Chapter 1

Reagan Grimes watched as her brother flung himself to the concrete, sobbing like a child who had just scraped his knee. Carl, her nephew, stood there emotionless. She thought the impossible.

"He had to kill Lori." She thought as she watched the scene unfold. Maggie sobbed in the background, still holding the infant as Glenn wrapped her arms around her and kissed her forehead. Reagan let a few tears fall. T-Dog, Lori, maybe Carol and all because of a pissed off inmate. An inmate who didn't even matter had shattered Rick and Carl's life. Now, the infant had no mother. No milk. Another run was about to be made. Wait, what the hell was she doing? She ran over to her brother who was still sobbing but was now sitting upright. He looked up with red eyes and grabbed his little sister in an emotional hug. She shushed him as she petted his head. His head was in her curly, strawberry blonde hair.

"She's gone." He said softly and she closed her eyes.

"I know." She told him. "It'll be okay, I'm going to help y'all out."

"I can't ask you to do that Reagan." He said.

"You didn't ask I'm doing it." She replied and kissed her brothers forehead. "Now, you need to be strong for your boy." Rick nodded with a blood stained face. Her face wasn't much better with the red splotches on her cheeks. "You go clean yourself up. We gotta figure out what we need to do next. You need to relax and let it out, you hear me?"

"Yeah, I here ya." He sniffed and kissed his sister's cheek as he hugged her again. Rick went away and Carl hadn't moved a muscle. Reagan bent down in front of him so she could look into the eyes he was shielding with his father's hat.

"I'm okay." He said lowly.

"You're strong and I need you to stay that way for your father. You ever need someone to talk to, you find me first." He nodded and wrapped his arms around her neck. "You did good, you were obedient, and you protected the group."

"I wish she was here." He said and she nodded as she rubbed his back. The group in the background was in complete silence as the 27 year old took over for that moment.

"Me too kiddo." She told him as she kissed his cheek lightly. He clung on to her tighter and gulped. She knew he was just trying to hold back the tears that were built up. "Go over there to be with you father." He nodded and quickly went back into the prison. She stood up and wiped her eyes free of the tears. She wiped her hands on her black tank top and walked back towards the group. Maggie was still holding the baby.

"We need formula or else she isn't going to make it." Herschel said.

"Wait, don't women have milk?" Glenn asked and Reagan sighed.

"Women only make milk if they're pregnant or nursing." she corrected. "I'm gonna assume that none of us are pregnant, if you are speak up." Her bright blue eyes scanned the women and no one made a peep. "Alright then, I'll go out and make a run."

"You ain't goin' alone. I'll go with ya." Daryl said and she nodded. Daryl and Rick had become buddies, if you will. They always had each other's backs and they would fuck up anyone that tried to hurt the other guy. She bent down and picked up her tomahawk she had dropped when she realized what had happened.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Beth asked.

"Hopefully not even a day." She answered. "I want y'all to keep an eye on Rick and Carl. If they ask for anything you give it to them."

"You got it." Maggie said. Reagan looked at the two other inmates with a scowl.

"Keep an eye on those two." She said and walked over to the two. "You try anything funny and we will fucking kill you. We've already lost enough of us as it is. You try to break us down we will break you without hesitation." She growled and the two inmates seemed a little shocked that this little girl was talking to them that way. Her eyes spoke the truth, she had full intent to spill more blood if they asked for it.

"We won't." Axel said.

"We won't even try." Oscar repeated. She walked away. Daryl had already grabbed a flashlight and was ready to go.

"You gonna tell him?" he asked and she nodded. She stalked over to her brother and nephew to tell them the news. Daryl watched as she told them and Rick protested at first. She grabbed his shoulders and sat him back down. Carl didn't make a peep but watched. Rick nodded after some hesitation and she kissed his cheek. She kissed Carl's cheek. Rick looked to Daryl as she did so.

'Protect her.' He mouthed.

'With my life.' Daryl replied and Rick nodded. Reagan tied her combat boot that had become untied in the frenzy and made her way back to Daryl. She had her pistol in the waist of her dark skinny jeans and some ammo in the small messenger bag.

"You ready?" she asked.

"We ain't got all day." He replied and she nodded. The baby started whining in the background and she slowly closed her eyes. They needed that formula now but she would have to wait. If they waited too long, the baby wouldn't make it and Rick wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. She opened her eyes when she ran into Daryl's back. "We'll take my bike."

