Author's Note
And here's part two of that episode! Slightly better writing, I think, but still maybe a little hurried.
Towards the end, I sort of shifted from strictly Caterina's point of view to Daryl's, but that's because I didn't want to go into Caterina's reaction to things, at least not yet. I will in the next chapter.
Anyway, hope you all enjoy! (And another happy birthday to Phoenix :3!)
Once they had gotten as much wood as they could carry, Rick, Glenn, and Michele walked back to where a Daryl and Caterina were still waiting for them. When they spotted them coming their way, Daryl and Caterina both ducked back into the walkway and held the fence open to make easier for the others to go through. As they did, Caterina looked up to the courtyard across the way and spotted the rest of their group gathered around their favorite veterinarian. He was on crutches.
"Hey, guys," she called to the others. "Look."
They followed Caterina's gaze up to where Hershel and the others were, along with Edgar, who was hopping around at Carl's side. He was obviously happy to be outside again, after being cramped up in that cell for a day and a half.
Glenn laughed in relief and dropped his bundle of wood on the ground. "He is one tough son of a bitch.
Rick nodded in agreement as he dropped his own armful of firewood and stepped up to the other side of the fence. Michele just knelt down and placed his firewood along with the rest, a smile upon his face.
Glenn cupped his hand around his mouth. "All right, Hershel!" he hollered excitedly.
"Shhh! Keep your cheers down," Daryl snapped at him. Glenn turned, and Daryl pointed back out of the fence to where more walkers had come out of the forest.
"Oh man," Glenn groaned." Can't we have just one good day?"
They turned their gazes back on the others, enjoying the view of Hershel back on his feet...well, foot. But their good moods quickly turned sour as they spotted a group of walkers all coming up behind their people, who were staring out at where they stood. Edgar seemed to hear them, because he turned and started barking like he always did when he knew that his people were in danger. Carl turned to see what was wrong and appeared warned the others.
"No!" Rick shouted fearfully.
They took off running back down the walkway towards the entrance. Glenn slid to a stop as he realized that they'd forgotten about the hole in the fence, and he went back to lace it up while the other two continued on.
"Get out!" Rick continued to shout up to the others. "Get outta there! Now! Lori!"
They ran as fast as they could towards the entrance.
"Go! Come in here!"
Once they reached the gate to the front entrance, which Glenn had just previous locked to keep the prisoners in that fenced area, Rick and the others quickly slid to a stop, realizing that none of them had the key to the lock.
"The lock!"
"Hurry up!" Daryl shouted back to Glenn.
Glenn came barreling around the corner behind them and tossed the keys to Caterina, who turned and tossed them to Daryl, who quickly threw them to Rick so that he could unlock the gate. In his hurry, Rick fumbled with the keys, his hands shaking with adrenaline.
"C'mon!" Rick growled in frustration.
Not quickly enough, Rick finally undid the lock, and Glenn pulled the chain away so that Rick could throw open the gate. He tore around the corner to the other gate, which lead on to the field. Oscar stood in front of it, seemingly having stepped closer to get a look at what was going on back up in the courtyard.
"Outta my way!"
Oscar stepped back immediately so that Rick could get to the second lock.
"C'mon, c'mon!" Daryl shouted encouragingly.
Rick had just as much trouble with this lock as he had the first, and it seemed like forever before he finally managed to stick the key in and turn it. But once he did, he tore the chain away, to toss it aside, forgotten, so he could open the gate. He and the rest of the group hurried out into the field as they made their way up to where the others were.
"Hey, bro, what about us?" Axel shouted after them.
They ignored the prisoners, their attention focused solely on the group of walkers that had gotten somehow too close to their people.
For the last time, Rick had to stop and unlock the gate, to let them into the courtyard where there were still a few walkers meandering about. It seemed like the others had taken out a majority of them before going to safety.
"Let's go! Pull it!" Rick cried.
Daryl pulled the gate open, and the rest hurried through out into the courtyard with Daryl at their heels. Rick shot and killed two walkers while Glenn put his machete to another's head. Once the immediate threat was dealt with, Rick turned to where Beth, Gabriele, and Hershel were cordoned off in a gated area at the top of some stairs along with Edgar, who had finally stopped barking now that everyone was safe, while Daryl, Caterina, and Michele worked to get rid of all the remaining walkers.
"What the hell happened?" Rick demanded.
