"Let me see the baby," Hershel says.

Maggie and Carl move closer to Hershel and Daryl cups my face again. I finally look him the eyes and he purses his lips.

"Stay with me, Hope," he says.

"Lori...I...I was too..." I mumble.

"Job ain't done," he insists. I nod weakly and he turns to the others. "What are we gonna feed it? We got anything a baby can eat?" He takes my hand, pulling me along with him as Hershel looks the baby over.

"The good news is she looks healthy," Hershel says.

A little girl, I think, pushing through my mind fog. Lori, you've got a little girl.

"She needs formula," Hershel continues. "And soon, or she won't survive."

"Nope. No way," Daryl says. "Not her. We ain't losing nobody else. I'm going for a run."

"I'll back you up," Maggie says.

"I'll go too," Glenn agrees.

"Okay, think I know where we're going," Daryl says. He's still holding my hand and I'm not quite ready to let go. "Beth," he says, bringing her closer to us. He whispers to her, "Kid just lost his mom. His dad ain't doing so hot."

"I'll look out for him," Beth promises.

"Hope," Daryl says, turning back to me. I blink. "Gotta leave you in charge while I'm gone, alright?"

I nod, slowly. "I...yeah, okay."

Me? Why me? Why not...

Glenn and Maggie are going on the run. Daryl too. Rick's lost to the world. Hershel's barely on his feet. Beth and Carl...too young. T-Dog is dead. Carol is dead.

But me?

His hand falls to the back of my head, pulling me closer and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "You did what you could," he murmurs. "We'll talk later." Again, I nod, and he backs up. "Come on, we're gonna lose the light!" he shouts. "Glenn, Maggie, vámonos!"

"Rick!" Maggie shouts.

I look over just as Rick rushes up the steps into the cell block, axe in hand, but he disappears without a word. Daryl heads to the cars, Maggie and Glenn following, and I stare after him.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Axel and Oscar approach me. When did they get here? Were they here the whole time?

"Any way we can help?" Axel asks.

I look out at the fences, at the pile we still haven't burned. I point. "Those alarms...probably gonna attract a lot of walkers," I say. My voice sounds distant, foreign. "Could..." Alarms still ring in my head. "Could you...you run a perimeter check? Dispatch a few." They nod. I hear the motorcycle engine revving and add, "But...before that, run and open the gate. Daryl will need to get out. Please."

"Sure thing," Axel says.

"We're sorry about your friends," Oscar adds.

They were family, I think, but I just nod at them. I keep picturing Lori's tortured expression, staring up at me, trusting me. I failed her. I failed her and now her children will have to live without their mother.

They head off to the gates. Daryl and Maggie head off and Glenn approaches me. Glenn—oh, thank God. I watch Daryl and Maggie disappear down the road, Glenn gripping my shoulder. I hear him sigh.

"What the hell happened?" he asks, but it's like he's not looking for an answer. I want to know too. Everything was fine.

I bow my head. "I'm sorry. I left Maggie and Carl alone, left them when..." I suck in a breath, chest still far too tight. "I...I don't even know what happened. By the time I got back, it...it was..."

Glenn tugs me into a side hug, arm around my shoulders, and I put mine around his waist as we hug each other close. He sighs.

"I'll...get the graves ready," he says. "Can you keep an eye on things in there?"

I nod. I have to focus. I have to find my footing. "Yeah. I've got Oscar and Axel checking the fences. Maybe they could find where the breach was."

He purses his lips as we separate from each other. "It was Andrew," he says. I frown a bit. "One of the other prisoners. We thought he was dead, but...he caused everything."

"Oh..."

He shakes his head. "Three of our people gone, just like that...because of one guy."

"God..."

We stand in silence. After a moment, he pats my shoulder, I pat his back, and we go our separate ways.

----------

Inside the cell block, Carl and Beth sit at the tables in the front area with Hershel. Beth rocks the baby, hushing and soothing her, and they look up when I come in. I move to them, setting my medical backpack down before sinking into a seat.

