A Glimmer of Hope

After

Athena POV:

Daryl took me on the motorcycle to get some baby formula. We went back to the pharmacy that we stashed all of the baby supplies at. I was so worried that everything we had stashed would be gone. But it hadn't been too long since we had last been here, so I rationalized, so it had to be there. Something had to go right today.

We pulled up and parked the bike right outside the door. We looked around to make sure there were no people around. That's what we worry more about anymore. Walkers, you can usually come up with some sort of strategy. People are just evil and unpredictable. 

Once we were sure we were alone, we went into the pharmacy. There weren't any more walkers since we had been before. Daryl caught me by surprise when he spoke up as we were walking toward where we stashed the cart with the baby supplies.

"Ya okay?" he asked timidly. I guess I didn't realize how quiet I had been.

"Yeah. I'm alright. Gotta be," I said honestly. There was no sense in dwelling in the pain and trauma. We didn't have time for all of that. We had to be in the here and now and we had things to do to make sure that little girl survived.

"Ya wanna talk about it?" he asked cautiously. 

"Not right now. I want to get the things we need back to the prison to help the baby," I said shortly. 

He nodded and we got to the place we hid the cart. Thankfully, it was still there. I would definitely call this a win. 

I was really thankful that he understood when I said I didn't want to talk about Lori right then. It was nice to be understood and not pressed for answers about my feelings.

We loaded up our backpacks with everything we could from formula to diapers, wipes. I found a booger sucker and baby blanket and loaded it in. They didn't have clothes at the pharmacy but we would make due for now. 

"We're going to have to do something about clothes for her. A crib maybe. We'll have to look for nearby daycares, maybe tomorrow, let's get back," I said with finality. All I could think about was getting back to the baby. I'd never felt so protective over someone. Especially someone I had met but hours ago.

Daryl nodded. "Sounds like a plan, let's get back home," he said. It was weird to think we had a home at all, after all of this time. It was strange to hear. We started walking back to the bike, loaded down with our full backpacks. "'Thena, I love ya. Don't forget that," Daryl said.

I smiled softly. "I won't. And don't worry. I'm okay. I just want to get through this, get the baby settled and we can talk about what happened tonight; I'll tell you all about it," I said rather darkly. 

"Only if ya want to," he said. "I understand if ya don't want to tell me everythin'."

"I really think I need to," I said. He pulled me into a hug, and I pulled away quickly, very different from our normal hug, but I tried to make up for it when I saw his hurt expression and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "This ain't no romance novel, Dixon! We've got to get the formula back to the baby," I said quickly.

He laughed out loud at that. "Yes ma'am,  whatever you say," he said while saluting me and getting himself on the bike.

His laugh always made me laugh. I got on the bike behind him and we took off, back toward our home.

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We arrived back at the prison, got into the exterior gates, greeted by Glenn who let us in. He assured us that the baby was still doing okay. We rushed toward the cell block that was our home. We got there to find Carl holding the baby. She was screaming and crying for something to eat. It looked like Beth and Maggie had gathered a few blankets and found an old laundry basket for her to lay in.