Airianna sat with Beth in the morning as the teenager was cooking oatmeal in the common room. Daryl, T-Dog, and Rick left early in the morning to finish burning the dead bodies left outside while Airi kept a close eye on Hershel and Lori, who had been having slight abdominal pain since she woke up. Her water had yet to break, but the doctor guessed it would happen later in the day. Luckily Hershel was feeling better since his swipe with death a few days ago, and his stump was healing far better after Airianna cauterized the rest of the leaking blood vessels after Hershel had awoken.
It had been an unpleasant process, but they both agreed it was necessary to prevent any chance of infection in the future. She still insisted on the bandages until the scar tissue had time to cover the whole wound.
But for now, she was relaxing with the kids, smiling as Eren made a mess of his oatmeal as Carl tried to feed it to the boy.
"Carl, you know he can eat it himself?" The boy nodded at her question.
"Yeah, just practicing for my little sibling," Carl responded.
She smiled, "Smart, don't you think so Eren?"
The little boy giggled at his mother, "Mamma! Carl fwummy!" Sophia and Carl's smiles brightened at the boy's cheering.
"He knows my name!"
"Hey," The blonde girl shoved her friend aside. "Eren knows my name too."
She wiggled her fingers at the toddler and he squealed and grabbed for her, "Fia! Fia!"
Carl scoffed, "That's not your name."
Airi shrugged her shoulders as the girl picked up her son, "Just can pronounce it all yet. You have an easy name, Carl."
He blushed and rolled his eyes as Sophia continued to play with the squishy child. The doctor finished up her breakfast and gave the bowl to Beth with a small 'thank you' before she slipped back into the cell area and picked up a set of crutches Rick had found in the infirmary the day prior.
She brought the crutches over to Hershel's cell and tapped on the wall, "Morning, got a special delivery."
Herschel beamed at his fellow doctor as he sat up in his bed, "What wonderful news."
Lori and Beth joined her as she helped the older man to the edge of his bed, "Just have to adjust them to your height and then we're good to go."
"Just take your time," Lori advised when Hershel rose to his single foot, using the bed as a balance.
Beth grabbed his arm as he faltered a bit on his good leg, "Daddy, don't push yourself."
"What else am I going to do?" He asked. "I can't stand looking up at the bottom of that bunk anymore." He grasped the crutches from the redhead and slipped them under his arms, beginning to balance on them as he tried to maneuver around the small room. He stumbled slightly and the women reached to steady him, but he quickly got the hang of the hopping/walking, "You know, I think I'm pretty steady."
"That's a good start," Airianna commented. "Want to take a rest?"
Hershel quirked his brow, "Rest? Let's go for a little stroll."
The crutches tapped against the concrete as the small group entered the common room, Beth moving to grab Eren from Sophia to keep her hands busy when Airianna waved her away from her father. She and Lori assisted the man up the small steps and out the door, smiling when he paused to enjoy the light spring air. Lori moved to open the door to the metal cage encasing the outdoor stairs as Airi stayed in front of Hershel for emergency balance.
"You are handling these like a pro," She jested.
Herschel smiled as he got to the bottom of the steps, "Broke my leg once upon a time. Became good friends with crutches."
Carl and Sophia bounded down the steps to catch up with the adults, pausing behind Beth to give the older man some space, "We did a lot of cleaning Hershel," Sophia pointed out as she motioned to the almost clean courtyard.
He smiled at the little girl, "You clear all those bodies out? It's starting to look like a place we could really live in."
Lori nodded as she eyed his movement, "Het, you watch your step. Last thing we need is you falling."
"Be pretty funny though," Airi added to lighten the mood.
They slowly moved to the end of the courtyard near the fence to catch sight of the rest of the group. Airianna waved at Daryl, Glenn, and Rick as they brought in firewood and cast her eyes around the field. T-Dog and Maggie were adjusting the cars on the far side of the courtyard while the two surviving inmates were standing locked up in the outer fence with a small box of supplies. She frowned at them and wondered why they were there, did they want to leave? Or was Rick finally kicking them out?
She brushed the thoughts from her mind when she heard Glenn yell out, "Alright Hershel!" She chuckled at his enthusiasm, along with the dirty look she saw her husband send the younger man.
