Shawna stood by the stairs she had walked down. She looked around the room where the group had put them. There were bars and gates all around. It was drab and gray. A guard tower stood against the back wall flanked by two cell doors. Steps led up to a guard tower. A catwalk encircled half of the room. It wasn't that large of an area and it became even smaller as the people filed in. She realized she was trading one secluded area for another. Instead of those monsters being imprisoned, caged, or locked up, the people, the living, were now the minority that had to isolate themselves from the rest of the world to keep alive. It may have been a prison, but it felt safe. It felt safer than what she had left. Woodbury had fallen.

The governor had disappeared. They all knew it. He had gone on a rampage, according to Karen. The people of Woodbury, the ones that came with Rick, knew their leader had cracked and left them. Many people went crazy in this world of infinite horror. Everyone had their moment. It was a matter of time if that person would snap out of it or not.

"You a'right?" a male voice said directly to her right. The voice jarred her back to reality from her thoughts. Shawna looked over to see a man standing there with a crossbow slung on his shoulder. He had come with Karen, Rick, and a dark skinned woman to get them to come to the prison. With him in such close proximity, she took note of his rough visage, but, there was softness to his voice and in the corners of his eyes. He looked somewhat familiar too. She knew she had never seen him before. His presence made her ease the tension she was holding in her shoulders. A small butterfly fluttered somewhere in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Shawna answered. The man nodded. She walked further into the room.

Everyone was off the bus now and into the facility. They were all gathered in some sort of common room. There were two tables with seats in the middle and cages along the wall on either side of her. She moved away from her group, towards the back wall to the right beside a door. She liked keeping her back to the wall. It was something solid. Something the biters couldn't come through.

Rick entered the room across from her. He was speaking with some of his people pointing or gesturing. He talked to a woman with short graying hair. Shawna couldn't hear what he was saying so she looked in the direction he was pointing. It was towards the cell door beside her. She swallowed hard as she looked through the door into the cellblock. Were they going to be this group's prisoners? No, that can't be right. He had taken them in because they had nowhere else to go. He offered solace. When she looked at the woman again, she nodded understanding what she was told.

Rick stood on the stairs leading to the guard tower. "Can I have everyone's attention, please?" he projected across the crowd. "For those I missed, my name is Rick. I just want to say welcome. As I stated on the bus, we are not here to hurt you. We will make the most of the room we have available to us, for all of us. This lady here is Carol," he said as he pointed out the lady he had spoken with just a moment before. "She will be assigning you to a cell. Please listen to her so we can get everyone settled in. Thank you." Rick then walked down the steps and out the gated doorway. The guy with the crossbow followed him.

Carol then stood on the stairs. It looked like she was getting a head count before she proceeded. Shawna wasn't pay attention, her gaze was still on the doorway the two men had exited.

"Hello, everyone, as Rick said, I'm Carol." She was a soft spoken lady. "I guess, we'll start with families first so you can stay together. If I could have you line up here we'll get you situated first. The rest of you just hold tight. There is some drinking water over there." She pointed to a wall that had one of those orange coolers that you use to see at construction sites sitting on a small cage with legs. A line of people walked over to the cooler. A small group of people lined up in front of Carol. Everyone else seemed to huddle in the middle of the room, except for Shawna.

Carol took the group into the cellblock with a young blonde woman who helped carry some personal items. Shawna clutched her bag closer to herself. She didn't want anyone touching the only belongings she had left.

In this stage of the nightmare, you packed light so you could move quickly. In Shawna's case, she had packed very lightly because, when the horror broke out, she couldn't carry much. It was difficult for Shawna to get around being a heavier woman. She had to leave her home suddenly. She had grabbed a backpack, some changes of clothes, a kitchen knife, and a rifle. She assumed that she had lost about 30 pounds, give or take, by the time she arrived to the prison. She was still not as skinny as most of the women around her.

She sat on the floor with her backpack near the wall away from everyone. She wasn't thirsty and she had no family, not anymore. There were not many families left. Most people who had survived this long were now alone. The sense of family brought back sad memories. She unzipped a small pocket on the front of her backpack and took out a photograph. It was a picture of a man and a small girl. She swallowed hard, clenched her jaw and put the picture back into the pocket.

After she zipped the pocket closed, she looked up to find Carol standing on the stairs again. It hadn't taken long for her to house the families.

"I assume the rest of you are by yourselves," Carol said bringing Shawna out of her retrospection, "Please, follow me." The rest of the people followed Carol. Shawna grabbed her backpack and stood up from the floor to join them. They headed towards the cell block. "Most of you will be paired up but there will need to be two groups of three. There are two beds to a cell. You will have to make the most of it until we can clean out another cell block," Carol informed them as they walked pass the others already in their cells. Shawna glanced into one cell and saw Teresa and her son settling in with another family of two. She smiled at them. Teresa smiled weakly back.

"I think it will be a good idea to have the older folks closer to the common room and on bottom bunks. The younger folks can fill in top bunks and further along. That way if anything should happen, the younger ones can defend the group," Carol surmised as she stopped along the corridor in front of an empty cell. She gestured towards it. The older people in the group made their way to the front. After some brief chatter amongst themselves, two people entered, one older, one younger. It proceeded in much the same way until the group only contained those under the age of 40 years old. The two groups of three had already paired up and were in their cells.

"I need a single person to be in this cell. Anyone want to volunteer?" she asked the group as they stopped at the cell directly by the stairs on the second level.

