A/N Hey everyone! So sorry about the sporadic updates, I just haven't had the time to focus on writing. Hopefully the next few chapters can make up for it. As always leave me some love and enjoy!
Sam stands and stretches in the light coming through the prison windows. For the first time in weeks, the sound of walkers was far enough for her to sleep soundly. She helps Lori and Carol prepare a very meager breakfast while everyone else slowly wakes up. Daryl walks down the stairs and hoists his bow onto his shoulder "I'm gonna head out with Rick and some of the others, see if we can't find some decent food in this place."
"Oh come on, don't make me stay here." she whines. "I wanna kill the dead things with the rest of the big boys."
Daryl smiles at her "We don't want too big of a group. Besides we need people here who can hold their own. Still don't know how over run this place might be."
Sam pretends to pout, "Fine."
He nods to where Rick is talking to Carl, "You two can pout together. He probably ain't gonna be happy bout bein left here either."
"You make me sound like a child."
"Nah," he says smirking "babysitter maybe."
She elbows him in the ribs "Shut up and get out of here before I actually get mad at you. " she pulls him in for a quick kiss and whispers in his ear "Remember, I love you. So don't do anything stupid."
He smirks at her before they close the door to the block. Sam walks over to Carl and leans on the wall.
"Guess it's just me and you holding down the fort this time." she playfully swats the brim of his hat down over his eyes when he turns to her.
"You didn't go?" he asks surprised.
"No." she sighs "Daryl wouldn't let me. So what do you wanna do?"
"Beth stayed too. Maybe we can see if there's a deck of cards or something in the guard station we can play with." Carl suggests, his eyes going to the cell Beth shares with her father.
"Yeah, sure." Sam grins "You go get Beth, I'll find some cards."
She darts away, laughing quietly as Carl's cheeks redden at the thought. He has grown up so much in every other aspect since they first met, why should she baby him in this way? His crush on the farmer's youngest daughter has been obvious, to her at least, for a while. She's not even sure if Beth or Carl have realized anything. She grabs the flathead screwdriver she stashed in her pack a while ago, just in case she needs to persuade any locked drawers , and heads to the guards office. The desk and cabinet drawers are locked, of course, but Sam easily fixes that. One holds usual office supplies, a few boxes of ammo in another, when she finally pries open the bottom drawer she lifts her eyebrows in surprise, staring down at the small pile of dirty magazines, she uses the screwdriver to rummage around, not wanting to touch the magazines. At the bottom, in the very back corner she finds an old battered deck of cards, which she stuffs in her back pocket and heads back down to find Carl.
"Do you want to learn a new game? Or play one we all already know?" Sam asks, looking between Carl and Beth.
"I don't know very many. Daddy didn't really like us playin cards." Beth says.
"Alright," Sam nods "How about you?"
"I know a few games." Carl says shyly.
"You both gotta know 'Go Fish' right?" Sam asks.
"Yeah, who doesn't know that one?" Beth asks.
"Alright, 'Go Fish' it is." She says, Carl and Beth nod in agreement.
"Beth, do you have any eights?" Carl asks, hopeful.
"Go fish." Beth smiles at her last card, ready to end the game.
Carl's hand hovers over the small pile, trying to pick a card when the shouting reaches them.
"Carl! Carl, open the doors!" Rick's voice echoes through the cell and Carl jumps out of his seat to obey it.
Everyone else in the cell follows Carl to the doors and the next few minutes are a blur of shouted commands and blood. Sam stands off to the side, out of the way and waiting for instructions as Carol tries to stop the bleeding from Hershel's amputated leg.
"Who are they?" Sam asks, indicating to the inmates under Daryl's careful guard.
"Survivors." Rick says "We'll deal with them in a minute, Sam can you help get sheets and pillows for Carol?"
She barely glances at Daryl and the inmates before running off, one problem at a time, Rick is right.
Daryl's arms are burning, but remain steady by the time Rick is able to address the inmates. Once he decides there is no real threat from these guys, he leaves Rick to it and goes to find Sam.
"How did that happen?" she asks "With almost the whole group?"
"Stupid mistake," he sighs "one sittin on the ground, none of us thought to check if it was still alive, we all just walked by it."
"It happens," she touches his shoulder "And it seems like Rick was quicker than the infection. I think Hershel has a good chance. And hey, you found the kitchen." she offers an unsure smile.
He twitches his lips in response "Better help Rick out with those inmates, and we should be back with food." he glances at Hershel's cell "Keep an eye on things here."
"Between me and Glen, we will do what we have to." she assures him "You watch your back though. I don't trust those guys."
"Me neither." he squeezes her shoulder "We'll be back soon."
Sam nods, slightly irked at being left behind again, but doesn't say anything. She goes back to the table and starts picking up the forgotten cards, looking around for Carl to give her a hand. But he is nowhere in sight. Starting to worry, she checks all the cells and finds him helping Beth move her stuff into a new cell.
"We're gonna take them through a crash course so they can clear out their own block." Daryl explains, glancing back at the inmates "How's Hershel doing?"
"Alright, I guess. The bleeding has slowed, but we're still going through a lot of the sheets, he needs proper bandages for it to heal right." Sam sighs "Or that's what Carol said. Too bad you guys found the kitchen first and not the infirmary."
"We need the food more, there was hardly anything left in our supply." he notices her trying to scraps a few spots of blood off her hand "A little later we'll see if we can't find it, right? Let's get these guys squared away first, one step at a time."
Sam tries to keep from rolling her eyes, tired of being told that, especially with such a large group, but she keeps her mouth shut and quickly kisses his scratchy cheek before he goes back with Rick and the prisoners. She stops by Beth's new cell, where she is cutting up a pair of Hershel's pants.
"You see where Carl went?" she asks
Beth looks up from her work "He said he was gonna organize all the food they brought back. Why?"
"Just curious," she shrugs "Your dad's gonna be fine."
"I know," Beth turns back to her work "I'm not worried."
Sam nods in agreement and goes to help Carl with the food, needing to feel somewhat useful