wise man and the group was lucky to have him and his family with them.

Half way through explaining things to Lori, Carol had grabbed a bowl and made her way over to Daryl on the bus. Lily had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she'd forgotten to go drop some food off foe him to eat.

"Tomorrow, we'll pull the bodies together," T-Dog suggested. "Want to keep them away from that water. Now, if we can dig a canal under the fence, we'll have plenty of fresh water."

"And the soil is good," Hershel commented rubbing some dirt between his fingers. "We could plant some seed, grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, soybeans." He dropped the dirt back to the ground near his feet before looking up at Rick who was making another trip around the fence. "That's his third time around. If there was any part of it compromised, he'd have found it by now."

"This'll be a good place to have the baby," Beth acknowledged leaning over to Lori. "Safe."

Lily leaned back finally being able to take a break and rest her aching arm and looked up at the sky. Just then, Beth began to sing next to her.

"Of all the money,

E'er I had

I spent it in good company

And all the harm

E'er I've ever done

Alas it was to none but me

And all I've done

For want of wit

To memory now I can't recall

So fill to me

The parting glass

Good night and joy be with you all"

Daryl and Carol walked back over together and took seats by the fire. He pushed somethings out of the way and made room next to Lily who refused to move so he just lifted her head and placed it in his lap.

Maggie joined beth for the next verse.

"Oh, all the comrades

That e'er I had

Were sorry for my going away

And all the sweethearts

That e'er I had

Would wish me one more day to stay"

Rick joined the group at the fire offering the food given to him by Carl to his wife and wouldn't war until she had eaten.

As the sisters continued to sing Lily found herself drifting off to sleep under the stars. It reminded her of the first nights spent at the camp shortly after Daryl had found her. Right as sleep was about to hit her, Rick began to speak. Daryl shook his leg to wake her, she knew that so to get him to stop she placed her hand on his knee.

"Better all turn in," Rick said kneeling next to the fire. "I'll take watch over there. Got a big day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked.

"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win."

"He wants to take the other side of the fence," Lily said still lying down with her eyes closed. "Before we get too comfortable out here, he wants us to try and take the prison tomorrow. Think about it, we might actually get to sleep in beds again."

"So directly, yes. And as you pointed out to me earlier today most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. So there's no holes to allow walkers to get in. It could also mean the supplies may be intact. They'd have an infirmary, a commissary."

"An armory?" Daryl asked.

"That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's office would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine. This place could be a gold mine."

"We're dangerously low on ammo," Hershel added. "We'd run out before we made a dent."

"That's why we have to go in there," Rick said flatly. "Hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance." With that Rick was done speaking. He got up and walked away. Lily rolled over and tried to get some sleep.

"What do you think you're doin'?" Daryl asked her.

"Sleeping," came her response muffled by her arm she was using as a pillow. "Seeing as you are gonna be one of the people he takes with him, I suggest you get some too."

He scoffed at her. "Yeah, he might take you too. You were good today."

"Well, until I know that, I'm going to enjoy my sleep."

This is the longest chapter so far. Glad you made it.