More days pass and we keep trying to make the prison into a home. We search more of the tombs and find the armory, although it's picked clean. I'm tempted to go back and check on Oscar and Axel, but I know I won't be able to convince Daryl to come with me again. I stirred the pot enough and I don't need more people getting upset with me.

I join Rick, Daryl, Carol, and T-Dog one sunny morning as we bring the vehicles in from where we parked them in the front gated area. It involves moving the bus blocking the second gate, but the Silverado and a tow hook, plus the truck, make surprisingly easy work of it.

"Okay, let's get the other car in," Rick says, pointing to the Tuscon as Carol backs the truck up. "We'll park 'em in the west entry of the yard."

"Good," Daryl says, throwing the chain down. "Our vehicles camped out there look like a giant vacancy sign."

"After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn them," Rick says. There are still walker bodies all over the yard.

"Gonna be a long day," T-Dog says.

"Where's Glenn and Maggie?" Carol asks. "We could use some help."

"Up in the guard tower," Daryl says, pointing to the one nearest to the inner courtyard.

"Guard tower?" Rick repeats. "They were just up there last night."

Daryl steps forward a bit, cupping one hand around his mouth. "Glenn!" he shouts. "Maggie!"

I see shadows moving in the tower's slightly tinted windows, then the door clicks and swings open. Glenn appears, shirtless, fumbling with the buckle on his pants.

"H-Hey!" he calls. "What's up, guys?"

I press my hand to my mouth, stifling a laugh. Rick, Carol, and T-Dog laugh more openly.

Daryl puts his hands on his hips, a tiny smile lifting his lips. "You coming?" he asks.

"What?" Glenn asks.

I snort into my palm. Carol giggles harder.

"You coming?" Daryl repeats, more forceful. Glenn looks back into the tower at Maggie's silhouette. "Come on, we could use a hand!"

"Yeah, w-we'll be right down!" he calls, raising one finger. I see Maggie appear on the balcony briefly before they both disappear back inside.

I nudge Daryl as we start towards the last vehicle, still giggling to myself. "Guard tower...didn't think of that, did we?"

"Shush," he mutters. I steal a kiss on his shoulder.

"Hey, Rick!" T-Dog calls.

We all turn around and T-Dog points back towards the prison. Axel and Oscar walk towards the field and Rick's eyes narrow immediately. Oscar's wearing the grey t-shirt I picked out, and he's tied the sleeves of his jumpsuit around his waist. Axel looks unchanged for the most part.

"Come with me," Rick says, breaking into a jog.

T-Dog, Daryl, Carol, and I follow after him. Axel and Oscar keep walking towards us.

"That's close enough," Rick says before they've gotten two feet into the yard. "We had an agreement."

"Please, mister. We know that," Axel says. Glenn and Maggie emerge from the guard tower behind them. "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 asks.

"Should be burning them," T-Dog adds.

"We tried," Axel insists. "We did."

"The fence is down on the far side of the prison," Oscar says. "Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. We end up dropping the body and just running back inside."

"Look, we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew," Axel pleads, coming a few steps closer to Rick, and Rick's hand falls to his gun. "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."

"Our deal is non-negotiable," Rick retorts. "You either live in your cell block, or you leave."

Axel sighs, his shoulders sagging.

"I told you this was a waste of time," Oscar says. He fastens his stare on Rick. "They ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. You know how many friends' corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw 'em out, like—" He pauses, lips pursing. "These were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, 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 would rather hit that road than to go back into that shithole."

Rick looks back at Daryl and Daryl gives a barely perceptible shake of his head. Rick nods.

"Alright, then," he says. "We'll let you out."

"Move," Daryl says, ushering them towards the gate.

"Wait!" I call, even as they start moving. "Rick, Daryl, can we talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Rick retorts, giving me a sharp look. Daryl and the prisoners keep walking. "They've made their choice."

"Now, hold on," T-Dog cuts in, stepping to my side. "I wanna hear what she has to say. Maybe...we should let them join."

Daryl's reached the fence, letting Oscar and Axel into the gated area before locking it behind them with a padlock and chain. Axel grips the fence, staring at him, at all of us like a dog in the pound.

Rick looks between the two of us, then jerks his head to the side. We gather behind the bus, out of sight of the prisoners, as Daryl returns.

"Are you serious?" he asks. He's mostly looking at T-Dog, but it darts to me now and again. "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 says. He makes a "come on" gesture, a brief sweep of his muscled arm. "Bring them into the fold. If we send 'em off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves."

