One

Day 45.

As Mallie Winters stared at the calendar in the staff room, she shook her head in disbelief. Forty-five days ago witnessed a spokesperson from the government contacting all prisons in the area to announce that the world had begun to deteriorate and all life upon the earth faced hardship of death, and those who were not so dead, due to an outbreak of something unknown. The spokesperson, when questioned about the underlining meaning of their words, had brushed off the question as well as the hint of fear they had heard in the voice of the manager to state clearly that help would be on its way to help and assist them.

Forty-five days later, the prison had not heard anything else from the government nor its spokesperson. They kept the generators on for as long as possible, but soon realised that they needed to conserve as much energy as they could. And so the generators were turned off for the majority of the time and only turned on for an hour per day.

Despite the confusion that had set in early on, Mallie and her colleagues agreed to carry on as normal they could possibly manage. No one knew how long they were going to remain in the prison for with nothing but the knowledge that something had happened that caused some sort of outbreak. Something had gone terribly fear about the fate of their families soon crept into their hearts and the urge to venture out and find their family had become paramount for every staff member.

Days soon turned into weeks and the prisoners were beginning to realise that something wasn't as it once seemed. Their routine had changed slightly and the little tweak in their schedule had sent alarm bells to ring in their mind. It was the littlest thing but one that said it all: the hour of exercise they were entitled to per day had become a thing of the past. And before they knew it, they began to pick up more and more things. The staff members they would usually see at night were no longer being seen, they were mostly having cold or dry food instead of the hot meals they usually had as well as the look on the guards faces spoke a thousand words.

Once the first month had closed its chapter, the guards decided amongst themselves that they would tell the inmates everything they knew. They had to tell them. Food was becoming scarce despite the small amount they were giving to the inmates.

However, what shocked them the most was how nonchalant the prisoners were. After being told, the most outspoken inmate Tomas had made a comment that continued to haunt them: 'No life in here. No life out there.'

And it was true. Mallie had spent years being a prison guard and even though she enjoyed it, it often felt as though she was living her own life sentence every single morning when she parked her car in the parking lot and made her way into the building. She spent more time with the prisoners than she did with her own family. And now the chance of living her life outside of the prison had faded away. As the weeks started to increase and drag on, more and more prison guards decided that enough was enough as all their hope rested on finding their family. The number of guards in Cell Block C soon dwindled down to just five out of a possible hundred, leaving the rest of the guards seriously outnumbered.

The prison was large in size, spanning over the majority of the Georgian countryside. It was the largest prison in Georgia and held a number of two hundred more convicts than any other state prison. As it was set deep into the countryside, it was also as far away from roads and society as possible. It was divided into three blocks: Cell Block A, Cell Block B and Cell Block C. Cell Block C housed the criminals who had been imprisoned for lesser known crimes such as fraud and drug dealing. Cell Block B housed the criminals who had been imprisoned for manslaughter and attempted murder. Cell Block A housed the criminals who were imprisoned for more terrible crimes such as murder, rape and capital punishment.

As weeks went by without an answer or call, the guards decision to allow the prisoners within Cell Block C to walk out of the prison with their free will in tact was increasing as each day passed them by. They were less of a threat than the other inmates in the other blocks, and the guards were needed to be on stand for the more aggressive inmates. The thirty-seven inmates that lived together in Cell Block C were given their very own get-out-of-jail-free card and were allowed to leave the confines of the prison. As soon as the doors opened and the sun hit their face, it was as if they had never been incarcerated in the first place.

"Think today will be the day we get the call?"

A voice behind Mallie filled her ears, startling her for a moment. She turned slightly as her eyes met those of Greg Burgess and she shrugged tiredly. She bit her lip and ran a hand through her hair. Greg came to stand next to her. They remained in silence for a few moments as they glanced at the number of days that had gone by since the phone call that changed everything.

"I hope so," Mallie said. "I don't know what we can do with the inmates. They're becoming even more frustrated."

"And who can blame them," Greg replied. "It's not like we can just open their cell doors, let them out and send them on their merry way. They're too dangerous for us to do that."

She stared at Greg for a moment, taking in his short blonde hair and soft brown eyes. He was a lot taller than her with muscles to match. He was one of the nicest man she had ever met and she was grateful that she was able to see what could potentially be the end of the world with him. She knew that he would protect her, and she would do with him, for as long as it mattered and counted. Greg knew that despite the prisoners having respect for him, he didn't trust them as far as he could throw them. They were desperate. And not knowing what was waiting for them outside made them want to see the state of the world even more. Even Mallie and Greg had no idea as to who or what was waiting for them outside the gates. And underneath their tough exterior, the both of them were terrified.

"They'd kill us before we even opened their cell door," said Mallie, turning back to stare at the date on the calendar.

