Hello all, new author here speaking. If you haven't seen Indi's message board in a while, then you probably don't know that she has in fact left Wattpad. I'm honored that she asked me to take her place and try as best I can to finish this story, especially since it's been one of my favorite's for the past year and a half on Wattpad.
Judging from what she messaged me though, there is still alot left to tell for Daryl and Karolina. And also, as per Indi's request, I went back and edited all the spelling/grammar mistakes I could find in previous chapters.
So here goes, and I hope you enjoy.
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"To your left," Daryl whispered behind me. I averted my eyes from the corridor in front of me, to the half-ajar door to my left, and surely enough, a walker was stumbling through in our direction.
I raised my katana, ready to end it, but an arrow flew straight into its head. I nodded my thanks to Daryl and kept moving silently. The smell of walker intestines that was hanging from both Daryl's body and mine was revolting, the rotten fumes clouding in my nasal cavity, but so far, it was working. We had bagged the biter as soon as we left the security room, lucky enough to hack it into pieces before a giant group rounded the corner. No one we had seen since had given us any trouble, and Daryl was quick to send an arrow their way before they could get too close.
The winding maze of hallways was hard to navigate; one wrong turn and you could end up on a completely different path than the one you intended. Right now, we were following the signs that led to the maternity ward, trying to stay on track and avoid as many walkers as possible, not an easy feat when the entire hospital was littered with the things. In all honesty, I was a little skeptical as to whether we would even make it in time, after all that door looked just about ready to burst. But with the haunting memory of my mother and brother still swimming behind my eyes, I pushed on at a faster pace, hoping to God it wasn't too late.
"Kara, you hear that?" Daryl sounded from behind me. I paused and tried to listen, but all I could hear was the all too familiar sound of walkers groaning coming from the distance. It had been growing louder and louder the further we went, and I had my sword ready to swing, thinking surely the source of the sound must be getting closer, but in fact, we hadn't come across any walkers for a while now...
"What am I supposed to be listening for?" I asked.
Daryl simply pointed towards a sign to my right that read 'Maternity Wing', and ah, bingo. The sound was obviously all the commotion coming from the birthing room.
I turned back to Daryl, and despite the revolting stench surrounding the air between us, we leaned in for what would hopefully not end up being our final kiss.
"Love you, Kid." He said once we pulled away.
"You too, you redneck bastard," I replied with a smirk.
We rounded the final corner, the scene looking very familiar after the hours spent looking at it through the haze of the computer monitor.
The situation had grown worse, if possible; there was such a mountain of walkers trying to push their way through that it was impossible to squeeze in past them. Our original plan was to get down here, and sneak into the room next to them. From there, I could axe my way through the wall and into their room and save their arses. Apparently, though, fate had other plans. We could try to shimmy our way through the large group, but if something went wrong right in the middle, well, basically, we would be fucked.
"What now?" I mouthed to Daryl.
He just shrugged, "I guess now, we go have ourselves a walker slaughter fest."
I grinned back wickedly, raising my katana and stepping in sync with Daryl as we made a beeline for the back of the pack.
Thanks to our camouflage, we had the advantage of a surprise attack; I began hacking at neck height, admiring the sharpness of my blade as it took two heads clean off in one blow, while Daryl opted for his knife, and began going behind the group and jamming his blade into the back of their heads. Due to our swift and silent attacks, bodies were quickly beginning to line the floor, collapsing one on top of the other in a neat, orderly fashion. If I hadn't been so invested in killing the damned things, I more than likely would have stopped to take count of how many we'd just butchered. Purely for bragging rights later on once we caught up with Glenn and the rest of the group.
"Hey, Kara," Daryl whistled, drawing my attention back over to him.
"What now?" I hissed through clenched teeth. While Daryl took his sweet time waiting to respond, I wiped my hands across the hem of my ratty tee shirt and reached behind my back for the filthy katana holster, quickly sheathing the destructive weapon. When Daryl still didn't answer my question, I looked up to find him eyeing over me, the corners of his lips turned up in a devious smirk. "What the hell are you smirking at?"
"It's nothin'. Don't worry about it, none." With that said he shouldered his crossbow and tugged open the neighboring hospital room door, slipping through without a sound. I shuffled closer a few paces only to hear the sickening thud of a body hitting the floor, ringing around my head and the abandoned hallway in sickening echo. Daryl reappeared, unharmed, with an all too eager expression. He kindly held the door open for me to walk through before allowing it to slam shut, shoving one of the multiple chairs scattered around the room under the doorknob.
