In the days after Hershel's accident things were uneventful for the group. They cleaned up the bodies outside the cellblock along with all the trash lying around. Hershel was doing well thanks to Kayla and the rest of the group and was anxious to get out of bed after looking at the top of the bunk above him for such a long time.
Kayla was with Hershel for the first part of the morning to ask him the same questions she has for days before she went out to help the others with the bodies in the field. The questions were ones like, how are you feeling? Any pain or discomfort? On a scale one to ten how bad is the pain? And so one.
As she checked his temperature and redressed the wound she heard footsteps approaching. She turned around and saw Daryl come into her sights. "What are you doing in here?" she asked him. "Shouldn't you be outside with the others?"
"Alex and the other two prisoners came out to talk to Rick about…joining the group. Rick wants to talk to you about Alex." Daryl explained.
"Why?" Kayla asked.
"He just wants to see what the deal with him is."
Kayla let out a breath and looked back at Hershel. "I'll be right back." she told him standing up.
"No problem." Hershel replied as she left the cell with Daryl.
OOOOO
Daryl and Kayla went back down to the main gates that were the entrance to the prison where Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Carol, and T-Dog were all standing. As the two approached, Kayla looked over at Alex who was on the other side of the first gate with Oscar and Axel. She quickly looked away and focused on the others as she and Daryl approached them.
"What is it Rick?" she asked.
"Your father and his friends-" Rick began.
"Not my father." Kayla cut him off. "Fathers don't abuse their daughters their whole life."
Rick looked at her for a moment and then continued. "Look bottom line is they want to join us. T-Dog is the only one who thinks we should give them a chance. I don't want to and I wanted to make sure you were informed about this before we sent them away."
"Why can't they just stay in their cell block?" Kayla questioned.
"They're saying it's unlivable in there apparently. Too many people they knew are in there and whatever."
"Well do whatever you want with Alex because I don't care. And as far as the other two are concerned, I don't care if their eaten by walkers."
"Alright then." Rick said. "Let's get the cars up there a while."
Kayla followed Daryl out to his bike where he handed her his crossbow. She put in on her back and sat behind Daryl on the bike the way she always has. "Kayla could we please just talk for a minute?" Alex asked her who was leaning against the wall with the others.
"No." she said as Daryl started the bike.
"Please. If I'm going to die out there I just want at least to talk to you and apologize." Alex explained.
Kayla looked at him. "I hope you die out there. And even if you apologize, you won't be forgiven." She said before Daryl drove out of the area and back up to the cell block.
OOOOO
Daryl parked his bike up at where the cars were being parked and then got off. Kayla got off after him and handed him his crossbow. "You alright?" he asked her.
"Yeah." She answered. "I'm going to check on Hershel and then be down to help with the bodies." Kayla turned around to go back into the cell block, but Daryl grabbed her hand, making her turn around. "Can you talk to me please? You've been distant these past few days." Daryl pointed out.
"I know and now's not the time. We'll talk about it tonight." Kayla told him. "I promise." She took a step closer and kissed his cheek. "And for the record you smell disgusting." She said as she stepped back. Daryl scoffed. "You ain't no better." He pointed out. Kayla laughed once and then returned to the cell block with a smile on her face.
OOOOO
A little while later Daryl, Rick, and Glenn were coming back from outside the prison when they saw Hershel come out walking on crutches with Kayla, Lori, Carl, and Beth nearby. "Man he is one tough son of a bitch." Glenn stated. "ALRIGHT HERSHEL!"
"Shh!" Daryl sounded. "Keep your cheers down." Daryl pointed to the other side of the fence where several more walkers were approaching.
"Aw man. Can't we just have one good day?"
Daryl, Rick, and Glenn all looked at Hershel and the others for a moment in thankfulness that he had survived the bite and leg amputation. Rick was looking at Lori, causing her to blush and Daryl had his eyes on Kayla. He allowed a half smile on his face to form for a second at the sight of her. Her hair was in a ponytail and she was dressed in dark jeans, boots, and a dark blue t-shirt with a gun and knife holstered at her hip. He could have spent a much longer time looking at her if not for Carl's voice yelling "Walkers!"
Daryl held a hand over his eyes to block the sun and saw a large group of walkers heading towards Kayla and the others. "NO!" Rick yelled as he, Daryl, and Glenn took off towards where they were. Glenn ran back to close the hole in the fence and Daryl and Rick sprinted to the cell block.
"NO! LORI!" Rick yelled.
"KAYLA!" Daryl yelled as they got closer to the gate.
When they reached it Glenn threw them the keys and Rick opened the door quickly and they went to unlock the next one. "Come on, come on!" Daryl said as Rick struggled to find the right key. When Rick got it open they ran up towards the cell block, ignoring the Oscar, Alex, and Axel as they asked what they were going to do about them.
