— ZOE FELT SUFFOCATED IN HER CELL, having not left her room for a whole day. Nate had left her a few hours ago to go and look for her father with Glenn, but the two boys had come back without Rick. Zoe heard Carl out in the hallway, and the kid sounded alright - it made her feel weak; that should be her out there, looking after her little sister, she needed to man up, and get her head back in the game. The girl took a deep breath as she stood by the cell door of her room, needing to prepare herself before she actually left the room and reunited with the rest of the group. Zoe made a mental note to thank Beth for everything she had done the past day with her little sister. Her little sister. The little baby that she should be caring for right now.

Zoe pulled away the curtain to her room and instantly headed downstairs to where she could hear the others, and as soon as they all saw the girl, they quietened down, smiling in sympathy as Zoe had shown her face for the first time all day. They all knew that the girl needed some time to catch her breath and function properly what had happened, but none of them had expected her to come down so soon. Zoe gave them all a tight smile, one that clearly didn't meet her eyes, before she walked towards her brother, who was holding their little sister in his arms. Carl instantly smiled up at his sister, happy that she had finally come out of her room, and lifted their little sister up so she could get a better view. Zoe smiled genuinely at the sight of the baby, which just caused Carl to smile back at her. He was glad that she had finally come out of her room, as he wanted to help her get through this - to get through their mothers death.

The second the baby started crying, Carl handed her over to Zoe, who took the baby in her arms with a soft smile, looking down at the baby and knowing that she wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. The only thing that was going through her mind, though, was the wish that her mom was still here to see this beautiful girl... The baby girl stopped crying the second she was in her older sisters arms, and the baby began cooing at the sight of her, her huge eyes glancing up at her - like she knew this was her sister. "She's hungry." Hershel spoke up, noticing that the baby was agitated, no matter who was holding her. They needed baby food, and fast..

As if their minds had been answered, Daryl rushes in with Maggie in tow, "Beth?" She called out, motioning over to the bag of baby food.

Zoe's sister began crying once again, and no matter how hard she tried to coo her, it just wasn't working. She looked up at Daryl with pleading eyes, causing the man to nod, instantly taking the baby out of her hands, and surprisingly, the baby stopped crying in an instant. "How's she doing?" He asked the grieving girl, who handed over her sister.

Zoe shrugged, "I just came down. But Hershel said she's hungry." She told Daryl, watching as the baby instantly calmed down in his arms, which surprised her. Who knew Daryl was so good with babies?

This was just as Glenn and Nate made their way back into the room, with Oscar following closely behind. Nate looked surprised to see Zoe out of their room, as he thought she would still be too upset to leave, but as she watched his brother with the baby, with a slight smile on his face, one that only Nate could spot, as he could read his brother. Instantly, he headed over to Zoe, placing his arm around her, which she leaned into, glad to have his presence next to him. Beth handed over the bottle of milk to Daryl, who took it, and began to feed the small baby, cooing as he did so. It was definitely a sight that Nate didn't think he'd ever see, or anyone else, in that matter - Daryl was usually closed off, uncaring of much, but seeing him in this moment just shows his true colours, and how much he cared for this group.

Everyone around the room smiled at the sight of the baby drinking the milk, her crying now stopping as she was getting what she needed. "She got a name yet?" Daryl asked Carl and Zoe, who both looked at each other and shrugged.

"N-Not yet, but I was thinking.. Maybe Sophia?" Carl suggested, looking over at his sister for approval.

Zoe nodded at him, "You can pick whatever name you want, Carl." She told her little brother, giving him the option. She didn't think she would be able to name the child, but Carl definitely had a good selection of names, so she would allow him the responsibility - after all, he would love that he gets to name the baby.

Carl smiled at his sister as she snuggled into Nate's side, before looking back at Daryl, "Then there's Carol, too. And Andrea.. Amy, Jackie, Patricia. Or Lori." He spoke. It finally dawned onto the group at how many of their own they had lost due to the messed up world. Zoe hadn't thought much about it, but they had lost a lot. A lot more than she would have thought.. "I don't know.." Carl eventually said, now upset at the names.

Daryl sighed at Carl, before looking at the baby in his arms, "You like that?" He asked her, "Huh? Little ass-kicker. Right?" He called out, looking up at the rest of the group, who all smirked at the cool nickname he had given the baby. Zoe laughed along with Nate and some of the others as Daryl spoke again, "That's a good name, right?" He asked, proud of himself, "Little ass-kicker? You like that, huh? You like that sweetheart?" He asked the baby, who was drinking from the milk bottle..

