Daryl's POV
Daryl watched her walk into the prison and prop the door open with a rock. He had tossed and turned all night. All things he could have said when she talked to him last night had kept running through his mind. Instead he had just looked at her like she had three heads before making some lame excuse and heading in. It didn't help that he heard her up all night too. He kept wondering what she was thinking about behind that curtain.
"Stupid, this is stupid. Letting some girl fill your head up like this." He thought to himself. Trouble was, she wasn't a girl. She was a full fledged woman. Even now when his thoughts should be on something else, he couldn't concentrate. "What would a woman like that even want with a guy like you?" He asked himself. She was a city girl, and not just any city, but Boston. She probably did things like go to the ballet for fun.
"Hey! Hey!" The shout broke into his thoughts. "You want to give me a hand?" Glenn asked, his arms filled with firewood. "Where the hell were you?"
"Mind your own business." Daryl growled. "Give me that. You wait here for Rick and I'll bring that up." Daryl grabbed the firewood and headed for the inside gate. When he got to the gate he had a surprise. Gertie was sitting there waiting for him, her tail making a fan pattern in the dirt. He unlocked the gate and tossed the firewood inside. Gertie ran in, sat down in front of him, and started making noises that sounded just like a baby pig. As he snapped the padlock back in place he said, "You do know you're a dog right? And not just any dog. You are a scary, tough as nails pit bull. You're not supposed to make noises like that." Apparently his words had no effect on Gertie. The piglet noises continued as she continued to try to scoot nearer to him while keeping her butt as close as she could to the ground.
Daryl leaned over and rubbed her behind the ears. The piglet noises transformed into low groans, her eyes closed in ecstasy. "Come on girl. We got a couple more trips to make." Together they headed back toward the cut in the outside fence, stopping every so often to knife a walker that got to close to the fence.
"See you're girlfriend showed up," Rick said as he popped through the fence. "Damn if I know why I said we'd keep the dog. It's just one more mouth to feed, and it's not like she even contributes."
"If you'd lost everything, would you give up the one living thing that you had from your previous life?" Daryl could feel himself getting angry at Rick. He knew Stella had been through a lot, even if she didn't talk about it much. You didn't wind up all alone in this world without going through some things. Gertie had been at her side the whole time. Still, he pushed those angry feelings down. Rick was the boss man in here and he wasn't saying he was going to get rid of the dog. "Besides, it ain't like she eats much. Plus she keeps your boy entertained."
Rick looked somewhat remorseful. "That's true. Don't think Carl would ever forgive me if I tried to get rid of the thing now." Rick tossed one more armload of wood through the gap. "That should do it for today at least."
Glenn started lacing up the hole in the fence.
Suddenly Daryl felt Gertie stiffen at his side, he looked down but she wasn't looking out across the clearing as he expected she would be. Instead she was looking back to the prison. As he began to turn, she began barking. This wasn't her excited bark. This was alarm. Gunshots rang out from close to the prison. Daryl whipped his head around in time to see walkers stumbling through the yard. About half of them were going right into the prison through the propped open door.
A sick feeling filled Daryl's body. Stella was in there. She wasn't even armed. She had even stopped carrying her weapons since she got here. She might be caught unaware,and at the very least she'd be trapped.
"Fuck!" He started running for the gate. He could hear someone running behind him. It wasn't until he heard the screams for Lori and Carl that he knew for sure that it was Rick. Shit! The keys! Where the fuck did he put the keys? He started patting down his pockets as he reached the gate. Goddamn jacket had too many pockets!
"Here, here!" he yelled as he passed the keys over to Rick. Rick already had the padlock in his hand ready to go, even still, Rick fumbled trying to get the key in. "Come on man, let's go!" He watched as Hershel and Beth hurried towards a gated off area. Hershel took down two walkers with his crutches.
"Here, I got it." Rick shoved the gate open. The two of them bolted through. "Come on Glenn!" Rick yelled back.
Daryl swung his crossbow off his back and fired. The walker dropped to the ground. There were so many of them. "Where the fuck are they coming from?" He shouted out.
"Here! Over here! The gate's open." T-Dog answered.
Daryl turned the corner and saw where T-Dog was gesturing. The gate between their yard and the yard that led into the prison was wide open. Worse yet, drawn by the gunshots, a large group of walkers was surging out of the prison and the group was coming their way. "We got to get that thing closed if we're gonna make it. T-Dog! Come on man, I need your help. Rick!"
