meanstreak
rick grimes 𝘹 fem!𝘰𝘤
© WANDARYEN ──── 2024

The next morning, we followed through with Rick's plan to enter the gates of the prison and get the rest of the courtyard cleared of walkers.

T-Dog, Maggie, Glenn, Daryl, Rick, and I went past the gate that was separating us between the field and the prison. The 6 of us formed in a circle, backs facing backs as we covered each other's blind-spots. Killing walkers as we shuffled across the pavement to get to the first cell block. The others were on the other side of the gate — calling for the walkers to come close so they could bring them down with knives.

I was using my axe from yesterday to take down the few walkers that charged towards me, putting my strength into getting their heads split open in reassurance that they were truly dead.

My nose crinkled from the smell, reaching up to hold under my nose with my arm until we pressed our backs against one another again. We moved towards one of the door openings towards the center of the prison, but Rick quickly pressed his back against the door and held up his hand. We all moved back, my chest heaving from adrenaline.

Two of the walkers rounded the corner, wearing a full guards uniform with a helmet. Daryl shot an arrow at the plastic that was shielding the walker's face as it came close, only for it to bounce back, not being able to make a dent.

"Close the gate!" I ordered towards the boys once we managed to kick and shove enough of the walkers back.

Glenn and Rick repeated the same actions from before — closing the latch of the gate and throwing a chain around it for good measure. It separated us from them by securing them in the center of the prison, allowing us to move freely through the cell blocks.

"We'll come back for them," I glanced at Rick and watched him nod in agreement. "Let's clear out some of the cell blocks so we can move everyone else inside. Then we'll finish off the rest."

"Nothing will lead to that courtyard over there," Daryl added while pointing down at the ground where a regular, now dead, walker laid. "And that's a civilian."

T-Dog rested his hand against the wall of the prison, "so the interior could be overrun by walkers from outside the prison."

"Well, if there's walls, then, what are we gonna do? We can't rebuild this whole place." Glenn commented.

Rick started to look around. "We can't risk a blind spot." He turned around and saw an entrance of a cell block, gesturing towards it. "We have to push in."

I sighed with a bit of exhaustion, following behind Daryl as he opened the gate framed door that had steps leading to a second door of the cell block.

We stayed close together in the quiet cell block, looking around the walls and many gates that kept the sleeping block cut off from the lunch tables in the next room. Rick traveled towards an office placed in the corner, disappearing for a few moments before coming out with a set of keys.

"It's clear." He walked up to the gate of the sleeping block and opened it up. One by one each of us entered the cell block, checking each cell to make sure it was safe.

There were only a few dead walkers we had to clear out — dragging their bodies out the cell then switching around the beds for more clean and suitable ones. When we finished, we gathered the others and brought them into the cell block with the rest of our supplies.

"Home sweet home," T-Dog chuckled.

"For the time being," Rick commented.

Lori looked over at him while holding under her belly with a sleeping bag tucked under her other arm. "It's secure?" Rick smiled with a single nod, "This cell block is."

Hershel came into the cell block, glancing around. "What about the rest of the prison?"

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria, and the infirmary. I found the keys on some guards. Daryl has a set too."

"I ain't sleeping in no cage." Daryl commented to Rick. "I'll take the perch."

Everyone nodded and walked around to pick a cell to sleep in for the time being. Lori and Carol were going to share a cell, Maggie and Glenn had their own, my father shared a room with Beth and Carl was going to sleep in a cell with Rick.

I turned to T-Dog and we both shared the same lingering smile, "looks like it's just you and me." We both shared a quick fist bump before finding a clean cell and unpacking our things inside of it.

I took the top bunk while T-Dog took the bottom. After setting down my axe on the bed followed by my gun, I tossed my fingers through my long hair and released a heavy awaited sigh of content. "I haven't slept in a bunk since freshman year of college," I muttered.

T-Dog looked over at me and raised an eyebrow, "you had bunk beds in college?"

I nodded with confirmation, "unfortunately. It was a small school, didn't have a lot of money, and my roommate had a thing for rodents. I begged and begged to have my roommate changed but evidently — we became good friends."

