A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S3Pt6 - Labor Pain

It's been a couple days since I killed my dad, and I've been keeping to myself. But I also remembered that it's been a couple days since Hershel got bitten. I walked to the cell he was in and saw Lori, Maggie, and Beth sitting with him. He still hasn't opened his eyes, but so far he was still alive. They stared at me as I stood in the doorway and I kept my head down. The news of me killing my father spread like wildfire, but no one has judged me. I like to believe that they understand why I did it.
I haven't spoken since for a couple days, so my voice was raspy, but I cleared my throat.
"How's he doing?" I asked quietly.
"He's doing okay." Maggie said and slightly smiled at me.
I nodded and looked at Hershel. He was such a good man, a good father. He didn't deserve this. I left the cell and sat at one of the tables in the cellblock. I looked at the table where I sat with my dad, and sighed.
"I'm so sorry Kelliana... You better be careful of what you say next girl... You fucking whore!"
I bowed my head and tried to ignore his haunting voice in my head. I wiped away a few tears and breathed like Daryl told me to, in and out. I felt a hand on my shoulder, looked up, and saw it was Daryl. I managed to smile at him and he sat down next to me.
"How's my girl doing today?" He asked and tucked my hair behind my ear.
"I'm okay." I said.
Daryl nodded but I sighed. He stared at me and knew I wasn't telling him anything.
"I keep reliving it." I whispered. "I can't get it out of my head."
Daryl nodded and rubbed my back.
"It'll never be okay, but it'll get easier." Daryl said.
"Have you killed anyone yet?" I asked him quietly.
He nodded slowly. "Back at the farm when we went to get Hershel. When that group attacked us."
I nodded my head but didn't know what to say. From my looks and his experience, Daryl could guess what I was thinking.
"Do I look evil to you? Like a monster?" He asked.
I looked at him confused and shook my head.
"Then stop thinking you are." He said. "You are the most honest, beautiful, and caring person I know. You're not a monster because of this."
A tear fell down my cheek and Daryl wiped it away. I nodded and he leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
"I love you." He said.
"I love you too."
I saw Carl watching us from the cells and looked at him. I waved him over and he sat down next to me.
"Hey Carl." I said and rubbed his shoulder.
"Hi Kelley." He said.
I saw he wanted to say something but didn't know how to say it. He cleared his throat and looked at Daryl, then at me.
"I heard about what you did." He said.
My mood changed instantly and I looked away from Carl.
"I just wanted to let you know that I think you did the right thing." Carl said and I looked back at him. "He deserved it."
I nodded my head then looked at Daryl who agreed with Carl.
"Thanks kid." I said. "You are so lucky you have a father like Rick. You may not think that all the time, but he would do anything for you. Remember that." I said.
Carl nodded and he stood up to hug me. I smiled and hugged him back.
"Woah." I heard him say.
I looked at what he was talking about and was surprised myself. We saw Hershel standing up on a pair of crutches with Lori and his kids at his side.
"Wow." I said. "You're a tough man Hershel."
Daryl smiled to himself then touched my arm.
"Yeah?" I said.
"I'm going to go find Rick. I'll see you later." He told me.
I nodded and we kissed. He walked over to Hershel and shook his hand before leaving the cellblock. I walked over to Hershel and was going to shake his hand, but instead he hugged me.
I laughed and hugged him back, feeling relief that something good has finally happened to us.
"Let's take a walk." Hershel said.
We all chuckled and walked with Hershel out to the courtyard. The sun felt nice on our skin and Hershel smiled at the sky.
"You ready to race Hershel?" Carl joked.
"Give me another day. I'll take you on." He joked back.
We laughed together and looked down into the prison's field. We saw Rick, Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog, and Carol standing in between the fences. They looked at us and waved.
"Way to go Hershel!" Glenn called out from the fences.
We smiled and looked at Hershel. Even with missing a leg, he was still an optimistic man. In the moment when we thought things were alright, things quickly turned bad.
"Walkers!" Carl yelled.
We looked around and saw that walkers were flooding the courtyard, and I specifically saw the gate that I locked earlier was now open. I saw Rick and everyone else start running towards us, but they were too far, it'd be too late.
Beth grabbed her dad and they ran behind a fence and locked themselves in. I grabbed Lori and helped her run into the cellblock with Maggie and Carl following. We were about to run to the cells when walkers came from there too. They were everywhere. I turned us around and saw we had no other choice. I led us into the tombs. We were deep into the tombs when sirens went off and blared in our ears. I covered my ears and saw Lori wincing in pain and holding her stomach.
"Something isn't right." She said and leaned against the wall.
"Why? Are you bit?" Maggie asked.
Lori shook her head. "I think the baby's coming."
She then cried and bent over in pain. Carl ran to her side and looked at her.
"Mom." He said.
I could hear the worry in his voice, and see it in his face. With all the noises going on it attracted walkers right towards us. I grabbed Lori's arm and wrapped it around my shoulders and helped her walk. Carl led the way but there were walkers in front of us. We turned around and saw them behind us. Carl saw a door and opened it. Once we were in, he closed the door behind us and locked it. We could hear the walkers passing by and forget about us. Then Lori screamed again and almost fell to the floor in pain. We all looked at her and didn't know what to do. But what we did now is that this was going to get worse.
Lori was in full blown labor right now and none of us knew what to do. Maggie laid her on the floor and Carl sat by his mother's head. She pulled down her pants and told her to push, but she couldn't.
"You're gonna have to cut me open." Lori said.
She was groaning and out of breath. "I know it. That's how I had Carl. You need to."
"No..." Maggie said and cried.
"Lori, we can't do that to you." I said.
"Carl has a knife... Please Maggie please." She begged.
The sirens finally turned off and everything got quiet.
"Mom..." Carl cried.
She grabbed his face and looked at him. "Carl baby look at me. Don't be scared. This is what I want, this is right. Take care of your daddy for me alright, and your little brother or sister." She said.
"You don't have to do this." Carl cried.
"You're going to be fine. You are going to beat this world, I know it." Lori cried. "You are smart and you are strong and you are so brave... and I love you."
"I love you too." Carl cried and hugged his mom.
"Promise me you'll do what's right. If it feels wrong don't do it." Her voice cracked. "Don't let the world spoil you. I love you."
We all cried and Carl hugged his mom tightly. She let go and breathed deeply.
"Okay... Kelley." She said.
I wiped my tears and looked at her.
"You take care of Carl for me. Take care of him and Rick, and the baby. Treat them like your own family. Please, promise me." She said.
I nodded and grabbed her hand. "I promise." I cried.
I bent over and hugged her and she grabbed my head and whispered in my ear.
"Tell Rick I love him." She said.
I nodded my head and hugged her.
"I will." I promised. "Don't worry, they'll be okay. I promise."
"Thank you." She said and let go of me.
Carl was crying my his mom's head, I was crying at her side, and Maggie was crying at her legs.
"When you're done, you have to shoot me." She told Maggie.
"No." Maggie shook her head. "I can't."
"It can't be Rick!" She cried. "It can't."
I nodded my head yes for us and Lori breathed deeply. Carl then gave his knife to Maggie and she grabbed it with her shaky hand. I held both Lori's hand and Carl's. Lori looked up at the ceiling and tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Goodnight, love." She whispered.
That's when the screaming started.