Eight months on the road. Traveling constantly with very few lucky breaks in the search for permanent shelter.
Or at least Airianna was guessing eight months due to the suggested progression of Lori's pregnancy. Six would be the minimum, if the kid was Shane's, and eight being the max, if the kid was Rick's. But judging on how Lori was overdue, she was leaning more to it being six months as the weather had not fully warmed up yet, meaning it was sometime during March or maybe April. That would make her own son almost a full two years old, also meant Daryl's birthday would be upon them soon as well.
Not that she would tell anyone that, she was pretty sure he'd avoid her for a full week if everyone told him happy birthday out of the blue.
The group had just left a house they attempted to scavenge, leaving quickly when walkers appeared out of nowhere. She tightened her grip on Daryl as they sped past broken down cars and other obstacles in the road, leading the group onward. A honk from behind them slow the caravan to a stop and Airi hopped from her mode of transport when Lori rushed out of the station wagon to the side of the road.
She walked over to her and checked her over as she gasped and clutched her stomach, but she assured the woman nothing was wrong with her of the baby and gently guided her to the truck's tailgate. After Lori was sitting back down she approached Rick, Herschel, and Glenn as they looked at a map of the state.
"We got no place left to go."
Maggie pointed to the top of the map, "When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south."
"What would you say? About a hundred fifty heads?" Daryl asked.
"That was last week, "Glenn confirmed. "It could be twice that by now."
Herschel motioned to one of the rivers on the map, "This river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there."
T-Dog shook his head, "But if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way."
"So we're blocked."
Rick sighed, "The only thing to do is to double back at I-27 and swing towards Greenville."
"Yeah, we picked through that already," T-Dog muttered. "It's like we spent the winter going in circles."
"I know, I know," Rick agreed. "At Newnan, we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet."
"Rick," He turned to the doctor. "We can't keep going house to house. It's not healthy for her."
The leader spared a glimpse at his pregnant wife, "We need to find someplace to hole up for a few weeks."
She nodded, "At least until after she has the baby, it's already overdue. Could come any day now."
T-Dog rolled up the map, "could we swing by the creek before we head out? Won't take long."
Rick nodded and watched as T-Dog and Glenn grabbed their near-empty water jugs to go fill them back up, "Knock yourself out."
Hershel pulled Rick aside, "Lori can't take much more of this moving about."
"What else can we do? Let her give birth on the run?"
Airi scoffed, "Please don't sarcastic, not with this. Do you see a way around that with how we keep pushing on?"
Rick rubbed his face and looked away from the two medical group members in annoyance. Hershel patted Rick on the back before he wandered over to the truck to check on the pregnant woman himself.
Daryl waved Rick over, "Hey, while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt. Sophia's gotta practice somehow." The two men and the blonde girl loaded up and stepped off into the woods, but not before Sophia handed Eren over to Airianna, kissing the little boy's cheek as she passed him over.
It wasn't long before T-Dog and Glenn returned with water and then Rick, Daryl, and Sophia came back quicker than usual and empty-handed. But the gleam in Rick's eyes told the redhead they must have seen something worthwhile.
And that was how they quickly ended up outside an overrun prison cutting their way through the outer-most fence.
They quickly slipped their way through and resealed the break in the fence with metal wire, successfully keeping any outside walkers from following them. They followed the gravel path between the two sets of fences until they came to the guard towers at the entrance. The gate on the inner fence was semi blocked by the tipped over prison transport bus, and the walkers in the grassy field inside growled at the human intruders.
Rick eyed the infested field, "It's perfect. If we can shut that gate," He gestured to the gate wide open on the other side of the field, leaving the prison cell blocks open to the grass. "Prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight."
"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel pondered.
"I'll do it," Glenn offered. "You guys cover me."
Maggie shook her head, "No, it's a suicide run."
"I'm the fastest," He argued back.
"No," Rick agreed with the Greene woman. "You, Maggie, and Beth draw as many as you can over there." He pointed to a spot further down the fence away from the closed gate. "Pop them through the fence." Glenn sighed, but he and the sisters started their way over. "Daryl, go back to the other tower." Airi's husband sprinted off to a further tower before Rick pointed to her, "Airi, you and Sophia are good shots, go with Daryl. Take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste."
