Daryl lay on the cot that he'd pulled right next to Katelyn's, staring at her face while she slept. He studied her, his eyes following the curves of her body, finally coming to rest on the swell of her belly. Reaching out, he gently laid his hand on it and closed his eyes. He couldn't imagine her traveling without him all this way while she was pregnant and guilt swarmed him.
He closed his eyes for a moment and he felt the baby kick. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see her looking back at him.
"Good mornin'" She said softly, smiling at him.
Daryl smiled, reaching out with his fingers to touch her face, trailing them down along the planes of her features. Reaching up, she took his hand in hers and turned her lips into his palm, kissing it.
"I thought I'd never see you again." She whispered.
Daryl leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"I would have spent the rest of my life searching and I wouldn't a die til I found ya. I figured God thought it'd be a lot easier just to let us find each other again so I wasn't buggin' him every day in curses or prayers." Daryl chuckled.
Katelyn smiled so wide that it turned into a tear-filled laugh. She had never been happier in her life.
"How do ya feel?" He asked, his thoughts turning to the baby. She had lost weight since he'd seen her last, making her look frail and delicate.
"Like I could fly." She smiled, batting her eyelashes at him playfully.
"I'm serious." He chided.
"I'm tired a lot more than usual, but I feel good." She replied, knowing that he was probably wondering about every detail he'd missed.
He kissed the tips of her fingers and leaned over to kiss her mouth.
"Hey! Get a room, you two." He heard Andrea call out from across the way, making him chuckle.
Looking up, he saw that everyone in the tent was watching them and smirking.
He flipped them off.
They all burst out laughing.
Daryl growled and pushed himself up to stand.
"So what's next?" He called out to Rick who was putting his boots on.
"We go have a chat with the Major." Rick said.
Daryl nodded, looking back over at Katelyn who was stretching her sore back.
"They have doctors here?" He asked Rick, talking quietly so Katelyn couldn't hear him.
Rick looked over at Katelyn as well, knowing exactly what he was thinking. He and Hershel had been worried about her for a while too.
"Yeah. They had a medical tent." Rick answered.
Daryl nodded.
"How is she really?" he asked softly.
Rick ran his hand through his hair.
"It's been rough. Really rough." Rick answered honestly.
Daryl's face looked grim.
"She was really sick for a few months. That's how we figured out she was pregnant. Then, later, she started to get hopeless and got really depressed. We almost lost her at the Colorado border when she tried to go back to the interstate to wait for you. I thought I was gonna have to hogtie her and toss her in the car." Rick said, looking at Daryl.
"Jesus." Daryl bit out, trying to act casual but his stomach twisted in knots when he heard that.
"All she thought about was you, buddy. Never doubt that she loves you." Rick said, putting his hand on his shoulder before walking out.
Daryl glanced one more time at her before following Rick and Tyreese out of the tent.
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Major Reese grabbed the squealing 6 year old around the waist and swung him up in the air, making him into an airplane complete with zooming noises. The giggling 6 year old put his arms out to both of his sides as the Major swung him in circles.
"Major." One of the sargeants interrupted as he led Rick, Tyreese, and Daryl to him.
The Major put Jake down on the ground, patting him on the butt to send him back to play with the other kids who were being wrangled by a young 18 year old girl that'd been rescued.
Jackson Reese had been a family man…before all of this began. He had wife, one little boy, and another baby on the way when the disease hit. He had been stationed here in Aurora, Colorado but by the time he'd gotten to his house, it had been too late.
He was a man familiar with loss.
When they'd found the young woman in the parking garage, he'd seen immediately that she was pregnant and scared, and it reminded him of his own wife. After they secured her, he took her under his protective wing. He could see that she was half-starved and traumatized, obviously having been through a lot. He'd gained her trust the moment she saw that it was a real army operation, and when she told him about what was happening to her friends and about Madeline, he'd gathered a team together to go rescue them.
They'd had reports about this "Breed" guy for months now and were starting to paint a picture of his operation which consisted mostly of extortion for protection, kidnapping and rape. He considered himself a modern-day warlord and once Jackson heard about the missing girls, he considered it his personal mission to destroy his operation and end his reign of tyranny.
The fact that this group of survivors had managed to get the best of him, made him smile.
Never underestimate an American's will to live.
Smiling, he extended a hand of friendship to Rick.
"It's good to meet you now that it's calmer." Major Reese said, shaking the hands of the three standing in front of him.
"I wanted to give you all a chance to rest before debriefing all of you. I hear you have some important information for us on multiple fronts. Let me know when you're all up to it." He continued.
