Chapter 33 - Blood Letting

West Georgia Correctional Facility

Tess hated how pathetic she felt. She didn't sleep a wink that night. When she finally heard Daryl climb the stairs near her cell, she had rolled over to face the wall, as if that would trick her into thinking he wasn't there. She couldn't bring herself to relax knowing that he was just mere feet from her room. Tess felt ridiculous for ever saying anything. They had just gone back to being somewhat normal and she had to go ruin it.

Daryl was suffering from a similar dilemma. He tended not to overthink things but even when he told himself to stop, his mind wouldn't shut up. He needed to know what she meant. Maybe, he thought, it would help him to figure out what it was he was feeling. He liked her, he knew that. Perhaps more than any other woman he'd met. It was different to how he felt about Carol or any of the others. If he were being honest with himself, he knew exactly what it was he wanted from her. The confusing mixture of disappointment and excitement he'd felt when he heard her say 'Like I'm not just a friend to you', told him all he needed to know.

If he were bolder, more self-assured, he'd have continued to press her about it. But the part of him that hated himself and didn't deem himself worthy, forced him to let her go. He'd sat outside for a long time after she left, struggling internally while trying to figure out what it was that she wanted. The voice in the back of his head, that sounded an awful lot like Merle, told him that it definitely wasn't him.

—

Tess finally fell asleep around 5:00 AM the following morning. Normally she would have gotten up when she wasn't able to sleep but she never heard Daryl leave and didn't want to risk walking past him. When she woke again, it was closer to 10:00 AM and when she left her cell, she was surprised to see that Lori, Carl, Beth and Hershel were the only ones still inside.

"Good morning sleepy head." Beth greeted her, clearly in a good mood. Tess smiled fondly at her and her father and greeted them both. Hershel was seated on his bed and his leg appeared to be freshly bandaged.

"How are you feeling, Hershel?" She inquired.

"About a foot shorter, I reckon." He joked and Tess laughed along with him as Beth stared on, stunned.

"Daddy!" Beth cried in mock horror but she couldn't stop herself from eventually laughing as well. As Hershel genially patted his daughter on the knee, Tess spotted an old set of crutches propped up in the corner.

"Have you been up and about?" Tess asked, astonished by the old man's willpower.

"We were just about to get some fresh air, weren't we Bethy? Care to join us?"

"I'd love to." Tess nodded eagerly and grabbed the crutches for Hershel.

Lori and Carl joined them as they left the prison and the five of them trailed slowly alongside Hershel as he walked out of the building for the first time. Beth's massive grin never left her face, even as she watched her father like a hawk. Tess couldn't blame her, she too had a smile on her face. It really lifted her spirits to see him active, even if it was maybe a bit premature.

"I think you're faster with the three legs than you were with the two." Tess teased him playful and a smirk even worked its way onto Lori's face.

"You best be careful." Hershel stopped and waved one of the crutches in her direction. "These things have some range." They all laughed and Tess stepped back, as though in fear, allowing the others to walk ahead of her.

Tess looked on tenderly as Hershel continued walking further away from the prison and waved to Maggie, T-Dog and Carol as she spotted them at the end of the courtyard. They were busy cleaning up the mess they had made yesterday, piling up bodies and taking any body armor that might be useful. She didn't see the others with them and as nervous as she was to see Daryl, not being able to see him, made her more nervous.

Past the yard and beyond the fence, she spotted him, Glenn and Rick ducking back into the run through the wire mesh. They all appeared to stop at the sight of Hershel and Tess chuckled to herself as she heard Glenn holler at them in excitement. Even from her, she could see how relieved they all felt, Rick in particular.

"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl quipped playfully, joining in on the excitement. Hershel was short on breath now and clearly tired but he was a good sport nonetheless.

"Give me another day. I'll take you on." He asserted and Carl giggled happily.

In that brief moment, all was right in the world.

And then it all came crashing down.

A slow, low, menacing rumble turned into rabid growls and hungry groans and before Tess could even turn to face the sound, she knew from the men's panicked cries that they were in danger. Dozens of walkers were making their way directly towards them and Tess immediately drew her gun. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing and her blood ran cold at the sight in front of her.

"Lori, Carl, get out of here!" She shouted at them, trying to push them aside. "Beth! Get your dad and go!"

With calm precision, Tess shot as many walkers down as she could but they kept coming in waves. The floodgate had been opened and there would be no stopping them unless they managed to close it again. Lori was taking a defiant stance and doing her best to help but Rick's frantic screams told Tess that she needed to get his wife and child out of there, now.

