A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited since last chapter! I've been way too sick lately….I am not even caught up with season 5!
-redangel2463: It's Walking Dead, I have to scare you sometimes! Season 3 should be pretty interesting but I haven't thought everything through yet!
-casper6six6: It's been so long since a new post! But I hope we're (or me more accurately) going to be back on track now!
-mo(Guest): Don't worry I'm going to finish, I promise! I just got bogged down in details, which is my nemesis when it comes to writing.
I stretched up while I gazed down the road, keeping watch. A few people had gone to the stream for water, while Rick and Daryl went hunting. I turned when I heard rustling and saw T-dog walking up the bank carrying one of the jugs of water. I looked back down the road and saw Daryl and Rick emerge from the woods with no game. I frowned, they hadn't been gone that long and I wondered if they had spotted a herd. They both walked up quickly and Daryl put an arm around me guiding me back towards the group. I wrapped an arm around his waist holding the shotgun at my side.
"We found a prison." Everyone looked at Rick having gathered around the cars. "It's completely fenced in. If we kill the walkers inside, we could barricaded it and have the place to ourselves."
"A prison?" Beth looked unsure.
"I know it doesn't sound like a great ideal, but it's fenced in and defendable."
"Probably got some firepower layin' around too." Daryl rubbed my shoulder.
"We should at least check it out." I nodded when T-dog spoke and while everyone seemed nervous about going we packed up, heading toward the prison. We stood outside the fence as Rick explained his plan. We broke apart to get ready and I followed Rick as he moved to one of the bags.
"You can't go in there alone." Rick shook his head at me.
"Not up for discussion." I grabbed his arm as he turned.
"What if you go down?" He looked at me. "Do we just give up and move on? Two people is better for this. If one goes down the other can go on and still secure the gate." He looked at me as if thinking about it. "I am just as fast as you are, if not faster. You're getting kinda old." He laughed a bit and I smiled. He looked at me and nodded, pointing a finger at me.
"You have to tell Daryl."
"I'll beg for forgiveness, rather than ask for permission." He laughed again.
"Probably a good idea." He shook his head a bit. "You might die and not have to." I stared at him and when he smiled a bit, we both broke out into laughs. He reached down into the bag and handed me a handgun and silencer. "You got your knife." I pulled out the large hunting knife Daryl had found and given to me.
"Always." We walked up to the fence where Lori stood ready to open it.
"Carl, Hershel, take that watch tower. Daryl the other, Carol go with him. You've become a pretty good shot. Everyone else try to keep the walkers at the fence." I followed him to the gate and Lori looked at me confused, but didn't say anything. Rick nodded at her and she pulled open the gate and he quickly took out the first walker, staying close to the tipped over car. I followed quickly behind him.
Once we made it around the car we ran quickly shooting close walkers as we went. The path was reasonably clear which made it much easier, until we got close to the second gate. I ran into Ricks back when he stopped, bullets landing near his feet. I turned and stabbed a walker in the eye as he started again. I shoved the corpse off and followed closely behind him.
"I'll get the gate, open the tower!" I pulled open the watch tower shooting both walkers inside holding it open until Rick shoved me inside pulling the door shut behind him. We both stood panting a moment before we laughed and raced up the stairs. He opened the door and stepped out onto the platform and we helped clear out the rest of the yard. Rick turned to me and smiled, which I happily returned. He sighed and threw an arm around my shoulders as we walked back down the stairs and into the yard. I turned to Rick and he stepped forward hugging me tightly.
"Everything'll get better now." I smiled as he whispered in my ear and I pulled back to see him beaming as well.
"What the hell were you thinkin'?" I turned and saw Daryl storming up, eyes blazing. Rick stepped back and made a hasty retreat to help carry everything inside. "Ya tryin' to get yerself killed…" I reached and grabbed his face kissing him hard before I pulled back and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"I love you, too." He wound his arms around my waist holding me tightly.
"Dumb bitch." I laughed a bit and we turned back to join the others.
Daryl, Rick, Glenn and T-Dog had walked the perimeter and the fence was solid up to the other gate. We built a fire and ate dinner and for the first time in a long time we all felt safe. There would still be a watch, but it was mostly precaution. We all sat around the fire eating the few prairie dogs Daryl had managed to catch. Rick had continued to walk the fence line even after they had determined it safe.
