TILL All THE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE BURN OUT-017
A MONTH LATER
The warm sun hit Matilda's pale skin as she walked out of the cellblock. She kept her hazel eyes locked on the elderly man,who was walking ahead of her.
Her mother and Beth were helping Hershel walk across the courtyard, Lee, Violet, and Carl following next to them.
Tilly ran a hand through her greasy hair as her youngest brother slowed down matching his pace with hers.
"Mom is almost due. What do you think the baby is?" He asked, watching as Hershel stubbled a bit.
She looked down at her brother, placing her hand on top of their father's sheriff's hat.
"I don't know. Maybe a girl."
"I got you here if you need it," Lori said as they continued to help him with his crutches.
The elderly man smiled at her mother, nodding in appreciation before stopping and turned towards Tilly.
"You cleared all those bodies out? It's startin' to look like a place we could really live in."
"Yeah, dad and the others did. Cleared all the bodies out." The dark haired girl replied.
Hershel nodded, turning back towards the courtyard as her mother spoke.
"Hey, you watch your step. The last thing we need is you falling."
Matilda looked out towards the courtyard and saw the redneck, father, and best friends standing by the over turned bus.
Daryl caught her eyes before nudging Rick, Glenn, Lola and Maggie. They look towards the group in the smaller courtyard and cheer when they see Hershel.
"You're doing great, daddy," Beth said, sweetly.
A bright smiled appeared on her face. She was a total daddy's girl, she loved Hershel so much.
"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl joked causing the group to laugh.
Hershel chuckled. "Give me another day, I'll take you on."
They walk a little more, enjoying the warm weather when snarling from behind them sounded.
"Walkers! Look out!" Carl and Lee shouted as they pull out their guns.
Lori quickly pulled out her and started shooting the walkers as Kelly, who was near the gate, shoved Beth, Violet, and Hershel behind her.
Matilda pulled out her gun, shooting the incoming walkers. Kelly was soon next to her, taking out the creatures too.
The dark haired girl grabbed her mother pulled the arm rushing towards another cellblock with Kelly, Carl, and Lee following.
"Lori, go! Go in front!" Kelly shouted, shoving the pregnant woman in front of the group.
They ran into another corridor that leads deeper into the prison before hurrying into another room. Her mother suddenly stops and leads against a wall.
She clutched her stomach as she squeezed her eyes closed. Matilda rushed over to her and supported her.
"Can you keep going?" Matilda asked her mother in concern.
Carl clutched tightly on his brother's hand, staring at their mother as she spoke.
"Something's not right..."
"Are you bit?" Lee asked, his eyes filled with tears and fear.
"No, no, no, no...I think the baby's coming." Lori stated, causing her daughter's eyes to widen.
Matilda shared a glance with Kelly, who Hershel also taught the basics of delivering a child.
Suddenly loud alarms began to go off making Lori jump out of her skin.
"What are those alarms?" She asked fear flooded in her face.
"Don't worry about it. Focus on the baby." Kelly said making the woman nod.
"Mom, let's lay you down," Matilda suggested as her mother grabs onto a metal pipe.
"No the baby's coming now," Lori said, strained.
"What is she doing?! Can't she breathe?" Carl asked frantically.
"She's fine. Come here. Let's get your pants off." Kelly said as she takes off Lori's jeans.
"Lee, Carl, you're gonna need to help to deliver our baby brother or sister, you up for it?" Matilda said, looking up at her brothers. She saw the fear flashing in her little brothers' eyes.
"Do you know how?" Carl asked, his voice quivering as he forced back tears.
"Hershel taught Carol and I, but trust us, it's my first time," Kelly explains, checking how dilated Lori was."I can't tell,"
Lee and Carl looked away from their mother, who was covered in sweat and her skin was paler than usual.
"I gotta push," Her mother mumbled as she started pushing. "Somebody! I'm okay, I'm okay."
Her mother pants heavy as she tied to force out the baby. Matilda rubbed her mother's shoulder, as Kelly stayed crouching to see what was going on.
"You're doing great, Lori. Just keeping doing it. Your body knows what to do. Let it do all the work." Kelly says.
Kelly suddenly felt warm liquid ran down her hand and arm. She lifted her hand and saw blood making her dark brown widen.
"Lori, stop! Don't push, something's wrong!"
Lori let out an ear-piercing scream cussing her daughter to violently flinch. Matilda looked at Kelly's hand, her eyes widen with tears.
"We have to get you back to Hershel," She says, frantically.
"I won't make it," Lori muttered, knowing she going to die. Matilda's heart shattered as more tears fell.
"Lori, with all this blood, I don't think you're fully dilated yet, no amount of pushing is going to help," Kelly states, looking at the woman.
"I know what it means, and I'm losing my baby. You've gotta cut me open." Lori informs.
"I can't," Kelly says, looking at Lori.
"You don't have a choice. Do it!" The crying woman says, looking at her sons to her daughter.
"Look, Carol's the only one who practiced that, Hershel only taught us the steps, Lori, if I..." Kelly rambles.
Lori gave Kelly a pleading look, she doesn't care if she dies. Her baby needs to live.
