CHAPTER FORTY FIVE,
echoes
THE NEWBORNS CRIES bounced off the concrete walls of the darkened prison as echoes. It was simple reminder that a life had been born even if it was almost nonexistent in the world they lived in.
After Samantha has been taken care of and all that commotion of her surprise arrival calmed down, Daryl Dixon stepped into the cafeteria with his eyes on the little Grimes.
"How is she?" Carl asked, cradling his baby sister in his arms like a good older brother.
"She's restin',"' Daryl waved it off despite his mind lingering on the green eyed beauty, slowly grasping onto the situation that she had finally been found. "Lemme see that."
He grabbed the bottle out of Beth Greene's hands and took the baby into his arms with a twitch of a soft smile slowly coming onto his lips. Glenn Rhee had entered the room with the convicts Oscar and Axel at his sides.
"Was Nathan with her?" Glenn asked, concerned for his old friend.
Daryl shrugged and the baby's hungry wails ceased, everyone letting out breaths of relief at the welcoming silence. The redneck gazed around the room, the tiny life form feeling soft in his arms.
"She got a name yet?" He inquired, his eyes going to Carl.
"Not yet," The little sheriff stated. "At first I wanted to name her Sammy, but then we found her," His eyes seemed to brighten at that sentence, content with the fact that his godmother was alive, and maybe when his dad sees her he will too.
"Go on." Daryl encouraged.
"There's Sophia. Then there's Carol too. And...Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Patricia, or Lori," His voice began to go quiet, frowning. "I don't know."
Daryl grinned down at the baby, indulging into his own little ideas. "You like that, huh? Little Ass-Kicker." He teased, laughter lighting up the room and making it seem a little less dark.
The redneck noticed some details about the baby's appearance that revealed her heritage. She had the late Lori Grimes in her features, but there was no hint of Rick whatsoever. There was however, the color of those dark eyes that Daryl remembers seeing eight months before.
The baby's lips twitched around the bottle, her mouths forming in what seemed to be a small toothless smile. He has seen this smile before, it bringing a familiarity upon his chest.
Daryl realized that smile belonged to not Lori or Shane, but that of Samantha Walsh.
Maggie came in and Glenn immediately went to her side, smiling at her adoringly. Hershel Greene was behind her with crutches, his nub of a leg hanging. There was blood staining his white shirt, but nobody seemed to notice at first. They were too busy trying to not take advantage of this innocent moment.
"How's Rick?" Maggie asked.
Her father turned to her. "We haven't seemed him since he went to the tombs." He explained, sitting down tiredly.
"Does he know about Sam?" Glenn was the next to speak.
A frown twitched in Hershel's beard. "No, not yet."
Everyone that was at the farm and had reunited with one another on the highway knew what went down with Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh. They all seemed to share glances, knowing that the young woman who they found after eight long months's brother was dead, and it was because of the same man that led them through the winter.
They've seen Samantha's temper so they knew whatever was going to happen, she wouldn't take it so lightly that her brother had been killed by someone that the Walsh's were practically family to.
Hershel shifted to look at Carl, ending the tense silence. "Take your sister to your cell, please."
The boy nodded before delicately taking her baby sister from Daryl's arms, making his exit.
The whole group waited for Carl's departure before looking at one another with knowing eyes. Hershel was still frowning, his forehead shiny from the sweat and the blood on his clothes uncomfortable. "We need to talk about what happens when she's wake up." The farmer announced.
"We need to tell Rick before she does," Maggie spoke up next, her body leaning against her lover.
"She ain't gonna kill 'em," Daryl scoffed. "Rick had to do what he needed to do, and if she's smart she'll understand that."
"Losing a family member to someone you trust never has a good ending," Hershel's old, wise eyes gazed at the Dixon. "We know that her and Shane share similarities when it comes to their tempers."
"She ain't like Shane." Daryl grunted, his eyes rolling as he swiped his thumb on his bottom lip.
"We haven't seen her in months, we don't know if she's the same Sammy we know from the farm," Glenn had a deep frown. "She's my friend, but what's probably going to happen is going to suck."
"So, we don't tell her."
