—  NATE STAYED BY HIS BROTHER'S SIDE as the prisoners entered the room, having followed the group back to cell block C to treat Hershel and his amputated leg. He didn't trust these guys as far as he could throw them, and it seemed that Daryl thought the same thing, as they kept their weapons aimed at the unknown men as they walked in. Zoe stood guard by the main door to the beds as she watched the infraction, allowing her to keep close to Hershel in case they needed anything, but also keeping an eye on the prisoners that threatened their safety. The last thing any of them expected was to find them in here, as they thought it was empty, but this was just another set of bad luck that had seemed to follow the group since the farm. She hoped that her dad would fix this situation and send them on their way, but she had an idea that it wouldn't be that easy, and that these guys won't give up easily.
When her dad came rushing over, he gave her a light tap on the back, silently telling her to lock up after him so the prisoners couldn't get in. She nodded, instantly catching the set of keys that Carl had thrown towards her, before locking the door shut, taking one last look at Nate, before heading back to where Hershel and the others were.

"There ain't nothing for you here." Daryl snapped, as the prisoners argued with them all about wanting to enter the cell block as they claimed it was theirs from their prison days. "Why don't you go back to your own sandbox!" He yelled.

"Hey, hey! Everyone relax." Rick announced, as he joined them all in the room, needing to make it clear to the prisoners that this wasn't their home anymore. "There's no need for this." He said, motioning with his hand for them to drop all of their weapons.

"How many of you in there?" What looked to me the leader, asked Rick.

"That ain't none of your concern." Nate snapped, glaring down at the scummy prisoner he didn't want near the others. Rick raised his hand to calm Nate down, to which he did, taking a deep breath. The thought of any of these men going near Zoe sent him into straight defence mode, and there was no pulling him out of it. He wouldn't relax until they're all gone for good.

The leader sent a glare at Nate, which he returned, before taking a look at the others, "You guys rob a bank or something?" He asked, still holding his gun and aiming it towards Rick as he looked to be their leader. "Why don't you take him to a hospital?" He asked, confused as ever as to why they were all hauled up here. Everyone exchanged a look at the man's words, knowing exactly why he was so weird - he didn't know what was going on out there. But, that just made it even more easier to kick them out..

"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asked, after a few seconds of silence.

"Going on like ten months." The leader of the prisoners answered, sending wary looks to the men in front of him.

"Riot broke out." Another prisoner spoke up, "Never seen anything like it." He said.

"Attica on speed, man." Another one said, his accent coming through thick. When another one explained a rumour about guys coming back to life and eating everything, that's when it was truly answered that they didn't know anything about what Rick and his group had been going through the past year..

"There is no army." Rick told them, as the prisoners stopped bickering amongst each other about how long it's been. Nate didn't like the prisoner holding the gun up to T.. He looked like a ticking time bomb, and he knew he was going to have to keep his eye out on him, and watch his every mood. He didn't trust him one bit. "There's no government, no hospitals, no police. It's all gone." Rick informed them all.

All the while, Nate kept his eyes glued on the leader with a tattoo on his neck, watching his every move. "You just don't get it, do you?" Daryl asked the tall one, as he asked for a cellphone to ring his family.

"No phones. No computers." Rick told them again. "As far as we can see, at least half the population's been wiped out, probably more." He said.

"Ain't no way." The sketchy man asked, as Nate tilted his head in annoyance at how these guys just didn't get what they were saying.

"Why don't you go out there and see for yourself?" Nate snapped, still keeping his weapon aimed at the leader. Rick nodded at Nate's statement, motioning to the door on their left, that they should take to get to the outside.

While they did that, Nate knew that Rick, Daryl and T had it sorted, so he headed back towards the main cell block, where he was Zoe waiting guard for something to happen, keeping an eye on Hershel and the prisoners. When she saw him, she sighed in relief, turning to face him, glad that nothing had happened to him. She instantly unlocked the door, allowing him in, before locking the door again, making sure the prisoners couldn't get in. "What's going on?" She asked quietly, not wanting the others to hear as they were concentrating on Hershel's leg.

Nate sighed, "These guys are trouble." He told her truthfully, "I don't trust 'em one bit." He admitted. When he saw the worried look planted on her face, he shook his head at her, "Nothing to worry about, we have it under control, we won't let them anywhere near you guys." He told her, stroking her arm in comfort.

"Well, then what's the plan?" She asked, unable to push past the feeling of dread whenever she thought of those prisoners. It was uneasy to believe that this would go smoothly - something was bound to happen. Zoe looked back at the others in the cell, having now stopped the bleeding; now all they needed to do was wait for him to wake up, "We already have this on our plate. We're not equipped for anything like this." She ranged.

"Hey." Nate mumbled, pulling her into his hold and kissing her head, "I promise you everything will be okay." He told her.

Zoe leaned into his hold instinctively, "How can you promise that when we live in a world like this?" She couldn't help but ask, knowing that his promise wouldn't be held. No one could tell what could happen in the future, not with the walkers threatening their every move. It was unpredictable, and no one could change that, not even Nate.

Nate pulled Zoe back and placed his hands on either side of her face, "Because you have me, and I'm not going anywhere." He told her, watching as she looked up at him with the beautiful blue eyes he loved so much.

"You promise?" She asked, a smirk slowly itching across her face at his words.

"I promise." He told her, leaning in for a kiss, before breaking apart and holding each other, basking in each other's company.

It was nice while it lasted, before T-Dog and Rick interrupted them. "Food's here!" T-Dog announced, as Zoe quickly backed away from Nate so she could open the door for the two of them. She couldn't believe how much food they were both holding - it was the most she had seen since the farm. "Canned beef, banned corn, canned cans." He said, smiling as he entered the cell block with two huge boxes. This would sure be enough to keep them all fed for a while, and then some. They really had hit the jackpot. "There's a lot more where this came from."

