My Hope

Chapter 70

My eyes flutter open to the sound of crying. But it was a babies cry. But how could there be a baby unless...

I open my eyes and see grey ceiling. I am in my cell. I slowly sit up and see that my hand has been wrapped up in a clean bandage. There is still some blood all over my clothes but the walker blood has been cleaned off my arms and face. I stand up with some help from the bunkbed frame.

The sound of crying is still there, filling the cell block. I walk out of the cell and down the stairs very slowly. Then I heard the sound of some people talking and the sound of doors creaking. I slowly make my way over to the exit of the cell block into the common area and see the group. I stand somewhat behind the door so that I am hidden.

Carl is holding a baby, a newborn. He is sitting next to Beth at a table.

I see Daryl and Maggie walk in with Glenn, Oscar, Axel and Isaac. They must have been keeping watch at the gates. Daryl immediately takes the baby out of Carl's hands, trying to calm her. He held the baby in his arms gently as it cried. It amazed me how calm Daryl was around the child and how at home he seemed.

Daryl reaches out his hand to Beth who hands him a bottle of milk. She backed away to stand with Maggie and Carol.

"Come on, come on." Daryl tries to get the baby to drink. Daryl smiles when the baby finally accepts the bottle. That was the first time I had seen Daryl smile in a long time, he seemed genially happy.

"She got a name yet?" Daryl asked. So, it was a girl. Lori had a baby girl.

"Not yet. I was thinking maybe Sophia..." Carl looked to Carol.

"There's Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Lori. Or...Sarah. I don't know." Carl paused. Carl must not have known that I was alive. Hershel looked back and saw me. He and Glenn must have been the ones to find me and mustn't have have time to tell anyone else.

Daryl face became pained as he looked at Carl. I wanted to just jump out and scream to show that I was alive.

"Yeah, you like that? Huh? Lil' Asskicker?" Daryl smirked. He looked around at all the smiling faces. Of course, Daryl would give the baby that name.

"Right? It's a good name right?" Daryl smiled that Dixon smile. There was nothing that could make more happy then to see him smile. Daryl continued to feed the baby, rocking his body back and forth. Hershel looked back at me and nodded.

"I don't know Carl. I kind of like the name 'Sarah'." I stepped out into the open. Everyones eyes turned to me. Carl ran up to me and hugged me tight. I hugged him back in reply as everyone came up one by one and hugged me.

"I'm so sorry. We thought..." Carol cried as she wrapped her arms around me.

"It's ok." I felt tears fall in joy that I was back. Then, after everyone had hugged me, I saw Daryl hand the baby to Beth. After letting the baby go, he walked up to me and I felt him wrap his arms around me so tight that i almost couldn't breathe.

"I'm sorry, Daryl." I cried into his chest. Daryl didn't say anything. Daryl's arms slowly let go of me and I faced everyone.

"We need to stop meeting like this." Hershel joked. We all laughed and I walked up to Beth. Beth slowly handed the baby over to me. She was so small.

"Where's Lori?" I asked.

Carl looked to the ground and I saw Carol start to cry.

"A C-section. Maggie..." Hershel told. I saw that Maggie still had a faint coloring of blood on her hands. Then, there was a small drop of blood on Carl's shirt.

"Carl... I'm so sorry. What about Rick? Why was he down in the tombs." I start rocking back and forth for the baby.

"He's down in the tombs? How'd you know that?" Daryl asked.

"I was in a office room of some sort. When I left I saw him. I went up to him but he attacked me, like I was just another walker. He seemed out of it, like he wasn't there anymore." I regretting saying. I handed Carl the baby and he and Beth went into the cell block.

"It happened to me too when I went down to find him." Glenn spoke.

"Should we go down there? It isn't exactly safe down there." Carol muttered.

"By the look of it, Rick can take care of himself."

"For now, we will let him be. He just lost his wife. Carl his mother. We all need time to heal." Hershel said softly as he sat down.

"How? In under a day we lost two people." Maggie asked.

"First, we all need to rest." Hershel replied.

Glenn volunteered to take first watch and we all went to our cells to get some rest, per Hershel's request. I went straight to the cell while Daryl had to check on something. I sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breathe. I closed my eyes and thought about the events of today.

The fight. The walkers. T-Dog. Rick. Finding my way back.

I heard someone clear their throat and opened my eyes. Daryl was leaning on the cell doorway awkwardly. Daryl opened his mouth to say something but I stopped him.

"Stop, just please. Don't say anything. Please..." my voice cracked and my head fell into my hands. I tried to hold in the tears but it didn't work. Daryl sat down on the bed beside me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest.

Daryl and I laid back onto the bed and Daryl had his arms around me.

"Don't do that ever again, you hear me?" Daryl whispered in my ear.

"Sure thing, Mr. Dixon."

After a while, I could hear Daryl's light snores fill the cell but I couldn't fall asleep. I would see T-Dog dying over and over again every time I closed my eyes. There was no way I would fall asleep. I slipped out of bed and decided to go keep watch or something.

I decided to go and keep watch on the catwalk. The stars were clear in the sky and the moon was bright. There was something calming about staring at the stars. For a second I wondered if God was up there, staring down at me.

Does He even care? Does He see me? All these thoughts went through my mind as I stared at the hundreds of stars in the clear sky above me.