"Maggie! Take Lori and Carl and get them inside!" She yelled to her friend over the gunfire and Maggie thankfully obeyed. Beth had dragged her father out of the fray and the two of them were watching on in fear from the safety of one of the fenced stairwells.

"T, the gate's open!" Tess called out behind her as she stuck close to Maggie, Lori and Carl as they got to safety.

"On it!" T-Dog shouted back at her and pressed on.

Lori cradled her belly in fear as she ushered her son into the opposite, fenced stairwell and Maggie rushed in after them. Tess slammed the door closed behind them and Maggie shook her head at her in fear.

"What are you doing?!"

"Get somewhere safe. Watch out for Lori."

"Don't be stupid!" Maggie cried, trying to push the door back open again and pull her through but Tess wouldn't let it budge.

"Maggie! Go!" Tess yelled at her and Carl eventually came over to pull her away.

Tess turned away and reeled to the side just as a walker came down over her shoulder. With a shove, she pushed it away and fired a single shot into the back of its head, its brains splattering the concrete. She didn't have very many bullets left but she made them count and swapped to her machete when she finally ran out. It was like the first night at the quarry all over again. Tess slashed her way through the mass of walkers, trying to get to the gate to help T-Dog. Carol was off to the side, attempting to find them a way out, or rather in, and Tess could see a walker zeroing in on T-Dog.

"T!" She tried to shout but it came out muffled as she was forced to fend off another armored walker with a face shield helmet. Tess slammed her machete into its neck but it did nothing to slow it down. With a violent jerk, she ripped it out again and ferociously swung one more time until she nearly cleaved its head clean off. The walker flopped to the ground and Tess spared no time sending her machete careening through the air and into the base of the walker's skull that had just begun grabbing at T-Dog. He jumped in fright at the near miss and gaped at her in terror.

"Close the gate!" Tess screamed as she ran towards him, her knife now in hand. It was enough to shake him out of his stupor and he finished pulling the gate closed. It was much harder taking the walkers down with just her knife but Tess was determined to get them all to safety. When she finally reached T-Dog, she helped to latch the gate as he held it closed. Once it was secure, T-Dog scooped up her machete and they raced back to Carol and inside as walkers slammed at the door behind them.

"Holy shit. You saved my ass, man. Big time." T-Dog panted as they all stopped to catch their breath for a second. Tess couldn't bring herself to be excited about it just yet.

"Don't thank me yet. Where are we?" She asked them both, not recognizing the hallway they were in.

"I don't know." Carol murmured uncertainly, hoping she hadn't just let them into more danger.

"Carol, are you out of bullets?" Asked Tess, nodding at the gun which hung limply in her hand. Carol nervously fumbled with the barrel of the revolver and nodded when she found it empty.

"I'm out too." T-Dog added and Tess nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Take this." Tess handed Carol her knife and stooped to pull out the small blade she kept in her boot, for herself.

"We stick together and we'll get through this." Tess assured them both but couldn't deny that she felt anxious. She had tried to catch a glimpse of Daryl, Rick and Glenn before darting inside but it was far too chaotic for her to see beyond the walkers. She just had to tell herself that they would be okay.

"Let's get moving, we should get back to Cell Block C."

"Shouldn't we help the others?" Carol questioned her.

"We don't know where the others are and we can't risk going back out there now. The best thing we can do is get back to the cells. It's where everyone else would go too."

Convinced, Carol started walking down the dimly lit corridor and Tess stayed just behind her, T-Dog taking up the rear. With just her knife, Tess felt far too vulnerable for her liking but she tried to remain strong and focused for all their sakes. There was no telling what else or who else was in these halls with them. That gate didn't open up on its own and Tess had a terrible feeling that she knew who exactly had sabotaged them like that. Someone whom she was told was as good as dead.

Suddenly, a horrendous, piercing alarm rang through the walls of the prison and Tess flinched, bringing her hands up to cover her ears.

"What the hell is that?!" Shouted T-Dog over the noise. Tess didn't have an answer for him but her new worry was how much of a frenzy this sound would send the walkers into. If they weren't in danger before, they certainly were now.

Tess gestured for them to keep moving, now even more on edge. The alarm still screamed overhead as they passed a sign which pointed them in two directions. One way, towards the Laundry Room and Bathrooms and the other, towards Cell Block E. It wasn't a reassuring sight but they decided to turn right towards the Laundry.

In all the confusion from the alarm, Carol was now a few more paces ahead than Tess and T-Dog. Just as she passed by the door to the men's showers, the screeching alarm finally stopped and they all stilled.

"It's stopped…" Carol commented softly.