Zoe couldn't help but smile at the sight of Daryl being soft with her sister - who knew that a baby could bring out Daryl's soft side? Either way, she was glad, and knew that her sister and Daryl would get along just fine..

——

Zoe had a good nights sleep, all considering. If Nate wasn't by her side, she didn't think that she would have slept at all, but he never left her side, and she was incredibly grateful for him, and never wanted to loose him. Although, he had been on guard with Glenn a lot, as her father was still looking for her mom's body, so Glenn and Nate had to step up. The last thing Zoe expected, was for Rick to go out of his mind - she understood that it was his wife that died.. Her mother, but he had a group to look out for, who were all well and truly alive. She sat next to Carl, who wasn't touching his breakfast, as she fed little ass-kicker, the rest of the group sitting in silence as they all watched, still worried for the baby. Their silence was interrupted, when Rick finally entered the room, looking truly out of his mind.

Nate sat next to Daryl on the steps as they both looked up at their leader entering the room, a distant look on his face, "Everybody okay?" Rick asked, causing everyone to look up at him.

"Yeah, we all are." Maggie was the first to talk, worried for Rick's state of mind. Zoe couldn't help but look up at her father like she didn't even know who he was anymore, but he didn't look at her as he looked at the baby in her arms.
His baby. No matter what, this was his baby, and he needed to realise that. Rick then looked down his two other kids, who were still looking up at him like they didn't even know who he was. Zoe couldn't help but keep this look on her face - her father had disappeared for a whole day, while little ass-kicker was starving. He hadn't even spoken to the baby yet, and it just upset Zoe..

"What about you." Hershel asked, also knowing that Rick looked awfully troubled. Who wouldn't after their wife had just died? He reacted like this when he realised his wife wasn't coming back, too, and Rick had been the one to bring him back, so he was going to do everything he could do help him back to sanity..

"Cleared out the boiler plot." Rick answered, now looking at Zoe and Carl, who had been the ones to be with Lori at the time of her death. He couldn't imagine what they went through..

"How many were there?" Daryl asked.

"I don't know. Dozen. Two dozen." Rick answered, not exactly remembering going through there and killing them all, he had been in an episode, and was surprised he could remember even part of what he did in there. "I have to get back." He said to the group, not having even mentioned his child in his daughters arms, "Just wanted to check on Carl and Zo." He said, patting Carl's back, whereas Zoe shrugged away from him, hurt that he wasn't paying the baby any attention.. Rick frowned at her actions, but didn't say anything on the subject, assuming she's just upset from her mothers death.

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies." Glenn spoke up, now standing as he looked over at Rick. The man needed to stay here for his three children. When he saw the look on Zoe's face when Rick hadn't paid the baby any attention, it broke his heart seeing his best friend so upset. "Okay, you don't have to." He said, adding to his statement, he just wanted Zoe and Carl to be okay, and they didn't look okay. Not in the slightest.

"No, I do." Rick denied, now walking past the group on the table, past his baby daughter. Zoe didn't like how he was acting, not at all, and she thought that her dad needed to man up and take care of the baby, to just look at her. "Everyone have a gun and a knife. Yeah?" Rick asked Daryl, as he walked up to him and his younger brother, who were eating their porridge.

Daryl nodded, not paying attention to how the man was acting, as it was just bound to happen, after all, he had just lost his wife - he didn't blame the man one bit. "We're running low in ammo, though." He added, noticing how the guns were going to become pointless soon due to the lack of ammo they all had.. They needed to make another run, but at the moment, they could only focus on the baby - that was the main concern right now, making sure that the baby was well and fed.

"Zoe and me were planning on making a run this afternoon."
Glenn spoke up, remembering how Zoe had practically begged him to come on the run with him. The girl wanted to be able to help out her sister by getting some more formula - it was the least he could do. That, and she needed some time away from the prison, where she could actually breathe. Nate wasn't happy that she had decided to go on the run, as he thought that she needed more time before she made any rash decisions, but Glenn had convinced him that she would be safe with him. After all, Zoe was his best friend, he would rather die than let anything happen to her. Glenn knew that Zoe needed some time away from this place, he didn't blame her, her mother died just down the hall, he would be going crazy, too. "Found a phone book. Some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula." He finished, unsure of how Rick was going to take it.

