C H A P T E R   1 6

❛ part of the group ❜

MILO

     THE HEAVY SILENCE THAT LINGERED IN THE courtyard was only interrupted by the small cries of the newborn baby. Rick's sobs had died down and now the man was sitting on his knees, his eyes empty. He seemed completely unaware of his surroundings, locked in a prison of grief.

Slowly Daryl walked forwards, kneeling down in front of his friend. 'Rick? Ya with me?' He waved his hand before Rick's eyes but no response came. 'Rick?'

Milo looked away from the broken man, unable to bear the sight of his grief any longer. His eyes were drawn to the girl instead. Carefully and tenderly she placed the baby in Carl's arms as he looked at it with both wonder and fear. The little baby girl continued to cry, stirring restlessly in her brother's arms, as though she could feel the hole her birth had left in the family standing around her.

'Let me see the baby,' Hershel said.

Carl obeyed and walked over towards the older man.

'We gotta feed it,' Daryl spoke, walking away from Rick. It seemed he had concluded he couldn't do anything to help his friend right now and so he decided to focus his energy on helping the little girl instead. 'We got anything a baby can eat?'

Hershel reached out, examining the baby in a professional manner. He must have been some kind of doctor before all this mess. 'The good thing is she looks healthy,' he stated. 'But she needs formula and soon or she won't survive.'

Daryl gave a firm shake of his head. 'No, no way, not her.' He threw the strap of his crossbow over his shoulder. 'We ain't losing anyone else. I'm going for a run.'

'I'll back you up,' the girl said, her voice much stronger and her tears gone, although her eyes were still red.

'I'll go too,' the asian kid added.

'Okay.' Daryl nodded, then he turned to Beth and whispered something to her.

Milo looked back at Rick, feeling his worry for him grow. He was looking around in a daze, his eyes unfocused and his body slightly swaying.

'You three,' Daryl suddenly shouted. It took Milo a second to realise he was talking to him, Axel and Oscar. Part of him believed they'd already forgotten about them, but apparently not. 'Get the fence, too many pile up, we got ourselves a problem.'

Milo nodded. His hands itched for something to do, something to take his mind off the horrible turn of events.

'Glenn, Maggie, vámonos,' Daryl ordered, walking towards where the cars were parked. But the two were distracted by Rick, who suddenly got to his feet and reached for the hatchet he'd dropped.

A shiver crawled down Milo's spine when he saw the sudden harshness on the man's face. A burning anger that couldn't amount to anything good. Then Rick swiftly turned around and disappeared into the cell block.

Everyone watched him disappear. No one said a word. After all, what could you say to a man who just lost his wife?

'Get the gate!' Daryl said, pointing at Milo and throwing him the keys. 'Come on, we're gonna lose the light!'

Daryl's desperation to pull the broken pieces of his friends together seemed to be the fuel the group needed to get moving again. Glenn, Maggie and Daryl ran towards the cars as Milo and his two friends headed towards the gates. Milo ran across the grounds, searching for the right key as he reached the fence. Quickly he unlocked the chains and pulled the fence open. The roar of the motorcycle approaching made him step aside. Daryl drove through with Maggie sitting behind him. As soon as they were outside he closed it behind them, locking the chains around the fence, pulling it tightly shut.

Then he turned to look at his friends. 'Time to get to work.'

Oscar nodded and handed him a crowbar he must've picked up in the courtyard. Then he walked towards the fence where a few walkers had gathered. More were already stumbling out of the treeline, walking straight towards where the small herd was pushing against the fence. Soon enough the group might be big enough to push it down.

Milo quickly followed his friend. He planted his feet firmly on the ground before pushing the crowbar through the fence, right into the eye of a walker. When he pulled it back, black blood fell down on his arm. He groaned in disgust but gave himself no time to think about it. He could get cleaned up after getting rid of these walkers. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the crowbar into another one's head. Images of the day flashed through his head as he kept on killing the corpses. With every body falling down the irrational fear of one them being his sister haunted him. What if she had met the same fate as Rick's wife? The thought made his heart ache and before he could even begin to try and stop it, a scream had left his lips as he pushed the crowbar through another skull.

A hand landed on his shoulder making him jump and turn around, slowly lowering the crowbar. It was Axel. His friend didn't have to say a word, it was simply the worried look in his eyes that was enough for Milo to calm down. He noticed Oscar watching him as well and he nodded at the both of them.

'Sorry,' he mumbled. 'I just...'

He had no words to describe exactly what he was feeling. It was just the pain that seemed to linger in the air that made him so frustrated. He barely knew these people and yet his heart ached for them. The pain, along with the fear for his sister, was slowly becoming exhausting.

'Let's go ask Glenn if we can help him,' Axel said, nodding towards the asian kid who appeared to be digging graves on the other side of the meadow.

Milo studied the fence. There weren't many walkers left to take care of. They would just have to keep an eye on the fence so they could jump into action if too many would pile up again.

And so he put the crowbar on the ground and nodded. They headed over to Glenn and as they approached Milo felt himself wince by the way he aggressively dug the holes, his movements somewhat frantic. Their approaching footsteps made him look up before climbing out of the hole he'd dug. 'How's the perimeter look?' He asked, his voice flat, as if he was only asking to look concerned but he really couldn't care less.

'We got the walkers spread out,' Axel said, pointing towards where they had just been working. 'Need help?' He asked, nodding towards the grave.

Glenn turned away, not answering immediately, probably wanting to do it himself. But he seemed so incredibly tired. He could use a break, even if he didn't want to admit it.