"First, we wanted to thank you. I don't know if we'd have survived that one." Rick said, truly appreciative.
"Don't underestimate yourself. From what Katelyn told me, you guys are tough as hell." He complimented, truly meaning it.
"It hasn't been easy, that's for sure." Rick said, tearing up as he thought of Lori.
Jackson took in Rick's face, knowing the look well.
"I'm sorry for not being able to help sooner." The Major said softly, offering Rick a cup of coffee and motioning for them to come into the school offices they were using for their own command center.
The Major pulled up chairs so they all could sit, and grabbing cups of coffee for Tyreese and Daryl as well.
"Thank you." Tyreese said, taking the cup from his hands.
"I have a lot of questions but first thing's first..." Rick said, pointing to Daryl who leaned against the wall instead of sitting in the chair.
"Do you have a doctor that can look at Katelyn?" He asked, trying to get a read on this Major Reese guy. He seemed genuinely caring and it was obvious by the way he referred to Katelyn, that she trusted him, which was saying a lot, but he was more suspicious.
"When we found her, we brought her to medical right away. She was…distraught and obviously pregnant. I was a little worried." Jackson told him, hoping it would make him feel better.
"And?" Daryl asked, wanting to hear it for himself.
"Considering what she's been through, the doctor said she was doing okay. She's underweight and is probably suffering from PTSD but she's managing." He explained, hoping not to alarm him. Katelyn had talked about nothing but Daryl and it was obvious that she was wholeheartedly in love with him. What Jackson was trying to figure out, was whether Daryl Dixon was in love with her. When she'd told him the story of how they got separated, a part of him had been angry. To abandon her in a world gone crazy, made him sound like an ass, but he'd give the guy the benefit of the doubt…for now.
Daryl nodded, concern causing a frown on his face as he thought about everything she'd suffered.
"The doctor will run some more tests when she's ready. She didn't want to traumatize her further with bloodwork and the like. She was exhausted and emotionally raw so we thought it'd be best if she rest for now." Jackson finished, searching Daryl's reaction for proof of his devotion.
Daryl coughed to cover up the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.
Jackson saw it though and his heart softened toward him a bit. Obviously, Daryl Dixon felt deeply for her, which made him raise a notch in his opinion.
"My little girl. Can they look at her to make sure she's okay?" Rick asked, wanting a check up to make sure she was doing okay.
"Absolutely. We only have 1 other baby and he's fat and happy thank to the doc's spoiling of him. She'll see to her gladly." Jackson chuckled at the amount of attention that "Little Jack" as he'd been nicknamed, got around the outpost.
"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us." Rick said sincerely.
"Yes I do. If my boy and my wife had survived, I'd want them to be taken care of, so I try to remember how I'd want that done, and make sure it happens for those of you who survived." The Major said with raw emotion that even Daryl could see.
Rick nodded, feeling utterly grateful to this man.
"Let's have the doc check out everyone in your group sometime today. Just go see her. She knows you're coming. Once you're all settled in, come on back here to my office so we can get information from you. Madeline and I have already talked and we're waiting for word from headquarters as to what we're going to do with it." Jackson stated, letting them know that they were working on it.
"Major, how many of us are left?" Rick asked softly, his questions racing through his mind.
Major Reese paused for a second, exhaling in a sigh before answering.
"Not as many as we'd like." He answered truthfully.
"How many of you are left?" Rick countered, his heart sinking with dread.
"Not as many as we'd like." Major Reese stated quietly.
Rick and Tyreese exchanged glances. Daryl was staring down at the floor.
"Who's running the country?" Tyreese asked, getting straight to the chase.
Jackson took a deep breath.
"That's a good question. Right now…no one really. We're pretty much under martial law where there are commands left, but the rest of the country is in chaos. General Archer is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces but there is a group of Generals and Admirals who are acting as the Supreme Military Council at the moment, though that makes us sound bigger than we really are." Major Reese explained, trying not to scare them, but letting them know that there was a hierarchy.
"What about the rest of the world?" Daryl piped up, questions running through his mind as well.
"Good question. We don't have any communication with large chunks of the world, but we have been in contact with Europe, China, and Israel. They're in the same boat as we are. We're hoping that with Madeline's information, we can find other organizations that are still running so she can finish what she started and find a way to fight this." He explained.
"Shit." Daryl swore, shaking his head. He knew it was bad, but he didn't realize it was that bad.
"Do we know where this comes from yet?" Rick asked.
"No." Jackson answered honestly.
Everyone sighed.