MONTHS LATER

To say that the prison is a pretty good location would be an understatement. What has happened in recent months has been amazing, the group has grown to unimaginable proportions in terms of territory and safety. The residents believed that even if 1000000 zombies tried to invade their home, they could easily defend it.

And of course, their neighbors in Woodbury also took advantage of the prison's abundance. After Abraham built the first house, he focused on building a mini road connecting the two places. It was a success.

Now the prison and Woodbury were practically one community. Well, with the expansion of the prison grounds, many Woodbury residents moved there, so it could be said that there was a merger.

Lori and Samantha's pregnancies were going well, according to Hershel and Maggie. They even had a doctor from Woodbury check on them, and he also said they were good.

Jonathan had a conversation with Eugene, where they talked about a lot of things. He convinced the man to confess that he wasn't a scientist. It didn't take that long, as Jonathan was convincing enough. As he was still kind of new to the group, many didn't react angrily, but Abraham, Rosita, and his family... reacted angrily.

But after a lot of convincing on Jonathan's part, they made up. And, knowing Eugune's intelligence, Jonathan also gave him some books and videos on various things, from making ammunition to improving agriculture.

This plan was a success since Eugene was now the supervisor of the farms and of a small place on the outskirts of the prison, where they had been making their bullets for the last month or so. It wasn't of the best quality, but it was enough that Jonathan almost didn't need to buy more from the SHOP. He only buys them occasionally and, in most cases, for personal use.

The 'transfer' of power from Jonathan to the group of four came naturally since Jonathan wasn't always a leader who bossed others around. From the beginning, he had taken this position because no one else around him was qualified, but this changed with the arrival of Rick and the rest.

Rick, Gabriel, and Samantha were leading the group well, with hardly any fights between them. Well, Gabriel mostly followed what Samantha said because she thought like Jonathan, and Gabriel firmly believed in what Jonathan believed. Gabriel even started what somehow looked like a cult, but that was just rumors.

And, thanks to this transfer, Jonathan was spending more and more time out of prison. On some of those trips, he occasionally brought new people into the group, after confirming that they were good people.

Jonathan was preparing to explore places near Alexandria, Hilltop, the place where the Saviors lived, somehow dealing with the Whisperers and searching for his parents more thoroughly, but he was waiting for Samantha to give birth to the baby. To tell the truth, not knowing his parents' situation was eating at his conscience a little, but he suppressed it.

Carl and Shopia were growing up faster and faster, with the boy secretly coming to Jonathan to learn how to shoot better and asking for more ammunition, and Jonathan, knowing the future and the dangers of this world, always allowed. Sophia always accompanied Carl when he went to see Jonathan.

By the way, Jonathan, and everyone else for that matter, could see that the girl had a crush on the boy. Now, whether Carl liked her... was another matter. They ended up together in the comics, but Jonathan didn't know if his actions had changed that either.

Eve and Nathanael were growing naturally too, getting better and better at long-range shooting. They started a small rivalry over who was the better shooter, but so far it was even.

Merle and Daryl met up again, and then Merle reunited with Rick and his old group. He said he didn't hold any grudges about them trapping him on that roof in Atalanta. He said he would've done the same, but now he was a changed man. He quickly regained the trust of everyone in the group with his speech.

Jonathan, although he didn't fully trust the man, he trusted Daryl who trusted Merle, so he didn't have much to say about the situation.

Gleen and Maggie, seeing as their situation was practically stabilized, were planning to try to have a baby after Lori and Samantha's children were born.

Micchone and Tyresse were still together, but several people in the group noticed that they were almost breaking up.

Carol was fine and didn't look like she was going to turn into her version of the TV show... yet.

Abraham and his family were doing well, with him being the supervisor of practically all the buildings.

The rest of the group was doing well too.

Which brings us to the present day. There were only a few days to go until the babies were born, and Jonathan was anxious.

'What if the equipment we have here isn't enough?' It was enough. He had bought everything and more to make the birth as smooth as possible.

'What if Hershel, Maggie, and the doctor don't know what to do?'They knew, but that didn't stop Jonathan from questioning everything.

And the way he found to combat this anxiety? Shoot zombies and a few targets.

Over the last few months, Jonathan had spent at least $100k on anti-anxiety ammunition alone.

Now that the birth could happen at any minute and Jonathan couldn't go out exploring, he was spending more and more time shooting. He had internet thanks to the cell phone he bought through the SHOP, but he suspected that he was the only human who still had internet access, so he could only listen to music and watch old movies.

BANG BANG

Eve was distracted when she saw that Jonathan was easily firing more than 200 shots into a sandbag. 'He reloaded his gun six times in the last 10 minutes.'