The two females nodded their heads and ran off after Daryl, climbing up to the top of the tower to join him. He smiled at the pair along with his son strapped to the girl's front before he turned back to where Rick was standing by the gate talking to Lori. Airianna lifted her rifle and eyed their leader through the scope as Sophia grabbed her bow. The three watched as the others screamed at the walkers, catching their attention away from Rick so Lori could pull open the gate for his mad dash.
Rick started to sneak up the gravel road, and Airianna followed him with her scope, shooting any walkers coming after him from behind while Carl and Hershel in the other tower focused on the walkers further away. Sophia took out a walker right next to their leader and the man nodded up to her before continuing to the open gate. Her and the Dixon couple spotted their leader, but Airi paused as one of her bullets flew past the walker she was aiming for and hit the ground in front of Rick.
"Shit, sorry!"
Rick luckily made it to the gate unharmed and flung a walker back inside before clipping it shut. He then ran for the tower next to the inner gate and attacked the corpse that fell out when he swung open the door. He slammed the door shut behind him and the group paused, waiting for him to emerge from the top of the tower.
"He did it," Airi muttered when she saw his head peak out of the high structure.
Daryl nodded as he dropped his crossbow and picked up the rifle he brought up with him, "Light it up!"
The rest of the group pulled out their guns and fired on the rest of the walkers lumbering in the fields. Airianna passed her rifle to Sophia and helped her aim it, smiling when the girl hit the last walker standing in the grass. The trio then climbed down the tower and back to the main gate.
"This is fantastic!" Sophia cried as they opened the gate to the grass. "We haven't had this much space since we left the farm."
"You okay?" Airi asked Lori.
"Haven't felt this good in weeks."
"Good," She slowed for the pregnant woman and walked in step with her.
Airianna stayed with the children, Beth, and Lori as the rest of the group retrieved the cars from outside the prison. She and Beth built a small fire and started cooking a mix of beans and some leftover meat from Daryl's last hunt. Everyone joined them for dinner as the sunset, except for her husband and Rick. She watched as the two suspicious men were on watch, Rick by the gate leading to the cell blocks and Daryl on top of the bus.
"Mmm, just like mom used to make," Glenn joked as he finished his portion.
"You bet it is," Airianna responded. "I'm going to take a plate to Daryl."
She ruffled Sophia's hair and kissed Eren's cheek before heading towards the bus, waving to Daryl as she reached the bottom of it. He paused in his pacing and grabbed the plate she lifted up before offering her a hand. Once she was pulled on top of the bus too Daryl picked at the meal while looking out past the fences.
"It's not much, but if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all," She muttered.
He sniffled, "I guess little Shane over there has got quite the appetite."
Airi shoved his shoulder, "Don't be mean. Rick's doing his best at the moment, and it doesn't really matter who the father is."
"I guess," He quirked his brow as he watched his wife rub at her right shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"The kickback from the rifle forgot how much of a punch they pack."
"Hold on," He dropped his plate and motioned for her to turn around. She did as he wanted and sighed in relief as he started to lightly massage the tense muscles. She turned and smirked at the small blush on his face, "We better head back," He whispered as he looked away from his wife.
"You know," She started as he shuffled closer to the edge of the bus. "It's pretty romantic. Want to screw around?"
"Pfft, shut up," Daryl muttered. "I'll go down first."
"Even better."
He shot her a look, "Stop." He landed safely on the ground and opened his arms for her to fall into. Airi laughed and jumped off the vehicle, landing in her husband's arms. She giggled harder when he whispered in her ear, "You're lucky we ain't alone right now."
"Really? I'd say I was unlucky then," He scoffed at his wife and shoved her back towards the fire, begrudgingly following after her.
When the pair reached the flame Beth and Maggie were softly singing together, and Sophia hummed along when the couple sat down next to her. Airianna tucked her arm around the blonde girl as the singing faded out.
"Beautiful," Hershel smiled.
"Better all turn in," Rick muttered. "I'll take watch over there. Got a big day tomorrow."
"What do you mean?" Glenn asked.