Daryl was in instant disagreement. "Nah, I got the truth about Merle, she deserves 'er truth too," He knew what it felt like. Both and Samantha's brothers were screwed by Rick, yet they also shared the rooted reasons that justified the cop's actions. "She'll probably just act like I did."
His words brought more silence to the survivors, contemplating how to handle the situation. The possible outcome was a weight over their shoulders that made it tense it lift up.
"Daryl, we understand but-"
"She ain't gonna kill anyone." Daryl snapped, throwing his crossbow over his shoulder and stepping out of the cafeteria.
He made it back to his cell block and heard the soft gurgles of the newborn, and he passed by and caught a glimpse of Carl smiling down at his baby sister. For a moment, Daryl remembered what he had said to the young boy about him being a good older brother, and if he didn't truly believe it then he did now.
He found himself stopping near the cell where Hershel told her to put her. There was bloody rags near the ancient looking beds, a pair of tweezers above them.
Daryl could see her.
Maggie was kind enough to lend Samantha one of her oversized shirts for when Hershel was done with his procedure to get the bullet out. It was long enough to a little above the knee, exposing her olive legs that was littered with flaws of the world's beatings to her.
She was unmoving, but her chest heaved up and down slowly. Daryl stood in the cell with curiosity, eying the many bruises along her face that paired with cuts. He didn't like looking at her swollen eye for long, the thing about her that he tried to ignore the most.
Daryl was gentle when he removed some hair from her face, his lips tight and his breathing slow.
He peered closer at her and that's when he saw them. Being very careful, the redneck moved his hand and grabbed her leg, shifting it to look at the sides.
Daryl hesitated, narrowing his eyes at the reddish yellowish bruises that stemmed from her inner thighs, and as he kept following the trail they kept going more upward and upward-
"Daryl,"
The redneck recoiled, turning to the entrance and saw Hershel standing there. He noticed the blood again, Samantha's blood.
"I managed to remove the bullet. Thankfully it didn't end up like Carl's case."
A small smile lifted his lips, but Daryl didn't return it. He kept looking at Samantha'a form, trying to make out the stories hidden behind all the bruises and cuts.
"Do you know what happened?" He asked.
He heard the elder sigh. "Besides the dehydration and the wound, no clue on the whole story," Hershel's expression went solemn. "There's something else you should know,"
It was silent for a moment, anticipation flipping Daryl's stomach.
"Something did happened, and it wasn't just the bullet," Hershel began. "Something...traumatic happened to her."
The hunter's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
Hershel stared at him for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out a way to approach his next sentence.
"I think you just saw them."
Daryl was even more confused, glancing back at Samantha and everything about her. When he looked back at the old vet, there was a peculiar expression contorting his wrinkly features.
A thought passed through his comprehension and he felt sick, but with that sickness a seething anger became alive in his chest.
That couldn't have happened to her. Samantha was too strong for something...like that.
"Whatever happens when she wakes up, wondering where her brother is, it's not going to be pretty," Hershel continued. "You need to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."
"I ain't her keeper."
"No," Hershel agreed softly. "But you do care about her, and you care about Rick. You wouldn't want anything terrible to happen to either of them."
Daryl was silent, the older man's words bouncing around his skull and mixing with his lingering thoughts of Samantha. Hershel was right.
The hunter has seen how Samantha has acted when anyone goes against her brother through his own. Merle ended up with a bloody nose, and that night when they found Randall and the answer was as obvious as ever - she still refused to believe it because it involved Shane.
Where there's Shane, there's always Samantha.
But he's not here anymore, now there's only one.
━━━━━
The only sound in the room was spoons clashing against bowls as the survivors ate. Breakfast was quiet, going back in forth in the past and the present, sometimes even in the future. The day before had been stressful, and the peace they had was a thing to behold.
"Everything okay?"
The survivors paused, lifting their heads and looking over their shoulders to look at Rick Grimes.
"Yeah, we are."
Rick entered the room with all eyes watching his movements expectingly, especially the similar blue ones of his son. They were all taking in his clean appearance, remembering how he looked the last time they saw him.
"What about you?" Hershel inquired.
"I cleared out the boiler block."
