Jinx || Daryl Dixon || The Walking Dead Fanfic

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JINX

It was dark by the time they got back, and Oscar let them in with the help of Glenn in the tower and Axel distracting the walkers. Judith was crying as they ran into the cell block and Jinx ran straight to Maggie and Beth, tipping everything she'd found out onto one of the tables. Beth quickly made up the formula and took it over to the baby.

When Jinx turned around, she was surprised to see that Daryl was the one holding her. "Shh, c'mon, c'mon." he muttered softly as he encouraged the little girl to take the bottle, smiling up at them with the proudest expression Jinx had ever seen him wear and she finally latched onto the milk substitute. "She got a name yet?" he asked Carl.

"Not yet. But I was thinking maybe Sophia." He paused, "Then there's Carol too. And Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Patricia or... Lori, I don't know." He looked down and Jinx rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, you like that? Huh?" Daryl spoke softly to the baby, "Little Ass-Kicker", he looked around at everyone with an expectant smile on his face, "Right? That's a good name, right?" getting a laugh from everyone. He looked back down at the baby again, "Little Ass-Kicker. You like that, huh? You like that sweetheart?" He started bouncing the baby slightly as he rocked back and forth and Jinx couldn't take her eyes off him, thinking to herself that he, in this moment, was possibly the most adorable thing she'd ever seen.

She and Daryl both slept in her cell that night instead of on the perch, it gave them a little more privacy, if a little less space. They were both asleep almost before their heads hit the pillow, but just as she drifted off, she felt Daryl wrap his arm around her and press his lips to the back of her head.

___

The next morning, they both woke up earlier than the others, Jinx went to sit outside, and Daryl walked off towards the field. She asked if he wanted company, but he just shook his head, so she gave him a hug and let him go. She knew he was going down to visit the graves that had been dug the day before and secretly she was grateful he didn't want her with him as she wasn't ready to go there yet. She wasn't unfamiliar with loss, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to feel it yet, there was too much else to do.

She twisted her hair up into a bun and stared out at the sunrise, trying to pretend the world wasn't full of reanimated corpses for a little while and the memory of mornings sitting in her little garden with coffee and a cigarette made her feel nostalgic. She looked over at Daryl's figure in the distance and for the first and possibly only time, found herself grateful for the end of the world.

___

It had been a few days since the baby had been born, she still didn't have a name, so Daryl had added the nickname Lil' Ass Kicker to the makeshift bassinet Beth had made for her. Rick had pretty much disappeared, they all knew he was down in the tombs killing walkers, but there was nothing they could do, he'd shut down without Lori.

It had raised a few eyebrows when Daryl had moved his stuff from the perch into Jinx's cell, but no one said anything, they were both private people and the group knew neither of them would say anything until they were ready anyway.

While they were eating breakfast, Rick came back to check on the group, asking if everyone had a gun and a knife, Daryl confirmed, but pointed out that they were running low on ammo. Glenn piped up that he and Maggie were planning to make a run that afternoon as they'd found a phone book and there were a few places they could hit to look for bullets and more formula. Jinx offered to join them, she wanted to get out from the concrete walls of the prison and make herself useful.

They'd cleared out the boiler room the day before, Daryl told Rick about it and mentioned that Axel was down there trying to fix the generators. The next plan was to sweep the lower levels as well.