Newly Revised
Daryl was sleeping soundly for once as she watched him in happiness considering he regularly stayed awake and watched her. She could die a happy woman knowing his sleeping face; his normally brooding face was relaxed and calm, almost boyish in appearance, his normal scowl gone, his brows relaxed, and his jaw limp instead of clenched. They had slowly gotten things cleaned up and Tea was happy the process was over. The smell of burning rotten flesh plus PMS had destroyed her stomach and had kept Daryl worried about her being pregnant. She knew she wasn't as the lack of stench in the air gave her a relief from being sick, but she could feel the tightness in her lower stomach that would lead to cramps later on in the day. She had tried to tell Daryl that their circumstances were what was making her sick along with her normal PMS, that she always got nauseous around that time. The smells didn't help and then after barely eating all winter long, they had food enough to eat every single day. Pregnancy just wasn't in the cards this time around, but the way he was acting and being over-protective had her knowing he did want a family. Tea couldn't say she was surprised, but she was extremely happy that he was already acting like this when she'd told him it wasn't possible to begin with.
Sighing heavily, she made to get up out of bed only to be pulled back down by the strong arm around her middle. She chuckled and shook her head, tracing the outline of his face with her finger as he slowly woke up. Having just finished tracing his lips as his eyelashes twitched, she leaned in and kissed him, watching as his eyes groggily opened when she pulled back. A peaceful sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes and pulled her closer into his chest, moving his leg between hers and put his chin on her head. Tea couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment and happiness when he had her tucked under his chin and his arms holding her tight. It wasn't long before she was getting too hot, though, especially when he tried to roll over with her still in his arms, pinning her beneath him.
"Any furtha and we'll fuse," she warned him laughing.
"Five more minutes," he grumbled, causing her to chuckle again.
"Fine, sleepyhead. Five more minutes."
By the time she managed to pry herself from his grasp, Rick was already waiting for her in the commons. The field had finally been cleared of all the walkers and the two of them were discussing how to set up the cars and what they wanted to do with the field when Daryl hazily walked out of their cell. It was obvious the man was barely awake as he tried to keep up with what Rick was telling him and didn't respond when he was asked questions until it had been repeated a couple times. Tea found it adoringly hilarious since she rarely ever saw the hazy side of him, the man almost always being alert as soon as he opened his eyes. She'd only gotten to see it twice before, the first being at their hidden quarry camp and the second being in the storage units, both times being after a particularly exhausting romp in the sack. He was just stressed this time around and Tea felt guilty about putting him under it, although it wasn't really her fault. If he'd only listen, it wouldn't be so bad, she thought to herself as she watched him.
Together with Rick, Carol, and T-Dog, they left the block and courtyard and went out into the field to go get the cars from in front of the prison. Carol maneuvered their supply truck into the field as Rick and Tea planned how to fortify the space to make sure they could really make it a home. It wouldn't be easy, and the smell would be pretty bad, but Tea had a plan involving walkers along the fence line that Rick wasn't sure about. She'd just shrugged and said they build a wall with walkers or they build one thick enough to keep the damn things out, either way, they needed a wall. The fences would never hold against a large herd and the more movement they made on the grounds of the prison, the more walkers they would attract. They couldn't man the fence day in and out to keep the walkers off of it and they couldn't risk trying to lead them off, either. She argued that if they didn't find a way to keep the fences in tact, they would never be able to keep this place for the long run.
"Okay, let's get the other car in. Park it in the west entry of the yard," Rick told Carol.
"Good," Daryl said. "Our vehicles camped out there look like a damn vacancy sign."
"Ain' that the truth," Tea agreed, starting to feel the cramps in her lower abdomen. "Afta that, we need ta go lookin' through the rest a the prison we cleared and clear the dead out from there. We got the yard and our block done, now it's time ta clear the prison itself. Hell, maybe we'll find more supplies."
"Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help," Carol asked.
"Up in the guard tower," Daryl said, pointing to the one the two used; theirs was further off and had gone unused since Daryl started freaking out, much to Tea's dismay.
"Guard tower?" Rick repeated. "They were just up there last night."
Tea snickered as Daryl called up to them. After a minute of waiting, Glenn appeared out of the guard tower without his shirt and obviously doing up his pants. She was now doing her best and biting her lips to keep from busting out in laughter. Thankfully, she wasn't the only one who was trying not to laugh as everyone else were openly smiling or chuckling. It hadn't gone past the rest of the group's attention how often the two would escape to the tower and many of them just stayed away from it all together for just that reason. Most of them had already caught the couple with their pants down while hardly anyone had caught her and Daryl doing anything more than making out. Glenn and Maggie were the only ones who had openly seen the two starting to get busy, but it wasn't the same as walking into a room to see Asian ass.
"Hey, what's up guys?" Glenn said nervously.
They all shared a laugh as Daryl shouted, "You coming?"
"What?" was Glenn's response, causing Tea to lose her shit and start laughing boisterously.
"You coming?" Daryl repeated, trying to keep himself from laughing along with Tea and now Carol and T-Dog. They watched as Glenn looked into the tower at Maggie, absolutely confused which did little to help the hyenas behind him. Daryl looked up at the Asian man and told him, "Come on! We could use a hand!"
"Yeah, we'll be right down!" he stuttered as an irritated Maggie came out.
"Nice hair, Mags! Who's ya stylist?!" Tea cackled up at her, finally getting Daryl and Rick to crack into laughter as well.
