KILLER WITHIN

I drove one of the cars into the prison yard. I then parked it and took the keys out. I got out and shut the door behind me. I walked over to Rick and Daryl. T-Dog and Carol doing the same

"Okay, let's get the other car in. We'll park 'em in the west entry of the yard" Rick said

"Good. Our vehicles camped out there look like a giant 'vacancy' sign" Daryl said. We all began walking together

"After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn 'em" Rick said

"Gonna be a long day" T-Dog said

"Tell me about it" I said

"Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use the extra help" Carol said. Daryl pointed

"Up in the guard tower" Daryl said. We all turned and looked at the guard tower

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

"Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl yelled. We saw a head pop up. The door then opened and we saw Glenn getting dressed. He had no shirt on. I began laughing. The others joining me

"Hey, what's up, guys?" Glenn asked

"You coming?" Daryl asked. I covered my mouth as we all continued chuckling

"What?" Glenn asked

"You comin'?" Daryl asked. Glenn looked at Maggie

"Hurry up, we could use a hand" I said

"Yeah, we'll be right down" Glenn said

"That wasn't funny" I said to Daryl

"For it not being funny, you sure were giggling up a storm" He said looking at me

"Hey, Rick" T-Dog said. We all turned. Our smiles dropped as we saw Oscar and the blonde man

"Come with me" Rick said as we all walked towards them. We got closer

"That's close enough. We had an agreement" Rick said as they stood in front of us

"Please, Mister. We know that. 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" The blonde man explained as Glenn and Maggie came out

"Why don't you move the bodies out?" Daryl asked

"You should be burning them" T-Dog said

"We tried. We did" The blonde man said

"The fence is down on the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. So we have been dropping the bodies and running back inside" Oscar said

"Look, we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew. 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" The blonde man pleaded

"Our deal is non-negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave" Rick said. The blonde man sighed

"I told you this was a waste of time. They ain't no different than the prices who shut up our boys. You know how many friends' corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw 'em out, like. 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" Oscar said. Rick turned Daryl and Daryl shook his head. Daryl and Rick had led them to the cars and to where Daryl's bike was. Once they walked in Daryl locked them in. It was a completely fenced area. We all followed

"Maybe we should let 'em join us" T-Dog said

"They might be really useful" I said following my gut

"Are you two serious? 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?" Rick asked us

"I never stopped" T-Dog said

"We could use the help" I said

"Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves" T-Dog said

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

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

"It's just been us for so long. They're strangers. I don't- it feels weird having other people around" Maggie said

"You brought us in" T-Dog said

"Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms and with Y/n. Didn't give us a choice" Maggie said

"They can't even kill walkers" Glenn said

"They're convicts, bottom line" Carol said

"Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do" T-Dog said

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

"So are you with us?" I asked

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

"What I'm saying, Daryl-" T-Dog was cut off

"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid. 19 year old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial- suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and then, two weeks later, shot another girl. We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands" Rick said before walking away. I followed after Rick and put my hand on his shoulder. He stopped

"I'm sure you already know this, but here's a reminder. You can't get anywhere in life if you don't take risks" I whispered. We all then continued walking. I was ahead of Rick

"Move the cars to the upper yard. Point 'em facing out. They'll be out of the way but ready to go if we ever need to bail" Rick said tossing Glenn the keys. Glenn caught them and jogged ahead of all of us

"We'll give the prisoners a week's worth of supplies for the road" Rick said

"Might not last a week" T-Dog said

"It's their choice" Rick said

"Did they really have one?" T-Dog asked

"Hey, hey- whose blood would you rather have on your hands- Maggie's, Glenn's, or theirs?" Rick asked

"Neither" T-Dog said. I walked to Daryl's bike. He was already on. I got on the back

"Twin cylinder. Is that a Triumph?" The blonde man asked

"Don't even look at it" Daryl said like an asshole

"Didn't want to bore it out?" The man asked as the motor got loud

"Sounds like it could use a tune-up. I'm pretty handy with a wrench" The man said. Daryl ignored him. I rolled my eyes at him as I wrapped my arms around his waist. The bike began moving and we were out. Glenn closing the gate behind us

