Making their way down a dark hallway, Rick, Daryl, Glenn, Oscar, and Axel lifted their weapons at the sight of two walkers, tearing into a body. Rick fired his gun twice, killing both walkers with gunshots to the head.
The body itself was torn up. Its ribs were out in the open, arms raised helplessly above its head. Upon closer look, the men froze. The body was T-Dog. At least, it used to be.
A little past his feet, next to a door with a puddle of blood, was a scarf. Carol's scarf. The one she wore on her head. Rosie thought it was strange. Now it was just a sign of who they lost. Daryl picked up the scarf, holding it tight in his right hand before shoving it into his pocket.
There were two ways to go at the end of the hallway. You could go right, where the scarf was, or you could go left. Daryl looked down the other hallway. It was dark, but his eyes caught sight of a small glimmer of light. Stepping past Rick, he could see that the glimmer was a knife with light from the door reflecting off of it. The knife was bloodstained and left discarded on the ground. And it was Rosie's knife.
"When I die, will ya make sure I don't turn into one a' them?" Rosie whispered, her voice shaky.
Daryl didn't respond for a moment. He shifted around in his sleeping bag, now lying on his back rather than his side. He stared up at the top of the tent. He didn't want to think about her question and he didn't want to answer her question, but he could feel her eyes on him, just waiting for him to say something.
"Daryl?" Rosie whispered again, pushing for an answer.
He glanced over at her for a second, barely able to make out her sad yet hopeful blue eyes in the darkness of the tent. He sighed and looked back up at the top of the tent. "I'll make sure," he told her, taking on the responsibility of putting her down if- God forbid- the time came she died.
"Promise?"
"Yeah. Promise. Now go ta sleep."
Daryl picked up the knife, staring at it in his hand.
He saw her go with T-Dog and Carol. His eyes couldn't help but stick to her small form when walkers flooded in from the gate, into the basketball courts. He'd watched, heart beating hard in his chest, as she was surprised from behind. He watched as she stuck her knife into the side of that walker's head. He watched T-Dog help her get the knife out of its skull. He watched her stick her knife into the eye of another walker that came up behind her while T-Dog was closing the gate. He watched her jump onto the back of the walker that bit T-Dog before stabbing it in the back of the head. And then he watched her disappear behind a door with Carol and T-Dog.
He didn't watch what happened after she disappeared behind that door. But he could see it now. T-Dog and Carol pulling Rosie through the dark halls. Walkers surrounding them. T-Dog getting torn apart. Carol's scarf falling off as she ran out of ammo, walkers cornering her. Rosie being attacked from behind, dropping her knife before being bitten. Rosie turning into one of them. Rosie stumbling somewhere in these halls, a mindless craving for the flesh of the living being the only thing keeping her on her feet. The promise he made to her being broken.
A hole, four feet and four inches in length, two feet and six inches in width.
Nine years old. So close to ten.
Rosie's grave would be the smallest one yet.
•
Glenn walked through the dark hall with a flashlight in his left hand and a gun in his right. He was in search of Rick. The trail was easy to follow because all he had to do was follow the line of dead walkers sprawled out across the halls- specifically the ones with axe inflicted wounds to the head.
After turning a corner, he could see Rick's silhouette in the corner, axe dangling from his hand, dripping with the blood of all the walkers he killed. His face was blood splattered, along with all of his clothes. He had this look on his face that Glenn had never seen before. It was like he wasn't even there.
"Rick?" Glenn said quietly, approaching the raging widower with caution. Rick took long, heavy breaths. "Everybody's worried about you. You shouldn't be in here. Come on out." Rick turned around to look at Glenn, but he just glared with a dangerous look in his eyes. Slowly, Glenn came even closer. "Rick. You don't have to do this all by yourself. Ok? Our cellblock is cleared. We'll just close off all the doors again. Rick, why don't you just come on out with me? Ok? Rick?"
Glenn reached forward, trying to get Rick's attention, but Rick slammed him up against the wall, his arm against his neck. Glenn held his hands up in surrender, staring at Rick with wide eyes. "It's me," Glenn said softly, trying to get Rick to calm down. After a few more moments of uncertainty, Rick grabbed hold of him and threw him across the hall, making him stumble to his feet.
