CHAPTER 2

Glenn Rhee looked like a baseball player standing in the batter's box, but while his cap was pulled down to cover eyes, his hands held a wooden broomstick pole with the end sharpened to a point, the opponent he faced wasn't an ace pitcher, but a naked male walker, and they weren't on a baseball field, but on opposite sides of the chain-link fence that surrounded the prison.

"I don't even want to know what he was doing before he died," Glenn said nervously as the naked male walker staggered towards him.

Standing alongside Glenn was John Boyd, the Vietnam Veteran and retired factory worker. John wore his Atlanta Braves cap, his Colt M1911-A1 pistol was holstered at his side, and in his hands was a sharpened piece of rebar.

"Hell, that's nothing," John said with a playful nudge to Glenn's elbow, "I remember one firefight in 'Nam, a VC burning from head to toe from a napalm strike charged me while spraying his AK-fucking 47!" John looked at the naked walker staggering towards them and added, "I emptied half of my magazine into the motherfucker's chest and he fell to the ground like a bag of dog shit, but I'll put my hand on the Bible and swear that he crawled for ten yards before he caught on to the fact that I killed him!"

Glenn's complexion turned green; he doubled over and put a hand over his mouth to stop from vomiting. John looked sympathetically at Glenn and said, "I'll deal with nature boy if you—"

"No…I've got this," Glenn interrupted as he stood straight again.

The naked male walker reached the chain-link fence, grasped it, and growled hungrily at Glenn, who tightened his grip on the sharpened broomstick pole, pointed it at the walker's forehead, and thrust the makeshift weapon forward.

THROK!

The point of the broomstick pole went into the naked walker's forehead; its jaws slammed shut, and i's hands clenched the chain link fence while the rest of its body suddenly went limp. Glenn withdrew his improvised weapon, and the dead walker slid down the fence and came to a stop at Glenn's feet.

"Good job, son," John said proudly as he patted Glenn on his back.

"Hey, it was nothing you and I haven't seen before, right?" Glenn asked.

John thought for a moment and answered, "Well, Glenn, I've never had a naked guy come up to me and try to take a bite out of my ass."

The group of Woodburians that John had assembled to clear the fences laughed good-naturedly at their leader's joke, Glenn scowled, adjusted the cap on his head, and watched the tree line for more walkers.

Glenn didn't have long to wait.

Three walkers staggered out of the tree line: one male, one female, and one teenage male. The male had likely been a tradesman, and it wore a sweatshirt with the sleeves pulled up to its forearms to reveal tattoos that were partially covered by blood, bits of flesh, and dirt. The female had been a career woman, but its business jacket was torn and bloody, hinting that it had been mauled by walkers on its way to work. The teenage boy's ears, nose, and right hand had all been chewed off, and it still wore a backpack. All three walkers growled hungrily as they staggered towards the chain-link fence.

John looked past Glenn and at Michael and Naomi Garrett, who were standing at the end of the defensive line. "It's the family from hell. Why don't you two put them down?"

Michael adjusted his glasses and looked at Alicia. "It's like I said when the herd attacked: they're not human. They're not alive."

Alicia nodded at Michael; she raised her sharpened broomstick pole and waited for the growling walkers to reach the chain-link fence. The female walker was the first to arrive; it clenched onto the fence, and tugged at it like it was trying to pull it free from its post.

WHUKK!

Alicia thrust the sharpened point of her broomstick pole through the chain link fence, and into the right eye of the female walker. The female walker let go of the fence, and when Naomi pulled her weapon free, the female walker fell to its knees, and a moment later, collapsed onto its right side, dead.

Michael slid a sharpened piece of rebar through the chain link fence as he watched the tradesman walker staggered towards him. "That's right, Bubba," he whispered menacingly, "just a few more steps and I'll give you an eye exam you'll never—"

Alicia shoved Michael aside, which made him drop his rebar onto the other side of the chain link fence.

