NINE

"You shouldn't be out here."

The voice of Steven Edwards caught their attention, and Rick slowly turned towards the doctor. He stood alone in the corridor, his eyes glaring at the three men. The atmosphere between them was tense. Rick scowled at the doctor, a thousand questions rushing around his head all searching for logical explanations.

"What is this place?" Rick asked, his voice strong.

Steven took a deep breath. "I bet you regret coming here now."

Rick repeated his question but with much more bitterness than before. The doctor turned to look behind him, and down the corridor behind the three men.

"This place…" Steven began. "… was a nice place before they came. People found refuge here, and we welcomed everyone who needed help or a place to rest their head for a little while. We never turned people away and I guess that was our downfall."

"What do you mean?" Glenn's shaky voice filled the air around them.

"When they first came here, it was great. We had the added security of the police to protect us, and we wondered how we had survived without them. But things started to change soon after and before we could comprehend what was happening, they had taken over the hospital," Steven Edwards explained. "We had a schedule. We had a routine. All the patients we were taking care of had to work for their stay. They were bringing people here, like herding cows to water, and before we knew it, there were fifty people to each room."

Rick, Daryl and Glenn glanced around at the rooms that led off from the corridor. The bodies all lined up around the room and marking the perimeter and size of the room had been captured and brought here against their will. Rick moved towards the window again, his eyes meeting the woman's once more. She continued to mouth something but he was unable to distinguish what she was trying to tell him. Her eyes were petrified, wide in alert.

Rick glanced back towards the doctor. "This ain't right."

"I know," he agreed. "I don't know how to get out of it. They don't deserve to be locked up like prisoners."

"Is there anything we can do?" Glenn asked, worried.

"I've tried everything."

Rick turned to Daryl. The redneck flicked his narrowed gaze from the doctor to Rick. Rick remained silent, the cogs in his mind working tirelessly to figure out what they could do to help. There wasn't any doubt that they would leave as soon as they were able to, but Rick would never get over his guilt if it was just them leaving. He needed to make sure that the people trapped in the rooms had a good chance of escaping too. In the short time Daryl had known Rick, he was able to distinguish the man had a good heart. Sometimes, too good of a heart. He, as soon as he woke from his coma, had set out on a mission to find his wife and son. His determination had paid off and they had been reunited.

"What have ya got planned?" Daryl asked. Rick placed his hands upon his waist and thought for a moment.

"We find how many rooms have people locked inside," Rick said quietly. "Then we have people watching the officers and keeping tabs on what they do. We keep them as far away from here as possible."

"What about specs?" Daryl asked, casting a quick glance towards the doctor.

"You keep an eye on him," Rick said. "Something doesn't add up."

Daryl nodded, the grip on his crossbow tightening. It had been planned that Glenn would help Rick in unlocking the doors to the rooms.

But it seemed that luck wasn't on their side.

Emily glanced at the clock on the wall. An hour had passed since Rick, Daryl and Glenn had left on their search and the worry they had when they had left only became even more unbearable. The kids were still playing a card game on the bed, as the adults sat around with their attention fixed solely on the door waiting for their return.

Shane was growing more and more frustrated as the seconds ticked by. It was understandable. It was horrible when you had no control over what was happening, and no idea if anything had gone wrong. The simplest task could prove to be the most difficult.

"What can we do?" Andrea asked, standing up and moving towards the door. "I can't just sit here and wait for them to return."

"They told us they'd come back," Dale told them. "And they will."

Shane huffed. "I'm going to find them."

"I'll come with you," Andrea said, to which Shane threw a quick look. "Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't protect myself, or you."

Shane rolled his eyes at her comment.

"I really don't think we should leave this room," Dale said.

Lori agreed with him. "Rick promised us they'd come back. We must respect that. If we go out looking for them, it might put them in danger."

"If they're not already in danger," Shane seethed. "We leave them out there longer than what we have would be an outrage."

"I think you should try and find them," Emily interjected. "They might be in danger. They might still be trying to find something. The longer they're out there, the more danger they're in."

"So you agree with me?" Shane asked, furrowing his brow.

Emily nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, that settles it then," Shane said. He moved towards the door with Andrea in tow.