Without another word, Rick walked off down the hallway, leaving Glenn confused and concerned. There was absolutely no way he was trying that again. At least, not yet. Rick needed more time, that much was clear.
So, Glenn turned around, catching his breath as he went back the way he came. As he was walking down a dark hallway, he froze. A loud scraping noise reached his ears. It sounded like someone was scraping something against the cement flooring.
"Hello?" he said, trying to keep his voice quiet enough that it wouldn't attract any walkers that might still be roaming the halls while still trying to be loud enough for whoever that was to hear him.
"Glenn?" a small, shaky voice replied. Glenn's head quickly turned to the direction the voice came from. There was a big door in the darkness. Someone started pulling it open and Glenn rushed over, helping them out. On the other side of the door, in a relatively dark room, was Rosie. Her eyes were glassy and her cheeks were red from crying.
Without a moment of hesitation Glenn lurched forward, wrapping his arms around the small girl. "Oh my God, Rosie. We thought..." he breathed out, holding one hand on the back of her head as the other was wrapped around her torso.
"There were walkers," Rosie said, breathing heavily. "But I heard yellin' and then it sounded like they were gone."
"Yeah, Rick... Rick's been clearing them," Glenn said, pulling away from Rosie. He stood up and took hold of her hand, which Rosie thought was strange. Usually, whenever someone wanted her to come with them, they'd hold onto her arm or push her along from her back, but no one ever really held her hand before. It was comforting, in a way. "Come on, let's get you back to the cellblock," Glenn said.
When they got back to the cellblock, Rosie was confused. There was a loud wailing noise, but it didn't sound like anyone she knew. When she walked into the room with Glenn, she saw Carl sitting at a table with a baby in his arms.
"Rosie!" Beth shot out of her seat at the sight of the girl, coming over to give her a quick hug. "Thank God, you're ok!"
"Where was she?" Hershel asked, smiling a little from his spot next to Carl.
"Stuck in some room. I found her when I was looking for Rick," Glenn said, leading Rosie into the room. She sat down next to Carl, but he was much to preoccupied with the baby to say anything to her.
Looking around the room, Rosie noticed several people's absences. For one, T-Dog was missing, but she knew what happened to him. Carol was gone too. Rick was gone, but Glenn said he was out clearing walkers. Lori wasn't there, but her baby was.... Maggie... and Daryl.
"Where's... where's-" Rosie began to ask, her voice shaky and panicked.
"Maggie and Daryl went out on a run for baby formula. They should be back soon," Glenn said quickly. Rosie frowned. She was happy and relieved that they were alive, but she wanted Daryl to be there. She wanted him there now. She wanted to... she didn't know what she wanted to do. She just wanted him. "I have to go to the gate. I'll be back when they get here," Glenn said before leaving.
Rosie looked down at her boots, feeling a lump in her throat. Seeing that Glenn only mentioned where Daryl and Maggie were, she could only assume that that meant Lori and Carol were gone too. She looked over at Carl for a moment. He had a blank look on his face as he stared down at the baby in his arms. The baby was wrapped in a blue and white checkered flannel. Lori's flannel.
Why is Lori's baby here, but Lori isn't?
Rosie's heart started beating hard again and tears burned in her eyes. She didn't want anyone to see her cry, but she could feel it. So, she stood up and hurried up the steep, metal stairs. She could feel Hershel and Beth staring at her as she left, but she didn't care. She hid herself in her cell, climbing up to the top bunk and staying there with her velociraptor in hand.
•
Daryl and Maggie hurried into the cellblock, the sound of the baby crying rushing them even more. Daryl took his poncho off as he stepped down the cement stairs. Gently and carefully, Daryl took the baby from Carl's arms as Carl apologized to her repeatedly.
Standing up with the baby, Daryl rocked from side to side. Beth handed him a bottle and he carefully stuck it in the baby's mouth, whispering gentle words to her to calm her crying. The moment the formula reached the baby's mouth, she quieted down. The only sound was her quiet breathing as she drank the formula.
Rosie sat on the second floor, her knees curled up to her chest as she watched, remaining unseen. Daryl smiled down at the baby in his arms.
