TWD: Crimson Tears
Chapter 9: Trials and Tribbles
Rick wasn't sure what sound woke him from his slumber, but he opened his eyes with a start and felt immediate fear. It began with a tingle in his spine and then spread through his body like wildfire. He slid out of bed and almost robotically walked out of his room. He left the left sleeping area and using a flashlight, he walked toward the middle of the prison, where he met Daryl.
Daryl had his crossbow slung over his shoulder and a machete on his belt. He looked at Rick, with an intense, yet anxious look in his eyes. "You heard it too?" He asked him.
Daryl nodded and glanced into the darkened hallway, that led to the lower level of the prison. Neither of them had been down there in weeks. It had been labeled as a red zone. Most of the walkers had been cleared out, but there were still a few down there, hidden in the darkness.
"What is it?" Rick asked as he shined his flashlight into the hallway. A tingle spread up his spine as he felt sweat drip down it.
"Don't know," Daryl simply responded. "Walker maybe."
Both of them heard the sound again. It sounded like a thump and then scratching. It was faint, but loud enough that they recognized what it was. It sounded as if a walker had fallen and was struggling to get up or that a walker had gotten one of theirs and that person was struggling to break free. Either way they had to check it out.
Rick tightened his grip on his flashlight and pulled out his gun. He motioned for Daryl to follow him, which he promptly did. They walked toward the end of the hallway, where a darkened staircase led them to the lower level. Neither of them noticed that the doors at the top of the stairs and at the foot of the stairs were opened a crack.
They slowly walked down another hallway watching each other's back as they both of them used their flashlights to see. Blood was smeared and splattered on the walls in random areas, but there were no signs of any walkers in any of the other cells. Useless garbage was scattered everywhere. There was the occasional rat that would dart out the moment light struck it.
Suddenly Rick heard a cell door creak open and then shut in front of them. Both shined their lights in the direction of the noise, and at first saw nothing. But as they approached, they saw a darkened figure exit the cell and shine a light at them.
"Dad?" A terrified voice asked. "Daryl?"
"Carl?" Rick asked him confused. Daryl looked away from the light. "What are you doing down here?"
Carl was about to answer, when they heard a baby's piercing cries echo loudly throughout the opposite end of the darkened hallway. Rick immediately thought of Judith and grew scared. All three of them cast their lights in the direction, but only ended up casting eerie shadows along the walls. On either wall in between each cell. The lights barely illuminated the graphite and he could see a large blood stain splattered on the wall.
Rick glanced at his son briefly who was staring into the hallway with terror in his eyes. He was biting his lower lip and looking quite pale. He began to head toward the sound of the crying, when he reached out grabbed his hand. "You can't be serious?" He asked looking at him with pleading eyes.
Rick looked at his and saw the fear in his eyes. He didn't blame him one bit. He was just as scared, but he just learned how to control it. Going deeper was certain suicide. But he didn't care. Not when his daughter may be in trouble. If it was her. The sobbing sounded different. More high pitched. Yet, regardless if it was her or not, he was still feeling terrified.
Daryl and Carl were right behind him, when a walker stepped out of the cell to Rick's right. Rick grabbed it by the arm and neck, throwing it against the wall as Daryl stabbed into in the head. Rick shoved the walker back into the cell and the continued on his way, as the baby's piercing cries grew louder and more ecstatic.
Without a second glance, Rick continued on his way, trying to be as cautious as he could, yet moving as quickly as possible. With Daryl and Carl watching his back, it made it easier. But not by much. Amidst this darkness, walkers could be hiding anywhere and could dart out from anywhere. Extra caution needed to be used.
He looked inside the cell on to his left and saw a walker standing amidst the shadows facing the wall. Her long dirty black hair clung to her face. For a brief moment he saw that it looked like Lori, but that changed when she turned around. Her face was half gone, chewed up by walkers. Her cheeks and jaw were bitten off that you could see inside the mouth. One of her eyes were bitten off and the other was hanging by its tendon. Blood and black ooze dripped out of her mouth, while her eye waved back and forth as she approached them.
"Damn," Daryl said watching Rick cut off her head. Blood squirted over his face and shirt like a cherry tomato.
The baby's crying grew louder and closer. Rick looked into the next cell and saw a baby bouncer in the middle of the floor. It was flipped over and covering blood. There was a scratchy blanket covering it, which was extremely dirty and bloodstained.
Rick slowly approached it apprehensively and reached out, grasping the blanket. He held his breath as he pulled it off and tossed it aside. He turned the bouncer over, but there was no baby in it. Instead there was a blood stained pacifier in it.
