The sun went down and the group built a small fire in the center of the yard. Rick was walking the perimeter of the fence, checking for any compromises, while Daryl was standing on top of a tipped over bus, keeping watch.
Rosie sat on the side of the bus, dangling her feet off the edge as she ate whatever was cooked up over the fire. She had sat around the fire with the others for a few minutes, but ended up leaving because she suddenly felt overwhelmed by everything and needed some space.
The problem she was having was that she couldn't shake the thought that this place wasn't going to be safe. They thought the Atlanta camp was safe, but it wasn't. They thought the CDC was safe, but it wasn't. They thought the farm was safe, but it wasn't. There was a reoccurring pattern and Rosie couldn't help but think that the pattern would continue.
When Rosie had come to join Daryl on the bus, sitting down without a word, Daryl glanced over at her, but seeing as she didn't say anything, he didn't say anything either. After a few minutes, though, his curiosity got the best of him.
"Why aren't ya over with the others?" he asked, stopping his pacing to stand behind where Rosie sat.
"Just thinkin'," Rosie said with a shrug. Daryl felt like they'd had this conversation a thousand times over. He'd ask what was wrong, she'd say she was just thinking, and then he'd basically have to pry her thoughts out of her. He just wanted her to be clear with it.
"'Bout what?"
"What if the same thing happens again?" Rosie asked, looking up at him.
"Then we keep goin', find a new place. But I don't think it will," Daryl replied. He sat down on the edge of the bus next to her and stole a small piece of meat off of her plate.
"Why?"
"This place has fences, walls. It's protected."
"So ya really think it's gonna be safe?"
"Nothin's really safe no more, but I think it'll be safer than the farm," Daryl answered truthfully. He knew that if he told her a lie, saying that this place was totally safe and they'd 100% be fine, she wouldn't believe him for a second. It was better to be honest with her.
Rosie nodded, somewhat satisfied with his answer. She was going to ask more questions, like if they were just going to stay in the yard or if they were going to go inside, but then she saw Carol approaching with a plate of food in her hands. Daryl stood up to help Carol climb up onto the bus and took the food from her hands.
"It's not much, but if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all," Carol said. She pulled her sweater tighter around her body.
"Yeah, I guess little Shane over there has got quite the appetite," Daryl said before dropping a piece of meat into his mouth. Rosie gave him a questioning look, but Daryl didn't notice.
Little Shane? Why would they call Lori's baby little Shane?
Carol smiled and scoffed a little. "Don't be mean," she said. That also confused Rosie, but she kept quiet anyway. "Rick's gotten us a lot farther than I ever thought he would, I'll give him that." Daryl hummed and nodded in agreement. "Shane could never have done that," Carol said. She rolled her shoulders back awkwardly.
"What's wrong?" Daryl asked.
"It's that rifle. The kickback. I'm just not used to it," Carol said. She lifted her hand to rub the point where her shoulder and neck met.
"Hold on," Daryl said after a moment. He dropped the plate down and it made a small clanging noise next to Rosie. She stole a piece of meat off of Daryl's plate in return for the one he stole from hers. When she looked back up, Daryl was rubbing Carol's shoulders. Weird, Rosie thought to herself. "Better get back," Daryl said after a moment, dropping his hands back down to his sides.
"It's pretty romantic," Carol said. Daryl stared at her and Rosie furrowed her eyebrows.
What?
"Wanna screw around?" Carol asked with a funny look on her face.
What the hell does that mean?
Daryl scoffed and they both started laughing.
I am so confused.
"I'll go down first," Daryl said, lowering himself down to jump off of the bus.
"Even better," Carol said.
Daryl looked back at her and rolled his eyes. "Stop," he grumbled.
"What are you talkin' about?" Rosie finally asked, her face all scrunched up as she tried to understand.
Carol started laughing a little and Daryl didn't say anything for a moment, just continuing climbing down. "Nothin'," he said once he was back on the ground. He reached a hand up to Rosie. "Come on down."
Still completely confused, Rosie reluctantly took his hand and jumped down from the bus, Carol doing the same thing after. The three of them walked back over to the fire, and when they got there, Beth was singing some song. Rick finally joined them a few moments later. They listened to Beth sing, Maggie eventually joining.