"I got your back. Go!" Rick said as he reloaded his gun.
Together he and T-Dog made their way towards the gate. Suddenly a walker's hand clamped down on Daryl's arm. But even as it appeared, it left just as quick. Looking over Daryl saw why. The walker was on the ground and Gertie had it's arm in her mouth. She had pulled the walker to the ground and had torn the arm right off. Spitting it out she went back for the other. Placing a foot on the walker's chest, Daryl shoved it back down. He drove his knife right into the walker's forehead. Standing back up he said to Gertie, "Thanks girl. Come on. Stay close." He patted his leg and Gertie moved in right next to his side.
T-Dog looked over at Daryl. "That was close man. Bet you're glad that dog's taken such a liking to you huh?" The machete he was holding buried itself deep within a walker's head.
Daryl looked down at Gertie. "Yeah, so much for her not being useful." he muttered. "Come on we're almost there." T-Dog nodded.
After they dispatched three more walkers a hole opened up to the gate. Daryl rushed forward, yanking the gate shut. He grabbed the chain off the ground. "Shit. The chain broke." He called back. He had to figure out a way to keep the gate closed. At least temporarily. The walkers from the other yard were almost at the gate. He looked around quickly but didn't see anything that would work. Maybe he had something in his pockets that he could use to keep the chain closed. As he reached into his jeans his fingers brushed something leather. Of course! His belt. Daryl could have smacked himself on the head. Quickly he pulled the belt from the loops and feed it around the posts.
With the gate closed, Daryl turned back around. Gertie was a few feet away, barking at a walker. She was standing still, waiting for it to get close than spinning away from it's grasp. Even as he moved to help her he saw that three walkers were closing in on T-Dog. Gertie would just have to take care of herself for another minute. Daryl loaded his crossbow quickly and took out one of the walkers. As T-Dog put the second one down, Daryl took out the third with his knife. He turned back towards Gertie. He could be wrong but it looked like she was enjoying herself. Well even if she was, it was time to put an end to it. He sent an arrow flying. Gertie waited a moment, most likely to see if the walker was going to get back up, and then when it didn't, she trotted back over to Daryl's side.
"Rick? Glenn?" Daryl called out. He and T-Dog rushed around the corner just in time to see Rick kill the last walker in the yard. "Is that it?"
"Yeah, except for the ones in the prison. Glenn managed to kick that rock out and shut the door. Too many were coming out from there to take care of. We got lucky so many of them went in there." Rick looked around the yard. "Where is everyone?"
Glenn spoke up. "I saw Carol, Maggie and Carl go into the prison through that door over there. Glenn nodded to the door that brought you into the cell block the back way, through some corridors.
"Stella was inside when it all began," Daryl said quietly. There wasn't any noises coming from inside. If she was still alive in there, well, he thought he'd be hearing something. Even if it was just calls for help.
"And Lori? Did anyone see Lori?" Rick asked.
"She was with Stella. Stella was going to examine her this morning. Maybe they're in one of the cells." Hershel called out.
"They aren't," Beth said. "I saw them through the window. They left the cell block and went into the tombs. I saw them right at the beginning. They got out pretty quickly."
"Why would they do that?" Glenn asked. "Why wouldn't they just stay in one of the cells till we came?"
"Well what if we didn't come. Would you want to sit in one of those cells till you died of dehydration? They had no way of knowing how many walkers were out here. If any of us would survive." Daryl replied. "Come on, we got to clear out the inside. I say we open up the door and let them come to us."
Rick looked down at his feet. "I can't. I gotta go find my wife and kid. I'll go in this way," He gestured to the same door Carl had used. "With any luck they have all meet up. You three can clear out the cell block."
"No, we should stick together." T-Dog insisted.
"It'll be fine, we can handle this on our own. Let Rick go," Glenn said. Daryl knew why Glenn wanted Rick to go. He was hoping Rick would find Maggie. Daryl wanted Rick to go too. "We got this T-Dog. We'll take a minute to get things together and then we'll go in."
T-Dog shook his head. "I don't like it. Doesn't feel right us splitting up like this. What do you think Daryl?"
Daryl looked around at everyone. "Let 'em go. Don't need a man who's busy thinking he should be somewhere else in there. He's likely to make a mistake." Rick clapped his hand on Daryl's shoulder, his eyes grateful.
"I'll be back as soon as I find them. Help you guys clean up." Rick hustled over to the side door and disappeared.
