setting: episode 4 "Killer Within" and episode 5 "Say The Word"

Damnation

Chapter 23 - Newborn

Daryl helped his friend inside the generator room and closed the door behind them. For a second he didn't really know where to go or what to do. He could hear the rattling and buzzing of the diesel generators. The beeping was so loud inside the small room that it was giving him a headache. He helped Connor to one of the engines and sat him on the ground. He knelt down and patted his friend's cheek. The Irishman blinked a few times and groaned, and it looked like he didn't have a clue where he actually was.

"Hey. Hey! You with me?" the hunter asked and made his friend look at him.

Connor blinked a few times and nodded, but he still felt incredibly dizzy.

"Aye...we...we gotta get Herschel" he murmured and Daryl chuckled.

"Don't be such a drama queen. 's just a scratch. Yer gonna be fine, yah whiny asshole."

The hunter patted his shoulder and tried to get up.

"We gotta turn those things off. They're goddamn annoying."

Connor grabbed him by his arm and looked at him.

"No. Ye gotta understand, We gotta find Herschel. Lori.."

He widened his eyes in shock when he saw that Andrew was right behind Daryl.

"Watch out!" he yelled and pulled the hunter away just when the prisoner was about to hit him with his axe.

The weapon got stuck in the wall behind them and Connor and Daryl tried to get back on their feet.

"I thought he was dead!" the hunter yelled and looked at his friend, but then Andrew attacked him again and wrestled him to the ground.

"Let him go!" Connor yelled and threw himself on top of the prisoner to get him off Daryl.

Andrew had no trouble fighting him off because the Irishman was still weak and dizzy from their previous fight. He got up with a determined cry and ran for the axe again, then he ran around the generators and disappeared. Both Daryl and Connor grabbed their guns, and whereas the Irishman was unable to get back on his feet the hunter got back up and tried to run after the prisoner. Just then Rick and Oscar decided to burst through the door.

"Daryl! Get the door! Get the door!" the policeman yelled as they were being chased by the walkers from the corridors.

The hunter saw how the undead came closer and Rick ran right for the generators.

"Rick! You gotta..!"

"Get the door!" the policeman interrupted him and started flipping switches on the machine.

"How do you shut these down?!"

Daryl, who was now pressing his entire weight against the shaking door, glared at Oscar.
The prisoner was trying to help him with the door, but the hunter wouldn't have want any of that.

"Go help him! I got it! And watch out, there's.."

He didn't even need to finish the sentence when the yelling and fighting started all over again. Daryl could see how Rick was being attacked by Andrew, who had been right next to the generators with his axe. Oscar started running so it was up to the hunter to keep the door closed. He could hear that there were so many walkers piling up on the others side that he just knew that he wouldn't last very long. The other men were fighting just a couple of meters away from him, then a shot startled them all. Daryl had to watch how Rick lost grip of his weapon and fell to the ground, but there was nothing he could do.

"Connor!" he yelled and turned his head to see where his friend was.

The hunter startled once more when the Irishman ran against the door right next to him and started pressing it shut as well.

"Fucker attacked me just like that. He wants t'kill us all" he grunted and Daryl snorted angrily.

"Yeah I can see that!" he yelled back and his friend looked at him.

"Ye gotta let me out, close the door behind me 'n help Rick!"

The hunter turned his head and looked at the blonde to his left with wide eyes.

"What?"

"Open this fucking door and let me handle it!" Connor yelled and glared at Daryl, but his friend shook his head.

"'s too many of 'em! What if they get yah and run in here?!"

The Irishman let go of the door and walked around him so he could place a hand on the door knob.

"We're gonna open this fucking door on three, 'm gonna run outside 'n kill those fuckers and yer gonna take out every stinking bastard that tries t'get in!"

Daryl got angry and kicked his friend's leg.

"No we won't! We're gonna.."

"One!"

"No! Yah idiot can hardly walk yer gonna.."

"Two!"

Connor looked at him and nodded, which made Daryl even more furious.

"I said.."

"Three!" the Irishman yelled and pulled the door open. The hunter cursed and ran for his crossbow, which was lying on the ground behind him. Because the corridor was small not more than two walkers could stumble inside at once and it was easy for Connor to get past them. He started yelling and shoving them, and with a couple of systematic and quick stabs to their brains he took out one walker after another. Once again the undead seemed to be confused because of his sheer existence, but they wouldn't attack him.

There were a few grabs and snarls here and there, but other than that it was incredibly easy for the Irishman to kill them. Two walkers managed to get past him, but Daryl was right by the door to stab and shoot them when they got too close. Connor was stabbing the last walker when he turned his head and looked at his friend. "Go and help Rick! I got this!" he yelled and shoved the walker he had just killed away. Daryl nodded and grabbed his knife, then he made his way back inside the generator room. When he reached the others he could see that Oscar was standing there with Rick's gun in his hand, pointed right at their leader and Andrew.

