The next morning, in the common area, we watch as Glenn sketches out a shoddy map of the prison in chalk on the concrete floor. Carl sits in front of him as he does it.

"You said you found Tyreese's group here?" Glenn asks, pointing to one section of the prison.

"Yeah."

"We secured this."

Carl points to another spot. "He thought he came through here."

Glenn sighs. "Means there's another breach." He stares at the map, then sighs again as he pushes his dark hair from his face. "Okay. The whole front of the prison is insecure. If walkers just strolled in, then it's gonna be cake for a group of armed men."

"Why are we even so sure he's going to attack?" Beth asks. "Maybe you scared him off."

"He had fish tanks full of heads," Michonne says. She leans against one of the cages, deadly serious. "Walkers and humans. Trophies." Her expression is cold. "He's coming."

"We should hit him now," Glenn says.

Beth's eyes widen. "What?"

"He won't be expecting it," Glenn continues. "We'll sneak back in and put a bullet in his head."

"We're not assassins," Carol says.

Glenn gets up and moves to Michonne, a man on a mission. "You know where his apartment is," he says. "You and I could end this tonight." Michonne sighs and he leans a little closer. "I'll do it myself."

Michonne nods. Glenn returns it, backing up to his map again.

"He didn't know you were coming last time," Hershel says, "and look what happened. Oscar was killed, Daryl and Hope were captured, and you and Maggie were almost executed."

"You can't stop me," Glenn says.

"Rick would never allow this."

"You really think he's in any position to make that choice?"

"Think this through clearly," Hershel says. "T-Dog lost his life here. Lori, too. The men that were here. It isn't worth any more killing." Glenn's jaw clenches as he looks away. "What are we waiting for? If he's really on his way, we should be out of here by now."

"And go where?"

"We lived on the road all winter."

"Back when you had two legs and we didn't have a baby crying every four hours."

"That wasn't a life," I cut in. "We can't leave, not when we have the chance for something better." I don't mention that, if Daryl happened to come back and we were gone, how would he ever find us again? I know the chance is basically nil, but there's a part of me that hopes.

"We can make it work somewhere else," Hershel retorts. "We can't stay here."

"We can't run," Glenn insists. "Hope's right. Why should we lose what we have because of one asshole?"

Maggie pushes off the wall and disappears into the cell block. Glenn watches her go, pursing his lips. He bows his head for a moment, then looks around at each of us.

"Alright," he says. "We'll stay put. We're gonna defend this place." He points to the floor, focusing on Hershel. "We're making a stand." He squats again. "Carl, you and I will go down to the tombs. We need to figure out where the breach is."

"You got it," Carl says with a nod.

"You'll need some help," Michonne says.

"No, in case anything happens, I need you out here." He looks around again, his jaw clenching. "Who's on watch?" he snaps. When no one answers, he stands and pulls out his pistol. "Damn it."

"I'll go," Michonne says. "I could use the fresh air."

She walks off before anyone can argue, and Glenn nods. "Fine. Carl, let's suit up and get going."

----------

When Glenn and Carl leave, the rest of us are left to wait and hope for the best. Maggie is still hidden away in the cell block. Hershel starts going through our supplies. "Doing inventory," he says, but I know that he's preparing for the worst case scenario.

I don't want to run. I don't want to go back on the road with no semblance of safety or privacy to be had. I like being able to sleep in my own bed. I like not having to sleep with one eye open.

"We should prepare," I say. I'm standing with Carol and Axel while Beth keeps watch over Judith. "If he's coming and we're not leaving, we'll need to be more protected, don't you think?"

"What do you suggest?" Carol asks.

"Um...we had those pallets up on the catwalk, right?" I ask. "Maybe we can fortify the chain link, make something we can duck behind?"

"There's metal out in the yard," Axel says. "Tables, I think. We could use 'em."

"Good idea," Carol says. Axel smiles a bit at the praise and she returns it. I raise my eyebrows a little, but they both look back at me and I school my face back into neutrality. "Let's go, then."

The three of us stand and head outside. We work quickly and mostly quietly, although I hear Axel chatting with Carol as I gather what we'll need. He keeps cracking jokes, telling stories, and I hear Carol laugh a few times.

When Axel heads inside with a tabletop in each hand, I fall to Carol's side as we keep gathering metal and leaving it by the entrance for easier hauling.

"You have an admirer, it seems," I say, bumping her hip with mine.

Carol scoffs good-naturedly. "I think he's desperate."

"Please, you're a catch," I insist.

She raises an eyebrow at me, but her blue eyes are alight with amusement. "I'm also the only one available," she says. "Beth's a minor, Maggie's taken, Daryl staked his claim right away." My shoulders sag a little at the sound of his name, but she laughs and I try to shake it off. "Axel thought I was a lesbian."

A shocked laugh leaves me. "No!"

"Yup."

"Let me guess...the hair?"

"Apparently, only lesbians have my haircut." She shakes her head, still smiling, but it fades after a second.

I shrug. "You're growing it out now," I say. "I mean, we don't have much of a choice. I haven't had hair past my shoulders since high school." I smile. "I actually used to have one of those half-shaved looks, a bit of a faux-hawk, but my parents made me grow it out before I started Uni. Guess I never went back, but man, short hair felt easy." I pause, running my fingers through my curls, eyeing the ends. "Might do it again if I can find a hairdresser."

"Only if we're lucky," she replies. Her smile still hasn't returned, and she sets a table down with a short grunt. She rests her hands on her hips, then reaches up to lightly touch her silver hair. "I only shaved my head because of Ed," she admits after a moment. I pause. "I loved having longer hair, but...it gave him something to grab. I realized that, if I cut it all off, I had one less way he could hurt me."

