Hershel had woken up and was now lying on his bed. Rio found that he liked to talk, he'd talk to anyone about anything. The man was now telling Rio about the time Maggie almost drowned whilst learning to swim. Rio smiled along. He wasn't sure if his parents had any stories that they could tell about him.
His brothers might've.
Beth and Lori walked into the room, holding a pair of crutches our for Hershel, Carl right behind. He sat up, clinging to the top bunk as he tried to stand. Rio hurried to his side, hand stuck out wearily incase he fell.
"Daddy, don't push yourself." Beth warned him, crouching cautiously.
He let out a chuckle, pulling himself up as he replied teasingly. "What else am I going to do?"
He wobbled slightly as he stood and soon let go of the bed frame. Lori grabbed his shoulder and Rio placed a hand upon his arm, steadying him. "Thank you." He mumbled.
"I can't stand looking up at the bottom of that bunk anymore..." Hershel said as he held on to the crutches Lori had handed to him, wobbling into Beth. She grabbed his arm and Lori grabbed his other.
"Woah, woah."
He tapped his crutches against the floor, smiling to Rio before hopping past. Rio laughed as he got the hang of it.
"You know, I think I'm pretty steady."
"That's a good start." Lori smiled encouragingly. "Want to take a rest?" She offered.
"Rest?" He laughed again. "Let's go for a little stroll. I can finish telling you bout that story." Hershel looked over to Rio who nodded eagerly.
"What story was he telling you?" Beth asked, whispering into his ear.
"About the time he caught you and your boyfriend kissing." Rio began, teasing her.
"Oh, no he was not." Beth cut in, mouth hung open. She held his arm, staring at him for a response.
"Oh yeah, says it's his favourite story to tell."
"You're a damn lair." She smiled, releasing her grip on his arm.
Rio burst out laughing, pulling her along. "He was telling me about the time Maggie learnt to swim. Said she almost died trynna to be a fish."
Beth laughed again as they walked through C Block. Hershel began the story again since Lori and Carl hadn't gotten to hear the start.
The boys held open the double doors as everyone walked out into the basketball court, just in time to watch Rick drive into the field.
"Take it easy on the steps." Lori said to the man, holding her arm out towards him.
"Ooh." Carl said as the man stumbled backwards, also sticking his hand out to him. Everyone surrounded Hershel, standing on each side to make sure he didn't fall and if he did, then there'd be someone there to catch him.
"You cleared all those bodies out?" Hershel started, making his way around the yard confidently. "It's starting to look like a place we could really live in."
"Hey, you watch your step." Lori warned. "Last thing we need is you falling."
"All right Hershel!" Glenn shouted from where he was working, collecting firewood with Rick.
Hershel lifted his arm in an attempt to wave, putting his weight against the crutch that held his amputated leg.
"You're really doing great, daddy." Beth said, a genuine smile not leaving her face.
"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl joked, smiling up at him.
"Give me another day. I'll take you both on." He replied chuckling. Rio has to admit, he was really good on the crutches. They turned another corner, out of the basketball court and caught sight of everyone else.
Maggie waved over at them, shaking her head in disbelief as she watched Hershel. Rio waved over at Daryl and went to shout something when Carl turned around and shouted.
His face dropped as he called. "Walkers look out!"
"No!" Rick shouted, him and Daryl running around the fences.
Carl was quicker than Rio, he pulled his gun from his holster aiming at the closest Walker.
Lori shot first, knocking one down as Hershel escaped.
"Get out!" Daryl screamed over to them. "Get out of there! Now!"
A Walker came closer and Rio stabbed it, plunging his knife through the monsters head.
"Get your gun out!" Someone shouted to him. He complied, kicking away the next Walker as he loaded his pistol. It stumbled back far enough for him to load his gun, putting two rounds into its head. More and more came, almost cornering them in the yard. A gate to his left opened as Rio took down his third Walker.
Maggie, Carol and T-Dog burst through, guns ready and ablaze. They shot down more walkers, bodies dropping twice as fast now.
"That gate is open!" T-Dog exclaimed as he shot down another. Rio looked over to him uncertainly from where he was stood up on the tables, hitting a Walker across the head with his gun.
"Lori! here!" Maggie shouted, signalling to an open gate. She grabbed Carl and they ran over, leaving everyone else behind to fight.