Beth smiled at her father, "You're doing great, Daddy."
Carl wandered to stand near him as he hopped along, "You ready to race, Hershel?"
The one-legged man laughed, "Give me another day. I'll take you on. You too little miss." Sophia and Carl giggled at the man's jesting tone. Airianna stepped away from Hershel as he got closer to the fence and shuffled closer to where Maggie and T-Dog were happily watching the man. She knew Lori was hovering over him so he had no need for another worry-wart.
"Walkers! Look out!"
Airi shot her head to Carl and froze at the sight of walkers stumbling towards the small group near the fence. She sprinted over with T-Dog and Maggie and started to shoot at the walkers moving closer to their group members, praying they were able to get away from the threats. Carl, Sophia, and Lori joined in on the shooting as well to give Beth and Hershel time to climb up a small flight of stairs and shut themselves in a small guard gate near the fence.
She followed T-Dog as he continued to shoot the walkers down, "That gate is open!" She swung her gaze to the previously locked gate in the back of the courtyard where most of the walkers were now shuffling out of. She started to head towards it with T-Dog when a high pitched scream caught her ear. She turned around to see Sophia on the ground with a walker on top of her, snapping at her face as she tried to hold it back.
She ran up to the walker and slammed her knife into its head before shoving it off of the scared girl, who jumped up and wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist. She continued to shoot the walkers getting closer to them and smiled when she saw Lori, Carl, and Maggie escape into C block. She moved to follow them but frowned when a group of walkers cut them off, forcing her towards the small door near the open gate T-Dog was still fighting towards. She kept the girl behind her as she took out walkers coming up behind T-Dog, hoping to give him an opening to lock the gate again. When she caught sight of him sealing the gate she swung the door open to reveal an empty hallway they had yet to explore.
A cry of pain caught her ears and she gasped at the sight of a walker ripping into T-Dog's shoulder, "No!"
He spun around at killed the corpse that bit him before running towards the woman and child becoming him to safety. He stumbled to slam the door closed behind them to keep walkers from following and groaned in pain from the wound he sustained. They paused for a second when the door was secured and he grimaced at the heat stemming from his shoulder, "T-Dog let me see that," Airi begged as she tried to get him to turn around.
"No," He denied. "We keep moving, get back to the cellblock."
"But T you're injured," Sophia cried.
He nodded his head, "I'm bit, and there's nothing either of you can do," The little girl sobbed at his words. "But we can still get back to the cellblock."
They started to move but froze when a loud ringing echoed around them, "What the hell is that?" Airi yelled over the noise.
"Sounds like prison alarms," T-Dog replied as he continued to drag the two females through the twist and turns of the halls. "There's a set of double doors that will lead to a corridor that'll get you two back to our cell block."
"You need to stop," Sophia called back.
"I'm getting you both there!"
Airianna placed her hand on his uninjured shoulder, "T-Dog, stop."
"Why? So I can sit here and die?" He asked. "This is God's plan. He'll take care of me. Always has, but I'm taking care of you first." They turned a corner and T shined his small flashlight only continuing to stumble along once the coast was clear, "He's gonna help me lead you out of these tombs."
They passed the double doors and T-Dog pointed to a white arrow on the wall, pointing to a left turn, "You guys mapped the way."
"Pretty smart right?" He groaned and fell to the wall, trying to fight off the growing pain.
"Sophia, help me," Airi ordered as she grabbed one of T-Dog's arms and tossed it around her shoulders. Sophia ran to his other side and wrapped her arms around his waist to help hold his weight. The two carried the man as they followed the arrows through the twist and turns of the tunnels.
They turned once more as they tried to see through the flashing lights, "We're almost there," T-Dog muttered.
They turned left once more but stopped in their tracks when growls sounded from the end of the hall. The lights flashed once more and the trio froze at the mass of walkers making their way towards them. Airi lifted her gun but swore when the click of an empty magazine met her ears, and she shoved Sophia behind her.
"We have to go back!"
