THEY HAD BEEN ON THE ROAD FOR AROUND SIX MONTHS.
At least, that's what Vivian guessed based on the size of Lori's stomach. All the days blurred together, it was hard to keep track.
Everyone had changed in their own way. Living on the road, moving every day, you had to change. Even Liam had changed. Vivian guessed he was about three now, or close to it. He had gotten bigger, and they struggled to find clothes that fit him. He was still diaper dependent unfortunately, there wasn't exactly a toilet around for them to potty train him in.
Carl had gotten bigger, too. Older. His hair grew longer and he grew colder. After the farm, he and Rick grew further from Lori, and Vivian knew it was affecting the pregnant woman. She tried her best to be there for her, but Lori insisted she was fine.
And Daryl, he was becoming Rick's right hand man, replacing Shane and Marcie. He was becoming a big person in the group, but he was still distant emotionally. Loosing Marcie had a big impact on him, which surprised everyone.
But Maggie and Vivian knew Marcie meant so much more to him than the others realised.
Winter was hard on everyone. The cold affected everyone's mood, with no real way to get warm, no home to settle down in.
Spring had come, and they were able to shed the thick layers. Vivian couldn't wait for summer, but deep down she knew she was going to complain about the heat when it came.
All the cars came to a stop in the middle of the road after they had left the last house they stopped at. Vivian held Liam's hand as they walked towards the green Hyundai, he insisted that he could walk himself.
The group gathered around the hood of the car, and Glenn laid out a map of the state, "We've got no place left to go." T-Dog stated,
"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off, we'll never make it south." Maggie sighed,
Daryl glanced over to Glenn, "What you say, it's about 150 head?"
"That was last week, could be twice that now." He replied,
"This river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through this." Hershel suggested, pointing at the nearest body of water to them,
"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." T-Dog countered,
"So we're blocked." Vivian sighed, lifting Liam onto her hip,
"Only thing to do is double back at 27th and swing towards Greenville." Rick stated,
"We picked through that already, it's like we spent the winter going in circles."
"Yeah, I know. I know." Their leader replied, "At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through the area. We can't keep going house to house. We need to find some place to hole up for a few weeks." Vivian glanced over at him to see him staring at his wife,
She was nearly ready to pop. Rick was right, they need someplace to stay while Lori gave birth and recovered.
"Alright." The group broke up from their meeting, "Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? It won't take long. We gotta fill up on water, we can boil it later."
"Knock yourself out."
Vivian went back towards the truck, gathering her bottles to fill up on water and a towel for Liam. Beth held the toddler's hand as they walked towards the river.
"Hey," Rick reached for her waist, "Daryl and I are heading out. Meet back here in twenty?"
Vivian nodded, checking the time on the watch that Carl found her while they were on the road, "Got it. Stay safe."
"You, too." Rick replied before they separated.
After about twenty minutes of filling their bottles and Liam playing in the water, the group minus Rick and Daryl headed back to the road.
Liam was in her arms, wrapped up in a towel, and when they reached the asphalt, Rick was standing there with a grin on his face,
"Haven't seen a smile on your face in a while." Vivian stopped in front of him, "Good hunt?"
He nodded, "The best we've had in a while." He turned to the rest of the group, "We found a place. Safe."
Everyone seemed to perk up, "Where?"
"Just down the road."
With that, they all got back into their vehicles and followed Rick down the road. They pulled up outside a prison, that had two sets of fences surrounded it.
It was safe. Or would be. If it weren't for the dozens of walkers inside.
Rick took wire cutters and sliced a hole in the fence. He held it open as they all piled inside. Once his feet hit the gravel, Daryl and Glenn took some wire and closed the fence to ensure no walkers could follow them.
They jogged towards the front gate, catching the attention of walkers from all sides. Vivian got a little nervous, if they weren't able to take the prison, they would be surrounded by the dead.
They made it to the gate and everyone set down their bags, "It's perfect. If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers." Rick pointed up at the gate that was open into the courtyard just outside the buildings, "We'll take the field by tonight."
"So how do we shut the gate?"
Glenn stepped forward, "I'll do it. You guys cover me."
The eldest Greene daughter shook her head, "No, it's a suicide run."