Rosie honestly felt awkward, tugging on the hem of her shirt, but she didn't say anything about it, just waiting for them to stop. It's not like they were bad at singing or anything. It was just weird. She wasn't used to it. No one ever used to just start singing out of nowhere- at least not in Rosie's life.
"Better all turn in," Rick said once the song was over. "I'll take watch over there. Got a big day tomorrow."
"What do you mean?" Glenn asked, poking at the fire with a stick.
"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we've gotta push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact. They'd have an infirmary, a commissary."
"An armory?" Daryl asked.
"That'd be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. 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 pointed out. "We'd run out before we make a dent."
"That's why we have to go in there. Hand to hand," Rick said. "After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance." And with that, Rick got up and went to keep watch, Lori following after him not long after.
Rosie felt Daryl nudge her arm and she looked up at him. He nodded his head forward, towards a spot where a blanket was laid out on the grass. Rosie sat down crisscross on the blanket and held her chin in her hands. She was exhausted. Daryl sat down on the grass beside the blanket, taking his crossbow off of his back and placing it on the ground.
After only a few minutes of sitting around the fire, listening to everyone's quiet conversations, Rosie's blinks became much longer and much more frequent. She felt Daryl nudge her arm again. "You're gonna fall asleep sittin' up, kid," he said.
Taking that as her queue to finally go to sleep, Rosie laid down on her side across the blanket, her head by Daryl's side and her feet next to her backpack. Closing her eyes, Rosie felt Daryl place his hand on her head again, ruffling her hair a little. The difference was that this time, his hand stayed there, slightly moving his thumb back and forth absentmindedly.
•
Rosie's assigned job was to slam on the fence and yell for the walkers so they'd come to her and she'd stab them in the head through the fence. It was weird. Back when she lived with her dad, if she even raised her voice a little bit- whether it was directed at him or at nothing- she'd be in a lot of trouble. But now she was supposed to shout and scream for the walkers.
So, Rosie looked over at Beth, who was directly to her right, as an example. She kept slamming on the fence and yelling, "Come on! Over here! Over here!" So that's what Rosie did too.
Their distraction wasn't completely working for all of the walkers, but it did make it so less of them were going after the group inside the fences. The hand-to-hand group consisted of Rick, Daryl, Maggie, T-Dog, and Glenn.
It really looked like they cleared out the walkers, but then Rick was about to turn a corner and they all slammed up against the wall in hiding. Then walkers in riot gear came out of nowhere. Rosie had absolutely no idea how they were going to clear those. She didn't even get to find out, though, because before they could kill any of them, they disappeared out of sight.
A few minutes later, the hand-to-hand group returned into view, and it looked like Glenn was coming over to get the rest of them, but he stopped. They talked for a moment, and then disappeared from view again.
"What're they doin'?" Rosie asked, looking over to Beth.
"I don't know," Beth said with a sigh. She had an anxious look on her face. Rosie guessed that she was worried for Maggie. Rosie knew that they'd all be ok, though, because they were tough and they were smart. As long as they stayed together and stayed cautious, they'd be fine.
And she was right. After what Rosie guessed to be about fifteen minutes, Glenn came outside and told them that they cleared a cell block. So, they gathered their things from the yard and followed Glenn.
Even though she was told the place was clear, Rosie still walked slowly and cautiously, keeping her knife in her right hand. They walked through a dark hallway and then into a big room with a bunch of cells. There was garbage all over the floor and dead walkers in some of the cells. There was a second layer, too, with steep, metal stairs.
Rick came walking down the stairs. "What do you think?" he asked.
"Home sweet home," Glenn murmured sarcastically.
"For the time being," Rick said.
"It's secure?" Lori asked as she walked in with her hand cradled around her large stomach. Rosie learned that that was the baby. At first, she thought Lori was just getting fat, but then she remembered that Lori was pregnant, and it only made sense for the big bump on her stomach to be the baby.
"This cell block is," Rick replied. Rosie looked around the cell block, scrunching her face up a little. For who knows how long, she thought.
"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asked.
"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary."
"We sleep in the cells?" Beth asked.
"I found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set, too," Rick answered.