They stayed laughing for a moment longer before they got to work, Carol swatting at Daryl's arm for the quips he'd made while shaking her head at Tea. Tea couldn't care less as she hadn't laughed that hard since Daryl had been called dramatic. That memory made her laugh some more earning a look from the two older people walking with her. Shrugging her shoulders, she simply pointed at Daryl and said, "Dramatic," before chuckling and walking away. Carol shared a confused look with Daryl who just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, quickening his pace to catch up to Tea. Tea knew she and the older woman would never truly get along because of their differences in opinion on parenting, but they had at least been acting less cold to each other. While she would never admit it, Tea was doing it more for Sophia's sake than anything else, not wanting to upset the little girl more than she already had over the winter. Their little heart-to-heart on the bus had done very little to actually mend or change anything between them, but it did give the both of them a little more perspective on the other.
"Hey, Rick," T-Dog said from where he stood rooted to where he had been when they were teasing Maggie and Glenn.
Looking to where he was, the rest of the group watched as the inmates walked out into a courtyard that had been cleared in the days prior. Tea was still fighting Rick about letting them stay with their group, and the look on his face told him he was pissed off that the pair had even walked out of their cell block. While his paranoia was valid to an extent, this was the first time he'd even seen the inmates since they'd locked them in the cell block almost two weeks ago. Tea and T-Dog, however, had gone and visited them a couple of times, Tea having mercy and letting them sleep in the laundry room without Rick's knowledge. She couldn't leave them in the cell block with all the bodies and gore when Axel was an idiot who was locked up because of it and Oscar was a non-violent offender. He'd needed money to pay for his son's medical care after the boy had gotten pneumonia and got caught coming out of an empty house with some goods. No one had even been home and he'd only taken a few things, but being a black man, the case was stacked against him and he got charged with some other unsolved robberies in his area, even though he'd only done the one. Neither of the men had a violent bone in their bodies and Axel had been pretty traumatized by his stint in prison followed by being in the cafeteria with Tomas and Andrew.
"That's close enough," Rick told them as their group got to the fence. "We had an agreement."
"Please, mister," Axel said, still folded in on himself. "We know that. We made a deal. But you gotta understand, we can't live in that place another minute. You follow me? All the bodies, people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There's ghosts."
"Why don't you move the bodies out?" Daryl asked softly.
"You should be burning them," T-Dog said.
"We tried," Axel wailed. "We did!"
"The fence is down on the far side of the prison," Oscar informed them, causing Tea to cuss under her breath; she didn't know that! "Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. Dropping the body and just running back inside."
"Look," Axel said, trying his luck and taking a step towards Rick, "we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew. Nothing! You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro. We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just please, please, don't make us live in that place."
"Rick," Tea said, only to be cut off yet again as her blood started to boilat the man who had promised to listen and was now disregarding that promise.
"Our deal is not negotiable," he told the inmates. "You either live in your cell block, or you leave."
"Rick!" Tea yelled loudly. "Now ya gonna listen ta me this time! They're non-violent offendas. Oscar was doin' what 'e had ta do for 'is kid and Axel's jus' a dumbass. But they ain' deservin' livin' in that place. 'Sides, ain' that what ya were always on 'bout? Rebuildin'? Can' rebuild on our own, and these guys could be major help in keepin' this place safe."
"Not negotiable," was all he had to say.
"I told you this was a waste of time," Oscar told Axel. "He ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. Do you know how many of our friends corpses we had to drag out the last week? Just threw 'em out like." He stopped and sighed before continuing, "These were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, dudes like Tomas and Andrew. We've all made mistakes to get in here, Chief. And I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me, we've paid our due. Enough that we'd rather hit that road than go back into that shithole."
"Listen ta him, Rick," Tea tried once more, feeling the need to hurry this along. "At least let everyone talk it ova 'fore ya sentence 'em ta death on the road."
Rick considered it as he looked back at Daryl who shook his head no. While Tea might trust the guys to be decent, they were both far too cautious after Andrew and Tomas's stunt. Daryl was even more so now that he was worried about Tea's condition as he didn't want anyone he didn't trust anywhere near her. She seemed to be doing better today but that didn't mean anything in the long run and didn't mean they wouldn't try something on her bad days. There was no way in hell he wanted an inmate anywhere near his wife, let alone gaining her sympathy only to turn around and stab her in the back. Wife, he thought as he smiled to himself, shaking his head of his thoughts while returning to the group. Rick had told him to lock them in the dog run closer to the main gate and leave them their while the rest gathered behind the over-turned bus in the yard. Tea and T-Dog were trying to get Rick to reconsider his stance, but the man was just as stubborn as Daryl could be when it came to not wanting to listen to logic.
"Are you serious?" Rick asked her and T-Dog as Daryl walked up. "You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?"
"I never stopped," T-Dog said.
"Look," Tea stated, "I know I ain' been the best version a me I can be the last couple a months. That don' mean I can' still do my job as the people-knowa. Unlike ya, I've actually gone and talked ta 'em a couple a times ta get their stories. Axel's a fuckin' idiot. Not even sure the man knows how ta use a gun, ta be honest. Oscar, he's a stand up guy. He might a done somethin' shitty ta get in here, but it was a for a damn good reason and 'e ain' the kind ta turn on good folk. They ain' gonna try shite."
"When did you talk to 'em?" Daryl asked, suddenly very tense and thinking about the few times he had left her alone.
"When ya were on watch with Rick the otha day," she told him. "I took T-Dog with me, don' worry ya sexy-ass face off."