"He must have walked that fence three times by now." I looked over at Hershel. "If there were any breaks he'd have found them by now."
"Let him walk. If it makes him feel better, just let him walk. Easier than than running we've been doing." Hershel nodded at me as I stretched.
"This is a good place to raise the baby. Safe." Lori smiled slightly at Beth, nodding.
"Yeah." You could almost feel the tension.
"Well, I better take something over to Daryl." I moved to sit up and when Mom stood and put a hand on my shoulder.
"You just relax, I'll do it." I laid back and rested again, staring into the fire, listening as Beth sang.
After a while I felt hands on my shoulders and looked up to see Daryl, kneeling behind me. I smiled and grabbed his hands as he sat behind me, leaning up against my back. He wrapped his arms around me and flopped over onto his side. I quietly laughed, as we hit the ground. Everyone had started to settle around the fire and it was now quieting as people started to sleep. I rolled over in Daryl's arms and looked at his face. His eyes were closed and his lips pursed, which made me smile. For some reason his lips looked naturally pouted when he was sleeping. I leaned my head against his shoulder and for the first time in a long time I fell asleep easily.
The next morning Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, Rick, Maggie and I were ready to clear the inner yard. Rick had planned for us to keep in a tight circle, back to back, to keep everyone safe. This was probably the most nerve wracking thing we had done in a while. We had spent the winter running away from walkers and herds, but today we planned to knowingly go into an enclosed area where there would be no escape.
Rick through open the gate and Daryl and T-dog went in first Glenn and Rick followed, while Maggie and I went in last. I heard the door slide shut behind me, as I stabbed a walker in the eye with my knife. Daryl wait until we were past, before following backwards. Rick wanted us to stay back to back so no one could get caught off guard. We moved quickly through the yard killing what came close enough to grab until T-dog broke away.
"Stay tight!"
"We need that!" He grabbed a riot shield and used it to shove back a walker, that Maggie then took out.
Clearing the yard was pretty easy, but Daryl suddenly shoved me against the building when Rick motioned us to stop. Walkers dressed in Swat gear slowly rounded the corner and Maggie and I held them back as the boys killed the other stragglers. I watched as they beat on the helmets with their weapons before I shoved my knife up under the closest man's chin. He fell down dead and I turned to them.
"It's riot gear!" T-dog and Glenn glanced at each other before pulling up the face masks and getting rid of the final walkers. Rick and Daryl had shut off the courtyard and locked it and we all started back towards the rest of the group.
"Stop." I turned and looked back at Rick.
"Well, it looks secure." Glenn glanced around the yard.
"Not from the look of that courtyard over there. And that's a civilian." I looked at the walker Daryl pointed at.
"So the prison could be overrun from wakers outside the prison." T-dog hung his head back over his shoulders.
"She could just be visiting?" Rick shook his head.
"We can't take that chance." He moved to the prison door.
"Well, if there are walls down, what are we going to do? We can't rebuild this whole place."
"We can't risk a blind spot." Rick turned around and headed to the prison door. "We have to push in."
I braced myself as Daryl pulled the door open the door, Rick held up his knife, but froze at the quiet. We all walked in weapons at the ready, but it was totally silent. Even though the place looked ransacked, no walkers came for us. Rick found the keys and unlocked the actual cell block which was just as quiet. We searched the entire cell block and the only living walkers were locked away in cells. Rick locked the door leading to the rest of the prison as we started clearing out bodies. Glenn and Maggie went to go get the rest of the group and carry in the supplies. I followed the group back inside from dragging out a prisoner and wiped my forehead with the back of my wrist.
"What do you think?"
"Home, sweet home." I shook my head as Glenn moved into a cell.
"Is is safe?"
"This cell block is."
"What about the rest of the prison?" Rick ignored his question.
"Tomorrow, we'll find the cafeteria and the infirmary."
"We sleep in the cells?" Beth seemed nervous.
"We found the keys. I've got a set, so does Daryl."