"Yeah, because that won't attract anything." She thought but contained her thoughts. "Let's go." He got onto his bike and she followed behind him. She didn't wrap her arms around his waist until the bike jumped to life, frightening her. "Yeah, this thing is incognito." They drove off and she glanced one more time at her brother who was shielding his face from his son. A frown appeared on her face and Daryl looked behind him. She wasn't paying attention to him and kept looking at her brother. Sadness creeped into the largest pair of bright blue eyes he had ever seen. Daryl looked down at the ground then looked straight ahead. He had never seen Reagan act that way, she was like a ravenous wolf out looking for prey. They were all evolving, some faster than others. Before this, Reagan was a positive, bubbly, optimistic young woman. Now that she saw her brother fall apart, she had changed in that short span of time. Nothing was going to be okay anymore. They were lucky enough if they went two hours without killing a walker, or a group, or a herd.

"There's a town not too far from here." Daryl said. "There's a daycare north of here that we can go to."

"If that's our only hunch we have to check it out." She replied and he nodded. The load roar of the motorcycle rang through her ears. "We can see if we can get some other things for the group too." They had to be silent for the rest of the way there because one, they were already making enough noise at it was and two, they couldn't hear each other very well over the engine. She had her hand on her pistol at all times just in case they ran into any walkers and one arm around Daryl's waist so she didn't fall off. They reached the town in about an hour. Before, it should've taken an hour and forty five minutes but they were speeding. If speeding still existed they would've been fined heavily. Daryl threw on his poncho and Reagan jumped off the motorcycle.

"Do ya see any walkers?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Not to sound cliché but it's almost too quiet." She replied. "I can break down a window though, so if anything is hiding, it'll come out." She heard the kickstand and Daryl grabbing his crossbow.

"Let's go." He said and they walked over together.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

"About Carol." She finished.

"I'm fine." He grunted.

"We'll find her." Reagan said. "One way or another."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"She was my sister in law. We may not have always gotten along but she was a friend." She replied. "I'm more worried about Rick. He's finally snapped." She sighed. She saw Rick grabbing an axe before she left and running back into the prison. Beth ran over to Carl and everyone else followed.

"Rick's strong." Daryl said.

"The bough always breaks." She quipped and he looked to her. "Every strong man breaks. Shane was one of the strongest men I knew. Guess what happened to him? He broke." She replied. "Right now I have to look after my family. Even if the baby isn't my family I will take care of it."

"You think the baby's Shane's?" he asked.

"It's a possibility." She replied and she started to laugh. "I never forgave Lori for cheating on Rick. Now look what happened." Daryl looked sadly at Reagan who looked like she was at a breaking point herself.

"She knows that you forgave her in time." He tried to console. She pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Carl had to kill her." She said. "He had to kill his own mother. No kid should have to do that." She sighed and shook her head. "This is so fucked up." She groaned and faced palmed. Daryl stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. Her body was wracking with silent sobs. He had never seen this girl cry before. She was always the stronger one for Carl when Lori broke down. Daryl walked back over to her and held her shoulder.

"Carl did what he had to do." Daryl told her.

"He's only thirteen." She said with a clenched jaw. "He shouldn't have to go through this shit. He should be going through hormones right now." She replied and to her surprise, Daryl actually chuckled.

"I think he's already going through them with Beth." He quipped and she chuckled too.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It's alright, people have to cry every once in a while." He told her and she got out her pistol.

"Thanks and keep guard." She said and he nodded. He lifted his crossbow as Reagan broke down the window. "Seems clear but keep your guard up." She told him as she climbed into the day care. She saw two cribs and she had pushed some toys to the ground. She hoped and prayed there weren't any baby walkers. She walked in and looked around. She grabbed large amounts of diapers and an unopened pair of bottles. Daryl climbed in and noticed the same things she did. She had walked a little further on but he had noticed a colored hand cut out with 'Sofie' written on it. Memories flooded his mind of when he had to bury Sophia but he shook his head.

Reagan turned her head a little to see Daryl looking at a hand cut out with 'Sofie' written on it. She really wanted to give him a hug but she refrained. He'd probably kick her ass if she tried but she really believed that's all he needed. "I think the kitchen's this way." Daryl looked at the hand one more time before he left with her.

"I'll go ahead first." Daryl said as they heard some rustling. He held his flashlight in his mouth like a cigar with his crossbow still drawn. They opened the door to the kitchen and the rustling seemed to be coming from the pantry. Daryl motioned with his eyes to the handle and she nodded. She pulled out her tomahawk and held the door handle.

"Do it." He said while his teeth gripped onto the flashlight. She threw it open and a hiss came from the pantry, followed by a whimper. Reagan looked in and saw a dead possum. "Hello dinner!" he said and she chuckled.

"I'm sorry but I'm not putting that in my bag." She opened a cabinet and smiled. "I will however put this in my bag." Daryl turned as she presented the powdered baby formula and there was even more in the pantry. "It's still good too. This should last us a little while." She packed it into her bag with a smile that the little girl might make it after all.