"The gate was open!" Beth gasped, obviously still in shock about what had just happened.
"Where's Lori? Carl? Everyone else?"
"Alison and Maggie lead your family into C Block," Gabriele explained.
"And T was bit!" Beth added.
"Anyone else?" Rick asked. It was obvious that he only really cared to hear that his family hadn't gotten bit.
"I couldn't tell."
Rick nodded anxiously. "Stay put," he instructed before he turned and fired a shot into the last remaining walker.
Glenn hurried over to where Rick had gone to take a look at the gate that they'd locked before and had somehow opened, while Daryl put in a new bolt in his crossbow and Caterina readied another throwing knife. "Those chains didn't break on their own," Glenn observed. "Someone took an axe or cutters to them."
Rick turned immediately to look accusingly at Axel and Oscar, who were only just now passing through the gate leading into the main courtyard.
"You think they did it?" Glenn asked.
"Who else?" Rick growled.
As if to answer his question, an alarm suddenly started going off from the prison. It sounded like the alarm that went off when a prisoner escaped. The only way someone would be able to activate that particular alarm was by pulling a lever. There was no way to time it. And Axel and Oscar had been locked away in that entrance area, meaning that someone else had to have cut the lock.
The group started pacing anxiously while Caterina just turned on the spot, looking for the sound system.
"What is that?" Glenn shouted over the alarm.
"It is an alarm used to warn the prison about an escaped convict," Michele explained.
"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Daryl growled, staring out across the yard.
Caterina turned to see what he was staring at. She groaned as she spotted walkers coming up to the fence. They had somehow gotten into the field from somewhere. Her first thought was the hole that they had made. Maybe Glenn hadn't closed it properly. But then she realized that they were coming from a different part of the prison. Probably from whatever breech there was that had allowed the civilian walkers into the prison walls.
Rick turned and tossed the keys to Daryl so that he could close the gate leading to the courtyard, in case any walkers somehow managed to get into the field. While he did that, Rick turned and shot at one of the speakers.
"Kill it!" he ordered.
Caterina snatched up her Beretta and turned hurriedly to follow his example, shooting at another set of speakers.
Rick turned to where Hershel, Gabriele, and Beth stood. There was another speaker next to fenced area the three were in there. "Back up!"
Gabriele ushered Hershel and Beth back immediately, Edgar following loyally, allowing Rick to shoot out their speaker. Thankfully, it at least lessened the noise, but the siren could still be heard from inside of the prison itself. Rick turned his revolver on the two prisoners standing with them in the courtyard. Daryl had trained it crossbow on them already while Caterina held one of her throwing knives, twirling it between her fingers dangerously.
"How the hell can this be happening?" Rick demanded.
Oscar raised his hands in surrender, his eyes wide. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It has to be the backup generator!"
"Well, how do you turn those on?"
"There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay?" Oscar replied. "Each one controls certain part of the prison. The hacks shut 'em all off when the prison was overrun."
"Can someone open up the main gates electronically with full power?" Rick asked.
"I only worked in there a few days. I-I guess it might be possible."
Rick grabbed Oscar by the front of his jumper. "Come with us! Let's go!" He turned and ran into C Block, the rest of his group and the two prisoners right behind him.
Rick fired a shot into the last walker that had made its way into their cell block. As soon as it was down, he started searching the cells for his wife and son.
"Lori! Carl!"
Caterina and the others came into the cell block. She pulled an arrow from the skull of a walker by a gate into the cell block and passed it to Daryl, who'd so far made it a mission to keep as close to her side as possible. As flattered as she was, she found it somewhat annoying. It was like he thought she suddenly couldn't take care of herself just because she had PTSD.
Daryl nodded to her in thanks and stepped into the cell block, pausing to knock the bolt. "We took down five of 'em in there," he informed Rick.
"There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or any of 'em," Rick added.
"They must've been pushed back into the prison," Glenn decided.
"Wherever they are, they're probably locked up in one of the isolation cells," Caterina sighed. It was the only real place to hide in here.
Rick paced in a circle. "Somebody is playin' games!" he shouted in an almost deranged voice. He spun around to his group and motioned to them with his revolver. "We'll split and look for the others. Whoever gets to generator first, shut 'em down!"
Glenn nodded in understanding and motioned to Michele and Axel. "Let's go!"
