VIVIAN WAS POUTING THE REST OF THE DAY,

She sat in the courtyard, Liam playing a few feet away. The men were out in the forest, collecting fire wood to burn the pile of bodies they had.

She just wanted Rick to trust again.

Not everyone is Shane.

The cell block door opened and Vivian turned to see Beth, Lori, and Carl helping Hershel with his new crutches, "I got you here if you need it."

"Just take your time on those steps."

"Look at you go." Vivian smiled at them, standing from the benches,

Hershel gave her a smile as they approached, "You cleared all those bodies out? It's startin' to look like a place we could really live in."

"Hey, you watch your step. Last thing we need is you falling." Lori said from his side,

Liam stood and grabbed his toy and ran over to Beth, who picked the boy up, "Whatchu got there?"

"You're doing great, Daddy." Maggie smiled as she watched from further away,

Carl smirked, "Ready to race, Hershel?"

"You give me another day, I'll take you on." The old man replied,

Vivian smiled before looking over at Lori, who looked uncomfortable, "You doing okay?"

Despite what happened the other day, Vivian didn't want to hold grudges. Not in a world like this when you don't know what day is going to be your last.

She nodded, "Just need to get off my feet."

"Maybe you should-"

"Walkers! Look out!" Carl interrupted with a yell,

Vivian grabbed her gun and rushed in front of the group and began to shoot the walkers, Lori and Carl following quickly behind. She heard Liam's scared cries coming from behind her,

"Beth! Take Hershel and Liam and go in the fences right there!" Vivian pointed to a set up steps that led to a door, but was surrounded by a chainlink fence.

The younger girl nodded and gripped Liam tightly as she helped her father to the steps, and Vivian was sure to shoot any walkers that got near them.

But there was still a lot more coming, and they didn't have enough bullets.

Maggie ran over to the cellblock doors, "Lori! Here!"

Vivian placed a hand on Carl's and Lori's backs to urge them towards the Greene girl while firing at the walkers behind them,

Once they were behind the gate, Vivian ran over to follow them. She shut the gate behind them and Maggie urged everyone inside the cell block.

"You good?" Vivian asked the pregnant woman as they walked towards the cells,

She nodded, wiping sweat from her forehead, "I'm good, I'm fine-"

The woman was interrupted by the horde of walkers coming out of the cells. Vivian was quick to grab her arm and turned them around and headed towards the dark maze of the prison.

Vivian knew how dangerous it was... but they didn't have a choice.

Alarms began to blast throughout the walls of the prison. Vivian led the group while Maggie brought up the rear.

For Rick's sake, Lori and Carl needed to be protected at all costs.

They rounded a corner and Lori leaned up against the wall, grimacing in pain, "Can you keep up?" Maggie asked, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder,

"Something's not right..." Lori grunted,

"Are you bit?" Her son asked,

"No, no, no, no, no." Lori turned to face them, "I think the baby's coming!"

Vivian's eyes widened, "This baby has seriously bad timing."

Hershel and Carol weren't with them. They were going to have to find a place to hide out until the group came to find them.

"Mom?"

Walkers rounded the corner and were headed straight for them,

"No, there's no time! Turn back!" Maggie and Vivian wrapped an arm around the woman and helped her as Carl led them,

Lori kept crying out in pain. The amount of stress she was in, Vivian couldn't imagine.

They got to the end and shadows of walkers covered the wall. They were surrounded.

Carl led them down another hallway before he stopped at a door that was slightly ajar, "In here!"

Maggie and Vivian helped Lori inside while Carl tried to slam the door shut. They were in a mechanical room of some sort, and Vivian only hoped they could hide out in here long enough.

She tried to stay quiet as another contraction hit her. Vivian rubbed her back comfortingly while silently praying for a miracle.

"What are those alarms?" Lori asked once the pain subsided,

"Don't worry about that." Maggie told her,

"What if it attracts them?" Carl asked before Lori moved further into the room,

"Lori, let's lay you down." The Greene woman suggested,

"No, the baby's coming now." Lori stated,

"We have to go back to our cell block to have Hershel help!" Carl insisted.

Vivian began to panic internally. She didn't know what to do. She had helped her mom give birth to her younger siblings before, but if Lori needed a c-section, she had no idea how to begin doing that.

"We can't risk getting caught out there, you're gonna need to give birth to this baby here." Maggie told them,

"Great." Lori sighed before she began panting, trying to breath through the pain,

"What is she doing, can't she breathe?" Carl panicked,

Vivian moved to grab Lori's hand, "Look at me, Lori, look at me. Match your breathing to mine, okay?" Vivian began to do breathing exercises that she remembered doing with her mom years ago, and Lori followed along,

She squeezed her hand until the contraction faded,

"She's fine. Come here, let's get your pants off." Maggie helped the woman strip of her jeans and laid her down gently,

"You're gonna need to help deliver your baby brother or sister, you up for it?" Vivian asked the younger Grimes who was watching in horror,

He nodded after a moment, "I'm gonna do an exam. See if you're dilated." Maggie stated before looking between Lori's legs, 

"Do you know how?" Carl asked her,

"Dad taught me, but trust me, it's my first time." They stayed silent as Maggie checked, "I can't tell."

"I gotta push." Lori panted, reaching for a pipe and moved to stand, "I gotta push, I gotta..."

Vivian nodded, "Just listen to your body, Lori. You're doing great." She rubbed her back as she began to push.

