Daryl's Angel (10th Anniversary Edition)

Chapter 37: Recovered

We stay busy. Beth, Carl, Hershel, and I stay near the cell block with the baby, keeping her entertained and well fed while preparing food for ourselves. Lori and Carol used to do a lot of the cooking but now...everyone's going to have to be happy with whatever I can offer them.

The others head down to the generator room to clear it out and, when they return, Glenn and Maggie have a phone book. They read over it, circling places nearby where we could look for supplies.

We're eating a lunch of oatmeal and water when a voice comes from the entrance to the tombs.

"Everybody okay?"

Rick stands behind the bars. He's changed his shirt, cleaned himself up a bit, and he slowly pushes the door open.

"Yeah, we are," Carl says.

"What about you?" Hershel asks as he comes closer, his steps slow, like he's still dazed.

"I cleared out the boiler block," Rick says. I gulp down my mouthful of oatmeal, wincing a little. I allow myself to wonder if he saw the walker down there. For his sake, I hope he didn't.

"How many were there?" Daryl asks.

"I don't know. A dozen, two dozen," Rick says. "I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl." He pats his son's shoulder.

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies," Glenn says as he gets to his feet. "You don't have to."

"No, I do," he retorts. He walks past the table to where Daryl and I sit on the concrete steps. "Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

Daryl's eyes dart to me, but he nods. "Yeah. We're running low on ammo, though."

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon," Glenn adds. "Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula."

"We cleared out the generator room," Daryl continues. "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well."

"Good," Rick says, nodding as he starts back towards the exit. "Good."

"Rick!" Hershel calls, but he slams the cell door behind him and he's gone again.

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Glenn and Maggie go out for their run, Oscar, Daryl, and Carl head off into the tunnels to do their sweep, and I'm left with Beth on baby duty while Hershel goes off in search of Rick.

Maybe on another day I'd go with the tunnel group, but it still feels like there's this weight holding me down. I'm just...exhausted, and maybe wandering around playing homemaker for a few hours could be good for me.

Besides, little baby Grimes is adorable to the point of tears, and I like holding her. I like singing to her, feeding her—I even like burping her and dealing with spit-up. I used to worry that, if I became a mom one day, I'd be horrible at it because of my weak stomach. I was the kind of person that dry-heaved trying to pick up after a dog.

I still don't do great, but the apocalypse has toughened my stomach, and now a bit of baby puke feels like nothing.

When Hershel returns, Beth takes a turn with the baby and I sit with him as he reads over his Bible.

"Hershel, could..." He looks up at me and I flush a little. "Could you read out loud?"

He smiles, glancing down at the pages again. "Any requests?"

"Genesis. Chapter 37," I say, folding my arms on the table and propping my head on them. Again, I find myself under his questioning stare. "I like the stories, but Joseph's is my favourite. Even when life was hard, and kept getting harder, he never lost faith and trusted that God would bring him through the hard times. I'd like to think I could be like him."