Building Up
The Prison
Several months had passed in a snap of the fingers. All they had done was surviving. Nights were almost sleepless, food lasting from day to day, having to fight for another shelter almost every night. Rick had taken over the total leadership of the group. But, worst of all had been Rick's news: they were all infected. Would they die of a reason any other than biting they would still turn into a walker. Jenner had told him and he had seen it with his own eyes as Shane had turned after he had been obliged to kill him.
So when they found the prison and managed to get in the courtyard, between fences, safe from the walkers, they took a deep breath for the first time in a long time.
Daryl and Carol had done the same thing as everybody for the last months: trying to survive. Hershel also taught Carol as much medicine as he could, to help him deliver Lori's child and to also be a help with wounds, stiches and so on. It seemed to Carol that everything that happened between her and Daryl at the farm, the kisses, the sleeping in the same bed had been just a dream. Their way of living had taken all that away from them.
Carol brought Daryl some food as he was holding watch on a turned over truck, inside that prison yard.
"Here, if I don't bring you any I am afraid you won't eat" she said climbing up. "It's not much, but at least something".
"Little Shane there has a big appetite?" he asked teasing.
"Don't be mean. Rick's a good guy, he brought as farther than Shane could ever have done" Carol crossed her arms as it was a little cold. "And you…you have been his biggest support".
"We all done our part. It's us against the world now".
Carol nodded and moved her shoulder around.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, the riffle, I am still not very used to it. Still prefer my pistol".
"Come here" he said placing the bowl aside. He started massaging her shoulder and as he did so, he recalled how her body had felt in his arms, how her lips had tasted. And how he had taken her presence for granted. And he suddenly realised that having her near wasn't enough for him anymore. He felt the need for more of her, he wanted his arms around her again, he wanted her hands stroking his hair, her lips caressing his. Daryl stopped from massaging Carol and pressed his lips together.
"We should get back" he said taking the bowl.
Carol nodded absentminded and rubbed her shoulder, just to feel the warmth of his hand a little longer. Her whole body was shivering from his innocent touch and she felt it crave for him. They got down and returned to the others. They were all talking about how to set camp in that yard, start growing seeds. But Rick interrupted them.
"I know this was a big conquest today, but we can't stop here. Just a little bit more, if we can get in the cells and clear some out…this place seemed to have fallen between the first. The pantry might be intact, they have a medical room…"
"Maybe weapons" Daryl agreed.
"We need to do this".
They were all skeptic, but Rick had demolished the democracy in the group long ago. And Daryl was backing up his decisions.
They had a short night, none really sleeping. As day light broke, they were prepared to conquer the inner yard and enter the prison. Glenn, Maggie, Rick, T-Dog and Daryl went to fight body to body, the others remaining outside, making noise to attract the walkers killing as many as possible through the fence. It was a harsh and long fight, but they won it. And when they found a block of cells, empty, without any walkers, secured from the rest of the world, it felt like heaven to them. There were enough cells and beds for all of them. They had keys and doors to lock. And what they did first was to each take a bed and sleep. Carol was keeping an eye on Lori who was very close to delivering. She took the cell next to her. Only Daryl didn't want to sleep in any of the cages as he named them. He pulled a mattress out and collapsed on it. His mind was empty, he needed rest, as all did.
They gathered the collected weapons the next day, preparing to go deeper into the prison. Carol, Lori and Beth together with Carl remained behind.
"Now what?" Lori asked.
"You rest and take care of your baby and we are going to start cleaning these cells around here" Carol said patting Lori's belly.
"I can't just sit around and do nothing".
"Lori, you are underfed, at least give the child some rest. You can do any work you want after you give birth to it. But now he or she is your top priority, ok?" she smiled and took Lori back into the cell.
She returned to Beth.
"Ok, let's gather everything we don't need, get the garbage out and later we should scrub the walls of blood".
Beth nodded and helped Carol with it. It took them a long while to get the place in some order and they certainly got interrupted when they heard a loud sound coming from the corridors of the prison. "Open the doors!" Rick called desperately. "It's Hershel!"
They rolled Hershel inside, he got bit and Rick had had to chop his leg off with an axe. The man was unconscious from the shock and pain. Carol grabbed a sheet and placed it over his cut leg. Rick, Glenn Lori and Carol moved him on one of the beds and Carol bent to try and stop the bleeding.