She had to give it to her. To stay this quiet while in labor with a bunch of walkers outside the door? This woman was strong.

The contraction faded and Lori gasped, "I'm okay, I'm okay."

"You're doing great, Lori. Just keep doing it. Your body knows what to do. Let it do all the work." Maggie kneeled behind her to keep checking the progress while Vivian stood and held her hand,

"Lori, stop, don't push, something's wrong!" Maggie called out, her hand covered in blood,

"Oh, god."

Lori let out a scream of pain and tears filled Vivian's eyes.

They all knew what needed to be done.

The two of them helped the woman lay down while Carl kneeled beside her, "Mom? Mom, look at me, look at me, keep your eyes open!"

"We have to get you back to Dad." Maggie stated,

"I won't make it." Lori whispered, her eyes going hazy.

She was fading quickly.

"Lori, with all this blood, I don't even think you're fully dilated yet, no amount of pushing is gonna help." Maggie told her,

"I know what it means, and I'm not losing my baby." Lori told them, "You've gotta cut me open."

"We can't do that." Vivian shook her head, "Not here, not now. We need Hershel or-or-or Carol, okay? You've gotta wait, you've gotta hold on."

"You don't have a choice." Lori's eyes pierced hers.

This was it. It was time. 

"Look, Carol's the one that practiced that, Dad only taught me the steps, Lori, if I-"

"Please..." Lori begged the farmer's daughter,

"I have no anesthetic, no equipment..." Maggie listed off why it was a bad idea,

"Carl has a knife." Lori stated, "That's all you need."

"You won't survive." Maggie sobbed,

"My baby has to survive... Please..." Lori panted and Vivian knew she was having another contraction. She reached for Carl and had him hold his mother's hand, "My baby, for all of us... Please, Maggie, Vivian, please."

Vivian looked over to her friend, who was crying. She knew she couldn't do it.

She needed to step up.

Vivian stood and placed her hands on Maggie's shoulders, "I'll do it."

Maggie looked up at her, "What?"

"You don't need this." Vivian helped her stand and cupped Maggie's face, "You don't need this guilt. If Rick is going to hate anyone for killing his wife, it'll be me. It's okay."

"Thank you." Maggie sobbed, "I'm sorry."

Vivian kneeled between Lori's legs and gave her a nod, "I'm proud of you. After everything that's happened, you stayed strong." She rubbed her leg comfortingly, "You're so strong, Lori Grimes."

Lori let out a choke laugh with tears running down her face, "Thank you." She whispered, "I need you to take care of them, okay? The baby, Carl, and Rick... I need you to look out of them."

Vivian nodded, "I can do that."

Lori lifted her shirt, "See my old C-section scar?" Vivian nodded when she spotted the faint scar on her lower stomach,

The mother turned to her son, "Baby, I don't want you to be scared, okay? This is what I want. This is right. Now you- you take care of your daddy for me, all right? And your little brother or sister, you take care..."

"You don't have to do this." Carl sobbed,

"You're gonna be fine...You are gonna beat this world, I know you will." Lori told him, "You are smart, and you are strong, and you are so brave! And I love you."

"I love you too."

"You gotta do what's right, baby. 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?" Vivian began to cry harder and Maggie held her hand, "If it feels easy don't do it. Don't let the world spoil you." Lori's facade crumbled and she began to cry with the rest of them, "You're so good. You're my sweet boy. The best thing I ever did! I love you! I love you. You're my sweet, sweet boy," Lori wiped the tears from his cheeks, "I love you. Okay... okay, now. Okay. Vivian, when this is over, you're gonna have to..."

Vivian shook her head, "We don't have to talk about that."

"No, you have to do it, it can't be Rick." Lori instead, "Alright, alright, it's alright. It's alright.." She took deep breaths, trying to calm down, "Goodnight, love."

"I'm so sorry." Vivian sobbed before pressing the blade of the knife against the scar and sliced it the skin open,

Lori screamed in pain and Vivian knew she couldn't hesitate. She needed to be quick, for Lori's sake.

"What are you doing to her?!" Carl screamed and Maggie wrapped her arms around the boy,

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Vivian sobbed and repeated over and over, "Maggie, give me your hands." Maggie moved away from Carl and kept the skin apart while Vivian dug inside, "Okay... Okay, come on, I see it, I see the ears. I'm gonna pull them out." Vivian tried not to concentrate on the fact her arms were inside Lori, "I can't tell if this is the arm or the leg. Okay, I'm gonna pull the baby out."

She couldn't look at her face. If she looked, she'd panic.

But this is survival. She couldn't think. She just needed to do it.

The baby was small and purple, covered in amniotic fluids.

"Okay, okay." Vivian took a breath before patting the baby's back and making sure the airways were clear, "C'mon, baby, c'mon. I'm not loosing you now."

After a few pats, cries filled the air. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and Carl took off his vest and handed it over to Vivian to wrap the baby up,

"Carl..." Vivian turned to the young boy, "You have a baby sister."

He tried to smile, but tears continued to fall down his face.

"We have to go." Maggie insisted, her hand on Vivian's back and helped her to stand as she clutched the baby close to her body,

"Well, we can't just leave her here, she'll turn." Carl stated, standing with them,

Maggie went to take out her gun but Carl stopped her, "No..."

Vivian shook her head, "No, Carl-"

"She's my mom."