"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win," He reassured the group. "But we got to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. Could mean the supplies may be intact. They'd have an infirmary, a commissary…"
"An armory?" Daryl asked from next to his wife.
Rick nodded, "That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. The warden's office would have info on the location."
"Weapons, food, medicine...Almost seems to good to be true," Airianna added.
Hershel nodded at her thought, "We're dangerously low on ammo. We'd run out before we make a dent."
"That's why we have to go in there," Rick explained. "Hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it. I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance." Carl smiled at his father and Rick beamed back before getting u to start the first watch.
Daryl took off his poncho and slipped it over Sophia and Eren as they laid down on the ground to sleep. Airianna smiled at the gesture and motioned for him to join her under the small blanket she had. He curled up behind her and wrapped his arm full around her body to Sophia, who curled into Airianna with Eren in-between the two females.
The next morning saw Rick, Glenn, T-Dog, Daryl, Maggie, and Airianna prepping to enter the closed-off gate to the cell block entrances. Rick had spent the better part of the morning trying to convince the doctor to stay behind with the others in the group to handle attacking walkers through the fence, but she stubbornly refused. She admitted that keeping a doctor alive was important to the group, but she also knew that she would not allow such a small group to go in and handle the walkers lumbering around. Besides, she brought up the countless runs and other situations she had gotten herself stuck surrounded by walkers before, and Rick quickly conceded the battle.
Hershel stood by the gate, ready to open it for the five runners wielding melee weapons, "Ready?" Rick nodded and the gate was pulled open.
The group stayed in a circular formation as they took out the walkers directly coming at them. Swifty moving through the courtyard as they hacked and stabbed at the decaying brains of the monsters. Airi grunted as she shoved her foot into the chest of one to wrench her machete out of its skull, and moved to the side as Maggie killed one coming up on their left.
Glenn watched as more walkers poured from another gate further back in the courtyard, "Get tight, get tight!"
Rick glared at T-Dog as he separated from the group, "Don't break rank!"
"We need that!" He called back, signaling to the open gate he was rushing towards. He picked up a riot shield laying on the ground and swung it at an approaching walker, Maggie running forward to finish it off. The two returned to the circle and altogether they closed in on the breach. Rick motioned them against a wall when he noticed the vast amount of walkers on the other side of the gate and cursed under his breath.
Daryl tapped Airi's shoulder and pointed to a garbage can on the other wall where walkers dressed in riot gear were stumbling towards them, beginning to alert the other walkers. Daryl shot a bolt at one of them, but it bounced off of the helmet on its head. They all started attacking the riot walkers, trying to find their weak points until Airi shoved one to the ground and Maggie shoved her knife up its exposed neck and into its brain. The two women and T-Dog took out the rest of the riot walkers while Daryl, Glenn, and Rick secured the gate, sealing off the remaining walkers from them.
They all took a few moments to catch their breaths as they glanced at the carnage around them. Glenn started towards the gate where the rest of the group was waiting when Rick flagged him down, "Stop."
"Well, it looks secure," Glenn replied.
"Not from the look of that courtyard over there," Daryl said as he pointed to the walkers piling up on the gate. "And that's a civilian." Glenn tensed when he noticed the female walker Daryl was gesturing to.
T-Dog sigh, "So the interior could be overrun with walkers from outside the prison."
"Well if there's walls down what are we going to do? We can't rebuild this whole place," Glenn pointed out.
"Maybe we don't have to," He turned to the redhead. "Prisons have separated areas that can be sealed off in case of a riot. We just need to find the hole and close it off."
"We can't risk a blind spot," The leader said. "We have to push it."
Glenn nodded and let Rick lead the way to the metal-enclosed stairs leading into the cell block labeled C. Daryl pulled open the squeaking door and they paused, waiting for the sound to alert the corpses inside. Airi closed the sliding door behind them while Rick pushed open the barred door leading to a common area with metal tables. Rick motioned to the office-like room above the messy common area, allowing Airi and Maggie to silently make their way up the small flight of stairs to check it out.
