CHAPTER NINE
ix. WE COULD MAKE IT HERE

RUTH

HER NIMBLE FINGERS ran along the wire, feeling the rust come off on them. Ruth rubbed them together, the sensation an odd and puzzling one. Her eyes trailed down the prison fencing. A walker forced its face against the fence, though it resembled a child with its nose pressed up against the glass of a fish tank. It growled and moaned in her ear, and Ruth closed her eyes softly. Her hand reached down to her knife. She felt the way the cold blade seeped its temperature through her jeans and a small shiver ran up her spine.

The noise was hushed with the squish of a blade entering their skull. Ruth glanced to the side, watching as Rick removed the knife from the corpse's body.

"I had it." Ruth muttered, her eyes watching the way his arms tensed with the motion.

"And yet, you didn't do anything." He replied, a hand running through his growing beard. His blue eyes shined back at her. They seemed a dull hue from months ago, but they still held a gorgeous color.  They were a sea of blue, and Ruth seemed mesmerized by the way they gazed back at her own.

"Ready?" Rick asked, his brow raised slightly. Ruth glanced around at the people in the circle, watching as each held a knife tightly in their palms. It was an army that was created in the winter, not broken spirits.

"Yea." Ruth replied, her knife raising up to her chin. The blade pointed away from her like a scorpion's tail. With her reply, Rick unlatched the gate and forced it open. The circle opened slightly after each person made it into the courtyard. The formation was uniform, only breaking when somebody lunged forwards.

T-Dog was the first. Ruth glanced to her right as she watched him slam the metal object into the skull of a walker.

"Daryl." Rick said, his eyes trailing over the one approaching the circle of six. Ruth couldn't see anybody but Rick and T-Dog, but she knew somewhere behind her were the other three. It was comforting to know that the only place she needed to watch was in front of her. With each moment, she watched one approach. It limped along, its jaw slack. Growls emitted from its mouth, but she knew it couldn't be saying sentences.

Her knife raised, and Ruth stepped slightly out of formation. With a quick jab, the beast fell to the ground.

"Get tight! Get tight!" Glenn shouted from behind her. Ruth's feet carried her backwards quickly. Her heel met with a fallen body, though, and the sensation of falling came over her. From behind her, a hand caught her elbow. Her eyes trailed to Daryl's, his own wide ones looking down at her.

Ruth nodded, and his hand dropped from her arm. They have your back, she thought. Whatever she originally thought of Daryl must have been wrong. He was respectable, even with his snarky attitude. Like Rick, he was honorable. It just was just overshadowed by the composure the redneck held.

"Don't break rank!" Rick shouted, his eyes following T-Dog as he dashed to a discarded guard's shield.

"We need it!" T-Dog replied, his fingers clutching the shield. With a grunt, he charged the nearest walker. It collapsed to the ground and numerous shouts from the others, including Ruth, sounded through the emptier courtyard. Maggie followed through with his action by hitting the fallen walker with a machete, blood splattering into the air.

Ruth flinched as blood speckled itself onto her face. It wasn't like normal blood. It wasn't hot. It was cold. Her feet seemed aquiver under the weight of her body. Her knees managed to knock into each other as she nervously rocked back and forth on wobbly limbs.

"Almost there." Rick announced from beside the woman. Her eyes met his with a gaze of dysphoria. He caught the look she gave and managed to supply a single nod of his head. Slowly, she watched his head turn the corner. What she didn't expect was for him to snap to them instantly, his eyes wide with a look of dismay. "Shit." His arm threw itself around Ruth's shoulder, and he slammed her body against the brick wall. She knew it wasn't on purpose, but the dull ache of her spine lingered for moments after.

Rick's arm was stretched over her like a seatbelt. It held a sense of safety that Ruth appreciated. It meant that he cared, even with the lives of the others also at risk. Ruth raised her knife once again, her body leaning forward in an attempt to see around the man who held her in place. Her eyes met two walkers, both who wore guard uniforms. Her head tilted to the side. If they were wearing the armor, then how were they dead?

We're all infected. Rick's words echoed. The girl shook her head, stepping slightly forward to stab one. An arrow bounced off its helmet from Daryl's crossbow, not seeming phased from the impact. Her fingers wrapped around the helmet it wore, and she drove her knife into the helmet itself. What she didn't account for was the fact that the knife wouldn't go through. The beast growled at her, its arms reaching out to grab her long hair and arms. Her foot met its chest with the force of an army, and it fell to the ground at her feet.  Its mouth remained wide open as hissed at her from below.

Her foot stayed on its chest, holding the monster down. Ruth watched as Daryl and Rick closed the gate that led to another courtyard. Many decayed prisoners lingered beyond the fencing, each one rattling on the wire. Ruth watched as more guards made their way to the group. She backed up to where Maggie stood, her hands pushing the walkers away from herself.

Maggie dug her own knife under one of the guards' helmet, killing the walker. Maggie turned back to the group, her eyes wide and a smile upon her face. "See that?" She asked.

Ruth immediately went to action, her dagger slipping under the plastic helmet. With a quick jab, the walker slumped on the ground. Ruth let out a laugh of disbelief. She watched the others do similar motions. Her mind raced, feeling the pure adrenaline hit her like a drug. Her muscles ached, but it was a feeling she found somehow enjoyable.

"It looks secure."

Daryl scowled down at the corpse that lay by his feet. "Not from the look of that courtyard over there. And that's a civilian." He said, his finger trailing to the woman on the ground.

"So the interior could be over run by walkers from outside the prison." T-Dog replied.

