Hi everyone! So it has been brought to my attention that I left a pretty significant loose thread hanging. Back in chapter 7, I did a scene at the prison where Daryl briefly regains consciousness before slipping back into his coma. When he was awake, he saw Carol fighting off walkers. He interpreted this as a nightmare, even though that was actually reality.

So the question I received was how did those walkers get in there and what happened after what Daryl saw? I have been mulling it over in my head and decided to write a little bonus chapter to explain it. Not really Caryl so you can skip this if not interested.

The Walking Dead does not belong to me but I love those who it does belong to.

Bonus Chapter

Prison - Flashback

Carl was anxious. And bored. This was a dangerous combination for Carl. He knew his dad, Glenn and Maggie would not be back from the run until at least the next day. He'd done his shift on watch this morning and eaten lunch with everyone after Michonne relieved him. Now he had nothing to do.

He walked by Judith's crib but she was sound asleep so he couldn't play with her. Beth was washing out Judith's dirty cloth diapers so he knew better than to go talking to her or else she'd make him help. He debated about hanging out with Michonne on watch but getting her to talk about anything was painful. He had no idea where Merle was but he wasn't interested in find him either. Maybe he should talk to Carol. She was just sitting with the comatose Daryl.

Carl decided that was his best option so he headed into the cell block. However, it was at that moment that Carol came out of the cell, carrying a bucket.

"Just got to refresh this. I'll be back in just a minute," she told him and walked out towards the pump. Carl frowned after her, wishing he had offered to do it for her but she was already gone.

He peeked into Daryl's cell but the man was just lying there, still out of it. Boring.

That was when Carl heard the sounds. Walkers. It was coming for the very far end of the cell block, behind the barred door. He could hear them groaning, scratching at the door and the walls. Things just got interesting.

He went over to the barred door and found the little room beyond it was empty. This was the little room that he'd kept Tyreese's group in initially. He thought it was a big mistake on his dad's part to let them go but there was nothing to be done about it now.

Then he saw the barred door across the room had a mass of walkers pressed against it. The two in front, dressed like prison inmates, noticed him and started slamming against the bars. Their hands were reaching out towards him, rotting fingers desperately trying to capture him.

Carl knew he should go get someone, like Michonne or Merle, since his dad was out and Daryl was incapacitated. Yet, he was bored and antsy from being anxious so this seemed like something he could do. If they kept pressing, they may get through that door so someone had to take care of them. Why not him?

He took out his gun, which was equipped with a silencer, and made sure it was fully loaded. Then he unlocked the first door, stepping into the room beyond. The walkers became more frantic as he inched a little closer to them. He raised the gun and eliminated the first two.

Their bodies dropped to the ground but were replaced by two more walkers. One was dressed like a prison guard but the other had been a woman. Probably had gotten in from the outside. Carl put bullets in each of their heads, dropping them on top of the other first ones. No more walkers replaced them.

Carl inched further cautiously. The area was silent and dark. Not thinking about it too hard, he unlocked the barred door. He carefully pushed the piled up dead walkers out of the way with his foot and stepped into the dark corridor. It was empty and quiet so Carl turned back towards the door.

Suddenly he felt something grab him from behind. He screamed, ripping his shirt out of the grasp of another walker. Stumbling over the walker bodies, he crossed through the first door and ran for the second one. As he tried to slam shut that door, the walker came up fast, wedging his arm in the way. Another walker pushed from behind and the combination of the two overwhelmed him.

The door opened and Carl took off up the stairs. Those two walkers started trying to make it up the stairs, which was pretty difficult for them. Unfortunately, Carl saw two other walkers head into the cell block. His mind flashed on Daryl's cell, which was wide open. Had Carol come back yet from getting water?

Needing to take care of himself first, he brought the gun up and put down the two walkers on the stairs. That was when he heard Carol yelling for Merle. Carl cringed, knowing they'd find out what he'd done.

Merle, hearing Carol yelling, came running out of one of the upper cells. He looked like he'd been sleeping, which made sense since he had taken the second overnight watch shift. Leaning over the railing, he saw a female walker dragging her broken leg enter Daryl's cell.

"Shit!"

He pushed Carl out of the way as he ran down the stairs and into Daryl's cell. Carl came down also, although somewhat slower. By the time he got there, both of those walkers were down and no more had come in. Carl went to the barred door quickly and relocked it.

Carol and Merle came out of Daryl's cell. Merle looked completely pissed off and Carol looked shaken. She had walker blood all down the front of her shirt. Both of them were looking right at him.

"What the fuck happened?" Merle spat at him.

Carl looked down at the floor and mumbled out what happened.

"Carl, what were you thinking? You could have been killed! If I had still been getting water, one of those walkers could have attacked Daryl and he'd have had no way to defend himself," Carol yelled at him. She didn't usually lose her temper but this had scared her badly.

"Give me those keys," Merle growled at him, swiping them out of his hand and going through the barred door. He locked the further door then relocked the nearer one. Then he pointed at Carl. "Yur cleanin' this up yourself."