Chapter Fifteen

Daryl's POV

We were double and triple checking everything we were walking past on our double back toward the interstate. Everyone was beginning to get frustrated when a single gunshot rang out through the woods. Everyone began to panic and start talking about who shot it and what it was and I could see that Carol thought the worst, that the found Sophia, she was bit, and they had to do what needed to be done. Lori and Andrea were trying to console her and tell her that there was still hope and I was getting real fed up with them and their bullshit.

"I'll tell ya what it's worth, all this hopin' and prayin'. Nothin'. I'll tell ya why. Because we are gonna locate that little girl and she's gonna be jus fine. Am I the only one zen around here? Good lord!" I said and started to walk off in the direction of the interstate.

Everyone begins to follow me and we decide to call off the search for the day and pick it up in the morning because we were losing light. We continued back toward the interstate and Andrea started to veer off from the group. As we continued to walk we heard Andrea scream and ran over to find her. Out of nowhere a woman on a horse wielding a baseball bat came riding up, slammed the walker attacking Andrea in the head and stopped the horse.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?" the woman said, "There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. Rick sent me to get you. We have to hurry! Let's go!"

Lori climbs on the horse with the woman.

"Are you crazy? You can't go with her? We don't even know who she is!" I said.

"You have a group on the interstate?" the woman asked.

"Yeah," Glenn said.

"Back track to Fairbren Road, two miles down there's a farm. Name's Greene!" She said and rode off in the direction she came with Lori.

I shot an arrow through the walker's head because the girl's hit with the bat didn't kill it and we headed back to the highway as quickly as we possibly could. When we got there Dale told us the RV was fixed and we told them about Carl and the woman on the horse taking Lori and about the farm she told us to find. Dale told us about T-Dog's infection and I walked over to the motorcycle and pulled out Merle's stash. I tossed Dale a bottle of painkillers and Doxycycline for T-Dog.

"Merle got the clap on occasion," I said with a shrug.

Carol kept going on about how she didn't want to leave without Sophia and we agreed to stay the night with her and set up supplies and a sign for Sophia in the morning just incase she came back. Dale told Glenn to take T-Dog to the farm tonight to see if there was someone there who could take care of his arm and he agreed. The two of them left and we went about our routine of sorting through the supplies to figure out what to take and what to leave for Sophia. Halfway through our sorting I could see that there was something wrong with Summer. She was sitting next to Andrea and her face went white and she gripped Andrea's shoulder. From the look on Andrea's face I could tell she was grabbing pretty hard.

"I'm having contractions," Summer said barely audible and I could see her look down and sure enough, her water had broken.

I looked at Dale and he immediately got up. I ran over to Summer and helped her into the RV. I got her laid down on the floor because she couldn't make it to the bed. I grabbed her a pillow and lifted her head up, placing the pillow under it. That's when she started screaming. I grabbed her hand and she was squeezing.

"It's ok, it'll be ok," I told her, "You're gonna be fine. We knew this was going to be happening soon."

"Just shut the fuck up Daryl," she spat at me, "oh God this hurts."

The contractions came and went for the rest of the day and they finally subsided enough for her to get some sleep. When she finally fell asleep I grabbed my gun and asked Dale to keep an eye on her because I wanted to walk down the highway a bit to look for Sophia. Andrea said she wanted to come along and we went on a walk down the highway. We went into the woods, staying close enough to the highway so I could hear if something happened to Summer, and I told Andrea about how I was lost in the woods for nine days when I was younger and had to wipe my ass with poison oak. I told her how no one noticed how I was missing and when I finally found my way home first thing I did was make a sandwich. She laughed at my story and then her expression became serious.

"How do you feel about bringing a baby into all of this?" she asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The world is hard enough for us to live in, how do you think a baby will make it?" she asked.

"Is that a serious question?" I asked her, "That's my son. My first child. I don't give a fuck if the world has gone to shit or not."

"Fair enough," she said.

We kept walking and came across a walker hanging in a tree. Andrea said she was going to be sick and I told her to just let it out, I was more than used to vomit from Summer and her morning sickness. She let it all out and we decided to head back to the RV.

Summer's POV

I woke up to even more contractions and noticed Daryl wasn't with me. I was beginning to panic and I heard Dale ask Carol to look in on me because Daryl and Andrea weren't back yet and he wanted to look for them. The contractions came back in full force and I screamed for Carol. She came running into the RV and grabbed a wet towel and began to wipe the sweat off of my forehead.

"I can't do this, Carol, I can't do it," I said crying.

