Hapoy New Year! Back again for more? The return of Callie Grimes. Poor Hershel last chapter getting his leg amputated. Fair play to the man.
Disclaimer I don't own The Walking Dead just my ocs and plotlines.
Callie's POV
They were pushing Hershel through the dark corridors when they run into a walker.
"Back, back!" Callie urges and they move away at the snarling walker coming towards them.
"Daryl!" Rick urges and Daryl comes forward, sliding past them and fired his crossbow, killing it instantly.
"Come on! Go, go!" Daryl instructs as they wheel past. The squeaks of the wheels were giving her anxiety, bringing a realisation that they have a life in their hands.
It felt like a maze, weaving in and out between corridors. They had to guess which way a few times due to the lack of arrows thanks to the walkers they run into, but luckily, Glenn mapped it out in his head.
"This way." He points and they turn a corner.
"Stop! Stop!" Rick whispers harshly and they come to a stop.
She was about to ask what it was and hears a noise, she looks back and sees the shadows of the prisoners following them. Shit.
"Follow the flashlight!"
"Go, go, go, go!" Rick urges and they began navigating the tunnels a bit quicker. They could be coming to kill them for their weapons. They had no idea what they were capable of or what they were in here before the world went to shit.
Daryl quickly unlocks the door and they made it to the common area, the light blinding her as they did.
"He's losing too much blood." Maggie notes.
"Open the door! It's Hershel!" Rick calls out. "Carl, come on!"
Carl opens the door.
"Oh my god." Carol gasps at the sight of the old man.
"Go, go, go." Rick urges.
Callie lets them go through and wipes her bloody hands on her jeans. She takes out her gun and waits, alongside Daryl. They were not allowing them to get to their people.
Tabby's POV
She ran to the group as they wheeled in a one-legged Hershel. Oh shit. She saw Connor guiding Maya away from the scene. Richie grabbing Daisy as well. They didn't need to see this.
"In there." Rick commands, turning the table with the unconscious Hershel.
"Turn it, turn it." Glenn manages the situation and the two Greene girls, Noa and Maggie, follow the boys orders, trying to not get in the way but still keeping a hold of the cloth to stop the bleeding.
"Get him on the bed." She urges and Rick and Glenn hoist him up with gritted teeth and place him on the bed.
She looks at Rick expectedly. What the fuck happened? "He got bit." He answers her and her eyes widen. Oh no.
Beth gasps. "Oh my god, he's gonna turn."
Lori looks at Rick's bloody hands and bloody axe. "Did you cut it off?" Rick nods his head. "Maybe you got it in time."
She was hoping they did.
"I need bandages!" Tabby orders as she tries to keep pressure on the wound, taking over from Maggie. Blood immediately seeping into her hands. The cloth was more liquid than being fabric, she could probably wring out nearly a pint of blood.
"We used everything we had!" Glenn retorts.
"Well, get more! Anything!" Carol barks back.
She was more focused on Hershel, she needed him to be okay. She couldn't do this alone.
Lori looks at her son, who was wide eyed looking at the scene in front of him. "Carl, go get the towels from the bag, right next to my bed."
Carl runs off immediately, his footsteps clanging on the metal steps.
Tabby's hands were already covered in blood, blood was seeping through what looks like a flannel. She takes note of a vest covered Jeremy.
"Is he gonna die?" Beth cries, and Lori shakes her head.
"No, no, no, he's gonna be okay." She assures and holds her in her arms to comfort her.
"You think you can stabilise him?" Rick asks her.
She nods. "I need to keep his leg elevated." She recites, remembering back the books she read and learned in case for her career. Now, she has been thrown into it since the start of this thing. "Get me some pillows."
"He's already bled through the sheets." Maggie states, horrified at looking at her father in this state.
"We can burn the wound to clot the blood. I can start a fire." Glenn suggests but she shakes her head.
"No." She states.
"The shock can kill him." Carol adds on.
She took a little peek at the wound. "It's not gonna stop the arteries from bleeding. We need to keep it dressed and let it heal on its own."
Lori checks his pulse and nods her head. He's still alive.
That's when she notices an absence in the room.
"Where's Callie?"
Callie's POV
She aims her gun at the door to the tunnels, Daryl aiming his crossbow. They will die here if necessary to protect the group.
Thats when the prisoners creep out slowly, the men blinking at the sudden light hitting them.
"That's far enough." She orders and they actually listen, looking between her and Daryl nervously.
The prisoner who had the gun points at their cell block. "Cell block c. Cell four, that's mine, gringo. Let me in."
"Today's your lucky day, fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia, you're free to go." Daryl snarls. The joke was to lighten the mood, but in other words, fuck off.
