CHAPTER 10

Kate

Breakfast was a silent affair. Their orange prison spoons scraping bowls, scooping up flavorless oatmeal. A little squeak or grunt from the sleeping baby in Beth's arms. They had found little stools in the guard shacks that they could pull up to add more people to each table and so most of them were crowded around one - Beth with the baby, Hershel, Maggie, Glenn, Carl and Kate.

Daryl and Oscar sat on the stoop leading to the yard. Kate watched Daryl. He seemed preoccupied with Carl this morning. Rick was still wandering the inner prison and his son was doing a valiant job of holding it together, but between his father's absence and having to have a hand in his mother's death, it wouldn't surprise her if Carl started acting out. She was glad Daryl seemed to be keeping tabs on the situation. She imagined if Carl eventually did need to talk to someone, or worse, went off the rails, Daryl would be a good one to handle the kid.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the iron door that led to the rest of the prison swinging open and Rick walking in. The look on his face, the way a nervous energy moved through his fingers, reminded her of a different Rick. The Rick that seven months ago stood and told them he killed his best friend for them. It wasn't the focused leader who had helped them survive out there or found them their new home. This Rick made her uneasy. She watched him walk to Carl's side.

"Everybody ok?" He asked while they all stared at him like he was a wild animal.

"Ya. We are." Maggie offered.

"What about you?" Hershel was the only one that dared ask the question everyone wanted an answer to.

Rick dodged the question.

"Cleared out the boiler block."

"How many were there?" Daryl asked from his spot on the steps. He looked a little pissed off, but he didn't call Rick out.

"I don't know. Dozen. Two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl." He patted Carl on the back, turned and headed towards the gate. Glenn stood up and called after him.

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies. You don't have to."

"No. I do." He said, anger contorting his face.

Kate wondered if the anger was directed at Glenn. If he was still angry that he went after him that first afternoon or if he was just angry at the walkers, the world, Lori, Shane - himself.

He suddenly approached Daryl.

"Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

Daryl nodded. "Ya, running low on ammo."

Glenn who had never sat back down interrupted.

"Maggie and me, we were planning on making a run this afternoon. Found a phone book, some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula."

"Cleared out the generator room." Daryl continued, "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We are gonna sweep the lower level as well."

"Good. Good." Rick replied as he walked across the room and out the gate.

"RICK!" Hershel called after him, but Rick just kept walking.

Kate looked at Carl who was staring at his oatmeal like he wished he could disappear in it. She looked around the room at the rest of her family and saw the same concern she was feeling on their faces.

Not long after Rick retreated back into the depths of the prison, Daryl stood and as he had so often done lately, he got them organized for the day. He surprised them all when he asked Carl to help him sweep the lower levels with him and Oscar. It was good to see a smile sneak back on Carl's face, if only for a moment. Daryl asked Glenn if he and Maggie were set to go, if Kate and Beth could handle the gates as they left. Everyone nodded and headed out.

Hershel hugged Maggie and Glenn goodbye and reminded them unnecessarily to be careful - like a Dad watching his kids heading out for a night out instead of sending them into a world of hungry dead. He was going to stay back in the cell with the baby, so the four of them headed out to the yard.

Glenn decided to take the Suburban and loaded it up with a few supplies in case they couldn't make it back in one night. Beth and Kate hugged them goodbye, opened the gates and waved as they headed down the lane, walkers lamely following.

Kate turned to Beth and sighed. Beth smiled her sweetly before her face crumpled and tears formed in her eyes.

"I hate when she goes." She said in a small voice.

"I know. Me too." She put her arm around Beth's shoulders and they made their way back to the cells.

Later that afternoon, Carl and Oscar had returned from the lower levels. Kate had asked where Daryl was and Carl just said he was staying down there for a while. Great, she thought bitterly, just what we need, two of them avoiding everyone else by running after walkers.

She knew it wasn't fair. The walkers needed to be dealt with. She was just worried.

Oscar headed off to his cell, a pair of slippers in his hand, to take a nap. She gave the slippers a funny look and he just shrugged and smiled.

"It's the simple things." He called over his shoulder.

She was starting to like that guy.

Carl seemed a little more himself after his adventures. He filled them in on the walker they killed and finding Carol's knife. Kate's heart ached imagining how scary it must have been for Carol and a fresh wave of grief crashed over her.

She sat next to Hershel at a table in the common room. Beth was busy working on something in a large stockpot. Kate hoped it was dinner because she knew one of them would end up responsible for the next meal and she was out of new ways to make spam and canned beans interesting. She was listening to Hershel tell her a story about when Maggie was a baby, and as he looked down at the little bundle in his arms she could tell he was nervous about his daughter being on the run. Their recent losses making all their anxieties come to the surface.

