After Dark

Chapter Four

"Florida is in complete ruins and overrun with zombies and the Government's home base is in New Mexico, so that's a no go," I explained as I looked down at the map spread across the table. "Los Angeles is a red zone, D.C was completely burnt to the ground when I went through there a few weeks ago and I wouldn't cross the border into Mexico if I was dumb, deaf and blind, it's just as bad as Florida and the few survivors they have there shoot first and ask questions later."

I looked up at the faces around me, taking in the disappointment and frustration that was on show and felt a stab of sympathy in response. In less than five minutes, I had just blown all their backup cities into the water and had put them right back to where they had started in their search for a new home, however temporary it may be.

"I understand your frustration," I tried to convey my sympathy into my words as I caught the eyes of each member in the small group. "This place doesn't exactly hold any good memories for any of us, but honestly, this prison is the safest and most stable thing I've found in the past half a year. It's a shit hole and I know that none of you want to stay here, but it's your best option right now."

It was the truth, I knew it and by the resigned expressions on the faces of the group, they knew it too. A prison, though not a desirable spot to live, was an ideal safe place, with its impenetrable gates and thick stone walls. I honestly hated the place, hated walking down the halls only to be bombarded with horrible memories of my time here, but I didn't want to be back on the road, especially when there was a chance that Alex might still show up.

"We're just going to have to go further for supplies," Caputo finally spoke up, sighing in exhaustion as he ran his fingers through the spindly hairs on his head. "We'll just have to send out bigger groups, two cars at a time, just in case."

"Yeah, except it ain't ever you out in the cars, is it?" Gloria sneered from where she sat on the other side of the table, next to Officer Fischer, who sat in awkward silence between the older man and resentful former inmate.

"I'll take out a group of volunteer's tomorrow," I offered quickly, shutting down the argument that was brewing before it could explode. "I went through a town on my way here, a couple of hours outside of New York and picked up some things in the local supermarket. It's still pretty well stocked and as long as we leave just after dawn, we should be perfectly fine."

"I'll come with you," Fischer offered instantly, to which I replied with a small, grateful smile, since I had always liked the female guard. I hadn't forgotten my last night here either, the kindness this woman had shown me when she found me knee deep in snow, leaning over Tiffany's lifeless body. I could still feel the cool metal of the screwdriver that she had pressed into my hands, a tool that had saved my life more than once after I escaped the prison with Alex and our rag tag group of women. This woman had unknowingly saved my life, saved Alex's life and I would be honoured to have her by my side on a run through a zombie infested town.

"I got a few girls in the kitchen that will go," Gloria nodded in agreement, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. "Flaca and Maritza, they can handle themselves. A couple of others will sign up too, as soon as we spread the word that we're having a run tomorrow."

"No more than six," I replied. "I want to pack the cars as full as we can, so we don't have to go back so soon."

"Feeding this fucking group, you'll be going out again this time next week, Chapman." Caputo sighed as he leant back in his chair, earning a hate filled glare from Mendoza. "These girls don't know the meaning of rations."

I said nothing and instead just rolled up the map that was spread across the table, signaling the end of our meeting. Caputo immediately stood from his seat and left the office, followed shortly by Fischer who gave me a small smile as she left. It left me alone with Mendoza, who was tapping her nails against the edge of the desk in agitation. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill that guy."

"He means well," I sighed as I tapped the rolled up map against the edge of the table. "He's just scared, like everybody else. I mean, how many people do we have here?"

"Including the newbies and the left over guards?" Mendoza raised an eyebrow in thought before shrugging her shoulders. "Almost two hundred."

"Fuck," I breathed out, dropping down heavily to sit on the edge of the table. Two hundred people was much more than I had expected and that many people couldn't live off canned food forever. I frowned in thought for a few minutes as Mendoza watched me curiously from her seat, before an idea struck me. "You know what? We need to start a garden or something."

"A garden?" Gloria scoffed in response, though there was a glimmer of interest in her eyes. "Didn't know you had a thing for flowers and shit, chicka."

"Not flowers, vegetables." I murmured in response, as my brow furrowed in thought. "We could see if we could pick up some seeds or something while we're out and then we can start growing our own vegetables. Isn't there a greenhouse down past the track?"

I turned my head to face Mendoza, whose face was scrunched in thought before she slowly nodded. I smiled slightly in response and slipped off the edge of the table, gesturing for the older woman to follow me. "Come on, let's go see about these volunteers, then we can take a walk around the grounds and see what we've got."