"Shoot him! We can take back this prison!" his fellow inmate demanded.

Daryl approached him slowly and carefully, his knife up in the air and ready to attack if he needed to.
Rick was reaching out and trying to stop Oscar, but the prisoner just looked at him.

"What are you waiting for? Do it! It's our house! Shoot him!" the other prisoner yelled.

Oscar took aim and pulled the trigger, knocking Andrew off his feet. Rick startled and turned his head away in surprise, but it was obvious that he wasn't the one who had been shot. Daryl approached the remaining prisoner with the gun nevertheless, but the other man twirled the gun around in his hand and offered it Rick. The hunter looked at his leader in surprise and Rick seemed just as dumbfounded. The policeman nodded and took the gun back, then he gave Daryl a sign that he could lower his knife as well. Lori's husband headed for another panel of controls and pulled some levelers, which finally stopped the alarms. It was silent again, and the hunter let out a relieved sigh.

"Finally" he growled and eyed Oscar once more, but the prisoner didn't seem to want to attack them.

"Let's go" Rick said and headed for the door. He looked at Daryl on his way out.

"Where's Connor?"

The hunter nodded at the door.

"Outside. He's.."

When Rick opened the door they could see that the Irishman was sitting on the ground, his face buried in his arms which he was resting on his knees.
Dead bodies of about eight walkers were lying all around him, and it looked like he was still out of breath from the fight.
Daryl walked past Rick and approached his friend to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, yah alright? Did they attack yah? Did you get bit?"

Connor mumbled something and looked up. It was obvious that he was still a bit dizzy and confused.
The blonde leaned his head back against the wall and shook his head, which he regretted with a groan.

"Nah. Just a fuckin headache. Fucker practically squashed me head in, man. 's all."

He looked up when Rick came closer and knelt down in front of him.

"Where's Lori? Did you see her? Herschel told us that she was with you."

Connor placed a hand on his head and swallowed hard. He still could hardly see a thing, everything was blurry and distorted and just..hurt.

"Aye, Lori is..."

He widened his eyes and looked at Rick in shock.

"Lori's gone int' labor! We gotta get Herschel!" he yelled and tried to get up.

"Woah, easy" Daryl grunted and tried to help his friend, but Connor fought him off.

"Fuck off! We gotta go!" he yelled and grabbed Rick.

"There's been some complications, Maggie 'n Carl are with her, but Maggie said we need Herschel! 's why I was running around here when this fucker attacked me!
Which block's this?"

The three other men were quite taken aback because of his sudden outburst, but then Rick seemed to finally understand what was going on.
He widened his eyes in horror and turned around to look at Oscar.

"Which block's this? I got lost on my way here!" Connor yelled and Oscar needed a second to gather his thoughts.

"..B...yeah, yeah that's B."

The Irishman started running.

"We gotta get to the other one!"

The sunlight made it even worse. It was blinding him and he needed to squeeze his eyes shut because of the pain in his head. He was pretty sure that he had a concussion. No wonder. He remembered the hard blow to his head which he had received when Andrew had hit him with the haft of his axe. Connor could still hardly see a thing, but he eventually managed to stagger outside. Daryl was right beside him, but he insisted on walking on his own. They had found Glenn and Axel on their way back, but the others were still missing. When they finally stepped outside Rick started running towards Herschel and Beth, who were still waiting by the stairs to their own cell block.

"Herschel!" the policeman yelled and the old man looked at them.

"You didn't find them?"

Rick shook his head and turned around to look at Daryl and Connor, who needed more time to get to them.

"No, but Connor knows where they are. We need your help."

"What about T? Carol?"

Daryl had stopped walking by now and looked down.

"They didn't make it."

Connor turned his head and looked at him.

"What?"

The hunter nodded and looked at Herschel again.

"Yeah" he answered and the topic was done for him.

Rick ran back to Connor and placed a hand on his shoulder to animate him to get closer to Herschel.

"Tell him what happened" the policeman said. Herschel and Beth opened the door for him so he could come down.

The Irishman scratched the back of his aching head and squeezed his eyes shut, now that he was trying to concentrate.

"I..We were running from walkers and then Lori suddenly started moaning about. We made it t'some boiler room and the whole pain thing wouldn't stop, so Maggie told her t'push and she did, but then she started screaming and there was blood coming outta her and she collapsed. Maggie said that she could lose the baby, so I ran as fast as I could."

He looked at Herschel and swallowed hard.

"They really need yer help. Fast."

"We're going back!" Rick spat and looked at them.

"Daryl and Glenn, you come with-" he trailed off when a loud squeal of a baby interrupted him.

The whole group turned around in surprise to see where the noise was coming from.

