Jayden had a rough lay out of the prison but the screaming was echoing through every hallway. She kept getting turned around, her only clue finally jumped out at her when she was nearing an intersection and saw dozens of walkers passing by. They were on a mission to get to that sound as well.
Jayden slowed her pace and followed the walkers at a distance. Lucky for her they couldn't smell her. She saw at least 30 walkers pushing up against the two doors for the cafeteria. Jayden knew she couldn't take them all at once without more space. Instead she looked up to the ceiling and noticed more metal pipes. She climbed up the pipes and looked around for a useful distraction. Far down the hallway she saw a metal barrel. She pulled out her gun and shot at it. The sound from her gun immediately pulled half of the walkers away from the door and towards her direction. Hearing the bullet off of the metal barrel lead them down the deep dark hallway and away from the doors.
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Meanwhile, the group Rick took out to case out the prison was locked in this cafeteria, Herschel had been bitten on the leg by a walker. They heard a rustling noise and turned to find five men in prison uniforms standing in the kitchen area.
"Who the hell are you!" Daryl questions.
He's bleedin out we gotta go back." Rick looked pale as he saw the amount of blood Herschel was losing.
Maggie and Rick tended to Herschel while T-Dog and Daryl stayed locked on to the prisoners.
"Why don'cha come on out of there... Slow and steady." Daryl had his crossbow aimed at the long haired man who began to come out from behind the counter.
The prisoners slowly came out of hiding and looked at Herschel with concern and confusion.
"What happened to him?" The man with long hair questioned.
"He got bit!" Daryl retorted.
The long haired prisoner pulled out a gun prompting T-Dog to discharge him as well.
The group was arguing back and forth with the prisoners as they got Herschel ready for transport. All of a sudden they heard a loud bang echo behind the door. Everyone stood still. They could still hear a fair amount of walkers from behind the door and got ready to take them head on.
Then came the banging and crushing sounds. Along with a faint voice going in and out. Then suddenly all was quiet. Everyone in the cafeteria waited in suspense. The sound of walkers was gone and now it was quiet. Then... the door began to move like someone was trying to open it. Not even a second later the two doors crashed open and Jayden stood in the frame, her entire body and sword were covered with walker blood and nine walkers lay motionless behind her.
Breathing heavily Jayden saw Herschel lying on a rolling cart missing his leg. Her eyes got wide as she rushed over to him ignoring everyone in the room and not even noticing the prisoners staring her down.
The long haired prisoner caught Daryl's attention once more as he looked Jayden up and down while smirking. Daryl stepped over to block his view and show his crossbow in the face of the gross prisoner. When they made eye contact the prisoner could see the anger in Daryl's eyes, this only made the prisoners smirk grow.
"We have to get him back now so I can bind the leg." Jayden and Rick began to wheel Herschel out into the hallway and back towards the cell block. Maggie and Glen followed close behind while T-Dog and Daryl slowly backed out, not taking their eyes off of the prisoners. Daryl closed the door and they ran down the hallway to catch up with the others.
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Jayden and Rick ran down the hallway following the white arrows Glen painted on the wall. They turn down the last corner and can see the dim sunlight coming from their cell block. Rick yells ahead at Carl to open the door.
When they make it to the common space they can see Carl frantically jamming the key in the lock and turning it to open the door and let them in. Glen pushed past Rick and Jayden to direct them to an empty cell. Jayden and Rick haul Herschel into the bed and continue to put pressure on his leg hoping to stop all the bleeding.
"Oh my god what happened" Lori exclaimed. Rushing over to help put more rags on Herschel's now stump.
"He was bit, it's the only way we could think of stopping the infection from spreading." Glen chimed in.
"Daddy!" Beth tried to run into the already crowded cell. Maggie grabbed her sister and held her close as they both looked at their pale father.
This is when Jayden realized all of her medical gear was back with her stuff by the prison block she had just cleared. She needed to run back and get it so she could bind his leg to stop the bleeding. Then all they had to worry about was the antibiotics to keep it from getting infected.
"I have to go." She stated flatly. As she began to rise Rick grabbed her.
"You said you were gonna bind his leg! You gotta help us stop this bleeding!" Rick's eyes showed a new emotion that Jayden had yet to see. Pure fear and sadness overtook his face.
"I am Rick. I left my medical gear with my stuff at the other cell block. I need to go get it. I'll be fast I promise!" Jayden softly put her hand over his. As much as she hated him right now she could empathize with his feelings because Herschel was just as important to her.
Rick took a sigh of relief, nodded and let go of Jayden allowing her to exit the cell. Carol stopped her before she could go much farther.
"Do you want me to go with you? You know, to help you get your stuff?" She looked at Jayden hopefully.
"I'm not coming back Carol." Jayden felt sad saying this to someone she considered her friend. "I'm just going to get the stuff Herschel needs."
Jayden gave Carol's hand a quick squeeze before running into the common area where she saw Daryl next to a table aiming his crossbow at the door. Confused, she went to run past him, but at the last second he stuck his hand out Infront of her stomach to stop her. When Jayden made contact with Daryl's hand, she felt a jolt surge through her entire body. She felt electricity pulsing through her whole body. Jayden cleared her throat, not used to this feeling.
"Daryl I have to go get my med bag." She went to push past his hand and in doing so he grabbed her arm stopping her.
This is when she noticed T-Dog standing in the corner holding his gun. Jayden looked from Daryl's hand on her arm to T-Dog. Something was up and she didn't know what was going on, but she didn't have time to deal with their nonsense. She tried to free her arm from Daryl's grip but that only made his hand tighten.
"I think they went in here." Said a voice from down the hallway.