"What the hell was all that about, you reckon?" T-Dog asked curiously and Carol shrugged. Tess' ears were still ringing and she completely missed the sound coming from the other side of the washroom door until it was too late.

Without any warning, the door slammed, separating her and T-Dog from Carol and four or five walkers toppled into the hallway. Tess stumbled back in an effort to remove herself from their reach and T-Dog quickly pulled her away. Petrified, Carol froze.

"Carol, run!" Tess shouted in terror and the older woman finally fled.

T-Dog and Tess ran back the way they came, towards Cell Block E, and followed the sign pointing straight ahead. They'd never ventured this deep into the prison before and there was no telling what they would find. T-Dog went round the corner towards Cell Block E, opposite to a set of stairs, and was met head on with a hallway full of walkers. They snarled, ravenous and emaciated and Tess spun on her heel, heading back for the stairs.

"T! Come on!" She shouted for him and he ran up the stairs behind her.

At the top of the stairs, there was a metal gate. Tess had to ram her shoulder into it a couple times to get it to budge but they finally pushed their way through and T-Dog slammed the gate closed. It was nearly pitch black on this upper level and Tess slowly crept backwards, keeping a watchful eye on the walkers that were climbing the stairs and hoping the gate would hold. They pressed their bodies into the metal and reached out through the gaps, pawing at the air in an effort to grab flesh but the gate held firm.

Tess hadn't even managed to catch her breath when she felt the floor begin to shift and crumble beneath her, the fragile concrete and tile giving way under her. She tried to dart forward but ended up slipping on the collapsing floor and falling into the now gaping hole. She clambered to grab something, anything, but her fingers were unable to grasp anything. Tess thought she would surely fall through but then she felt T-Dog grasp her wrist. Her shoulder yanked sharply as she swung, suspended and she cried out in pain.

"I got you." T-Dog assured her with a groan, trying to maintain a firm grip on her one hand as he held onto a crack in the floor to anchor himself with the other. Tess was too much in shock for her to even plead with him to help her up and she focused mainly on trying to bring her other hand up to hold something.

As she struggled, she thought she saw a faint figure crawling towards them. Tess strained to see through the darkness and sure enough, the figure became clearer as it drew closer. From the corner of the corridor, hidden in the shadows, the upper half of a walker dragged itself over to them desperately.

"Behind you!" Tess warned T-Dog, trying with all her might to pull herself up. T-Dog spotted the walker behind him and frantically tried hauling Tess out of the hole with his one arm but it wasn't enough.

"Let me go." Tess told him, seeing no other option.

"No way." T-Dog shook his head and let go of the floor, reaching down to grasp her other hand. Tess didn't want to fall, she couldn't see below her and didn't know if she'd survive whatever was beneath her but T-Dog was also in immediate danger.

"Let me go." She reiterated to him, trying to sound confident but it wasn't fooling either of them.

"You saved me." T-Dog told her defiantly, "It's my turn to save you."

As the half-bodied walker clawed at T-Dog's lower leg, he gripped Tess' arm with both hands and heaved until she could pull herself up onto the floor. T-Dog cried out in pain as the walker sunk its teeth into his back and Tess scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could. With one fierce kick, Tess booted the walker away and stomped on its head until its skull cracked and its blood smeared her shoe.

T-Dog had dragged himself up against the wall all while trying to stem the flow of blood that was gushing from his back. Tess' racing heart seemed to stop altogether as her chest constricted. She faced her friend and he gave her a morose look that matched her own. There was nothing that could be done for him with a wound like that; not where it was. Tess wanted to be angry with him. She wanted to berate him for putting himself in danger like he did. It would be so much easier.

"T…" Her voice cracked as she spoke.

"Don't go there. This was my choice." He cautioned her in reply, his breathing labored. Tess watched him as he gave up on his fruitless endeavor of stemming the bleeding and slumped to the side.

"Just promise me you won't let me become one of those freaks." Tess dropped to her knees in front of him and nodded. She felt like she was caught in a torturous loop; doomed to repeat this same cycle.

"Of course." She assured him, "I'm not going anywhere."

They sat quietly, somberly, waiting. The occasional groan and snarl from the walkers beyond the gate was the only sound that interrupted their silence. Tess kept a wary eye on them but stayed sitting with T-Dog. He was beginning to look pale and his eyes were starting to droop and occasionally his head would drop, as though he hadn't the strength to keep it up.

"You gots'ta find Carol and get back to the others." T-Dog's speech was slurred and slow. Tess placed a comforting hand on his as she tried to still her trembling fingers.