"Alright, let's get everything we need together," Daryl. He moved away and started collecting his arrows. Gertie tagged along behind him. Looking over at her he was torn. She had saved him, and had occupied walkers, giving him more room to move around. He'd like to keep her with him. On the other hand, he wanted to keep her safe. He had no desire to tell Stella that Gertie had been killed. Especially since he'd have to say that he now had an opportunity to put her somewhere that she wouldn't be hurt. Looking down at her, he wrestled with himself. The decision was made when she looked up at him, tail wagging, trust in her eyes. He sighed with resignation.
"Hershel!" Daryl called out. "Can you call Gertie over and keep her in there with you two?"
"Sure no problem. Come on girl, come over here." Hershel whistled. Gertie didn't move.
"Go on now," Daryl jerked his head in Hershel's direction. Still she didn't move. "Go on, git!" He said with more force. Gertie yawned and sat down. "Go on! Move! Get out of here!" Daryl yelled at her. She laid down and rolled onto her back, blatantly asking for a belly rub.
Laughter erupted from the other side of the yard. Fine, they'd do this the hard way. Daryl bent down to pick her up. She quickly sprung to her feet and twisted out of his reach. As he lunged for her again, she evaded him once more. She was fast, he'd give her that. "Fine, fine. You can stay. But I'm not watching out for your ass, you get me?" Daryl stalked off frustrated. He heard Gertie trotting behind him. "What?" He barked at Glenn.
Glenn was trying not to laugh. "Nothing. Just good to see that not everyone around here jumps when you say how high."
"Shut up. Let's get going. You two ready?" The both nodded. Glenn bent down and picked up a rock at his feet. "What the hell you gonna do with that thing?"
Glenn looked down at the rock in his hands then back at Daryl. "The door's weighted. It swings shut automatically so we need something to keep it open."
"Oh right. Whatever, lets go." The three of them moved towards the door. Daryl nodded at T-Dog. T-Dog pushed the door open and Glenn dumped the rock at the base of the door. Daryl shot a walker that was standing just inside. The three of them backed up quickly.
"Hey assholes, out here!" Glenn yelled. T-Dog and I quickly followed suit, yelling various things into the prison. Slowly the walkers began to trickle out. After ten or so came out into the yard no more emerged.
"Is that it? Where the hell are they? Hey Beth, can you see anything in there?" T-Dog called up.
Beth looked in the window. "There's still a bunch in there. I can't tell why they're not moving. Sorry guys."
The Daryl, T-Dog and Glenn looked at each other. "Shit, we're gonna have to go in there." The fact that they were going to go in the prison changed things. There wouldn't be as much room to maneuver and it would be a lot easier to get cornered. Daryl let out a frustrated groan. "Let's just get this over with. Gertie, you stay here." He said sternly. Gertie obediently sat down. "Great now she listens," he thought to himself.
They slowly entered the common area, but couldn't see any walkers. As they made their way around the bend they could see why. Walkers were pressed up against the door between the cells and the common room. Their weight was keeping it shut.
"Well at least it's like shooting fish in the barrel." Glenn chuckled. And it was, at first. Trouble was, the walkers kept tripping over the dead ones, (the twice dead ones), and falling over before they could stick their faces up to the bars. They started shooting them, but there was too many. They were almost out of bullets and all their spare ammo was in next to the cells.
T-Dog said it first. "We got to open it up. I say we get it open and get the hell back outside. It'll be easier to pick them off when they're coming out the door."
"So who's gonna open up the door?" Glenn asked.
"Well not you chopstick," Daryl said looking Glenn up and down. "Don't think you'd manage to shove that door open with all those bodies up against it."
"I'll do it," T-Dog said. "He's right, you'll never get it open far enough and Daryl's the best shot we have. You two cover me and I'll get the door open. Alright?"
"Glenn and I will take out the walkers closest to the door. As soon as they go down, you get that door open and get back," Daryl cautioned T-Dog. "Haul ass outside and we'll pick them off as soon as they come out."
They moved into position. They counted down then took out the closest walkers. T-Dog got the door open no problem. Daryl and Glenn started towards the door outside. That's when it went wrong. Daryl heard the crash and turned to see. T-Dog had caught his toe on a chair and fallen over. "Keep going!" Daryl yelled to Glenn. He turned back to cover T-Dog, taking out two walkers. As T-Dog straightened himself up, a walker grabbed him from behind. Daryl pulled the trigger, but it was too late. T-Dog screamed as he walker bit into his shoulder, even as Daryl's bullet entered it's brain. Daryl rushed forward to help T-Dog. "Come on, let's go. Hurry!" Daryl and T-Dog hurried towards the door.