"Please..." Lori begs, staring at Kelly.
"I've got no anesthetic, no equipment..."Kelly lists.
"Carl has a knife," Lori states, looking at her daughter.
"You won't survive," Kelly informs with tears.
"My baby has to survive....Please. My baby, for all of us...Please, Kelly! Please...Please." Lori begs, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Matilda quickly grabs Carl's knife out of his hand and shoves her friend out of the way.
"I'll do it. For dad, Carl, Lee, and for you."
Lori nods as she pulls up her shirt to show her old C-section scar. "See my old C-section scar?"
Matilda nodded, staring at the faint white scar. Lori smiles faintly at Ori, before looking at her sons. "Carl? Lee? Baby, I don't want you to be scared, okay? This is what I want. This is right. Now you...you take care daddy and Tilly for me, all right? And your little brother or sister, you take care.."
Tears streamed down their mother's face as she looked at her crying sons. A sob was choking Matilda as she gripped the knife with shaky hands.
This was her mother.
Even if she wasn't biologically her mother's, Lori was the only mother she ever had.
Matilda was only four when Lori officially became her stepmother, her mother. Two went her father and her mother meet.
She loved Lori so much, even if they had a rocky relationship. Tilly still loved her. With every fiber of her body.
And now that mother was dying. The mother who loved her, unconditionally.
Who took her to school, feed her, bathed her. Taught her how to ride her first bike, cleaned her scraped knees. Read her bedtime stories.
Was dying.
"You don't have to do this." Carl cries as his brother sobbed.
"You're gonna be fine...you're gonna beat this world, I know you two will. You are smart, and you are strong, and you are so brave! I love you." Lori cried.
"I love you too," Carl replied, his lips shaking as he cried.
Lee clutched his mother's hand. "I love you too."
"Tilly, I'm so sorry for everything. You're my everything. My daughter. I love you so much. So so much. You've grown to be a beautiful woman. So beautiful. Please take care of your brothers, your dad, and the baby. Please, please, Matilda."
Lori cries, looking at her first born. Matilda sobs, clutching her mother's knee as she almost crumbled forwards.
"I love you too, Mama" She chokes.
"You gotta do what's right, loves. You promise me, you'll always do what's right. It's so easy to do the wrong thing in this world. So don't...so if it feels wrong, don't do it, all right?"
Lori explained, looking between her three children. Matilda's chest tightens at her mother's sobs.
"If it feels easy don't do it. Don't let the world spoil you. You're so good. You're my sweet boys! And my beautiful girl! The best I ever did! I love you! I love you! I love you!"
Lori takes a breath, looking at Kelly who was crying on the ground next to the small family.
"Okay, Kelly, when this is over, you're gonna have too..." Lori starts before stopping to catch her breath."No, you have to do it, it can't be Rick. Alright, alright, it's all right.."
Carl and Lee quickly hugs their mother causing her to clutch her sons tightly. Matilda's body shook staring at her mother for the last time.
Her last goodbye.
"I'll love you three till all the stars in the universe burn out." Their mother says, looking between her children before turning her gaze to the ceiling.
"Goodnight, loves,"
Matilda let out a harsh breath as she lifted up the knife. Her hand shook violently as she began to glid the knife across her mother's stomach.
Her mother's body flinched violently, as she screamed. Matilda sobbed, the scream piercing her ears as her brothers screamed for her to stop.
Once her mother's stomach was open, Matilda tossed the knife down and began to dig. She searched for the baby, blood pooled out of her mother.
Two sets of small hands came into view, Tilly glanced over to see brothers. The blood of her mother coated her arms and hands as her and her brothers quickly pulled the baby out. It caused more blood to spatter on Tilly's clothes.
She panicked, seeing the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Matilda quickly untangled it as Carl took his knife and cuts it.
The baby wasn't crying making Matilda took her baby sibling over and pat gently on their back. She let out a breath of relief as the baby squirmed and cried in her arms.
She quickly checked the gender and saw it was a girl.
A baby sister.
Matilda let a tiny smile grace her lips, staring down at her new sister. Carl took off his jacket, handing over to his older sister. She wrapped her sister in the jacket before holding the baby against her chest.
"We have to go," Kelly said, wrapping away her tears.
Matilda nodded as she stand up carefully, and saw her brother shake his head. He was staring at their mother's dead body. She refused to look at her mother's body and focused on her sister and brothers.
"We can't just leave her here, she'll turn." The boy cried.
Kelly nodded and took out her gun causing Carl to shake his head,
"No..." he pulls out his own gun and shows it to them.
"Carl, Papillon..." Matilda says, looking at her youngest brother. (Butterfly)
"She's my mom." He says, looking towards his sisters and brother.
Lee stood forwards, his face stained with tears. "I want to be there too. Please, she's our mom."
"Okay," Matilda breathed. "Okay, go ahead."
She turned away, watching as Kelly rush over to the door, peeking out of it. She checked for any walkers before closing the door, just as Carl pulled the trigger.
A loud bang echoed around the room causing Matilda to flinch. Carl and Lee came back with emotionless faces, walking past their sisters.