"We're glad you're okay," Beth says after a moment. She smiles at me weakly. "Carl was just...telling us about what happened."

I fold my hands over the table, nodding a bit. My hands are still caked in dried blood and it repulses me to look at them. I put them under the table, against my legs, out of sight.

"Carl," I whisper. "I'm...I'm so sorry I left. I should've stayed."

He shakes his head. "No. It wouldn't have changed anything," he says. "I'm glad you tried. Mom was too. She...she asked us to do it."

I swallow hard and close my eyes tight against my tears. If Carl can keep a strong face after this, then so can I.

"Carl, take your sister for a sec," Beth murmurs, handing the baby to him.

I hear her moving around nearby and Carl rocks his sister. She keeps hiccuping, whimpering, crying, and I just...keep looking at her. So small, so...helpless. She must be so hungry and she has no idea why we aren't feeding her.

I startle a little when a hand touches my arm, but it's only Beth. She takes my hand in hers and starts wiping the blood off with a soaked cloth. Most of it is dry enough that it just flakes off. I need to change into clean clothes too. Once she's done, I'll do that.

"We have to look out for each other," she murmurs. "Right?"

I nod, sucking a breath even as emotion overwhelms me again. "God, it...it went wrong so quickly."

"Yeah, I know," she agrees.

She keeps cleaning me, gentle and kind, even as I dribble tears onto my lap.

----------

It feels like the hours drag by.

The baby gets fussier the longer she goes without eating and I wish I could help her. I see the sentiment reflected in everyone's eyes. Other than her, our only other concerns lay with Rick, with burying our dead.

Glenn tries to find Rick, to get him to come back, but he returns unsuccessful. He's in a daze, he says, or a rampage. Whatever it is, Glenn doesn't know how to handle it and the rest of us are no better off.

We busy ourselves with other things. Beth, Hershel, and Carl make crosses for the grave markers while Glenn and I take a few sheets and go back into the tombs, hoping to retrieve T-Dog and Lori's bodies for burial. There's still no sign of Carol's body but I hope we can find it and put it to rest properly. Maybe I can go find some Cherokee roses to hang over the grave marker, so she can match her daughter.

God, I didn't know a heart could hurt this bad. It hits me, over and over again, that I'll never see their faces again. They're just...gone. No goodbyes. No nothing.

When we reach T-Dog's body, Glenn steps forward to cover him with one of the sheets. He kneels next to him, resting his hand on T-Dog's head.

"He didn't turn," he says.

"I...I took care of that," I admit, coming closer. "There's a way back to the cell block through here and, on my way, I...found him."

Glenn nods a bit, then looks up at me with pursed lips. "Thanks for doing that."

I just nod. We tuck the sheet around him and, together, lift the shroud and carry it out. I hate how light he seems. T-Dog was a sturdy man and he shouldn't be so easy to carry, but...

We shuffle our way back into the cell block, out the doors, and into the field, where Oscar and Axel are still digging. They look up when they see us coming and I'm glad Axel knows well enough not to smile.

We lay T-Dog at the foot of one of the graves and, as we turn to go back, Oscar calls out to us.

"Can we help?" he asks.

Glenn purses his lips, looking at me as if for confirmation. I nod, then look back at him.

"We have another body to find," I say. "I can lead the way, but..."

I'm not sure I want to see her the way she was left, but she deserves a proper burial. Carl said it was a c-section, just like we thought it would be. It hurts me to imagine how much pain Lori was in in her final moments.

Oscar hops out of the grave he's digging and Axel waves us off.

"I'll keep working," he says. "Almost done."

I thank him before the three of us head back. I lead the way to the boiler room, heart heavier with every step we take, and eventually we reach it. I pull the door open and the smell of blood and other fluids hits me, forcing me to swallow back bile.

We go in, down the steps, and I immediately wish I hadn't come back. Whatever's left of Lori lays on the floor, surrounded by a dark puddle of blood and amniotic fluid. I thought T-Dog was horrific, but this...if it weren't for knowing that this is where we left her, she'd seem like any other corpse—she's been reduced to a pile of bloodied bones and leftover muscle wrapped in tattered purple cloth.

