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DARYL WAVED HIS large hand in front of Ellie's face wildly; only she remained entirely unresponsive. How could anyone have walked away from such a plight feeling fine? It was almost as though Ellie had involuntarily plunged into a state of anguish, leaving her disoriented and mentally fatigued with all the hardships she had to endure, and was still enduring. It all appeared to be more like the punchline of a cruel joke, told to unforgiving audiences of guilty applause. Daryl reluctantly peeled the baby from her arms, and pushed her onto the ground, in order for her to sit down and regain consciousness, though he had no idea what he was doing. Daryl gulped loudly as he neared Rick, as he, too, had slipped into a trance of distress, merely staring ahead at nothing.
"Rick?" Daryl questioned, waving his hand frantically in front of his face. He sighed, and scrambled over to Hershel as the baby wept louder in his arms, awkwardly questioning, "We need to feed it. Got anythin' a baby can eat?"
"She looks healthy. She needs formula, there aren't any other women with milk ready. She needs it soon or she won't survive," the veterinarian clarified to Daryl, motioning towards the cars in the distance with vigour.
"Nope, no way. Not her. I'm not lettin' her die. I'm goin' for a run," Daryl growled assertively as he strapped his crossbow on his back in preparation, and gently held the baby lovingly in his arms.
"I'll back you up," Maggie declared, nodding in Daryl's direction.
Bradley and Brett simply nodded at Daryl, who shot them a nod of acknowledgment in response. Daryl swerved to Shane, whose eyes were filled to the verge with tears as he peered at the baby crying in Daryl's arms. Daryl's eyes instantly melted at the sorrowful spectacle, as Shane's anguish grew stronger by the second. Shane was in no frame of mind to care for a baby that had been potentially his, all the while he had just lost the supposed love of his. Daryl regrettably spun on his heels, and quietly approached Ellie, gently reaching out to her with his hands to cup her smooth cheek in his hand.
"Ellie?" Daryl summoned once again, only this time, she gazed directly up at him through broken eyes, "Ellie, can you take care of the baby until we're back with formula?"
She continued to gaze intensely into Daryl's eyes as she loosely held out her hands to take the baby, her arms idly moving as though they had simply been programmed too. Daryl pouted as he investigated her behaviour, but positioned the baby gently in her arms, trusting in her biological instincts. She immediately situated the baby correctly, and held her close, bouncing her gently in order to lull her wails against her should. It had been entirely natural. The newborn's whines shortly faltered, leaving Ellie to involuntary smile down at the baby, shattering her from her stupor.
Daryl placed a short kiss on the top of Ellie's head, before he spun on his heels and speedily paced towards the cars with the recruits hot on his heels. Ellie pouted as she watched him sprint away, but remained silent, merely permitting a rogue tear to trail down her cheek once again.