"Well, if there's walls, then, what are we gonna do? We can't rebuild this whole place." Glenn asked, his hands gesturing to the now almost quiet courtyard. Ruth could just barely hear the moans of the prisoners from down the way and the rattling of the fence that came with it.

"We can't risk a blind spot. We have to push in." Rick said with a sigh. Ruth watched as he strolled silently to a door on her right. She soon followed after Daryl, whose dirt covered arms tensed as he walked. The six of them stopped at the door, watching as Daryl slowly pulled it open. It creaked and groaned in the silent room, and Ruth's eyes took awhile to adjust.

What lay before her eyes made her lips twitch. She had to fight back the urge to smile at the sight. Echoes of her footsteps shattered the silence, but it only assured her that she wasn't going deaf.

"It's quiet." Ruth whispered with a small smile, her words trailing over to Maggie.

"Yea." Maggie smiled in return, a hand falling onto Ruth's shoulder. "It's perfect."

The small group continued through the room, each one only using hand gestures to communicate. Rick moved at a faster pace, his eyes darting along the walls and floors. They scanned them harshly to look for anything that could possibly cause harm to them. Ruth's feet carried her further inside into another section of the empty chamber.

Her breath almost felt ripped out of her lungs as she stood at the entrance. A dead silent cell block lay before her. The footsteps of the others were the only thing she heard, leaving for an almost eerie setting. Daryl walked silently up the stairs, his steps making the wire creak slightly beneath his feet. Ruth found herself following behind him but with a distance between them. Daryl didn't seem to be one who would like somebody right next to them when he was sneaking around.

Ruth's fingers ran down the railing of the upper floor as she walked. Her knife remained at her side as she peered into each cell. Some fortunately were empty, but some held a corpse that was truly dead. Blood splattered on the cells behind their heads, and a smell that was ever so putrid littered the halls. It snuck into her nose and the stench of decay was nearly overpowering.

Her head snapped behind her as she heard the rattling of a cell door. It echoed through the silent room. With the metal walls, the sound was loud, even if it was just a whisper. It hurt Ruth's ears in the hush. She watched Daryl and Rick advance further down the opposite row of her.

Ruth jumped when hands reached from the cells, almost latching onto the men. They growled loudly in the cell, their arms flailing. They seemed to flop like they had no actual support from the muscles that surrounded the limbs.

Rick turned, his eyes moving around the cell block. They locked on her own with a soft gaze.

And for one of the first times in months, she saw him smile.

••

Ruth leaned her back against the wall, her legs nearly collapsing from exhaustion. One of the bodies fell from the second floor, hitting the ground with a loud thump. "Home, sweet, home." Glenn murmured.

"For the time being." Rick replied.

Lori shifted from her standing position beside Ruth. Her arms were crossed gently over her growing stomach. "It's secure?" She asked. Lori held a weary stare at her husband. Ruth felt Lori's hand place itself on her shoulder for support, but Ruth didn't really mind.

Ruth readjusted Lori's bag on her back, feeling the weight sink into her shoulders. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't pleasant either.

"This cell block is."

Hershel glanced around the room, his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat. "What about the rest of the prison?"

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary." Rick continued, his hands coming to his hips. Blood still coated his face, but it didn't necessarily phase him, it seemed. He watched for the other's reactions. They all gazed back wearily, but Ruth felt a sense of gratitude for the prison. It was a safe haven for the time being. She could possibly get some rest.

"We'll sleep in the cells?" Beth asked.

"I found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set, too."

"I ain't sleeping in no cage. I'll take the perch." Daryl announced.

Ruth handed Lori her bag, and she watched as the woman strolled up the stairs with Carol. Meanwhile, Ruth slowly lowered herself to the floor, feeling the way her legs almost gave out beneath her.

Rick stood across from her, his head looking up at the windows above her head. Soon they were the only two left in the main area, and the silence commenced once again. She thought back to the way he was acting last night. The way he paced up and down the courtyard fence repeatedly, checking for errors. He still held himself with tense shoulders. Ruth licked her lips, a hand running itself through her hair.

"You can relax a little, you know." Ruth teased, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I can't." He mumbled in reply. "The prison. It's safe in here, but what about everywhere else?"

Ruth watched him walk over to her. Rick too leaned his back against the wall, slumping down to the floor. Ruth pulled her knees up to her chest, but managed to keep her stare on him. "You got us here, Rick. We made it. I know it's been hard these past couple of months, but you did it."

"It's not-"

"It is safe. Right here and right in this moment, we are secure. The rest of the prison? Maybe not. But we can get to it. Eventually, it will be a home." Ruth said, her fingers trailing on the dirty floor. They bumped against Rick's hand, but he didn't seem to care. "We just have to build it. We can make this our home."

Rick finally met the girl's eyes. Ruth felt her heart leap a bit, but she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the way the blues in his eyes seemed to shine brighter. Or was it the way his stare didn't flicker from her own? They glittered with a way that looked as if he was about to shed tears, but she knew that wasn't the case. The blues were an ocean. They held the almost turquoise hue of a gem. Was it just the fact that he was looking at her without pure hatred? His friend hated the shit out of her, so why didn't he? She couldn't tell. All that really mattered was that his head nodded slightly, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes." Rick said with a sigh. "Yes we can."

••

new chapter! hope it was okay lovelies!

i apologize for such a long time in between updates :( school has been a whole lot of stress and i just needed to sleep when i did get free time.

as summer gets closer, updates will be more frequent <3

love you guys so so much

cass xx