"I'm the fastest." Glenn argued,
"No." Rick stated before pointing at Lori, "You, Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there," He began, pointing to the fence off to the side, "pop them through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower." Their leader turned to Carol, who was holding a rifle in her hand, "Carol, you've become a pretty good shot, take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste." Once the older woman took off after Daryl, Rick turned to the farmer, "Hershel, you and Carl, take this tower."
Vivian handed Liam off to Maggie before taking her knife out of her sheath and approaching the sheriff, "I'll go in with you."
Rick opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off, "Someone needs to have your back in there. Second set of eyes." She moved over towards the gate, "Just try to keep up, sheriff."
He stared at her for a moment before nodding and moving to stand next to her, placing a rifle on his back. The group by the fences began to make noises, smacking their weapons against the chain link, attracting the walkers to them, "Come on! Over here!"
Lori opened the gate and the duo sprinted inside, weapons ready. The groups in the towers began shooting at the walkers around Rick and Vivian, clearing a path for them,
Vivian stabbed a biter that got to close before running after Rick up the hill towards the inner gate. He stopped short, sticking out his arm as Vivian ran into him and a bullet landed in the ground by his feet,
"Sorry!" Carol called out,
Rick and Vivian shared a look before continuing towards the gate. Once they reached it, Vivian slammed it shut before any walkers could get out and Rick clipped it shut with his carabiners that Glenn gave him.
At that point, the walkers stopped being interested in the group outside the fences. They wanted to get to Vivian and Rick.
Rick fired his gun at a walker that was approaching them before Vivian grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the guard tower that was next to the gate. Luckily the door was open, and they slipped inside before a small horde made it to them,
They both panted and grinned at each other, "We did it." Rick told her,
Vivian glanced up the stairs that led to the balcony, "Shall we?"
The two headed up, hearing Daryl yell out, "Light it up!"
Everyone took out their guns and began to shoot each walker down. Rick took the rifle from his back and held it out towards Vivian, "Target practice?"
She shook her head, "I don't want to waste bullets."
"You won't learn if you don't practice." Rick handed it to her, "Place this part against your shoulder." He helped her form, standing behind her and raising her elbow, "Aim through the eyepiece, watch the kickback."
Vivian gazed through the eyepiece and found her target amongst the sea of walkers, "Don't forget to breath." Rick mumbled behind her, his breath tickling her neck.
She let out a shaky breath before pulling the trigger, the bullet piercing the walker's shoulder, "That's okay, try again."
The brunette adjusted her shoulders, trying to shake her nerves from being that close to the Grimes man and raised the rifle once again. She aimed for the same walker and took a deep breath before firing, which ended in a different result.
She grinned as the walker fell after the bullet made its' target.
"Good job." Rick patted her waist gently before moving off to the side and taking out his python and helping the group taking out as many walkers as possible.
It wasn't long before the last walker fell. Vivian placed the rifle on her back and placed her hands on her hips, observing their new home, "This was a good find." She told the sheriff.
It was. Once they get the whole place cleared, it could be a real place for those kids to grow up in.
Grass. Fences. Walls.
Liam could have a real home.
"It was." He smiled before they exited to the tower.
Vivian's feet reached the gravel and she waited for Liam, who let go of Lori's hands and began running towards her.
She kneeled down and wrapped her arms around the toddler. He squealed as she threw him up in the air and caught him.
They didn't have to worry about being too loud.
"We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!" Carol laughed,
Daryl went to hunt while the others moved the corpses into one pile in the corner of the yard. Vivian and Liam went to gather sticks around the yard and T-Dog went out into the woods that surrounded the prison to grab bigger branches to burn.
As the sun went down, they all assembled around the fire, eating the squirrels that Daryl caught for them.
Except for their leader and the right hand man. Daryl took watch on top of the overturned bus that was near the front gate. He may have taken more of a leadership role within their group, but he was still feeling the loss of Marcie.
"Mmmm... Just like mom used to make." Glenn joked before tossing a bone somewhere amongst the grass.