"I will. But I'm not leaving you behind either." She told him, hoping he'd find some sort of comfort in that. T-Dog nodded slowly but appreciatively,

In the dark, Tess comforted T-Dog as best she could. He didn't have long left, they both knew that. The infection wasn't what was taking him down, it was the amount of blood he was losing and how quickly he was losing it. His grip on her hand grew weaker and weaker and Tess could feel her eyes beginning to sting with tears. Slowly, T-Dog's hand slipped out of hers and he slid along the wall, onto his side.

—

The following few minutes were a paralyzed blur. Tess felt around in the dark for her knife but ended up finding her machete. She had promised him that she wouldn't let him turn but the thought of what needed to be done, petrified her. T-Dog didn't deserve this and the constant failure and loss had Tess feeling depressed. However, she was determined to see it through. She wasn't going to let another friend down. Tearfully, Tess fulfilled her promise.

Tess' numb anxiety very quickly turned into arrant rage. With blind fury, she waged an assault on the walkers in the stairwell until they were a motionless heap on the floor. She wanted to scream. To cry and yell and hurt and make things hurt just like she was. Yet, she didn't.

Tess owed it to T-Dog to be sensible and get back alive and she still needed to find Carol. That was her new objective. Find Carol and then return for T-Dog so that they could give him the burial he deserved. Motivated by her new goal, Tess secured the gate at the top of the stairwell again, giving her friend one last look before continuing down the stairs.

With one hand on the wall to guide her, Tess retraced her steps back to where they had been separated from Carol. The hallways were empty but the prison felt haunted and Tess did her best to keep her wits about her in the dark. As Tess passed the washroom door, she started noticing a steady trail of dead bodies with puncture wounds to the head.

She followed them as they veered away from the laundry room until she spotted her knife planted in the skull of a large body that had collapsed against a utility closet door. Nervously, Tess removed the knife and looked around for any sign of Carol. She had to be okay. Tess didn't think she could live with herself if both Carol and T-Dog had met the same fate.

"Carol?" Tess shouted in a whisper. She was met with silence but then she heard a dull thud. And then another. And another. The monotonous drum came from beyond the closet door. Tess grabbed the ankles of the dead walker and dragged it away.

"Carol?" She asked again, louder and she heard scuffling on the other side of the door.

"Tess? I'm in here!" Frantically, Carol began pushing against the jammed door and together they pried it open. With an overwhelming surge of relief, they embraced one another tightly. Tess thought she heard Carol sob but she had to force herself to pull away even when all she wanted to do was console her.

"Carol, you need to get back to Cell Block C. Go back the way we came if you need to but you need to get out of here; get somewhere safe."

"What about you?" Carol shook her head, "What about T-Dog?" Tess bit the inside of her cheek as she finally had to admit out loud what had happened.

"T-Dog got bit. He's gone. But I can't leave him back there."

"Oh my god…" Carol trembled in shock.

"Take this." Tess handed her the machete and kept the knife, "Find the others."

"I can come with you." Suggested Carol but Tess shook her head profusely.

"No. I can't ask you to stay out here any longer, it's too risky. I won't lose you both."

Carol looked hesitant at the idea of going off on her own again and understandably so. It was dangerous either way. In Tess' mind though, the less time Carol spent in the caverns of the prison, the better and getting back to the door to the courtyard shouldn't take her too long.

"Carol, you are so much braver than you know. You're not weak. Be smart, be silent and you will get out of here."

With a final, determined hug, they parted ways.

—

Carol heeded the advice given to her and quickly and quietly made her way back in the direction of the door she'd led them through just hours earlier. She was exhausted and worn thin, running solely on fumes and sheer willpower. Tess' encouragement had emboldened her and even though she was afraid, she refused to let it stop her.

All the hallways looked the same in the dark and Carol was starting to think that she may have gotten herself lost. She tried to recall any significant points of interest but in the earlier chaos, her last concern had been to take notice of the nuances of her surroundings. The only thing she could do was trust her gut and hope it got her to safety.

As Carol neared the end of the hallway, she started to hear the very faint patter of feet. She had to stop and strain to hear it clearly but it was definitely the sound of someone or something approaching. Carol steeled herself and held the machete at the ready, preparing herself for a head on contest with a walker. But it wasn't a walker. It was Daryl.

At the sight of her, he dropped his bow to his side and raced to engulf her in a hug that she voraciously welcomed. It felt like an incredible weight had been lifted, knowing now that not only was he okay but she wasn't alone. He held her out at arm's length to examine her and then once he was satisfied, began looking over her shoulder searchingly. Carol knew what it was he was looking for.

