WHITE FLAG

chapter thirty-eight : lil' ass-kicker
{ season three - episode four & five }

THE WHOLE WAY back to the others was dead silent. No one spoke, the guilt and sadness overwhelming them all. Carl didn't even look at the women, he just stayed behind Maggie and in front of Kloe as he stared at the ground with a broken look.

Isabelle was behind Kloe to make sure walkers couldn't follow them. Thankfully, they had a clear path back to the cell block. The only sound that was amongst them was the sound of the baby girl in Kloe's arms. From inside, Kloe could hear the group outside.

She knew that they'd be looking for them. The baby reached out her arms and grabbed the string that was around Kloe's shoulder from her bow. Kloe stopped while the others continued walking toward the exit, carefully tugging the tiny hands off of her bow.

Maggie pushed open the door to the cellblock, noticing that the whole group was out there except for T-Dog and Carol. She slowly walked down the steps as Carl did the same. While inside, Kloe slowly took off her bow and quiver so the baby couldn't grab onto them.

Isabelle stood with Kloe and waited for her, not ready to watch the group's faces fall when they tell them that Lori was no longer with them. One thing Kloe wasn't ready for was to tell Rick. His wife had died, and it didn't take them second thoughts to know that he'd be lost himself.

Maggie pushed the squeaky fence open, cutting whatever Rick was saying off. Everyone's attention set onto Maggie and Carl, who slowly stepped through the gate. Maggie peered over her shoulder, noticing that Kloe and Isabelle were gone, but she could hear them making their way over to the door.

She turned back around, seeing that Rick was pointing at her hands that were coated with blood. "Whose blood is that?" He questioned, stepping forward. Glenn and Zayn stood by each other's side, seeing that the girl they were most close to wasn't with Maggie and Carl, but that wasn't true.

Everyone's ears perked up and their eyes widened as they heard faint baby noises coming from the door. Their eyes lifted, catching sight of Kloe and Isabelle. Kloe was covered in even more blood than Maggie was, and her cheeks were stained with tears.

As Kloe and Isabelle stepped through the gate, she immediately saw Rick's face and she felt like breaking down all over again. Maggie stood off to one side as Kloe slowly approached the man who stared at the baby with wide eyes.

Kloe froze in place as the baby reached up at her and touched her chin. Kloe slowly looked down at her, her bottom lip starting to quiver as more tears began filling her eyes.

She looked back up at Rick, who had dropped his axe. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Only sobs. Maggie's eyes began to tear up again as she remembered cutting open the woman, the guilt flowing through her veins.

"Where- where is she?" Rick asked the Schmidt woman. Kloe opened her mouth, but nothing came out as a tear ran down her cheek. He instantly stormed past her, making his way over to where they had just come from.

"I- I'm sorry... I'm sorry," Kloe whispered finally, her whole body trembling as she rested her hand over the back of the baby's head.

Maggie was quick to attempt to stop the man. "No, Rick, no!" She choked out. The man only ignored her and walked over to his son, who was still staring down at the ground with nothing but a broken expression.

Kloe slowly turned around as she heard the man break out into sobs. "Oh, no... no!" Rick cried, placing his hand over his face with shock. She turned back around, blinking repeatedly to get a clear vision that wasn't water. She stared down at the ground, a tear falling onto it.

Maggie slowly stepped over to her younger sister and her father, who was now walking with crutches. Glenn watched his girlfriend sadly, his heart breaking at the sight of her. He paced over to her, making Kloe shoot her head up at the sound of the footsteps.

Glenn placed his hands on her neck on both sides, beneath her ears. Kloe sniffed as Glenn wiped away her tears with his thumbs, but they immediately returned as her throat closed up.

As she breathed, she could hear the slight wheeze, but her asthma was not important compared to the death of someone who was a part of the group. Glenn looked down at the baby that was sleeping peacefully in his girlfriend's arms.

He gently rubbed the baby's head with his palm, not wanting to wake the baby up. Kloe jolted slightly as she watched the man who was the husband to the woman that died collapse onto the ground, in a breakdown.

...

The group spent around ten minutes having their time to grieve. Rick's loud cries woke the baby from her small nap. Kloe glanced down at the baby in her arms, thinking of a technique to stop the baby from crying.

She knew why the baby was crying. She was hungry. All babies have to drink milk after being born, but no one thought of getting milk since they didn't know Lori wasn't going to be there. Their original plan for the baby's hunger was Lori's breast milk, but that didn't end well.

Kloe stared down at the baby, knowing that there was no point trying to rock it to sleep. "Rick," Daryl called out as he crouched down in front of the zoned out man. He waved his hand in front of the broken man's face. "Rick, you with me? Rick?"