She tried to yell at Rio to come with them but he stayed put. "I've got it." He called back, trying to reassure her. Maggie looked between him and Lori. She didn't waste any more time getting her out of there, Carl tried to stay back too but Lori made it non-negotiable.
Walkers clawed at them as they escaped, Rio putting them down with the help of T-Dog.
Carol ran towards the herd, shooting them as close as she could from where they were emerging from. The courtyard seemed to have walkers flooding in from everywhere.
One came up close and Rio grabbed its collar, pushing it to the ground before shooting it. Another came too close and Beth yelled from where she was hid. Her and Hershel stood upon the steps, enclosed by the fencing.
The Walker turned around towards them and the boy shot it again.
T-Dog ran to Carols side, downing walkers before pulling the gate shut. Rio turned to shoot more walkers but instead heard a scream.
An old walker in prison uniform was latched onto T-Dog's shoulder, clinging as the man tried to shake it off.
"No!" Carol screamed. Rio watched from the other side of the yard as she shot it. His mouth hung open and his chest heaved.
He couldn't watch for long. More walkers surrounded the yard and Rio kept shooting. He didn't know how much longer he could, wasn't sure how many bullets he had left.
There was about five left when Rick, Daryl and Glenn burst through the gate. Rick shot two walkers down instantly. Rio running over to them as he did so.
Glenn slashed one with his machete and Rio shot one beside it.
"What the hell happened?" Rick shouted, turning away for just a second.
"The gate was open!" Beth yelled in response. Daryl shot one down with his crossbow.
"Where's Lori, Carl... everyone else?" Rick asked again.
"Maggie led Lori and Carl into C block." Hershel told him, pointing to to the way they'd escaped through.
"And T-Dog was bit." Rio added, picking a bolt out of a walkers head and angrily stabbing it through another's. He handed it back to Daryl who wiped it in his shirt.
"Anyone else?"
"I— I couldn't tell." Hershel responded.
"Stay put." Rick told them, taking down another nearby Walker. Glenn sliced the head of the last one.
"Those chains didn't break on their own. Someone took an ax or cutter to 'em." He said, out of breath. Rick turned to the other prisoners immediately.
"You think they did it?" Glenn asked.
"Who else?"
An alarm blared. Rio wasn't sure where it was coming from but it was loud and horrible to listen to and probably attracted a ton of walkers. He covered his ears as they continued to sound.
"What's that?" Glenn questioned, looking around the yard. Rio looked over to him, fingers still in his ears and Glenn just put his hands over his own ears too.
"Oh.. you gotta be kidding me!" Daryl exclaimed.
"Can you stop it?" Rio asked Rick, wincing at the sound. The man looked around, pinpointing where the noise was coming from.
"Daryl." Rick called, throwing him a set of keys.
Rick shot at the alarms on the wall, shutting down the sound, but there were so many. For everyone they shot it felt like another started up.
"Kill it!" Hershel screamed.
Walkers from the outside surrounded the fence, rattling the metal as they tried to break through.
"How the hell can this be happening?" Rick demanded as he walked over to the prisoners. The one tried to defend himself as they all surrounded him, Daryl even had his crossbow ready and pushed Rio behind him.
"Woah, woah, woah! It has to be the backup generators."
"Well, how do you turn those on?"
The man stumbled over his words, finding it hard to explain. "There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hacks shut 'em all off when the prison was overrun."
"Can someone open up the main gates electronically with full power?"
"I only worked in there a few days. I... I guess it might be possible."
Rick grabbed the scruff of his shirt pulling him away. "Come with us!"
"Let's go!" Glenn shouted to them, heading away from the gates and towards Cell block C. Rick ran in first, gun pointed as he burst through the doors.
"Lori!" He yelled frantically. "Carl!"
"We just took down five of 'em in there." Daryl explained as he walked through the door, hurrying to catch up with Rick.
"There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or any of them."
"They must've been pushed back into the prison."
"Are they gonna be okay?" Rio asked.
"Yeah, yeah they'll be okay." Daryl answered just before Rick started again.
"Somebody is playing games!" He yelled, the alarm still blaring behind him. "We'll split up and look for the others. Whoever gets to the generators first, shut them down!"
"Let's go." He called and they all followed behind him, into another room. Rio stopped when he realised Glenn wasn't with them but Daryl moved him along. Told him that they couldn't stop yet.
They hurried through the prison, running into walkers around every corner. After the first one or two Rio's gun clicked. Empty. Daryl kept him near, shooting down Walkers or Stabbing the ones that got too close.