"She's okay. She's gone back for T-Dog. He didn't make it." Daryl frowned, worriedly.

"Where?"

"Towards Cell Block E, I think." She replied, expecting him to head off in that direction immediately. Daryl looked conflicted, like he wanted to but couldn't.

"Let's get you out of here." He told her and he led her back out of the hallways and to the courtyard before heading back in on his own.

—

Tess had made it back to the stairwell opposite Cell Block E with only a couple of run ins with walkers. She edged around the bodies on the stairs until she reached the gate at the top and peered through the bars. Her eyes were pretty well adjusted to the dark at this point but the view in front of her looked nothing short of a black void. She couldn't spot T-Dog's body anymore. At first she thought maybe her attempt to stop him from turning had been unsuccessful but then she heard the sound of tile and concrete crumbling and hitting the floor below. Right then, she knew that T-Dog was gone for good.

Feeling like a failure, she staggered back down the steps, perching at the very bottom with her head in her hands. She had told him she wouldn't leave him behind and now she couldn't even do that for him. The guilt ate away at her as she began to blame herself for every terrible thing that had happened in the past couple of hours. Had she been stronger, faster, more vigilant, maybe then he'd still be alive. It was heartbreaking and demoralizing to constantly lose people. They were always in threat of danger and on the cusp of their demise. Their life felt like war and there were far too many casualties.

Tess couldn't bring herself to move from the bottom step. She thought about trying to find where T-Dog's body had likely fallen to but she knew that would be dangerous. Even though she badly wanted to give him a proper burial, it was nonsensical to think she could do it on her own now. Perhaps even with the help of the others it would be futile. The others… The thought of not knowing what had come of Daryl or anyone else made her finally leave the stairwell.

She backtracked the same way Carol had gone, following the same dimly lit hallway. She felt reassured by the fact that she didn't come across any dead (or alive) walkers and hoped that she had made the right decision in sending Carol back on her own. Tess was approaching the T-junction where the hallways split off towards the Laundry Room, Cell Block E and back to the courtyard. She froze when she saw she wasn't alone but the sudden fear that she felt quickly disappeared when she saw who it was.

"Daryl?" She breathed, feeling all the anxiety and fear wash away from her at the sight of him. The sound of her voice made him drop his crossbow and he rushed over to crush her in a swooping hug that took her feet off the ground. She clung to him like her life depended on it, burying her face into his shoulder and breathing him in like he was her only source of oxygen. The tips of her toes brushed the ground as he slowly lowered her again but he didn't let go. Not yet. Tess didn't mind; not one bit. Here, in his arms, she blurred into him and it felt safe.

Gently, almost bashfully, they pulled away from one another. Tess could have quite happily stayed in his arms for longer had she known that he felt similarly but the lingering hug was beginning to feel more like desperation and less like relief. She stepped back ever so slightly but selfishly didn't care if he wanted space and he thankfully didn't move any further away.

"I'm glad you're okay." Tess spoke in a hushed whisper as though anyone else could hear.

"Me too." Daryl agreed, unable to deny the fear he had felt while searching for her.

"Did you see Carol?" She asked, hoping they had managed to cross paths and Daryl nodded in affirmation.

"She told me about T-Dog…" He spoke hesitantly, "I'm sorry."

Tess hung her head in shame, unable to look Daryl in the eye in fear of seeing his disappointment and pity.

"It's not your fault." He assured her, placing his hand tenderly against the side of her neck, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw. Tess unwittingly leant into it.

"I know…" She whispered unconvincingly. She told him to drop her and he didn't. It was his decision and she knew that. But she still felt guilty about it.

"I wanted to- I told him I'd bring him back but I can't. He's gone."

For the second time in the space of a few minutes, Daryl hugged her and she cried silently into chest.

"How can we keep doing this?" She whispered, more to herself than to Daryl. "We keep losing people. I can't keep losing people."

Daryl's heart ached in a way he hadn't experienced before. He thought about the newborn in Cell Block C and he knew he had to tell Tess about what had happened to Lori.

"I need to tell you something." He muttered reluctantly, pulling away from her as he did so. Tess stared up at him with glassy, tired looking eyes and he began to second guess himself. There was no use postponing the inevitable though, she'd notice the change as soon as they returned to the cells.

"Lori didn't make it…" He began and her bottom lip trembled.

"What happened?"

"She had the baby. Maggie said it wasn't good." Daryl shook his head somberly, recalling what Maggie had told them and how painful the news had been for Rick.

"Oh God… Carl and Rick…"

"We should get back, Rick's gone AWOL." The sobering news made Tess nod determinedly and together, they left the prison hallways for good.