"She got a name yet?" Daryl asked, looking to Carl for an answer.
"Not yet," Carl replied. He sighed a little before continuing. "I was thinkin' maybe Sophia. Then there's Carol, too. And... Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or... Lori. I don't know."
Daryl stared at the boy for a moment, taking notice of the fact that Rosie wasn't on his list of names. He bit down on his lip at the thought of the blonde girl, and turned his attention back to the baby instead. "Yeah... you like that? Huh? Little ass-kicker," he said softly. He looked around at everyone, smiling a little. They all chuckled a little. "Right? That's a good name, right? Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?"
Rosie stared down at them, wondering what it was like when she was that small. Did David ever hold her and smile at her like that? It was hard to imagine it; her father with a loving look in his eyes, talking softly down at a small baby in his arms. What about Fraser? Was he as happy as Carl was to have a little sister? Did everyone gather around and look at her like she was magic? What about her mom? Where was she?
From his spot next to Maggie, Glenn glanced up, his eyes catching on Rosie. Seeing Glenn looking at her, Rosie quietly retreated back to her cell and climbed back up to the top bunk. She felt embarrassed, for having been crying and for watching them from afar.
Glenn cleared his throat a little. "Uh, Daryl and Maggie," he said, feeling a little guilty that this wasn't the first thing he thought to do when he saw the two. "Come with me."
Carefully as ever, Daryl gently placed the baby back into Carl's arms, letting the boy feed his baby sister. "You got her?" Daryl asked. Carl nodded, smiling a little as he stared down at his sister.
Maggie and Daryl followed Glenn up the stairs, both a little confused, but not asking any questions. They became even more confused, and even a little bit sad, when Glenn stopped at Rosie's chosen cell. He leaned in the doorway. "Rosie," Glenn said into the cell. Daryl furrowed his eyebrows with confusion, but then froze for a moment when Rosie sat up and turned to look into the doorway, revealing herself on the top bunk.
"Oh my God," Maggie breathed out as she and Daryl rushed into the cell.
Daryl was the first to get to her, reaching his arms up and pulling her down from the top bunk. Rosie thought he'd set her down and ruffle her hair a little, but he didn't. He held onto her for a moment, the same way Glenn had, except that Daryl was holding her off of the ground. Rosie leaned her head against his shoulder, trying to hide her face so that they wouldn't see she'd been crying before.
After a few moments, Daryl passed Rosie off to Maggie, who set her down on the ground before hugging her. Usually, Rosie wouldn't like all of this hugging, but this time, she liked it lots. She didn't know why, but it made her feel safer.
"She was hiding in some room and couldn't get out until the walkers were gone. I went looking for Rick, tried getting him to come back here, but he wouldn't. Then I found her," Glenn explained, putting his hand on Maggie's back when she stood back up to her full height.
"What happened?" Maggie asked, holding her hand over her heart.
"T-Dog saved me," Rosie said, pulling at the hem of her shirt. Daryl pulled Rosie's knife off of his belt and stuck it into the empty sheath on her belt. He didn't know why he chose to keep it with him, but he did. He was happier with it being on Rosie's belt, though.
As Maggie and Glenn left the cell, Rosie and Daryl following behind, Daryl put his hand on Rosie's head and pulled her into his side again. He didn't understand what changed in him to make him care so much about the girl. Not even a year ago, he'd been planning to rob that camp with his brother. And now he was feeling more relief than he had ever felt before at the realization that this kid, who wasn't even his, was still alive. It was like his heart was torn out of his chest when Merle disappeared off of that roof, and it was replaced by a new one when he found Rosie in Merle's place.
He used to push it away. On the road, Rosie would be acting weird and he'd get frustrated at himself for even caring, reminding himself that she was just some kid, but he was wrong. She wasn't just some kid anymore.
So, Daryl decided that there wasn't any use pushing her away. He cared about her and there was no changing that. He didn't understand it, but that didn't matter because it was what it was. There was no fighting against it. They needed each other.
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Guys are you proud of me for the title??? It's a new heart because Judith being born and all, but also because of the analogy (?) about Daryl's heart. Get it? Get it? Yeaaaah
Also two chapters in one day!!1!!1