"The fire should be burning by now. Try to keep it low so we don't attract anything or anyone to us," Said Dalvin, as he took a seat on a nearby log."

"What's to say it already hasn't attracted something.." Cass muttered.

"We'll see them coming if it comes to that."

Lee grabbed a rifle and and sat in the corner of the fenced in area. The aura of the fire kept half of his illuminated. He did not remember when was the last time they all had a good night sleep, but it was something he strives. Kate slowly walked up to him, taking a seat near him.

"Wouldn't you want to be by the fire? it's warmer."

"Yes. But you're all alone out here in the corner."

"Just keeping guard. I'll switch off with someone else in a little bit."

She nodded in response, heading back towards the group.

"You ever think about it?" Kate approached him on the side.

"About what?"

"How they showed up. They had a grenade launcher, they could have killed all of us if they wanted to. Something is not right."

Her tone seemed mysterious, as if trying to figure something got up and faced her. Despite them meeting in Ridgedale, they had grown to care for each other as friends.

"Do you know something? Do you know them?"

"No. The only thing is, they're still out there, we may have kicked ass, but they're fucking pissed off."

Lee put down the rifle and rubbed his eyes in exhaust.

"Look, we're working together to get out of here. But there has to be compromises."

He looked back towards the group, making sure Clem wasn't listening.

"I'll put my life on the line for her. She doesn't deserve any of this. I've done it before and I'll do it again. But if something were to happen to me, I need you to keep her safe no matter what. You, everyone else. In the long run."

"I got you Lee. I'll try to keep you alive too," she said, the moment, they all thought about any possible solutions. Lee had the weight of a massive anvil on his back, the need to keep his group alive.

"Dalvin, let's go scout ahead, see what we find. Rest of you stay put and watch guard, holler if anything," Said Lee, as he strapped a knife to his leg and reached for a pistol. Noticing they were also pretty low on ammo, they ventured into the woods, looking for anything that might help.

"What exactly are we even looking for?"

Lee shrugged his shoulders.

"Anything that could improve our current situation. If it's weapons, shelter, anything. we'll need it." Dalvin nodded in response as they stumbled upon an old set of train tracks.

"Just like the one from Macon.." Lee thought to himself.

"We follow this trail up to that clearing, gives us a good field view of what's ahead." The pair followed the trail, as it curved alongside the treeline and heavy vegetation, pulling them into what appeared to be a man-made scenic view.

"Holy shit.." Dalvin exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his head, catching his breath.

it was a massive facility. Guard towers still up, gates intact, it seemed mostly untouched, though the main field and any visible courtyards were overrun. Dalvin called over everyone to take a look.

"Full of walkers. If the outside is packed, I can't imagine the inside," Cass mentioned. Despite them being quite the distance away, the walkers could still be heard.

"We can take it. Before the day is gone, we can clear out that courtyard. But we need a plan," Lee told everyone.

"I think I got something we can use." Mika came over, hauling a medium sized backpack that had most of their stuff.

"We have these 2 clamps. We could cut a hole in the fence, get in, and close it back up. Some of us could draw them towards that tower, maybe even get in."

"Yeah, that'll work. Let's split up. Dalvin and Emile, you're with me. Everyone lag behind us keeping close, Zoey, Claire, take the girls up in the tower, take them down from there."

"Got it."

It did not take long for the walkers to fall. Being low on ammunition, they tried to be conservative and use close quarter combat to take them down. The main courtyard was now devoid of them. The group reunited in the middle of it.

"So. What's the plan now? This... Whole place seems to be hidden from the rest of the world."

"Right. You could be going down the main road and not even see a glimpse of it. What remains now is the actual buildings, probably overrun as well."

Lee reloaded his pistol and put it back in the holster.

"Let's set up camp here. If we can't clear it out tonight, we will tomorrow. Just having a spot to lay low would be good for all of us."

They all spent the night in the middle of the courtyard, fenced in by the large metal gates that surrounded the area.

The next morning, the group set out to explore the buildings inside the facility. They walked cautiously through the corridors, expecting to encounter walkers at any moment. The first few buildings were empty, save for the occasional corpse that had already been taken care of by the group.

As they made their way deeper into the facility, they began to hear strange noises. They sounded like growls, but much louder and deeper. The group stopped in their tracks and looked at each other nervously.

"What the hell is that?" Cass whispered.

"I don't know," Lee replied, gripping his weapon tightly. "But we need to be ready for anything."

They continued on, following the sound until they reached a large set of double doors. The growling was coming from behind them. Lee signaled for everyone to get into position and pushed the doors open.

It was a couple of walkers, wearing heavy riot armor, feeding on a corpse. They were dispatched of quickly, as they observed the kind of building they were in.