"I don't know. Axel seems a little unstable," Glenn says.

"After all we've been through?" Carol asks. "We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it?"

"They were here first," I say. Carol frowns at me and I hold my hands up a little. "I'm not saying give it to them, just that we owe them the chance to prove themselves."

"It's just been us for so long," Maggie says. "They're strangers. I don't—it feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around."

"You brought us in," T-Dog retorts.

"Yeah, but you turned up with Hope, shot. Didn't give us a choice."

"They can't even kill walkers," Glenn says.

"So we teach them," I offer. "Anyone can learn. I learned! I didn't even know a bite could kill you until we were halfway to the quarry camp."

"They're convicts," Carol says. "Bottom line."

"I've talked to them," I admit and, immediately, there are more than a few wide-eyed, stunned looks aimed at me. Rick looks pissed, but I power through the nerves rushing through me. "I brought them some things from the run I went on with Daryl. Oscar didn't even want to take them, 'cause he was worried it'd get me in trouble. I..." I shift a bit, crossing my arms over my chest. "I don't think someone waiting to exploit us would do that. I want to trust them."

"Besides, those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do," T-Dog insists.

"I get guys like this," Daryl pipes up. "Hell, I grew up with them. They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos. I could've been in there with them just as easy as I'm out here with you guys."

"So are you with us?" T-Dog asks, nodding to me as he says it.

"Hell no," Daryl says. "Let 'em take their chances out on the road just like we did."

"What I'm saying, Daryl—" T-Dog starts.

"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid," Rick cuts in. "Nineteen years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial—suckered the jury." His face is dead serious, intense. "He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and then, two weeks later, shot another girl." I swallow, hard, and Rick shakes his head. "We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands."

Rick, Daryl, and Glenn move away from us, ready to continue the day. Carol and Maggie follow soon after and then it's just me and T-Dog.

"I don't like it," I say.

"I'm with you," he replies. "But, hey, they haven't left yet. We could still try to change their minds."

I smile at him. "Alright. Let's do what we can."

He thumps me on the back and we get back to work.

----------

Oscar and Axel wait around while we load bodies into the truck, then pile them in the field. It's long, tiring work, and we start to sweat through our clothes. When the last walker hits the pile, we head back towards the other cars.

"Move the cars to the upper yard," Rick says. "Point 'em facing out. They'll be out of the way but ready to go if we ever need to bail."

Rick slows a bit, falling into step next to me and T-Dog with T in the middle.

"We'll give the prisoners a week's worth of supplies for the road," he says. "Do I even want to know what else you gave them, Hope?"

"Nothing that was already ours, and no food," I say. "Act like I ran an errand for them. We got what we needed."

T-Dog keeps his head high. "You know, they might not last a week."

Rick shrugs. "It's their choice."

"Did they really have one?"

"Hey, hey—" Rick turns, stopping us both as he gets in front of us. "Whose blood would you rather have on your hands? Ours? Or theirs?"

"Neither," T-Dog answers without hesitation.

He nudges me and we move to the truck nearby. I get in the passenger side, he takes driver, and Rick keeps staring after us with his hands on his hips.

"Good answer," I say as he starts the engine.

"It's the truth."

----------

T-Dog directs Carol as she backs the Silverado up, making sure not to hit the Tuscon. Daryl, Glenn, and Rick have gone to get firewood for burning the bodies. I turn as the cell block door opens and Hershel emerges, aided by Lori, Beth, and Carl. He's using the crutches we found and seems steady.

I grin. "Look at you!" I call, jogging over to them. "Well done!"

Hershel smiles. "It feels good to stretch my legs," he says, then after a second, corrects himself and says, "Leg."

I laugh.

"You cleared all these bodies out?" he asks, looking around. "It's starting to look like a place we could really live in."

"Hey, you watch your step," Lori urges gently, still keeping a hand near him. "Last thing we need is you falling."

I hear a cheer from far off, Glenn's voice. "ALRIGHT, HERSHEL!"

I look to the dog run, waving at the three men, and Daryl raises his hand in response.

"You're doing great, daddy," Beth says.

"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl asks.

"Give me another day," Hershel says. "I'll take you on."

Carl laughs.

The day is new, the air is clean and the sun is bright. Hershel's walking again. I think the only thing that would make this day better is if we could bring Oscar and Axel in and know we could trust them beyond a shadow of a doubt. It'll be weird, having new people around, but you can't survive without people nowadays.