"I'm coming with you," Emily called out.

Shane turned around, and eyed the woman. "No, you ain't."

"You came here for me, and I'm not going to put any more of us in danger," Emily said. After a moment of Shane staring at her with a furrowed brow, he nodded.

"You stay close to us, okay?"

Figments of reality were beginning to creep back into Daryl's consciousness. He became aware of his surroundings in waves: the emergency light in the distance; the sound of groans in the darkness; the heaviness of his body ached from exhaustion but couldn't rest for the chains he was bound to. He struggled against them, feeling the strain upon his wrists that were strung above him. He tried to move slightly, feeling the burn to his wrists as the handcuffs embedded further into his skin.

"Rick?" he whispered. "Ya there?"

A groan filled the darkness, and Daryl waited a moment. He heard movement close by, and he hoped with all his being that there were no walkers in the room with him. He held his breath.

"Your friend is out cold," an unknown voice replied.

Fear prickled at Daryl's skin, and his eyes searched the darkness around him.

"Who are ya?" Daryl asked, and the person chuckled.

"My name's Tara," the woman said. "It's a pleasure."

Daryl rolled his eyes at her sarcasm. "Where are we?"

"We're not in a spa, that's for sure," Tara scoffed. "I'm guessing you were brought here but fought them back?"

"No," Daryl affirmed. "We came here and found out what they were doin'."

"Ah," Tara said. "Sucks to be you."

"Well lady, ya seem to be in the same position as us," he snarled.

Tara chuckled. "And to think they were my friends."

"Damn," Daryl commented. "Some friends, huh."

"They're definitely not on my Christmas card list this year," Tara scoffed.

"What is this place?"

"We came here when it was a hospital," Tara began. "Then power got to their heads and before I knew it, they'd taken it over. Patrolling the corridors, escorting people to rooms, bringing people back here against their will."

"Ya were with them?"

"Yep," Tara said. "I found out about what they were doing and here I am."

Silence filled the darkness as both were lost in their own thoughts. A groan sounded close by, and the sound of Rick's voice filled the air. Daryl quickly reassured him of where they were. Glenn awoke sometime later, and the three of them caught up on what happened. Tara explained about the regime and how different behaviour fell under different bands.

"If you want to get out of this room then you need to know exactly where you are," Tara spoke.

"We're listening," Rick affirmed.

"There's four bands," Tara began. "Group A are placed on top of the hierarchy. They're given menial tasks like taking care of the officer's needs, cooking them food, cleaning their rooms, and running after them. Group B are placed slightly below, and deal with cooking for the rest of the people, cleaning the corridors, washing clothes. Group C is full of difficult people, especially those who were brought here against their will and who want to leave. They power the generator by using a hand crank all day."

The new information failed to sink into their minds. They fell silent as they realised the monstrosity they had all walked into.

"Ya said four," Daryl said.

"We're in Group D," Tara said. "They come to us when they remember. We're forgotten, locked in here in the dark for days on end with no food, and we're beaten for no reason. I would say welcome but I'm guessing it's the last place you want to be."

"You got that right," Rick commented. "What about the shaft?"

"Ah," Tara said. "The shaft is the last place on the tour. We step out of line, and that's where we end up."

As Emily, Shane and Andrea descended down the corridor, they were all alert to any sounds they heard, any voices in the distance, and any movement close by. The corridors were empty and eerily silent. Emily kept close to Shane, fear panging against her chest as her mind raced.

"They should be here," Shane whispered, coming to a halt.

"Who should be here?" Dawn asked from a distance.

"We're looking for a few of our people," Andrea spoke. "Have you seen them?"

Dawn shook her head. "Maybe they left without telling you."

"Bullshit," Emily muttered out loud. Shane smirked at Emily's outburst, and Emily watched as Dawn narrowed her gaze at her.

"Are you accusing me of something?"

"Why would you make that assumption?" Emily asked. "Unless you're hiding something."

Dawn was silent for a moment. "I'd be careful if I were you."

"Are you threatening me?" Emily asked.

"Why would you make that assumption?"

And with that, Dawn left without another word.

Shane turned to Emily and Andrea as they watched Dawn move away. "We find them and we leave tonight."