"No," T-Dog cried. "We're close. We're close!" He broke out of the doctor's hold and ran towards the mass of monsters. He slammed them into the wall, giving an opening for the woman and child to run past to safety, "Go! Go!" Sophia wailed, but Airi dragged her past T-Dog and the walkers to the door but paused to look back at her friend, "Go! I'm dead!" He screamed as the corpses began to tear into his body. Airianna sobbed as she swung open the door and dragged Sophia onwards, leaving their friend to his fate.
Airianna continued to run through the halls with Sophia tearfully following her, but she slammed the girl into the wall when she heard the telltale sign of walkers nearby the fork in the hall, "What do you have on you hon?"
Sophia shakily brought her hand to her belt," My...My knife," She whimpered.
"Okay, you keep that in your hand," Airi ordered and the blonde girl unsheathed the knife with her hand. She wiped her face before returning her other hand to Airi's.
"I'm scared…"
"I know," The redhead assured. "I'm going to lead them away okay."
The girl began to sniffle, "You can't. You can'!"
"I have to," She insisted. "Solitary is right up here," She pointed to the hall to their left, where the arrow pointed. "You follow the arrows, and if you can't you lock yourself in one of the cells. Do you hear me?" Sophia slowly nodded her head as she tried to hold back her tears, "I'm going to the right to deal with the walkers. If I don't join you-"
"You have to!" She wailed.
"If I don't, wait for our group," The doctor continued to press. "You wait for Daryl. And you take care of Eren, you hear me?" The girl shook as her tears fell, but nodded her head in agreement. "Good," She leaned forward and kissed Sophia lightly on the forehead before shoving her down the left hallway. She then went down the right one and stopped when she turned another corner to a small cluster of walkers ambling around.
The corpses noticed her and growled while they stumbled towards her, she quickly jammed her knife into the nearest one and used it as a shield to slam against the other two in the hall. She was able to shove her knife into the other two after some struggling and gagged at the amount of walker blood covering her clothes. She turned back around and slowly approached the corner leading back to where Sophia went but paused on the wall when she noticed more walkers in the area she was standing with Sophia before. She cursed and turned back around, turning back to the clear hall.
Airianna relaxed slightly when the ringing in the halls stopped and hoped it was her group who turned them off. She slipped through another doorway and slowed as the halls widened. She glanced at the door she passed through and caught the faded word 'Administration.' Weight on her back sent her to the floor and she screamed when a grasping hand pulled her hair, struggling to keep the walker's jaws from her neck. She wildly swung her knife behind her and luckily caught it in the side of the head, taking a deep breath at the squelching sound. She groaned as she rolled it off her back and sat up, gasping as pain shot down her leg.
She clenched her eyes shut and warily glanced down her leg, calming when she noticed the lack of a bite but continued to frown at the piece of rebar sticking through her left leg.
"Fucking shit," She grunted as she used the wall to stand. "Oooh, okay Airianna Marie Dixon, quit your moaning and find a safe place to cry first."
She took a deep breath and limped her way through the quiet hall, passing the multiple empty rooms until she came across a metal door labeled 'Warden.' She cursed as she jimmied the lock, but sighed when the door cracked open. She peered her had in and caught sight of the dead body of the warden sitting in a chair behind the large desk in the room.
Airi inched her way closer to the body once the door was shut again, tensely eyeing the corpse until she noted the bullet wound right through its head.
She fell to the floor as her leg throbbed in pain, "Aaahhh!"
She moved to take off her flannel but grunted when she met her bare arm instead. She must have had it ripped off earlier during the fighting, God the universe hated her.
She dragged herself over to the warden's desk and fumbled through the drawers, cheering when she pulled a small first aid kit out of the bottom drawer. She flung the box open and pulled out the wrapped bandages and the small container of hydrogen peroxide. She unlatched her belt and tightened it around her leg right above the piece of metal sticking through her calf.
Airianna steeled her nerves and bit the hilt of her knife as she ripped the rusted metal from the back of her legs, crying out as it ripped further through her muscle. She deftly swabbed the entrance and exit wounds with the peroxide before wrapping it thoroughly with half of her available gauze.
Her breath heaved as she leaned back against the side of the desk, wiping the sweat and tears from her eyes as they began to flutter. She tried to keep herself awake, but her arm grew limp as her vision faded and she succumbed to unconsciousness.