Chapter thirty: Twisted arms.
"We are stronger than our scars."
The prisoners weren't going down without a fight; Rick even left Hershel to stop Daryl and T-Dog from shooting the lot of them. In the end it was agreed that our group would help them to clear out Cell Block D to live in and from the smirk Daryl shot me through the barred gate, I gathered that D wasn't in a very good shape.
An hour later, the men returned, Daryl and Rick waited outside to keep the Prisoners out of the Cell Block.
"Foods here, we've got canned beef, canned corn and canned cans! There's a lot more where this came from!" T-Dog announced as Carl and Sophia pounced, volunteering to organise the food as Andrea went to back to comforting Beth as well as handing towels down to Carol. In the makeshift hospital Cell, Carol and Lori were muttering about needing more than just towel, they needed sterilised gauze and proper bandages; I sat with my chin in my hand, watching as Glenn handcuffed Hershel to his bed with an apologetic look in Maggie and Beth's direction, promising that it was just a precaution.
After about half an hour, I noticed that no one was organising the food anymore and with a frown, my eyes trailed Carl and Sophia as they snuck off towards the back gate, Carl silently unlocking it.
"What're you two doin'?" I asked softly, making the pair jump as I came up behind them, glancing over my shoulder to make sure that no one had heard me.
"We thought someone should look for the infirmary, our mom's said we need more bandages and medical supplies for Hershel, we can go get those." Sophia explained and I scratching my shoulder before nodding.
"You should come too; there might be something on a higher shelf." Carl added boldly and I pursed my lips.
"What're your mom's gonna say? Your dad, Carl, is gonna stick his boot up my ass." I replied frankly and the pair shrugged.
"Think of how far up your butt it's gonna get if we go alone and get hurt." I stared at him for a few minutes before nodding.
"I can't believe this, I thought my days of bein' blackmailed by ten years olds were behind me." I muttered, following the pair into the corridor and shutting the door behind us. "Keep hold of which key opens that, Cowboy." Carl nodded and wrapped an elastic band around the key. The hall was pitch-black as we walked, silent as the grave as we crept along. "Yo, it's this way you two." I steered the kids to the left, it seemed that only the infirmary and some kind of office were on this side of the building; we pushed open the first door and looked around, seeing only two Walkers unresponsive inside, they looked almost like they were sleeping as Carl and I took them out with knives.
Shutting the door, we started to pack a few bits and pieces into the bag Sophia held open, mainly things to wrap the stump in and alcohol wipes; in one cabinet I found some painkillers, they seemed pretty generic so I threw those in as well.
"Look at this." Carl held up a strip of condoms and I raised an eyebrow. "What're these for?"
"They're nothin' you need to be worryin' about Cowboy, you put those down okay?" He nodded and put them back as I put a thermometer into the bag as well. "We're done here then?" The kids nodded and I sighed.
"What about the other door? There might be something useful in there." Sophia argued and Carl shook his head.
"We should get this stuff back to Hershel."
"I agree you should get this stuff back to Hershel…while I go and see what's behind the other door." I said flatly, checking the hall before shoving the pair out of the infirmary. "Get your asses back to your mom's before they send out a search party and kill all three of us." Carl stood still as Sophia started to head back.
"You don't want any backup?" He checked and I shook my head. "Be done in thirty minutes, or I'll come looking."
"You sound like you dad." I sassed and Carl's face turned pink, a proud little smile pulling his face into a softer expression. "Don't worry; I'll only be a second Champ." He nodded once and then jogged to catch up to Sophia.
Rolling my eyes, I muttered under my breath about pushy kids before pulling open the second door; it was deserted in there and looked to be some kind of office, there was a body on the floor, but the missing head and piles of mush beside a shotgun put me at ease. I picked the gun up first and found a box of rounds on the desk, seemed like the guard had offed himself at the beginning of the shit storm we lived in. Casually, I scanned the book shelves for anything interesting, finding only crappy romance novels and self-help books written in German. Scoffing, I moved on to a glass cabinet and found it to be filled with guns and ammo, I wished that Carl had thought to bring more than one bag and was forced to leave the guns there, hoping I remembered to tell Rick they were here.
Sitting in the desk chair, I imagined what it would have been like, just relaxing in here and then hearing that people were suddenly treating each other like mobile Happy Meals before blowing my head off with a shotgun. I spun around once before beginning to search through the drawers, finding useless receipts and pieces of tissue; in the bottom drawer, however, I found a map of the prison's layout and how each Cell Block was arranged. I frowned and spread the map out before leaning over it, casting my eyes over the Block we were and the one the men were clearing with the Prisoners.
They weren't identical, but there was another infirmary in there, as with Cell Block B, Block A was death row, what would they need with an Infirmary? Maybe a morgue, but that was the last place I wanted to be with Walkers everywhere. Aware that time was ticking on, I folded the map away and stowed it in my back pocket, checking the other drawers and finding a picture of a pretty girl and older woman. They were embracing a young man in a fresh uniform and I felt sadness drive through me, glancing at the corpse on the floor and sighing, covering my mouth before slumping back again.
"Jesus Christ." I whispered, realising that this must have been the man's family; turning the picture over, I found out that the two women were his mother and sister and that their names were Moriah and Helen. The picture had been taken in 1995; guy must have worked here for a while. The photograph was creased already and I put it into my jacket pocket before grabbing the shotgun and leaving, shutting the door and trudging back to the gate. I knocked once on the bars and Carl hurried to come and let me in.
"Find anything good?" He asked and I nodded, handing him the shotgun distractedly, hardly noticing when Lori scolded him and took it.
"What the hell were you thinking, taking two ten year olds as wingmen?" She snapped and I shot Carl a look of annoyance.
"Those two were plannin' to go on their own, would you have preferred that?" I replied waspishly and Lori glared at the shamed children.
"Is that true?" Sophia nodded as Lori sighed.
"I appreciate this, but Hershel was hurt, with the strength of the group around him."
"It's okay, we took down two Walkers." Carl replied flippantly and Sophia nodded.
"Besides, there were only two doors on that side anyway, no way for more Walkers to get in there."