I turn away, sick, tears in my eyes again.

"Jesus," Oscar mumbles.

Glenn hesitates. He isn't looking at her either. Oscar wordlessly takes the sheet, sucks in a breath, and moves past us. I look back once he's covered her up, jaw clenched.

"I didn't really know her," Oscar says. "You guys shouldn't have to see her that way."

"Thanks," Glenn says, and there's a choke in his voice that I don't miss.

As we move forward to collect her, I see a bloated walker seated against the boiler wall, too fat to move as it lays there, groaning. That...must be the thing that ate Lori.

Hatred and disgust flash through me, hot and all-consuming, but I look away and force deep breaths. No time for it now. Oscar helps lift Lori's body and we tuck the sheet around her as best we can until she's well-shrouded. Then, we carry her to her final resting place.

Hershel, Beth, and Carl come out to join us as we lay Lori down. Beth carries the baby. Hershel reads passages from his Bible as Glenn, Oscar, and Axel lower the bodies into the graves. There's nothing to bury for Carol, but Glenn says he wanted to make sure there was one for if we found her body.

Oscar and Axel cover them up. Beth, Carl, and I plant the crosses at their heads. The baby changes hands a few times. Each of the crosses has been marked, names written in black marker: Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas, Carol Peletier, Lori Grimes.

"Amen," Hershel murmurs, closing his Bible.

We stand in vigil for a few more minutes, then drag ourselves back inside. As we walk, Oscar and Axel hesitate, and I look back at them.

I reach my hand out. "It's been a long day," I say. "Come in and rest."

"Hope," Glenn starts.

I meet his eyes. "It's what T-Dog would've wanted."

Glenn purses his lips, glancing at the others. Hershel smiles softly at me. After a second, Glenn nods, and the two of them follow us inside.

----------

It's dark out when I hear a motorcycle engine rumbling. The baby won't stop crying, kicking her little feet, face all scrunched up and red with sobbing her little lungs out. She's so cute, so loud, and so exhausting, but she has every reason in the world to scream like this.

"I know, honey," I say, bouncing her gently. "I know. I get it. We'll get you some food soon, I promise."

I hum to her, the opening of Bohemian Rhapsody, because God forbid I remember a decent lullaby when I need one. It's not like I'm singing the words. Those aren't fitting. Carl lingers by my side, watching his sister. That's all any of us can do, it seems, maybe because she's the one good thing we have to hold on to right now.

She keeps wailing and I keep humming. Food is the only thing that'll help her stop. Beth jumped up the second she heard the motorcycle, preparing for hopefully good news by the light of the lantern on our table. The doors open and Maggie and Daryl rush through them.

"Beth," Maggie says.

The sisters hurry off and Daryl comes right to me, swinging his crossbow and jacket off in one swoop, tossing it carelessly to the side.

"How's she doing?" he asks.

"Hungry," I say, "and I don't think she likes Freddie Mercury."

"You singing her Queen? Start 'em young, I guess." He reaches for her and I carefully maneuver her into his arms as he starts hushing her, voice low and soft. "Ssh, it's okay. Ssh..."

Beth hands Daryl a bottle. Glenn, Oscar, and Axel enter the area as Daryl hushes her again, then gently puts the bottle to her mouth. She latches on immediately, tiny hands grasping at the bottle and Daryl's fingers as he holds it.

He looks up at all of us, smiling a little, and his eyes fall on me as the smile gets a little bigger. I'm suddenly far too warm and I have to look away for a second, taking deep breaths. I don't want a baby, I tell myself. I don't want a baby. I'm not ready for a baby, especially after what I saw today.

But, God, seeing him like this, I want to make him a dad.

"She got a name yet?" he asks Carl.

"Not yet," Carl says. "But I was thinking...maybe Sophia. Then there's Carol, too. And..." He sighs. Daryl's lips purse and I move closer to him, pressing my hand to the small of his back. "Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or...Lori—" Carl trails off, shaking his head, turning away. "I don't know."