The idea of sleeping in the same beds that prisoners used to sleep in, behind bars, made Rosie feel a little uneasy, but she ignored it. She didn't have the luxury of choosing where she slept. So she told herself that she'd just have to swallow it and move on, which was an expression she learned from Rick.
"I ain't sleepin' in no cage," Daryl grumbled. Looking up, Rosie could see that he was on the second floor. "I'll take the perch."
Rosie looked over to Carl to see where he was headed, but he just followed after Beth. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Rosie thought that it might be because they were both older than her. Carl was about to be thirteen, which made him almost a teenager. Rosie was even closer to being ten than Carl was to being thirteen, which sort of excited her, but it didn't matter either way because Carl would probably still choose to hang out with Beth.
Seeing as Carl was busy with Beth, Rosie decided she'd go up the steep, metal stairs. Being on the second floor made her feel safer because it was further away from any entrances. She passed by Daryl on the perch and chose the first cell on the second floor.
When she walked in, she dropped her backpack off of her shoulders and onto the cold cement flooring. There was a big blood stain on the wall, but Rosie paid it no mind. On the right side of the cell was a bunk bed, which made Rosie extremely excited. She'd always wanted a bunk bed, even if she didn't have anyone to share it with. The idea of sleeping high off of the ground was exciting.
Rosie sat down on the bottom bunk, reaching over to slide her backpack in front of her feet. She unzipped the front pocket and pulled out her velociraptor toy. While one part of her was excited to be sleeping in a bunk bed, the other part of her was nervous. It'd been months since she slept anywhere on her own- Daryl was always only a few feet away. But now she was all by herself.
Swallow it and move on, she told herself.
After getting her velociraptor, Rosie climbed up to the top bunk. She kept her red cowboy boots on, though, because that was what they always did. They always slept with their shoes on, just in case they had to live in a hurry in the middle of the night. If a herd snuck up on them, they wouldn't have time to put their shoes on and they couldn't afford to lose any clothing. Rosie did, however, take her belt off and hang it over the bar on the bunk bed so she wouldn't accidentally stab herself in her sleep.
She laid back in the bed, resting her head on the pillow. Thinking about the dinosaur books she had to leave behind, Rosie held her velociraptor over her face, looking at it as if she hadn't looked at it a thousand times already, and recited the facts she had memorized about the dinosaurs.
Velociraptors lived in the Late Cretaceous period, which was 75 million years ago. They could run 40 miles per hour. They could grow to six and a half feet long, but they were only about a foot and half tall. They only weighed around 35 pounds. They had feathers.
"You a'right in here, Ro?" Daryl's voice sounded. Rosie sat herself up a bit, turning around a little to see that Daryl was leaning against the doorway to her chosen cell. She laid herself back down, looking at her toy again.
"Think so," she said.
Daryl came further into the cell and leaned his arm on the metal bar of the top bunk, looking at Rosie. He examined her face for a moment, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She was a confusing kid sometimes, but it was pretty easy to read her. "Still worryin' 'bout this place bein' safe?" he guessed.
"Kinda," Rosie admitted.
"Well, ya don't gotta. Cell block's locked, and even if somethin' did get through, nothin's gettin' to you without gettin' to me first," Daryl assured her.
"I don't want anythin' to get to you either," Rosie muttered.
"Nothin's gonna get in here in the first place. That's what prison's are built for. And if somethin' were to get in, it'd be the one dyin'. Not me, not you, not anyone else. Ya hear me?"
"Yeah," Rosie said, nodding her head once. His words did reassure her, but no matter what anyone said or did, nothing got rid of the pit of anxiety in her stomach.
"Good," Daryl said. He stood up straight again and went closer to the entrance of the cell to leave, but before he left, he stopped again. "Need anythin', I'm right out there."
"Ok," Rosie said quietly. She shifted to lay on her side, tilting her head up a little to see Daryl, still standing in the doorway. "G'night," she said.
"Night, kid," Daryl replied before fully leaving the cell.
•
Rosie stood next to the gate to the cell block with Carl. Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Maggie, Glenn, and Hershel had all gone to clear more of the prison and find the cafeteria. Rosie and Carl had wanted to go with at first, but they were quickly told that that would not be happening. Carl was given Rick's set of keys and the two of them were told to keep watch and only open the cell block for them.