He took off running through the side entrance, Axel close at his heel. Michele paused to wink at Caterina before following after them, and Caterina smiled. It was his way of showing that he knew everything would be okay. Unfortunately, she didn't share his sureness.
Caterina hurried through the halls with Rick, Daryl, and Oscar with only two flashlights to lead the way. It was hard to navigate with the flashing lights any other day, but now it was even harder. Since their prison had been breached, they ran into walkers around almost every corner. It was like that first day all over again, except ten times worse. It was like the sirens had woken up every walker within a ten mile radius and had led them straight to their group.
Oscar finally managed to lead them to the generators. Rick fired a shot at one of the walkers following them before going in through the door to the generator room. The rest followed behind him closely.
"Daryl, Cat, get the door!" Rick ordered.
Daryl and Caterina closed the door before any walkers could get through. Some hands poked through the doorway, but they pulled back when the door was slammed on them. The two struggled to keep the doors closed as the walkers banged on them, so Oscar hurried to help them while Rick scoped the room, searching for anymore walkers, or maybe other prison survivors.
He went to what Caterina supposed was the breaker box that operated the generators. "How do you shut these down?" he asked.
Oscar looked down at Daryl and Caterina questioningly, waiting for their permission to leave.
"Go help him! We got it!" Daryl assured him. He and Caterina pressed themselves more firmly to the door to keep it closed while Oscar rushed off to help Rick with the generators.
"Right here," Oscar said. He motioned to a hose that connected one of the generators to a tank set on top of it.
Rick pulled the screw, and the generator started shutting down. He went to make sure that it was what it was doing and was suddenly attacked by Andrew, who came around the corner and started swinging an axe. Oscar ducked away while Rick jumped back to avoid being hit. He grabbed the handle of the axe, and he and Andrew struggled to overpower the other. Andrew ended up pushing Rick into more of the generators.
After a moment of struggle, Rick managed to use the end of their axe to hit Andrew in the ribs, causing him to buckle over and allowing Rick to gain the upper hand. He pushed Andrew into the breaker box behind him before tossing him into some lockers. All the while, Andrew kept a strong hold on the axe.
Andrew threw the end of the axe into Rick's ribs just as he had done to him, and Rick was forced to let up his grip. He stumbled back while Andrew lost the axe himself, and Rick pulled out his revolver. Before he could aim it, though, Andrew knocked the gun from his hand and tackled Rick to the floor to prevent him from getting it back.
Daryl and Caterina could no longer keep the doors closed, and Daryl grabbed Caterina by her tank top and pulled her away from the doors with him, to where Daryl had dropped his crossbow so that he could focus on the doors. He picked it up and shot one of his bolts into the first walker's head while Caterina threw one of her knives into another. They both took out their respective hunting knives and stabbed them into one walker (only one, because all they wanted to do was clear enough that they would be able to keep the doors shut). They knocked the walkers to the sides and closed the door again.
Andrew jumped up from Rick and grabbed his axe before he could get on to his feet himself. He made to swing down at him, but he was hit by a small tank, which knocked him down, and the axe fell from his hand. Rick got back to his feet at the same time that Oscar grabbed his revolver. He aimed it in their direction.
Rick immediately raised his hand as if he were going to try and talk him down.
Andrew got to his feet and pointed at Rick's back. "Shoot him!" he encouraged the other prisoner, panting hard from his scuffle with Rick. "We can take back this prison."
Oscar didn't move a muscle. He just continued to stare at the two as if he were conflicted.
"What're you waitin' for?" Andrew snapped. "Do it! It's our house! Shoot him!"
Oscar shifted the aim of the gun slightly to the left and fired. Rick turned his head at the same time his hand went up, as if he hoped to stop the bullet before it hit his head. But instead of feeling the bullet hit him, he heard a thump behind him. He lowered his hand to look at Oscar.
Daryl had been creeping up on Oscar's side, his knife raised in case he needed to take Oscar out, while Caterina stayed at the door, keeping it closed in case any more walkers came. But she made sure to keep a close eye on the men.
Oscar released his grip on the trigger and flipped the gun in his hand so that he was holding it facing down, that same frightened look still on his face. Rick relaxed and took the revolver from him with a nod of thanks.
He went over to the breaker and turned two large handles. As soon he did, they heard the generators whirring down, and the alarm finally stopped.
"Let's go," Rick muttered.
They started to make their way back to the courtyard. Rick had turned on his flashlight and was on point while Oscar held up the back, Daryl and Caterina both in the middle, side-by-side.