Rick stood up straight and turned around to see a walker step out from the other cell and grab him. Daryl and Carl were nowhere to be seen. Instead there were a half a dozen walkers in the hallway instead. He cursed and pulled out his gun, shooting the walkers as quickly and efficiently as he could. He soon ran out of bullets and then grabbed his machete just as a walker grabbed his arm. He tried to pull out of its grasp, when everything grew dark.
He opened his eyes and found himself in bed. He was covered in sweat and twisted in his sheets. He still felt the walker's touch on his arm. He heard Judith whimpering, so he slid out of bed and approached her bed. She was wide awake and staring at him with a small smile on her face. She reached out to him as he picked her up.
"Hey there," He said with the image of the dream still fresh in his mind. He kissed her on the cheek and held her tightly.
Carl exited his room and looked at his dad. "Hey," He said as he approached.
Rick smiled at him as he rocked Judith back to sleep. "Can't sleep?" He asked.
Carl shook his head. "Just the opposite," He said with a small shrug. He reached out and caressed Judith's tiny hand. She looked at him and cooed. "Slept four hours solid and now feel fresh." He frowned. "Just as if I slept the whole night."
"Nice," Rick simply responded.
Carl looked at his father and could tell that his mind was miles away. "Is everything okay?" He asked him.
Rick gave his son a reassuring look. "Yeah," He simply responded. "Just tired." He wasn't interested in discussing the dream with him.
For a few moments neither of them spoke. Rick was watching Judith lovingly as she was nearly asleep. "Dad," Carl said breaking the silence. "I've been wondering something." His dad looked at him. "What's the plan here? How long are we going to stay here?"
Rick was surprised that he was asking him that. He wasn't sure what to respond, mainly because he wasn't sure what to tell him. Was this their home? Or was it just a temporary solution? Were there better and safer places than here? Or was this the safest place they'd find?
How safe were they here? There were double fences around the prison, which was pretty secure itself, although it needed constant maintenance. But if the fences didn't prove to be secure enough, then there was still the gates and cement walls around the prison. They had plenty of supplies and alcohol, so they were pretty good.
"What do you think of this place?" Rick glanced out the window as the moonlight shone through.
Carl glanced at the window as well and shrugged. "Cold," He said, "But not too bad."
Rick looked at him and chuckled. "Well it is a prison," He simply frowned. "But do you think of this place as a home?"
Carl shrugged. "I guess so," He said running a hand through his messy hair. "We are safe here." He glanced at Judith who was fast asleep in his dad's arms. "Can't complain with that in this day and age."
"I concur," Rick said as he placed Judith back in her crib. He wished her a goodnight and stifled a yawn. He looked at his son and saw the moon's glow glisten in his eyes. "I have an idea. We are running low on diapers and wanted to know if you wanted to go on a run with me."
Excitement flashed in his eyes. "Really?" He asked him.
"Sure." Rick nodded. He yawned again and scratched his neck. "We can leave after breakfast."
Carl smiled. "Sounds great," He said happily. He had been aching to get out for a while. "Thanks dad."
Rick smiled at him and nodded again. "Sure Carl," He said to him. "Good night." He squeezed his shoulder affectionately and then stumbled tiredly back to bed.
Abraham stepped out of the car and into the humid morning air. He opened the car's hood and eyed the smoke that billowed out, causing his eye to tear. Not only were they low on gas but the engine was now shot. He groaned and waved the smoke away with both of his hands.
"How bad is it?" Rosita asked with her hands on her hips. She had the semi-automatic slung over her shoulder.
Abraham looked at her and slammed the hood shut. He shook his head and spat on the ground. "May the sky rain diamond turds before we have some god damn luck here." He said to her angrily.
Rosita sighed. "Shit," She said unhappily. "Now what?"
Abraham glance at Eugene and Carol and scratched his facial hair. Carol was standing by the side of the road, watching them both intently and with a faraway look. It seemed as if she had a lot on her mind. Eugene was leaning against the car with his arms crossed over his chest and a nervous expression on his face.
"Walk," Abraham said annoyed. He glanced at her. "And pray that we find a working vehicle soon."
ROsita sighed again, feeling instantly more exhausted that she had felt in the longest time. Not only did her legs feel like led and jello at the same time, but her back and neck hurt. She also had a headache and even though she took Advil not too long ago, but the headache seemed to grow worse.
She shook her head. "Well shit," She grumbled.
Abraham agreed with her and stepped up to Eugene and Carol. "Well this car is as broken as my cousin's dick," He told them.
Eugene gave him a bewildered look. "What is that supposed to mean?" He didn't understand his analogy.
