Chapter 21

"It's getting dark, Jane. What are we going to do?"

Jane was sitting against a big tree with Maura leaning back into her, sitting comfortably between her legs. They had been observing the prison for hours and they hadn't noticed anything unusual. The security seemed strict and the prison looked safe.

Jane kissed Maura's neck. "Just a little longer."

"I don't think we are going to see anything we haven't seen already, Jane." Maura said as she snuggled in closer to her wife. "And I'm getting cold."

Jane tightened her grip around Maura's stomach and snuggled her nose into the crook of the doctor's neck. "Me too." She sighed. "I just can't make the decision to go in there. I would never forgive myself if it'll put you in danger."

"It's not just you, Jane. We make decisions together."

"I know, I'm sorry." Jane placed a kiss on Maura's temple and took a deep breath. "I just… I have this enormous, mostly irrational fear that you'll get hurt."

"Jane," Maura turned slightly in the embrace to look at her wife, "I will get hurt someday. If it's not today, it'll happen another day. This nightmare leaves no one untouched. But I need you to know that none of it is your fault. And we'll get through it." Maura smiled and wiped a tear from Jane's cheek. "When we lost Emma, I thought the immense pain would never end. But you dragged me through it, Jane. Whatever happens in the future, we'll get through it. As long as we're together, we'll be alright."

Jane felt tears burning in her eyes and a lump in her throat. "I-I…" She stumbled. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Maura kissed Jane's lips. "My love." She whispered as she leaned back into their original position.

"I love you." Jane mumbled into Maura's neck.

They sat like that for a while, not wanting to break the intimate embrace.

"Jane, do you hear something?" Maura asked softly.

Jane lifted her head from kissing Maura's neck and listened carefully. She heard leaves moving and twigs breaking. She quickly got up, drew her gun and pointed it at the source of the sound.

She saw four big dogs coming out of the forest. "Those aren't pet dogs." She whispered, mostly to herself. The dogs were growling and showing their teeth. "Don't move." Jane whispered at her wife.

Jane hesitated and was about to regret her hesitation for the rest of her life. In the one second she hesitated, a twig broke under her foot and the dogs jumped up to them. Jane fired her gun, not really seeing if she was aiming right.

Suddenly she was startled by a scream coming from behind her. She turned around and saw that a big dog knocked down her wife. Big teeth sunk down into Maura's arm, drawing a pained scream from the doctor's throat.

Jane kicked the dog hard and shot it with her gun. The dog fell to the ground with a cry. She kneeled down next to her wife, who was desperately holding her bleeding underarm. Jane felt that her gun was empty; she was completely out of ammunition now.

"Maura, look at me." Jane met with wide, hazel eyes, filled with tears. "What do I do?" She asked desperately. "What do you need?"

"Stitches… Bandages… Vaccinations, maybe antibiotics to prevent infections." Maura stuttered.

"We have none of that." Jane said softly.

"There's an extra shirt in the bag. Use it to bind the wound."

Jane looked through the bag, searching for the extra shirt, when she heard the way too familiar sound of a group of walkers making their way towards the two of them. The noise of the screaming and the shooting had drawn them out.

"Shit, my gun is empty." Jane said to herself. There were too many monsters to take on with just a knife. "We have to run, Maura!" She put her arm around her wife, helping her out of the forest. They had no other choice; they had to get into that prison.

They ran towards the fence on the left, just like Viola had told them to do. As soon as they were in sight of the security, they heard a man yelling: "Who are you? What do you want?"

"My wife is hurt! A dog bit her; she needs help! We met Viola, she told us to come here!" Jane answered.

"She infected?" The man screamed back.

"No, no, it was just a dog." Jane didn't want to think further. She knew there was a possibility to get infected by animals, but she repressed that thought with everything she had.

"Please, let us in! There are walkers headed towards here!"

Jane heard the big gate open and walked onto the grounds of the prison. They met with a man holding a big rifle. "I'm Patrick, follow me."

Jane didn't know what to think of this man, but she had no choice but to follow him. She kept her arm securely wrapped around Maura's shaking shoulders. "It'll be alright, sweetie." She whispered.

They walked into one of the cellblocks of the prison. It was some kind of meeting room. Everything was grey and harsh, there were a few tables and the walls were aligned with shelves full of supplies.

"Hand me your gun and your knifes." Patrick said bluntly.

"Why?" Jane asked suspiciously.

"You won't need 'em in here." He answered simply.

Jane hesitated. She didn't want to give up their weapons.

"Look, you want medical care?" Patrick asked.