"Bring them into the fold," T-Dog picked up the conversation. "If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves."
"I don't know," Glenn sighed. "Axel seems a little unstable."
"I'm a little unstable," Tea countered. "Ya don' send me packin'."
"Yeah, but your kind of unstable we're used to," Glenn joked with a half smile.
Scoffing, she held a hand over her heart, "Ya offend me."
"After all we've been through?" Carol offered, once again getting the conversation back on track. "We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it?"
"They're two guys. I can take Axel with my hands tied. And like I said, Oscar is an extremely loyal man, a man a conviction. Do him right and he'll do right by ya," Tea told her. "And if 'e did try somethin', just punch 'im in the liva and 'e'll go down like a box a rocks. We don' got ta worry 'bout 'em."
"It's just been us for so long," Maggie said. "They're strangers. I don't, I mean, it feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around."
"So we jus' keep it the twelve a us foreva? Neva let anyone inta the fold or give anyone a chance jus' 'cause we're used ta it bein' us?"
"You brought us in," T-Dog told the woman.
"Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms. Didn't give us a choice," she told him.
"They can't even kill walkers," Glenn pointed out.
"Even more a reason ta bring 'em in. We send 'em out, they're dead men walkin'," Tea told him.
"They're convicts, bottom line," Carol said.
"Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do," T-Dog commented. "Definitely less than our resident Lady Death," he said, nudging Tea with a half smile.
"I get guys like this," Daryl suddenly spoke up. "Hell, I grew up with them. They're degenerates but they ain't psychos. I could a been in there with them just as easy as I'm out here with you guys."
"So ya with us?" Tea said hopefully.
"Hell no," he shot her down, earning a disappointed glare. "Let 'em take their chances out on the road just like we did."
"What I'm saying, Daryl-" T-Dog started.
"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid," Rick interrupted him. "Nineteen years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The blubbered like a baby through the interrogation, during the trial, suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and then two weeks later, he shot another girl."
"Ya got a point in that story, Rick?" Tea asked.
"We've been through too much," he told her. "Our deal with them stands," he said as he walked away.
"Rick, wait!" Tea yelled as loudly as she could, making the man stop in his tracks while the others moved their heads from the loudness. "It ain' jus' what ya say that goes, rememba? I'm puttin' this choice ta the entire group, and takin' votes. The entire group. I'll go with the majority, but that don' mean I'm lettin' ya kick 'em ta the curb jus' 'cause ya too fuckin' scared ta botha tryin' ta let othas join us. We ain' goin' ta be able ta fuckin' survive if we don' bring more damn people in!"
"But convicts?" Carol asked.
"One a the best lawyas I knew was a convict. Knew a lot of decent ex-convicts. One bad decision does not a bad person make, Cars," she said. "Hell, one good choice does not a good person make. We all know that shite thanks ta Shane! A good guy turned fuckin' batshite crazy from jealousy. Fuck, D ain' the only one who could a been in a fuckin' place like this. I stole cars, pick-pocketed, drank undaage. Fuck, I got a bunch a cops ta eat weed brownies! If that shouldn' a landed me in jail or prison, I don' know what the fuck I did that would've," she laughed. "We have all made mistakes in our lives. Does that make us bad people? Fear clouds the judgment, but that don' mean we stay fuckin' afraid all our lives. Can' fuckin' rebuild without people, and they're people. It's the group's fuckin' choice, and I'll be damned if I ain' goin' ta talk ta everyone and try ta sway 'em. Feel free ta do the same," she told Rick, the two of them having a stare-down as the others watched on.
Rick looked pissed, but she was right that they had agreed to lead together and they were now at odds. Her putting it to the group was the best way for them to settle the matter fairly without one completely over-powering the other. They had made their leadership work simply because of that; they either agreed or talked it over until they came to either an understanding or a compromise. Right now, she was giving neither, simply utilizing her power to do the same thing he had just done. He'd made the decision to lock them in the dog walk while she made the decision to put it to a vote. There was nothing to be done but to see what the people said as they made their way back into the prison. Tea immediately went to her cell and pulled out a clean pair of pants after all the stress and walking had her cramping horribly. She silently thanked the gods that she had put a pair of black jeans in the morning before everything had happened so nothing was showing for the others. Daryl can finally stop 'is fuckin' worryin', she thought ruefully. She wanted to have a child with Daryl if he was willing, but she wasn't sure if the prison was the right place to, let alone if they were really ready to have a child. They hadn't even been together for a year and it was still far too early to tell if the damn place would even hold long enough to make it through a pregnancy. Heaving a sigh and getting her mind set to the task at hand, she left her cell with a breaking heart at the thought of Daryl not wanting a kid, heading to Hershel's cell to talk to him first.
Hershel was awake and Lori, Carl, and Sophia were standing with him and Beth in his cell. Tea came over and explained the situation with the convicts and what she thought of them without going into specific details about them. While Lori firmly stated she wouldn't feel comfortable, Hershel accepted the idea, agreeing that they couldn't push everyone away just because of their past. The way she made the men sound, one of them was a pushover and the other was honorable which gave him very little reason as to why they should be cast out. Beth wasn't too thrilled, but she voted with her father knowing that Tea wouldn't speak on the men's behalf if she didn't believe in them. Both Carl and Sophia agreed to let the inmates join as well, although Lori tried to argue that they were children and shouldn't have a vote. Tea argued that they had twelve people and that the children should have a say because they would also be affected by the decision. With the votes given by T-Dog, Hershel, Beth, Carl, Sophia, and herself, she only needed to sway one more person to her side to let the convicts join their group.