The job was being pretty boring. The two of them were sitting across from each other on the floor, playing rock, paper, scissors. This was Rosie's favorite game out of all the games she had learned in the recent months.
Carl had been teaching her a bunch of games he used to play at school with his friends. It was strange to him that Rosie didn't know simple games like rock, paper, scissors or odds and evens. She didn't even know how to play eye spy. Either way, he had a lot of fun teaching her.
Throwing out paper, Rosie smiled a little, seeing that Carl had thrown out rock. "I win," she said. Carl groaned and tossed his head back dramatically.
"Can we please play something else?" he asked. He used to really like rock, paper, scissors, but now he hated it. It was the only game Rosie ever wanted to play. It was fun at first, but now it was just repetitive. He wished he had a deck of cards so he could teach her card games.
"Like what?"
"We could play... slaps," Carl suggested. The confusion on Rosie's face was very clear, which told Carl that he hadn't taught her that game yet. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it until then. "It's where you hold out your hands like this," he held his hands palm up, and Rosie mirrored his actions. Then Carl flipped his hands the other way and hovered them over Rosie's. "And I hold mine like this. And you have to try and hit the tops of my hands before I move them away."
"So I just... hit your hands?"
"Yep. You can fake it sometimes too, and if I move my hands when you're faking it, you get a free slap."
"That's weird," Rosie said, pinching her eyebrows together.
"It's fun," Carl insisted. So, Rosie quickly moved her hands to slap the tops of Carl's. Carl was quick enough to see it coming, and she missed. "Ok, now it's my turn, so we switch." Carl moved his hands beneath Rosie's, palm up, while Rosie's hovered over his, palm down.
Before Carl could make his move, they heard shouting coming from the hallway. It was Rick's voice. The kids shot up to their feet, looking out through the bars as the group came rushing in. "Open the door! It's Hershel! Carl! Come on," Rick shouted. Carl quickly stuck the key into the lock and opened the gate.
Rosie watched with wide eyes, her back pressed up against the wall, as Hershel was wheeled into the cellblock on a table. His leg was gone. Rosie chose to stay out of the way as the others rushed to Hershel's side, gathering towels and blankets to use to wrap his wound.
She noticed that Daryl wasn't among the group that was gathered in Hershel's cell. She looked out the gate and saw that he was standing with his crossbow aimed at the door. Seeing as Daryl had a weapon ready, Rosie pulled her slingshot out of her waistband, holding it in her right hand, ready to use.
Daryl couldn't kill off a whole bunch of walkers on his own, he'd eventually run out of bolts. And all the others were inside, helping Hershel. Rosie knew she'd be no use with Hershel- she'd just get in the way- so she decided she'd help Daryl, quietly going through the gate and holding her slingshot at the ready.
Rosie could hear the shuffling footsteps of the walkers as they neared the open gate, but when they actually walked through, out of the darkness, she was surprised to see that they weren't walkers.
They were people.
Real, living people.
First, a man with long, dark hair, wearing a white tank top. The man looked at Daryl first, and then his eyes quickly shifted over to look at Rosie. He walked further into the room, keeping his eyes on Rosie as four more men followed him inside.
"That's far enough," Daryl said, keeping his crossbow aimed at the man's head.
"Cell block C. Cell four, that's mine, gringo," the long-haired man said. He moved his eyes over to Daryl. "Let me in."
"Today's your lucky days, fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia. You're free to go," Daryl said. The men didn't move, they only came even closer. Rosie loaded a rock into her slingshot, aiming it at the long-haired man.
"What you got going on in there?" the long-haired man asked.
"It ain't none of your concern," Daryl replied.
The long-haired man scoffed. "Don't be telling me what's my concern," he said. Then he looked over at Rosie again, a small smile twitching onto his face as he looked her up and down. "Careful, sweetheart. You might take your eye out."
Daryl looked back at Rosie for a moment, an irritated look on his face. He didn't know she was even there until then.
"Ain't gonna take my eye out. Might take out yours," Rosie said, pulling the rock back even further.
The man smiled a little more and pulled a gun out of his waistband. He didn't aim it yet, merely showing that it was there and that he had it. "It'd be a shame if I had to kill the first girl I've seen in months, especially before trying a little."
