Chapter 22 - Home Sweet Prison Cell

West Central Prison

Rick and his group at the prison were settling in very well. Compared to the cramped space of the old RV, and sleeping in tents, this was a huge improvement. Each person or couple selected cells that were as far from the others as possible. There were days when the only time one would see others from the group, was when completing certain chores or if they happened to sit down to dinner as a group some days.

The only person who did not seem to be settling in very well was Daryl. He figured he would have long been past this feeling in the pit of his stomach. It felt as if a ball of snakes or worms were wriggling around in there, making him feel uneasy almost all the time. He began to back off from the others; he just didn't feel like joining in, sharing a meal or having to chat. He wanted to be left alone. So alone is how he spent most of his time. Although the kitchen of the prison had plenty of food, he went out hunting about every other day. It was the only thing that would help him feel like less a failure. But not by much.

Woodbury

Gaelynn woke up that morning feeling like she was coming down with something. It was going to be hard to put on a smile and be convincing. After the third day of waking with the same feeling but not getting any worse, she could feel herself start to panic. This could not be happening. The doctors that treated her when she was young told her social worker that it would be next to impossible for her to ever have children. Yet, this felt like what others had described as morning sickness. If that was the case, she would have to make her move sooner than she had planned. Everything was more or less in place, all of the clothing, camping gear and supplies she had hidden all over town would take about twenty minutes for her to collect. The biggest obstacle was getting past Merle; he seemed to always have his eyes on her. She had fooled Phillip, but there was no fooling Merle. He had an innate lack of trust for everyone.

At this point, she felt she might have to trust someone and find help. The people who worked at the medical clinic seemed almost as unhappy living in the city as she did, though she didn't now let them know this. She just watched them, and listened to what they said when they didn't know she was listening. She had access to the clinic two days a week. She had convinced Phillip to allow her to volunteer her help on Mondays and Thursdays. She told him she was so happy with her new life that she felt compelled to give back somehow. He had created this great city, and as long as she was at his side, she wanted to represent the care and giving heart she knew he had, but others sometimes failed to see. This worked perfectly. He was an evil, vicious man, but considered himself a great benefactor. So she played upon his ego and was allowed to visit the clinic on a regular basis.

First and foremost, she had to know for sure if she was pregnant. How could she find out without risking that the information would find its way back to Phillip? This week, while she was at the clinic, she would have to come to some sort of decision, could she trust a few of these people or not? It could mean an easier escape or death. At this point, she had very little to lose. If Phillip found out she was carrying his child, he would keep her under lock and key forever. She could not bear the thought of not only giving birth to his child, but having to be the mother of his kid. The thought repulsed her.

When she arrived at the clinic that next day, there was only one staff member working at that early hour. Right away, Sarah, who was a nurse before the world went to shit, could tell Gaelynn was not feeling well. Gaelynn tried to blow it off as indigestion from something she had eaten the previous night; she needed a little time to test out her theory that Sarah was just as unhappy here as she was.

"Sarah", she started, trying to sound as wistful as she could, "do you ever get tired of seeing the same people day after day, with the same self destructive ailments each time they come by?"

Sarah looked at her closely for a moment, and then plunged forward with "Girl, you have no idea! This place is aging me faster than the booze and drugs are aging my patients!"

"If you had the opportunity, what would you do about it? It's not like we are given too many choices here. What Phillip wants, Phillip gets, right?" she queried carefully.

Sarah looked at her long and hard again, sensing she had a compatriot in Gaelynn, but she was the Governor's girl, so it could be a trap. But why would he suspect her of anything? She had never let on that she was unhappy. She was a little surprised that Gaelynn had picked up on her misery.

"Hell, if I had my way, at tall, dark and handsome man would come and rescue me!" she said with a laugh. She was hoping to sound half kidding, half serious, just in case.

"What if it wasn't a tall, dark and handsome man, but a small and determined girl who could maybe rescue you?"

Sarah stood there with her mouth open for a moment, then composed herself long enough to ask "Are you serious?" as she looked around the clinic quickly to make sure no one was listening in.

"Do you trust me?" the small, beautiful young woman asked Sarah, with eyes the color of irises, and full of hope.

"I do, I trust you. But how would it be possible? The Gov has this place nailed down pretty good. I have not heard of anyone trying to escape in a very long time." Sarah asked, allowing herself to hope a bit as well.

"I have a plan. But there is something I need to know first, and I need your help with that. I need to know that what I am about to ask you goes no further than this room, just the two of us. Do I have your word on that? It's very important, for this to be kept secret, that is."

"You have my word, Gaelynn, I have always worried about you, living with him and having to deal with his mood swings and anger, but you seem to have figured out a way to make him behave himself. Honestly, I have never seen anyone do that, and I have been here from the beginning. Whatever you are doing, it works like a charm. I am so glad I don't have to see you in here on a regular basis for broken bones or stitches. Having you volunteer here frightened me at first; I was so worried I would slip up and say something that would get back to him. But I stopped being suspicious of you months ago. You can trust me with anything, I am just so glad to know I am not alone anymore."

"Ok, this is what I need you to do" she said and whispered her request in Sarah's ear.

Many apologies for the huge delay in getting this next chapter out. I have actually been going back and tweaking the beginning of this story, I was not happy about a few things and thought there was a lot of room for improvement. I have finished the first 3 or 4 chapters and now need to replace them. So as I go along until the completion of this story, I will also be doing a re-write on the prior chapters. If you feel so inclined, go back and check it out, fresh. I will try to get the first few chapters replaced tonight. I think you will like what I am doing.