"Hey, D," she said walking up to him as he cleaned his bolts in the commons.
"No," he told her without even looking up at her.
"Oh, come on! Ya don' even know what I came ova ta talk 'bout!"
"The convicts."
"Well, yeah, there's that, but it's the otha thing, too" she said sheepishly.
"The 'other thing'?" he asked curiously.
"I told ya I wasn'," she said simply making him scrutinize her, noticing her jeans had been replaced with capris, every single muscle in his body freezing as he came to the realization.
She wasn't pregnant and it had just a bad bout of PMS like she'd been trying to convince him. She didn't have to fight for a baby on top of everything else they had going on. She didn't have to worry about running with a swollen belly like Lori had had to do all winter long. She didn't have to worry about childbirth, but all the thoughts that flooded through his body in waves of relief quickly turned to heartbreak. She wasn't pregnant. They'd talked about whether or not they wanted a kid, but he hadn't given a real answer to her. What would happen going forward now? Would she still want to have a kid with him? This one would have just been an accident, but now they could plan for one if she was willing. In all honesty, he hadn't been completely sure he actually wanted a child until she kept getting sick and his fears set in. It wasn't the fear that she was pregnant, it had been the fear that he wouldn't be able to protect her or the child if they had one.
"Ya good?" she asked quietly.
Clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably, he responded, "Yeah, yeah. We're good. What was with all the pukin'?"
"Told ya, it happens sometimes. I think the lack a eatin' all winta and havin' food now with the smell a the burnin' walkas jus' fucked with my tummy more this time 'round. Ya know I get nauseous 'round that time anyway," she said with a shrug. "It was jus' worse this time 'cause a the shock ta my body and mind the changes gave. Now, 'bout the convicts," she changed the subject to save them both from the awkwardness they were feeling.
"No," he restated.
"Come on, D. What if it was Merle? Would ya want someone sendin' 'im away jus' 'cause he was a convict?"
"That ain't the same."
"It is the same and ya damn well know it! Hell, it's worse! 'Cause Merle knows how the hell ta take care a himself! Oscar might be able ta make it on 'is own for a bit, but Axel's dead as soon as they find a group. Ya can' say I'm wrong, eitha. D? Don' make me beg," she tried with a coy smile.
"Can't beg right now," he said quietly.
"Dammit, Daryl," she growled, frustrated at his short responses. "There's other times ta try if ya want ta. Ain' the end a the world jus' 'cause it ain' now. Ya know damn well that I want a kid with ya, but right now ain' the time for that. We need ta make sure this place holds and on top a that we need numbas," she reasoned softly, moving to sit in his lap. "If ya want ta send 'em away, that's up ta ya, but I'm tellin' ya, they'll be dead 'fore they even get through a day."
"How many others?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her.
"T-Dog, Hershel, Beth, Carl, and Sophia. Carol's thinkin' 'bout it."
"Bunch a kids decidin' for the group?" he scoffed.
"Carl and Sophia have jus' as much right gettin' a vote in this as any a us. If there were more people, hell nah, kids don' get a say 'til sixteen, which means Beth'd have a say in it anyway. But it's jus' the twelve a us now. We should all get a say this time."
"You sure about this?"
"As sure as I was OJ was guilty."
He snorted at that and finally relented to her argument since he knew she was right about them dying quickly and not even being able to defend themselves like Merle. More than that, he had been trying really hard to help him since they had gone clothes hunting. Then again, she'd also been trying to help calm his nerves the last week and a half. It was harder than he cared to admit, being with her and dealing with all her issues on top of his own needs. She tried her hardest to be accommodating, even when she was having a hard time herself. He felt like he was always falling short in that department; always getting angry when her needs and his collided. Even now she was trying to make sure he was alright after everything that had happened and everything that he now knew. He wondered if she was going to keep at it or if she'd close off again, though, now that he had nothing to worry about. Then again, he had been keeping her under his arm lately, both figuratively and literally, ever since they'd had that talk at the guard tower. He hadn't fully realized why he was being so clingy until she came to him and told him she'd been right all along; he had been hoping she was pregnant.
"You know I love you, right?" he asked quietly, not wanting to tell her what was really on his mind.
"I know, I love ya too, D," she said before giving him a chaste kiss, standing up, and walking off.
In the end, she managed to convince everyone but Lori, Rick, and Carol, leaving the three of them to deal with majority rules. They walked back out into the field where they had plans on finishing bringing in the vehicles and arranging them to make a quick escape if they needed to. Tea had let T-Dog tell the prisoners the good news since the man had been the first one to talk to her about it since he didn't like how it was just two men left to fend for themselves. Rick looked like he was going through some constipation as he walked next to her, slowing his pace minutely to give them some space. She followed suit until there was a few feet between the two of them and the others since she knew he wanted to talk. Tea had all but forced his hand by leaving it to the group to accept that her decision was final and not his, but this wasn't a decision he had the right to make for the others, neither of their group or the convicts.
"I still don't think it's a good idea," Rick said plainly. "They should try their luck on the road."
"Ya think they'd last out there?" she asked.
"It's their choice," he said.
"Nah, Rick, it ain' their choice. It's ya choice ya forcin' on 'em. Live with the dead or die by the dead."
"Whose blood would you rather have on your hands? Maggie's? Carol's? Daryl's? Or theirs?"
