This cell block was just like the last, Dark and dank, reeking of death. Daryl and I walked slowly, leading the group, bows drawn and ready. I was prepared for anything as we crept around, remembering what happened last time we were stuck in a cellblock.
There was a clanging down the way. Daryl glanced at me, signaling me to crouch and I did, pausing.
"Its coming!" one of the inmates yelled. I shushed him, flinching as his voice echoed off the walls. Damn him. The clanging came again, followed by snarling, an instant sign of walkers.
There was a shadow on the wall, a single walker scuffling around. He turned the corner, eyeballing us hungrily. Another followed him and I motioned to the prisoners to wait. They didn't listen and instead ran at the thing, yelling as loudly as they could.
I watched them, my eyes wide as they mobbed the zombies. Big Tiny held the arms of a walker while Tomas and Axel beat on it, stomping him into the ground. Daryl and I exchanged glances, not sure of what to make of what we were seeing. Axel began to shank the zombie that Big Tiny was holding and I grimaced. Neither of them went for the head so I shot my arrow at the one Big Tiny was holding.
The walker sputtered and Big Tiny dropped him to the floor. They looked at me wide eyed and I walked up to them, picking the arrow from his skull. I pointed at my head, walking up to the second walker and shooting that one too. Daryl followed me, not leaving my side as I glared at them.
We reformed our ranks, Daryl and I out front again, leading them down another hall. A walker rounded the corner and Daryl watched it, his bow up and ready.
"It's gotta be the brain!" Daryl explained, shooting him between the eyes. "Not the stomach, not the heart. The brain." Another walker came around and an inmate jumped at him, axing him in the head with his hatchet. And then another.
"Stay in formation, no more prison riot crap." Rick told them. The inmates accepted, his request and they did as they were told as we took care of the walkers that kept coming through the door.
I pulled out my knife, stabbing one between the eyes and letting it fall, while Daryl took the one behind it. A loud yell came from behind us and I turned briefly, watching Rick run around the corner. Daryl signaled me to go with his eyes and I did, following Rick.
Big Tiny and Rick both began to fight of a small horde of their own. I nocked an arrow, prepared to fire, when gunshots rang out next to my ears. I dropped my bow, grabbing for my ears, and hit the floor, my head spinning. Tomas stood above me, his gun out in front of him, the remaining walkers motionless on the ground.
My ears rang and I heard people yelling, but they were very muffled. My head pounded and my inner ear ached, I could barely see, my vision blurry. The light from the flashlights were so bright and I had to close my eyes, they only made my head hurt worse.
I knew Rick was by my side, I could finally begin to make out his voice as he yelled at Tomas. Someone else was there too, their soft hands finding my chin. It was Daryl, I could tell from how he touched me. My vision had cleared, though my ears still rung and he looked at me concerned before glaring up at Tomas who stood behind me.
"Are you insane?" Rick yelled while Daryl removed my hand from my ears. He pressed his finger to my ear lobe, bringing it in front of my face. There was blood, something was definitely damaged. Daryl grabbed my face, his hands going over my ears as he yelled something fierce at the inmate.
I brushed him off and stood shakily, my hand on the wall bracing myself. Tomas stared at me emotionlessly before his eyes shifted to his friend behind me. I turned, nearly falling, over to look at Big Tiny. His hand was held out in front of him, wet with something. T-Dog shined his flashlight on him and I realized it was blood.
"Shit." I hissed, again bringing my hand to my ears. I slowly made my way over to Big Tiny and the other inmates began to protest. Rick shushed them.
"She's a nurse!" he yelled, silencing them. Carefully I grabbed his arm, pulling on it lightly. I turned him slowly, grimacing. He'd been scratched, pretty deep, and now he was bleeding. I pulled away, hesitantly, looking over to Rick. T-Dog's flashlight blinded me, again making my head throb. He lowered it immediately and I blinked a few times, shaking my head at Rick.
"I'm sorry man…" Rick said quietly, looking at Big Tiny. Big Tiny was in denial and he brushed it off.
"I'm fine! I can still fight!"
You can save him! You cut that guys leg off, right?" The smaller man asked me. Their questions all came at once and I leaned against the wall quietly.
"Look at where the scratch is!" I offered, gesturing to Big Tiny's shoulder. "How would you like me to go about cutting that off?"
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Big Tiny's protests quieted the group and I watched him carefully, my vision finally returning to normal. "I'm fine! Look! I'm not turning into one of those things." Rick eyed him cautiously before turning to me.
"Ever seen a scratch turn someone?" I shook my head at him and Big Tiny heaved a sigh of relief.
"No, but he didn't just scratch him with bare hands. Look at the walkers body." I gestured to the dead thing on the ground. His arm was broken and bone was exposed, sharp bone. "That's what got him. There's a reason we have sharps bins in hospitals." I reasoned with the sheriff.
"There has to be something we can do?" The other big inmate, Oscar, asked. "Maybe we could just lock him up! Quarantine him?"
"We gotta do something!" The small inmate said, looking at me, then Rick. "You gotta save him!" he pleaded to me. I shook my head again, nearly recovered from the gunshot to the ear.