Daryl was eying his partner. "How many were there?"
Rick glanced at him. "I don't know. A dozen - two dozen," He paused, his gaze dropping to look at his son. "I have to get back. I just wanted to check on Carl."
Glenn stood up from the metal table, Maggie Greene not seen next to him. "We can handle taking out the bodies. You don't have to-"
"No, I do," Rick interjected firmly. He looked at the hunter and went over to him. "Everyone have a gun and a knife?"
"Yeah, but we're runnin' low on ammo." Daryl said, his hand gripping the red spoon.
"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon," Glenn voiced, Rick glancing at him. "Found a phone book with some places we can hit, looking for bullets and formula."
"We cleared out the generator room," Daryl added. "Axel's there tryin' to fix it, in case of an emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well."
"Good. Good." Rick was beginning to hurry away but Hershel was quicker with his voice.
"Samantha's alive."
His words made the leader pause, his back facing them and tensed up. The group was watching him, waiting for some kind of reaction.
"Maggie and me found 'er on a run yesterday," Daryl broke the silence. "Looked pretty busted up, was shot."
Rick turned back, and the redneck could make out relief swirling in his cloudy eyes, but there was a hint of guilt and foreboding there too. The cop knew what he had done. He had killed his best friend with his own hands, and it had been Samantha's brother - her only living blood.
"But is she okay?" Came his voice, which was a lot more quieter and softer than it was before.
Hershel heaved a sigh. "She's fine, but we need to talk about what happens when she wakes up, Rick."
Their leader was silent, face hard and his eyes shifting to the ground with his jaw being clenched. "I gotta get back."
He turned back around and walked away, Hershel's calling to him but he was only met with echos of his own voice. Once Rick left the room, Daryl could make out the sadness and concern etched on the elder's face.
"Maybe me and Maggie should head out." Glenn said after a few moments, frowning.
"She's cleaning Sam up right now," Hershel informed. "She should be wrapping up."
The Korean nodded. "I'll go let her know."
Glenn turned around and was at the entrance to the other cell block when he paused, staring at something straight ahead. Everyone watched him, confused.
Daryl's brows furrowed and he followed Glenn's gaze.
That's when he saw it too, the sight of it all making his heart flutter.
"Someone go get Rick. Now."
━━━━━
"Hey,"
Samantha's eyes were wide when she woke up, jolting awake. She darted around, untangling herself from the sheets and finally finding the source of the voice.
The Governor stood before her with a smile.
Fear sprung to her heart and she let out out a gasp, falling from the bed and her body hitting the concrete ground. The Governor frowned, bending down and Samantha backed away even more, the wall cold against her back and her eyes glistened with hot tears.
She clenched her eyes shut, hoping that he wasn't real and it was just a nightmare. When she opened them, the farmer's daughter stood there in his place before her with a water bottle clenched in her hand.
"Maggie?" Samantha breathed, finding it hard to speak. She looked around and saw that she was in a very unfamiliar place, something she's only seen in movies. "Why am I in a cell?"
"Here, take this."
The water looked like a gift from the universe itself. Samantha gazed at it, knowing that if her mouth wasn't so dry and her throat so rough she would've been drooling by now.
In a swift movement she took the bottle and frantically unscrewed it, moaning as the blissful feeling traveled down her throat and causing a cold shudder to crash through her weakened body.
Maggie was watching her, a small smile adorning her face but behind it there was a layer of worry.
After handing it back to the country beauty, Samantha was looking around the cell for any signs of her brother. "Where is he? Where's Shane?"
She would've thought that he would've been by her side when she woke up, but Shane has always ceased to surprise her.
Maggie's stomach flipped, and she grabbed the woman's forearm. "C'mon, everyone's waiting for you."
Everyone?
She felt weak as she stood, her body swaying and Maggie wrapped a hand around her waist as the twenty year old draped one over her shoulders. Together, the two women begin to make their way through the cell block.
"Never thought a prison would be sanctuary." Samantha murmured and finding the whole thing strange, her mind taking in everything around her.
Maggie laughed. "Me either, but it's home."