Beth rubs his shoulder. Daryl looks back at the baby, still drinking her formula.

"Yeah...you like that? Huh? Little ass-kicker," he coos. He looks around, smirking, and I giggle softly. "Right? That's a good name, right?" A few more chuckles from the group. It's the most cheerful sound I've heard all day. He grins down at the baby again. "Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?"

I'm not ready for a baby, I tell myself again.

----------

After her bottle, Beth offers to take her back, but Daryl refuses to let her go. He tosses a towel over his shoulder, propping her against him and burping her himself. It looks like, wherever him and Maggie went for supplies, they got more than just formula and bottles. They also got diapers (both regular and the cloth kind), blankets, and a few tiny onesies and clothing.

Only thing they missed is a crib, understandably, but the baby sleeps in her plastic food crate full of blankets like its a memory foam mattress. She's wearing a tiny pink onesie instead of staying wrapped in Carl's shirt like she has been all day. People start wandering off to bed, but Daryl stays by her crib, gazing at her.

"You know, when the baby sleeps, that's when you're supposed to sleep," I tease softly as I settle down beside him.

"She's so cute," he mumbles. "Little nose, little hands. So soft and tiny."

I lean my head onto my hand, smiling dreamily at him. "Honestly, I think I'm more shocked that you know how to burp a baby."

He shrugs. "Lots of kids got pregnant in my high school," he admits. "They came up with this...family class. Made it mandatory for any parents. I thought it'd be an easy A, get the teachers off my ass."

"I can't imagine you in a class like that," I say. Again, he shrugs, and I look down at the baby. "Have...have you ever thought about kids?"

"Knew it," he mumbles. I frown in confusion. "You are getting baby fever."

"No," I say, and I wish I felt more like joking with him, but it's been a long day. "I just...I've always wanted to be a mom but, after today..."

He hums, nodding a bit. I scoot closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder and, after a second, he wraps his arm around me.

"You'd be a great mom," he murmurs against my hair.

I sigh as I lean against him. "You ever thought about them? Kids?"

I hear him exhale. "Honestly, always thought I'd get someone knocked up by accident," he admits. "Didn't want to be a shit, useless dad. Took the class in case it happened, 'cause...I was pretty fucking stupid."

"Think you'd ever do it on purpose?"

His eyes roam over me for a second, then he shrugs. "Don't know yet."

The baby exhales, a few bubbles appearing near her tiny lips as she does. We both stare at her some more, the picture of innocence.

"Anything else you needed to talk about?" he whispers.

I shake my head. "I...don't want to think about today anymore."

"Join me on the perch tonight?"

I nod, no question. The last thing I want is to be alone.

----------

I wake the next morning to Daryl moving around. I roll over, blinking at him as he pulls on his angel wings vest and grabs his crossbow.

"Where you going?" I mumble, still somewhat asleep.

He looks back at me. "Wasn't here for the funeral," he admits. "Gonna pay my respects."

"Can I come?"

He nods.

I get dressed and we head outside together. I expect him to go right to the graves, but he takes a detour down to the dog run, then to the gap in the fence. We go into the woods and I just follow his lead. Along the way, I pick wildflowers, bunching them together into a colourful bouquet.

I'm not surprised when we find what he was looking for.

We return to the graves with our flowers. I split my bouquet into two, resting them on top of Lori and T-Dog's graves.

Daryl kneels and rests a single Cherokee rose on Carol's grave, tucking the dirt around it so that it doesn't blow away. He reaches out and touches the cross, lips pursing, and I wait behind him, arms wrapped around myself.

He stands up, taking my hand as we walk back towards the prison. Daryl looks up at the sky, squinting a little. The sun has just come over the treetops. The world is golden and hazy.

"Think she's up there?" he asks.

"Without a doubt," I say. I squeeze his hand a little tighter as a choke returns to my voice. "I'm...really gonna miss her. I'm gonna miss all of them."

He squeezes back. "Me too."