They paused at a corner and pressed their backs to either wall. He nodded to the others and was about to step out around the corner when Glenn, Michele, and Axel sudden came from around the corner that they had just passed. Rick nodded to them before slowly moving to the next corner. They could hear walkers growling at the end of the hall. He jumped out, gun raised, while the others hurried past the turn.
The walkers were feeding on someone (and, judging by the clothes, it was T-Dog). When they saw them, the walkers got on to their feet. The group made it towards them, and Rick took the walkers out.
They stood over T-Dog's half-eaten body silently. Rick kept motioning to it with his handgun, seemingly wanting to say something but not being able to. Glenn turned to step from the area, unable to look at the body anymore. Michele was mumbling a prayer to himself. Caterina just stared down at the body with a tired look on her face. She could see Daryl looking at her from the corner of her eye, and she knew that he was worried about her reaction. So she turned away from their friend's corpse and looked to the floor nearby, where she spotted the scarf hat that Carol had been wearing. She picked it up, and she and Rick exchanged looks.
Caterina ran out into the main courtyard, the rest of their group right behind her.
"Hershel!" Glenn shouted to their oldest member. He, Gabriele, and Beth had stepped out of the caged area (Gabriele in front with Edgar at his side, a gun held at the ready in case any more walkers came), but they hadn't left the steps.
"You didn't find them?" Hershel asked.
"We thought maybe they came back out here."
The three shook their heads.
"We have not seen anyone else," Gabriele said.
"What about T? Carol?" Hershel wondered.
"They didn't make it," Daryl replied.
"That doesn't mean the others didn't," Rick pointed out. "We're goin' back. Daryl, Cat, Michele, Glenn, ya'll come with"
He broke himself off as they heard the sound of an infant crying. Everyone turned to the noise to find Alison, Maggie ,and Carl coming out of C-Block, Alison holding a newborn baby wrapped in an old jean jacket in her arms. All three looked traumatized: Alison and Maggie were shaking, and Carl just looked like he was in shock.
Rick stared at them for a moment before starting to approach, dropping the axe so he could run a hand over his face. He shook his head slowly in denial as he put two and two together. There was Alison holding his wife's newborn infant, and his wife was nowhere to be seen. Not to mention the guilt and grief in her eyes as she stared back at Rick.
Maggie tried to speak, but she just ended up making odd noises. Her lips were shaking too badly for her to speak properly.
Rick started pacing. "Wh-where is she? Where is she?"
When Maggie didn't say anything, Rick turned to Alison, expecting her to answer. Alison swallowed a lump in her throat and slowly shook her head, her grip on the baby tightening.
Rick started to walk to the entrance to C block. Maggie tried to reach out for Rick's arm. "No. Rick, no!"
Rick looked back at her before turning to Carl, who hadn't looked up from the ground. Rick's gun fell to the ground as he gave a sob, and he brought his hands up to his eyes. "Oh, no. No..." He started pacing in his grief, tossing his arms as he tried to figure out what to do with them.
Glenn walked over to Maggie, who was sobbing at this point. He grabbed her face gently, forcing her to look at him. She just sobbed harder, and Glenn held her against him tightly.
Gabriele ran down the steps where he had been standing with Hershel and Beth, to approach his fiancé. As soon as he neared her, Alison hurried forward and wrapped one arm around his neck, sure to keep the baby secured at her side. Gabriele embraced her as much as he dared with the baby in her arms, muttering in her ear.
Michele watched the two of them from where he stood at Daryl's side, his jaw tense. His eyes, which were usually so warm and full of life, were saddened now.
Rick paced a few feet more before dropping on to the ground on his back. He kicked his legs for a moment and turned on to his side so that he could curl up into ball, letting the sobs rack through his body.
Daryl stared at the ground for a moment, wanting to give the others privacy. But then he realized that he should probably be comforting Caterina, since she had been close with Lori. He turned to where she had been standing on his other side, but she was gone. He turned around quickly, trying to locate her as his heart leapt into his throat, his mind immediately going for the worst. He relaxed when he spotted her walking off into the field, a shovel over her shoulder.
He made to take a step after her but was forced to a stop as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. He turned to Michele, a frown on his lips. Michele just shook his head. Daryl's frown deepened, and he turned back to the field to watch as Caterina slowly disappeared from view.