Chapter Four

The Dead At My Door

Daryl was sat in front of me, my arm pulled in front of me and he fumbled with the needle and thread he had found. I was losing more blood than I thought and he was looking slightly blurry at this point.

There was almost two of him.

"This is gonna hurt." He warned, pulling the thread through the needle with his teeth. I watched, bemused as he brought it to my arm, not focusing on what he was saying.

The needle went through my arm, snapping me back into focus as I let out a hiss of pain. Daryl smirked at me as he continued, ignoring my pain and keeping my arm still as I tried to move away.

"Stop moving." He snapped.

I scowled at him but did as he asked. My eyes wandered as he stitched me up and I once again wondered why he was helping me, he clearly was part of the group of men I'd seen outside so he didn't have anything to gain from helping me. Then again he didn't have much to lose either, the needle and thread he'd found were from the infirmary and were reusable after a quick sterilisation afterwards, that wasn't exactly difficult.

As my eyes wandered over him I saw the strength he was hiding in his arms, the muscles were there and I wondered how he managed to keep that kind of mass up when I had been struggling to find enough food to maintain my body mass. I was a lot skinnier than when this whole thing had started however much time ago.

The days all blurred into one when you were fighting for your life.

"You're all done." His gruff voice broke through my thoughts and I looked back at him, seeing his blue eyes staring intently into my own.

I looked down at my arm, seeing the dried blood crusted over and the stitches a vivid red against my pale skin.

"Thank you." I said earnestly, taking my arm back and gently resting it against my side.

He chewed on his lip, neither of us moving from our crouched positions on the floor. I looked around again, seeing my backpack near me and pulling it closer. "I should probably go." I said, starting to stand.

"Where are you going?" He asked suspiciously. "The prison is full of walkers."

I felt the bubble of irritation inside me. "No offence, but I don't know you. Thank you for helping me but now I have to go." I stood up fully, he followed suit much more graceful than I.

"Hey now, girl!" He shouted behind me as I walked away. "You ain't gonna last much longer by yourself."

I whirled around, my backpack slapping against me, and scowled at him. He matched it. "Not that it's any of your business but I've been doing just fine by myself and I'll continue to be just fine."

He scoffed angrily. "No one can be alone anymore."

I looked him up and down sarcastically. "I don't know what kind of arrangement you were thinking of but I'm not interested."

His scowl deepened. "That's not what I was offering." He paused, waiting for me to move again and when I didn't he continued. "Look I've got a group." He had my full attention. "There's women, a kid, some protection that you need." He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't wanna be responsible for sending you off and finding you dead in a couple days."

I stared at him, contemplating what he said. I thought it was a little odd he was offering me help and I didn't know if I could trust him. I had been through a lot when it came to people and it seemed stupid of me to go with this man until I had more information.

What if they were nice?

I could have slapped myself for such a childish thought. If they were nice they wouldn't have a couple of convicts in their group. My thoughts flashed back to the men I had seen yesterday, I hadn't seen any women or children with them.

What if this guy was all pretend? I couldn't risk it.

"Thanks, but no thanks." His face hardened at my answer and he didn't try and stop me as I walked away. I snuck back down the corridor I'd walked through, my knife back in my hand and I made my way back to my cell lock.

I had found a flashlight at the guards station I had walked past. It became increasingly important as night started to fall. I had lit the papers with the lighter I'd found and a few twigs I'd gathered from outside and the cell lock flickered in the firelight. It was eerie but much better than being in total darkness. The smoke wasn't as much of an issue as I had anticipated either, drifting out of the cell block on the breeze without much fuss.

My thoughts drifted to the man earlier. Daryl. His offer to join his group and what might have happened had I accepted. I curled into a ball on my bed, the blankets I'd found making the bed as comfortable and warm as it could be. It was fortunate for me that he hadn't spotted the keys in my backpack otherwise he would have known I was definitely staying in the prison, something I'm sure he figured out anyway because what kind of person would leave a relatively safe shelter?

A loud bang made me throw the blankets off myself and fall into the floor. My hands shook with fear of the unknown and I reached up to grab my knife from where I'd placed it before I went to bed. With it resting in my hands, my breathing slowed from the panicked gasps they once were.

