What Comes After • the walking dead ²

4 • Stay Put

"Not bad," Daryl commented as Rick Grimes dumped a mini arsenal of pistols, flashlights, flashbangs, and more onto one of the tables in the common room.

Rick nodded. "Not sure how well they'd work on walkers, but we'll take 'em." T-dog, Hershel, Daryl, and Alexa nodded before starting to examine the supplies.

Alexa's hand mindlessly found the only sniper rifle Rick had found on one of the guards. It was nice and surprisingly clean for being abandoned for so long. Not to mention it seemed to fix perfectly in her hands.

A smile tugged at the corners of the girl's lips, but she refused to let it pull all the way. "Switching arrows for bullets there, Alexa?" T-dog joked. Alexa glared at him, setting the rifle back on the metal table with a clang.

"I already got a gun." She stated, crossing her arms.

The men lightly chuckled, as Daryl picked up a riot helmet covered in what could only be described as slime. "I ain't wearing this shit." He said.

"We could boil them." T-dog suggested.

"Ain't enough firewood in the whole forest," Daryl replied. "No."

"Well, we've made it this far without 'em," Alexa said, pulling her emerald gaze away from the rifle she was already growing fond of.

"She makes a good point," Hershel said, setting down the flashlight he was looking at. The group nodded, silently agreeing.

"Alexa." Carol's voice suddenly called from the cellblock door, making everybody turn to look. Carol inclined her head inside and fighting the urge to groan, Alexa made a beeline for the door. The girl walked up to the second floor, taking a deep breath before entering Lori and Carol's shared cell.

"What's wrong?" Alexa asked, failing to keep the scornfulness out of her tone. Lori looked up at the girl leaning in the doorway with a panicked look in her eyes.

"It's the baby. I lost it." She said frantically.

"You haven't felt it move?" Alexa asked, highly doubting Lori lost the baby with how much pampering she had received over the last eight months. Lori shook her head, mopping up her tears with the back of her hand.

"Nothing. And no Braxton-Hicks." Said, Lori. "At first, I thought it was exhaustion or malnutrition..."

"You're anemic?" Alexa quizzed, her eyes slightly widening. Lori nodded, making Alexa sigh as she ran a hand over her hair.

"Is that bad?" Lori asked, more panicked than ever at the girl's reaction.

Again, Alexa sighed, sinking onto the stool across from Lori. "Well, I wish you would have told me eight months ago." She said. "It can be. But it's hard to tell."

Lori choked, looking like she was about to start sobbing. "If we're all infected, then so is the baby." Lori expressed her concerns. "So what if it's stillborn? What if it's dead inside me right now? What if it rips me apart-?"

"Stop it," Alexa said, cringing slightly at the image Lori was creating in her head. "That fear is gonna eat you up, Lori. Try to control you, if you let it."

Lori sniffled. "Okay." Her voice broke. "Then let's say it lives and I die during childbirth?"

Alexa was silent for a moment. She stared at Lori wondering if she really wanted to hear it. However, before Alexa could say anything, Lori continued.

"If I come back, what if I attack it? Or you? Or Rick? Or Carl? If I do, if there is any chance, you put me down immediately. You do not hesitate. Me, the baby... if we're walkers, you don't hesitate, and you don't try to save us. Okay?" Lori was sobbing then, watching Alexa intently, and waiting for her answer.

Alexa looked at the woman. She didn't like Lori, but Alexa had to admit that she was brave. Lori knew what could happen and what would need to be done if it did. Alexa had to admire that. She nodded slowly, but when her voice came out, it was hollow. Cold, like it, wasn't her who was talking but something else. Someone else.

"Okay."

As Rick helped T-dog into a plated vest, Carl tried on one of the guards' helmets, which quickly fell over his eyes. "You won't need that," Rick said, quickly snatching the armor while Daryl pulled Alexa off to the side, taking the bow from her fingers.

Puzzled, Alexa looked up at the man. Why was he taking her weapon like she wouldn't be using it? Unless...

"No," Alexa said flatly. Daryl glared back at the girl with his own steel-blue gaze.

"I need you to stay put." He said in a low voice.

"No," Alexa repeated, her voice a little higher this time as her emerald glare intensified. "I'm not gonna 'stay put.' Y'all need me out there."

Daryl shook his head, glancing once at Lori, but Alexa caught his look. "Oh. You want me to babysit." She concluded.

"I'm asking for myself," Daryl confessed. "Please, for once don't be stubborn and stay here with Lori and Carl. With Chase."

Alexa's fingers curled. Daryl knew better than anyone not to bring up the topic of Chase's safety. Blue and green clashed, and even though the two were silent, war was raging between them.

"Fine." Alexa hissed through her teeth at the same time as Rick said, "Let's go."

"I hate you." She said as Daryl followed behind T-dog, Hershel, Glenn, Maggie, and Rick.

"Sure you do." He called over his shoulder before Carl closed and locked the door. Through the bars, Alexa watched him until the angel wings on his back faded into the darkness of the rest of the prison.

Alexa sighed, turning back to the rest of the group. Chase and Carl sat on the stairs, flipping through old comic books they had scavenged over the winter, while Lori and Carol went back to their cells, and Beth lingered by the door. Alexa stared at her, knowing her sister and father, the only two people she had left were out there. Anything could happen.

"They'll be fine," Alexa spoke, more to herself than to Beth. The girl looked down, sniffling as she whipped tears from her eyes.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked.

"I'm not," Alexa confessed. "But I trust them." Beth nodded, still sniffling.

"I've already lost so many people I care about." She said in a quiet voice. "What if I lose them too? What if-..."

As Beth trailed off, Alexa looked down. What if what? What if they died and they never got to see them again? What if they didn't get to say goodbye?

"Do you love him? Daryl?" Beth suddenly asked, her question throwing Alexa off guard. She almost choked on the air as she whipped her head around, making sure no one had heard Beth's question.

Love?

Daryl Dixon?

Sure, they had kissed, on the forehead, mainly, and sure they had confessed some feelings to each other. But love. No, they had never told each other they loved each other. Unless "I hate you," translated into "I love you," in another language. Even if she did love Daryl, she would never tell him. She wouldn't be the one to hurt him.

"No," Alexa said blankly. "Two people with similar skill sets, in a world gone to hell. We were forced to get along." With that, Alexa spun on her heel, and ignoring the fact that her ponytail whacked her in the face, she walked away. What was it with teenagers being hopeless romantics?