—————

Me, Rick, Daryl, and Glenn were outside of the fences. There was a walker quite a bit a way when Glenn pulled out his gun

"Should I take her out?" Glenn asked

"No. If that armory had been picked clean, we could spare the ammo" Rick said

"I'll start making runs. The sooner the better" Daryl said as Glenn and Rick continued on. Me and him stayed put. Guarding the hole in the fence

"On your next outing. You should bring back any pill bottles you find. Regardless of what they are" I told him

"Why?" He asks

"Because, in case you didn't know. I used to be pharmacist, and at some point, we'll need them" I said

"If I find any pill bottles, I'll bring 'em back, I guess" He said

"Thanks" I said

"Yeah, yeah" He said. I enjoyed the softer side to him. We stood in silence for about 10 minutes. The two came back and when I turned I saw Hershel walking. Me and Daryl held the fence open so Rick and Glenn could get through. Both of them holding wood

"Lookie here" Daryl said referring to Hershel. Glenn and Rick got through. Glenn dropping the wood as he smiled

"He is one tough son of a bitch" Glenn said as Rick dropped his wood. Daryl let go of the fence and I began tying it up

"If you needed to know that, I could've told you" I said laughing

"All right, Hershel!" Glenn yelled

"Shh!" Daryl said. Glenn turned and looked at him as I continued tying the fence

"Keep your cheers down" Daryl said as I looked at the walkers approaching

"Oh man, can't we have just one good day?" Glenn asked

"Walkers! Look out!" Carl yelled. We then saw the walkers. My eyes widened as I finished tying the fence

"No!" Rick yelled as we all began rushing to the others. I pulled out my tomahawk as we ran

"Get out! Get out of there! Now! Lori!" Rick yelled as we sprinted. Gunshots could be heard as they shot the walkers

"Go! Come in here!" Rick yelled as we continued running

"The lock- hurry up! The lock!" Rick yelled. Glenn quickly threw the keys. Daryl caught them and tossed them to me

"Keys!" Rick yelled as I tossed him the keys. He caught them. We ran to the gate and Rick struggled to unlock it

"Come on!" Rick yelled. My heart was beating out of my chest. We finally got through and ran in

"Get out of my way!" Rick yelled at Oscar and Axel. We ran behind him as he went to unlock the other gate

"Come on. Come on, come on!" Daryl yelled as Rick was taking too long. He finally got them open and we ran in

"Hey, bro, what about us?" Axel yelled. We got the third gate open. I pulled out my gun and began shooting walkers as we approached. Rick following with his own gun

"What the hell happened?" Rick asked

"The gate was open!" Beth yelled as we continued killing walkers

"Where's Lori, Carl- everyone else?" Rick asked

"Maggie led Lori and Carl into C block" Hershel said as me and Daryl continued killing walkers

"But T was bit!" Beth said. A tear fell down my face as I killed a walker with my tomahawk. Blood splattering on my cheek. My heart sank knowing T-Dog was gonna die or was already dead

"Anyone else?" Rick asked

"I couldn't tell" Beth said

"Stay put" Rick said. Glenn ran over to us

"Those chains didn't break on their own. Someone took an ax or cutters to 'em" Glenn said. Rick turned to the prisoners

"You think they did it?" Glenn asked

"Who else?" Rick asked as the alarms began blaring

"What's that?" I asked

"Oh- you gotta be kidding me!" Daryl yelled. The sound was attracting walkers from everywhere

"If God wants us to die today, I might as well bring every God damn walker here down to hell with me" I said as I killed another walker

"Daryl!" Rick said tossing him the keys. I put my tomahawk in its sheath and then shot at the speakers. Glenn and Rick doing the same

"Kill it!" Hershel yelled. The alarm stopped from our section of the prison

"How the hell can this be happening?!" Rick asked he pointed his guns at Oscar and Axel

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! It has to be the backup generators" Oscar said

"Well, how do you turn those on?" Rick asked

"There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each on controls a certain part of the prison. The hacks shut 'em all off when the prison was overrun" Oscar said

