"Jo, wake up." Ryan said.

I groaned in annoyance as he shook me awake. I slapped his arm away and I heard a sigh leave his lips.

One of my eyes opened and I saw the group getting ready. I reluctantly sat up and was handed a bowl.

"Don't think I didn't notice you didn't eat last night." Carol scolded.

I frowned as I looked up. She was looking at me as if I was an irresponsible teenager. I took the bowl and grabbed some squirrel. My stomach was more than grateful to have something inside of it.

Ryan sharpened his knife next to me as I noticed Abby and Carl talking in the distance. I held out the bowl to Ryan but he shook his head in disagreement.

I rolled my eyes and handed it to Lori. She seemed hesitant to take it but gave in and nodded in thanks.

"Rick told me to tell you that you're on guard duty with me today while they go inside the prison." Ryan explained.

My eyes narrowed as I put on my shoes. I'm not like Beth or Carol, I can help them with the prison. Hell, they need me there.

I don't know what this shit with me being on guard duty is supposed to mean, but I'm not listening to that crappy order.

"And miss out on all the fun? I think not. I'll talk to him about it." I replied.

Ryan smirked at me as I patted his shoulder and got up. Rick was talking to Glenn and Daryl in the distance.

I walked up to them while Rick motioned towards the prison. He was explaining some plan for the prison entry.

"We go in-"

"What's this crap about me not going with you inside the prison?" I questioned.

I basically cut Rick off in the middle of talking. Like I said before, I don't listen to all of his speeches.

All I care about is helping them get to the prison. I'm the brain and the muscle. Double threat which means they need me with them.

A sigh left Rick's lips as he put his hands on his hips. It was his dictator stand. Daryl glanced at me before looking at Rick again. He didn't seem surprised by the news.

When was this decision made and why wasn't I consulted?

"We need someone to stay with the group in case something goes wrong. Why? You got a problem with that?" Rick asked.

It felt as if though he was challenging me to say something. He should've known I would. I've worked my ass off to be considered as more than another mouth to feed.

Doing things like guard duty when there's a more important task bothers me because my skills could be used better.

"Hell yeah. We all know you need me there. The more people clear the prison, the faster and safer it'll be. Back me up, Daryl." I said.

I glanced at him with a pointed look. We all know they need all available bodies to help out. Having guards is good, but putting someone with my skills on guard duty is a waste of people.

That and I just crave action.

"She's right. The more of us in there, the quicker this'll go." Daryl replied.

I looked at Rick with a triumphant smirk on my face as he glanced at Glenn. All I need now is for Glenn to agree and Rick can't do a damn thing to stop me. He could still say no, I just wouldn't listen.

But even though he claims this isn't a democracy, he still leans on Daryl and Glenn. Sometimes even on me, depending on whether I've been extra snarky or if I've followed the rules.

"If you try and stop her, she'll do it anyways. You should know that by now. Might as well let her." Glenn agreed.

I nudged Glenn pretending to be offended. Rick hummed in agreement and glanced at me. I smirked knowing he was going to say yes.

He nodded with a sigh leaving his lips. I guess Ryan is going to have to do guard duty on his own.

------

Hershel opened the gate and Rick stabbed a walker in the head. I gripped my machete in anticipation. Daryl killed a walker and we all formed a circle.

I aimed the machete and lodged it into the skull of an incoming walker. It fell to the ground with a loud thud.

We moved forward in a formation being careful not to step out of it. This way, we're protected from all sides in case we get overrun.

I swung my machete slicing the walker and making it fall. My foot smashed its brain as I went back to the formation.

Rick cleared the front path and I stepped over a dead corpse. A walker fell and Glenn stabbed it through the eye. We made an efficient team.

I can't believe Rick wanted me to sit this one out. This is what I call fun.

"Don't break rank!" Rick warned.

"We need that." T-Dog retorted.

I glanced at him as he picked up a shied of some sort. The kind cops use in movies all the time. I didn't think they'd use them in real life.

A walker went after T-Dog and he pushed it to the ground with the shield.

"T." Rick called.