"I need bandages!" she demanded.
"We used everything we head" Glenn said.
"Get more. Anything!"
Lori asked Carl to get towels, Carol demanded for pillows to raise his leg and make the bleeding stop.
Meanwhile Daryl had walked back, preparing his crossbow. They had been followed by some inmates they had found in the cafeteria and he was prepared to hold them off, at the entrance.
"That's far enough" he said as they entered shyly.
"Cellblock C, that's mine, gringo. Let me in" the one who looked as their leader said.
"Today's your lucky day fellows, you've been pardoned by the state of Georgia, you're free to go".
"What you got in there?"
"Ain't none of your business" Daryl was still pointing his crossbow at them.
Carol heard him talk from inside, heard T-Dog step in as well, but her attention was on Hershel. She was changing towels together with Lori, one after the other and after a while it seemed it would never stop. Both were covered in blood to the elbows.
"It will stop, right?" she asked Lori.
"It slowed down quite a bit" Lori said.
They talked about crutches and the need of antibiotics.
"You've got to be worried sick about delivering the baby" Carol asked her.
"Look at me, do I look worried?"
Carol looked at the woman, she seemed calm.
"You look disgusting" she joked in order to relax the atmosphere a little.
"So do you" Lori smiled. She checked Hershel's temperature. "We'll get through this".
The bleeding had finally stopped when Rick returned with T-Dog carrying bunches of food. They had agreed to help the inmates clean up other cells in return of half of the food from the cafeteria.
"Canned beef, canned corns, canned cans" T-Dog joked. "And there's a lot more from where this came".
"Any change?" Rick asked.
The bleeding was almost stopped, but he needed sterile gauze to heal. At least there was no fever. Still, Rick insisted to handcuff him to the bed…just in case. And this made Carol even more concerned for Lori and her baby's safety. If Hershel died how could she help Lori deliver the child? Hershel had taught her a lot, but she never practiced. How could she cut open the woman, would she need caesarian?
Later that day, out of nowhere, Carl appeared with a bag full of sterile bandages. He had sneaked into the nursery and brought them all back killing two walkers on the way.
Meanwhile, Rick, T-Dog and Daryl helped the inmates clean some cells to live in. Out of five only two remained: one of them got bitten, the other tried to get Rick killed and ended up dying. The third one ran away, Rick managing to lock him up with the walkers.
When they returned they found Hershel breathing normally, with no fever. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at everyone sane. They sighted relieved, he took Rick's hand and thanked him.
"Where's Carol?" Daryl asked.
"Outside…" Glenn said. "She…you should see for yourself".
Daryl blinked rather confused and went out. He found Carol, arms covered in blood, cutting a walker's guts. It was a woman.
"What the hell are ya doing, woman?" he stopped next to her, confused.
"If Hershel dies…and Lori needs to undertake caesarean, I know what to do. Theoretically. But I haven't practiced and I need to learn how to cut her open without getting to the baby. We can't take any risks and I will practice it until I get it perfectly. You can help me by getting more walkers and…
"Carol" Daryl interrupted her, bending down to her. He placed his dirty palm on her blood covered hand. "Hershel woke up. He's gonna be fine".
"He is?" Carol looked into his eyes.
He smiled, as he nodded. His other palm went to her neck and their foreheads met.
"Lori will be fine as Hershel is. He is here to help deliver the baby. And he has one fuckin' good student".
"I'll still want to finish…this" she said as they pulled away.
Daryl puffed to laugh.
"Sure, play in ya little sandbox" he stood up, looking around, making sure they were safe without too many walkers gathering at the fences.
"What happened to those inmates?"
"It was five o' them. Now they're only two. We cleared some cellblocks for them, and closed them away far from us".
"By the way, I know you said you won't sleep in one of those cages, but I cleaned one up for you, set your clothes there and some towels. Well…whatever towels we have left with Hershel's wound".
"T-Dog said he would work on the pipes see if he can make some water flow into that bathroom next to the cell. If ya finished here, I wanna go and help him".
"You don't need to guard me".
"Ya ain't telling me what to do, woman" he said with a joking tone.
"What's going to happen to me in this yard?"
"I don't know, some walker might wanna steal ya away from me".
She looked up, trying to hide a smile. He wasn't facing her, his eyes scanning the perimeter.