Abraham was about to tell him about his cousin who came out at a family convention and told everyone there, that he was going to have a sex change. But knowing that it wouldn't help in any way, he decided against it. Instead he spat on the ground again beside the car and then shrugged.
"Well to put it simply," Abraham said to him. "It would take a miracle more than baby Jesus himself can provide for this car to work again."
Eugene seemed to like that answer better, even if it were just as colorful. "Or someone who had the proper tools and knowledge to fix the engine," He replied as he uncrossed his arms. He turned toward him. "But since we have neither, the only course of action now is two things."
Rosita gave him a sudden look. The way he spoke irked her. She believed in the mission, but dislike him. "What is that?" She asked.
"Well we can follow this road and hope we find a car, which I highly doubt we will be as lucky," He said eyeing everyone. "The other option is to travel the few miles to Terminus and see if we can make a trade there."
Abraham scratched the back of his neck. "The second option sounds better," He said.
Carol shook her head not liking the idea at all. "We know nothing about this place," She told him. "We know nothing of who these people are and what they are like."
Abraham gave her an understanding look. "That's why we will scope out the place first of course," He said, "I have no interest in knocking on their front door, before we get a good look at the place before hand.
Carol wasn't too satisfied, but she didn't press on. "Fine then," She said, "Lead the way."
Everyone grabbed all the supplies and then began to follow the signs toward Terminus. "So anyone know a good joke," Abraham said trying to lighten the moment. When no one responded, he decided to tell one. "When do walkers go sleep?" He asked waiting a moment for anyone to answer. No one did, so he told them the answer. "When they are dead tired."
Carol and Rosita glanced at each other without laughing. Eugene looked at him and shook his head. "That was an awful joke," He told him.
Abraham chuckled. "That's true," He said, "That was a pretty shitty joke."
Rick made sure Judith was tucked in and comfortable for her morning nap, before he made his way to breakfast. Breakfast was the usual, plain oatmeal, which he enjoyed. He had lost his sweet tooth ages ago. It could've been because it had been ages since he had some good and tasty sweets or that he was just getting older. or both.
He said good morning to everyone and then took a bowl of oatmeal for himself. He began to eat it, when Darl sat in front of him. He licked the oatmeal nosily off his fingers. "I hear you're are taking Carl out on a supply run," He said to him.
Rick took a spoonful of oatmeal. "I am," He said.
Daryl shifted in his spot. "Do you want backup to your backup?" He asked him. "Unless you assumed I would go anyways."
Rick ate the oatmeal. "That's true," He said.
Daryl chuckled and ate more oatmeal without a spoon. "I see," He said licking his fingers noisily.
Rick leaned close and looked him in the eyes. "You don't seem like someone who likes to be cooped up for too long," He said to him, "And it has been a few days since you went out on a supply run."
Daryl nodded with a frown. "That's true," He said amused. "Well count me in partner." He ate the oatmeal loudly. "When do we leave?"
Rick looked at his son who was sitting with all the children eating oatmeal and laughing loudly. "Soon," He said watching them.
"Well I'm fully packed and ready to go," Daryl said.
About ten minutes later, they were all ready to go. Carl went to his room to get his bag, hat and gun. He removed a photo that he kept beneath his pillow of his dad, mom, and himself taken years ago standing on their front porch. He looked at it and a smile grew on his face. His thoughts were miles away, that he didn't even notice that Beth had entered his room.
"That's a beautiful picture," She said looking at it with a smile on her face.
Carl looked at her and nodded. He folded the picture and placed it in his back pocket. "Thanks," He said smiling at her. He slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I got to go." He said almost awkwardly.
Beth took a step closer to him. "Yeah I know," She said with emotion flashing in her eyes. "Be safe." She leaned close and kissed his cheek tenderly.
A few minutes later, he was sitting in the passenger seat of the car thinking of Beth. He could still feel the tingle her kiss left on his check. His dad was driving, while Daryl was behind them driving his motorcycle. He looked out the window, watching the green landscape fly by, his thoughts miles away. Or precisely, back at the prison.
Abraham hid behind a tree and peered through the binoculars into Terminus' courtyard. There was a horde of walkers strolling around an even larger group that were on their knees and eating from a group of people who were lined up. Puddles of blood surrounded the bodies which grew larger every passing second.
He zoomed in to inspect the bodies that were being eaten from and saw that all, but one had body parts in their mouths. It looked as if someone had placed them in there or forced them to eat it. A body in the middle, looked like it had been pulverized by some sort of sledge hammer. Dried blood and brain matter was splattered around what remained of the body and fresh blood was beginning to run over it.
"Monkey shit," He cursed as he lowered the binoculars.
