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CHAPTER SEVEN,
broken pieces.
━━━━
Has there ever been a moment in your life where you wished you could rewind time? A moment where you wished you could press the restart button as you would on a video game after a huge mistake and go back, even if it was just a few seconds before? Nicole had only felt that three times in her life: when she slipped under Dylan’s manipulation, losing Cheyanne, and cutting open her best friend. No one with a sane mind would’ve believed that the slim woman would have been able to do such a bloody thing; hell, most people probably expected her to die in the first few months of the apocalypse. She knew she did.
Everything blurred together with tears and heartache as the final tears trailed down Nicole's cheeks. Daryl held her close, allowing her his rare public comfort. Eventually, Nicole pulled away and watched as a numb Rick did nothing but stare forward into the emotional emptiness of losing a loved one. Nicole understood that, and she felt that, but she tried her hardest to keep those emotions suppressed. Over the months, Nicole learned how to compartmentalize her emotions. That was part of the reason why her nightmares led to panic attacks and, sometimes, to her fearing sleep. She held in so much emotion, and losing Lori was the final straw. It took slicing open her best friend to bring forward the months of subdued tears.
Nicole avoided the watchful, obsessive eyes of the man she loathed as she gently passed the baby to her former student. The baby cried as she did so; Nicole cringed at the sound. She knew it was just born - in a brutal way - but it made a lot of noise. Quick and quiet, that was how Nicole moved throughout anything. Loud noises made her anxiety skyrocket; the newborn’s wails were no different. “What are we going to feed it?” Daryl’s voice pulled her from her shaky thoughts. “We got anything a baby can eat?”
“The good news is she looks healthy,” Hershel announced to the group. Nicole crossed her bloody arms across her chest, ignoring Dylan’s harsh stares as she got closer to her promise. “But she needs formula and soon or she won’t survive.”
Daryl instantly shot down the idea of not only losing another member of the group, but also a new beacon of hope in the perilous world they lived in. The group had already lost its innocence when Cheyanne went missing; this baby was a fresh start. “I’m goin’ for a run.”
“I’m coming too,” Nicole shot out with tears in her throat as she turned and moved to Daryl’s side.
Glenn instantly shook his head, “Nikki, let someone else go.” Nicole met his brown eyes with sadness. “You should stay here and rest.”
Nicole shook her head, “I can’t, Glenn.” Nicole thought back to the painful last words of her best friend. “I have to go for Lori. I promised.”
