What's Next

Chapter Three 🦋

Val's POV:

I woke up that next morning lying on Daryl's chest. I looked up only briefly at him, taking notice he too was awake. "How long have you been awake?" I questioned, knowing my voice sounded somewhat groggily. "A little while now." He stated, with a husky voice. I could tell there was something on his mind, I waited for a moment to see if he would say something. But he didn't. "Is something wrong?" I asked, slightly worried that it might had something to do with me. How I reacted to him, practically telling me he wanted to have a baby. Okay, maybe I'm overreacting, but this whole time I've known Daryl I would have never expected him to say something like that, even if he didn't directly say it. It's what he was trying to say. "It's just when I told Beth about Zach. She didn't even shed a tear." Daryl expressed.

"She was once shielded from the truth. Remember back on the farm, Hershel didn't want to believe what world was really like, so that reflected back onto her." I said, tracing circles on his chest with his finger. Something I seemed to do a lot. "We've lost a lot of people since then. Maybe it's just how she handles it now." I suggested, knowing exactly how she may be feeling.

"After my parents died, that was the most I cried in my entire life. Most of the time now I sort of just shut it off. Every now and then yeah I may bawl my eyes out but I have to be very overwhelmed enough for it." I explained.

"I didn't know that." He muttered.

"That's cause I never tell anyone."

"Well maybe ye need to open up a bit more. At least with me."

"Oh really, coming from Mr. outsider." I giggled.

"Yeah, yeah. Shhh you." He chuckled, nudging me a little.

**

Screams overcame the peaceful morning. I could hear people running, yelling for help. Daryl and I shot up. Daryl threw on his clothes before grabbing his crossbow. I immediately grabbed my whip, after pulling my sports bra and denim shorts on, not bothering about a shirt or boots. There wasn't enough time. Immediately pulling down the privacy sheet, Daryl charged through before me, as I followed close behind him. Running straight outside alongside the others. I heard Lizzie and Mika scream for help as they came running out from Cell block D. "Walkers in D!" Glenn yelled.

"What about C!" My brother yelled back, as he sprinted to us, joining us in the race against time. "Clear!" I yelled back.

"We locked the gates to the tombs! Hershel's on guard." Sasha added.

"It ain't a breach." Daryl stated, as we ran past Rick. "We followed the plan!" I yelled back, heading straight into Cell block D.

**

I swung my whip, only aiming for any walker in sight. Rushing as many people out as possible. I had to drown out the yelling, and screaming, otherwise I would've become overwhelmed, which would freeze me in my spot. Daryl charged ahead, taking control. Shooting any walker he could see. "Daryl!" I yelled, alerting of the young boy who was almost taken over by a walker. He swung into action immediately, picking up the boy with one swift movement, shooting the nearest walker with an arrow, as I whipped the one beside it.

I could hear a child scream from above, I immediately sprinted up there, only to see a little girl becoming cornered by a walker, I swung my whip, cracking it on the oncoming walker's head, straight away grabbing the little girl's hand heading straight for the stairs to lead her to safety. "M-m-miss Grimes..." The little girl stuttered, noticing another walker getting closer to us by the second. "Go! Now! Find anyone that will lead you out!" I demanded, letting go of her hand to let her run, which she did just that. As I killed the one coming before me, I didn't notcice the other two that were stumbling my way.

Once I noticed one, I couldn't swing the whip around in time that would've been hard enough to kill it. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, trying to hold off a walker from taking a bite out of me. "Help!" I yelled, immediately heard footsteps sprint up the steps, hearing the sound of a crossbow releasing an arrow that soon went through the walker's head that was above me. Daryl helped me up, that walker being the last one to kill, at least that's what we believed. "Ye alright?" Daryl asked, panickily as he checked all over for a bite or scratch.

"I'm fine. But I think I might've sprained my ankle. It hurts to put a lot of pressure on it." I explained. I stumbled over my feet just the tiniest bit, as I began to become extremely panicked and happened to sprain my ankle in the process. I was in agonising pain. Pain I hadn't felt since I was in school, the last time I sprained my ankle. "Here, lemme help." Daryl said, calmly wrapping his free arm around my waist to give me some support.

Rick and Glenn were soon upstairs as well. "Val are you alright?" My brother asked, immediately worried when he noticed I was holding onto Daryl for support. "I just hurt my ankle I'll be fine Rick." I stated. Hearing a sigh of relief come from in return. Glenn went over, checking the cells, when he yelled. I grabbed Daryl's crossbow off of him and turned as much as I could, shooting an arrow straight through the walker's head, Glenn soon pushing it off of him. We all walked over to him, to investigate, Rick helping Glenn up from the ground. "Oh, it's Patrick." Daryl stated.

"That's all of them." He added, taking a look around our surroundings.

"How could this even happen?" I questioned, as Glenn and Rick continued to check every cell to be sure.

"I don't know Val." He muttered.

"Let's get that ankle looked at first before you start worrying about this." He added, soon carrying me down the steps.

**