Zoe locked the door and followed after them to help get the food set down, as well as Nate, who was probably going to go back with the others to get more food, like T-Dog had said, 'there was a lot more where that came from'. He didn't exactly want to go back to where the prisoners had been living for ten months, but he knew he had to to get the remainder of the food.. When he looked back towards Zoe to see her laughing with Carl about something, his own smile spread across his face as he watched the two of them. Nate never thought that he would consider anyone other than Daryl and Merle, family. But that all changed when he met Zoe. He loved her with all of his heart, something he had never experienced with anyone else before.

He slowly walked up to the two of them, gaining their attention as Zoe looked up at him with a smile. He smiled back, before it dropped slightly, not meeting his eyes. "I gotta go with the others to get the rest of the food and sort out the prisoners." He informed her, as her face dropped. "Hey." He instantly said, placing a hand on her chin to keep her facing him, "I'll be back in no time, okay? I love you." He told her, earning a quiet 'I love your from his girlfriend. He smiled even wider, before place a soft and gentle kiss on her lips, before backing away, following after T-Dog.

Zoe watched them go with a longing look, which Carl didn't miss. He nudged his sister playfully. "He'll be fine." Carl told her, causing her to look down at him before giving him a small smile.

"Yeah.. He will."

——

Rick, T-Dog, Daryl and Nate stood in front of the prisoners as they picked up their weapons for them to clear out their own cell block, looking down at the multiple weapons in confusion as to why they couldn't use their gun. "Why do I need this. When I got this?" The main man, who they now knew as Thomas, asked the four guys who seemed to be more experienced in this kind of work. He lifted up his gun to show the four men, hoping that he could scare them somehow, but it didn't.. Not one bit.

"You don't fire guns." Daryl informed him, "Not unless your back's against a wall. Noise attracts them. Really riled them up." He said.

"We'll go in two by two." Rick then spoke up, planning how they were going to do all of this. He then gave everyone their partners, and explained how they were going to do this thing, before Daryl explained that the only way to take down a walker, was through the brain. A head shot is how you do it..

They all grabbed their weapons and headed on forwards into the dark hallways, keeping their guard up as they all trekked forwards. Nate stayed close to Daryl as they both kept an eye on the prisoners in front of them, not trusting them bit. "It's coming!" Axel announced, a little too loud for their liking.

Nate shushed him instantly, annoyed that he would be so loud, after Rick had specifically told them not to make too much noise when they went on forwards. Axel sent an apologetic look back at the others, before they all kept walking forward. That was, until Daryl held his hand up to indicate that they should all come to a stop. Turning a corner, they saw two walkers approach them, before the prisoners broke out in a series of yells and began advancing in the walkers like something out of a prison move, treating the walkers like someone they would jump. Nate had never seen anything more ridiculous in his life as he watched them all with a tired expression, knowing that this was going to be a long time clearing out this cell block for them. He couldn't wait for it to be done. After a few more seconds of watching the prisoners make a complete fool out of themselves, they had to break it up, and before they knew it, they were trekking on once again, Daryl and Nate in the lead, knowing the prisoners were completely useless.

"It's gotta be the brain." Daryl reminded them all, as they had completely forgotten back there. "Not the stomach, not the heart.. The brain." He explained, as he demonstrated by shooting an arrow through a walkers skull. This was as many more started advancing on them all, sending them all into action once again, for the second time of the day. They all took turns shoving their weapons through the walkers skulls, taking them down one by one. This time, the prisoners finally getting it and doing what Rick and the others had told them to do. When one of the prisoners went back and away from the group, Thomas was quick to shoot one of them unnecessarily, making noise.

Nate still didn't like this guy, and still kept his weapon aimed at him for most of the time. He did this as Rick checked over 'Big Tiny', who had been scratched by a walker. "I'm telling you, I don't feel anything." He told Rick, "It was just a scratch." He said.

"I'm sorry, man." Rick told him, knowing there was nothing for them to do, the guy was going to turn or they were going to have to kill him themselves.

"I can keep fighting!" Big Tiny reasoned.

"You cut that old guys leg off to save his life." Andrew spoke up.

"Look at where the scratch is." Rick told him, pointing at the one who was scratched.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Big Tiny yelled, not wanting to be killed. "Just.. I'm fine.. Look at me, I'm not changing into one of those things." He reasoned.

"Look man, there has to be something we can do. We can just lock him up, quarantine him." Oscar then suggested.

"We gotta do something!" Andrew argued. "Why are you just standing there? We've got to save him." He said.

Nate didn't know how many times they had to tell these guys the rules now, for them to get it. There was no saving their friend, there was nothing they could do - he doesn't know how they could make that more clear. "There's nothing we can do." Nate snapped, "He's gonna turn, it's just a matter of when." Although, he did hold some sympathy as they were loosing a friend - he was just fed up that no one would listen to Rick.

"You son of a bitch." Andrew scoffed.

"I'm.." Big Tiny began to say, only to be cut off by Thomas sacking him around the head and killing him once and for all, with no remorse whatsoever. Nate couldn't believe his eyes at the fact that Thomas had done that so quickly without a second thought - like the man he had spend ten continuous months locked up with didn't mean anything. If this didn't prove to him that he was dangerous, he didn't know what would.

Rick and the others backed up as Thomas began smashing Big Tony's brain in, again, with no remorse, looking up at Rick with blood scattered all over his face, and a scowl on his facial features.

They needed to deal with this guy, and fast.