Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 40 (Outnumbered and Outgunned)

When the group got back, Carl and Carol were down by the gate to let them in. Rick got out to tell them about Daryl leaving and Oscar dying whilst CJ drove the others up to the prison.

Whilst they were out, a group of people had gotten into the prison and Carl had rescued them from walkers in the basement. Two men, a woman and a younger boy who can't have been much older than Beth.

CJ barely spared them a glance as she went past them and into the cell block and headed to her cell.

She kicked her boots off and lay down on her bed, grimacing and quickly turning onto her back when she leant on her injured arm. She had no energy after the night they'd had as a group. As she lay there, staring up at the bunk above her she felt tears begin to sting her eyes. Whether it was exhaustion, sadness, anger she had no idea. She closed her eyes and tried to get some rest.

Her mind briefly wondered to the fight. She thought about how when they were shooting, she didn't allow the fact that she was shooting at the living cross her mind. She didn't even know how many she took out.

The fact that she couldn't see them made it easier. She didn't know them and they had hurt the people she loved. Much to her surprise, the more she thought about it, the less it bothered her. Not because she didn't care about killing people, but because she had done it to protect her group. Her family. Something she would and always will do.

CJ tried her best not to worry about Daryl. He could handle himself out there and he wasn't alone. What she told, or rather yelled at, Glenn was right. Nothing she or anyone else could have said would have convinced him to leave Merle alone again.

When he first walked away, part of her was holding out hope that he'd change his mind and come back with them, but she shut down that thought immediately. Merle was his brother, that overruled whatever connection he had with the group with whom he'd spent nearly a year.

It shouldn't have been a big deal, but it was for CJ. The friendship she and Daryl had meant a lot to her, more than even she realised until he made the choice to leave. It felt selfish of her to take his decision personally, but she did. It felt like he was walking out on her. Like the time they had spent together since meeting in that small camp in Atlanta was just washed away.

Regardless, she didn't regret staying out of the argument of getting him to stay. If she wanted to leave the group, she wouldn't want everyone yelling at her either. Letting him go was the right choice. If he wanted to be with them, he would be.

When she woke up a couple of hours later, dried tears coated the skin on her face. The only light source she could see was the very weak moonlight through the narrow windows on the cell block. The coldness of her concrete cell seemed to bounce around the walls creating a draft that made her shiver and she sat up.

The wound on her arm radiated an aching pain around almost he entire right side from where she had rolled over during her rest. It was a pain that was hard to ignore, especially when she noticed the red dots on the shirt sleeve that was still tied tightly around the wound.

She rose from her bed with a groan, trying her best to stretch out her body without paining herself even more. She went out to meet the others, who were scattered around the cell block. She made her way over to Rick, who was standing outside of a cell where Hershel was checking on a fast asleep Michonne.

Judging by the look on Rick's face when he looked up at her as she approached him, the pain she was in was showing on her face.

"CJ, you okay?" he asked. "That looks like it's bleeding again."

"It's fine, I just leant on it in my sleep," she replied. The slight break in her voice opposed her words. She turned to Hershel and watched for a moment as he was crouched next to the bed in the cell. "Is she okay?"