When the three reached the cell block they killed every remaining walker and Glenn went over to see what happened to the gate. "What the hell happened?" Rick asked Beth and Hershel who were safely locked behind a fence.
"The gate was open." Beth answered.
"Where's Lori, Carl, everyone else?" Rick questioned.
"Maggie led Carl and Lori in the C Block." Hershel said.
"T was bit." Beth added.
"Where the hell is Kayla?" Daryl asked, walking over.
"T-Dog led her and Carol into the tombs." Hershel told him.
Daryl's heart fell for a minute when Glenn's voice broke his thoughts. "Those chains didn't break on their own. Someone took an axe or cutters to them." Glenn stated. Everyone looked at the prisoners who were now standing at the gate entrance. "You think they did it?" Glenn asked Rick.
"Who else?" Rick replied just before the alarm began going off.
OOOOO
In the tombs T-Dog had already sacrificed himself to let Carol and Kayla get away and they were now on their own in the tombs with nothing but knives. "Which way?" Carol asked. Kayla looked around and tried to figure that out. "I don't know." She answered truthfully. She looked down each hallway and decided to go left. Carol followed her and it took them to a line of cells where there was a lone walker. As it approached Kayla took her knife out and jammed it through its skull and then led Carol away from the cells and back into the halls.
They walked for a few minutes before they came across a group of walkers that had too many for only Carol and Kayla to handle. Kayla took her gun out shot the ones getting close. "I'll take care of them." Kayla said. "Go back the way we came and take the first flight of stairs up. Here." Kayla handed Carol her knife and told her to go.
"What about you?" Carol asked.
"I'll be fine. I have my gun and it has a full clip. Now GO!" Kayla yelled shooting the incoming walkers.
Carol took off and Kayla shot the remaining walkers and took off down the hall to find some stairs to lead her back to the cell block. She killed three walkers in her pursuit and finally reached a stairwell. She opened the door and it was clear of walkers so she rushed up the steps to the door.
Once she was on the first floor she ran down the hall when the sound of moans caught her attention from behind. Turning around she saw five walkers coming after her. She shot three of the five, but she ran out of ammo. "Damn it!" she yelled. She turned around and took off down the hall where she saw a door that led outside. She burst through it and ran outside, praying she was in familiar territory.
She ran around some old cans and boxes and out into the open where she saw the group. The walkers were still close behind her and she yelled for help since no one had noticed her yet. "SHOOT THEM!" she screamed.
Daryl had returned from the generator room with Glenn and Rick to find Kayla and the others still gone except for Hershel and Beth who were still behind the fence.
"You didn't find them?" Hershel asked as they approached.
"We thought maybe they came back out here." Glenn replied.
Hershel and Beth just shook their heads. "What about T? Carol?" Hershel asked.
"They didn't make it." Daryl stated, thinking back to T-Dog's ripped apart body and Carol's head scarf. And there wasn't any trace of Kayla either. But then a loud scream caught everyone's attention.
"SHOOT THEM!" a female voice screamed from behind. Everyone turned around to see Kayla running away from two walkers. Daryl quick raised his crossbow and shot the one, but then Kayla tripped over one of the bodies lying on the ground and the walker was getting close to her.
"Kayla!" Daryl yelled as he ran over, loading another arrow in. The walker toppled over on her, but Kayla fought it of just as an arrow went through its head. The body fell on her dead and she was still in slight shock to push it off of her. She laid there shaking slightly when footsteps approached. "Kayla…" a familiar southern voice said. Looking up, Daryl came into her sights and he pulled the body off of her.
"Come on I got you." Daryl said helping her to her feet.
Kayla stood up and Daryl held onto her for support when he saw the look on her face. "It's okay. You're alright." He said. Kayla then all but fell into his arms in a hug. She buried her face in his chest and let out a breath when he wrapped his strong arms around her. "It's okay, you're safe." He whispered into her hair. He pulled back and walked her back to the group with an arm around her where everyone had their eyes on her. She looked around and saw no sign of Carol.
"Where's Carol?" she asked.
"Was she with you?" Rick asked.
"We-we got caught in a crowd of walkers down in the tombs. I gave her my knife and told her to go back the way we came and to find a stairwell. I took care of the walkers and came up through the stairs there." Kayla explained.
"She was alive last time you saw her?"
Kayla just nodded. "Alright we're going back." Rick declared. "Glenn, Daryl, you're with me-" Just then the sound of a baby crying tore him from his thoughts. Everyone turned to the direction of the sound where they saw Carl and Maggie coming out of the cell block…a crying baby in Maggie's arm with no Lori around. Kayla and everybody else knew what that meant. Kayla leaned against Daryl and watched as Rick walked over to Maggie, asking where Lori was. He went to go into the cell block, but Maggie stopped him. Then Rick broke down in tears. He looked at Carl who had a sad, but stoic expression on his face. "Noooo." Rick cried before collapsing to the ground in tears.
