A/N: Hey guys! This is one of those chapters I couldn't get quite right so I'm sorry about that but I decided to go ahead and put it up. There's one more of these 'blah' chapters and then we should be back on track. Anyway, sorry for the rambling but please read and review!
Rick had studied a map of the prison and told us that the layout was confusing so we had to be careful not to get lost and to know where to run if we got in trouble. To help with that, Glenn was marking our path with a can of white spray paint we had found in one of the guard offices. We all had flashlights but it was still very dark, no windows to help light the way.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. It was obvious no one had been here in a while and the dead bodies had a serious odor. Most of them were completely dismantled, barely resembling humans at all. Most importantly, none of them were moving. Maggie and Glenn ran into each other and Maggie yelped, causing us all to jump and turn with weapons poised. Once we recovered, we continued down the empty hallways, no danger in sight. Rick and Daryl were in front and I was bringing up the rear, making sure our backs were covered.
"Shit! Go back! Move!" Rick yelled and I turned on a dime to let the others pass, sticking to the wall and waiting for Rick and Daryl before running as well. A group of around a dozen walkers was heading straight for us and running was the only option. Unfortunately another group was coming from another hallway and we had to turn again. Somewhere along the way, Glenn, Maggie, and I got cut off from the rest of the group, having to duck into a door to avoid walkers.
"We have to find the others," I panted, pushing back some lose hair.
"This way," Glenn suggested and Maggie and I nodded in agreement. Then, a gun shot rang out crisply and I took off toward it. What I saw was nothing I wanted to. Hershel was lying on the ground, crying in pain and there was a bite mark on his leg and a freshly killed walker beside him. Everyone was screaming and Glenn and Rick lifted Hershel up and began running but walkers were everywhere. There was one clear hallway and they bolted down it with Daryl and I bringing up the rear and keeping the walkers at bay.
We found a room and ducked inside, locking the door and T-Dog held it shut for an extra layer of protection. They laid Hershel on the floor and Rick had a detached glint in his eye as he grabbed an ax that had been dropped.
"There's only one way to keep you alive," he whispered and chopped. I nearly screamed before composing myself and simply turning away from the gruesome scene. Hershel passed out after a few whacks and half of his leg was gone within seconds. He was bleeding badly and I dared not look at it.
"Duck," Daryl whispered intently and we all obeyed. He shot up, crossbow pointed at a window to our right. There were five men standing there, some holding makeshift weapons but all of them staring at us in shock.
"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked, taking steps forward to block their view of the rest of us.
"Who the hell are you?" One of them called back.
"He's bleeding out. We gotta go back," Rick observed, looking at Hershel. He started ordering Glenn and Maggie on how to staunch the bleeding but I pulled my gun and joined Daryl who was a few feet in front of the window now.
"Why don't you come on out of there?" He said more of as an order than a request. "Slow and steady." They started coming out one by one, much more interested in Hershel than us.
"What happened to him?" One asked. He was Hispanic with black hair to his shoulders. He had a gun tucked in the front of his pants so I immediately identified him as the largest threat.
"He got bit," Daryl barked, obviously not wanting to get engaged in small talk.
"Bit?" He grabbed the gun and Daryl and I tensed with T-Dog pulling his gun as well.
"Whoa whoa. Easy now. Nobody needs to get hurt," Daryl said.
"You have medical supplies?" Glenn asked, brushing past them into the room they had just vacated. The Hispanic man still had his gun pulled and focused on Daryl.
"Whoa! Where you think you going?" One of the others, a small black man, asked. Walkers began to bang against the door but it held for now.
"Who the hell are you people, anyway?"
"Don't look like no rescue team," a white man with a wicked mustache and blond hair commented.
"If a rescue team is what you're waiting for, don't," Rick called breathlessly from his spot. Glenn was banging around and came out with a metal cart that could be used to transport our wounded friend. "Come on, we gotta go." Lots of yelling ensued as T opened the door and they began fighting their way out. Rick called for me and Daryl and Daryl jerked his head indicating for me to go first. I did, turning from the men and running into the hall with Daryl close behind.
We began picking our way through the hallway, following the spray paint back to the cell block. The men were following us but we had to get Hershel back. Rick screamed for Carl to open the door and there was more yelling and panic as we rolled in. Rick, Maggie, and Glenn took Hershel into a cell with Carol and Lori to get him help while Daryl and I stood outside in the common area, waiting on the guys from the other room. Soon, they did, with the Hispanic man leading the way, the gun still tucked inside his waistband.
"That's far enough," Daryl warned with his bow in a ready position. My gun was aimed at them as well but there were still more of them than us.
"Cell block C. Cell 4- that's mine, gringo," he said and I immediately bristled at the implication of conflict.