"Why choose when there's a betta option that keeps any blood of my hands? They might be stained red, but at least that blood was for a reason. What reason do we have ta kick these guys out?" she asked as she walked away.
Daryl rolled up next to her on his motorcycle a moment later and she climbed on, thankful to be off her feet as all she wanted to do was nap. Axel and Oscar were being talked to now by Rick, no doubt threatening them that if they even try to do anything to his family he would kill them himself. As soon as they were up at the cell block, Daryl was telling her to stay at the cells and take a nap until he got back. He walked back down to the dog walk to talk to Rick and Glenn as they were going outside the fence line to set some snares. Carol, Maggie, and T-Dog were positioning the cars according to Tea's direction when she watched Hershel come out of the cell block on crutches. Smiling widely and walking up to the man, she congratulated him on being up and out of bed. It was good to see that the oldest member of their group was finally moving around and that he hadn't been lost after his run in with death. The last thing she wanted was for Maggie and Beth to lose even more than they already had by losing their farm, mom, brother, Otis, Patricia, and Jimmy.
"You cleared all those bodies out?" he asked her.
"Well, ya were out a commission for 'bout two weeks," she told him with a smile. "Couldn' very well sit on my ass watchin' ya get ya beauty rest."
"It's starting to look like a place we could really live in," he muttered.
"I know," Tea said joyously. "Could actually make a home 'ere."
"Hey, you watch your step," Lori cut in, worried the old man might fall. "Last thing we need is you falling."
They turned to the fence as they heard Glenn holler, Tea laughing at the man's jubilation and continued walking with Hershel, Lori, Beth, Carl, and Sophia. The kids had taken their guard duties very seriously, which was nice and apparently calling into question their level of maturity had forced the pair to actually mature a bit. While Tea wasn't too thrilled with taking their youth away early, that was the world they lived in and there wasn't time for hide and seek and chase. Hide and seek was for hiding from walkers or bad men and it was rare that you were the chaser and not the chasee and that was the sad truth. Tea hated the fact that they couldn't be normal twelve year olds and wished they could have fun and play stupid kid games like they should have been able to. The world didn't allow children to just be children anymore, though.
Beth's soft voice pulled her from her reverie, "You're doin' great, daddy."
"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl joked.
"You give me another day, I'll take you on," he told the boy, earning a chuckle.
They came to a stop by the gate as Maggie, T-Dog, and Carol stood laughing not far away. They were having a great day, all in all. Tea almost thought to herself that nothing could go wrong, but stopped the thought just as it popped up. Nothin' like jinxin' yaself, she thought wryly. And hell if she didn't feel like that's just what she did as she, Carl, and Sophia glanced at each other upon hearing louder than normal growling. Looking behind them, Carl yelled at the rest of the group about the walkers that had filled the courtyard. Tea had her gun out faster than she could blink her eyes, bringing it up and firing at the walkers with precision. She yelled at the kids to get to their parents as everyone began opening fire on the threat. They could hear Rick yelling at them to get out, but exactly where the hell were they supposed to go? They were going to be cut off if they weren't careful and there were only so many places in the courtyard that would provide. Tea watched as Hershel and Beth got to safety, Maggie leading Lori and Carl up into another cell block, but the walkers just kept coming and prevented the rest from going anywhere.
"That gate is open!" T-Dog yelled, making a run for it as Tea started covering him.
Carol and Sophia were with them too, the four of them firing on any walker in front of them, although Carol still had to get as close as she dared to get a head-shot. She was trying to get Carol and Sophia into a safer spot and hadn't been paying as much attention as she should have to T-Dog until the man screamed. His screams alerted her to the danger he was in only for her to see a walker that a walker had taken a chunk from his shoulder as he got the gate closed and locked again. Carol screamed as Tea pushed the woman into block after her daughter, urging T-Dog to get in there with them. It would lead them down into the tombs, but what choice did they have? T-Dog was leading the way while Carol was crying as she stumbled behind him as Sophia walked between her and Tea, who took up the rear. Both she and T-Dog knew the area well enough to be able to navigate them out of the immediate area, but neither knew if they would be able to due to the walkers. It was even worse now that the alarm was blaring and the noise was causing Tea to have problems concentrating. She was trying to remain focused on the task at hand, keeping Carol and Sophia safe, but her eyes were zoned in on the patch of mangled skin near T-Dog's throat and the her ears were ringing by the sounds. There was no way to save T-Dog and Tea honestly began wondering if they would all end up like that before she managed to get back to Daryl.
"There's a set of double doors that will lead to a corridor, that'll get you back to our cell block," he told the crying woman.
"No, you should stop!" Carol said.
"I'm getting you there!" he told her, pulling her along as Tea and Sophia followed.
"Stop!" Carol yelled again, breaking free.
"Why?" T-Dog asked her. "So I can sit here and wait to die? Uh-uh."
"Carol, let 'im do what he needs ta," Tea said to her. "We ain' gonna let 'im turn, but we ain' stoppin' the man's final actions when they're noble as fuck, eitha."
"This is God's plan," the man agreed, making Tea cringe at that thought. "He'll take care of me. Always has. He's gonna help me lead you outta these tombs."