"Walkers!" Carl shouts. "Look out!"

I whip around and, sure enough, multiple walkers stumble towards us. Panic fills my throat, choking me. How?! We locked up the courtyard and we cleared the area. There can't be a breach, not now!

Lori and Carl fire off a few rounds and Beth ushers Hershel away. I head for the caged staircase leading back into our cell block just as Maggie runs for it too. I stab a walker that runs at us as Maggie hauls the door open.

"Lori! Here!" she shouts.

Lori and Carl run to us and we duck inside, shutting the door behind us. T-Dog and Carol have left my line of sight, although I still hear gunshots. I follow the others inside, trusting and praying that they'll be fine.

Maggie makes a beeline for the cell block but we've barely reached the doors when a horde of walkers comes from inside.

"No, no, go back! Go back!" Maggie shouts.

There's only one place left to go, into the tunnels, and I usher Lori back towards it. Maggie shuts the door behind us and the walkers throw themselves against the bars. We keep moving. I take up the rear, watching our backs while Maggie and Carl run point.

An alarm starts blaring before we've gone too far, echoing down the halls. Red siren lights flash on and off. I bite back a curse but we keep moving.

We round a corner and Lori stumbles, one hand falling to the wall as she grunts in pain, and I almost run into her.

"Lori?" I ask.

"Can you keep up?" Maggie asks, reaching for her.

"Something's not right," Lori gasps.

"Are you bit?" Carl asks.

She shakes her head. "No, no, no." She turns, back against the wall, sinking a bit. "I...I think the baby's coming."

"Mom?"

Snarls echo down the hall as walkers appear around the corner.

"We have to go back," I say. "Come on, let's go!"

Maggie wraps her arms around Lori, half-hauling her as she helps her walk, and Lori keeps grunting, sucking sharp breaths as labour seizes her. I see shadows on the wall ahead of us and turn, ushering us back again and down a separate hallway.

"In here!" Carl says, throwing open a door and motioning for us to get inside.

Maggie helps Lori down the stairs, near a boiler, and I hold the door shut, heart pounding in my ears. Carl waits by me, although he keeps looking to his mother, eyes wide. I wait, listening, as the growls of walkers get louder and louder, only to fade again as the herd passes by.

I hear Lori cry out in pain. Labour must be progressing quickly and I realize that we have next to no options.

"I have to get my kit," I say, looking towards the others.

"You'll never make it," Maggie insists.

"I have to try," I insist. "This baby's coming now and we aren't moving Lori anymore. I'm fast, and if I can get back to the cell block—"

"I'll go with you," Carl says.

I shake my head. "You have to stay here with your mom, help deliver your sibling if I don't come back." His eyes widen a bit and I grip his shoulder, leaning closer. "Can you do that for me?"

"Hope—" he starts.

"Maggie, if I don't come back—" I repeat, looking at her.

"Don't leave," Maggie says. "It's a suicide run."

"I have to try."

I'm repeating myself, a broken record, my heart in my throat but I don't see another option. I've prepared for this. I gathered supplies knowing that we'd have to do this and now, whether I leave or go, we could end up the same way. Lori's having the baby and this is already shaping up to be the worst case scenario.

Whether I stay or go...

I move to Lori as she grips a set of pipes lining the brick walls, breathing heavily. She looks up at me, pale and sweaty, and my heart breaks for her.

"No matter what, this baby's coming today," I say. "If I stay, and something goes wrong, then..." I shake my head. "If you can hold out for as long as possible, I can get my things. We can make sure you both get out of here."

Lori keeps gazing at me, then she grips my hand. "Do whatever you need to do. I trust you."

There's no time to waste. I back up a bit as she releases my hand and I pull out my knife. I nod to the three of them.

"I'll be back. I promise," I say.

I run up the stairs, take one more deep breath, send one more prayer, and I push out into the hallway.

----------

The alarm won't stop blaring. I don't go back the way I came, searching for white arrows on the wall as I go. If I can loop around and come into the cell block from the other entrance, I could have a chance.

The tunnels are dark and confusing, the alarm wailing in my ears, replacing the sound of my heartbeat.

There's a body on the floor, long dead, and I stoop to slice open its stomach. I dig my hand inside, coating it in blood, then stand and slap my handprint onto the wall before I keep going. Whenever I reach a new hallway, I put my print on the wall, fingers facing the direction I came from.