Greg let out a bitter chuckle. The prisoners within the cells in Cell Block A were the prisoners that no one wanted to handle. They were vulgar, horrible and terrifying. There were some prisoners who he was able to have a laugh and joke with and there were others who he couldn't even look in their eye as he knew what terrible and unspeakable things they were capable of doing.

"Ever feel like walking out through those days and never looking back?" Greg asked quietly. His eyes glanced out of the staff room and onto the small group of guards he vaguely knew. As much as he wanted to trust his colleagues it was hard to decipher who had good intentions and who had bad ones. He knew he could trust Mallie wholeheartedly but with the others, he wasn't so sure.

"All the time," said Mallie. "But I always get the feeling that as soon as I decide to leave that the phone call is going to come through."

"Ouch!"

"Tell me about it!"

Greg chuckled as Mallie rolled her eyes. Their conversation came to a halt as a few of their colleagues came into the staff room. Mallie watched them from the corner of her eye and she couldn't shake the feeling of uncertainty that clasped at her heart. She knew that they wanted to leave, even she wanted to leave, but like she had kept telling them: 'We have a job to do. Until we get that call, we stay here."

Some of the guards agreed with her whereas the rest argued against that decision. The ones who had disagrees with her had taken a dislike to her almost instantly. The manager had given her the role of deputy manager for the foreseeable future, knowing that she knew what she was doing and what she had to do. She was the most experienced prison guard in the whole team. People respected and she was very good at her job.

Greg gazed in Mallie's direction. He noticed that she kept her stare upon her colleagues, discreetly. He then narrowed his gaze on the small group who were now huddled next to the filing cabinet and box of keys.

Greg caught Mallie's attention and tipped his head towards the door. She narrowed her eyes slightly then caught onto what he meant. She smiled and moved towards him.

"Keep an eye on them. I don't trust them," whispered Mallie.

He gave a small nod with the hint of a wink.

"I'll be five minutes, okay?"

Greg smirked, before he spoke. "It'll take you five minutes to get outside. Take longer. We've got all the time in the world now."

Mallie looked behind her for one last time. It wasn't that she didn't trust them. They were colleagues of hers, she had to trust them when it came to working as a team. She had worked with them for the past five years; some longer than others. She didn't know how to explain it except for the fact that she had her doubts. As if she wasn't sure what their intentions were. She trusted people far too easily - always had done and probably always will - and often believed that the bad people in the world were locked away in their cells, away from society and away from the people they could hurt. It was her downfall.

She made her way outside. The sun hit her almost immediately and she smiled softly. She couldn't remember the last time she had taken a moment outside and truly felt the sun on her skin. She kept the keys in her hand as she closed the door behind her and locking it as a precaution. Mallie was always cautious. Even though the prisoners were locked away in their cells, she always felt the need to create a barrier between them and her. It gave her some piece of mind. Some control.

The whole entirety of keeping and regaining control of her life, even if it was tiny moments like this, in a world that she still wasn't sure whether it was safe or not, gave her a sense of peace. She relished moments where she was able to close her eyes and think of absolutely nothing. But the blank mind came the worried thoughts and her mind would often play tricks on her, scoping out her weaknesses and plaguing them. They clouded her delicate, fragile and tired mind with doubts.

What exactly had the spokesperson meant? Was there a cure for whatever the outbreak was?

Mallie turned and started to make her way back inside. And as she did so, the distressing sound of the alarm rang through the tannoy and pierced her mind. She furrowed her brown and narrowed her eyes, her feet automatically carrying her towards the prison. There were three alarms that they system had to signify what type of problem the guards had on their hands. This one meant one thing. It was a poignant sound that shrieked like a dying animal. She fumbled with her keys, trying to find the right one that would allow her to regain access into the prison. Panic rose through her.

As the door opened, the sound of the alarm increased to an almost deafening volume. She winced and covered her ears.

Everything became a blur as she made her way down the corridor to where the block was. The corridor was empty. As if to confirm her fears, Greg came round the corner and almost knocked her down to the ground. He was holding his head and it was then that Mallie noticed the blood pouring from his head.

"What happened?" Mallie shouted over the noise.

"One of the guards opened the cell doors. There's a riot!" Greg shouted. "They attacked me. Our own attacked me!"

They came to the doors that led to Cell Block A. They hesitated outside the glass door for a moment, watching as their colleagues were being beaten to a pulp by the violent prisoners.

"What do we do?" Greg asked.

Mallie felt tears burn her eyes. She knew this would happen sooner or later. she closed her eyes as if willing herself to say the words.

"We shut the block down."

Author's note: I have so many ideas for this story. I've decided to not follow the storyline of the TV series and write it all from scratch. This will take place at the beginning of season three but will include some scenes from season one and season two. That will also mean the reappearance of some characters that departed the show in the first two seasons.

Please leave a comment, I'd love to know what you think!