Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 17 (Could Never Be Me)

"Nothin' about what Daryl found is screaming 'Sophia' to me," Shane stated. "Anyone coulda' been holed up in that house."

"But anyone includes her, right?" CJ replied.

"Well, whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than this one," Daryl spoke up, pointing at CJ from across the car hood.

"I'm not that short, thank you, Hawkeye," she shot back defensively. Daryl hid a smirk and looked back down at the map. Glenn sniggered from behind CJ and she turned around and slapped the front of his cap so it hid his eyes.

"Good lead, Daryl," Andrea said.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again," Rick added.

"No maybe about it," Daryl responded. "Imma' borrow a horse, head up to this ridge, get a birds-eye-view of the grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her."

"Maybe you'll see your Chupacabra up there too," T-Dog remarked.

"Chupacabra?" Rick asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Aye, Jesus," CJ chuckled. "You never heard this?"

Dale told the story; "His and Merle's first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting and saw a Chupacabra."

Jimmy let out a small laugh which made Daryl look up to face him. "What you braying at, jackass?"

"You believe in a blood-sucking dog?" Jimmy scoffed.

"You believe in dead people walking around?" Daryl shot back.

CJ looked away to hid a smile at Daryl's response. Jimmy went to reach for a shotgun on the car and she stopped him. "Whoa, hey. You ever fire one before?"

"Well, if I'm going out there I want one," he replied.

"Yeah, people in hell want slurpees," Daryl muttered, hoisting his crossbow over his shoulder and walking away.

Everyone turned their attention back to Rick as he continued to go over the plan.

A couple of hours later, CJ was helping Carol with laundry. She pegged her vest jacket to the clothes line to dry. She had surprisingly managed to get out all of the blood stains, with help from Carol who, for some reason, kept apologising to CJ for what happened to her. She felt guilty that she had got hurt looking for Sophia, but CJ kept reassuring her that she was fine and would do it again if it meant helping her child, something she would always do.

As CJ was walking over to her tent with a small pile of dry clothes, she spotted Lori running behind the house out of sight with her hand over her mouth. CJ quickly chucked the clothes into the tent and followed Lori to find her hunched over, throwing up in the grass by the wall.

"Lori? Are you okay?" CJ asked gently as she knelt down opposite Lori on the ground. "Are you sick?"

Lori coughed once more and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before looking up at CJ. "Umm, n-no. No, I'm not sick," she replied barely above a whisper as her eyes became tearful.

"Okay, so what's up with you?" CJ questioned, matching Lori's quiet tone.

"I... I'm uh..." Lori stuttered as her tears started to fall.

"Hey," CJ said calmly, putting her hand on Lori's. "You can talk to me y'know."

Lori hesitated for a moment before answering. "I'm... I'm pregnant," she breathed, looking down at the ground.

CJ's eyes widened slightly as she remained silent for a moment to process what Lori had told her. She was going to have a baby. The world being what it was now, CJ understood why Lori wasn't exactly jumping for joy over it. This was another thing the dead took from people. The living are too afraid to actually live.

After a minute or so, CJ spoke up. "Lori, look at me."

Lori lifted her head to look at CJ in the eyes. "I can't have a baby. Not in this world," she whispered, holding back a sob.

"Does Rick know?" CJ asked.

"No. No. I can't even begin to tell him..." Lori replied, shaking her head.

CJ sighed a bit. "Because of Shane?"

Lori looked at her with a shocked expression. "Was it that obvious?" she asked quietly, looking around to make sure no one could see them.

"No, I don't think anyone knew," CJ assured her. "Well, maybe Dale. But he knows everything. He's like the Watcher." Lori gave her a confused look. "You know, the Watcher? Like in the comics-doesn't matter," CJ rambled and cleared her throat. "What do you wanna do?" she asked.

"I honestly do not know," Lori answered bluntly. "What would you do? If it were you?"

"Lori, it isn't me," CJ said softly, tilting her head. "It never could be."

"Right," Lori sighed. "Because you'd never be so stupid as to get knocked up at the end of the world."

"No," CJ responded firmly. "Because I could never get knocked up anyway. Apocalypse or otherwise," she said with a straight face.

"Wait, what?" Lori asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah, uh...hah," CJ sighed, feeling herself get upset. "Car crash. Years ago, some drunk driver son-of-a-bitch. Long story short, irreversible internal damage, a buncha' medical crap I don't understand but yeah. Can't happen for me," she explained, pursing her lips in sad smile as a tear escaped her.

"Oh, CJ. I'm sorry," Lori said, taking CJ's other hand in hers.

CJ quickly shook her head. "No, no don't be," she whispered. "Look, my point is, if it were me, I'd be just as scared as you are now. I'd be worried to fuck about the kind of life it would have, the kind of world it would group up in, all of that..."

Lori narrowed her eyes at CJ's pause. "But..."

CJ sighed with a small smile. "But... I'd also consider the good things that it could bring. I mean, look around you. You have so many people around to help you. You have Rick. Carl would be an awesome big brother," she went on as Lori let out a small, quiet chuckle, letting go of one of CJ's hands to wipe away a few tears. "You just... you gotta look at both sides."

"I uh... I asked Glenn to get... to get pills... from the pharmacy," Lori said. "That's why he went back today."

"Okay," CJ replied with a nod, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Okay?" Lori repeated, slightly take aback. "You're not gonna try and talk me out of it? Even after everything you just said?"

"No. Lori it's your body. Your life. If you believe that that's the best option, I'm not gonna stop you. You gotta do what you gotta do," CJ explained. "Although, if you were hoping I would try to talk you out of it, you might wanna think about what you really want before making a choice," CJ added.

Lori nodded and more tears fell. "Thank you," she snivelled as CJ brought her into a tight hug.

"You know..." CJ whispered as she held onto Lori, who hummed in response. "Clara and Jane. Both very good girl names," Lori chuckled quietly as she pulled away from CJ. "It's gonna be okay, Lori."

*****

A/N: oooooo Judith has entered the building :D