"This place. It seems to be a large jail or something. Walkers were wearing inmate clothing.." Kate noted.

"It must have fallen pretty early on, we could clear the whole place and it'll be ours," Emile added on.

Mika looked around at the corpses and made note that there are several walkers wearing civilian clothing.

"There are civilian walkers here. Either people came in here seeking refuge, or there has to be a hole somewhere, because how else could they have wandered in here?"

"Looks like the area we cleared out was a cell block. We can set up shop there. We can secure it. People will feel safe knowing that this area is clean. Can't say the same for the rest of the prison," Dalvin said.

"We can all set up our camp here for tonight. Tomorrow morning, group meeting to discuss what is next. Get some rest, we'll need it." Lee climbed up towards a cell, and threw himself on the bed, taking a deep breath. He felt that he had led the group to some sort of sanctuary. While sleeping in a prison was not ideal, it is much better than what they had in the past. Clementine appeared at the front of his cell.

"You good?"

"Yeah. Me and Cass will bunk in the next cell. If that's okay."

"Fine with me. Just don't leave the cell block, rest of the prison is not secure yet and we do not know what's in the rest of it."

"Yeah. I know. I wanted to give you this," She approached him, reaching for her pocket. She pulled out a rock of some sort, but it had some bright spots on it. "I found this when we were still at the estates. With everything that happened since then, I forgot about it. But now that we are safe, I can give it to you."

"It is really pretty, Clem. I'll make sure to keep it safe. Go get some sleep now,"

Lee put the rock in his pocket. While it was pretty small, he hoped it would not fall out of it. He layed there, listening to the wind hit the walls, as he eventually drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Lee woke up to the cell block already set up. Their gear was all on a sharing table in the middle area, they had covered most of the cells with covers, weapons were all in one corner. Almost making it seem like home. Lee walked over to a table where most of the group was.

"Got anything good?"

"Yeah," Kate gave him a set of keys. "Dalvin found these in the Warden's office. I bet they open the other cell blocks, maybe the armory?"

"Nah, armory is not in the prison, safety reasons. But it can't be more than 5 miles out. We can make a run once we know for sure what we have here, and we got something stable. We ready to move on?"

"We should split up. Half of us go clear A block, rest of us stay here, hold down the fort. Gotta make sure we have something to come back to, y'know?"

"Alright. Emile. Dalvin and Mika come with. Rest of you stay here. See what you can find. And don't open this door until we come back. Hopefully won't be that much."

In the meanwhile, Clementine was helping Kate set up some of the cells better. There were a few tunnels leading to the exterior, which they started to clean up and secure.

"I wonder how Shelby is holding up. Everyone else there," She said. They had left her community because they felt in danger after an attack, part of her wanted to stay, and another part of her wanted Shelby to tag along, but she wouldn't do that.

"I think they are doing just fine; considering. They were low on weapons last time we were there. And that was a few weeks ago." Kate replied. She tried to forget her encounter with Bella who almost got her killed, but instead she met her own demise on the roof of one of the buildings.

"We should go back."

Coach looked surprised at her.

"That would be a long drive, girl. Ain't exactly gas stations around here. A hike might do the trick, can't be more than 10 miles away from here."

"Once we clear the rest of the prison, we should go back. I'll tell Lee, he'll take us."

As Clementine helped Kate secure the tunnels, she couldn't help but think back to the moment when Lee had put the rock in his pocket. It seemed like such a small thing at the time, but now it felt like a symbol of hope in this bleak world.

She looked around at the makeshift cell block they had set up and felt a sense of comfort in the familiarity of it all. It almost felt like home, in a strange way. But she knew that they couldn't stay here forever, that they had to keep moving if they wanted to survive.

Several branches were being dragged along in a pile. Most of those branches were going to be added to a fire, but some were big enough to serve as weapons, providing they had been sharpened enough to penetrate skin and bone. They were all thrown in a pile with a bunch of other branches and firewood.

"Is that enough for tonight? Looks it'll stay pretty quiet." Shelby asked. She was still doing pretty well considering the current state of the world, and the best part yet, was that her community had recovered and were stable enough after the attack.

Josh started to separate the branches. They were still hoping to recover enough supplies to repair the heating system that had still not been fixed. They had ventured farther than usual, Shelby knew the woods better than Josh, but it was still enough that she could get lost, but they had left landmarks along the treeline so they could find their way back easily.

"More than enough. We rest up for a few hours, then we'll get back just before the sun sets. C'mon, it's warm."