'' ... What did that sandbag do for you?'' Eve said exasperatedly at Jonathan while looking at what was left of the target he was shooting at.

''I'm anxious and this helps calm me down. That sandbag was the unlucky one.'' Jonathan was shooting and forgetting about his problems.

'' Huh... But why are you so anxious? Even me and Nathanael, who were Samantha's children, and even Carl who was about to have a sister, are calm about the birth.'' Eve already suspected that her mother and Jonathan had something going on between them, but it was only a suspicion. However, Jonathan's behavior was making this suspicion stronger and stronger.

Jonathan kept firing until he ran out of bullets. He then reloaded while looking at Eve. ''Even before the apocalypse, childbirth usually had a lot of risks involved, imagine now in the apocalypse. Of course, we have enough equipment thanks to my gift, but bad things can still happen.''

Which is true. Many mothers and even babies have died from complications related to childbirth since the beginning of time. Of course, given the chance that the child would be his, Jonathan was even more anxious.

Eve knew that what he said made sense and went back to competing with Nathanael, who was ahead because Eve had stopped to talk to Jonathan.

'' Jonathan! I ran out of bullets!'' Carl, who was also there shooting a target, came begging for more ammo.

Jonathan smiled a little seeing that scene as he passed some bullets to Carl, '' Here, have fun!''

Carl smiled, '' Can you give me more ?'' Jonathan was about to ask why, but Carl beat him to it, '' Shopia also ran out of bullets.''

Jonathan looked over at where Sophia was and saw she was still shooting. Still, he didn't mind giving more, '' Sure.''

After receiving some more, Carl finally seemed satisfied, '' Thank you!'' And ran back to where he was shooting.

Jonathan looked at the scene with a smile on his face, ' He really likes guns, huh...'

After some more thought about that obsession that Carl had, Jonathan went back to shoot. But, not long after, Gleen came out running at full speed in their direction.

Jonathan noticed that and the look of anxiety on Gleen's face, so he knew something must have happened, ' An attack, maybe? But who would be the crazy one to attack here...?'

Just then, Gleen finally arrived. Carl, Sophia, Eve, and Nathanael also had noticed Gleen coming in their direction and were waiting for him. As soon as he was in earshot, he shouted, '' Lori and Samantha entered in labor!''

Jonathan's mind immediately blanked. He knew it could happen at any moment but he still thought it was too fast.

He recovered fast thought, and asked Gleen, '' Where are both of them?''

It wasn't just Jonathan who now was anxious, everyone else there was too. Lori and Samantha were both part of their family, so they also were preoccupied.

'' I was too sudden and both happened at the same, but they're now at the infirmary in Block 1. Hershel and Maggie were already there taking care of things, but they said to call everyone to stay alert, in case ... something is to happen with both.''

While Gleen didn't say what could happen, everyone there knew what he meant. After all, Death was lurking around every corner in this world.

Jonathan and the rest said nothing more and rushed to the infirmary in block 1. Arriving there, they could see it was packed with almost everyone that was in the original group and some more. Gabriel was holding a prayer with a few others, asking God to make the delivery as easy as possible.

'' What is the status?'' Jonathan entered the room where both pregnant ladies were and asked Hershel. By the way, only a handful of people were allowed inside the room, so only the immediate family ... and Jonathan were there.

Hershel wanted to say something but held back, '' They want to try giving birth the natural way, but if it doesn't work, we have the tools to do a C-section, so don't worry too much.''

Jonathan nodded, looked around some more, and finally went to talk to Samantha, who was talking to Eve and Nathanael and looked like she was in pain.

'' How are you feeling?'' Jonathan asked, trying not to sound anxious.

Samantha smiled seeing him like that but her face soon contorted with pain, '' Well, it feels like something wants to come out of me.''

Jonathan winched a little, '' Yeah, that doesn't sound too comfortable.''

'' It's not....''

Jonathan took Samantha's hand, '' I hope it goes well. Remember, if you can't push, we can have a C-section.''

'' I got this.''

Jonathan said a few more things to Samantha, then left her with Eve and Nathanael, and went to talk with Rick and Lori, to see how they were holding. He went close to Lori, talked some pleasantries with her, and wished her good luck.

Arriving close to the man, Jonathan asked, '' How are you feeling?''

Rick was not like his usual self. He wasn't looking that good, '' I - I don't know.''

Jonathan knew something was up, '' What is wrong?''

Rick hesitated some more and pushed Jonathan aside, out of everyone's ears, '' I never told you this but ... Lori hooked up with someone else in the Apocalypse. I don't blame her as this was before I arrived and everyone thought I was dead... but there's a possibility the baby is not mine.''

Jonathan paused, ' So he knew the possibility... Should I mention I have a DNA test kit?'