Kate's eyes caught movement at the gate and Rick walked into the common area slowly. She wondered for a second what this visit would bring. Which Rick would this be. She was almost nervous that Daryl wasn't there, but she reminded herself that she knew Rick. Besides, he almost looked sheepish as he walked slowly into the room.

Everyone froze in place, eying him warily. Without a word he approached Hershel. He looked almost afraid, like he was trying to decide if he really wanted to do what he came in to do. He finally reached out and gingerly took the sleeping girl from Hershel's arms. Kate watched him closely as he held his daughter for the first time. So many emotions colored his face until it finally decided on one and broke into a smile. He held his daughter to his chest and for a minute it really felt like everything would be ok.

A few moments later, they followed Rick into the sunshine of the yard. Carl was smiling wide and Rick was looking more like his old self. Kate was watching him again when she saw his face change and knew he had spotted something. He handed the baby to Carl and slowly walked past the guard tower and down the sloping gravel path leading to the dog run.

At first, Kate thought he might have heard a vehicle approaching and she hoped that Glenn and Maggie had found success already and were returning earlier than expected. They all started to follow Rick's path, slowly, being mindful of Hershel on his crutches. She watched as Rick approached the dog run, his gun in his hand. A row of walkers were lined up, as usual, clawing and gnawing. Except one of them wasn't a walker, unless walkers could carry baskets now.

"There's a woman out there!" Beth gasped.

Carl quickly handed Judith to her and took off in a sprint to the gate, the prison key ring already in his hand. Rick stood at the fence, chain links the only thing separating him from her - until suddenly the walkers realized they had a living meal and she moved away.

"Does she have a sword?!" Kate asked. She was impressed and terrified all at once.

The stranger quickly fought off the walkers, but she fell to the ground.

"I think she's injured." Hershel said.

They had almost reached the fence, watching in horror as the walkers started to close in on her. Panic started to well up in Kate's throat. She couldn't take another death right now, not even a stranger's. She opened her mouth to scream, but the blast of Carl's gun beat her to it.

A second blast quickly followed and then Rick opened the gate and he and Carl ran out, firing on a few more walkers. Rick reached her as Carl headed for the basket she dropped.

"Is she bit?" Hershel questioned as Rick looked over the semi-conscious woman at his feet.

"Gun shot!" Rick replied, and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, her long dreads hanging down.

Kate had run ahead to get the door to the cells open and as she watched them make their way towards her she thought for a second about what a sorry sight they made. A man struggling to carry a shot, bloody woman, an old one-legged man hobbling on crutches as his young daughter, juggling a newborn in her arms, agonizes over his every step and a boy lugging a basket. The basket. She didn't pay much attention to it before. It was red, the kind you use at a store if you're only getting a few things. As Carl passed through the door she looked at the contents and all she saw was baby formula. Fear flooded through her. Why formula? How did she know there was a baby here? Where were Maggie and Glenn?

She slid the gate shut and quickly followed them into the common room. Rick was already shouting out instructions.

"Carl! Get a blanket. Beth, water and a towel." He laid the woman gently on the ground. "She's not coming in the cell block!" he ordered and then to her, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, steady now."

Kate watched as Rick took the water Beth brought him and dribbled some over the stranger's chest.

"It's alright. It's alright. Look at me. Look at me. Who are you?"

Kate knew he was trying to be soothing, but she didn't blame the woman one bit when she lunged for her sword. Rick kicked it away expertly, a leftover from his sheriff days she guessed.

"We're not going to hurt you unless you try something stupid first, alright?"

"Rick." They looked up to see Daryl walking slowly from the cell block.

Kate was relieved to see him, the situation felt dangerous and Rick had just started acting normal again.

"Who the hell is this?" Daryl snarled.

Then again, Daryl wasn't friendly with strangers.

Rick leaned down to look at her again.

"You wanna tell us your name?" Rick asked.

The woman just looked at him like a cornered animal: scared and ready to fight for her life. He repeated his question.

"You wanna tell us your name?" Again was met with silence.

"Y'all come on in here." Daryl coaxed them all to follow him back to the block.

"Everything alright?" Rick questioned.

Kate guessed he was probably wondering, as she was, what could be so important as to take them away from this situation. They didn't get visitors often.

"You're gonna wanna see this."

"Go ahead." Rick said, giving them all permission to follow Daryl, "Carl, get the basket."

He turned back to the bleeding woman on the floor.