Jane nodded.

"Then you better hand over those weapons."

Reluctantly she handed over her gun and knife as Maura did the same.

"Susan!" The man yelled at a woman who was organizing supplies at one of the shelves. "Can you take care of this?"

The woman named Susan turned around to look at Jane and Maura. She was older than Jane initially thought, but her face looked friendly. "Of course." She guided Maura to sit down at one of the tables.

"I'm Susan." She said while she was examining Maura's arm. "What happened?"

"We were in the woods, and we got attacked by dogs. One of them bit my arm." Maura answered. "It's not too deep, but I've lost quite some blood. Two or three stitches, some iodine and a good bandage will be enough. Perhaps antibiotics to prevent infections."

Susan smiled at Maura. "You seem to know what you're talking about."

"I'm a doctor. Medical examiner to be exact."

"I'm a nurse. Or at least I used to be." She started to gather supplies to treat Maura's wound.

"My name is Maura, this is my wife Jane."

"Nice to meet you." Susan walked to the table and put down the supplies. She started to disinfect the wound, making Maura hiss in pain. Her face turned serious as she took out a needle and suture. "Maura, I don't have anesthesia. This will hurt."

"I'm okay." Maura said confidently, but Jane saw her wife giving her a concerned look. Jane sat next to Maura and grabbed her hand. "Just squeeze as hard as you can." She whispered.

Maura pursed her lips together, tears forming in her eyes as Susan started stitching the bites. "Distract me." She managed to get out.

Jane strokes Maura's hair and turned to the nurse. "Can you tell us something about this place? How long have you been here?"

Susan's skilled hands kept working on Maura's arm. "I've been here for about six months. Got in a few days after everything went down. It's a good place, safe. But it's strict. It has to be. There need to be rules for something like this to work."

"I understand." Jane answered, trying to repress the pain in her hand from Maura squeezing so hard. "We met Viola. She told us about Jonathan, she said he decides if people can come in here."

"Yes, Jonathan's in charge." She gave Jane a quick look. "But I'm afraid he doesn't have much to decide about anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything comes at a price in here. You used medical care, supplies, my time… You'll have to earn that back."

"How?"

Susan was done stitching and started to apply the bandages. Maura's tight grip loosened on Jane's hand, but she kept holding it.

"Whatever you're good at. Everyone has a job here. If you can cook, you cook. If you can hunt, you hunt. If you're a doctor or a nurse, you provide medical care."

Jane didn't know what to think of that. It sounded like a good system to keep this place going, but the compulsion of it bothered her.

"So, if we pay off our dues, we can leave?" Jane asked carefully.

Susan hesitated. The hesitation made Jane worry. "I don't know." She said. "I've never met someone who got out." She smiled, trying to defuse the tension that was building up. "But why would someone want to get out of here? Jonathan is a good man. No one wants to be out there. It's better here."

Jane wasn't so sure about that. Her gut didn't trust this.

"Alright. I'm done here." Susan gently finished working on Maura's arm. "You need to take some rest, to recover from the blood loss. But… I don't think I have to tell you that." She smiled at Maura, who knew all this already and probably more. "Here are some antibiotics. They aren't very strong, but it's better than nothing." She handed Maura a small bottle of white pills. "I'll show you a cell where you can stay."

Maura and Jane followed the nurse further into the cellblock, still holding hands. A lot of cells were occupied. People were sleeping, talking, hanging out in their cell. It really did look like a prison, but more friendly and without criminals.

"Here you go. You'll have to share it. But don't worry; Lisa is a nice girl. She has a cute little boy named Bobby. She's out doing her chores now, but she'll be back soon. It's late." Susan opened the cell door. "Make yourselves comfortable!" She said with a smile.

"Thank you. For helping Maura." Jane said softly.

"You're welcome. It's no big deal; we all have to pay or dues." Susan said as she walked away.

Jane sat down next to Maura on the small bed. "Well, this is a depressing room." She said while she looked at the concrete walls. There was a bunk bed on each side of the cell. The sheets looked dingy, but it smelled clean.

Maura leaned back against the wall. "How are you feeling?" Jane asked as she tucked a strand of loose hair behind Maura's ear.

"A little dizzy from the blood loss and the pain. The stitches hurt, but it's bearable."

"You should lie down." Jane said as she eased Maura down on the bed. The doctor rested her head in Jane's lap and grabbed her hand.

"I'm not sure how I feel about this place, Jane." She said softly.

Jane sighed. "Me neither." She stroked Maura's hair and leaned back against the concrete wall. "Me neither."