Home. It was an even stranger thing to process. The word felt weird on her tongue, no longer knowing the definition of such a thing.
The cell block ended and the brunette saw none other than Glenn Rhee standing there and watching her, a smile hard to restrain as it stretched across her chapped lips.
They entered and she was met with the many eyes of her old group. They were all stiff as they watched her, and she gazed at them all with a relieved smile.
She had found them. She knew they weren't gone.
Samantha felt the side of her face being burned and she slowly turned to find that source, butterflies fluttering in her stomach when she saw those familiar mossy blues. Daryl.
His stare was more intent, calculating everything about her. She was smiling, and to her surprise there was a hint of it on his mouth too.
"Sammy!"
For the first time in awhile Carl Grimes looked genuinely happy as he sprung from his seat and almost knocked Samantha over with his tight embrace.
The woman held back a wince, happiness surging through her veins as she placed a hand on the sheriff's hat.
They were all alive. They were all here.
"You gotten so big, almost as tall as me, midget." Samantha whispered, almost tearing up at how much he has grown. He must be at least thirteen by now, entering the first stages of puberty and teen years.
It reminded her of Elliot Sloan, and under all the happiness that blossomed in her like a spring flower, she was also sad. She hoped he was okay.
"I told you I would grow to be bigger." Carl chuckled.
She felt a hand being placed on her shoulder and she nodded at Glenn, to which he returned with a weak smile.
She gazed around the room once more, and that's when she noticed the greatest flaw of it all.
There was people missing, all including Shane.
"Where is he?" Came her soft, but demanding voice.
All smiles dwindled and died out, helplessly glancing at one another to find an escape out of this. They didn't know if the truth or a lie was the right decision. Hopefully Hershel would be back soon and Rick would step up as their strong willed leader again.
The silence made something in her crack, the happiness from before disappearing and now she was growing even more concerned by the second. "Where's my brother?"
Nobody replied. Samantha was not only becoming visibly upset, but frustrated at their lack of communication.
"Is nobody going to answer me?" She asked, her voice rising. "Is he on a run or something? I have every right to see him, it's almost been a year."
The only thing that answered her was her own echoes, bouncing back at her and making her become even more cold despite how warm it was in the prison.
Glenn felt guilty, standing in front of her with a sadness that made her chest tightened. "He-"
But he never got to finish, because another interrupted. The voice was familiar and raspy, that drawl hard to miss. It carried around the room, and made everyone turn back to the entrance to see Hershel had finally gotten Rick.
His eyes were casted on the ground, unable to meet the eyes of the woman he thought of as a daughter, the same woman who had lost her brother because of him.
"Shane never made it off the farm."
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟnote
me: don't do a cliffhanger don't do a cliffhanger
also me: *does cliffhanger anyway*
i'm so ecstatic that she's back with her og group, but let's just say that the cliffhanger was a hint to what's to come in this season. you guys probably already know that i watch the 100 (there are literally references EVERYWHERE in this book) and part of my inspiration for Samantha came from Octavia Blake, my actual bby who deserves the world. so if you know, you know
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
I published another book! It's called "wolf among us", and it has my other bby in it Ana De Armas. She's from knives out. She stars as Hadlee Del Valle, a cuban/mexican twenty one year old who has to go through the hardships of the apocalypse while trying to maintain her faith with God and all that jazz.
Hadlee is very dear to me, and i wrote her when i was a freshmen in high school (i'm a junior transitioning into a senior) but she did not have a name until after i recovered her recently. i'm pretty sure if i found her much much earlier, Samantha Walsh wouldn't have come first lol
Hadlee is a literal bean, and i want her story to be perfect. she holds a very special place in my heart. Now, i don't have the first chapter up yet but i have everything settled, except for one thing and that's where i ask for one favor from you guys: choosing her love interest.
Daryl.
or
Glenn.
If you're worried about Maggie, don't worry - if you choose Glenn she won't be alone. i have plans for her with someone that has been mentioned in this book (IF you choose glenn that is) This story will take place from the beginning because i wanna tell Hadlee's whole story but it's going to be different, so don't fret.
CHOOSE WISELY LUVS.
words ; 3436
edited ;