Upon entering, the darkness surrounded me like a thick blanket, leaving me a bit more than terrified of what could still be wandering around in the shadows. But as my vision began to adjust to the gloom, I could make out only a single body sprawled across the middle of the room, arms and legs akimbo while the head remained bashed in with dark entrails spilling onto the white linoleum floor.
At least that explained the noise no less than five minutes ago after Daryl rushed in to play hero.
"God...I may be used to killing these things but I'll never grow to enjoy the smell." I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose with two fingers.
"I hear ya." Daryl answered. I could almost see the grimace on his face through the dimness.
Twirling the grip of my axe around in my palm, I anxiously made a mad dash for the wall opposite me and ran a hand along the peeling wallpaper. I still couldn't be completely sure what kind of room this used to be, though the options couldn't be too vast since it was located in the maternity ward. The faint outline of a poorly drawn stick figure etched into the divider somewhat answered my questions, but not much.
"Seems like this used to be a kid's room of sorts." I whispered, continuing to examine the link of connected stick figure drawings.
"Seems that creep had some ideas of his own then, bein' in here." Daryl scoffed.
"I really hope nobody was in here, if that's the case." Ignoring the sudden bout of anger rising in my throat, I moseyed around the room in a lazy fashion, stopping only to inspect messages scrolled in blood, chalk, and other random liquids along the wall. Most of them ordered to turn around and go back. Some were personal messages, begging family members to stay safe and find a way back to Florida. It all was too overwhelming to see. I pressed my back against the wall and slid to the floor, holding my head in my hands.
Hospitals were supposed to be a place where good memories happened. Babies used to be born here and sometimes, diseases cured. Now it was just a place known to be a death trap: multiple ways in with no way out.
How long had it been even since a child set foot in this hospital, excited to see his mother with a brand new brother or sister in her arms? How long had it been since a father walked in behind that child, eager to see his wife beaming with pride?
How long had it been since anything good happened in this world?
There was no telling how long the remaining population had been running from these cannibalistic monsters, and only time could tell how much longer we'd continue to be running from them.
Out there, somewhere on this planet, were my mother and brother running from the exact same creatures. And even if they were starving, hidden in some burned down shack halfway across the country, were they still thinking about me as I did them? Were they still thinking about how I was doing, forming some kind of plan to try to find me again?
Daryl seemed to catch a hold of my silence and rushed over, pulling me up from the ground and engulfing my small frame in a tight hug. "Don't cry, Kara. We're so close," He loosened his grip for a second to reach a hand around my chin and tilt it up at him. Even though it was hard to make out his facial expression, it was obvious he had some kind of goofy smile on to cheer me up. "Lori is just on the other side of this wall. Then we'll be on our way out of this fuckin' hospital and back on the road."
"With a baby now added in the mix. Sounds like a great plan." I wiped the back of my hand across any loose tears that managed to escape during my 'episode' and tightened a death grip around the axe in hand, ready to destroy a wall and ready to release a few of the bent up memories clouding my vision.
The thick blade slammed into the wall, lodging deep inside the plaster and making it much harder than expected to tug the weapon back out. After a few more good hits on the damaged barrier, Daryl walked away to check on the door we entered through. A few casual groans seeped in from outside but it didn't matter much at this point. The pile of walker bodies we left behind would surely mask any living person's scene, leaving the dead to amble right on past a good meal.
"It's a bad idea," I murmured, bringing the axe back down to connect with the wall. "Bringing a baby along with us, wherever the hell it is we're going, will only end with one of us dying."
"I agree, Kara, I really do. But that isn't your choice to make. It ain't your child." Daryl responded in a hushed tone. "Why is it botherin' you so much?"
"Because I don't want death to become something we're all so used to! Have you already forgotten Carol? Charlotte is a big deal in my life now and I can't lose her. As hard-headed as Rick is, I would never want to lose him, either!" I raised the axe back above my head for another swing. "And I can't bear the thought of losing you either."
Through all the commotion, a few shouts of horror from the adjoining room sounded out, interrupting Daryl's chance of answering.
"Whoa, shit! Are they breaking through the wall?" Rick screamed.
"Can walkers even do something like that?" Carl asked, his voice raising a few octaves from the thought.
"Not that I know of..." Rick murmured.
Another bout of screams burst through the silence, followed by Andrea's voice trying as best she could to soothe Lori from her state of pain.
It's now or never, Kara.
Raising the axe for what might be the last time, I snuck a quick glimpse over my shoulder to where Daryl stood, inhaled a deep breath, and hoped that Rick wasn't anywhere near the wall on the other side.
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Good enough for right now?
Hopefully you guys liked my writing and I promise it won't be too long a wait for the next chapter!