"There's nothing I can do!" I explained. The short one looked at me briefly before holding up his bat.
"You bitch!" he went to swing, but before he could Big Tiny hit the ground. Tomas had come up behind him, striking him with the crow bar he had. Tomas spared us a brief look before he went in on his one time friend, striking him repeatedly with the sharp end.
Daryl grabbed me, throwing me behind him, away from the mad man and I cringed every time I heard the blunt object strike Big Tiny's head. Daryl looked back at me, making sure I was okay before throwing an uncertain glance in Rick's direction.
Tomas stopped, but not before he was covered in Big Tiny's blood, as with the walls around him and his weapon. By the time he was finished with Big Tiny, his head was a sloppy mess of brain matter and skull fragments on the prison floor. I watched him, horrified, he stood, staring us down, panting heavily.
Tomas brushed past everyone, back in the direction we were originally going. I sidestepped, letting him pass and he watched me coldly, his eyes again trailing over my body.
"Sorry about your ears, mami." He grinned, walking away into the other hallway.
Slowly we began to move through the prison again. Daryl no longer wanted me in front due to the damage on my ear, so I was made to take up the rear with Rick. I shook my head back and forth, refraining from using my finger to check my ear, afraid to do more damage. Rick looked at me and then to my bow, which I was barely holding out in front.
"How's your ear?" I could hear him through the right side, but the left was completely gone. I frowned, shaking my head at him.
"I can't hear." I said plainly. Rick's jaw clenched and Daryl turned back to us. He was in front of us, separating us from the inmates. His eyes were narrowed and he glared at Tomas. I placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking my head at him. Daryl fell back to my side and he glanced over at Rick.
"Did you see the look on his face?" He whispered quietly. My eyes stayed trained on the back of Tomas' head, hoping he wouldn't turn around, hoping he couldn't hear.
"If he makes one move…" Rick said quietly, as he too watched Tomas. Daryl glanced up at him, nodding his head.
"Just give me a signal." He stated coolly as we came to a door. T-Dog pushed it open, his Riot Shield out in front of him. I stepped through the threshold, realizing we came to a laundry facility of some sort. Sheets lay askew around the floor, someone had gotten out of here in a hurry.
The room was quiet, empty from what I could tell, but we stayed ready. I was having trouble keeping balance so I shouldered, my bow, opting for my knife instead. There was a door to the right and on the other side I could hear walkers snarling.
Rick took the spare set of keys, throwing them to the floor in front of Tomas. Tomas looked at him once before shaking his head.
"I aint opening that." He replied coolly, watching Rick.
"Yes you are. You want this cellblock, you're opening that door. Just the one, not both of them." Rick pointed his flashlight at the doors. "So we can control this." Begrudgingly, Tomas picked up the keys, walking slowly to the door. It seemed to take forever for him to open it and I hung back, knowing I wouldn't be very good in there right now.
"You bitches ready?" Tomas said quietly, turning to look at us. He pulled on it, unable to open it and then again with the same result. "I got this." He reassured everyone. He pulled again, but both doors flew open and a group of walkers poured into the washroom.
"I said one door!" Rick screamed at him.
"Shit happens!" Tomas replied.
"Beau, draw your gun!" Daryl demanded. I reached into my waist, holding the pistol out in front of me like a shield. My hands shook and I tried to stand as steady as possible, which I was currently finding difficult.
They took the walkers out as they came in, everyone swinging their weapons furiously. Tomas hacked away with his crowbar and I fired a few shots, dropping two of them. He swung again, this time nearly hitting Rick and I pointed my gun at the inmates back, ready to take him down. Tomas lunged for a walker, throwing it onto Rick.
"Daryl!" I yelled, catching his attention. He ran over to the walker, stabbing the back of its head and helping Rick to his feet. I fired a few more rounds, covering them from where I stood. Suddenly the fighting was over and Rick walked up to Tomas, his eyes wary.
"It was coming at me bro." Tomas said, his excuse paper-thin. I still held my gun at the ready, trained on his head and Rick looked at me, knowing I was there.
"Yeah, I get it. Shit happens." The sheriff's voice was cold, he saw right through Tomas all day long. The two stared each other down and everything was quiet for a split second.
I watched in slow motion as Rick brought his hand back, sinking his machete deep into Tomas' skull. My eyes went wide and I saw movement from the corner of my eyes. The little inmate made a move for Rick and I took a few steps forward, my gun on him.
"Hey! Back up!" I shouted. Rick kicked him back and he took off running. Oscar stood in the middle of the room confused about what was happening. Daryl raised his crossbow to him.
"Get down on your knees!" Daryl demanded. Oscar dropped his axe and once I knew Daryl was clear I turned my attention towards Axel. He stared up at me, terrified and he too sank to his knees.
"We don't have no affiliation with what just happened!" He cried out, begging me. I believed him, but I didn't take my aim from him. "Tell him Oscar!"
"Stop talking, man." Oscar said grimly.
Rick returned a few minutes later, angrily striding through the door. He shut it behind him, his eyes looking between the two remaining inmates. Quickly he made his way to Oscar, holding the gun to his forehead.