I peeked out of my cell to see if there was anything there, I was happy that I had chosen a top floor cell because I was able to peer down without giving myself away. I didn't see anything, my eyes were glued to the door and a few more minutes went past before I began to move away.

Something flickered in the corner of my eye and I gasped, quickly covering my mouth with my hand to stop the noise escaping. A man was stood at the doorway, behind the bars as I had locked the door behind me as I came in. He stood there, hands curling around the bars and he shook the door, creating a loud clanging noise that echoed through the room.

He knew someone was in here, as his muttering carried through the room as well, I cursed myself at leaving the lights flickering as it was an obvious sign of life.

He slammed his hands on the door. "Open up!" He shouted. I couldn't see who it was but by the voice I knew it wasn't Daryl, his figure flickered in the firelight and I could just make out a jumpsuit.

My heart froze. It was one of the convicts.

"Open up, open up, open up."

I crawled back into my cell and fumbled for the keys, trying not to let them hit one another as I'm sure he would be able to hear it. I slowly and gently locked the door, cringing at the small squeaks it was making.

The man stopped hitting the door, cursing to himself and I could hear him start to run. A few seconds later I heard the groaning that accompanied the dead, a steady stream of them walking past the door and as I peered through much door, a few had decided to take up residence on the cell block door, their arms reaching through, hands grabbing at air and teeth snapping grotesquely.

They stayed with me through the rest of the night.

I did not sleep a wink.

I must have passed out because I woke up with my cheek on the disgusting sink in the cell. I scrambled away from it, rubbing my hands over my face and scowled at how I'd woken up.

I remembered what happened last night, my eyes darting to the door. I undid it slowly, gently to make minimal noise and sighed in relief as I peered over the balcony bar and saw no more dead at the door.

I hung the keys on my belt, walking a bit to see how much noise they made. I frowned after the first step, taking them off and putting them in my pocket instead. It was less comfortable but less noisy so I took that as a plus.

My plans for today involved finding the kitchen in this place and hoping the other group hadn't taken everything and if they had, going back outside to see if there was anything else I could take.

The life of a loner was always really fun.

I changed my shirt into something a bit less baggy so none of the dead would be able to grab hold of the loose fabric. Grabbing a protein bar for breakfast I put my knife into its holder and left the cell block.

Which way?

I looked left and right, seeing no one and nothing dangerous so decided to go right. This was the opposite way to the infirmary so I figured the kitchen was more likely to be this way.

Keeping my eyes and ears peeled for the other group or any of the dead I walked quickly and quietly down the corridor. I saw a few recently re-killed dead and it made me feel nervous. I calmed myself down by thinking it must have been the man from yesterday and no one today.

I came across a set of double doors that had a chain hanging free from the middle. I pushed the door open nervously, finding the kitchen that I was looking for on the other side. I smiled and looked around, freezing when I saw a dismembered leg on the floor.

The smell coming from it was enough to make me gag. I lent on a nearby wall and gave a solid heave, it looked fairly recent and was starting to rot. I took a couple of deep breaths, holding my hand over my mouth to keep the smell and panic away. I skittered around the leg, hurrying over to the doors I could see at the back.

I opened the first one I saw. My heart dropped when I saw that it was empty. I opened the next one, it was empty.

The next was empty and one of the doors had clearly been used as a bathroom for a while because when I opened it I immediately heaved and vomited on the floor, slamming the door shut as I did so.

Its all gone.

My eyes watered, both at the pain of vomiting and the fact there was no food. An alarm blared overhead and I jumped in shock. The noise would bring every walker from outside in and all of the ones inside would get excited and start moving. Things could not have gotten any worse for me.

I heard feet moving close by and scrambled to shut the door, looking frantically around for something to stop the dead coming inside. Just before I shut it I saw the chain from outside and pulled it in, looping it around and around the handles.

The alarm continued to blare and I sat down against the doors, hands over my ears to block it out.

What the hell is going on?

AN: Hi guys!

I hope you liked this chapter, as you can see the action is all about to begin! As usual please let me know if you liked it, if you have any constructive criticism and if you would like to see anything specific in the next chapter.

I hope everyone has a good Halloween, let me know your plans!

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