"Now that Hershel is fine, we need crutches".
"Yeah, will make a ride to some city tomorrow, maybe we can find some. And whatever else we need".
"Towels, maybe sheets".
"Yeah, ya'll make me a list tomorrow".
"Ready" Carol stood up, looking down on the walker.
"Was ya surgery a success?" he asked, teasing her, as he turned to her.
"The patient would have lived" she joked back.
"Come on, ya need to clean. Ya don't look very appealing".
"I slept with you in the same tent, you carrying the smell of ten walkers".
"Yeah, but I'm a man, ya supposed to enjoy my sweaty smell" he puffed.
She laughed at him, realizing they were having a pleasant chat, the first time in months.
As they got in, she felt that everybody had finally started relaxing. Hershel was feeling better, their nerves had cooled off. T-Dog was fixing the pipes and Daryl went to help him.
"How are you feeling?" Carol asked Lori.
'I'm ok, stop worrying about me" she smiled.
"Well, I'm going to make you a super dinner. With all this food, you can start feeding that baby right".
"You're sure you wanna cook like that?" Maggie asked her amused.
"I'm gonna clean my arms and the rest later" she said pouring water in a bowl. She used that small bar of soap that was left and cleaned as much as she could.
Glenn made a fire and Carol cooked with Beth. Just as they finished T-Dog returned with Daryl.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please give your deepest applause to the best pipe master there is" T-Dog joked with a big grin on his face.
"He made it" Daryl was also smiling. "We officially have running water. Cold, but still running. And the best of all we have…a shower".
"No way!" Glenn said lightening up. "I can't wait to try it, but after we eat. I'm starving".
"Ya can say that twice, man" Daryl said sitting at the table where Carol was bringing the food.
"You all eat, I am going to enjoy the shower first" she smiled and vanished. She stopped by Hershel first who was resting then grabbed other clothes and went into the bathroom.
The water was cold, but running. It wasn't a long and resting shower, just a short one to get the dirt of her, but it still felt heavenly.
Daryl was chewing his food when his eyes looked around stopping on the bathroom door. Carol was inside, alone getting cleaned, naked. He had to swallow hard at that thought.
"Daryl?" Rick called up. "Everything fine?"
"Yeah. I'm going for a stroll and a short checkup for the perimeter" he stood up.
He returned later that night. Everyone had cleaned, most were in their cells sleeping. Carol was sitting with Lori on the bed, the small petroleum lamp dimming shyly in the night. They were talking and he stopped in the doorway.
"Got a towel for me?" he asked.
Carol looked up at him.
"Where have you've been?"
"Strolling around. So what cell is mine?"
"The next to mine. You have sheets on the bed and some not too very dirty clothes. We can start washing properly again tomorrow. You have a towel in there as well".
He nodded and walked to his cell. The towel was the size of a pot holder.
"Ya name this a towel?" he returned waving the thing around. Lori laughed shortly. "Ya trying to mock me, woman?" he asked joking.
"That's all what was left, Daryl".
He sighted, playing annoyed and walked towards the bathroom. Lori laughed again looking at Carol.
"It's good to have walls around us for once in such a long time".
"Yes, we can finally get some rest" she said.
Lori yawned and stretched her body.
"Sleep well" Carol said taking the lamp with her.
"You're not going to sleep?"
"Not yet, I'm not sleepy yet. Going to arrange some things downstairs, till it hits me.
When Daryl finished his shower, felling somehow human again he saw the small light in the next room of the cells. He approached Carol who was arranging the plastic bowls and some of the food. He sat down at a table looking at her.
"Where ya got all that sterile bandages for Hershel?" Daryl asked her, starting the conversation.
"Carl got it from the infirmary. He went alone".
"He what?"
"He did" Carol turned to him.
Daryl rubbed his forehead.
"Guess ya can't grow up other than though in today's world".
"At least we have some shelter here. I hope it stays like that".
He nodded and they looked long at each other through the darkness.
"I'm going to sleep, there's still a lot to do around here" Carol eventually said.
She took the lamp and passed him.
"Carol" he said as he stood up. "We'll build it up. Again. Together".
She smiled and nodded.
"Night" he whispered.
"Night, Daryl".
Note: So we arrived to the prison...some fences should help build up their relation again, right?