After some thought, Jonathan said why not, and told Rick, '' Listen, if want to, I can go out and find something like a DNA test. I'm 100% sure I can find something like that out there, but only if you want.''

Rick hesitated. This was a big decision. The baby had a large chance of not being his and he didn't know how he would react when he found the result of said DNA test.

After some more though, Rick finally said, '' Bring one... I don't know if I will use it, but it's better to have something than to not have it.''

Jonathan nodded. He was about to continue saying something when Maggie finally said, '' Okay, everyone who is not a doctor and is not pregnant can leave the room. Oh, Rick can stay as he is the husband.''

After patting Rick on the shoulders, Jonathan and everyone else left the room, leaving the doctor to do their job.

'' Do you think everything will be alright?'' Carl asked.

Jonathan wanted to ruffle his hair but the boy was using Rick's hat. '' Trust the doctor and your mom.''

Then, everyone waited. Soon enough, they heard shouts of pain coming from that room, but it was expected.

After 30 or so minutes everyone heard a baby cry and smiled a little. It didn't matter who it was, Lori or Samantha, but just knew one of them made it amazing.

After more than 30 minutes Rick went out with a baby in his hands. He showed it to Calr first, '' This is Judith, your sister. You now have to protect her too.''

Carl touched Judith's face and smiled a little, '' Leave it to me!''

Rick then showed her to everyone else. He said to Jonathan, '' Samantha is still in labor, but they said it was looking okay.''

Jonathan thanked Rick as he watched the man return to the room with Judith.

Then, without any warning, the SHOP interface appears in front of Jonathan, 'DETECTING A NEW SUITABLE HOST HAS APPEARED.'

Jonathan gasped, as this meant the baby was his, but soon his surprise turned into horror. For the first time since the apocalypse started, Jonathan was afraid. All because of what the SHOP said next.

'THE SHOP CAN'T EXIST IN 2 PEOPLE IN THIS UNIVERSE, AS IT WOULD BREAK THE BALANCE... TRYING TO FIND SUITABLE OPTIONS... ERROR... ERROR... ERROR... FOUND A SOLUTION.'

' THE WORLD WILL FORCEFULLY EVOLVE. THE ZOMBIES WILL BECOME STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE, ALL TO ADAPT TO THE NEW SHOP SYSTEM.'

' THE CURRENT SHOP WILL PASS TO THE OTHER HOST, WHILE YOU WILL RECEIVE A UPGRADED VERSION. THE UPGRADE WILL START IN 10 ... 9 ...'

Jonathan knew something bad was going to happen as soon as his SHOP finished upgrading so he immediately shouted, '' NATHANAEL!''

Everyone in the infirmary stopped what they were doing and looked at Jonathan with surprise. They never saw him act like that.

Nathanael also was surprised, but he reacted quickly, '' What's wrong?''

'' RAISE THE ALERT TO THE MAX LEVEL! CALL EVERYONE WHO IS OUTSIDE OR IN WOODBURY TO THE PRISON. NOW!'' Jonathan was anxious as he looked at the timer going down.

Nathanael could see the desperation in Jonathan's face, so he knew something was up. He didn't know what, but he trusted Jonathan with his life, '' Leave it to me.''

' 4 .. 3 ... ' Jonathan knew he didn't have much more time, '' Give a gun to everyone and stay put until I wak-''

Jonathan didn't have time to finish speaking as the timer reached 0 and he passed out in front of everyone.

Eve, who knew something was up from the way Jonathan was acting, caught his falling body. The atmosphere in the infirmary which was happy moments before thanks to Judith now was strained, as all of them heard what Jonathan said.

But only Nathanael and Eve knew the real gravity of the situation. So, after putting Jonathan down, Eve said, '' You heard him. Contact everyone and tell them to return home. They are in danger.''

Gabriel fully trusted Jonathan so he immediately went way to the radio room, to warm the others. But the others were skeptical, as they never witnessed Jonathan's 'supernatural' powers in action like Eve and Nathanael did.

'' What is all this about?''

Eve responded, '' Jonathan has ... a gift. He can sense things other people don't and do things others can't. He got us out of situations others thought impossible with only his intuition. So when he says all of us are in danger, we ARE in danger.''

'' So, we have to act. Give a weapon to everyone and prepare to shit hitting the fan soon.''

Just as Eve finished speaking, another cry came from the room where Samantha and Lori were. This time meant another baby was born. But the atmosphere outside was of apprehension, as they didn't know what to do.

To believe in Jonathan or not. Soon enough, everyone reached the conclusion to trust his words and went out to arm everyone and do other things.

Eve was happy seeing that, but also worried about their situation, ' Jonathan never acted like that... I hope it's not that big of a deal...'

She looked at the room where her mom was and made her way there.