They rested for a few hours. Their supplies were in great amounts, enough to repair the system, but they were looking for parts to maintain it. This would have to suffice. They arrived back in town, dropping off their supplies with those who knew enough about the system.

"I'm going to turn in for the night." Shelby commented. Feeling pretty tired from being a whole day outside.

"You sure? We got some game we cooked. More than last time."

"Save me some. I still got food in my fridge, I'd rather just get some sleep, tomorrow will be better." She made her way back inside and threw herself on the couch. While the house was pretty spacious, it was too much space for just one person. She sort of preferred when Lee's group was still there, and Clementine, despite being a few years older than her, she had grown used to her because she was different thatn any of the other kids she had ever been around. She could not help but wonder how they were doing, where they were, or if they were even still alive.

Clementine couldn't shake the thought of Shelby from her mind. She missed her friend and the safety of her community, but she knew they had to keep moving forward. As they cleared the rest of the prison, her mind raced with different scenarios of how they could potentially run into Shelby again.

Once they were finished, Clementine mustered up the courage to approach Lee. "Lee, I know this might sound crazy, but I really think we should try to find Shelby's community. We left them in danger, and I don't want to just leave them behind like that."

Lee looked at her thoughtfully, considering her words. "It's a risk, Clementine. We don't know what kind of dangers we could encounter on the way there."

"I know, but I can't stop thinking about it. And what if they need our help?"

Lee looked at her thoughtfully, considering her words. "It's a risk, Clementine. We don't know what kind of dangers we could encounter on the way there."

"She risked her life to get us out of that building when we were surrounded by walkers. Why can't we do the same for her? We would all be dead if it was not for her."

"She just happened to be there. We did not ask for it, but trust me on this," He said, standing next to her. "If it comes down to us needing her or having a chance to save her, I'll do it no questions asked. But we can't go out of our way to go back down there. especially with the group of people out there. You know that, Clem."

Guess I do, don't I."

The rest of the group gathered in the common area of the cell block.

"We got most of it cleared out, can't say that the rest of the prison is secure, or even compromised. We need food."

"I know the area. There is a shopping center not far from here. I can go check it out, see what is left." Kate suggested.

"Not alone. We know what happens when someone goes out there alone. Least we can do is go in pairs. Can't risk losing anyone else now." Lee responded.

"Sure. I'll take someone. I'll be at the entrance." She grabbed a bag and made her way to the main gate, prepping a vehicle for the trip.\

"We had a shot at the cafeteria? Chances are that it might still be intact, giving that this place was overrun early on." Claire suggested. The more things they could find, the better.

"It's dark in there. Hell, might even be full of walkers. Flashlight and a gun ain't gonna do much of a difference, best wait for tomorrow, least we can see what we are dealing with."

At the entrance, Kate was checking a vehicle, making sure it was fit for the trip. Mika and Cristy appeared around the corner, who were going to join her on the run.

"We really taking a prison car?"

"Don't see any other ones that are better. It works, has enough fuel for a round trip, might siphon more from any other cars we have." Kate added on, as she put weapons in the trunk, some in the cabin.

"How far is this shopping center exactly?" Cristy asked.

"On this thing? 15 minutes. Not accounting for any other things that might slow us down."

"Okay. Let's go." They all piled into the car, as Claire and Cass opened the gates for them, letting them drive off into the woods and towards the shopping center. All the roads were empty, some trees on the verge of collapsing, the neglect towards the infrastructure was noticable.

In the backseat, Cristy seemed to be drawing and writing on a notebook she had found somewhere in the prison.

"You're drawing?"

"In a sense. If we really are gonna make that prison our home, we should know what's around it. I'm just drawing locations, places we have looted, possible locations with supplies, dangers, all that. In case I'm not around, someone will have this to look back on."

Her sentence gave Mika a sense of dread, and goosebumps, but she was right. They do not have a tomorrow guaranteed. The shopping center eventually came into sight. There were several gates and tents set up by FEMA on the inside, with several dozen bodies along the ground.

"Let's hope they are actually dead. The place I was talking about that might have food is some sort of restaurant in the court." Kate commented as they made their way into the shopping center, which appeared to be abandoned. Dozens of dried blood piles were in the stores, but no walkers. Kate led them towards the doors of the food court, which was barred from the outside.

"If there is anything, It's going to be in here. Open it up." Cristy used bolt cutters to pry open the metal frame, making a loud noise. They opened one door and took a peek. There were several tables and chairs flipped over, almost as if using them to take cover. They slowly made their way in, the kitchen and storage room was in the back, which was also wired shut. Cristy got to work on the lock while the other two scoped the area and kept an eye on the door.

