The winter was long and cold. Somehow we managed to get through it with no casualties. It wasn't easy, and we came close a couple of times but we are all still together. The haunting idea that Andrea is dead made me feel worse about myself. She saved me and if I wasn't such a coward maybe she would still be alive. I tried to talk to Lori about it but she always tells me that we don't know for sure if she's dead or not, we will never know. I want to believe that, but we've been around this part of Georgia all winter and I think she would have left a sign or something to tell us she was okay. At least that was wishful thinking. Spring begins to blossom, the days aren't as cold and we come across another house. Carol, Hershel, Beth and I stay back with Lori. Carrying our things and watching out for her as the small women moves with a waddle. She's due in another month and it's getting harder for her to keep moving. I didn't mind offering to help her travel when it started to get harder for her, things with Daryl have been weird ever since I kissed him, and he avoids me when he can. We sit in the run down, bug infested living room. Daryl starts to pull at the feathers of an owl he shot in the house while Carl brings in a can of food from the kitchen. He begins to open it but after he does Rick grabs it out of his hands and looks at it. "Dog food" he mutters before throwing it against the wall, the goop spilling over the rotted wood floor. I sit next to Lori, whose trying to fight back the tears when T-dog whistles out to us. It's his signal that it's time to move on, walkers getting close. We grab everything quickly, already in a pile at the door and Daryl leads us out the back way and we head back towards the cars. We drive along another road that looked like the others and stop to figure out our next move.
Rick comes over to the car where Maggie, Hershel, Daryl, T-Dog, and I are looking at a map. "We've got no place left to go." T-dog states after looking at it.
"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off, we'll never make it south." Maggie explains.
Daryl asks out loud "What do you say, it's about 150 head?"
"That was last week, could be twice that now." Glenn shakes his head.
Hershel points on the map "this river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through this."
"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." Glenn explains remembering another heard we've come across.
"So we're blocked." I comment matter of factly.
Daryl coifs at my words and Rick speaks up "only thing to do is double back at 27th and swing towards Greenville."
"We picked through that already, it's like we spent the winter going in circles." T-dog explains.
Rick's eyes are heavy "yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through the area. We can't keep going house to house." His eyes drift off to his wife, sitting in the truck. "We need to find some place to hold up for a few weeks."
"Alright." T-dog agrees. "Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? It won't take long. We gotta fill up on water, we can boil it later."
It's not too long that we are done by the creek that Rick gathers us back together "I found it" he says, trying to hide a smile "Get the weapons, let's go. Follow me." He directs.
We all stare at him, wondering what the hell he's talking about when Daryl yells out "Come now! Ya heard the man!" and our feet move. I grab the supply bag why the others take hold of their weapons. Rick brings us to the site of a jail. We make our way to a fenced in walkway. Rick begins to cut at the wire for us to sneak through and Daryl and Glenn get his back, it opens enough for us to slip in "watch the backside!" He shouts.
"Got it!" I holler back as look out. Everyone crosses the wire, Glenn begins to wire it back up so no walkers can slip through it. We hurriedly walk down the trail, the dead coming to the fence for food. Daryl opens a door where the alley stops.
We look ahead at what lies in front of us. A courtyard filled with dead prisoners, guards and some others. Behind it lay the prison. "It's perfect." Rick says. "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight."
"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel asks
"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel asks.
Glenn offers to do it but Maggie doesn't like the idea "no, it's a suicide run."
Glenn argues "I'm the fastest."
Rick takes control with a plan as he usually does "No. You, Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there," he says pointing back towards the walkway "pop them through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot, take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Hershel, you and Carl, take this tower. " he points to the one closest to him.
"And me?" I ask when he's done.
He looks at me then his wife "you stay with Lori, keep an eye around everyone. Shout out what you see." He directs and I nod. "Everybody gets in position. I'll run for the gate." He nods after, agreeing with himself on everything he said.