'Your friends,' Axel started, making Glenn turn back to them, 'they're good folks.'

'They were family,' Glenn spoke through gritted teeth. He looked away as soon as the words had left his lips, as if he was telling himself it wasn't their fault and he shouldn't direct his anger at them.

'Think I had only one friend like that my whole life,' Oscar said. 'You got a whole group. Sorry you lost 'em.'

Glenn kept on poking the ground with his shovel as he seemed to search for words, but none came to him.

'We want to help,' Milo finally broke the silence.

He nodded, looking at the courtyard. Milo followed his gaze and saw Hershel had managed to walk himself up to the fence and was now looking at Glenn like he wanted to talk.

Glenn handed the shovel to Axel. 'I need two more,' he said before walking away.

The three inmates shared a look before picking up the other shovels and started to dig. He worked until his back ached and his hands were blistering. But the feeling of physical exhaustion instead of mental, was a welcome change. He lost track of time as they worked, gladly getting lost in the rhythm of digging in the dirt and throwing the dirt beside the holes.

Once they were done, they helped Glenn carry the remains of T-Dog and Lori to the holes. They had tried their best to wrap their bones into a few sheats they found, but the blankets had turned red with their blood anyway. The sight tore at his heart but somehow he couldn't look away either. They hadn't found anything that belonged to Carol and the sight of her empty grave left shivers crawling down his spine.

Glenn stood next to her graves, his entire body tensed like a livewire.

Milo had no words to ease his pain. He wasn't religious and couldn't make any promises of his family being in a better place. He hadn't known any of them and so couldn't say anything about their deeds while they were still alive either. Instead he walked up to Glenn and put a careful hand on his shoulder. He counted it as a win when the man didn't push him away.

'We'll finish it, you should get some rest,' he offered.

When Glenn looked at him his eyes held none of the frustrated anger they held before. Instead he just looked tired, but grateful. He nodded before turning around and making his way back to the prison again.

It had become dark outside when they were finally done. Maggie and Daryl still hadn't returned back and so Glenn had ordered the three inmates to stand watch by the gate while he stood watch in the guard tower.

Milo his hands were hurting from digging the graves and holding the crowbar tightly as he killed the walkers along the fence to keep the entrance clear. But he didn't mind. The pain in his hands was a good distraction from the horrible thoughts that plagued his mind.

He wanted nothing more than to find out what had happened to his sister but today's events made him force himself to face the very likely possibility that she was dead. Yes, she was smart but so were these people and if they lost the battle against the cruel world why would Quinn be any different? No matter how much he wanted to believe it, she was probably gone and he was going to have to find a way to accept that. If he didn't, he'd probably never stop blaming himself for getting captured and not being out there to help her. He'd never stop wondering about what could've happened. The best thing he could do was learn to let it go and accept that she was gone, though that was easier said than done.

'There they are!' Glenn shouted.

Milo looked up and saw a bright light appear between the trees. The roaring sound of the motorcycle echoed through the forest, coming closer and closer until he could finally see them. He raised his crowbar and started hitting the fence with it, trying to lure the walkers away from the gate as Oscar opened it.

'Come on!' Axel yelled next to him, making just as much noise.

A gunshot sounded from the tower as Glenn put down a walker wandering awfully close to the motorcycle.

Immediately after Daryl drove through the gates, Oscar closed it behind them. Milo placed his crowbar against the wall of the guard tower before making his way after the others back to the cellblock.

The cries of the little baby bounced off the bare cement walls when they entered. Maggie called Beth over and quickly the two sisters got on to making the baby formula.

Daryl knelt down next to Carl, reaching out and taking the baby in his own arms.

Milo took a seat at one of the tables, tiredness overwhelming him. But the feeling hardly mattered when he looked at the little life in Daryl's arms. Beth handed him a bottle, which he carefully put in the baby's mouth. Her cries died down immediately as she drank contently. A small smile appeared on the rough features of the man as he carefully rocked the baby in his arms. His usual guarded and grumpy mask had disappeared completely as he watched the little vulnerable life that he held.

'She got a name yet?' He asked, turning to Carl.

The kid shook his head. 'Not yet but I was thinking maybe Sofia but there's Carol too. And Andrea, Amy, Jaqui, Patricia or...' he lowered his eyes. 'Lori. I don't know.'

They had lost so many people that it was truly a miracle they were all still standing. And not just standing. They were strong, a family and they were willing to fight for each other everyday. It was a strength he had never seen before in his life.

Daryl turned his gaze back to the baby in his arms, smiling once again as he watched her. 'Yeah, you like that, huh,' he mumbled, 'little asskicker.'

Milo felt a soft laugh escape his lips, making Daryl look up, still smiling. 'Right? That's a good name, right?'

Carl chucked, followed by the others. Happiness suddenly seemed to fill up the dark cell block, lighting it up like a christmas tree just by a few broken people laughing.

'Little asskicker,' Daryl mumbled, slowly walking around with the baby. 'You like that, huh, sweetheart.'

Milo leaned his head back, trying to capture the feeling of happiness. It was something he could use after all the darkness he had witnessed. And what better way to find a little bit of happiness by celebrating a newborn life.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

You're probably wondering why I'm updating on monday. Well, that's because today I am officially four years on Wattpad and I wanted to celebrate that by giving you guys this surprise chapter!

Also I was thinking about maybe adding the monday to my update schedule. Would you guys like that? Or is two chapters a week enough?

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter even though it was short. I loved writing the scene with Daryl and Judith and Milo's thought process around the whole situation. Please let me know your opinions in the comments!

xXx
UYM

edited: ✔