/

There was no sleep for me this night, after I spent hours wandering through the prison, reacquainting myself with my fellow ex-prisoners and the grounds. I was reunited with some old friends, such as Sister Ingalls and Sophia, whose wife and son, Michael, had joined her in the prison once the outside world went to shit, along with DeMarco and some of the golden girls, like Chang. I also spent some time being shown around the less frequented parts of the prison by Susanne, who seemed to be delighted by my return.

"It got boring without you around here, Dandelion," The woman had told me as she led me through the prison basement. "Shit still kept on happening, but you took all the light with you when you left. It's been dark here for a long time."

I had smiled at Susanne's words but I had felt a pang in my heart, since my light still hadn't returned to the prison and was still out there wandering around in this fucked up world without me. I had quickly pushed my thoughts of Alex away and had buried myself in work, going through the supplies in the kitchen, which honestly wasn't much, at least not enough to feed a prison filled to the brim with two hundred survivors. Gloria and I did manage to find the old green house on the grounds, unoccupied for years by the state of it, but with more than enough space to start a vegetable garden and I had left it in the hands of some of the golden girls to get ready for planting.

It was now almost 5:00am and I was waiting for my little group of volunteers to finish getting ready as I leant against the front doors of the prison. With Gloria's own shotgun strapped to my back and several sharp blades hidden on my body, within easy reach, I felt confident about the quick supply run that was about to take place. I had a small group of six women, including myself; with Fischer who would be driving one of the cars, the two girls from the kitchen and two women that I didn't know very well, named Ashleigh and Sarah.

"You all good?" Mendoza asked as she sidled up beside me, having gotten up early to see us out of the gates and to close them behind us.

"I'm fine." I replied easily, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched one of the Spanish girls loading a revolver. "Everything will be okay."

"It better be," the older woman said softly in response, her dark eyes fixed on the two young Spanish girls. "I don't want to be burning no more bodies of the people I love, you hear me?"

I tilted my head slightly in acknowledgement, feeling a weight settle on my shoulders as I watched Mendoza walk away, to stand beside Flaca and Maritza. I watched silently as she gave them each a hug in turn and took this as my cue to open the doors and begin the short trek to the cars that were waiting for us by the gates. Since the sun was only just beginning to rise, some of the undead still lingered by the gate, though their eyes were beginning to become unfocused and their movements were slower and uncoordinated. I smiled slightly at the sight of the two vehicles waiting for us, one of which was an old black pickup truck, to which I had the keys for, and the familiar van that used to be driven by Morello, what felt like a lifetime ago.

And just like that, I was overloaded with memories from the past, of the first time I sat in that van with Janae Watson sitting beside me. God, I fucking missed her, the younger woman who had become one of my constant companions in the years past, who had watched my back and saved my life more times than I could count. And then came the memories of Nicky and Morello and Red, and of course, Alex; from the first time I saw her in that bar, a life time ago, to the moment I was torn away from her on that godforsaken boat.

I felt as if my chest had tightened, crushing my heart beneath my ribcage and I gasped for air, because fuck, I missed her so much. I missed her hands and her lips, her strong arms that wrapped around me and most of all, just the comforting, warm presence of her at my side. Where are you, Alex? I'm fucking waiting for you here, don't you know that? Can't you feel me?

A hand dropping comfortingly on my shoulder snapped me from my morbid thoughts and I turned my surprised gaze to Fischer's big blue eyes, which were staring back at me in sympathy. "You okay, Chapman?"

"I'm fine," I grimaced at how croaky my voice sounded, as if I was on the verge of tears, which I was. "Let's get this show on the road, yeah?"

Fischer merely nodded in response, her eyes searching mine briefly before she pulled a key from her pocket and began walking to the van. I gestured for the two young Spanish girls to follow me as I unlocked the pickup truck and hopped into the driver's seat.

"You girls ever been out on a run before?" I asked as I put on my seat belt and stuck the key into the ignition, allowing the engine to rumble to life. I watched as Mendoza unlocked the prison gates and put the truck into gear before I pushed my foot down lightly on the accelerator.

"Nope." Both girls answered in unison as we slowly drove through the gates and past the zombies that were fading into the shadows. Fischer fell in behind us and I watched in the rearview mirror as Mendoza locked up the gates, her dark eyes fixed on our cars as we drove down the road away from Litchfield.

"Great," I murmured softly in response, slipping on a pair of sunglasses as the sun began to light up the road. "Just fucking great."