Skeletons - 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 23 - 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅

Daryl started gathering things they could use as weapons, laying out what they had on one of the tables. Rick soon returned, leaving T to pack things away with Carl, and they were left to battle alongside the prisoners.

"Why do I need this, when I got this?" Tomas asked, holding a crowbar in one hand and his gun in the other.

"You don't fire guns. Not unless your back's up against a wall. Noise attracts 'em, really riles 'em up." Daryl explained lowly.

"And unless you have a box of bullets in your pocket it's not gonna make much of a dent." Iris added, pushing her lips at the six round revolver.

"We'll go in two by two." Rick decided, gesturing at Andrew. "Daryl will run point with Iris. I'll bring up the rear with you. Stay tight, hold formation no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head."

"That's where you aim. These things only go down with a head shot." Daryl added sharply.

"You ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man." Tomas scoffed. Iris and Daryl made eye contact, saying more than any words could. These idiots knew nothing, and they'd get themselves killed. Hey, that just meant more food for the group.

"They're not men. They're something else." Iris said pointedly. "Just remember to go for the brain."

Daryl led the way down the hallway, following signs toward Cell Block D. Iris held her flashlight up, her other hand gripping a machete. The prisoner's shuffled impatiently behind them. Loudly.

"Man, it's too damn dark in here." Oscar grumbled, gripping an axe clumsily.

"Hold it up high out in front of you." Daryl whispered, motioning where he should adjust his stance. "You're gonna hear them before you see them." There was a soft clicking of a stone or pebble down the hallway.

"It's coming!" Axel shouted, urgently shushed by Rick. Daryl held up a hand as the snarling got louder, the walker's shadow illuminated on the hallway wall. They stumbled around the corner slowly, and Daryl held up a finger as he began to count. The prisoners had other ideas.

Big Tiny led the charge as they all started screaming, weapons raised high as they charged the walkers. Rick, Iris and Daryl stood, watching half in amusement, half in horror as they held the walkers and beat them as if they were alive. Holding their arms back, pickaxe to the stomach, kicking them on the ground. Axel stabbed the walker in the gun about sixteen times, and it still wrestled against Big Tiny's hold.

Iris shoved past him in frustration, stabbing the walker through the eye while Big Tiny stumbled back. Daryl shot an arrow through the other, the commotion coming to a swift end.

"Let's go." Rick grumbled, motioning them onward. They kept going, pulling back into formation, where they found a few more.

"It's gotta be the brain." Daryl announced loudly. "Not the stomach, not the heart— the brain." He shot it through the head, the body crumpling to the ground.

"I hear you. The brain." Axel replied. Another walker staggered forward, Oscar stepping up to bat. He bashed the axe down into it's head, and the walker went down.

"Like that?" He asked, moving back as more came around the corner.

"Uh-huh." Daryl agreed. Axel took the next one, stabbing the sharpened end of a broomstick through it's face. Rick took care of the last, wielding the machete with practiced expertise.

"Stay in tight formation. No more prison riot crap." He instructed. Axel, Andrew, Oscar and Tomas were on the front line, taking them down as they flooded into the hall. They started to let a few through, easily taken care of by Iris, Daryl and Rick. Big Tiny stood at the back, and they let him handle a couple, but one came up behind him, an exposed bone tearing straight through his flesh. He screamed in pain, Rick whipping around to help him, but it was too late. Mortally wounded with walker blood inside him. Tomas turned, using his gun to fire off three shots, taking care of the last walker.