"Hey! What the hell—?"

Alicia ignored her husband, slid her sharpened broomstick pole through the chain link fence and thrust her weapon through the tradesman walker's right eye.

THROK!

The tradesman walker froze in place with his tattooed arms at his sides, and when Alicia withdrew her improvised weapon, the dead walker fell onto its back like a wooden plank.

The teenage walker extended its remaining hand forward, as it staggered closer to the chain link fence. Alicia didn't bother waiting for it to grasp the fence; instead she thrust the broomstick as far as she could.

WHUKK!

The sharpened point of the broomstick pole went through the teenage walker's right eye, and as it fell dead to the right, its weight and its distance from the chain link fence was enough to pull the broomstick pole out of Alicia's hands.

Glenn and the Woodbury group broke their line formation and looked at Alicia in disbelief, but the most surprised one was her husband.

"What's gotten into you?" Michael asked as he took a step towards Alicia, "I could've killed the big one."

Alicia glared at Michael and replied, "Could've."

Michael's jaw dropped and he stared in shock at Alicia.

John took his Atlanta Braves cap off his head to scratch his temple, and looked down at the two pole weapons on the other side of the chain link fence. "Somebody better get those spears…because it's not going to be me."

"I'll get them," Michael said as he started to turn around.

"No. I'll get them," Alicia said firmly as she walked past her husband.

The Woodbury group watched Alicia walk towards the gate and then they looked back at Michael, who shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

Glenn took out the open faced silver pocket watch Hershel gave him, and checked the time "Hey, John. Is all right if I take a minute and..?" Glenn asked as he gestured towards the prison with his thumb.

"It's fine, son. If more biters show up we've got Joan of Arc to protect us," John quipped as he watched Alicia pull the broomstick pole out of the dead teen walker's head.

Glenn smiled in appreciation at John; he then tucked his pocket watch away, leaned his sharpened broomstick pole against the chain link fence, and walked up the hill to the prison.

•••

When Glenn reached the courtyard, he saw Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier talking on one of the aluminum bleachers. Daryl was smoking a cigarette and in-between drags he'd talk to Carol; whatever it was they were talking about, Glenn couldn't hear.

Last night Daryl and Michonne said they were going to search for the Governor, is Carol trying to talk Daryl out of it? Glenn thought. It seems like a waste of time. I mean, if the Governor was still in the area, he'd have attacked us by now.

What's going on with Daryl and Carol anyway? Glenn wondered. They're close, that much is obvious, but do they really like each other?

A moment later, Glenn shook his head and smiled. Geeze, I sound like my sisters! Just forget it!

Daryl's Stryker Strykezone 380 crossbow was leaning against the row that he and Carol were sitting on and Glenn noticed that of the five arrows in the crossbow's quiver, only two of the originals with the white and green vanes remained; the other three arrows were replacements with orange and green vanes. Somehow, the crossbow and its various styles of arrows impressed Glenn; they made Daryl look like a survivor.

I better not share that thought with Maggie. If she heard me say anything good about Daryl, she'd kill me! Glenn warned himself.

As if on cue, the side door to Cell Block C opened and Maggie stepped out into the courtyard, with the El Dorado group following her.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your brief tour of the West Georgia Correctional Facility!" Maggie smiled as she turned around to face the prison's newest residents.

"Dios mío. You people had some guts to take this prison from all those demons," Alonso, the head chef of the El Dorado said in amazement.

"It wasn't easy, and we only took some of the interior," Maggie explained.

"Qué?"

"The hallways connecting the cell blocks are still filled with walkers; we call them 'the Tombs'."

"Madre Dios," Alonso whispered as he made the Sign of the Cross.

"Alonso, I've got a feeling that my dad and you are going to be good friends," Maggie smiled.

"Wait a minute! There are geeks roaming the hallways like the drunken guests from our casino?!" Julia, the cocktail waitress asked. "What are we supposed to do, call security?"