"Great. Can't wait for him to find that in a month." Vivian joked, stroking Liam's blonde hair as he slept cuddled up to Vivian,
"Tomorrow, we'll move the bodies. We want to keep them away from that water. Now, if we can dig a canal under the fence, we'll uh have plenty of fresh water." T-Dog spoke up,
Hershel held a fistful of dirt in his hand, "The soil is good, we could plant some seed, grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, soybeans." He glanced over at their leader, who was pacing amongst along the fence line, "That's his third time around. If there was any part of it compromised, he'd have found it by now."
Vivian glanced over the fire to watch Rick. He wanted to make this place work so badly. He probably won't sleep tonight, wanted to make sure this place was as protected as first hoped.
Beth turned towards Lori, "This will be a good place to have the baby. Safe." She commented, and the pregnant woman gave her a soft smile,
They were in a comfortable silence for a moment before Hershel spoke up, "Bethy, sing Paddy Reilly for me. I haven't heard that I think, since your mother was alive."
"Daddy, not that one, please." Maggie asked her father,
He nodded for a moment, "How about uh... Parting Glass?"
"No one wants to hear." She told him,
"Why not?" Glenn smiled gently at her,
"Okay." Beth sighed, looking around nervously at everyone before she began singing.
Vivian listened to a few verses before she gently moved Liam off her lap and onto her jacket that laid in the tall grass.
Once she was sure she didn't wake him, Vivian stood and made her way towards Rick with a bowl of food in her hand.
"Hey." She greeted the sheriff, who was standing next to the guard tower,
He grunted in response, kicking the fence slightly with his boots, "Everyone okay over there?"
Vivian nodded before holding the plastic bowl of squirrel out to him. Rick shook his head, "Lori needs it more."
"Then go give it to her."
His blue eyes pierced her brown ones. But she wasn't going to look away first, "Look, Rick," She took a step towards him, "We're safe. For tonight, we're completely safe. No sleeping with one eye open. There's no hole in the fence, nothing can get to us. So go sit with your pregnant wife and your son and get some rest. You deserve it."
After a moment, he nodded. Rick stepped forward and grabbed the food before walking towards the group and she followed close behind.
Vivian sat down in her original spot and watched as Rick held out his bowl for his wife. Lori stared at him for a moment before giving him a small smile and taking some of the meat.
Beth finished her song and Hershel patted her arm, "Beautiful."
"Better all turn in." Rick spoke up, "I'll take watch over there, we've got a big day tomorrow."
Everyone glanced around in confusion, "What do you mean?" Glenn asked,
Vivian thought they would rest, gain their strength back before pushing into the physical walls of the prison.
"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we gotta push just a little bit more." Rick stated, "Most of the walkers are dressed as guards or prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early. Could mean the supplies may be intact. They have an infirmary, a commissary."
"An armory?" Daryl asked from his spot standing behind the group,
"That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away." Rick answered him, "Warden's offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine, this place could be a gold mine."
"We're dangerously low on ammo." Hershel stated, "We'll run out before we make a dent."
"That's why we gotta go in there. Hand to hand." Their leader responded,
Vivian tugged on her sleeves nervously. She used to only fight with a knife or other long metal tool, but in the past few months, they've been using guns. She had gotten comfortable with it, preferring to stay far away from walkers and taking them out from a distance.
But going against a large horde like that? They were truly putting their lives on the line.
And by looking at everyone's face, they had similar thoughts to Vivian.
And Rick knew that's what they were thinking, "After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance."
With that, Rick left the group once again to take watch, and Lori soon followed after her husband. Vivian watched them go before staring into the fire, "We can't all go in there... obviously." She stated, "I think instead of Rick deciding who goes in, we need volunteers. Those who are going in need to be confident that they can do it. So... I'll do it. I'll go in."
"I'll do it." Glenn stated,
Maggie gripped his hand, "So will I."
Vivian nodded and her eyes moved towards the hunter of the group, who grunted, "I'll go."
T-Dog sighed, "Guess I'll go."
"You don't have to." Vivian told him,
"Nah. I pull my weight." He replied,
"Great. We ate, now we sleep. Need to be ready for tomorrow... God help us." She mumbled the last part before laying down next to Liam, glancing over him to see Rick angrily walking away from his pregnant wife.