"They made it! Thank..." Connor murmured with a smile on his face, but stopped talking when he saw that it were just Maggie and Carl. Herschel's daughter was carrying a little baby in her arms. His jacket, which he had given to them before he had left was wrapped around the small babbling bundle in her arms. The look on Carl's face and the fact that Maggie was crying told him everything he needed to know. Maggie was trying to talk, but all the tears wouldn't let her. Every one was speechless. Rick dropped his axe and approached them.

"Where—where is she? Where is she?" he stammered.

Maggie was still trying to talk, but she still couldn't answer him. Their leader tried to walk past her and she finally had the strength to form words. "No..Rick, no!" she sobbed and tried to stop him. Rick stopped walking and came to a halt right next to his son. He finally couldn't hold back the tears either. He was a crying mess in a matter of seconds, but no one was able to say or do anything. Glenn was the only one who approached his girlfriend and tried to calm her down, but even when Rick collapsed to the ground and wouldn't stop crying no one would move. Daryl eventually couldn't look at it anymore. He had never seen Rick cry like that, and although he had never really liked Lori, in the end her death still made him sad. At first he decided to look at the ground, but then he turned his head and looked at Connor instead. The Irishman's eyes were widened because of the shock, and there was still blood all over his face because of the wound on his forehead. What made it even worse was the fact that his friend wasn't moving at all. He didn't react to anything. He just stared at Rick, who was rolling around on the ground and wouldn't stop weeping.

Connor couldn't stop looking at their leader. He was only vaguely aware of the crying baby and Rick's sobs, because he felt so terrified, so shocked, so...numb. Rick's wife was dead, their leader was a complete mess and he couldn't help but blame himself. Because he had been the one who had gone with them. Because he had been the one man who had been supposed to watch over them, protect them. And then he had run off on his own. Just because he had been terrified and disgusted by the idea of having to watch how a woman gave birth. Here he was now. Alive. Saved. Relatively fine, whereas Lori was dead and Rick...

"Rick?" he heard Daryl ask but still couldn't stop staring. Their leader had stopped crying. Now he was just sitting there, staring into nothingness. The little baby wouldn't stop crying in Maggie's arms. Daryl was the one to approach their leader then. Even after calling his name multiple times and waving his arms around in front of Rick's eyes the policeman still wouldn't react. He was looking at Daryl as if he didn't even know him. He was in shock by the looks of it.

"Rick?"

Connor startled when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened to you? Are you alright?" Herschel asked and the Irishman blinked a few times, completely dumbfounded and confused.

"What? Yeah..yeah.." he mumbled and moved out of the old man's reach so he could look at Rick again.

Herschel seemed just as confused and worried, but then he saw how Carl took the crying bundle from Maggie.

"Let me see the baby" he demanded and Carl came closer.

"We're gonna have to feed it. We got anything a baby can eat?" Daryl asked and let go of Rick so he could help the others with the newborn.

Herschel approached Lori's baby and took a look at it. The child was still crying.

"The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula" the old man observed and looked at Daryl.

"And soon, or she won't survive."

"No. No way. Not her. We ain't losing nobody else. I'm going for a run" the hunter said and threw his crossbow over his shoulder.

"Beth" he murmured and nudged Herschel's daughter so she could come closer.

"Kid just lost his mom. His dad ain't doing so hot..."

Beth nodded.

"I'll look out for him."

Daryl nodded and looked at Oscar and Axel.

"You two get the fence. Too many pile up, we got ourselves a problem."

Then he looked at Connor, who was still just standing there and looked at Rick with wide eyes.

"Connor" he called out and the Irishman turned his head to look at him.

"Come on. Let's go."

Herschel approached Daryl then.

"I don't think he should leave. He needs to rest. Looks like he's got a concussion. I should take a look at that wound and.."

"Rick!" they heard Maggie call out and turned around in surprise. The former policeman was back on his feet now and grabbed the axe which he had dropped minutes before. He was glaring at Connor in a strange way, and then without a warning he turned around and headed for the cell block where Lori had died.
The Irishman tried to go after him, but Daryl grabbed him by his arm to stop him. A second later Rick was already gone. Everyone just looked at the open door for a couple of seconds, completely confused.

"Let's get the formula" Connor said with a blank look on his face and the others turned around again to look at him.

Herschel approached him slowly.

"I don't think you should..."

The Irishman ignored him and headed for his friend's motorbike instead.

"Come on! We gotta hurry!" he spat and the others looked at Daryl then.

The hunter knew that it was wrong to take his friend with him like that, especially since they still had no clue how bad his injuries really were. But then he remembered Rick's breakdown, the look on his face, the look on Connor's face, and figured that maybe it was best to get his friend away from the prison for a bit. Daryl sighed and went after the Irishman.

"Get the gate" he demanded and started walking.