I hear snarling behind me and when I round another corner, I realize that there are noises from in front of me too. I look down the hall and see two walkers hunched over a body, the smell of blood stinking the air. They haven't noticed me yet.

I move closer, creeping up on them with knife in hand. I left my machete in the cell block, so this'll have to do.

I grab the first walker by the collar and stab it through the top of the head. The other has barely lifted its head, teeth bloody and flesh dripping from its jowls, before I kill it too.

I make the mistake of looking at the body. My blood runs cold.

I turn just as I puke my guts up, but there's so little in my stomach there isn't much of anything that comes out. I spit bile onto the concrete floor, then press my hand to my mouth, gasping for air, stomach heaving, tears in my eyes.

"O-Oh. Oh, god, no—"

T-Dog lays before me, dark eyes staring at the ceiling, mouth hanging open in a ghost of his final scream. His throat is torn out, face mauled, chest ripped open, but I know that gap in his front teeth. It has to be him.

I sob, collapsing to my knees. "Oh, god," I repeat, over and over again. "Oh god, oh god...T-Dog...T, I'm so sorry..."

But, I don't have time to grieve, not when Lori needs me, and I try to stand back up, bracing myself on the wall as my knees tremble. I grip my knife, staring at his face, and I close his eyes, covering him with my palm as I look away. The knife squelches when it goes into his brain and another wave of nausea rolls over me.

I stand, looking at the walker bodies left near me. My stomach churns harder.

----------

A herd stumbles towards me and I stop, leaning against the wall. They move past me, snarling and growling, not giving me a second glance. I pull myself off the wall and keep going, almost in a daze. The walker blood and guts covering my body stink to high heaven but, right now, they're the closest thing I have to a guardian angel.

I push through a set of double doors and there's light ahead, pouring in from a set of barred doors, and I want to cry all over again. I emerge into our cell block, free of walkers, corpses littering the ground.

I grab my kit.

Then, I run.

I run through the halls like I won't ever need to breathe again, following the arrows, then my handprints, going so fast that I almost trip over myself. I faintly realize the alarms aren't going off anymore but my mind is a mess of basic instinct, like the noise never stopped. Run, get back to Lori, don't think about T-Dog, just run. Run. RUN. RUN!

I come around the final corner and run right into Maggie. We yelp, stumbling apart. She's sweaty, arms covered in blood, and there's a bundle in those arms, a tiny...tiny bundle with a head full of hair. Tiny toes. Tiny hands. Tiny little cries.

So...very...tiny.

"Maggie, where's Lori?" I pant.

Her expression crumples. "Hope—"

I shake my head. "No. No. I'm here. I—"

"Hope."

"I'm not too late. I-I made it. I—"

"Hope!" she repeats, voice breaking.

I rush to the boiler room door, throwing it open just as a gunshot rings out. I go stock still, frozen in place as it echoes in the very heart of me.

Carl comes up the stairs, gun in hand, thousand-yard stare. He stops when he sees me, but doesn't meet my eyes.

"No," I whisper, tears rolling down my face. "She...I got..."

My bag hangs from my filthy, bloodstained fingers, but it's too late. Carl brushes past me without a word and I'm still stuck, still gaping.

"We have to go," Maggie croaks. I feel her hand on my arm and I blindly stumble after her.

----------

Outside is too bright.

The baby cries. Maggie sobs softly as we walk. Carl keeps his head down.

I see the others outside. No T-Dog. No Carol.

No Lori.

Oh, god, Lori.

T-Dog.

Carol.

The baby cries harder.

Rick walks towards us, his axe clattering against the concrete.

"Where..." Rick mumbles. "Where is she? Where is she?"

Maggie sobs. Tears roll down my face but it's like I'm numb, like I couldn't move even if I wanted to.

Rick starts towards the cell block and Maggie tries to grab his arm. "No...Rick, no!" she begs.

Rick shakes her off, but he barely takes another step when a cry rips from him. He looks at his son, just for a second, then stumbles away, still sobbing.

"Oh, no...no! No, no, no, no!"

Glenn moves to Maggie and I don't register that someone's in front of me before I feel his hands on my face.

"Any bites?" Daryl asks, voice low. He holds my hand, fingertips trailing my arms, my body, searching the muck coating me. "You hurt?"

My lip trembles and I try to speak, but nothing comes out but a weak cry. I'm filthy, bloody, stinky, but then he's hugging me, my face against his shoulder, and I sob. My backpack falls from my fingers, just as useless as before.

Rick's tortured cries drown us all out.