He leaned back against the nearest wall and perched his hands upon his waist. "You're telling me she brought one in?"

"No — but she sure as hell tried to." I laughed softly. "I woke up in the middle of the night hearing little squeaks, and almost fell off the top bunk."

His eyes narrowed carefully before gesturing towards the bunk beds. "You can have the bottom if it'll make you feel better."

I debated on the thought, my gaze shifting between each bunk before shaking my head. "No thank you, if we get a walker break in; I don't want to be the first to die." I patted T-Dogs chest and laughed, walking past him just as he followed after me with knitted eyebrows. "Now just wait a minute—"

After a long argument with T-Dog about who would get the top bunk — Rick having to interject by calling us children — Rick pulled a few of us together to search other areas of the prison and grab food for the cafeteria.

I brought my axe with me with my smaller knife tucked away in its sheath.

When we killed the guards, we picked them clean of their suits and shared certain pieces to keep ourselves protected from the walkers. Maggie and our father agreed to tag along, such as Glenn and Daryl.

Unfortunately for us, the hallways of the prison were pitch black, not even our flashlights giving us the amount of light we needed. It was cold, dirty, and smelt of rotting bodies that laid waste on the floor.

Daryl used a spray can to mark our way around the prison, arrows leading anyone back to the cell block if they were to get lost.

When we traveled around to the next corner, we immediately stopped in our tracks when a group of walkers were waiting at the other end. We waved our flashlights as we stumbled back to get away.

"Go back! Hurry!" Rick whispered in a hush tone and we started to run.

We cut through a different corner, only for my sister, Glenn, and I to get cut off by the group and ambushed by several walkers.

"Shit!" I called out.

"In here!" Glenn ordered, grabbing both mine and Maggie's arms, pulling us into a separate room and closing the door.

We listened to the several walkers pass by without much of a fuss — their feet scuffing across the floor with low moans.

I chewed on my inner cheek as Glenn waited patiently a few more seconds before opening the door slowly. The three of us stepped out of the room, looking down both ends of the hallway.

"Rick?" I called out in a whisper, squinting through the dark in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the man while clutching onto my axe closely to my chest.

There was some silence until I heard the familiar cry from my father, causing Maggie and I to start running down the hall. "Wait a minute!" Glenn panicked but I didn't stop. Not until I reached our father lying on the ground with blood pouring from his leg. "Dad!" We cried out together, quickly helping to pick our father up and pull him away.

More walkers were following after us, making our pace quicken as we struggled to keep my father in our arms.

"Where do we go?!" I almost screamed, noticing Daryl kick open a set of doors that read "cafeteria" on the metal doors. "In here!" He shouted and we all rushed inside, T-Dog being the one to shut the doors and press his body against it.

"What do we do?!" I asked, kneeling beside my father as Maggie held his head up, her hands holding his face gently.

Rick then stood on his knees, moving the pant leg upwards to see the bite mark. He took the belt from his jeans and quickly tied it above my fathers wound. Tears streamed down my cheeks like a waterfall, my small hand clutching onto my fathers as he cried in pain.

"All right, only one way to keep him alive." Rick stated. I looked up at him worriedly and watched as he grabbed my axe off the floor from when I dropped it to be by my father.

"What — what are you—" before I could finish my sentence Rick started to cut off the bottom of my fathers leg, right above the bite mark a few inches higher. My lips parted wide and suddenly I was feeling nauseous — a large amount of bile traveling up my throat but I immediately swallowed it down.

My father's eyes rolled backwards before closing entirely and I quickly laid my head down against his chest, holding my free hand up to silence everyone else. "Wait!"

I squeezed my fathers hand, my knuckles turning a bright shade of white and I nearly cried out of relief when I heard his tiny shallow breathing. My sister continued to cry while Glenn immediately cradled her into his arms — steadily rocking her back and forth.

I lifted my head up and turned to face Rick. "He's breathing, he's — "

"Duck," Daryl suddenly insisted and Rick quickly knelt down, throwing an arm around my shoulders and forcing me down with him.

I carefully peered over Rick's shoulder and saw several prison men behind a large grated window on the opposite end of the room.

"Holy shit."