War on the Body [1]

[6] Fresh air

Paige awakes the next morning after sleeping all night, jumping down from her bunk she notices Beth has already gotten up. Paige quickly strips the large t-shirt she had worn to bed off, leaving her in a sports bra and spandex shorts. Daryl steps up to her cell's doorway and begins talking, not noticing her lack of clothes.

"Hey, we are moving the cars around. Rick wants you to stay with Lori and Hershel" He says gaining the girl's attention. He looks at her chest as she turns around and quickly pivots to face the other way.

"I'll just be going" He says rushing off as Paige stands there with a slight tint to her cheeks, she is embarrassed of the events that just took place

She proceeds to put on a loose fitting white top and a pair of dark green jeans over her spandex. She leaves her cell to see Carl sitting on the stairs holding a pair of crutches.

"Hey bud, where did you get those?" Paige asks the young boy curiously

"I made them, Daryl helped me. I thought Hershel could use them to get around" Carl says smiling at the girl

"I think that is a lovely idea, thank you for doing that" Paige tells the boy as she pats his shoulder

Carl finishes the final touches before celebrating, "Alright!" he cheers and rushes to Hershel's cell, with Paige following.

"Take it easy" Paige says joining the small group in Hershel's cell

"Just take your time" Lori includes with a soft smile on her face

"Daddy, don't push yourself" Beth scolds her father

"What else am I going to do?" Hershel asks as he quickly pushes himself up, letting the crutches balance him. "I can't stand looking at the bottom of that bunk" He adds on with a joking smile, as he sways a little. Paige and Beth rush to his side to help him control the leaning.

" Whoa! " Hershel says as he starts to take a few steps forward, " You know? I can go pretty steady" he says confidently

"That's a good start. Want to take a rest?" Paige asks concerned about her father

"Rest? Let's go for a little stroll" Hershel voices excitedly

As they lead Hershel out of the cell block, Beth and Paige steady Hershel the best they can.

"I got you here if you need it." Paige says letting go of Hershel slightly, staying at his side just in case he topples over.

"Just take your time on those steps" Beth points out, letting Hershel walk down them independently

The group of five arrive in the courtyard to see the bodies from the second day gone, "You cleared all those bodies out? It's startin' to look like a place we could really live in" Hershel states, smiling at the two girls he adores, he starts to sway as Lori grabs a hold of his torso to steady the man.

"Hey, you watch your step. Last thing we need is you falling." Lori says adding a small chuckle on at the end

"You're doing great Daddy" Beth tells the man, smiling proudly at him

"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl offers as he runs up to the side of Hershel

"You give me another day, I'll take you on" Hershel replies to the young boy.

Paige is to engrossed in her father's progress that she doesn't see the walkers coming up behind them, until Carl announces it.

"Walkers! Look out!" Carl yells to the group, Paige pulls her gun out quickly ending the reanimated corpses as they scramble closer to the group.