"Spence, wake up." A voice called to me through my sleep. Opening my eyes, I propped up on my elbows, looking into a familiar face.
"Glenn... Whyyyy?" I let the word linger on my lips into a slight whine. I let myself plop back down onto Daryl's jacket.
"Because Rick needs us to check out the prison. Carol and Beth made breakfast with what little we have. Daryl went hunting." Glenn said, sitting beside me.
"He did?" I shot up, looking around.
"Don't worry," he laughed, "he's fine. He and Rick are planning to go deeper into the prison. Could have a lot of things we need."
"Could be a death trap." I warned, getting to my feet.
"Yea," Glenn stood with me, "I thought of that too."
"Guess we'll be findin' out soon." I mumbled, walking toward the stairs. I left the perched and ventured around our new home until I reached a little open area surrounded by cells. Rick, T-Dog, Hershel, and Daryl stood around a table examining some new found items. Daryl clicked on the flashlight in his hand.
"Not bad." He grunted, and I felt a smile on my lips. He looked over as I walked up to the table, and I glanced at the things they had scooped up.
"Flash bangs... CS Triple Chasers.. Not sure how they work on walkers, but we'll take 'em." Rick muttered, and I could tell he was trying to hide his excitement. Daryl picked up a guard helmet, and it dripped with oozing leftovers of the walker it had been pulled off of.
"I ain't wearin' this shit." Daryl's gruff voice made me look over at him. I almost laughed at the look of disgust on his face as he examined the slimy helmet.
"Will it come off?" T-Dog was holding up an even more disgusting piece of protective gear.
"There ain't 'nough fire wood in the whole forest, naw." Daryl replied, picking up a metal bar. "'Sides, we've come this far without 'em, man." He swung the bar, his face lit up with some sort of boyish happiness. Then it hit me.
"God." I muttered, shaking my head.
"What's wrong?" Rick looked at me, his face confused. Daryl let the bar hang limply in his hands, his eyes on mine.
"Y'all are like kids in a goddamn toy store." I smiled, showing I was teasing. Rick chuckled, and Daryl let out a snort. I glanced at T-Dog to see a huge grin on his face.
"Hershel?" Carol appeared in the doorway leading to the cell block. She nodded her head in a motion for him to follow her.
"Everything all right?" Rick asked, and I could hear the worry in his voice as he looked at her.
"Yeah, nothin' to worry about." Carol assured, and with that she walked away, Hershel following behind her. I looked up at Rick, who was still staring at the empty doorway. Sighing, I stood around, watching the guys pick through the stuff they found. I could tell Rick was anxious and ready to go.
"Let's get this thing goin'." T-Dog mumbled, and we began suiting up. Daryl was helping me adjust my belt, when I saw Lori appear from a cell upstairs. Giving her a light smile, I grunted softly when Daryl tightened my belt.
"Snug?" He asked quietly, his eyes searching mine. His face was so close, I almost leaned up to kiss him.
"Can't breathe." I teased.
"Good." His lips tugged upward and I grinned. My eyes drifted over to Carl, who was playing with one of the guard helmets. It was huge on his head, and it made me giggle. Carl took the helmet off, revealing a smile.
"You won't need that." Rick walked over to his son and took the helmet. "Need you to stay put."
"You're kidding!" Carl argued, his face forming a frown.
"We don't know what's in there." Rick said firmly. "If somethin' goes wrong, you could be the last man standing. I need you to handle things here."
"Sure." Carl nodded.
"Great." Rick handed over the keys to Carl, before turning to look at us. "Let's go." I followed behind Daryl, and I could hear Carl closing the cell block door and lock it. We came to our first locked cage door, and Daryl unlocked it. Moving cautiously, we crept down the prison's hall. Our flashlights revealed more cells, along with dead bodies littering the floors. Keeping close to Daryl's back, I could hear Glenn spray painting an arrow on the wall to show where we'd been.
The grayish walls looked hard and cold as we kept moving, when suddenly I heard Maggie let out a little yell. Turning quickly, my heart pounding, I relaxed when I realized she'd only run into Glenn. Rick kept moving, and we followed, reaching yet another hallway. Glenn sprayed another arrow as we kept going further into the prison. The hallway revealed more dead bodies, and I could hear Glenn spray again as we moved forward.
We were close to the end of the hallway, when Rick turned to go around the corner. He stopped suddenly, he and Daryl yelling "Go back! Go back!". I turned and followed Glenn, Maggie, and Hershel through the hallway we had just walked down. I could hear the hissing and snarling of walkers, and I could feel Daryl right behind me as we ran over mangled bodies. Somehow Daryl and I wound up in front of everyone, running, Daryl calling out "This way!" to let the others know to keep up. I heard a scream, then suddenly Daryl stopped me around a hall corner. Rick, T-Dog, and Hershel huddled with us.