Kloe turned to the side, noticing Carl still facing the ground with no emotion. Kloe bit the flesh in her cheek, attempting to think of a way to cheer the young boy up. "Hey, Carl," she softly called out to the boy, who looked up at her. "You wanna hold her?"

His eyes drifted down to his baby sister, the sight of her making him nod. He stepped over to the young woman, who carefully handed the baby over to her older brother. He took her in his arms, watching her as she cried.

"Let me see the baby," Hershel stated, making Carl slowly tread over to the elderly man, not taking his eyes off his baby sister. Kloe watched the young boy carefully, making sure he wouldn't drop her. But to her expectations, he didn't.

"What are we gonna feed it?" Daryl asked as he stepped away from Rick, who still stared into the air. "We got anything a baby can eat?"

Carl stopped in front of Hershel, who scanned the baby that was looking up at Carl's bright blue eyes. "The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula. And soon or she won't survive."

Kloe wasn't so fond of the idea of the baby not surviving, after what Lori had gone through to let the child live, sacrificing herself. Either way, they needed to get baby formula as quickly as possible.

"Nope. No way. Not her," Daryl shook his head, wrapping his crossbow over his shoulder. "We ain't losing nobody else. I'm going for a run."

Maggie was quick to jump in on the conversation. "I'll back you up," she said, her voice still croaky from the amount of crying she had done.

"I'll go, too," Kloe offered. Maggie and Kloe were the two that delivered the baby, the least they could do was get her something to eat.

"Okay, think where we're going," Daryl instructed before turning over to the two teens who watched the baby in Carl's arms. "Beth, Isa." The two girls followed the man. "Kid just lost his mom. His dad ain't doing so hot."

"We'll look out for him," Beth answered for herself and the girl beside her, who nodded.

"Did you find Jayce?" Axel questioned, making the group turn to him and Oscar. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his eyes were set on Kloe.

She gulped, remembering that they left the man down there. "Yes. We found him," she responded. "He wanted to stay down there for now. But he'll show himself soon."

The two prisoners nodded in understanding. Their attention got brought to Daryl, who called out to them. "You two get the fence. Too many pile up, we got ourselves a problem," he ordered, which they obliged. "Kloe, Maggie, vámanos!"

Before the young women could follow the man, their attention landed on Rick who swiped up his axe and harshly walked over to the cell block. "Rick!" Maggie yelled, but it was too late and the man already stepped inside.

"Get the gate," Daryl shouted, jogging over to the direction where Maggie and Kloe had to go. "Come on, we're gonna lose the light!" The young women shared a glance before Maggie followed the man.

Kloe turned to face her boyfriend and brother, sending them a small, weak, sad smile before following her best friend. She caught up with Maggie and Daryl, clutching onto her knife that was in her belt.

She had set her archery equipment down in the cell block while holding the baby, so she had to use what she had on her. "Where is there to go?" Kloe questioned while running.

"I'm not sure," Maggie turned her head over to Daryl. "Lori asked Kloe and I to keep an eye out. We haven't had much luck," she explained, slowing down as the three caught up to the vehicles.

"Is there any place that hasn't been completely looted?" Daryl asked as he set his crossbow down on his motorcycle. Maggie pulled open the car door, going through the weapons that were sprawled out across the back seats.

"Glenn and I saw signs for a shopping center just north of here," Kloe replied, pointing in the direction she had stated.

"I saw that too, but there's too much debris on the road," Maggie added, stepping out of the car. "A car will never get through there."

Daryl sighed. "I can take one of you." Maggie and Kloe shared a glance before Kloe went to open her mouth to offer, but the other young woman beat her to it.

"I'll go," she offered, eyeing her best friend out of the corner of her eyes.

"What, no, Maggie," Kloe shook her head, not wanting Maggie to go considering she had been through a lot. So had Kloe herself, but it was something that she was used to. She had watched people she knew die right in front of her, but Maggie, Lori was the first for her. "I'll go."

"I want to go," Maggie stated firmly. "For Lori. I have to." Kloe went to retort something, but she beat her to it, again. "Lori would want you to look after the baby. She would want me to go out. You're the baby expert, Klo."

Kloe pursed her lips, knowing Lori would want that. She gave in, nodding. "Okay." She opened out her arms, offering Maggie a hug which she gratefully took. The two best friend's held each other for a few seconds. "Be careful, okay?"

"I will," Maggie smiled as she pulled away from the hug, grabbing her backpack from the back of the car. She pulled the straps over her shoulder as she hurried over to Daryl, who had started the engine of his motorcycle.