"I ain't sleepin' in no cage. We'll take the perch." I turned and followed Daryl up the stairs.
"What's the perch?" He pulled open a door and I cringed. "Oh, there's a dead body in it." He grabbed the legs of the guard and dragged him out while gesturing with his head.
"Wheel the chair out and we can sleep on the floor." He disappear down the stairs and I looked at the dirty floor, that had streaks of blood across it.
"Every girl's dream." I turned and pulled two of the cleanest mattresses from the upper cells and flopped them onto the floor. I threw our stuff under the desk and grabbed a cloth using some of our water to clean the blood of the window. I threw out the rag and looked at Daryl as he stared down at the mattresses before looking up at me.
"High maintenance." I scoffed and stepped forward putting my arms around his neck.
"If you want to throw your mattress back out into the hall be my guest." He wrapped his arms around my waist and smirked down at me.
"Probably for the best that we keep 'em. Taking you against the the ground always hurt your back." I shoved his shoulder and he leaned down, kissing me while he laughed.
That night I lay against Daryl's chest as we both calmed our breathing. Daryl reached to the side before holding up two foil packages.
"Only two left."
"Use them wisely." Daryl leaned down kissing the side of my head.
"We were alright before, we'll be fine again."
"That was before Lori got pregnant."
"Lori bein' pregnant doesn' make ya more fertile or somethin'." I rolled my eyes.
"Why don't you ask Glenn? Just to be on the safe side." Daryl looked at me like I was crazy.
"No." He rolled over and pulled me against his chest. "Next time we go out on a run, I'll find more."
"Where did you even find these?"
"Looked through the entire town back near the farm. If we hadn't lost the farm, probably would have run out long before now." I laughed a bit into his chest and shut my eyes.
That morning we were ready to look for the cafeteria and hospital. Hershel was coming with us today and I was especially nervous. The halls of the prison were pitch black and we would have nothing, but our flashlights, roams through what was basically a maze.
Carl locked the cell block behind us and we quietly made our way through the halls. Daryl led with his crossbow ready and I stayed in the back near Maggie. We were both nervously looking around and breathing pretty heavily. Maggie suddenly turned toward me and shrieked, I copied her before Glenn grabbed both of us and we breathed heavily.
"God, Maggie!" I whispered.
"Sorry!" We all turned and followed the group again as Glenn marked our path. We hadn't encountered any walkers yet when I suddenly heard Rick yell to go back. Maggie and I turned around, running back the way we came. We must have turned wrong because we ran into another group of walkers and had to turn around. We were just about caught up with the rest of the group when we were cut off by another group.
"In here!" Glenn grabbed us both by our shirts and shoved us into a room. Glenn held the door shut while Maggie and I stood at the ready. We scanned the room and found it empty before Glenn turned back to us. "I think they're gone." Maggie and I came back and stood near the door as he threw it open. Through the flashlight beams the hall looked empty as we slowly creeped out.
"Maggie?" Hershel's voice quietly echoed down the hall.
"Daddy?" she moved towards his voice until screams suddenly tore through the halls. We all took off running towards the the noise and Maggie started screaming when we came across Hershel laying on the floor leg, dripping blood.
Glenn and Rick hoisted him up and helped him move down the hall, as we ran from one of the herds. We came to a door closed with handcuffs and T-dog, broke it open with the crowbar he was carrying. We ran inside and they lay Hershel on the floor as Daryl and T-dog leaned against the doors. I shoved a bar of metal that I found on the floor through the handles and Daryl and I went to Hershel. I pulled the handkerchief from my back pocket and gave it to Maggie.
"Put that in his mouth, otherwise he might bit through his tongue!" Maggie took it, shoving it between his teeth. "Keep his head still!" I pushed down on his shoulder as Rick pulled out the hatchet.
"Only one way to keep you alive." He began slicing through the leg, a few inches above the bite and I turned away, but I could still feel the blood splattering on my face. "Oooh." Rick sat back, dropping the hatchet and I felt Daryl's hand on my back.
"Duck." I crouched low as Rick dropped to the ground. Daryl stood pointing his crossbow across the room. I turned my head and looked up to see a row of men standing behind a grate.
"Holy shit."