Tea opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut. Right now wasn't the time to point out the obvious, especially to a man on the verge of death. If this was his god's plan, that meant his god had purposefully given him a slow and agonizing death, or worse. There was nothing good or caring about his god right now, nor any deity, in her eyes. They'd made it down a few more corridors and through another set of doors. T-Dog was heavily leaning on Carol now as they trailed behind her, Sophia staying between the adults. Tea was leading them now because in the tombs, aside from the occasional flicker of light from lights attached to the alarms, there was no light. Tea could see well enough to get them out and keep them out of trouble, but neither Sophia nor Carol would be able to fight with how dark it was. There was no way T-Dog could fight as his condition deteriorated by the minute. They had rounded another corner only to be met with snarls. Tea grabbed her throwing knife, ready to take the group on, but T-Dog just put a hand on her shoulder.
"We're close," he told her. "Get them out!"
With a yell, he ran at the walkers before she could do anything, Sophia and Carol holding onto her and stopping her as she made to go after him. They were right to do it, because the man used his football history to tackle and hold the two walkers back against the wall. Tea blamed herself for what was happening to T-Dog since she was the one who had been more concerned about the mother and daughter and had taken her eyes of T-Dog. He was holding the walkers back as they were tearing at him as he yelled at them to get out. Just as she got to the door, Tea took aim and used her final bullet to put him out of his misery, her seventh kill.
~x~
Daryl walked out of the prison gate with Rick and Glenn, the latter asking if he should take out a walker across the stream. Unfortunately, their hope of weapons and ammo from the prison were thrashed as it had been picked absolutely clean minus stuff that probably would do anything to the walkers. He spent time showing both Rick and Glenn how to make snares and set them and how to recognize a trail commonly used by the smaller animals. If they could set snares, he and Tea wouldn't have to go hunting so much and he could spend some more time with her rather than leaving her alone to probably get in trouble. The fact that she had gone down to see the convicts with T-Dog without letting him know that she had been talking to them. He was still upset that she had done that, but the deed had been done and at least she had been smart enough to take someone with her.
He was still coming to terms with the fact that she wasn't pregnant and the fact that he had actually been hoping that she was. She'd always gotten really nauseous and had puked a couple times before due to PMS, but it had been nothing like what had happened to her this time. It had given him a false hope that he would have his own family, his own baby held tightly in his arms. After the childhood he'd had, that thought had given him a sense of longing he hadn't felt since he first laid his claim after she disappeared from the quarry. Tea hadn't rebuffed the idea though, simply told him it wasn't the time and that It took the edge off the pain and allowed that bubble of hope to survive. Still, another, darker part of him, the part with Merle's voice, was telling him that she didn't want his kid. She was just saying that to keep herself safe if shit hit the fan. She knew he would look for her and keep her safe if shit ever hit the fan. That she didn't love him, was just using him for the safety he provided and a warm bed. He was nothing, never had been, never would be, so why would she want him? It didn't matter if she said it every chance she got. It didn't matter that she was trying to comfort him when he was down or anxious. It didn't matter that she was putting an effort in to meet his needs. It was all just for show, and the shoe was gonna drop sooner rather than later.
He tried hard to push those thoughts down, wishing more than anything Merle were around to smack him upside the head for being such a pussy. Daryl knew he'd been whipped by Tea, but he didn't care so much because being around her was like breathing after almost drowning. He hadn't even realized how much he needed her presence until after the farm and everything that had happened over the winter. Winter on the road had been one of the most harrowing experiences of his life since he'd almost lost her four different times because she was too busy saving one of the others and they had fought several times. All of them had been on runs, but the second time had been the most frightening of all since she almost bled out before she even made it back to their camp. She and Rick were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time on that run when a group of bandits had rolled in and tried to take their shit. Tea had shot their leader and his right hand man in the head and gotten a bullet in her calf and her arm in the process. They returned to the prison having spent about an hour setting snares, gathering wood, and overall checking the area for any signs anyone else was close by. Rick and Glenn's arms were full of wood as Tea had said she wanted to start keeping a stockpile within the cell block for if it rained now that they had burned all the bodies. Her logic and reasoning were on point for that as they couldn't make a fire with wet wood and they'd spent the winter cold enough. Daryl held the gate wide open so that the other two could come in without being snagged or scratched by it with their full arms unable to really protect themselves from the sharp wires. He looked back up to the prison, making out the shiny amber and honey color of Tea's hair as she stood next to Hershel.
"Lookie here," he told them, motioning to the prison.
Glenn let out a happy chuckle, "He is one tough son of a bitch." After another chuckle, he yelled out, "Alright Hershel!"
"Keep your cheers down," Daryl shushed him, looking out behind the fence seeing walkers approaching, irritation still seated deep in his heart.
Glenn's face fell as he looked behind them, "Oh man, can we just have one good day?"
As Tea and the kids swung around, Daryl could have sworn his heart had dropped out of his chest and was being stomped on. Behind them, walkers were coming and there was nothing he could do to help as he was stuck in the damn dog run. Rick started screaming as the three of them ran as fast as they could towards the gate; Glenn dropped back to seal the fence back up from where they'd come back through. They were all running as soon as Glenn was done, all of their women being in danger while they were stuck with several locks in their way. Rick kept yelling at the group, trying to get them to get into the dog walk as the group behind the gates splintered in an attempt to stay safe. Years of smoking had taken a toll on Daryl's lungs as he tried to run as fast as he could towards the gate, falling behind Rick. Rick was already at the gate by the time he'd gotten three yards from Rick, Glenn fast approaching from behind when he stopped and looked behind him. He and Rick were calling for the keys as Glenn tossed them to Daryl while he kept running towards them. Daryl caught them and spun on his heel as fast as he could, tossing them to Rick before picking up his bow and running with Glenn to catch up to Rick.