Maggie gagged at the smell of decay and Airianna paused at the sight of the dead guard's body. She frowned at the blood on the glass from the bullet he put in his brain but smiled at the keychain resting on his belt. She unclipped the jangling metal and tossed them down the stairs to Rick. He caught them and carefully unlocked the barred door leading to the cells in the block. The cell area was covered in trash and ripped up mattresses as if a riot had broken out before the prison fell. Rick checked the door at the other side of the cell block and relaxed as it stayed in place when he pushed on it.
The rest of the group stayed on the ground floor as Rick and Daryl investigated a sound coming from the second level cells. Glenn and T-Dog started to pull the dead bodies out of the cells while Maggie and Airi combed the common area of any blind spots. They noted another closed-door leading further into the prison and a small, fully-barred room in the corner of the common area. Maggie moved to collect the rest of the group from outside when Rick came back down the stairs and Airi joined the men in disposing of the corpses. T-Dog was lugging a body into the common area as the rest of the group slipped by her and Glenn into the cell block.
"What do you think?" Rick asked.
"Home sweet home," Glenn answered.
The leader nodded, "For the time being."
Lori glanced her eyes around, "It's secure?"
"This cell block is."
"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asked.
"In the morning we'll find the cafeteria and the infirmary," Rick explained.
Beth warily eyed the cells, "We'll sleep in the cells?"
Rick nodded, "We found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set too."
The hunter scoffed, "I ain't sleeping in no cage. I'll take the perch." He started to drag a mattress out to the second-floor landing and Airi rolled her eyes.
She started up the steps after him, "Too small for all of us, hon."
"Don't want to sleep in one of those," He argued.
"How about Sophia and I take the one on the end up here?" She offered. "Then you can sleep right outside."
"Speaking of Sophia," He grunted while pointing down. Airi looked at the first floor and noticed the blonde girl chatting with Carl in one of the cells. She smiled at the pair but moved down the stairs to collect the young girl.
"It's actually pretty comfy," Sophia mutter as she bounced Eren in her lap.
Carl patted the bunk on the top, smiling when her words were proven true when a throat clearing behind him made him jump and nervously spin around. He relaxed a little when he saw Airianna eyeing them with a smirk on her face.
"You find your cell yet, Carl?"
"Yeah, I was just making sure Sophia was safe," He awkwardly muttered.
"Alright," She went along with his half-assed lie. "Sophia, Daryl and I found a good spot upstairs if you want to join us."
"Could I stay here?" She asked. "Beth wanted to bunk with me," As she said that the teenager peeked her head into the cell.
"Sure hon, just pass me Eren so he doesn't bother you two," She happily nodded and passed the boy over to his mother.
Eren giggled at the movement and grasped onto his mom's hair once he was in her arms, tugging lightly on the long strands as she left the girls alone in their cell. Lori and Rick claimed a cleaner cell on the second floor as well while the rest of the group remained on the lower floor. Airianna set her son down on the floor of the corner cell and let him wander around the room as she unpacked their meager possessions.
Daryl paused at the entrance to the room, "Might be safer for the little guy downstairs."
"If you're staying up here, then we are too," Airianna declared.
Her husband sighed and helped her layout one of the mattresses on the floor for Eren, placing his baby blanket on the bedding once it was set up. He then assisted in the rest of the unpacking and plopped down on the lower bunk when their bags were finally tucked away.
"Thought you didn't want to stay in a cell?"
He grunted, "I'll try it tonight and if it sucks ass I'll sleep outside, happy?"
She grinned and laid Eren down for sleep before she joined Daryl on the twin-sized bed, curling up for the night.
Airianna woke up the next morning to the sound of clanging and she nearly fell out of bed as she tried to get up. She slipped out of the cell when she noticed Daryl and Eren were gone and wandered down the stairs to where Beth and Lori were serving small bowls of food in the common room. She gratefully took a bowl of oatmeal from them and waved to Sophia and Carl as they sat on the floor with Eren eating breakfast. She then turned her attention over to where most of the others were surrounding one of the other tables.
"Not bad," Daryl muttered as he eyed the stash of weapons they picked off the dead walkers.
Rick nodded, "Flashbangs, CS triple-chasers. Not sure how they'd work on walkers, but we'll take them."
Airi watched as Daryl picked up an oozing riot helmet and sneered at the smell, "I ain't wearing this shit."