"Where's Glenn and Maggie?" Rick whispered, causing me to go into a panic.
"We have to go back." Hershel said firmly.
"Which way?" Daryl looked at Rick, who stood. We followed his lead, walking through the door and out into the hallway. Reaching an opening to another hall, Rick instructed us to go straight. We turned again and I followed Daryl halfway down the hall, when I heard the scream.
"Hershel!" I yelped, turning on my heels. We ran back around the corner to see Hershel on the ground, a walker chewing flesh from his leg. Rick shot the ugly bastard, and I saw Maggie run around the corner screaming. Glenn and Rick grabbed Hershel up, just as I saw the walkers coming from the end of the hall.
"MAGGIE!" I yelled, running forward. I shot a walker and I heard the whip of an arrow, before another went down. Daryl grabbed my arm.
"Run, we're blocked!" I heard, as Daryl shoved me down another hallway. "GO BACK, GO BACK, GO!" Rick and Glenn's voices rang in my ears, along with Hershel's screams and the walkers hisses. Glenn and Rick got a door open and Daryl shoved me inside. T-Dog was trying to keep the door secure, and Daryl ran forward, helping Glenn and Maggie hold Hershel still.
Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Hershel was crying out in pain and fear, Maggie was just crying. Rick began taking something from his belt, and I when I saw it, my stomach dropped. Only way to stop it... I felt sick suddenly, and I reminded myself that I was one of the few who had ever been taught medical training. Rick tightened his belt around Hershel's leg.
"Tighter!" I yelped, looking at Rick. He pulled it tighter and fastened it.
"All right..." Rick grabbed his little axe. "Only one way to keep 'em alive." The first chop made my stomach churn. Blood oozed from his leg. Chop after chop, and I could see the bone, and then another chop. Tissue and muscle ripped away with each chop. It was gone, severed through. Rick took one more clean hit, and the leg was detached, blood pouring onto the floor. Rick turned pale and his face changed dramatically. "Ohhhh..." He sounded like he might puke. "He's bleedin' out!"
"Quick, wrap it with somethin'!" I yelled, but then from the corner of my eye, I saw movement. It looked like four walkers on the other side of the cage in the room with us.
"Duck." Daryl growled softly, and Rick immediately went down. I grabbed my gun, jumping up with Daryl, pointing at the things. Until Daryl's light hit their faces, I thought they were walkers. But they were breathing, living people. Wearing inmate suits.
"Holy shit.." One of them muttered.
"Who the hell are you?" Daryl and I moved forward, ready to kill if needed be.
"Who the hell are you?" One of them shot back.
"He's bleedin' out, we gotta go back!" I heard Rick's frantic voice behind me. "Come around here. Put pressure on the knee, hard! Push, push."
"Come on outta there." Daryl's gruff voice instructed to the strangers. "Slow and steady."
"What happened to him?" The first one out, a long haired man, asked.
"He got bit." Daryl answered coldly.
"Bit?" The guy reached for a gun. T-Dog grabbed his gun, and I clicked back the hammer on mine. I was prepared to blow the fool to hell if he tried anything.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy now." Daryl tried to keep the situation under control. "Hey, nobody needs to get hurt." I could hear Rick instructing Maggie to help him with Hershel's leg.
"Do you have medical supplies?" Glenn brushed past the strangers into their hide out.
"Whoa, were do you think you're goin'?" One asked, but no one tried to stop him. A noise at the door caused my heart to beat faster, but I never took my eyes off of the strangers.
"Who the hell are you people anyway?" The long haired man asked, his face full of concern and confusion.
"Don't look like no rescue team." The man with the mustache said surely. He was right.
"We ain't." I mumbled.
"If a rescue team's what you're waitin' for, don't." Rick exclaimed, as he began lifting Hershel. I heard a loud noise, and then Rick's voice again. "Come on, we gotta go!" Everyone seemed to be talking at once, when T-Dog opened the door, despite the strangers yelling for him not to. He took out a walker, then Rick, Maggie, and Glenn wheeled Hershel from the room on the little stretcher Glenn had made from a roll cart.
"Let's go." I heard T-Dog's voice, as Daryl and I backed away from the others.
"This way!" I heard Rick yell, and as soon as we were out the door, we ran to help them get through the halls.
"This way, this way. No, no, no, go back, back! DARYL!" Rick was calling out. I saw the arrow hit a walker in the forehead, and it went down. Daryl waved his flashlight.
"Come on!" He yelled, and I grabbed his vest, holding onto him tight with my right hand. "Go, Go, GO!" We continued on down the dark halls, when suddenly Rick stopped.
"All right, stop, stop!" Rick whispered loudly.
"Hold the flashlight!" Maggie's voice. I turned to see the strangers coming around the corner, they were following us!
"Go, go, go, go, go!" Daryl and Rick were pushing us forward again. Daryl unlocked the cell, and they pushed Hershel through.