Kloe watched the pair carefully as they took off into the distance. She swallowed thickly, looking down at the ground. Her hands came into her sight, still covered with Lori's blood.

Her mind traveled back to when they had to cut Lori open to get the baby out of her - the woman's screams plunged into her mind. Kloe sadly bit into her bottom lip as she looked back up, then remembering something that made her eyes widen.

"Oh, shit!"

...

"You're not going back down there, Klo," Zayn said firmly as he set down his shovel into the soil. Him and Glenn had dug up three graves for the people that were dead. They knew for a fact that Lori and T-Dog were dead, which when Kloe found out he was dead, she had another wave of emotion hit her like a ton of bricks.

But they were just assuming Carol was gone. They never found her body, the only thing they found was something Carol was wearing that day. "Why not? I need to warn him," Kloe retorted.

Glenn sighed, setting his own shovel down. "Kloe, the tombs are filled with walkers and Rick is currently down there doing who knows what. All we know, it's not safe."

"Exactly. It's not safe. I know for a fact that Rick is down there on a rampage, but if Jayce decided to let himself be known, who knows what Rick would do? He might even kill him," Kloe explained, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Rick won't kill anyone, Klo," Zayn stated firmly. "You just went through hell down there, and you wanna go back down?" He looked at his sister as if she was crazy.

Kloe's chocolate brown eyes flickered to the green grass beneath her feet. She blinked a few times, knowing that her brother and boyfriend were right. Jayce had managed to stay down there unknown for the past week, he'd definitely know how to make his way around Rick.

Her attention was quickly brought to the two prisoners that approached the trio. She swallowed thickly as she scraped at the dry blood that stained her hands. "Um, how's the perimeter?" She asked, trying to distract herself from the images of Lori's death repeating in her head.

Axel pointed at the fence in the distance. "We got the walkers spread out," he replied. He turned back to the young woman, seeing that her eyes weren't looking at anything but her hands that she was attempting frantically to remove the dried blood. He turned to the two men, seeing that they were watching her with pity and sorrow. "Need help?"

The three of them slowly looked at the short, strawberry blonde man. They stared at him for a few moments, before Zayn and Glenn resumed their digging, ignoring the man's offer. Kloe ducked her head down, feeling her nose burn as she continued scratching her skin.

Axel sighed. "Your friends, they..." he paused for a moment, the trio looking back at them. "They were good folks."

"They were family," Glenn remarked, making Kloe's heart drop as her mind traveled to her three friends that were like family. Lori, T-Dog and Carol.

"I think I had one friend like that my whole life," Oscar spoke up, pursing his lips as he looked between the three young adults. "You got a whole group." If what he was saying was meant to make the three feel better, it didn't. "Sorry you lost 'em."

While Zayn continued digging, not wanting to converse with anyone, Glenn and Kloe's eyes drifted over to the elderly man that stood on the opposite side of the chain link fence. They shared a look before Glenn climbed out of the pit, handing his shovel over to Axel. "We need one more."

He peered over his shoulder, locking eyes with his girlfriend. She nodded while pursing her lips, watching as he walked over to Hershel. Kloe's brown hues turned to the three men that were digging up the soil.

"I'll be back," she told them, keeping her hands as far away from her face as possible, "I'm just going to wash my hands." Without hesitation, she paced away from them. Her eyes flickered over to her boyfriend and Hershel, who were having a conversation through the chain link fence.

Her eyes averted to the grass, watching as her feet continuously stepped in front of the other. As Kloe stepped through the gate, no longer on the field and in the prison grounds, her attention got brought to a screech.

She stared at the gate that her, Maggie, Carl and Isabelle were previously stepping through while trembling not so long ago. Except, this time, it was only Isabelle and...

"Jayce found his way back," Isabelle announced to the older girl as the mentioned male stepped through the gate nervously. "He gave me a mild jumpscare, but I knew it was him."

"Hi, again," he attempted to smile, but it faltered as he noticed Kloe had no amusement in her face. "I'm sorry about that woman. No one deserves that, not even people I hate."

Kloe blinked a few times, unsure what to say as her heart continued to sit in the pit of her stomach. She felt empty, guilty, and sorrowful. "You're right. No one deserves death like that."

That was the only thing Kloe said before turning the other way, wanting nothing more than some water to wash her hands.

...

The baby girl that was in Carl's arms as she wailed for food. She was hungry, and if Daryl and Maggie weren't back anytime soon, she wasn't going to make it. An hour or two had passed, and they still weren't back.