When Rick got the gate opened, Daryl didn't even know why he almost pushed the man out of the way. He didn't have the keys for the next gate, Rick did, but still, the irrational part of him had to get to Tea as quickly as he could, especially since he couldn't see her. The only people he could see were Hershel and Beth, who were safe in a caged staircase leading to another cell block they hadn't had a chance to clear yet. He practically shoved the inmates out of the way as they came out of the guard tower Tea had them working on reinforcing after the others had voted and Rick and reluctantly agreed and T-Dog gave them her instructions. He ushered Rick to hurry up as his fear and tension grew with every walker that entered the courtyard and every second he couldn't see Tea. He helped Rick throw the gate open and the three men ran towards the commotion in the courtyard, the convicts really following close behind them. Rick told Daryl to pull it open as soon as he managed to get the lock undone the second they reached the concrete yard. They ran into the courtyard and immediately began taking care of the walkers while Axel and Oscar stood at the gate watching them, unsure of what to do to help.
"What the hell happened?" Rick yelled up at Hershel.
"The gate was open!" Beth told him.
"Where's Lori? Carl? Maggie? Everyone else?" he asked in quick succession.
"Maggie led Lori and Carl into C block," Hershel told him as Daryl slammed his hunting knife into the skull of a walker.
"T was bit," Beth told them.
"Ania?!" Daryl asked as he whipped around upon hearing the girl's words.
"No, T-Dog. Tea lead them into the tombs," Hershel told him, making Daryl breathe a sigh of relief.
"Anyone else?" Rick asked frantically.
"I couldn't tell," Beth answered.
"Stay put," he told them, knowing they were safe in their makeshift cage.
Glenn had checked on the gate as Daryl was killing walkers, noticing the chain was broke. Turning around, the man violently swung his machete and cut the top of a walker's skull clean off, which might have impressed Daryl if . Rick and Daryl each took out a final walker while Glenn ran back to the two older men, anger and fear written all over his face. The look on the Korean's face had Daryl worrying all over again about the others and sending a silent curse out to Tea that she'd better be alright or he was going to lock her up. The first time he heads out of the prison without her, first time in a couple weeks that he'd let her out of his sight for more than twenty minutes, and this mess happened. All three men were righteously pissed off at everything that was happening in the prison and how they had lost some of their members. If they didn't find the girls, Daryl swore he'd put an end to the inmates himself and leave their corpses for the walkers.
"Those chains didn't break by themselves," he told them. "Someone took an ax or cutters to 'em. You think they did it?" he asked as he looked over to the inmates who had come into the courtyard.
"Who else?" Rick responded, the three of them heading over to the two other men before alarms started blaring around them.
"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Daryl snarled out.
They shot out the speakers before waltzing up to the inmates, Rick's gun was up and ready to kill without a second thought as he shouted at them, "How the hell can this happen?!"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" Oscar yelled, his hands held high in surrender. "It has to be the backup generators."
"Well, how do you turn those on?"
"There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison," he explained, keenly aware of Daryl's crossbow pointed between his eyes. "The hacks shut 'em all off when the prison was overrun."
"Can someone open up the main gates electronically with full power?" he asked the man.
"I only worked in there a few days," Oscar said honestly. "I guess it might be possible."
"Come with us!" Rick told the man.
"Let's go!" Glenn yelled at Axel as the man dragged his feet.
They charged into cell block C, Rick taking down a walker and calling for his family. Glenn and Daryl had been in the commons taking down the walkers there. Rick ran up to the perch to see if his family was on the second floor, only to find nothing. Daryl didn't see any sign of Tea or the others even as he called out for her himself, Glenn doing the same for Maggie. They weren't anywhere in the cell block, and the door to the tombs had been closed, most likely by one of their missing members. He tried hard not to panic, but after spending the last few months with her an arm's length away and then the last couple weeks with her under his arm in general, he couldn't help the feeling that began to overwhelm him. It was ten times worse than when she'd disappeared at the quarry; he hadn't been as attached to her back then and the dread he'd felt then was more that he wouldn't be able to find her more than it had been that she was dead. This time all he could do was panic internally and hope to whatever the fuck would listen that he'd find his girl safe and sound.
"We took down five of 'em in there," Daryl informed him as they came in, him retrieving a bolt from the head of a walker.
"There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or any of them," he said back.
"They must have been pushed back into the prison," Glenn suggested.
"Somebody is playing games!" Rick shouted.
"Don't gotta tell me that. Where the fuck's our girls?"
"We'll split up and look for the others," Rick said, leaving the cells. "Whoever gets to the generators first, shut 'em down!"
They ran through the corridors, Glenn heading off with Axel in the opposite direction so that they could cover more ground. Daryl was bringing in the rear as Rick lead them with Oscar was between them, neither wanting the man to be the one trailing. Walkers were everywhere and the three of them were simply running, only taking out the walkers that they absolutely had to in order to make it to the room Oscar said they needed to get to. Rick burst through a door as Daryl took down another walker that was hot on their heels, doing his best to keep his friend and himself safe while also being wary of Oscar. They needed to get the damn alarms shut off to stop the walkers from completely overruning the prison and making it impossible to find the others. He could only hope that Glenn and Axel were having an easier time than they were on their own mission to look for Maggie and Tea.
"Daryl, get the door!" Rick hollered from behind him.