"I will," Shawna spoke up towards the rear of the group. She didn't have many friends in Woodbury so it didn't matter to her. She pushed her way through the group to make her way to the front

"One of us will be with you, if you don't mind," Carol said. Shawna shook her head. "Thank you."

"Sure," Shawna replied.

"You're name?" Carol asked just as Shawna was about to walk through the cell doorway. Shawna turned back to look at her suspiciously. "We're just trying to get to know everyone. This is Beth," Carol said indicating the young blonde lady standing beside her. Beth smiled.

"I'm Shawna, pleased to meet you both." She nodded to them and turned to enter again. She thought of something else and turned back to the two ladies. "And thank you. Seriously, thank you for accepting us in here."

"You're welcome," Carol said with a smile. Shawna stepped inside her cell, alone. The group moved on.

Shawna placed her backpack under the bottom bunk claiming it as her own. She had chosen the bottom bed because of her weight. She sat down on the bare mattress on the bunk looking around her new home. It was small. There was a toilet, sink, small metal table bolted to the wall, a stool, and tiny mirror. She could not imagine being imprisoned here with another person for an extended amount of time without the freedom to roam. She had never been one for breaking the law or spending any time in jail. She was a good person. The worst she had ever done was call her boss a bitch to her face and promptly quit. Now, if the law had been withstanding, she could be arrested for stealing and murder, if killing a biter was considered murder. She had never killed a living person, there was no need to, not yet.

As she looked around, she found some tally marks carved into the wall. She stood up to see them closer. The marks were towards the back corner. Above the ticks was a title, "Turned." Whoever had lived in this cell kept a record. On closer examination, there were two groups. It appeared to be inmates and guards. It had looked as if the guards had turned first because the group of tallies had more than the inmate list. Or the inmate list was incomplete because there was a bloody handprint on the wall as well. She stepped back slowly.

"Everything okay?" Carol's voice said from the doorway. Shawna spun on the spot. She was carrying a pile of blankets and sheets. Beth had a stack of pillows.

"Uh, yeah," Shawna said. She took a second glance at the handprint on the wall then back to Carol and Beth.

"Here is some bedding for you. It may not be the cleanest but it is something," Carol stated. "Rick also wanted me to inform everyone they will be giving jobs to those who are capable. There will be cooking, cleaning, and watches to do. You'll be assigned later."

"I don't want cooking," Shawna said immediately.

"Why not?" Carol asked taken aback at the abrupt response.

"I was once accused of stealing food in Woodbury," Shawna explained, "The others wouldn't think it wise to put me on kitchen duty." Carol looked uneasy. She took in Shawna's girth and then understood. Shawna saw the understanding in her face and retaliated. "I was accused. I never did the crime," Shawna informed her boldly.

"Okay," Carol replied. "I will let Rick know. Your name is Shawna, correct?"

"Yes," she said.

Carol nodded. "Take a sheet, a blanket, and a pillow," she instructed. Shawna took what was offered from each pile.

"Thank you," Shawna said more calmly as she set them on her cot. The 'thank you' was more for the understanding of not wanting kitchen duty rather than the bedding but it sufficed for both.

"Could you take another set and place them on the other bunk?" Carol asked her.

"Of course," Shawna said quickly taking another set. She placed them on the top bunk.

"Someone will be back with your assignment," Carol said. "Do you have any weapons on you?" she asked abruptly.

"I have a hunting knife," Shawna answered hesitantly. She had picked it up along her journey to Woodbury, discarding the kitchen knife she had brought from her home. Her rifle was taken away by the Governor when she first arrived.

"Good." At first, Shawna thought they were going to confiscate her only weapon but was relieved that they did not take it. "You never know when you will need it. We also just want to see what sort of weapons everyone has to defend themselves with. We have weapons, but not a lot to spare. You may get another weapon depending on your duties, especially if you are keeping watch."

"Okay," Shawna answered as she started to unfold her sheet to spread on her bunk.

"We'll let you all know when dinner will be after everyone has received their tasks. You are free to walk about this cell block, the common room, and the yard, but not anywhere else," Carol said.

Shawna nodded her head in understanding. Carol and Beth moved on to the next cell which was down the block. There were a few empty cells between hers and the next full one. She figured they were for the prison group. She finished making up her bunk and sat down not really having anything else to do at that moment.

Sounds echoed throughout the cellblock. The people from Woodbury were whispering. Even the whispers echoed. Nothing was clearly audible; it was all white noise. It was almost peaceful. Only, it would never be peaceful especially when you had to watch your back for those hideous beasts that wanted to gnaw at your flesh.

Shawna laid on her bunk. She stared up at the underside of the bed above her and listened. She didn't listen to the whispers or the talking that came in from the common room. She listened further on, for the guttural sounds of the undead, the gurgles, groans and moans. She thought she faintly heard them and hoped she was safe enough. She glanced towards her cell door and got up to shut it. When she returned to her bunk, she could feel fatigue setting in.

For the past few weeks, Woodbury had made her uptight. The feud between the two groups was felt by everyone, even those not closely involved. The Governor had tried to brainwash them to think this prison group were terrible people. Yet, here they were accepting them into their home. Shawna had come because she never really trusted the Governor fully. She had her reasons.

As she laid there, her eyelids became heavy with each passing breath as she thought about her new home and the people within it. It wasn't long before Shawna drifted off to sleep.