"Today's your lucky day, fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia. You're free to go."
"What you got going on in there?"
"It ain't none of your concern."
"Don't be telling me what's my concern," he said and grabbed his gun. Daryl quit trying to act relaxed and went in attack mode with me directly behind him.
"Chill man. Dude's leg is messed up." the large black man said. "Besides, we're free now. Why are we still in here?"
"The man's got a point," Daryl added, obviously not wanting to shed blood but completely willing to if necessary.
The same man continued by saying he needed to check in with his family but the leader of the group was not swayed. Although the gun was by his side, it was still a threat.
"A group of civilians breaking into a prison they ain't got no business being in got me thinking there ain't no place for us to go."
"Why don't you just go find out?" I had stepped to be beside Daryl but he shifted, putting me behind him again.
"Maybe we'll just be going now," the white man said. He obviously didn't want any fighting. Only one of these men seemed openly hostile.
"Hey, we ain't leaving," he stated assertively.
"You ain't coming in either," T-Dog cried as he rounded the corner, gun raised.
"Hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where I damn well please." Everyone started yelling then and all weapons were aimed at someone.
"Hey, everyone relax. There's no need for this," Rick reasoned as he came into the room as well, one hand raised defensively and the other holding a machete.
"How many of you are there in there?"
"Too many for you to handle." I smirked a little at Rick's hard attitude.
"You guys rob a bank or something? Why don't you take him to a hospital?" I looked over to Daryl in shock.
"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asked, softening his voice. If they really didn't know, we were about to shatter their world.
"Going on like ten months." His voice was quieter too and he was obviously curious. They went on to tell us about a 'riot' that broke out and how one of the guards locked them in the cafeteria and promised to come back but never did. They had assumed the National Guard was going to show up.
"There is no Army," Rick told them gently.
"What do you mean?"
"There's no government, no hospitals, no police. It's all gone." He shrugged but the verbal reminder visibly deflated all of us. The prisoners all muttered to themselves trying to process it and the largest guy asked for a cell phone to call his family.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Daryl asked.
"No phones, no computers," Rick continued. "As far as we can see, at least half the population has been wiped out."
"Ain't no way."
"See for yourself." We started walking to the doors and pulled them open. Sunlight streamed in the dark prison and I squinted at its brightness. They prisoners mused at the bodies and Rick and Daryl began to explain everything to them. I grew bored with them and walked over to the fence. There were a few walkers but not many, so I just looked out at the fields, daydreaming about times past.
I heard shouts and quickly turned, seeing weapons again so I jogged over with my gun at the ready. The tension had gone by the time I got there and Rick was striking a deal with them to help them clear out their own cell block in exchange for half of the food in the cafeteria. So that's where we headed next. The blood stain on the floor was the only evidence that we had been here before.
The pantry was stocked much better than the Hispanic guy, Tomas we had learned, had let on. Daryl started pulling things off the shelves and I helped.
"What's in here?" Rick asked, gesturing to a closet.
"Don't open that!" One of them called but the door had already been opened. The stench was horrible and I gagged, but not as bad as Rick who was standing directly in front of it. The inmates laughed before turning back to Daryl and me. I reached up for a box full of assorted cans and heard a low whistle.
"Been a while since I saw ass as nice as that," Tomas laughed and I turned sharply, glaring.
"Excuse me?" I scoffed, crossing my arms and jutting out my hip in defiance.
"We've been locked in here a while. No women. It'd be nice to have some now." His eyes raked over my body, sending a chill down my spine.
"Back off," Daryl growled in warning but didn't raise his bow.
"Hey man, you can share," the shorter black man named Andrew said.
"I said back off!" He called louder and Rick stepped between us all.
"Not even in your dreams," I snorted.
"Don't be like that!"
"Hey!" Rick called and the cacophony of noise stopped. "Show a little respect. Now we're going to take this food back to our cell block. Stay here and we'll come back to help. Daryl, Adeline, stay here. We start clearing as soon as we get back."
…
Rick and T came back with an assortment of weapons but Daryl handed me his hunting knife so I was set.
"Why do I need this when I got this?" Tomas asked, gesturing to a pipe and then grabbing his gun and brandishing it.
"We don't fire guns dumb ass." I rolled my eyes, still pissed over his earlier comments.
"Not unless your back's up against a wall. Noise attracts them," Daryl added.
"We'll go in two by two. Daryl will run point with T. I'll bring up the rear with you and Adeline will be spotter," he pointed to Andrew. "Stay tight and hold formation, no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an ax to the head."
"And that's where you aim," Daryl pointed out. "These things only go down with a head shot."
"You ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man," Tomas grinned and my stomach churned at the implication.
"They ain't men. They're something else."
"Just remember to go for the brain," Rick finished and we headed to the hallway.