Glenn had gone down into the tombs to search for Rick as Hershel asked, but there wasn't any luck as the grieving man continued to stay down there. As the group waited for the two that had gone out to get baby formula, the whole group sat in the cell block.

Everyone except Glenn, who had offered to Kloe that he would look out for Daryl and Maggie. Kloe's elbow rested against the round, metal table, her head in her palm.

"Kloe," everyone's head shot up to the woman who called her best friend's name. Kloe smiled widely as she stood up almost instantly, hurrying over to Maggie who managed to get the baby formula.

She set the backpack on the table. "How's she doing?" Daryl questioned from behind the two best friends. Maggie poured out all of the contents that were in her backpack.

Kloe's eyes brightened at the sight of all of it. She grabbed onto a baby bottle, hastily unscrewing the top. Maggie handed over a flask of water that was lukewarm before pulling open the baby formula. Kloe poured the water into the baby bottle and Maggie put a few scoops of the formula inside.

She screwed the top back on, instantly shaking it so the formula could mix with the water. Kloe turned around, catching sight of her boyfriend who entered through the door. Once the milk was now mixed, she stepped forward to Daryl who held the baby girl in his arms, rocking and shushing her.

Daryl gently took the baby bottle, tilting it so the baby could drink it. "Come on. Come on," he said barely above a whisper to the baby. The second the baby managed to get her lips around the bottle, her crying immediately came to a stop.

Kloe took a few steps back, her back pressing up against the wall. The two prisoners followed in after Glenn, watching the girl in Daryl's arms. The only person who wasn't witnessing this wholesome moment that put a smile on everyone's faces was Rick.

Glenn joined Kloe's side, watching her carefully as the dimples in her cheeks showed. A smile grew on his lips at the sight of Kloe's smile. He turned back to Daryl, who was grinning down at the baby.

"She got a name yet?" Daryl questioned Carl, who wouldn't take his eyes off his baby sister. Kloe pondered for a moment, wondering if Carl had announced the name of the baby.

He shook his heat and hummed. "Not yet. But..." he trailed off, his voice going quiet for a moment, "I was thinking maybe Sophia." Kloe's stomach twisted at the young girl's name. Sophia Peletier. The girl that Kloe saw as a sister figure. "Then there's Carol, too. And-" he exhaled heavily, "Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or... Lori. I don't know."

Kloe's smile was no longer there as Carl listed all the names of those they had lost. It only hit Kloe then at the amount of people they had lost over the past year. So much happens within a day that you forget about everything that had happened in the past. But then it would reach a time when you're left with nothing to do and you think. And then you remember again.

"Yeah..." Daryl muttered as he watched the baby who was drinking the milk with satisfaction. "You like that? Huh?" His voice raised higher as he spoke to the baby. "Lil' ass-kicker."

Everyone's lips went upwards at the nickname Daryl had given the baby. "Right?" Daryl looked up at the group who all had large smiles across their faces. "That's a good name, right? Lil' ass-kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?"

Kloe watched the man who would always be extremely intimidating if you were to ever cross paths with him. But now, the group were seeing his soft side for the first time. At first, it felt a little abnormal to hear Daryl be talking softly, but after a while, it grew on them. If someone told the group a year or so before that Daryl would be talking in a gentle tone feeding a baby, they would all laugh in their face.

Who would think Daryl would be the soft one? Certainly not anyone in the group. Reading her mind, Zayn began to speak up at Daryl's softness. "Hey, what have you done with the intimidating Daryl and who the hell are you?" He joked, making the group snicker.

Daryl slowly turned to the older Schmidt, attempting to keep an unamused look, but it soon turned into a grin. "Might've left him at the daycare. Who knows?" He played along, making Zayn shake his head with a large grin.

"Daryl has a soft spot for newborns. Noted," Kloe joined, resting her hand on her hip as she watched him.

He turned over to the other Schmidt, the same grin in his expression. "Have you seen Lil' ass-kicker's face? Only having to look at her face for a split second can make some psycho killer coo."

Kloe chuckled, tilting her head to the side to rest it on her boyfriend's shoulder. His hand traveled down her arm, intertwining his fingers with hers as he admired her touch.

If only Rick was there to watch the heart-warming scene with his best friend and daughter. Well, Kloe would see Rick and Daryl having a best friend relationship. They always worked together no matter what.

Kloe slightly frowned at the thought of Rick grieving over his wife. All she could do was feel guilty. No one could change that.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

words: 3724
21st august 2022
--------------------
WHY DOES THIS FEEL SHORT BUT IT'S NOT- idfk bro. ANYWAYS, rip lori and t-dog. both of them deserved better idc what anyone says.