"I know you're scared, but we've taken precautions: The doors in cell blocks D and E that lead into the tombs have all been boarded up."

"That's your solution to a threat like those growling corpses?" Nataniel "Nate" Tatum, a young black man and an assistant district attorney asked contemptuously.

"It's worked for us so far," Maggie answered with a hint of anger, "but when the time comes to clear out the tombs, I'm sure you rookies will jump at the chance to earn your keep."

Glenn saw the anger between Maggie and the new arrival Nate, so he hurried over and cried out with a wave of his hand, "Hey! Good morning, guys!"

Glenn's cheerful greeting caught Maggie and Nate's attention. When Glenn reached Maggie's side, he put his arm around her shoulders and looked up proudly at the prison. "What do you think? It's not a ranch in the suburbs, but its home."

The El Dorado group looked over their shoulders at the prison for a few moments and then they looked back at Glenn.

"It could use a mailbox and a new paintjob," Julia, the young cocktail waitress quipped.

Glenn chuckled good-naturedly and gave Julia a thumbs-up. "Good idea. We'll write those down on our 'To Do List'."

Maggie folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes in annoyance at Glenn's attempt at humor.

"I was going to spend my career sending criminals to prisons like this, now I'm the one living here," Nate grumbled.

"Ah…well, it could be worse, right?" Glenn asked.

"It just might be," Nate answered.

"Huh?"

"Your friend Juan warned us about Rick Grimes."

Glenn's color rushed back into his face. "What did he say?" he asked.

"He said that Rick's a time bomb waiting to explode; that one crisis is all it would take for Rick to kill the weakest so the strong would survive. He kept comparing Rick to some psychopath called the Governor."

At the mention of that title, Maggie shivered in fear, while Glenn's eyes flashed red . "Rick is not like the Governor," he said firmly.

Nate waved a hand dismissively and snorted in contempt. "Who were you before the world went to shit, a psychiatrist?" he asked.

"Listen to me, stupid!" Glenn ordered.

Nate's eyes widened at the sight of Glenn's anger.

Glenn took his arm off Maggie's shoudlers; he balled his fists and started to walk towards Nate. "Rick is not like the Governor," he repeated firmly.

Nate froze still.

"Everyone in this prison, my group from Atlanta, Maggie's family, and the Woodbury group, and now your group, are alive today because of Rick Grimes!" Glenn shouted as he stood face-to-face with Nate. "Rick never wanted to be our leader, but somebody had to step up and it was him! We've had tragedy's that would've torn us apart, but every time it's been Rick who pulled us together!

"The Governor is a liar and a killer! He tricked his group into a war against us, and when he lost he slaughtered most of them along the side of a road! The Governor also killed a few or our people: Oscar. Axel. Merle. Andrea!

"You don't trust Rick Grimes, but I do. I believe in Rick Grimes."

Nate still didn't move, but he was clearly frightened of Glenn. Alonso put a hand on the young ADA's shoulder and whispered, "Come on, amigo. Maybe Tyreese needs some more hands moving those supplies we brought in last night."

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Nate nodded.

The three survivors of the El Dorado group turned around and walked towards Cell Block E, which was where the Woodbury Group stayed. Maggie folded her arms across her chest, smiled, and walked over to Glenn, who had unclenched his fists and was rubbing his hands together nervously.

When the El Dorado Group stepped inside Cell Block E, Maggie extended a hand, and cupped Glenn's cheek. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I just got a little upset. Sorry," Glenn answered.

Maggie leaned forward and kissed Glenn. "You don't have to apologize, but thanks."

Glenn blushed and glanced down at the courtyard.

"I thought for a minute you were going to hit that jerk."

"If he said anymore crap about Rick, I would've."

Maggie smiled again. "I'm glad you didn't; it would've ruined your speech."

Glenn looked at Maggie and asked, "You really liked it?"

"I did. Especially that last line. I believe in Rick Grimes, too."