"Can someone open up the main gates electronically with full power?" Rick asked

"I only worked in there a few days. I guess it might be possible" Oscar said. Rick grabbed his shirt

"Come with us!" Oscar said

"Let's go!" Glenn yelled as we all ran. We got into the cell block. Rick ran ahead. The alarms still blaring. We killed walkers

"Lori! Carl!" Rick yelled as we ran in to the part Rick was in

"We just took down five of 'em in there" Daryl said

"There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or any of them" Rick said

"They must have been pushed back into the prison" Glenn said as lights began flickering

"Somebody is playing games! We'll split up and look for the others. Whoever gets to the generators first, shut 'em down!" Rick yelled

"Let's go!" I yelled as we all ran out. We all ran. Walkers found us but we kept running. Oscar led us to the generators. Rick shot one as he opened the door. We all ran in

"Daryl, get the door!" Rick yelled. Me, Daryl and Oscar kept the door shut as walkers banged against it. Rick looked at the generators

"How do you shut these down?!" Rick yelled

"Go help him. We got it" Daryl said. We kept the door shut. Walkers growling at us

"Right here" Oscar said as he ran over. Suddenly we heard yelling. We saw Andrew come out of nowhere and try and kill Rick. Me and Daryl were struggling to keep the door closed. There was a gunshot. I couldn't see what was happening. Me and Daryl were facing the door as we pushed against it. Sweat dripping down my face. I heard yelling and struggling. Our feet began sliding

"On three" He said. I nodded

"One, two, three!" He said as we both ran away from the door. I had my gun ready. Walkers filed in. Daryl shot them with arrows as I used bullets. We then ran over and shut the door once more

"Shoot him! We can take back this prison" Andrew said as we kept the door closed

"What you waiting for? Do it! It's our house. Shoot him!" Andrew yelled. We heard a gunshot. I turned to see Andrew dead on the floor. Oscar gave the gun back to Rick. The alarm continued. I smiled knowing my gut was right about them. Rick turned off the generator and the alarms stopped

"Lets go" Rick said. We opened the door and killed all the walkers. We walked through the maze of walls. Daryl and Rick holding flashlights. Illuminating the ground in front of us. We heard walkers and we all got against the walls. We continued on cautiously. A corner ahead. Rick looked out with his gun pointed. We all ran and Rick shot the two walkers. I stared down to see who it is. My heart stopped as I shook my head. My eyes widening at the horrific sight

"God damn it, T" I muttered as I stared at his body. His chest and stomach had been ripped apart. I struggled not to cry. T-Dog was one of my best friends, so to see him like this. It was hard to stay strong. I felt a hand on mine. I looked to see that it had belonged to Daryl. He pulled me into his chest as I sobbed. No one spoke. I broke away from Daryl's chest as he led me out

"Hershel!" Rick yelled. I looked up to see him and the others sprinting. I wiped my tears. I removed my hand from Daryl's and began running

"You didn't find them?" Hershel asked

"We thought that maybe they came back out here" Glenn said. Beth and Hershel shook their heads

"What about T? Carol?" Hershel asked. I felt a hole through my chest just hearing his name. My eyes hardened as I heard his name

"He's didn't make it" I muttered

"That doesn't mean the others didn't. We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with-" Rick shut up as we all heard an infant crying. We all turned. Maggie was carrying a bloody child, and Carl was beside her. There was no Lori. Maggie and Carl's faces were tear stained. Rick looked confused as he walked over. He dropped his weapon as he touched his face. He then began shaking his head. Lori was dead, too. Rick began pacing

"Where- where is she? Where is she?" Rick asked as Maggie sobbed. Rick went to go check. Maggie stopped him

"No.. Rick, no!" Maggie said. Rick began sobbing. He looked at Carl. I covered my eyes as I tried to process everything that had happened

"Oh, no. No! No!" Rick cried. Glenn walked over to a sobbing Maggie. Daryl put his head down

"Oh!" Rick cried as he fell to the ground. Carl just stood there as he cried

(2815 words)
11/20/21

Edited: 07/08/22