"What you got going on in there?" The man with the gun asks, tilting his head curiously at the gate, hearing the shouting.
"Ain't none of your concern." Daryl states. His patience was wearing thin.
That's when he pulls the gun out of his pocket, "don't be telling me what's my concern." He retorts getting cocky.
She holds her gun firmly, taking the safety off and her finger is on the side of the barrel ready to shoot. "It's none of your damn business."
The tallest prisoner looks between them uneasy but looks at his friend. "Chill, man. Dude's leg is messed up. Besides, we're free now! Why are we still in here?"
"Man's got a point." Daryl snarls.
Another man nods in agreement, one who has been silent the entire time. "Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady."
What?
There was no way in hell they have been in there that entire time.
The man with the gun speaks again. "Group of civilians breaking into a prison you've got no business being in, got me thinking there ain't no place for us to go!"
"Why don't you go find out?" She challenges darkly.
The man clenches his jaw.
The second tallest man, his hands crossed nervously. "Maybe we'll just be going then."
The man snarls at his friend. "Hey, we ain't leaving!" He argues.
That's when T-Dog steps in with his gun cocked. "You ain't coming here either."
The man was getting more and more agitated by them not backing down. They don't care he's a prisoner, they will kill him if they have to. "Hey! This is my house, my rules, I go where I damn well please!"
"Well you ain't coming in." She threatens.
"Listen here bitch-" he steps forward.
Daryl stands at that point. "There ain't nothing for you here, why don't you go back to your own sandbox?"
Rick quickly interrupts. "Hey, hey, hey. Everyone relax, there's no need for this." She looks back and sees Jeremy following after him, he gives her a look and she nods. She's okay.
The man with the gun, she guessed was the leader. "How many of you in there?" She could see the wariness on the man's face.
"Too many for you to handle." Rick retorts, glaring at the man.
The leader looks at him confused. "You guys rob a bank or something? Why don't you take him to a hospital?"
The silence that followed was deafening. They must have been in there for a long ass time. There was no way, but the truth was right in front of her. These prisoners have survived together in there, while the rest of them have been fighting for their lives.
"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asks them, mainly the leader.
The man looks taken aback before shrugging off the questions. "Going on like ten months."
Her and Daryl share a look. Since the beginning.
"A riot broke out, never seen anything like it." The tallest mutters.
"Attica on speed man."
The smallest man of the group looks at them then. "Ever heard of dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy."
Rick shares a look with her. They haven't seen the dead.
The leader was looking at them carefully, he knew they were hiding something. "One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria, told us to sit tight, threw me this piece..." He gestures to the gun. "... said he'd be right back."
"And that was 292 days ago." The tallest adds on.
"94 according to my -
"Shut up!" The leader snaps angrily at him.
The man goes quiet, his arms wrapping closely around him, if that was even possible.
She couldn't believe it, they have been there this entire time. Stuck in that room.
It went silent for a moment before the tallest one breaks the awkwardness. "We were thinking that the army or the national guard should be showing up any day now."
She looks over at Rick who nods at her.
"There's no army." She voices and all the prisoners' eyes fall on her.
The leader narrows his eyes, distrusting. "What do you mean?"
"There's no government..." he pauses and they all look at her brother. "... no hospitals, no police. It's all gone."
Their eyes fall to the fall, disbelief on their faces.
"For real?" The nervous one asks.
"Serious." She answers immediately and they all look like they needed to sit down, and in that moment, she felt sorry for them.
"What about my moms?" The tallest one asks, upset.
The second tallest shakes his head. "My kids, my old lady! Yo, you got a cell-phone or something so we can call our families?"
Daryl gives him a look. "You just don't get it, do you?"
The denial was settling in. She could see that. They didn't want to accept that their families are gone. The group went silent.
"No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population's been wiped out. Probably more." Rick explains and she could see some of them were upset.
Except the leader. "Ain't no way."
"See for yourself." She challenges and he nearly snarls but one look from Rick had him back off. Rick was not the same man who they found in Atlanta. That she met that day in the Quarry. He was no longer the friendly, trusting man. He sees a threat to them, and he's willing to take them out. And she wasn't the same girl fighting to allow the group to learn how to shoot. Now they both were leaders, with blood on their hands, to bare the burden so the group doesn't have to.
They walk out to the courtyard, the bodies of the walkers littered the floor.
"Damn, the sun feels good." The quietest one groans, stretching his arms out.
The nervous one looks shocked at the dead. "Good lord, they're all dead."
She notices the leader smile. "Never thought I'd be so happy to see these fences."