Glenn, T-Dog, Maggie and Beth run off to draw the walkers towards them. They scream and holler out for them, a lot making their way over to where they are. They start to kill them one by one, stabbing them in their heads and through the faces. Lori stands next to her husband and he nods at her. She opens the gate for him to go through and as soon as he crosses I help her close and lock it. A walker coming towards it. Lori stabs it with a screw driver through the eye and it falls down fast. Rick runs towards the prison fence, shooting walkers who get in his way. I look at everyone carefully, watching the walkers that come close "Glenn!" I shout to him as one tries to grab the weapon Maggie is using. He helps her, killing it and they continue on. Rick reaches the gate and shuts it. As he does, more are closing in on him. I try and yell out like everyone else to get the attention off of him but they are too far from us and too close to him, to a moving meal. Rick gets inside a guard tower and closes the door just in time, blocking the dead from getting him.
Lori sighs in relief and tries to hug me. Her belly getting in the way. We smile at one another as Daryl yells from the tower "Light it up!" Everyone takes out their guns and shots begin to ring through the air. I take this time to scan the fence area, to find any weak spots and tie them up now. The shots begin to slow down and people are retreating out of their spots. Rick kills the last one and a smile creeps across his face and we all meet up at the alley again.
I open the gate for everyone to pass along with Lori. Carol comes out with a smile on her face "Fantastic! she explains.
"Nice shooting" Daryl compliments her.
Carol replies, accepting "Yeah" she directs her attention to Lori "You okay?"
Lori replies "I haven't felt this good in weeks" With a big smile. Carol and Daryl both grab her on the arm as they pass with smiles. Carol gives me one as well but Daryl just looks away. We all go into the courtyard with excitement.
"Oh!" Carol skips forward in delight "Oh, oh! We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!"
T-Dog shouts out "WHOOOH!"
And I get a running start for a round off back handspring. I land on my feet and tumble back onto my ass with laughter. I lay on the grass with my arms and legs spread out as if I'm making a snow angel. "I didn't know you could do that" Beth comes smiling over to me.
I lift my neck off the ground "its been a long time." I say back "I'm just happy I didn't twist my wrist!" I whisper and we both chuckle.
I sit around the fire with Glenn, Carl, Maggie, Beth, T-dog and Hershel. Glenn finishes the meat of the animal from his bone and hums out "Mmmm... Just like mom used to make." He throws the bone off into the field.
"Tomorrow, we'll put all the bodies together. We want to keep them away from that water. Now, if we can dig a canal under the fence, we'll uh have plenty of fresh water." T-dog says to us all.
Hershel already planning on farming says "the soil is good, we could plant some seed, grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, soybeans." He looks up then over to Rick "that's his third time around. If there was any part of it compromised, he'd have found it by now."
Beth turns to Lori "this will be a good place to have the baby. Safe."
A little while passes when Hershel address his youngest "Bethy, sing 'Paddy Reilly' for me. I haven't heard that I think, since your mother was alive." He asks of her.
Maggie speaks up "Daddy, not that one, please."
Hershel changes the choice then "How about uh... 'Parting Glass'?"
Beth shakes her head "No one wants to hear me sing?" she says sheepishly.
"Why don't you sing Sadie?" Daryl quips from where he's standing with Carol behind the group, licking his fingers.
Everyone looks to me, not knowing that I ever sung and I shake my head "no, I'd really like to hear Beth sing that song" I return, looking to the young girl with a smile.
"Alright.." She sighs and begins the song that her father requested. She has a beautiful voice that carries through the wind like a bird chirping in the morning. Her sister joins in, and we all listen peacefully until it's over.
Rick breaks the silence "better all turn in. I'll take watch over there, we've got a big day tomorrow."
"What do you mean?" Glenn asks.
Rick hesitates for a moment. "Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we gotta push just a little bit more." He pauses. I look around at the tired faces and can't imagine us doing much more "most of the walkers are dressed as guards or prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early. Could mean the supplies may be intact. They have an infirmary, a commissary.
"An armory?" Daryl asks.
"That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine, this place could be a gold mine!" Even in the dark his eyes light up.
Hershel adds "We're dangerously low on ammo. We'll run out before we make a dent."
"That's why we gotta go in there. Hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it." No one answers though, and the sparks from the fire is all we hear. He tilts his head down towards his son "these assholes don't stand a chance." He leaves the group to take watch, Lori following after him.