"They're right behind us!" He shouted to Glenn as he pushed T-Dog in front of him through the door. "Hershel! T-Dog's been bitten. He needs your help." Daryl hollered. After he picked up the machete T-Dog had been holding, Daryl turned back towards the door and was shocked to see Oscar standing there. He rushed past him back to where Glenn stood. He yelled back, "What are you doing here?"
"That woman that came with you yesterday, she and the pregnant one showed up in the yard outside our cell block. What the hell is going on here?"
"What the fuck does it look like? Make yourself useful. Bring T-Dog over to Hershel and then get your ass back over here and give us a hand." With the number of walkers coming out of the prison and worried as he was about T-Dog, Daryl couldn't even think about the fact that Stella and Lori were safe.
Oscar rejoined Daryl and Glenn over by the door. The flow of walkers had started to slow down when Axel showed up. Looking somewhat panic stricken he said to no one in particular. "She's asking for her husband and the other one wants to know what's going on."
It was Oscar that answered. "Axel, can't you see we're really busy here? Go ask those two." He nodded in Hershel and Beth's direction.
A minute later Daryl saw Axel running back towards his side of the yard. "Wait! Are they all right?"
"Yeah, they're both okay." Relief filled Daryl. While Axel was talking to Hershel Daryl kept thinking that maybe Axel came over because something had happened. After all, why didn't they just come back? Axel paused for a moment and looked at Daryl before he continued "The one in labor really wants her husband though. Don't think it'll be long now. The other lady just asked me to see what was going on over here. I gotta get back and let them know." Axel took off running.
"Did he just say labor?" Glenn asked Oscar.
Oscar nodded, "Yeah. I got the feeling she was pretty far along too."
"Jesus," Daryl thought to himself. "What the fuck else is going to happen today?" At least it seemed as though they were coming to an end of the walkers. When no more appeared at the doorway he figured it was time.
"Alright, let's go in and check it out. Stay together, and watch where you put your God damn feet." The three of them went inside. Quickly the moved through the common room into where the cells were. Checking inside each cell they moved through the entire block.
"It's empty," Glenn said. "We got them all."
"Come on, let's check on T-Dog."
"Think that guy will be able to do anything for him? I mean that looked pretty bad." Oscar asked as they stepped outside.
Daryl just shrugged. He was trying not to think of what was most likely going to happen, what he would have to do. "It's all clear," he said to Hershel as they got close. "Anything you can do?" he asked quietly.
Hershel looked up at him and shook his head. Already T-Dog was drifting in and out of consciousness. Beth was weeping quietly. Suddenly Axel appeared again. He was breathing heavily and looked as though he was about to pass out.
Through gasps he said, "C-section... now... needs stuff... hurry," and he collapsed on his back. Hershel was the only one that reacted, the rest of them all stared at Axel like he had been speaking a foreign language.
"Beth, take Daryl and grab the black duffel at the end of the pile. Everything you need is in there except the anesthesia machine. It's right next to it. Go! I'll follow as quickly as I can." Hershel started shoving them none to gently towards the door with his crutches, snapping them both out of their trances.
Beth and Daryl ran into the prison. "Here! This is it. You take the machine and I'll grab the bag," Beth said. Daryl scooped up the machine and was off and running.
It seemed to take an eternity to get to the other cell block. When he ran into the common room he was sure that he was going to find the worst. Instead he found Stella standing by Lori. Lori was laying on one of the tables, belly exposed. Stella was talking quietly to her. When she heard Daryl enter she looked up. A smile lit up her face. Daryl moved quickly to her side.
"Put it down here. Someone's coming with the duffel?" She immediately began tightening tubes and turning on the oxygen.
"Beth, she was right behind me. She should be here any minute." Daryl looked down at Lori. She looked awful. There was a sheen of sweat on her face and she was unbelievably pale. "What do you need me to do?"
"At this minute just hold her hand. Lori? I'm going to put a mask on you. It's going to taste and smell awful, and you're going to want to hold your breath, but don't. Breathe deeply, I need to get you under fast. Okay?" At Lori's nod she placed the mask over her face and turned up some dials. Turning to Daryl she said, "As soon as Beth gets here get the Betadine out and just spread it all over her belly. All the way up to the top of her abdomen. See her old C-section scar? Make sure you go past that. As far as you can."
