FALLEN ANGELS.
chapter two, are we invincible?
[ season three, episode one ]
THE NEXT MORNING, ODESSA has to beg her father to let her go with him and the others to clear out the court yard. He eventually caves, causing the teen to grin with excitement.
Her knife is in hand as they enter the courtyard. As they move deeper into the courtyard, the group keeps their backs to each other. They don't break rank as they kill any walker that approaches them.
A walker came snarling towards Odessa, she quickly bunches its prison jumper in her hand and pushes the blade into its brain.
She releases the prison suit, the walker falling to the ground at her feet.
She kills another quickly
And that when T-Dog breaks the rank. "Don't break rank!" Rick shouts at him. Odessa looks over her shoulder, catching sight of T-Dog grabbing a riot shield off of the ground.
"We need that!" T-Dog yells back to her father. A walker makes its way over to him, T-Dog knocks it away with the riot shield in his hand.
Odessa moves fast, breaking rank despite her father's shouts for her not to. Odessa slams her foot down onto the head of the that T-Dog shoved away. She looks to the man. "I got you," she grins at one of her two best friends.
T-Dog smirks back.
"Almost there," Rick encourages as the duo rejoin the group. Her father glances around the corner but he quickly moves back. The look on his face tells them that there's more walkers around the corner.
Odessa stands beside Daryl. Her eyes settle on the dumpster as two walkers in full riot gear stumble out from behind it.
Then two more come face-to-face with them.
Odessa grimaces as one of the walkers in riot gear sets its gaze on her. She surges forward, attempting to stab her knife through the mask. It doesn't even crack. No luck.
The walker reaches for her but she swiftly ducks away for it. When she stands to her full height, she stands behind the walker. It doesn't have time to fully turn around before Odessa's boot covered connects with its back. It falls to the ground, giving Odessa the opportunity to stab it in the back of its head.
She rips her knife from its skull before glaring down at the walker. She spits on it, muttering a quick, "fuck you."
When she rejoins the others, all of the riot-clad walkers are dead and the other gate is shut, keeping the rest of the walkers at bay.
"It looks secure," Glenn says.
"Not from the look of that courtyard over there," Daryl motions to the walker infested courtyard. And then to a dead walker. "And that's a civilian."
"So the interior could be overrun with walkers from outside the prison." T-Dog asks.
"Well, if there's walls down, what're we gonna do? We can't rebuild this whole place." Glenn states.
"We can't risk a blind spot. We have to push in," Rick informs them. They know what that means. So, they push in further. Daryl leads them through a caged walkway and into the prison itself.
As soon as they enter the prison, the smell of decay hits Odessa's nostrils. The smell makes her gag, causing Maggie to glance over at her.
They walk into the common area, paper are strewn across the floor, old blood is splattered all around the room. The sound of water dripping continuously scratches Odessa's brain in the wrong way.
Rick unlocks the bar door to the cell block itself, having found a set of keys off of a dead warden outside.
The smell gets even stronger as they enter the cell block. Odessa brings her hand to her nose, trying to block out the heinous smell as she and Daryl walk up the steps to the second floor of the cell block. Rick is fast to join them.
They walk along the catwalk, looking at the cells. Blood and paper, water. As they walk past another cell with the door closed, a pair of arms reach out, trying to grab at the trio. Odessa jumps back with a cry, Rick swiftly steadies his daughter by pulling her into him.
Another pair of arms shoot out of the neighboring cell, trying to reach the three.
Rick snd Daryl are quick to kill the two walkers as Odessa makes her way back down the stairs. As she reaches the ground floor, a body falls over the railing, landing right in right of her.
Her eyes cut up, landing on Daryl. He shrugs.
Glenn returns with the others. Rick looks down at them, "what do you think?"
"Home sweet home," Glenn shrugs.
"For the time being," Rick quips. Odessa glares at her father.
She hopes this place will last. Because they truly need it. This place— this prison can be theirs. Living out your life in a prison wouldn't have been ideal before the Fall but now? This Is as good as it's going to get.
"It's secure?" Lori questions.
"This cellblock is." Rick responds to his wife.
"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asks.
"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and the infirmary." Rick says to him.
Carl makes his way to Odessa, handing his sister her stuff. She gladly takes it.
Odessa decides to take an upstairs cells, right across from Daryl's perch. Rick and Carl take the cell on the left of hers while Lori and Carol take the one on the right.
When she enters the cell, her first instinct is to look around. The old blood is limited, nothing she can't clean up with a little bit of water, some soap, if they find any, and a lot of elbow grease. She can make this place home.
She drops her bag on the floor beside the bunk bed. She then allows herself to collapse on the bed. She looks at the ground in front of her. She smiles. This is it. They have somewhere now. They have their own mattresses.
She can't help but laugh quietly. It's her first time laughing since before Dale died. Eight months without physically or mentally being able to laugh was miserable.
But they're safe for now. They have somewhere to lay their heads at night and be able to sleep without two eyes open.
Lori can have her baby safely here. Hershel can plate his tomatoes, cucumbers, and soybeans. Glenn and Maggie can grow and start a family. Carl can grow older and get stronger. Carol can better herself with shooting. T-Dog can finally decide he's more than just a protector. Beth can grow stronger and learn how to better defend herself. Odessa can get better, she could learn to be happy again. Daryl can find peace within himself. And Rick can lay down his gun and start over.
The prison— it does not hold any of that.
It holds death and blood, the stench of mildew and decay, the remnants of the world before.
But hey, it's the best they've had in eight long months.
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Odessa dreams that night. It's a good memory. It was when the two went on a walk to the lake at the quarry one day, the sun was scorching and the birds were singing.
Dale bends over and picks up a flat rock. Odessa watches him silently as he throws it sideways at the water. It skips five times before stopping and sinking to the bottom of the blue water.