"He's losing too much blood!" Maggie cried.
"OPEN THE DOOR!" Rick's voice was frantic. "IT'S HERSHEL! CARL!"
"Oh my God.."
"DADDY!" I could hear Beth scream.
"Go, go, go! IN THERE!" Rick was still yelling. I ran toward the cell they were wheeling Hershel into. "Get 'em on the bed! He got bit." Rick looked at Lori, who was already reaching out to help. They lifted him onto the bed, and immediately I knelt with Carol to help.
"Oh, I need bandages!" Carol sounded faint from uncovering, and revealing the severed leg.
"We used everything we had!" Glenn breathed, worry in his voice.
"Well get more, anything!" Carol yelped.
"You gotta hurry!" I looked at the blood leaking from his leg. I turned to Carol. "Keep pressure until they find somethin'."
"Carl, go get the towels from the back, right next to my bed!" Lori's voice was frantic.
"Is he gonna die?" I heard Beth ask.
"No, no, no. He's gonna be okay." Lori tried to sound hopeful. "He's gonna be okay."
"Think you can stabilize him?" Rick asked, looking from Carol to me.
"I need to keep his leg elevated. Get some pillows!" Carol was keeping calm.
"He's already bled through the sheets." Maggie's voice was blank.
"We could burn the wound to clot the blood. I could start a fire." Glenn was trying.
"God, no. Please don't do this." Beth was panicking.
"No, the shock could kill him." Carol argued. "It's not gonna stop the arteries from bleeding. We need to keep it dressed, let it heal on its on."
"She's right." I spoke up, helping Carol wrap his leg. "It needs to be pressured 'til the bleedin' slows, though. Carol, you got this?"
"Yes." She nodded. I stepped away from Hershel, watching everyone. I grabbed Maggie, my arms around her tight. I felt her hand on my arm, and she gave me a squeeze.
"Got us this far. Now we'll return the favor." I whispered. She looked at me with red eyes, and nodded. Letting her go, I sat against the wall, trying to find my thoughts. Regain my composure. Anything. Then I heard the voices.
"What was that?" Beth.
"Prisoners, survivors. It's all right, everybody stay put." Rick began walking toward the voices. I jumped up to follow, Glenn right beside me. Rick stopped us, looking at Glenn. "Do not leave his side. If he dies, you need to be there for that... Think you can do this? Maggie'll be there."
"I got it." Glenn nodded.
"I can bring T in here-" Rick started.
"I got it." Glenn said firmly. Rick gave a little shake of the head.
"Good," he turned toward me, "Spencer, keep your gun up."
"Ready." I walked with Rick toward the cell doors, he swung it open, and I followed. Carl locked it behind us. We ran into the room, everyone pointing their weapons at each other. Rick ran in yelling for everyone to relax, trying to diffuse the confrontation.
"How many of you in there?" The long haired guy seemed to be the leader of the four.
"Too many for you to handle." Rick assured.
"You guys rob a bank or somethin'? Why don't you take him to a hospital?" The leader asked.
"You gotta be shittin' me." I mumbled, shaking my head in disbelief.
"How long you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asked, and I was sure I knew the answer.
"I dunno, like ten months.."
"Riot broke out." The largest man spoke up. "Never seen anything like it." The others began speaking up, only what they'd heard. The leader informed us that a guard had "looked out" for them, by locking them in the cafeteria with the gun. Their conversation told that he'd never came back.
"We've been thinkin' that the Army or the National Guard should be showin' up any day now." The big guy said quietly.
"Look around." I huffed. "Does it look like they're comin'?"
"There is no Army." Rick said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"There's no government. No hospitals. There's no police. It's all gone." Rick tried to soften the blow by using a somewhat gentle tone.
"For real?" The mustache man asked, his face trying to process what Rick had said.
"Serious." Rick replied.
"What about my mom's?" One asked, and I felt bad suddenly.
"My kids?" Another asked. "An' my ol' lady? Yea, y-you gotta cell phone or somethin' that we can call our families?"
"You just don't get it, do you?" Daryl stepped forward.
"No phones. No computers... As far as we can see, at least half the population's been wiped out. Probably more." Rick informed.
"Ain't no way." The leader argued.
"Jesus..." I whispered, rolling my eyes.
"See for yourself." Rick growled.
I am soooooo SOOO SORRY for taking so long to update ! I finally got season 3, so I am now writing again for Spencer and Daryl ! I hope you enjoy what I am going to do with this story, and if you haven't already, check out my new story 'Torn'. Drop a review and let me know what you think !
Once again, I am so sorry it took me this long to update. Reviews are greatly appreciated, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM or drop me a question in the review. I will gladly answer them ! But I will reveal no spoilers on what I am going to do with future chapters, you'll have to stay tuned in !
Thanks again for all the support I've received on this story. I hope you all enjoy this and check out 'Torn'.
~Kaila