Beth came rushing in with the bag and Daryl dove right in. He found the iodine and started spreading. Beth took over holding the mask and Stella started pulling things out. When he looked over towards Lori's face Stella was hooking the anesthesia machine up to a breathing tube.
"That's good enough," Stella said to him as she laid a tray next to Lori's legs. Quickly she opened a stack of packages and dropped the contents on the tray. "Open up two pairs of those packages of surgical gloves. I'm going to need you to put on a pair too. I'm going to need help." She looked up into his eyes. "Are you up for this?"
Daryl swallowed hard. "Yeah, yeah no problem." He just wouldn't think about it. He'd pretend they were cutting into a deer or something. Anything but Lori. He shook his head slightly and watched Stella put on the sterile gloves. He started to reach for the first glove but Stella stopped him.
"No, don't. I'll pick up your gloves, just shove your hand inside okay? Once they're on don't touch anything except Lori's belly or the instruments. How's she doing Beth?" She held out the first glove and Daryl pushed his hand in it.
"Alright I think. Her pulse is really high though."
On went the second glove. Stella moved quickly around the table and picked up a scalpel from the tray. As she cut into Lori's belly Daryl felt his stomach heave. "It's a deer, it's a deer." He repeated to himself. He had to do this, he couldn't fail Lori, not like he had T-Dog.
Stella attached a pair of clamps to the incision and passed them over to Daryl. "Pull straight up, hard. Don't be afraid. That's right, a little bit harder. Good."
Daryl stared over Stella's shoulder at the block wall behind her. He tried not to think about what was going on. He could hear Stella tossing instruments down and picking up new ones.
Another minute went by and Stella said, "Okay you can let go of those." Her hands closed over his and she took the instruments from him. She quickly undid the clamps and threw them into the tray. She picked up a large instrument and placed it inside the incision. She paused when Hershel came into the room.
Daryl felt relief. He had done it. Hershel was here now, he could help Stella. His relief was short lived.
"She needs an IV, preferably two. She's still hemorrhaging." Stella said to Hershel.
Hershel moved to the bag to gather the supplies he needed. "How far away are you?"
"Just got there. Give me just a minute. Daryl? Grab this retractor and pull back. Use this hand. Now make a fist and push down at the top of her belly. Yeah, right there. Push harder."
Daryl forgot his queasiness for a moment and watched Stella reach in to the incision. She slowly began pulling the baby from the incision. Once she got the head out she grabbed a suction bulb and cleared out the nose and mouth. Immediately she began working on getting the shoulders out. As soon as got the first shoulder out the baby came out quickly. Holding onto the baby with one hand she put two clamps on the cord. "Pick up those scissors and cut between the clamps."
Daryl could feel his hand shaking as he reached for the scissors. He didn't want to mess anything up. "But fathers all over the world do it everyday," he said to himself. "They wouldn't let them do it if they could mess it up."
As soon as Daryl cut the cord Stella passed him the baby. "Go grab some of those towels over there and get her dried off, get her crying. As soon as she's dry, wrap her in a new towel. Keep her warm."
Daryl looked down at the baby in his arms. She looked so lifeless. He hurried over to the towels and started rubbing her briskly with them. He was afraid he was going to rub the skin right off of her. It seemed like forever before she let out her first cry. Daryl released the breath he'd been holding. He looked over at Stella and saw her glance his way and smile.
The enormity of what had just happened hit Daryl. He looked down at the crying child in his arms and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. Quickly he brushed them away. "Get it together Daryl," he said softly. Stripping off his gloves, he laid a fresh towel out on the table and gently lowered the newborn onto it. After wrapping her up tightly he scooped her back up in his arms and started rocking her gently back and forth.
Gertie came over to sniff gently in the baby's direction. "New member of the pack, huh girl?"
Daryl could hear Stella and Hershel talking frantically to each other. Carrying the baby over he stood next to Beth. She was holding up a couple of IV bags. "What's going on, how's she doing?" He asked quietly.
"They can't stop the bleeding. Lori's uterus isn't contracting down. If they can't get it to stop soon they're going to have do a hysterectomy. Even still... it doesn't look good." Beth looked down at the bundle in Daryl's arms. "How's the baby?"