Breaking rank made us vulnerable to threats around us. We didn't know the exact number of walkers inside the prison nor outside. It was a risk we needed to take in order to survive and have a roof over our heads.

"Maggie." Rick exclaimed.

She ran ahead and stabbed the walker in the head. I looked around as she took her spot next to me. It seemed way too clear.

Yesterday it looked like there were dozens of other walkers. Rick checked a door before noticing something behind the corner of it.

He swore under his breath and signalled for us to lean against the walls. My back hit the cold concrete wall as I took a deep breath.

I was sweating from the heat and the energy put into killing these walkers. It was then that walkers in full on uniforms started coming our way.

Those uniform suits were built for enemies which means we can't penetrate them. Daryl shot an arrow at a walker and it bounced off of its face helmet.

Rick went forward trying to kill it while one exited from the door Rick checked. It lunged at Maggie. I hit one with my machete but it was no use.

The helmets protected their brains and we couldn't break through them. I pushed the walker away with my leg and tripped over a corpse dropping my machete.

My hand got cut when I tried to hold on to a wall. I hissed in pain before getting up and pulling out a rag. I wrapped it around my hand to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, that was the same hand that I held my machete with.

I grimaced as I grabbed it and my cut started stinging. Can't worry about that right now. I got up as the walker lunged at me. My other hand held it by the neck as I tried to stab it.

It was not successful so I pushed the walker once more and looked up. Daryl and Rick were able to lock the gate filled with more walkers.

Maggie was once again attacked by a walker and she struggled against it. She pushed its helmet up and stabbed it underneath its head. It fell down and we looked at Maggie in surprised.

"See that?" She breathed.

Her voice was laced with excitement at achieving what the rest of us couldn't. The others, including me, didn't waste time in pulling back the helmets and killing the walkers.

As I stabbed the last one, I shifted the machete into my other hand. It stung to hold it.

"Stop." Rick ordered.

I looked up to see him warning Glenn who wanted to go back to the group and let them in. They were all watching us from behind the fence. I noticed Ryan wasn't with them. He was probably at the vehicle on guard duty.

"It-it looks secure." Glenn commented.

The walls seemed strong enough to hold back walkers and the fence was extra protection. However, we still had no clue what was inside.

I don't know that much about prisons but I'm pretty sure it can contain a lot of people. Or in this case, walkers.

"Not from the look of that courtyard over there. And that's a civilian." Daryl pointed out.

I looked at the walker body he pointed at. A woman with regular clothes was on the ground. Maybe she was just visiting when the outbreak hit. It doesn't have to mean that there's a breach.

"So the interior could be overrun with walkers from outside the prison." T-Dog commented.

Hate to admit it, but there's a high chance of that. Prisoners could've tried to escape using explosives and that could've broken down a wall. If not more of them.

This prison is starting to be less and less homey and more dangerous.

"If there is a breach then that means one of the walls could be down. We can't rebuild this place if that's the case." I replied.

We're fighters and survivors but that won't help us build walls. If we could, we wouldn't need this place. We could just build our own place.

Then we would be able to make secret exits and expand whenever we wanted. This way we're constricted.

"We can't risk a blind spot. We have to push in." Rick retorted.

He went forward and we followed. I hesitantly took the machete into my right hand trying to block out the pain. Hershel can take a look at it once we're finished here. I'm sure Rick will love to use this wound as an excuse to bench me.

We stepped inside the prison to see it completely vacant. At least the cell block that we were in. It was extremely dirty with trash laying around and tables pushed aside. I checked the inside trying to be as quiet as possible.

My surroundings were clear and I noticed Rick going up to a tower thingy. He took the keys from a dead walker and opened the doors to the other part of the cell block.

We went in to see empty cells. Most of the doors were wide open as if someone let all of the prisoners go free.

I stepped over a pile of rubbish and checked the cells. Each one was equally empty. Except upstairs apparently. I could hear groans from walkers. My feet carried me upstairs and I saw the walkers in the cells.

Rick and Daryl glanced at me as I joined them. Daryl took out his knife and stabbed a walker. I did the same with the other one. I guess it's moving in time.