"We could boil them," T-Dog offered.
Her husband scoffed, "Ain't enough firewood in the whole forest. No. Besides we got this far without them, right?"
Beth stepped forward and tapped Airi on the shoulder, "Airi?" She turned and watched as the teenager motioned her head back towards the cell block where she could make out Lori sitting on a bed panting.
"Everything alright?" Rick asked.
Beth quickly nodded, "Yeah, nothing to worry about."
She waved to the others and let Beth lead her to where Lori was sitting," It's the baby. I think I lost it."
"You haven't felt it move?"
The pregnant woman sniffled, "Nothing. And no Braxton-Hicks," The doctor asked Beth for her medical bag and placed her hands gently on the bump as she waited for the blonde woman to return. "At first I thought it was exhaustion or malnutrition. If we're all infected, then so's the baby. So what if it's stillborn? What if it's dead inside of me right now? What if it rips me apart?"
"Stop," Airi pressed. "Don't let your fear take control of you."
"Then let's say it lives and I die during childbirth…"
"That's not going to happen," Airi muttered as she grabbed her bag offered by Beth and started to rifle through it.
"Why not?" Lori asked. "How many women died in childbirth before modern medicine?"
"Not as many as you think, many died due to excessive pregnancies and lack of midwives and doctors. This your second one," The doctor argued as she used her stethoscope on the woman's stomach.
"If I come back," Lori continued. "What if I attack it? Or you? Or Rick? Or Carl? If I do, if there is any chance, you put me down immediately. You don't hesitate. Me, the baby, if we're walkers, you don't hesitate and you don't try to save us. Okay?"
Airi shook her head, "Lori, you're exhausted and frightened. You're only thinking of the bad."
"That's true," Lori conceded. "My son can't stand me. And my husband, after what I put him through…"
"Well, that is stuff you can fix, it just takes time," She said as she patted the pregnant woman's back. "But if you keep worrying it will only hurt you and the baby."
"Rick hates me," Lori spat out. "I put him and Shane at odds, I practically put that knife in his hands.
"You know who doesn't give a shit about that?" The doctor asked as she put away her supplies. "This baby. Now the good news, the baby is perfectly fine. They just ran out of wiggle room."
"Oh so it'll come soon," Lori said as she wiped her eyes.
"Yes, but Hershel and I are ready for this," Airianna assured. "And so are you."
The two women then stepped out of the cell in time to see some of the group members getting ready to explore more of the prison's tombs. Lori and Airi smiled at Carl trying on one of the helmets in an attempt to make Sophia smile.
Rick turned to his son, "You won't need that. I need you to stay put."
Carl groaned, "You're kidding."
"We don't know what's in there. If something goes wrong, you could be the last man standing," Rick said. "I need you to handle things here."
He sighed, "Sure."
Rick ruffled his hair, "Great. Let's go," He spared a look up at his wife before he followed Hershel, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, and T-Dog out of the cell. He paused and waited for Carl to lock the door before he and the rest of the exploring group finally left the safety of C block.
Airianna motioned for Lori to go rest as she climbed down the stairs to join Carl, Sophia, Eren, and Beth, "How about we tidy this place up for when they get back?"
Beth beamed at the thought and started to help her collect the paper scattered across the floor, while Carl and Sophia started to drag the mattresses laying out back to the cell blocks missing them. In a few short minutes, the chaos left the by riot was almost completely gone, save for the odd stains across the concrete. The group collectively brought the paper scraps outside to burn later with any firewood they would collect in the future. The joked that the paper would be safe in the trash cans littered out in the courtyard, perfect storage for later use.
She asked the kids to unpack more of their things to make their rooms more comfortable while she had Beth help make lunch for when the group came back. She mixed canned beans and some canned chicken to make a sort of chili and had Beth add whatever spices she wanted to improve the meal. The teenager happily mixed the ingredients and Lori came down to assist in the right spice mixing, showing the blonde the best herbs to pair together. As Airi offered some of the unspiced portion of the food to her son she smiled at the small amount of normalcy they were able to experience.
But all her effort of a calm environment was shattered when Rick came running in with Hershel bleeding out on a metal cart, the bottom half of his right leg missing.