What?
"You better watch your mouth, asshole," Daryl said, quickly stepping closer to where Rosie was.
"Or what?" the man challenged.
Before Daryl could tell the long-haired man that he would beat his ass into the ground, another one of the men spoke. "Chill, man. Dude's leg is messed up," he said. He was very tall, Rosie couldn't help but notice. "Besides, we're free now. Why are we still in here?"
"The man's got a point," Daryl grumbled.
"Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady," another one of the men said.
"A group of civilians breaking in to a prison you got no business being in- got me thinkin' there ain't no place for us to go," the long-haired man said.
"Why don't you go find out?"
"Maybe we'll just be going now," a man with a large mustache said. He had a strong southern accent.
"Hey, we ain't leavin'!" the long-haired man said.
T-Dog showed up beside Rosie, pulling his gun out of its holster and pointing it at the long-haired man. "You ain't comin' in either!" he shouted.
The long-haired man pointed his gun at Rosie's head, making her tense up. She refused to lower her weapon, though. "Hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where I damn well please!"
"Chill out, man! She's just a kid!" the tall man said.
"I told you, I don't wanna kill the girl. I like her. Always had a thing for blue eyes," the long-haired man said, smirking a little. "But I'll do what the hell I gotta do to take back my cell block."
Rosie didn't understand why he was saying that, but she felt uncomfortable. She tried not to show it, keeping her eyebrows furrowed and her slingshot ready.
Daryl moved himself in front of Rosie, blocking her from the view of the men. "I'm givin' you one more chance to get the hell outta here before I put a bolt between your eyes," he growled out.
Feeling someone place their hand on her shoulder, Rosie jumped, her breath catching in her throat. She somewhat calmed when she saw that it was Rick, but still shrugged his hand off.
"Hey, everyone relax," Rick said, holding his hand out as if he were taming a wild animal. "There's no need for this."
"How many of you in there?" the long-haired man asked.
"Too many for you to handle," Rick replied, his voice low and threatening.
"You guys rob a bank or somethin'? Why don't you take him to a hospital?"
Rosie looked up at Daryl, but she couldn't see his face, seeing that he was standing directly in front of her. She let her hands drop to her sides, knowing that there was no point pointing a weapon with Daryl there blocking her way. She could see the long-haired man leaning his head a little to see past Daryl, looking at her. For whatever reason, Rosie wished that she could disappear.
"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asked them.
"Going on, like, ten months."
"A riot broke out. Never seen anything like it."
"Attica on speed, man."
"Ever heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy."
"One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria. Told us sit tight, threw me this piece, said he'd be right back."
"Yeah, and that was 292 days ago."
"94 according to my calculations."
"Shut up!"
"We were thinking that the Army or the National Guard should be showing up any day now."
"There is no army," Rick told them.
"What do you mean?"
"There's no government, no hospitals, no police. It's all gone."
"For real?"
"Serious. No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population has been wiped out. Probably more," Rick explained.
Everyone went silent for a moment.
"Ain't no way."
"See for yourself," Rick said. The long-haired man took a fast step forward, probably heading towards the door behind them, but Rick raised his gun and pointed it at his head while Daryl stepped backwards, reaching his arm back and holding it there in front of Rosie. "Other way," Rick commanded.
The group of men turned to go back the way they came, T-Dog and Rick following after.
"Go back inside," Daryl said, turning to look at Rosie. "I'll be right back." He turned to leave, but Rosie's voice stopped him.
"What was he talkin' about?" she asked, frowning and keeping her eyebrows furrowed. "Tryin' me. That's what he said. What's it mean?"
"It means he's a piece a' shit bastard," Daryl spat as he opened the door to the cell block. He put his hand on Rosie's back, lightly pushing to move her inside.
"But what's that gotta do with me?" Rosie asked looking at Daryl with wide, confused eyes as he shut the gate.
"Nothin'. Just stay here," Daryl told her. Rosie looked down at her boots, still feeling confused and somewhat uncomfortable, for whatever reason. As Daryl walked away to follow the others, she heard him mutter to himself. "Shoulda killed that asshole the second he said it," he grumbled.