The next morning arrived way too fast as Serena is suddenly being awakened by the feeling of her leg being nudged. "Hey, it's time," it was Carol, who was trying to gather the group in preparation to clear an area inside. Serena yawns and rubs her eyes, realizing that for the first time she hasn't dreamt of her mother's death. That night was the best sleep she's had in months. She gets to her feet and gathers her belongings, then walks over to Rick and the others as they huddle together to decide on a plan.

Surviving on her own was really goddamned lonely. So now that she's part of a group in a new home, Serena couldn't get enough of the people to talk to and stuff to do. They had only been at the prison for a day and she happily threw herself into being as useful as possible, offering to help wherever she could.

This includes helping with the less desirable jobs, like clearing out one of the cell blocks that's loaded with walkers. It didn't take long for the group to come up with a strategy for dealing with the herd inside. Serena felt fortunate that the group considered her as part of the task force. For the first time, Daryl didn't protest—even though he looked like he wanted to as he glared at Rick tossing her a pistol.

Having to help lead the charge on the majority of the group's defenses for the past few weeks, while also doing all of the hunting, Daryl felt like he'd demonstrated himself to be a decent authority figure on how things should function. He was getting riled up that Rick was giving out all the orders when they haven't even gone inside yet. With a moody huff, Daryl just folded his arms and glared at him, feeling far too irritated to pay much attention to the rest of the conversation.

***

Serena's body shakes as they wait by a gate connecting a small courtyard to the entrance of C-block to clear it. She taps her machete against her thigh impatiently, wanting to get this mission over with and move inside. While Beth and Carl wait at the campsite with Lori, Rick leads the charge with Daryl by his side. Meanwhile, Serena, Glenn, T-dog and Maggie are close behind them as Rick fumbles with the padlock.

They're all pressed up against a chain link fence as Rick moves to unlatch the lock. Serena works to steady her breathing and forces herself to focus her mind on the task at hand. She can't get distracted this time. She wipes the sweat from her brow with a dirty hand. The sun was blazing down at them and creating so much heat that it was almost unbearable. The second Rick opens the gate, they go in fast and step up their attacks.

It's unpleasant work, and Serena grimaces when walker blood gets on her clothes as she pulls her machete out from the top of a skull. It's not that she is grossed out by blood. She's seen her fair share of bodily fluids as a nurse. Not only with blood, but also urine, feces, semen, vomit, and puss from infected wounds. Fresh blood smells like iron, but walker blood is particularly disgusting since they emit a putrid smell that still bothers her.

She hears Carol call out—but when she looks up, she sees several walkers in full riot gear coming straight for them. A bolt from Daryl's crossbow bounces off one of them and hits the ground. Then everyone freezes for a moment before deciding to push the SWAT walkers away to deal with the easier ones first. Amongst the chaos, she hears Maggie shout out a solution for the SWAT walkers. Stab them through the bottom of their jaw underneath their helmets. Smart move!

Using Maggie's advice, Serena quickly dispatches a SWAT walker approaching her. But she curses when another one in riot gear pins her against a concrete wall. As it tries to bite her face, she jostles with it for a few tense moments before driving her machete into its lower jaw. It's breath is rotten and Serena wants to gag as the walker dies and goes limp on her. She shoves it away with a grunt and yanks her weapon back out. She hardly thinks before driving it into another skull.

As they dispatch the last few walkers, the team gathers by the doors to prepare for the next phase. They stop momentarily to take it all in. Next is to clear out the first cell block. Going inside will be a lot more demanding and Serena's adrenaline skyrockets. She has never been a fan of walkers in enclosed spaces. She knows there will be no room to move or run. It's going to feel like being trapped like rats in a cage.

Serena is in the back with Maggie as Rick and Daryl lead the charge to head inside. It's dark when they go in and it smelled of decomposed flesh, mildew, dirty socks, and stale air. The entire wing is filthy and the grey paint on the walls were peeling. There was blood, dirt, and other strange stains all over the place. As they approach the first group of walkers in a cramped intersection, Serena's breath is hitched in her throat as she prepares for a bloody fight.

As she raises her hand to strike a walker that's coming towards her, one of Daryl's bolts shoots past her head, striking another walker that's coming from a different direction. It's all quick, messy, and terrifying. As soon as the last walker falls, they take a moment to examine the cellblock. It's long and narrow with two levels, and littered with rotten corpses. They definitely need to clean the place up before moving in.

Serena looks over each cell with Carol and the other women as the men start dragging the dead out one by one. There are bunk beds with more than enough room to accommodate the whole group. The mattresses are thin and smell like old sweat, but it's way better situation than having nothing at all. The entire place will be a lot more pleasant once they clean it up. It's safe, secure, and all theirs!

The next phase happens rather fast once the last dead body is hauled out. They have been waiting for this moment for weeks. Everyone is practically scrambling over one another to get inside and out of the sun. All the vehicles gets pulled up near the small courtyard and everyone starts grabbing their bags and other supplies.

Serena gets to work with helping to offload the cars. Once all the supplies have been moved in, she pulls out a couple of items from her backpack that she found in her travels as she goes inside. She's always enjoyed writing or doodling since her imagination soothes her. Only when she feels it's safe — like tonight — that she can afford to relax and take the edge off a bit.

The moment she enters the cell block, Serena rolls her eyes as she watches Daryl settle down to rest by himself on the first floor. She ignores his huff as she walks inside with a small notepad and a pencil in her hand. It's not his concern what she does to destress, so it's best if they kept their distance. She's far too happy to be part of a group and have a place to stay to care about what he thinks. On this particular night, she is not in the mood to deal with him and his attitude.

Paying no attention to Daryl's glares, Serena heads upstairs with her belongings and moves into one of the cleaner cells on the second level. It feels more secure, just in case something happens. Carol ends up in the cell beside hers with Beth as everyone tries to unwind for the night. She doesn't take offense when no one chose to share a cell with her.

Even though she had always enjoyed the company of others, yet she also likes her alone time as well. It gives her privacy to work on her journal while the rest of the group settle in for the night. This causes Serena to pause momentarily to think about Daryl. Perhaps he's the same way and that's why he is always by himself. But she immediately dismisses the thought as quickly as it arrived. He definitely doesn't seem like someone who likes being around other people. This is the opposite of how she is.

As Serena moves to sit down onto the thin and stinky mattress on the lower bunk, she wrinkles her nose at the foul smell. But she is too tired to care at the moment as her body collapses down onto the mushy bedding. It's incredibly more pleasant than having to sleep on the ground. Everyone is exhausted but morale is high.

They've got just enough clothes, blankets, weapons, and even some toiletries left, along with a few cans of wet dog food that they found in an abandoned house a week ago as their emergency supply. Everyone is hoping to have find some food hidden somewhere in this massive facility, but they all know they shouldn't expect a miracle. Tomorrow, Rick wants find the infirmary or the cafeteria and start working on clearing the rest of the prison.