"We take you all the way over here, I put my people in danger to help you? And you inure one of us and try to kill me!?" he raged, his nostrils flaring.
"We didn't have nothing to do with that!" Oscar said matter of factly, shaking his head.
"You didn't know?" Rick asked him again, not believing him. Oscar shook his head and Rick scoffed, turning on Axel. "You knew. Daryl lets end this now!"
"No Rick wait!" I held my gun up in a sign of surrender and both of the men stopped. Rick stepped back from Axel. Daryl didn't move from Oscar, his knife at his throat as he eyed me expectantly. The inmates looked up at me with bated breath. "I believe them." I said meekly, almost afraid to say it. Rick growled, again stepping up to Axel. "Just listen to them!" I begged him. Rick hesitated and looked down at Axel, waiting.
"It was them that was bad not us!" the man was in near tears and I frowned at him, looking up at Daryl. His eyes were trained on me.
"How convenient!" Rick growled.
"You saw what he did to Tiny! He was my friend!" Axel began to cry. "Please! We aint like that! I like my pharmaceuticals, but I'm no killer! Oscar here's a B and E, and he aint very good at it neither!" Axel looked up at Daryl and so did I. I shook my head at him, pleading with him. "We aint the violent kind! They were! Please I swear to god I wanna live!" he was now full out sobbing and I looked up at Rick.
"I am begging you, please, don't DO this." I whispered to Rick, placing my hands on his arm. I began to push down slowly and he let me, his hand returning to his side.
Rick turned, putting his gun up to Oscar's head and I brought my hands to my mouth. Oscar sat stonily, still kneeling on the floor, Daryl's knife to his throat, staring down the barrel of Rick's gun.
"What about you?" Rick asked him quietly.
"I aint never pleaded for my life, and I aint about to start now. So you do what you gotta do." I closed my eyes, biting my lip. I felt tears forming and a few of them dripped down my cheek. I sniffed, looking at Daryl and slowly he backed away. Rick looked back at me and he too removed his gun.
We entered the cellblock a short while later, Daryl and T-Dog leading the inmates as we walked. I was no longer dizzy, but the hearing never returned to my ear. I began to chew on my nails nervously, not liking the idea of being partially deaf.
As we entered we noticed this cellblock was much cleaner than ours. The prisoners all laid dead on the floor, one bullet to each of their brains.
"Looks like a guard came through here before it got over run." I mumbled, looking up at Daryl. He nodded, not too thrilled with me currently, before his glare went back to the inmates.
"Oh man…" Axel muttered sadly. "I knew these people. They were decent people."
"Lets go." Rick stated turning back to the door.
"So you're just gonna leave us in here? Man this is sick!" Oscar stated shaking his head.
"We're locking down this cellblock." Rick replied matter of factly. "From now on this part of the prison in yours. Take it or leave it, that was the deal."
"You think this is sick, you don't want to know what's outside." Daryl said calmly. The prisoners looked up at the windows.
"Consider yourselves the lucky ones." Rick replied before walking out. I watched him go, slowly turning back to the prisoners. Daryl's face seemed to soften and he sighed, glancing at me. He was no longer mad, I could tell.
"Sorry bout your friends, man." He said apologetically before he too turned to leave. I lingered for a moment, backing up to the cell gate. Axel and Oscar stared at me, begging me not to leave them. I bit my lip, smiling at them apologetically.
"Thank you." Axel breathed quietly, his eyes wet with tears. I shook my head, shutting the door behind me.
"Its what people do." I replied quietly before following Daryl, T-Dog and Rick.
When we got back to the cellblock I was called in to check on Hershel. He had stopped breathing while I was gone, something that really worried me. I felt his forehead, surprised to find that there was still no fever.
I was in the process of checking his pulse when his eyes began to open. It was slow at first and I stepped back, afraid of what would be looking at me when they fully opened. He looked at us all, his eyes darting around the cell and I smiled, squeezing his hand.
"Daddy?" Maggie asked, rushing to his side. I stood, letting Beth in as well, retreating to the front of the cell. I stood quietly, watching them reunite. I had seen this before, plenty of times, but every time was like the first. I smiled, tears coming to my eyes.
Daryl wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close, kissing my forehead. He looked at me, proud, grinning widely and wiping away a tear.
"Ya did it." He whispered quietly. I shook my head and he nodded his. "You did it." He repeated, this time more emphasis on the 'you' part.
GUYS. I JUST SAW SOME PICTURES FROM TEH SET OF JURASSIC WORLD. Chris Pratt is looking DAMN fine. I am drooling. Guess i'm gonna have to make a Jurassic World fic.
Also. I hate/love my Mummy OC's. (I say OC bc there are two of them) I'm writing one for The Mummy Returns (OC/Ardeth), and I'm writing one as a third install of the series (OC/Alex O'Connell)(basically pretending the third Mummy didnt happen)
In addition to my Mummy OC's, I've also created an OC for Jurassic Park: The Lost World. it will probably be a Nick/OC thing... i know. I'm like all over the place guys.
Let me know which one you'd like to read!