For all they knew, Rick might not want his daughter leaving his side after what happened with his wife, but when he simply nodded, without saying any words, the group knew that he wasn't in his right mind. If he was okay in the head, he would have at least argued a little at the fact Zoe was going on a run, but he didn't say anything, and it scared them all slightly that Rick was going down this road. "Cleared out the generator room." Daryl spoke up, "Axel's there trying to fix it, now. In case of emergency, we'll sweep the lower levels as well." He said, knowing they needed to take every precaution they could.

Nate watched Zoe frown as her father attempted to walk away without more than two words spoken - he hated that Rick was making his girlfriend feel this way, she was slowly breaking, and he could see it unfold in front of his eyes. "Rick!" Hershel called, also not happy at how Rick was acting, he was being careless. However, Rick didn't answer as he shut the door and headed off again, not even taking a glance at his new baby child in his daughters arms, who was sound asleep.

Zoe sighed at her father, turning back to Carl, who she couldn't exactly read how he was feeling. She used her free hand to place on his shoulder, giving in a slight squeeze to reassure him that their father would be back to his normal self, soon. After all, she was slowly getting better, why couldn't he? It was their mother who died, hell, Zoe had been the one to do, so she had every excuse.. Rick had a group to protect, he had taken that roll after the farm, the roll of keeping everyone safe, he couldn't back down now, not when everyone needed him the most. "Someone's got to check on him." Maggie spoke up, after a few moments of silence between the group.

Zoe nodded, but not really caring how he was doing at the moment, she was hurt by his actions, and she could tell that Carl was, too, but he wasn't showing it.. Knowing that she needed to get ready for her small trip with Glenn, Zoe looked up at Beth, with a look, which the girl instantly understood. Beth nodded, now standing and walking around to Zoe, holding out her arms so she can take little ass-kicker.

Zoe smiled in appreciation, giving Beth the baby, before standing up, kissing Carl on the cheek and leaving the room to get her things ready. She didn't notice Nate also getting up from his place next to Daryl, instantly following after her. Daryl knew that Nate was stressed out about the fact that Zoe wanted to head out with Glenn for the day, but he needed to realise that the girl needed to get out of this place - he didn't blame her, when he had headed out with Maggie, it felt good to be in a big space, not being confined to the prison walls and fences. The girl needed this, and his brother needed to realise that. "Nate." He called out, as his brother stalked out of the room, only for Nate to ignore him, still following after his girl. Daryl sighed, knowing he couldn't do anything..

"Zo." Nate called out, as Zoe walked up the stairs to get to their shared cell. The girl didn't exactly want to talk to him if he was just going to try and talk her out of going on the run with Glenn, and she didn't want to her it. She had already made her mind up, and she was going, whether he liked it or not, he just needed to realise he couldn't control her. Nate sighed when Zoe ignored him, now entering their cell and changing tops, while he waited at the door. "Are you sure this is the best decision?" He asked, "I mean, you're still upset over your mom and I don't think.." He began to tell her, only for the girl to interrupt him.

"This is the best thing for me to do right now, Nate." Zoe slightly snapped, annoyed that he was trying so hard to keep her here. She knew that he only cared for her and wanted the best for the girl, but she wanted to go with Glenn. She wanted to have some time without everyone breathing down her neck about her mother, and she knew that Glenn wouldn't do that to her - he was the perfect person to go on a run with, he would give her the space she needed. "I just need to get out of here, just for a little bit." She finished, now pulling on her jeans.

Nate sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to convince her to stay here - she was a strong girl, he knew that, and he loved that about her. He just wished that she would see some sense, and stay here at the prison with him. Nate couldn't go with Zoe and Glenn, as he had to stay back and guard the place with Daryl, as Rick wasn't able to do it himself, so he hated that he couldn't look out for her. He didn't know what he would do if she got hurt. "I just don't want you getting hurt, Zo." He finally admitted, watching as she attached her gun holster to her waist.

Zoe looked up at him with a sad look after hearing those words, "I won't. I have Glenn with me, nothing bad will happen. I promise." She swore, now walking up to him and grabbing his face with her hands. "I'll be fine. Me and Glenn will be back in no time." She told Nate, who nodded. As much as he didn't want Zoe to go, he couldn't stop her, and he knew that - he just wished that he could. Zoe leaned up on her tip-toes, pressing a gentle kiss onto his lips, before smiling up at him. "I love you." She told him, keeping one of her palms pressed up against his cheek.

Nate pushed aside his worries, knowing that they were just silly - Glenn wouldn't let anything happen to the girl, and he knew that.. "I love you."