Make it Till You Don't

Into the Prision

First thing in the morning, everyone prepared for the plan Rick had in mind to take the prison. Half the group were to gain the attention of Walkers to the gate, pop off as many as they can.

While Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, and I were to head in and clean out the courtyard. One by one, we took the Walkers out, keeping the tight circle Rick used as a strategy. "Get tight! Get tight!" Rick shouted to us, making us close in the circle. "Don't break rank!" He yelled at T-Dog.

He ran over to one of the guards, grabbing the shield. "We need that." He turned and rammed a Walker coming at him before Maggie took it out.

"Almost there." Rick said, as the two fell back into formation. Rick looked around the corner before quickly hiding against the wall, us following. Glancing ahead, two dead guards came from behind the dumpster, two more from around the corner we were at.

Daryl shot a bow at it, but the face shield caused it to bounce off. We rushed forward, attempting to take them down. Seeing the prisoners coming from the courtyard, I went after the guard Rick was fighting, holding it back as he and Daryl rushed to close the gate.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, holding the Walker back with my arm that held my ax, trying to get to my knife. I stumbled back a couple steps, tripping on a body that lay behind me.

As the Walker stepped forward, Daryl came up behind it, stabbing it through the back of its neck. I watched as Rick took care of the last one, allowing me to relax my muscles as I let out a breath.

Daryl helped me up as everyone looked around the courtyard to make sure it was safe. Glenn began to head back to where the others were waiting to let them in.

"Stop." Rick told him.

"Well, it looks secure." Glenn looked at him confused.

"Not from the look of that courtyard over there." Daryl pointed out, motioning to the Walkers beating against the gate. "And that's a civilian." He pointed to one on the ground.

"A visitor maybe?" I theorized, glancing from it to the others. "Could've been here when the place fell."

Daryl shook his head. "Doubt it."

"So the interior could be overrun with Walkers from outside the prison." T-Dog stated what we feared.

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

Rick pointed behind him. "We can't risk a blind spot, we have to push in."

Following behind Rick, we walked into a gated stairwell, leading to an entrance to the prison. Opening the door and closing it behind us, we noticed how quiet it was. Glancing out the room, it had tables and a guard tower, with one door leading further in and the other into a cell block.

We fanned out, looking everything over and it seemed for the most part, everything was alright. Rick made his way into the tower as I made my way to the door to the cell block, looking through the bars.

I turned to Daryl as he had his crossbow aimed in front of him, giving him a shrug while shaking my head slightly. Rick came down with a set of keys as he came and unlocked the door to the cell block.

Walking through and looking at each cell, it seemed most were empty and a few had dead bodies. It looked like this place fell pretty early and it was contained for the most part. Rick and Daryl checked the second floor, killing two Walkers locked in cells before Rick gave us a nod.

Glenn and Maggie went to get the others, while T-Dog and I helped move the bodies as Rick dropped the two over the rail. "We need to burn these."

"Yeah, we'll burn them with the others in the courtyard." T-Dog agreed, dropping the one he was carrying, me doing the same as the others filed in.

"What do you think?" Rick asked everyone.

Glenn began walking to a cell. "Home sweet home."

"For the time being." Rick added.

"It's secure?" Carol asked, looking around the place.

Rick nodded his head. "This cell block is."

Hershel looked over to Rick. "What about the rest of the prison?"

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary." Rick told everyone his plan.

Beth looked to the cells. "We sleep in the cells?" She asked as I made my way up the stairs, looking for the cleanest cell I could find.

"I found keys on some guards, Daryl has a set, too." Rick informed everyone. When the hell did he snag some keys?

I shook the thought off, walking into one of the cells. I glanced around, taking note that there was little to no blood and decided it would do. "Dibs on this one!"

"I ain't sleeping in no cage." Daryl spoke up, walking up the stairs. "I'll take the perch."

I stepped out of my cell, seeing Lori and Carol had made their way up the stairs, Carol holding my bag out to me. "Thanks." I told her, grabbing it.

"No problem." She smiled, ushering Lori into one of the cells to settle in.

I went back into my cell, throwing my bag on the top bunk before sitting on the bottom one. I took a moment, smiling at the progress made before I went back downstairs and helped T-Dog take the bodies outside to burn later. "Should we do it now?"

"Nah, we can do it tomorrow. I say we take the win and enjoy it." T-Dog replied, looking out at the field.

I nudged him on the shoulder. "Don't lie, you just wanna sleep on that mattress don't you?"

He turned to me, smirking. "Guilty. Been thinking about it since last night."

The both of us chuckled as I motioned my head back to the prison. "Well, let's get back inside so you can fulfill that dream."

When we came back inside, Rick, Daryl, and Hershel were gathered around a table with weapons and gear lying on it. "What's going on?"

"Snagged some stuff off the guards." Daryl replied, holding up a gun.

I nodded as we walked over, looking at everything. "Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers. Not sure how they'd work on Walkers, but we'll take 'em." Rick said, placing the Chaser back down.

Daryl picked up a helmet as I scrunched up my nose at the goo falling off it. "I ain't wearing this shit." He grimaced.

"Dunno, the goo could add to your 'Don't fuck with Daryl Dixon' vibe." I sniggered as I used air quotations, watching as he slung the goo off his hand in disgust.

"We could boil 'em." T-Dog suggested, holding up a glove covered in goo, holding it out to me.

"Ain't got enough firewood in the whole forest. No." Daryl told T-Dog, dropping the helmet on the table. "Besides, we made it this far without 'em right?" He grabbed a baton, swinging it like a bat.

"Hershel." Carol came in, motioning to the cell block.

Rick looked at her. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah. Nothing to worry about." Carol assured, walking away with Hershel.

"Alright, I want to push forward." Rick told the three of us. "Grab what you need."

I turned to T-Dog, patting his shoulder in sympathy. "Guess your dream of sleeping on a mattress will have to wait."

I walked off, going to my cell to grab my ax before stopping by Glenn and Maggie's cell to let them know we are going forward. Meeting back with Rick, he handed Carl the keys, looking at us. "Let's go."

Using Daryl's keys, we unlocked the other door, using the formation from earlier, only this time Hershel had joined us. We glanced in each room we passed, seeing mainly dead and mutilated bodies. Each turn we made, Glenn sprayed arrows on the walls to let us know how to get back.

I was startled when Maggie let out a yelp, everyone pointing our flashlights to see she had bumped into Glenn. Continuing forward, we came to another turn on our right, leading to a dead end that leads left and right. Rick looked to the right as Daryl looked to the left, not seeing anything. We went left and got to another corner when we heard growling.

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Published: 05/03/2024