Surviving The Walking Dead (BOOK ONE IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

Back Into The Swing Of Things

     "GAH!" I cried as Hershel to clean my back. "JESUS CHRIST!" Hershel gave me a sardonic glare. "...was a good man!" Hershel smiled and continued to work on my back. My back was covered with lacerations, some worse than others. Some cuts were long and deep, requiring stitches, while some were short, but able to heal on their own. Either way, it fucking hurt.

     "What exactly happened?" Hershel asked.

     "We saw the whole thing." Rick sighed. "The Governor did this. Had 'er shackled to a post and whipped."

     "How many times did he hit ya?" Beth asked.

     "I dunno." I hissed in pain. "I kinda lost count after three."

     "You're lucky you got here when ya did. One more night out there you would've developed a severe infection." Hershel commented.

     "But how's it lookin' now?"

     "Nothin' a week's worth of antibiotics won't take care of, that and a lot of stitches." Hershel quickly glanced at my hand. "I see your hand has healed nicely."

     "Yeah. When Merle picked me up he took me to their infirmary. Dr. Stevens changed my cast for me."

     "I'm glad you had access to adequate medical care. I was worried how your hand would heal out there on your own." I gently smiled and looked around the room. Carol was over by Daryl talking, Maggie was in her cell, Carl was sitting on the stairs watching Hershel work on my back, and the last time I checked, Glenn was out on guard duty along with Michonne.

     "Where's Lori?" The room fell silent, I let out a sigh. "She didn't make it?" Rick's eyes watered as he shook his head. I grabbed Rick by the hand and pulled him over to me and wrapped my arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Rick. " I whimpered. Rick squeezed me in his arms, fighting back the tears that brimmed his eyes. "What about-"

     "The baby's fine. A healthy baby girl."

     "It's a girl?" I smiled. "C-Can I see 'er?"

     "After I get ya all fixed up." Hershel told me about how they took the prison, about the prisoners who were holed up in the cafeteria, about how T-Dog saved Carol's life, how Rick saved his by cutting his leg off, and after Rick was out of earshot he told me about how Lori died and how Rick's mental state has been. I made a mental note not to talk about Lori around him, not at least until he's in a better state of mind.

     When Hershel finished fixing up my back, Maggie gave me one of her shirts to wear until we got more clothes for me on their next supply run. I walked to the top of the stairs where Carol was taking care of the baby while Rick was off doing... Rick things. "She's beautiful." I smiled.

     "Yeah, she looks just like Lori." Carol smiled back.

     "She got a name?"

     "Judith, but Daryl insists on calling her Lil' Ass-Kicker." I couldn't help but to laugh.

     "She's gonna grow up in this world, accustomed to its horrors, she will definitely be an ass kicker."

     "Would you like to hold her?"

     "I don't think that'd be a good idea right now. I'm not my strongest, don't wanna drop 'er." I half lied. It was true that I didn't want to drop her, I don't want to hold her until I'm one hundred percent healed. But the other reason why I said no was because, simply put, I don't know how. I never had a little brother or sister, little cousin, nothing, Sister Rosemary wouldn't even let me or any of the other children take care of the infants. The last thing I want to do is to drop her and we lose someone else.