What's Next

Chapter Ten 🦋

Val's POV:

I waited for a while. For Daryl. When he never came I decided to take my chances on the road. I needed to find him or anybody from the prison. Rick, Carl, Judith. I didn't know if any of them were safe. Battling these constant waves of nausea wasn't helping. I was becoming dehydrated quicker. It wasn't like much was coming up, food was scarce. This was a time I wish Daryl was here. I missed him. I had been on the road for days having no idea if he wasn't even alive.

I found a gas station at some point, rummage for what I could. There was little there but I did manage to find a couple of pregnancy tests. I held off for a while. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer yet, since Daryl wasn't going to be nearby for me to tell. I spent a lot of nights crying, missing his warmth. The constant compliments.

One morning I finally muscled the strength to know the truth. I took one of the tests. Positive. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so I waited until a little bit later in the day to pee on the last pregnancy test I had. That too came up with a positive result. I couldn't believe it. I'm pregnant. I never thought I would get this chance again and here I am alone. The father of my unborn child maybe dead and he would've died not knowing he was going to be a dad.

I found a sign alongside the train tracks that read: Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive. Survive. Underneath was a map, all different points leading to a place called Terminus. I didn't how much I could trust it, but I figured Rick or Daryl might have seen one of these signs and could be on their way there now. I would take any risk if it meant I could see my family or Daryl again.

I walked for days on end across the tracks, I soon came across a crippled walker in the way. I stabbed it through the head before continuing any further. I continued to walk and walk. Only stopping to vomit. The sooner I could make it to Terminus the sooner I could hopefully see Daryl again.

**

Daryl's POV:

I couldn't stop thinking about Val. If she's alive right now, she could be all alone out there. I didn't know where anyone was, I lost Beth and I know I was walking with a bunch of strangers. I found a ring I wanted to give Val if I was to ever find her. It was silver with a heart shaped knot. I thought of her the moment I saw it. When Beth noticed she told me that she thought Val would like it. I hope she would.

I hoped she was okay. I couldn't help to think about her being out there. Alone, maybe even pregnant. Shit, she could be pregnant, and I wouldn't even know. It made me want to find her more. She might not be alone, maybe she's found her brother, or maggie, or someone from the prison.

I woke up earlier to leave for a hunt. I thought it would help me keep my mind off of Val for just a moment. All I could hope was that she was doing okay. I couldn't stop worrying about her. I concentrated on the rabbit that came before me. Soon releasing an arrow at it. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked angrily, as I saw another arrow hit the rabbit at the same time as mine. "Catching me some breakfast." The idiot Len smirked.

"That's mine." I huffed, walking over to grab the rabbit.

"My arrow's the one that hit first. Cottontail belongs to me." He argued.

"Been out here since before the sun came up."

"You see, the rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here. Now, that rabbit you're holding is claimed, boy."

"Claimed whether you like it or not." The fuck does he mean claimed. Who the fuck claims shit, we ain't children. "So I was you I'd hand it over. Now before you get to wishing you ain't never even got out of bed this morning."

"It ain't yours."

"You know, I'll bet this bitch got you all messed up, hmm?" Now that pissed me off. Val is no bitch. What the hell would he know. If she was here and heard that, he would be down on his ass right about now. "Am I right? Got you walking around here like a dead man who just lost himself a piece of tail."

"Must have been a good'un. Tell me something was it one of the little'uns cause ah they don't last long out here." He continued to mock. I put my hand on my knife, preparing to pull it out. I wanted to kill the son of a bitch. "Easy fellas easy." The boss man stated, putting his hand on my knife, preventing me from launching at the son of the bitch who seemed to have a death wish. "Let's just put our weapons down. See if we can figure out what's really the problem is here, huh?"

"Did you claim it?" There we go with this claim bullshit again. "Hell yeah."

"Well, there you go. that critter belongs to Len."

"So let's have it." Sounding like a damn child. I wasn't about to comply, fuck that. "Looks like you may be wanting an explanation."

"You see, going it alone, that ain't an option nowadays. Still, it is survival of the fittest. That's a paradox right there. So I laid out some rules of the road to keep things from going Darwin every couple hours. Keep our merry band together and stress free. All you got to do is claim."

"That's how you mark your territory, your prey, your bed at night. One word, claimed."

"I ain't claiming nothing." I scoffed.

**

Val's POV:

I found Carol and Tyreese. Judith was with them as well and I couldn't be anymore happier to see my niece finally. After all this time Judith was alive and okay. To say I was relieved to see her wouldn't even be the half of it. Apparently there had been an incident with Lizzie. Turns out it had been Lizzie who had been feeding the walkers back at the prison. I remember Daryl telling how they found dead rats along the fence line. Lizzie saw the walkers as just someone who was different. Killed her own sister so that she would come back as one. Almost gave Judith the same fate. Lizzie's mindset had started to become dangerous. A mindset like that could have led to more deaths, maybe even Lizzie would have lost her life. I couldn't blame Carol for taking the steps she took to handle it. I didn't know if I could have done the same if I had been in her position.

Since having Judith back, I never wanted to put her down. I would be lying if I said I didn't still fear she would disappear the moment I did. I couldn't sleep. I don't even remember the last time I had slept. Much to Tyreese and Carol's dismay, I was taking watch every night. I kept Judith in a baby sling I had found a little while ago. I had told them I was pregnant, and what was supposed the happiness moment of my life I was left worrying if I was going to survive, if the father of my child was still alive, if he was searching for me.

**