"We'll keep this safe and sound" Rick motioned to her sword in his hand. "Doors are all locked, you'll be safe here. We can treat that."

He looked at her bloody leg.

"I didn't ask for your help." She finally spoke, strong and stern.

"Doesn't matter, can't let you leave."

He turned and they all walked into C Block. Curiously following Daryl. He stopped at one of the lower level cells. Rick looked in. Kate couldn't see what he was looking at, but he froze there in shock and Daryl was wearing a rare grin.

Over the last year, they had all watched plenty of folks rise from the dead, but this was a new one. In the cell, looking dirty and exhausted (which was saying something in this group) was Carol. A woman they had symbolically buried two days ago.

"How?" She heard Hershel ask, astounded.

"Poor thing. Fought her way into a cell. Passed out. Dehydrated." Daryl explained.

They all were embracing her, holding her, thanking God (those of them that still believed there was one) and wiping grateful, happy tears from their eyes. Kate looked at Daryl and he grinned at her. They stood there in that happy moment and held that gaze a second longer than necessary. It was all she needed, it buoyed her hopes and erased all the confusion she had been feeling about his behavior towards her.

Rick, Daryl, Hershel and Carl headed back out to deal with the situation in the common room, but not before Kate pulled Rick aside.

"The basket, it's all baby formula." She explained anxiously.

"I know. I saw." He said, acknowledging with his eyes they were worrying about the same thing.

"We'll get to the bottom of this."

Carol was holding the little girl while Beth and Kate tried to fill her in on everything: the rogue prisoner being responsible for the walkers getting in, how Oscar had killed him and earned a spot for him and Axel within the group, how Lori died and how poor Carl had to shoot her so she wouldn't turn, Rick's recent return to their company from the bowels of the prison and how Glenn and Maggie were on a run. That made Kate eye the basket of formula nervously, before glancing towards the common area. She hoped they were getting some answers.

An hour later they all stood in the cemented yard of the prison while Rick, Daryl, Oscar and Carl loaded up the Hyundai with ammunition and supplies. They had gotten answers from the woman, whose name was Michonne. A man from a town called Woodbury had shot her. She was running from him when she came upon the store Maggie and Glenn were searching. She was hidden, but saw this man take them by force, she assumed back to this town. The town had tight security and plenty of ammo, but she thought they could get in. So it was decided, all of them were willing, but only Rick, Daryl, Oscar and Michonne would go to rescue them.

Kate was scared to death to see them go. She wanted Maggie and Glenn back and this seemed like the only way, but how dangerous would it be? Only four of them going in against a whole town? It sounded like a suicide mission. She wondered if she'd ever see any of them again and the thought panicked her.

She looked across the yard, watching the man she knew she loved prepare to once again, willingly, throw himself into a dangerous situation to protect them. They were leaving too fast. She wanted to talk to him - explain to him that even if he didn't feel the same way, that she loved him. That she saw him. Saw that he was good, loyal, kind, fiercely protective, smart, all the things she knew he doubted. But there was no time for that now. Oscar and Michonne had already gotten into the small SUV and Rick was saying his goodbyes to his son. Daryl had just walked out, both hands holding bags of supplies. He was at the car, just out of sight of most of the group.

"Daryl." She called.

"Ya?" He turned towards her. She stepped towards him, boldly closing the distance between them until there was only half a step left and she had to look up to make eye contact. Daryl's whole body stiffened. She knew he wasn't used to anyone being in his personal space. She noticed the way he sometimes flinched when people touched him, but if he was uncomfortable with her nearness, he didn't step back.

"I need you to promise me something." She had desperation in her eyes, she knew it and didn't care. Adrenaline coursed through her, causing her to breathe heavily. "I need you to promise me you'll be back.

"Maggie and Glenn are strong..." He started, completely seeming to miss her meaning.

She cut him off and put her hands on his chest.

"No Daryl. You. I need you to promise that YOU'LL come back."

He stared at her hard. It wasn't anger, but it was still a scowl. His eyes looked for the meaning in her's and didn't believe it when he found it.

He nodded once but didn't say a word. Impulsively, maybe heedlessly, she rose up on her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth softly. Almost imperceptibly, he moved his mouth towards her's. She lowered her head and stood flat on her feet again. She was afraid to make eye contact, afraid to see rejection lurking in his. She mumbled something about being careful and walked towards the cell block. Her sudden courage dissolving with every step.

Rick passed her and nodded, something in his eyes made her wonder what he saw. She heard him ask Daryl if he was ready and Daryl's quick affirmation. She didn't follow them to the gate like she normally would've, but hung back with Carol and the baby before disappearing into her cell.