Make it Till You Don't

Survivors

"Go back. Go back! Move!" Rick yelled as Walkers started coming around the corner, ushering us back the way we came but there were Walkers in that direction too.

"This way!" Daryl shouted, leading us in another direction. Glenn and Maggie went to turn a corner, stumbling back as Walkers appeared.

Not able to go back the way we came from, we took turns wherever we could, more and more Walkers gaining on us. Finding a door, Rick motioned for us to get inside before closing the door, all of us crouching down.

"Where's Glenn and Maggie?" Rick whispered, turning to look at us.

No one gave an answer. "We have to go back." Hershel whispered to him.

"But which way?" Daryl asked, not having a clue like the rest of us.

I shook my head, worried. "I don't know, when I looked back they were gone. All there was, were Walkers."

Rick stood up to look out the door, opening the door quietly. We filed out, going back to the right. "Maggie? Glenn?" Hershel called out every few seconds, whispering.

I stopped in my tracks as he screamed out. "That's Hershel!" I told Rick.

"Come on." Rick began going back, pulling his gun out to kill the Walker that was biting on Hershel's leg.

"No!" Maggie cried out as she and Glenn came around the corner in front of us.

Rick and Glenn bent down to grab Hershel as I saw Walkers coming around the corner from all the shouting. "Rick, we gotta go!"

"Daryl!" Rick yelled out to him as Daryl walked forward, shooting one in the head. As Walkers began to surround us again, we went down the hall Glenn and Maggie came from.

"Go! Go!" We came up to a door locked shut with handcuffs and T-Dog walked forward, snapping the chain of the cuffs. "Open the door!"

Throwing the door open, we rushed in as I helped T-Dog hold the doors shut. I looked over to him in fear of being trapped in a room and Hershel being bit. The Walkers slammed on the door harshly, almost knocking me off balance as Daryl came to switch spots with T-Dog as he put something between the door handles to keep it shut.

"You got it? Have you got it?" Daryl asked the both of us.

I looked over as Glenn, Maggie, and Rick began to rush about. "Go! We got this." I told him, nodding over to the others.

"Hold him down." Rick said, lifting Hershel's pant leg up as he took his belt off, wrapping it tightly to cut the circulation off.

Knowing what he was about to do, I slid my ax over to him on the ground. "Rick!" I motioned my head to the ax.

He took hold of it, getting a good grip. "Only one way to keep you alive." He mumbled out as he began whacking at Hershel's leg. I covered my mouth, whimpering as I watched Hershel pass out from Rick chopping his leg off.

"Oh..." Rick gasped out, taking in what he just did, dropping the ax to the floor. "He's bleeding out."

Daryl shot up off the ground, aiming behind Rick. Shining my flashlight in that direction, I saw five people standing there, wearing prison uniforms.

"Holy shit."

Daryl walked around the others, stepping closer. "Who the hell are you?"

"Who the hell are you?" One of the prisoners questioned back.

"He's bleeding out, we gotta go back." Rick announced, turning to Glenn and Maggie. "Come around here, put pressure on the knee."

"Why don't you come on outta there?" Daryl motioned to the entryway. "Slow and steady."

The first one nodded over to Hershel as they walked out. "What happened to him?"

Daryl put his finger on the trigger. "He got bit."

"Bit?" The guy asked, pulling out a gun. T-Dog stepped forward, now that the Walkers outside calmed down, aiming at the man.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dayl warned him. "Easy now, Nobody needs to get hurt."

Seeing we were okay, I walked away from the door, bending down beside Rick and slowly grabbed my ax off the ground.

"You have medical supplies?" Glenn asked as he marched past them, not caring one bit about the gun in the man's hand.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" The bigger man, holding a stick, asked Glenn. I walked forward a couple steps, turning my head as the Walkers began banging on the door again.

"Who the hell are you people, anyway?" The man asked, pointing his gun around.

"Don't look like no rescue team." The blonde man spoke up.

"If a rescue team is what you're waiting for, don't." Rick told him. "Come on, we gotta go." Rick began picking Hershel up as Glenn came back with a metal table. Rick looked up as they placed Hershel onto the table. "T, the door!"

"Are you crazy? Don't open that!" Another prisoner shouted as T-Dog went to open the doors.

"We got this!" Rick yelled as T-Dog took down the Walker that came in, Rick wheeling the table out the door. I followed after them, covering the back. "Daryl!" Rick called out. "Daryl!"

We pushed our way through the halls, taking out any Walkers we came across when Rick stopped at the sound of an opening door. "Stop, stop." Looking behind us, we saw the shadows of the prisoners on the wall as they came around the corner. We continued on as Daryl unlocked the door we came through. "Open the door! It's Hershel!" Rick shouted as we made our way to the cell block. "Carl! Come on!"

Carl ran to unlock the door, everyone coming to see what was going on. As they got through the door, T-Dog closed the door, before he and I went back to Daryl, who was at the door we came from. A few seconds later, the prisoners walked in. "That's far enough." He told them.

"Cell block C." The man with the gun spoke up. "Cell four- that's mine, gringo. Let me in."

"Today's your lucky day, fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia. You're free to go." Daryl told the group.

He just ignored Daryl, motioning to the cell block. "What you got going on in there?"

"It ain't none of your concern." Daryl retorted back.

The man pulled his gun back out, walking forward. "Don't be telling me what's my concern."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I warned, staring him down before looking over to the other four.

"Chill, man. Dude's leg is messed up." The bigger guy spoke up, trying to diffuse the situation. "Besides, we're free now. Why are we still in here?"

Daryl nodded to him. "The man's got a point."

"Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady." One of the others spoke up.

"A group of civilians breaking into a prison you got no business being in-" The man spoke up again. "Got me thinking there ain't no place for us to go."

"Why don't you go find out." Daryl glared at him.

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Published: 05/07/2024