Daryl butted the head of a walker back as he and Oscar got the door shut and leaned against it to keep it shut, having a hard time at the number of walkers banging on it. Rick had gone on ahead to check the actual room out. Daryl was happy they'd been able to find the generators, but his head was full of worry for Tea. They still had no idea where the others were and no way to find them until all this mess with the generators was over. It would be completely possible that they wouldn't find their missing members and instead would find a corpse, trying to keep his mind off of that thought as he struggled.
"How do you shut these down?!" Rick yelled from inside the room.
"Go help 'im," Daryl told Oscar throwing everything he had into bracing the door. "I got it!"
Daryl could hear a fight broke out behind him and knew had been right in Rick not killing Andrew as the man had come back to bite them in the ass. He struggled hard against the door while worried about his friend and trying to keep the entrance blocked off. He quickly realized that there was no way he would be able to with that many walkers banging on it before he looked at his crossbow and quickly let go of the door. Grabbing the weapon, he took a split second to raise it and aim before dropping it again to take out his knife. Stabbing the next walker that entered the room, he pushed it back out and into the other walkers, slamming the door shut as soon as the task was done. He wasn't sure what happened while he was struggling against the door, but he could hear Andrew talking before the sound of a gun shot rang out. He crept around a shelving unit with his hunting knife raised above his head, other fist at eye level, slightly crouched and ready to grab and stab anything that he had to. It wasn't necessary, though, as he watched as Oscar swung Rick's gun around so that the handle was facing up and hand it back to the man before relaxing. They left the room and tried to find the others, turning into another dark corridor while Rick and Daryl brought out their flashlights. They'd only just managed to turn them on when they were crashed into, the two of them talked to the ground as their lights spun away, feeling cold hard steal pressed right to their necks. A knee on each of their chests as they lay shoulder to shoulder, Daryl couldn't help the joyous sob that escaped him at seeing Tea, even if she was holding a knife to his throat.
"Thank the gods!" she cried as she dropped her knives to the floor hugged them both around the neck. "Phia, it's safe!" she called behind her, looking back to see the men having perplexed faces as she hadn't called for Carol. It didn't take long for Tea to choke out a sob of her own, "We lost 'er in the tombs. Got separated by a pack a walkas and I couldn', I had Phia, I had ta..."
"Hey, hey," Rick said as he patted her back, thankful she was okay. "You made it back to us. We'll find Carol."
They kept moving as hearing noises up ahead, backing themselves against the wall and hiding the lights, she watched as Oscar held an ax at the ready. From around another corner Glenn and Axel came out, everyone tense for a moment as they stopped themselves from attacking what they thought had been an imminent threat. As a whole group, keeping Tea and Sophia in the middle at all times, they made it around another few bends. Tea gasped and drew the little girl in closer to her, keeping her behind her back as much as possible, as they all set eyes on the walkers before them. Rick quickly took out the walkers that were eating the man as Tea realized she and Sophia had gone around in a circle. Seeing T-Dog's body half eaten was like a punch to the gut for all of them, but Daryl watched as Tea hung her head and apologized to them for not protecting the man better. The girl could never catch a break from finding something to blame herself for, even if it wasn't her fault. Rick and Daryl lead the way out of the tombs and back out the way that Tea had originally entered the prison when after T-Dog had been bit. Seeing the daylight gave Sophia a bit more pep to her step, but Tea was not doing very well. She was blanched all to hell and Daryl was worried she was going to keel over soon with the stress of the day combined with everything else taking its toll on her already fatigued body. Poor girl needed a nap 'fore runnin' for her life, now she needs a whole fuckin' day, Daryl thought to himself.
"Hershel!" Rick yelled at the man as they ran out the door.
"You didn't find them?" the man asked.
"We thought maybe they came back out here?" Glenn asked the elderly man.
"What about Tea? Carol?"
"Tea and Phia's fine. The others. They didn't make it," Daryl answered before going to stand next to Tea, pulling her into his side and wrapping an arm around her from where she was standing by the gate where T-Dog had been bit.
"That doesn't mean the others didn't," Rick said in frustration. "We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with me."
Whatever his next words were going to be were cut off by a sound that wounded both hunters' hearts after their talk and subsequent hope. They all looked over to the entrance of cell block C to see a bloodied Maggie and Carl looking shell-shocked with a baby in Maggie's arms wrapped in Carl's jacket. Carl had his gun out as Rick and Tea both walked over to the two of them, Rick trying to figure out what was happening and looking for Lori. Tea pulled the boy into a bone crushing hug in which he rightfully broke down and clung to her as he cried, more broken then she ever thought the boy could be. She tried very hard not to cry herself; she might not have liked Lori, but a person didn't have to be liked to be cared for. She looked back at Daryl, lost for words as the two of them looked from each other over to the baby in Maggie's arms.
"Where? Where is she?" Tea heard Rick as Maggie as she rubbed circles into Carl's back. "Where is she?"
Tea knew it was going to be bad with Rick because the man had barely spoken or touched his wife since they'd left the farm. Everything he'd done, he'd done to keep her and Carl safe, though, and he had wanted to work things out, but his anger had clouded his ability to move past her betrayal. Now, it was quiet obvious what had happened and the man was having a complete breakdown because of it. Maggie called to Tea when Rick started heading towards the cell block to find Lori only for Tea to release Carl with one arm to stop Rick dead in his tracks, simply shaking her head at him. Both Rick and Carl began breaking down at the loss of their wife and mother, both inconsolable as Glenn walked up to check on Maggie as the woman broke down as well. Tea could only stand there hugging Carl watching as the man she thought of as a brother crumbled to the ground from the weight of his grief.