Then five men emerged looking standoffish. This is when Daryl let go of Jayden to hold his crossbow with both hands. With the loss of contact Jayden suddenly felt cold like a breeze had just come through that stony room.
"That's far enough" Daryl stated.
"Cell block C, cell 4 that's mine gringo let me in." The curly haired prisoner sneered.
"Today's your lucky day fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia. You're free to go." Daryl didn't even blink as he kept his crossbow trained on the prisoners.
"What you got going on in there?" This man was persistent as he tried to get under Daryl's skin.
"It ain't none of your concern." Jayden could feel Daryl's annoyance in his tone.
This pissed off the prisoner as he then pulled out his gun.
As the men argued back and forth Jayden stopped paying attention. All she could think about was getting that bag for Herschel. Jayden turned to Daryl and leaned in to whisper to him.
"Daryl I have to go, Herschel needs my med bag and it's by the other cell block." She pulled away from his ear as he looked at her. Her eyes willed him to understand and help her out.
"And who we got here?" The long haired curly man looked her up and down and smiled. "You know busting into that room covered in blood was pretty hot if you know what I mean." he smirked at her and gave her a wink.
Daryl took a step in front of her to block her from his view. This seemed to make the prisoner even more happy as he laughed.
"Ah, is she yours gringo? Not for much longer, I'm gonna make mamacita over there much more happy." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
"I'm sorry but that does not work on ladies right? I mean no way a woman with self respect thinks that is attractive." Jayden retorted.
She heard what sounded like a small grunted laugh come from Daryl and smiled.
"Jesus," She thought to herself. "What is going on with me today?"
She then heard footsteps coming from behind her as Rick walked into the room. He saw Jayden standing behind Daryl and got concerned. He needed her to go get the bag.
"Jayden, you need to go get that bag!" He said.
"I can't. " She pointed at the prisoners.
Rick needed that bag but he didn't know if there were any other survivors. She couldn't go alone.
"Daryl go with Jayden, get the bag and come back. Do it fast... go." Rick said.
Daryl began walking forward, never dropping his crossbow. The prisoners moved slightly to the side except for their stubborn leader. Daryl put Jayden on his right shoulder as he pushed past the prisoner with his left.
Once past the prisoner and out of the cell they hooked a left and started running. Jayden was following the internal map inside her head when she came to a three way intersection and drew a blank. She searched her memory for the right directions but was coming up with nothing. She put her hands on her head turning to look at each of the hallways.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck... Shit." Jayden said quickly under her breath.
"What, why'da stop?" Daryl asked.
"I can't remember which way it was from here." She breathed.
"What? You said you knew where it was, we need to get this bag!" His voice raised.
"I know the fucking way Daryl just give me a damn minute will ya!" She yelled at him.
Her chest started to hurt and her eyes started to get wet. What if she couldn't get back in time? What if she is the reason Herschel doesn't make it?" Her breathing became short and wheezy. Daryl walked over to her but stopped when they heard a sound. Dozens of walkers started closing in on them from two directions.
"I guess we don't have a choice." Jayden said and grabbed Daryl leading him down the center hallway.
They couldn't lead the walkers to her stuff or else they'll get trapped in the cell block. They could hear the walkers following them down the hallway. On the next turn Daryl saw what looked like a closet door and pulled it open. He grabbed Jayden and pulled her inside and shut the door. This closet was small and the two were forced to be right up next to each other. She could feel his breath hit the top of her forehead while she was next to his neck. She could feel that jolt of electricity start to rumble again while Daryl was surprisingly relaxed. Usually this type of physical touch would make him stiffen and try to pull away. Instead he was calm and relaxed even though he could feel her heavy breathing against his adams apple.
Daryl looked straight ahead trying to focus on any sounds coming from outside the door. As hard as he tried he couldn't focus. Not when she was pressed right up against him. Not when he could feel her every move as she tried to give him space. He looked at her shiny black hair that was braided and pulled back. Finally her voice snapped him out of his daze.
"Hey I think they passed us." Jayden whispered.
Daryl cleared his throat nervously and slowly opened the door to look out into the hallway. Once he saw that the coast was clear and pulled himself away from her warmth and stepped out into the hallway.
"Do ya remember which way to go from here?" He questioned.
"Yea I do!" She smiled and started running down the hallway with Daryl training behind her.
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Jayden rounded the corner and came upon the entrance to the cell block she claimed. Daryl noticed how far away from their block it was. He thought she would at least try to stay close but instead she went as far as she could from the group.
She looked through her pile of belongings and located her bag of medical supplies. She grabbed it and turned to find Daryl taking a look around the cell. She watched as his back contorted to luck up at the roof access and assess the room in its entirety.
"Home sweet home for now I guess." Jayden said walking up to him.
He looked down at her and scoffed.
"You don't have to do this." He said.
"You know I do Daryl." Jayden shook her head. "It's better for everyone."
"Is it? Is it better for everyone?" He felt hurt but hid it behind his tone.
Jayden couldn't look at him. She didn't know why but she felt guilty and even a bit sad. But she knew why she needed to do this.
"We need to get this back to Herschel. We've been gone too long." She put her head down and started walking out of the cell block.
Daryl watched her walk away and he knew that this wouldn't be the only time he felt hurt by her leaving. He didn't want her to know this. It would be better for him. He doesn't know or understand this feeling so instead he chose to ignore it.
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AHHHH Hey Guys! Thank you SM for 4.5K views!! I love this book and I'm so sorry I haven't' been active. I Honestly just struggle to find the motivation and time to just sit and write. I have all these ideas for this book and I get excited and then never write them. Hopefully turning and new leaf and focusing more on this. Please comment and vote! Let me know if you like this slow burner. And I am always open to ideas so feel free to give them to me! Love you ALL!!
XOXO-J