"Yes you can," she said soothingly, "you can do this. Just breathe. In and out."

I tried to concentrate on my breathing but I couldn't do it. Another contraction came and I let out another scream. Daryl came running into the RV. Carol looked at him hopefully and he shook his head. She stood up and walked out leaving me alone with Daryl.

"Get me another pillow, please," I asked him.

He grabbed me a pillow and I put it over my face and screamed again as another contraction came. The pillow muffled the sound as well as I thought it would. I brought it away from my face and looked at Daryl. My face was covered in sweat and tears and I couldn't stop myself from crying. Daryl grabbed my hand again.

"Hey, it's ok," he said brushing the hair from my face, "it's almost light. Dale and Andrea have already started to set up the sign and supplies for Sophia. We're gonna be out of here in no time. And when we get to the farm you can have the baby and everything is gonna be ok."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked him squeezing his hand as another contraction came through.

"Because I've got faith, alright," he said, "you were always the one telling me to be optimistic."

I nodded at him and squeezed his hand again as the contractions were getting closer together. We needed to leave now because this baby was coming and would be here within the hour, no doubt. Daryl could tell from the look on my face what I was thinking and he stuck his head out of the RV and shouted that we had to go, now. Before I knew it the RV was being started up and we were heading toward the farm. Daryl was trying to keep me calm as every bump the RV hit made me feel like the baby was just going to pop out. We finally stopped and I sat up to see a farm outside the window and Daryl helped me up. We made our way out of the RV and Daryl was leading me in the direction of the house.

"SOMEONE! WE NEED HELP OUT HERE!" he shouted.

Rick came rushing out with an older man.

"RICK! SHE'S IN LABOR!" Daryl yelled over to Rick and him and the old man came running over.

"Summer, you alright?" Rick asked and I managed a nod gripping Daryl's hand again, "This is Hershel. He's a doctor. He can help."

I looked at Hershel my eyes pleading with him and he led Daryl and I into the house. He laid me down on a bed and called for Maggie. A woman who I didn't recognize, but Daryl seemed to, walked in and Hershel told her to get Patricia. Maggie walked out and came back a minute later with a blonde woman. Hershel instructed Daryl to get my pants off because he needed to check how dilated I was.

"This baby is coming any minute now," Hershel said, "Summer? Are you ready? You're 10 centimeters dilated, you need to be ready to push."

I nodded.

"And you," he said looking at Daryl.

"Daryl," he replied.

"Daryl," Hershel said, "I'm assuming you're the father."

Daryl nodded.

"You need to be ready for this too," Hershel said, "we don't have any drugs, and even if we did it would be too late to administer them now. She's gonna be in pain, a lot of it. I need you to remind her to breathe and hold her hand. She's gonna need it."

Daryl nodded again and Hershel looked at me.

"Alright, Summer," he said, "push."

I pushed as hard as I could and let out a scream in the process. I was squeezing Daryl's hand so hard I was sure I would break it. I could hear him telling me to breathe but I could barely register what he was saying.

"I can see it's head, Summer, push again," Hershel commanded.

I pushed again letting out another scream.

"Patricia, get the clamp, scissors, and some blankets and a bucket of warm water, this baby is almost here," Hershel said to the blonde woman, "alright Summer, one more time. Push hard this time, it's almost over."

I pushed as hard as I could issuing one more blood curdling scream and then I heard the baby crying. I fell back against the bed breathing heavily. I heard the door open and I heard Hershel ask Daryl if he wanted to cut the cord. Next thing I knew I heard the baby crying, water being moved around, and he was in my arms. He was wrapped tightly in blankets and I looked at his face. It seemed like he was smiling. I looked over at Daryl and he was looking at the baby tears running down his face, smiling. He looked over at me and I smiled at him. He leaned in and kissed me.

"What are you gonna name him?" Maggie asked.

"Harry," Daryl said.

"Do you have any formula?" Hershel asked, "He's gonna need to eat. Patricia get the sutures. She tore a little, I need to stitch her up."

Patricia nodded and walked out of the room.

"There's some, in my bag in the RV, bottles too, but I don't think it's enough," I said.

"Maggie, get someone from their group to get the formula and make a bottle," Hershel instructed.

Maggie left the room and Patricia reentered.

"Daryl you're gonna need to take the baby," Hershel said, "I have to stitch her up and it's going to hurt."

He began to stitch and every prick of the needle felt white hot because I was already so sore. Shortly after Hershel said I was done and needed some rest. Maggie came back in with a bottle and handed it to Daryl. He sat down on the bed next to me feeding the baby and I fell asleep.