He looks back at Odessa with a grin. "You know how to skip rocks?" He asks her.
She nods with a grin, "where do you think I've lived? Under a rock?"
She looks around the quarry before finding a flat enough rock to skip. She then slings it at the water. Only three skips.
Dale laugh. This marks their daily rock skipping competition.
Now, Odessa lets her father put a piece of the riot armor over her head and over her torso. She makes sure it fits right by tugging on the straps.
Once they are to leave this secured area to search for the commissary and infirmary, she looks at Carl. He rushes over, hugging his big sister tightly. She grips him back, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "We'll be back, alright? All of us, no need to worry, little man."
He nods, thought she can sense his nerves..
Again, Odessa has to beg Rick to let her come with them into the tombs of the prison. And again, he agrees after he gets annoyed of her constant badgering.
Once they reach the tombs, she sticks close to Rick. Her heart is in her throat from the anxiety. She grips her knife in one hand and a flashlight in another, they shake due to her quivering hands.
The sound of hissing flows into her ears. Odessa glances over her shoulder to see Glen spray painting an arrow onto the wall that points back in the direction of the cell block.
No one says a word as they creep deeper into the tombs. A sudden thump made her tighten her grip on her knife.
She steps up behind her dad, looking around the corner. She gasps at what she sees. Walkers. A lot of walkers.
Rick sees them too, "go back! Go back! Move!"
Odessa's flashlight drops to the ground and her first instinct is to grab Hershel's hand, making sure the old man keeps up with them. As they run, they find an old closet.
Odessa is the first in, followed by Hershel, Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog. They all crouch low.
Then Odessa realizes—
"Where are Glenn and Maggie?"
"We have to go back," Hershel demands, worried for his daughter and her boyfriend.
"But which way?" Daryl questions.
No one has an answer. So they wing it. They all stand back to their full height before Rick opens the door. It creaks open. The man sticks his head out. No walkers. One by one they all file out.
Odessa splits off from the others.
And then she hears the scream.
She takes off running. She stumbles over her feet at how fast she turns. But she quickly regains her footing. Then she rounds the corner.
No.
Hershel yells in pain as a walker rips into his calf, its rotten teeth pulling the tendons, muscles, and nerves from his leg.
A scream falls from Odessa's lips.
As she walks in the field, she hears it.
The scream.
Her blood runs cold in her veins.
And then, she running.
What if it's Dale?
It can't be. It can't be Dale. She refuses to believe it. It isn't Dale.
"Dale!" She screams.
When she finally comes to the scene, she screams. She screams so loud.
The last time she'd screamed like that was when Shane told her that her dad was dead.
Her scream is what truly grabs the attention of the others back at the camp.
It is Dale.
"No!" She cries.
"Odessa!" A hand snatches her arm. Tears gall down her face as whoever grabbed her pulls her along.
She can't see anything past her tears. She can't hear the shuffling and snarling of walkers, Maggie's anguished scream, or Hershel's erratic breathing.
When whoever grabbed her finally releases her go, she stumbles forward. She stands completely still as Rick rolls up Hershel's pants to reveal the walker bite.
They're in a room, the walkers bang on the closes door, trying to get in. T-Dog presses his back against to keep them away.
"Hold him— hold him down," Rick instructs. He starts to take off his belt. Maggie holds her dad's head in her lap, her sobs bouncing off of the walls.
"Please!" She begs. "Hershel, please! He's in pain! He's suffering!"
Dale's old and withered hand grips hers tightly. "Do something!" She screams again, her voice raw and full of emotion.
Rick pulls out his gun. "Dad, no, no. Dad, stop! He can be saved!" She thunders. She feels arms go around her. They start to pull her away.
From Dale.
"No! No!" She screams crazily, her legs licking at whoever grabbed her and pulls her away from Dale. "Dale!" Her voice is so broken. "Dale! Let me go! You can save him!"
Denial. That's what she feels.
Daryl takes the gun from her father's hand. He kneels beside Dale. Odessa lets out a cry. She hits at the arms of whoever holds her.
"Daryl! Please, don't do it!" Her voice breaks.
This reminds her all too much of the night Dale died. Flashes of the night are coming and going. Her heart beats so fast, she's sure it might just beat out of her chest.
She thinks she's going to collapse. Hershel— they can't lose Hershel. Not now, not ever. They need him. He is their glue.
Rick wraps his belt around Hershel's leg, right about his knee. He grabs the hatchet beside him, "only one way to keep him alive."
Then he brings the hatchet down on Hershel's leg. Odessa gasp with every hit. She can't bare the sound of the sound of metal meeting flesh and bone or the sound of Hershel's agonized wheezing. She presses her hand over her ears, turning away from the chaos behind her.
When it's finally over, she uncovers her ears.
Then the five figures pop up from behind the counter. Odessa is fast to unholster her gun and point it at them.
Five prisoners.
Five alive prisoners.
"Holy shit," mutters the one with the mustache.
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word count: 1,941
holy shit is right, axel. this chapter is depressing and it's only chapter two.
poor odessa :((. my heart hurts for her. it's been eight months and she still hasn't got over dale's death. she never really does. out of all of the deaths she experiences, dale's is one of the ones that stay on her mind for the rest of her life.
guys... soon you get to meet theo and cole and i'm so excited because they're my babies and i love them so so SO much. i just wanna hug them and kiss their foreheads.
odessa is getting flashbacks?? poor girl has
ptsd :(.
but guys lemme tell y'all, you are not ready for what's coming. do y'all remember odessa's little close call with that walker in act one of wastelands? if not go back and reread because you're gonna need to know it for this book and then next because what i have planned... sheeshhhhhh. it's something alright.