The Walking Dead: Danielle Grimes

18.

Danielle's POV

"Rick, are you with me?" Daryl kneels down so his eye level with him, putting his hand on Ricks shoulder. "Rick?" Ricks face has gone blank with shock. His crying has seized but he hasn't spoken a word and avoided eye contact with all of us.

Daryl moved away from him and comes back to me. "Hey, talk to me." He whispers lifting my chin up. I shake my head wiping my eyes trying not to cry again as I take a deep breath. "I'm okay." He raises an eyebrow. "Are you?"
He asks unconvinced and I nod. "Gotta be. Just worried about them." He nods agreeing.

"Let me see the baby." Hershel requests Maggie who I gave the baby too. "What are we gonna feed her?" Daryl questions behind me, rubbing his hand up and down my back. "Good thing is she looks healthy. But she needs formula or she won't survive." Hershel says.

Me and Daryl instantly shake our heads. "Nope. No way. Not her. We ain't losing anybody else. I'm goin' on a run." Daryl tells us. "I'm coming with you." I tell him. Maggie and Glenn also agreeing to come.

"Okay, figure out where we're going." Daryl says to me before pulling Beth aside to talk to her. I walk over to the car pulling out map marking where we can go. I take a good look at the map as tears build up in my eyes but I don't let them fall.

"Glenn! Maggie! Vamanos! Get the gate. We're losing the light." He came next to me and I showed him the place I marked and he nods. "There's a piggly-wiggly on eighty-five." Glenn informs us. "No, the baby sections cleared. Lori asked me and Dani to keep an eye out. We already looked there." Maggie tells him.

"Is there a shopping centre near?" He tries again. "Yeah but there's too much debris on the road." Maggie says, looking deflated and Daryl nods to his bike. "I can only take one."
I nod. "I'll go."

"Are you sure?" Glenn questions me. "Yeah, I have too. And besides I know what to get. You two hold the fort down here." I tell them and Maggie nods. "We will. Be careful, both of you." I don't say anything just nod, following Daryl over to his bike, climbing on. I wrap my arms around him as he takes off.

******

As we drove, I couldn't get the sounds of Lori's scream out of my head. Lori's blood is still on my hands reminding me of what I just took from Carl, the baby and Rick.

Daryl pulls the bike to a stop, stopping outside a daycare. We get off and start walking towards the door. "Hey." Daryl calls out to me and I turn to face him. "What is it?"

"Don't blame yourself, Nelle." He tells me and I shake my head, "I could have tried harder. I should have let Maggie go and get Hershel." He moves closer cupping my cheek. "You did everything ya could and you saved your niece. Because of you, Rick has a daughter. Carl has a sister." I shake my head at him. "I still could have tried harder." I turn around unsheathing my claw as Daryl raises his crossbow, sighing but following me.

We walk down the hallway stopping as I heard scratching. Daryl pushes in front of me as he approaches a cupboard and opens it firing at the same time.

He reaches inside and brings out a possum. "Hello dinner." He mutters making me chuckle. "Yeah, you can keep that one." I joke moving into a room. I looked around the room, searching for anything that will help when I come across five full tubs of formula.

Jackpot.

I grab them all putting them in the bag. I grab some other things as well like clothes and pacifiers before making my way out to Daryl's bike. He ain't back yet so I climb onto the front seat seeing what's it feels like being Daryl Dixon. "Nope. Move." I hear him. Seriously, we have got to get him a bell. "Can I drive?" I ask nicely.

"No." He didn't even have to think. "Oh, come on. Please?" I try again. "Nope." He shakes his head. "Pretty please?" I ask nicely. "Pretty no." He smirks at me and I glare at him, raising my middle finger, moving backwards so he can climb on.

He chuckles as I roll my eyes, wrapping my arms around his waist. "One day you'll let me, Dixon." I whisper in his ear. "Yeah? Good luck with that." He quips revving the engine taking off. I chuckle in his ear looking in his side mirror seeing him smile.

At least someone's smiling.

******

As soon as we get back to the prison, we run straight inside. I went over to a table making the formula while Daryl headed over to the baby taking her in his arms. "Shh shh, come on. She got a name yet?" He whispers.

"Not yet." Carl replies. "But I was thinking maybe Sophia? Then there's Carol too. And Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia...Lori." He whispers his moms name last.

We all look at him with sympathy. Daryl's still rocking the baby as I head over giving him the bottle. He lifts it to her mouth, I tilt his arm slightly. "Let her find it. Don't force feed it to her." I whisper.

She opens her mouth, finding the nipple and wraps her tiny lips around it. Daryl looks down at her with a small smile. "Ya like that? Little ass-kicker. Right? That's a good name, right?" He asks looking around, all of us laughing, even Carl, at the nickname. "Little ass-kicker? You like that? Huh? You like that sweetheart?"

I keep my eyes on Daryl with a soft small suddenly liking this side of Daryl. I look at my niece, smiling softly

I'll take care of her Lori. I promise.