While they watched the entrance, a figure appeared leaning on the door. He was wearing a large brown winter jacket, with a baseball cap over. He appeared to not have any weapons except for a switchblade on his hip. He glared at them, and raised his hands in surrender.

"Took a while for someone to come lookin'." He commented while still standing in the same spot.

"What?"

"You know. World gone to shit, the dead rise and eat the living, all is lost, and no one ever thought to come search the food court? Guess desperation ain't let people think. But now you're here. Maybe you do got more than braincell for a brain, or things just died down enough that people aren't afraid anymore."

"Doesn't look like you are alone. Tables flipped over, everything locked down. Seems to me you are not open to sharing." Mika added, while the 3 of them pointed their weapons at him.

"Well, I am. Hard to believe huh? I used these tables to keep the dead away, since they can't climb over."

"You cleared the mall from walkers?"

"In a sense. Too many to kill, too much of a hassle to carry and burn bodies outside. I led them to the amusement park, few miles from here. I wouldn't suggest going for a ride anytime soon, unless you wanna deal with herd."

"How many?"

"Didn't count them by head, but you want a rough estimate? I'd say around 2000. And that's rough."

The trio looked at each other in confusion. He seemed friendly enough. But they could not take their chances. "Looks like you're struggling with that lock. You won't cut through it, I got the key. May I?" He asked, slowly reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a keychain with several brass keys, and threw it at them.

Cristy used the key to undo the lock, opening the storage room. A lot of boxes of beans, rice, among other non-perishable boxes were in the room, which was massive in it's own right.

"This is a lot of food for just one person. Who's to say were not gonna get shot on our way out?"

"I saw you drive up. Saw you scope around, walk in, everything. I could have done that then. Why would I do it now?"

The trio carefully brought back the food to the car and started to drive back to the prison. Unaware of the man that basically gave them the food, they knew that he could not have followed them all the way back on foot, so they were clear.

"This field is pretty broad. Could be of use." Dalvin told Lee, as they stood over the perch of the cell block, which could overlook the whole area.

"Yeah. Find some seed, plant it, soon enough we won't have to go out for runs if we can grow our own food. What about them guard towers?"

"Burnt out. Not that hard to repair, some wood and supplies to put it together and we can set up watch at the towers, this is the real deal."

As they finished their conversation, the car pulled into the courtyard, carrying loads of food.

"How'd it go?" Claire asked, as they all helped unload.

'Fine. Met someone there."

"What?"

"A man. Had the whole store locked up, he talked to us. He gave us the key to the food court and gave us the food on his own. There was a herd there, he said he lured it into the amusement park. Not sure what to make of it."

They finished bringing the rest of the food into the cells.

"Least we know we ain't the only ones out here. Saves us the looking." Coach commented.

"If it's just one man, we can deal with him. If he's with the ones that got Mike and Bonnie killed, they will pay." Lee replied. They brought all the food into the cellblock they had cleared out the day before, which thankfully had no breaches, so they could sleep without worrying there. Cristy pulled out the notebook she was using in the car and put it in the middle of everyone.

"That's one shopping mall down, few more stores to go. Not all of them might have food, but they must have something, this whole area seemed to have fallen early on when it started, but why?"

"I got a hunch." Said Claire, as she reached for another fruit cup. "Areas around prisons are usually pretty locked down, we saw the signs about avoiding escaped inmates. Which could mean that they flooded out from the inside, explains the ripped fences and civilian walkers in here."

"We finish up here, and we fight our way to the cafeteria. Not all of us are gonna go, too much of a crowd can go wrong. Maybe 4 at the most. We keep a tight formation, so that we have eyes on all directions," Lee added, as he reached for his weapon, checking to make sure he had a full clip.

"Coach, Dalvin, Zoey and Emile, let's go. Close the door behind us, and don't open it for nothing, got it?"

They made their way down the dark hallways, killing the few walkers that were in their way, eventually finding the double set doors, that led to the cafeteria. Emile put his ear to the door.

"Nothing. Might not be anything inside at all. Only one way to find out, I'm only gonna open one door, control them, alright?"

"Yeah."

Emile pried open the door, as the heavy stench of rotten flesh escaped the room. Using their flashlights to illuminate the area, it was completely empty, except for a few decaying corpses a few feet away.

"Looks like we're in luck. Walkers piled out a long time ago. Take back whatever isn't rotten, and seal it up. We can mark the walls with this paint, so we know we were already here." The crew began to haul back the few boxes they had found back to the cell block where they had set up shop.

"How long will this last?" Clem asked.

"Few weeks at the most. That'll be more than enough for us, giving us enough time to get the scope of the land and see what's around us. We can set up shop outside as well, once we fix up the fences." Lee added on, to which everyone agreed with his ideas.