"Daryl, Get the door!" Rick screamed as an especially large group started to form. They all slipped through the door and into another room, filled with big machines. Rio didn't bother to figure out what they were and just held the door shut with Daryl and one of the prisoners he didn't know.
"How do you shut these down?" Rick shouted again.
"Go help him. I got it." Daryl told the prisoner, pushing harder on the door to keep the dead out. Rio tried his best to help.
"Right here." he instructed, pointing at one of the machines. Just then there was an angry yell and a man shot out from behind the generator. He swung something in his hands, missing Rick by an inch and hitting the generator, causing it to spark up.
He aimed at the other prisoner and swung his axe. Rick pushed him behind a machine and Rio couldn't see what was going on. He heard the banging and the grunts and Daryl just yelled as he continued to hold the door. His feet were slipping as the dead pushed and he turned to Rio, grabbing his shoulder. He pulled his gun out from his pocket and gave it to the boy.
"On the count of three." He said, holding him tighter.
"What?" Rio asked, still trying his best not to slide on the floor.
"We let go!"
"No!"
"1!" He started, giving Rio no choice but to listen.
"2!" Daryl brought his crossbow closer with his foot.
"...3!" He jumped back, Rio did too, holding the man's gun high as the walkers came in.
Daryl dropped his crossbow, pulling out his knife and stabbing the first one. Rio shot the two behind and then Daryl shot forward, running into the door. They really closed it this time, no rotted fingers poking through the gaps.
"Lock it!" Daryl told him, heading to help Rick. He locked it, hands shaking.
A gunshot rung out and Rio turned, making his way behind the generator to see what had happened. The man who attacked Rick lay dead on the floor, his brain splayed out behind him. It was a prisoner.
The man who'd led them here was the culprit. He held the gun in his hand before turning it and handing it back to Rick.
He inched forward, cautiously taking it from his hand. Rio looked beside him, seeing a massive switch on the generator, he looked to Rick for confirmation before pushing it. The blaring of the alarm stopped finally and the generator shut off with a whirring noise.
"Let's go."
They made their way back through the tunnels, running into Glenn and the other prisoner again. Rio ran over to him giving him a short hug. The groups joined back together, turning the corner to find two walkers feasting on a body.
The man's guts were all torn out from his stomach and his ribs were cracked and open. Rick shot them dead.
As they got closer Rio saw the face. It was messed up and torn but it was his. It was T's.
He wiped the tear that rolled down his cheek and turned away, carrying on down the hall. Daryl stuck an arm out, stopping him.
He leant down to pick something off of the floor. It was in a messed up heap but once he picked it up it flowed from his hands. Rio swore, catching the attention of Rick. It was Carol's scarf.
They all left.
"Hershel!" Rick called out once they reached the yard again. He ran over to the man.
"You didn't find them?" He asked.
"We thought maybe they came back out here."
Hershel and Beth shook their heads solemnly. Rio sighed, today wasn't a good day. It wasn't a good day at all.
"What about T? Carol?"
"They didn't make it." Daryl responded.
"That doesn't mean the others didn't." Rick announced, trying to stay optimistic. "We're going back."
"Daryl and Glenn, you come with..." his words faltered at the sound of an infant. Small cries made their way across the yard and soon they saw Carl and Maggie, coming out from the gates.
Maggie was trembling and bloody and the baby was wrapped in Carls jacket.
Rick walked over slowly, dropping his axe to the floor with a clang. He ran a hand over his face and shook his head gently.
Maggie was sobbing, lip trembling.
"Where..." Rick began, "where is she? Where is she?"
Maggie chocked out a sob in response, grabbing his arm as he tried to push past her. "No... Rick, No!" She shook as she cried.
He snapped. Rick started to sob, his head in his hands as he couched besides Carl. "Ohhh, no. No!" He cried.
He walked past them both, weeping into his hands before running them across his head and through his hair. "No! No no no." He screamed.
Glenn walked over to Maggie, grabbing her face and pulling her close. She broke into another round of sobs.
Everyone else stayed quiet, listening to Maggie's cries and Ricks stammering and sobs. He collapsed onto the floor, body still racked with sobs as he lay on the courtyard.
Daryl kelt besides him as he swayed.
Rio pulled on Carl's arm, bringing him away from the scene.
"Rick?"
"Rick are you with me?"