She stares at something far away, lips pursed, and I chew my bottom lip for a moment before coming closer to her. I put my arm around her and she looks at me, a sad smile lifting her lips.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," I say. "I'm sorry you went through any of that, really."

"It's in the past now. We just have to keep going."

The cell block door opens again and Axel returns, eyeing the tables. "You leaving me to do all the work?" he asks, smirking.

"What, you can't handle it?" Carol throws back as she comes forward to grab a tabletop. "Fine, if you really need help..."

"Aw, don't be like that," he whines.

They grin at each other and I bite back a smile. It's good to see that, even after the ordeal at Woodbury, with the Governor looming over our heads, with Rick being the way he is, we're still finding pockets of joy here and there.

I hurry forward to grab another tabletop and we head inside. We haven't gotten far when Beth opens the cell door leading into the tombs and Glenn comes in, Carl close behind him. They're both sweaty with effort and blood splatters their clothes.

"The tombs outside the boiler room are overrun again," he reports.

"That whole section had been cleared," Beth says as she closes the door again. Carl locks it.

"It's a steady stream of walkers," Carl adds.

"We're wasting time," Hershel says and, sure enough, he's packing supplies into a backpack that he didn't have when I was last in here. "The Governor is supposedly on the way and we're stuck in here with walkers."

"Trapped between a rock and a hard place," Carol sighs.

"For the last time, running is not an option," Glenn says, words sharp and punctuated.

Carol shakes her head. "Glenn, if the tombs have filled up again, it may just be a matter of time before they push in here."

"Or until some fence gives way," Beth adds.

"What if one of them herds is passing through?" Axel asks. "Or settled?"

"Can't handle that with just a few of us," Carol says.

"Okay, alright...we need..." Glenn pauses, staring at nothing in particular as he thinks. "We just need to scout the far side of the prison. Find out what's going on."

"You're going out there?" Hershel asks.

"Take a car and make it quick," Glenn says with a shrug.

"I'll drive," Axel offers.

"No, you stay here," Glenn says. "Help with, um..."

"We've got a plan to fortify the catwalk," I pipe up. "He can help Carol and me with that."

"Great. Then I'll take Maggie."

"You sure she's up to that?" Hershel asks.

Glenn doesn't answer. After a second, he heads into the cell block. I meet Carol's eyes, we nod, and we keep moving tables to the catwalk. Axel moves to join us.

----------

"With this reinforced, if anything happens, we'll just...duck."

Carol ducks behind one of our metal and pallet barricades, looking up at Axel as he lays another one against the chainlink.

Axel chuckles to himself. "I hope nothing happens," he says. "Guns scare the bejesus out of me."

"Sounds like you and Hope would get along," Carol says, jerking her chin to me as I haul a pallet over and lay it down.

I nod a bit. "I'm less scared of them now but, months back, I got shot. For a while, I was just..." I shiver a bit. "Yeah, don't like them. Still don't."

"That explains why you don't carry," Axel says. He's still smiling, but I've come to find that he's just a smiley kind of guy. "I robbed a gas station with a toy gun. Never even took it out of my pocket."

"You said Oscar was the thief," Carol says. She sets another pallet down and moves to repeat the process. "That you were in here for pharmaceuticals."

"Well, I didn't want y'all to think I was a violent man," he says. He sets another metal plate down. "If you follow me."

The catwalk is almost completely lined now, although I almost want to double up on the metal plates. Axel moves past Carol, who's carrying a pallet, and I hand him one of the tabletops.

"So what are you saying? You're in here for a toy gun?" Carol asks.

"No, listen to this," Axel says. "The next day, the cops found me at my brother's house. Still had the water pistol in my pocket." He sets the plate down and turns to her. "I swore up and down that that was the only weapon I had, but they said they didn't believe anyone could be so stupid and get away with it. So they turned my brother's house upside down, found his .38. Said it—" He makes air quotes. "Matched the description. There you go. Armed robbery."

I want to comment on how unfair the justice system can be, but he's just looking at Carol and she's giggling and suddenly, I feel very much like a third wheel. I scoot back to the opposite end of the catwalk and maneuver the last plate into place, covering one of our smaller pallets.

"Tell you the truth," Axel says, pulling a handgun from his pocket and staring at it. "I don't even know how to use this damn thing."

"You're all about the truth now?" Carol asks as she takes it from him.

"Yes, ma'am, I am."

She holds the gun out. I see her remove the magazine, showing it to him. "It's fully loaded." She clicks it back in, showing him the steps, and I adjust the tabletop. "Let's hope it stays that way."

"You're quite a lady."

I look up when I don't hear her response just as Carol turns, a closed-lip smile on her face, scrunching her cheeks up. She hums a bit as she comes towards me and I lift a brow, smirking. She bats her hand at me.

"Oh, shush," she says.

"I didn't say anything," I retort. I straighten up. "Think we're good to go here. What do you think?"

"Axel and I can check a few things over," she says. "You can go."

I glance over her shoulder at where Axel is looking over his handgun, stealing glances at her, and I raise my hands a little.

"Okay, okay, I can see when I'm not wanted."

"I told you to shush."

I hide a giggle and she gives me an exaggerated angry face, a smile still fighting past her lips. I head back into the prison, going back to our cell block, and my smile fades a bit when I hear her and Axel laughing behind me.

Just when I think I'll be okay, I miss him all over again.