Chained Book 1 (Daryl/M!Reader)

Wandering

Three months. The Golf Club had lasted 3 months before the group had decided to wander once more.

It had come and gone faster than they thought it would. It was now the beginning of spring, guessing to be around early April.

Amy had been the one who kept track of time well. And now she was gone. It has been nearly five months since the incident at the farm. By (M/n)'s estimations at least.

The group had managed to all stay alive and safe. The Walkers barely moved in the freezing weather. It was easy for the group to camp out from house to house with no problem once they had abandoned the Golf Club.

Food, though... Food was a problem. Staying warm was easier than finding their next meal. They relied heavily on canned goods found in the houses and Daryl's hunting of rabbits, deer, and squirrels. Which there were plenty of due to the walkers not being able to move out there. Any walkers they met outside were frozen and unable to even crawl.

But now it was warming up once more. And for some reason, the walkers were not rotting away completely, like should have been by now. It made absolutely no sense. There should have been only so long that the walkers could stay functional before they couldn't move anymore. It threw the whole group for a loop.

Lori was getting huge, and Hershel was very determined to find a safe place to hunker down for a while before she popped. They needed an easy to guard and safe place for her to give birth and stay for a month or two for the baby to get a bit stronger before they moved on.

(M/n) was looking closely at a map with both Glenn and Rick. Listening to them talk about a town nearby, he spots something that sounded promising if they could clear it out.

"Guys... Guys!" Rick pauses mid sentence and turns, catching where (M/n) was pointing on the map.

"A prison?"

Nodding enthusiasticly, (M/n) begins to bounce lightly, unknown to it himself, but his friends noticed right away. Rick had to hold in a chuckle.

"If we can clear it out, we can hunker down there until the baby is born and stronger before we keep heading towards the coast. We would have walls to protect us!"

Glenn nods, but Rick still looks skeptical. "Most prisons around these states aren't walled. They're fenced in."

(M/n)'s brow furrowed as he thought it all out.

"Then... We clear it out, fortify the fences if they are still intact, and use the watch towers prisons usually have to keep watch over the fences. Walkers should be easy to get through the fences. Lure any inside towards the fences as we can, and take them out before making our way towards the towers. It would still have towers, right?"

(M/n) smiled widely as Rick nodded. He folded the map back up and turned. "We will consult with everyone else. See what they think."

(M/n) snorted. "We've been wondering for months, I'm pretty sure everyone will be on board."

...

(M/n) had not been wrong. Lori especially wanted the prison badly. Her whole body was aching like you wouldn't believe.

So here they were now, staring wide-eyed at a prison with tall, barbwired cemented walls.

"Holy shit." (M/n) exclaimed. His mouth opened and closed like a fish. He could feel rather than see the group nodding along with his shock.

"How do we get in?" Maggie questioned.

Rick took out his binoculars and began to scout. "Looks like the front gate is open."