He handed them to Rosita, who looked through them, and then had a similar reaction to him. She handed it Eugene, who looked through them as well. Carol was the last to look and scanned the courtyard with an emotionless look on her face. She handed the binoculars back to Abraham.
Eugene looked at Abraham. "Now what?"
Abraham look a deep breath and was about to answer, when he heard movement from behind a tree. He pointed his gun at the sound and saw a grungy looking man step out with his hands up in the air. He had long dirty grey hair that hung to his shoulders. He was wearing dirty blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black leather vest.
"Whoa," He said with a nervous chuckle. "I mean no harm here."
Abraham gave him a hardened look of distrust and didn't lower the gun. In fact he took a step toward him. "Who the hell are you?" He asked, "And what the hell do you want?"
The man continued to keep his hands raised defensively. "The name is Joe," He said calmly. "And I am here for the same thing you are here for." He nodded with his head toward the fence. "Terminus." He shrugged and chuckled. "But that changed."
Abraham was about to respond, when he saw movement from all side. Seven men stepped out from behind the trees around them with their guns drawn at them. "Shit," He cursed as he eyed all of them surrounding them.
Joe took a step toward Abraham. "Your weapons," He said dangerously as he paced in front of them. "Remove them and toss them aside."
Abraham groaned and did just that. Rosita followed suit and Carol soon after. Eugene who didn't have any weapons on him. He stood there sweating profusely and terrified. "Now what?" Abraham asked.
Joe cleared his throat loudly. "Well since Terminus was a total bust," He said eying each of them intently. "I need all of your supplies."
"You have got to be kidding," Rosita spat.
"Do I look like I am joking?" He asked stepping up to her. He eyed her up and down shaking his head. He turned away from her and then looked at Carol who was watching him with a snarl on her face. "Well hey there darling." He licked his lips. "You are my kind of woman. A Spanish whore like that," He motioned toward Rosita. "She'd just leaves me with a burning sensation." Carol glared at him.
"So all of your supplies," He said continuing to look at the rest of the group. "Will now be my supplies."
Carol didn't budge. She eyed him, sickened at the thought that Joe was very similar to Ed. They had similar mannerisms, all the way down to their walk. She then thought of Sophia and an image of Rick shooting her as she stumbled out of the barn. Her disgust intensified as Joe touched her shoulder.
"I have hungry people here," Joe said looking at all of them. "So everything you have, toss on the ground in front of you."
Carol had a feeling that these guys wouldn't leave with just their supplies. Chances were, that once they had the supplies, Joe would have them all shot as to not leave a trail. These men were the type that took whatever they wanted, without a care in the world. It was them versus the world in their eyes. Anyone who wasn't with them, was against them.
She knew she had to do something and do it quick. Since she had no weapons, there was one thing to do. The moment he wasn't paying attention to her, she went to kick him in the groin, but he side stepped before she was able to do so. He chuckled and grabbed her spinning her around. He held on to her tightly, pressing his groin against her rear end.
"Now that was a very naughty thing to do," He whispered in her ear. He eyed the three others briefly as Carol tried to break out of his grasp. "Miss what are you going to do now? Break out?" He laughed at her mockingly.
Carol began to see red as his laughter pulsed in her ears like a bad headache. It grew so bad that it blinded her. She knew that there was one last thing to do if she wanted to remain alive. Even though it disgusted her immensely, this was the only option.
Carol turned her head and bit him as hard as she could in the jugular. Warm blood instantly flowed into her mouth as he cried out in pain. He let go of her and reached for his throat. She grabbed his body and used it as a shield to block the bullets from the other guys. At the same time, she spit out his bloody flesh.
She reached for the gun on his belt and shot a few of the men in the head, before Abraham, and Rosita reached for their guns to fight back. Carol shoved Joe aside, who was still gurgling on his own blood. She hid behind the closest tree and fired at the closest guy, but missed. He returned with a shot, but missed as well.
Carol continued to shoot at him and make her way toward him, using trees as cover. When she was close enough, she shot at him, but heard the click of an empty chamber. The man began to laugh and went to fire at her, but heard the click of an empty chamber as well.
Carol took this moment and kicked him in the groin as hard as she could. He cried out in pain and reached for his groin. He collapsed to his knees. She grabbed him by the head and roughly smashed his head against the tree. She continued to smash his head against the tree as she thought about all the bad things that have happened to her during her miserable life.
She continued to do so, until Abraham grabbed her shoulder, and told her to stop. She let go of his mangled body and stepped away from him. She didn't notice that she was covered in blood from her waist up. Especially her face, from when she bit Joe's throat. She did notice Abraham and Rosita giving her a strange look and Eugene, who had a horrified look on his face. "What?" She asked looking at them with a weird expression.
