deaths destruction| glenn rhee

23. broken

I TOOK SLOW steps through the tombs. shaken with guilt, anger, and sadness from what just took place. maggie led the way, leading us outside as i held the baby close to my chest with carl at the rear.

the gate squeaking mixed with the baby's crying caught the others attention, slowly turning to face where we cautiously stepped.

i met ricks eyes first, seeing the color drain from his face as he realized what had happened. he dropped his hatchet, taking a step towards me before backing away.

he tilted his head, taking in my bloodshot eyes mixed with my tinted pink cheeks. the blood all over my hands and chest— and the baby i held securely to my chest.

"where— where is she? where is she?" he uttered, causing me to choke out a sob from the sadness laced in his voice.

he moved towards where we came from pausing a bit as maggie reached out to stop him, "no—rick, no."

he ignored the girl, turning to carl who just held his head down, grieving the loss of his mother. he bent down for a minute to meet carls eyes, before fully excepting what had happened.

"aw no. no! no!" he sobbed, causing the guilt to fully kick in as i broke out into a sob.

glenn quickly moved to where i was, gently grabbing the back of my neck to look at me. i just stared back at him, whimpers escaping my mouth while tears spilled down my cheeks.

he pulled my face to his chest, the baby now completely enclosed by our bodies.

he soon pulled away, placing a hand on my back so i could gently rock her. trying to stop her crying despite knowing she was probably hungry more than anything.

"let me see the baby" hershel stated, gaining my attention as i started to walk towards him, beth, and quinn. their eyes filled with worry, taking in what i looked like.

"what are we gonna feed it? got anything a baby can eat?" daryl questioned, which i would normally laugh at but i couldn't bring myself to do or say anything

hershel pulled back carls jacket to get a good view of her face, nodding his head after he had a look, "good news is she looks healthy, but she needs formula and soon or she won't survive."

daryl shook his head, putting his crossbow around his chest, "nope. no way. not her. we ain't losing nobody else. i'm going for a run."

i nodded, placing the baby back against my chest, "i'll back you up"

"i'll go too" glenn added, sending me a worried look before turning back to daryl who started to talk, "you two get the fence. too many pile up, we got ourselves a problem. glenn, carsyn, vamonos!"

i shifted my gaze down to the baby, soon passing her off to carl. my eyes still lingering on her as he stepped away.

"come on, we're gonna lose light"

my eyes finally left the baby as i turned to where daryl was yelling, me and glenn both jogging to meet him.

"there's a piggly wiggly on 85"

i shook my head at glenn, catching up with daryl, "no, the baby sections been cleared. lori asked me to keep an out. i haven't had much luck."

"is there any place that hasn't been completely looted?" daryl asked, causing glenn to nod, "we saw signs for a shopping center just north of here."

chris shook his head, joining us to give me my run pack, "there's too much debris on the road. a car will never get through there."

daryl fixed his vest, glancing between me and glenn, "i can take one of you."