For a second Daryl didn't know how to answer. He didn't know anything about babies. Something could be seriously wrong and he might not know. Best keep it simple. "She's hanging in there." He looked down toward the baby girl in his arms. She was so little, so light. He felt an enormous amount of responsibility towards her. He'd make sure she was alright. He'd keep her safe.
Looking at the baby, something else caught his eye. The floor was wet. Really wet. Blood was dripping down off the table. He couldn't believe that all that blood had come from Lori. That she was still alive. His head began swimming. "I think I'll just go sit over there. If they need something, just yell out." He walked slowly back over to the tables by the door. It wouldn't be good if he passed out and crushed the baby.
Rick burst in through the door, Glenn close on his heels. "Lori!" Rick bellowed. Daryl stepped directly in his path.
"You don't want to go over there man, you'll just get in their way." Rick's hands clamped down on Daryl's biceps. It was clear that Rick intended to shove him out of the way. But his hands touched the towel and something else. The unmistakable soft skin of a newborn.
"Is that..?" Rick's voice trailed off.
"Well it's sure as shit not mine, and since it doesn't have slanty eyes I'd say it's not Glenn's either. Here man, hold out your arms." Daryl passed the baby awkwardly over to Rick.
Rick walked over to a chair and sat down heavily. He started at the baby so long Daryl began to wonder if he was alright. "Don't know whether or not to say congratulations. It is after all a girl." He said hoping to get a smile out of Rick.
"A girl? Really? I have a little girl," He said with wonder. Looking over to the group huddled around the figure on the table he asked, "Lori?" His voice was filled with dread.
"Don't know yet man. They're doing everything they can. Just sit tight. Won't do any good looking over their shoulders. As soon as they know they'll tell us."
Daryl looked over to Glenn. "T-Dog?" he asked quietly. He didn't know how much Rick knew and now wasn't the time to give him more bad news.
Pain flashed across Glenn's face. "I took care of it."
Daryl nodded slowly. He felt bad Glenn had to do it, it should have been him. He should have waited for T-Dog before heading back outside. If he had, then T-Dog would be alive.
Leaving Glenn there with Rick holding the baby, Daryl walked through the door to go outside. He wanted a little fresh air and some space. Except it looked like he could only have one of those things. There was a group hanging out right outside. Scanning the faces it looked like everyone was there. Everyone except T-Dog... and Carol.
Daryl headed over to Maggie. She had her arms wrapped around Carl. As Daryl moved closer he could hear Carl's quiet sobs. Daryl wanted to say something to Carl, but what could he say? He stared down at the boy that had seen too much in his life. He exhaled heavily. Lifting his eyes to Maggie he asked, "You two okay?"
"Yeah, we're alright. Is Lori?"
"They're still doing some things. The baby seems okay I guess. Little girl." Daryl looked around for a moment. "Carol?" He didn't need to elaborate. Maggie knew what he was asking.
"We got separated. Guess we took a wrong turn trying to get back to the cell block. Ended up going deeper into the prison. A group of walkers came out of nowhere. Carl and I ended up ducking into a maintenance room. When we came out she was gone. Didn't see any sign of her."
Daryl was silent as he thought about what Maggie said. If Carol had been caught right there, they would have seen something. Maybe she just got pushed back farther into the prison. The halls were like a maze in there.
"Daryl?" Carl said quietly, his voice catching. "Do you think I can see her?"
"Oh, um." Daryl didn't know what to say. He didn't want the kid not to see his mom in case she died, but he shouldn't see her like that either. Lori was a mess. He decided to go for the lesser of two evils. "Stella and Hershel are still working on your mom. We just got to let them do their thing okay?"
Carl shook is head. "Not mom. I know that what they're doing. I mean the baby. Can I see the baby?" He looked so hopeful.
He couldn't bring Carl in to see the baby without him seeing the blood bath that was his mother. Just as he opened up his mouth to speak Glenn stepped outside. He had news.
Hope you guys liked this one. I used some of the original story line here. Killing off T-Dog, Carol missing. Hope you liked how I changed it though. Seemed right telling the C-section from Daryl's POV. I mean Daryl Dixon with a brand new baby in his arms... how can anyone not melt. Right? I also hope that I conveyed Daryl's deep sense of responsibility that he feels towards the group in general.
This is by far the longest chapter I've written. It's nearly twice the length of any other. Some sections might not flow that easily, but I was trying to keep the timing between events fairly realistic. There was so much going on here. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Please review, I love getting them.
Also don't forget to add the story to your follows (or favorites)!