The smallest man looks at them. "You never said. How the hell did you get in here in the first place?"
Daryl points over to the far side of the prison, across the field. "Cut a hole in that fence over there by the guard tower."
"That easy, huh?"
Daryl shrugs. "Where there's a will, there's a way."
"Easy for you to say." The man mutters in annoyance.
Before the world went to shit, they probably made up great escape plans to cope with being locked away.
The tallest man pokes one of the dead bodies. "So what is this like a disease?" He turns to all of them, curiosity in his eyes but the linger of disgust was there.
"Yeah, but we're all infected." Rick answers which gained the other prisoners attention.
"What do you mean infected? Like AIDS or something?" The nervous one asks, looking more and more uncomfortable.
She almost rolls her eyes at the underlying homophobia.
"If I was to kill you, shoot an arrow in your chest, you come back as one of these things." Daryl explains, gesturing to the dead bodies littering the floor. "It's gonna happen to all of us."
The leader scoffs. "Ain't no way this Robin Hood cast's responsible for killing all these freaks."
"Must be fifty bodies out here." His lackey adds on.
The leader looks at Rick. "Where do you come from?"
"Atlanta."
"Where you headed?" He asks again.
"Nowhere." She answers and she could see the annoyance on his face. Oh great, he was a misogynistic dick.
Rick was staring him down.
Which did make the leader uncomfortable at the scrutiny of his gaze.
"I guess you could take that area down there near the water. Should be comfortable."
"We're using that field for crops." Rick states bluntly.
"We'll help you move your gear out." The leader suggests, not taking Rick seriously.
She could see Rick's jaw clench. "That won't be necessary. We took out these walkers, this prison is ours."
The leader lets out a dark chuckle. "Slow down, cowboy."
"You snatched the locks off our doors." The small one points out.
She looks at him darkly. "We'll give you new locks, if that's how you want it."
The hidden meaning behind it was to lock them in different cells altogether.
"This is our prison. We were here first." The leader proudly points out, grinning at his comment.
"Locked in the broom closet?" Rick scoffs a laugh. "We took it, set you free, it's ours, we spilled blood."
The leader had a dark look on his face, and she looked at the rest of the group, the other men were looking between them, wondering who would back down first.
"We're moving back into our cell block."
"You'll have to get your own." Rick snarls at the leader.
The leader looks pissed off. "It is mine. I've still got personal artifacts in there, that's about as mine as it gets!" He whips out his gun.
Both her and Daryl pull out their weapons on him. Her gun was aimed at his head, and she stood there unwavering as he glowered at her.
"It ain't yours anymore." She hisses at him.
"If you don't shut up, I'll make you mine." He threatens and her finger was ghosting near the trigger.
Rick steps forward and that's when the other prisoners cut in.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, maybe let's try to make this work out so everybody wins." The nervous one finally stood tall, he was looking wary at the leader, untrusting.
"I don't see that happening." The leader states.
"Neither do I." Rick snarls.
She could make the decision easier by killing the leader right now, but she's waiting for Rick's signal. She saw Jeremy with his gun out as well, his gun aimed at the leader and his jaw clenched. Jeremy was a silent and patient man. He kept his thoughts to himself when necessary, but if people crossed him, well, she didn't want to find out what happens.
"I ain't going back into that cafeteria for one minute."
The man who finally gave a solution was the nervous one. "There are other cell blocks."
"You could leave." Daryl suggests. "Try your luck out on the road."
The leader lowers his gun. "If these four pussies and the bitch can do all this." He gestures to the bodies and she narrows her eyes. "The least we could do is take out another cell block."
The tallest man frowns. "With what?"
The leader smirks at Rick. "Atlanta here will spot us some real weapons. Won't you boss?"
Rick was quiet for a moment, considering the option. "How stocked is that cafeteria? Must have been plenty of food, five guys lasting almost a year."
"It sure as hell don't look like anybody's been starving." Daryl points out.
The leader looks uneasy. "There's only a little left."
Now that's one thing she's good at is reading people, and he just lied to them.
"We'll take half. In exchange, we'll help clear out a cell block." Rick states confidently.
"Didn't you hear him? There's only a little left." His small lackey supports him.
Rick just stares at the leader. "Bet you got more food than you've got choices. You pay, we'll play. We'll clear out a cell block for you, then you keep to it."
The leader stares at him, trying to read Rick. "Alright."
"Well, let's be clear. If we see you out here, anywhere near our people, if I so much as catch a whiff of your scent, I will kill you." Rick steps so close to the leader that he even looked uncomfortable.
The leader was reading him and could tell he was telling the truth.
"Deal."