Drawing an arrow back, Riley let it fly into the body of a squirrel, walking up to it and yanking it out of the trunk of the tree, cleaning off the arrow and tying the squirrel to a rope around her shoulders. She walked off in the direction of the group, who had been held up in a house somewhere, arriving in no time and looking around, seeing everyone packing up because of the oncoming walkers. Breaking off into a run, Riley tossed the squirrels into an open window of the cars and jumped on the back of Daryl's bike just as he pulled up in front of her. The two of them were the first to head out, followed by the other two cars that had the others, away from the walkers slowly advancing.
As you can see, they're been on the road for a while, Daryl and Riley haven't really come out to the others about their new found relationship, and the group looked as if they have no clue on what's going on between them. Because of that, both of them were normally affectionate when they were alone, both being a little uncomfortable with PDA. Rick and Lori had become a little distant, Carl is growing up, Glenn and Maggie are obviously together, Hershel is almost looking like Santa, Carol is becoming a fighter, Beth is slowly getting there and T has become protective of all of them. To say everything has been hectic is an understatement.
Lori looked as if she's ready to pop at any day now, and with all of the constant moving around, Riley knew it wasn't good for the baby, as much as she didn't like her, Lori needed to rest more than a few minutes. Riley softly squeezed Daryl's waist, causing him to remove one of his hands from the handle bars of the bike, placing it over hers and rubbing the birthmark on the back of her hand that was in between her thumb and index finger, which was actually a similar shape to a crescent moon. They had managed to get a good distance away from the walkers, soon stopping in the middle of the road and getting off the bike. Seeing Rick look out for walkers,
"Fifteen, you're on point" he said to Carl, the rest of them looking at a map on the hood of one of the cars
"We've got no place left to go" T said
"When the herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off" Maggie pointed out
"What do you say, its about one fifty head?" Daryl asked
"That was last week" Glenn said "could be twice that now"
"This river could've delayed them" Hershel said, pointing to a river on the map "if we move fast, we might have a shot to move right through them"
"Yeah, but if this group joins with this one, they could spill out that way" T pointed out
"So we're blocked" Riley said, letting out a small sigh through her nose
"Only thing to do is double back at twenty seventh and swing towards Greenville" Rick replied
"We picked through that already" Riley responded, "it's like we've spent the whole winter going in circles"
"Yeah, I know" he muttered "I know. At Newman, we'll push west. Haven't been through that area. We can't keep going house to house," looking at Lori, who was in the car "we need to find a place to hold up for a few weeks"
"Alright," T said "is it cool of we get to the creek before we head out?" looking at Rick "it won't take long, we gotta fill up on water, we can boil it later"
"Knock yourself out" he replied
T gave him a nod, walking off into the woods, in the direction of the creek bed,
"She can't take much more of this moving about" Herschel said to Rick, looking at Lori, who was seated in the passenger seat
"Well, what else can we do?" Rick asked "let her give birth on the run?"
"You see a way around that?" He asked, walking away
"Hey" Daryl said, gaining his attention "while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt. That owl didn't exactly hit the spot"
Rick nodded, the three of them heading into the woods while the others were filling up on water, Riley notched an arrow into place of her bow, making sure it was ready to be fired if necessary. They came up on a clearing, where a prison lay, gates closed and filled with walkers roaming around the courtyard.
"That's a shame" Daryl muttered
"No" Riley said softly "this could work"
•
Rick cut the wire to the chain link fence of the prison with a set of pliers they had swiped from the last house they were at,
"Watch the backside" Rick ordered
"Got it" Lori replied, holding the bottom of her bulging belly
Everyone crossed through the fence, tying it back together with a cord, the lot of them now in an alley that surrounded the courtyard of the prison. They quickly made their way to said courtyard, Daryl opening the gate, Rick looking around the field,
"Its perfect" he said "if we can shut that gate, prevent them from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight"
"How do we shut the gate?" Hershel asked
"I'll do it" Glenn volunteered "you guys cover me"
"No" Maggie said instantly "its a suicide run"
"I'm the fastest" he protested
"No. You, Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there" Rick said, pointing in a direction "pop them through the fence. Riley and Daryl, go back to the other tower" pointing to said tower "Carol, you've become a pretty good shot, take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste. You're going with Hershel and Carl, taking this tower"
"Alright" Carl replied
Everyone began to get in position, Daryl and Riley heading to the tower they were assigned and making sure it was empty before climbing the stairs, the field of the prison clear. Glenn, T and Beth began to draw the walkers by screaming, then killing them by stabbing them through the fence, which was pretty effective. Lori opened the gate for Rick, allowing him to run out and causing her to close it, shooting walkers who got in his way. Carol, Carl, Hershel, Daryl and Riley shot the walkers that were getting closer to him, her arrow missing by a long shot, nearly hitting his foot and causing him to look at her,
"My bad!" She called out
The walkers were drawn to Rick, but he managed to shut the gate in time, running to the closest tower and closing the door,
"He did it" Riley said
"Light it up!" Daryl shouted
Hershel, Carol and Carl kept shooting the walkers in the yard, as does T, Rick being at the top of the tower and killing walkers as well. Riley drew an arrow back, letting it fly into the final walker, smirking as it fell to the grass,
"Nice shooting" Daryl complimented
"Learned from the best" Riley replied, throwing a small wink his way
The two of them began to make their way to the yard, Daryl taking the chance to practically shove Riley against the wall and slam his lips to hers, kissing her like they hadn't in a while, which was true. Instantly complying, she tugged on his hair, earning a small grunt from him in return, both of them pulling away, a smirk forming on her lips. She placed one more kiss to his lips, walking down the stairs and out of the tower, Daryl following soon after.
"We haven't had this much space since we've left the farm!" Carol exclaimed
•
"Just like mom used to make" Glenn said sarcastically
"Tomorrow, we'll put all the bodies together" T said "we want to keep them away from the water. Now, if we can dig a canal under the fence, we'll have fresh water"
"The soil is good" Hershel said, picking at the grass "we could plant some good seed, grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, soybeans" looking at Rick "that's his third time around, if there was any part of it compromised, he'd have found it by now"
"He's stressed" Riley pointed out "a lot has happened the past winter" standing and grabbing a bowl for Daryl "he's just being cautious"
She turned and walked away from the small campfire, heading toward Daryl, who stood watch on a flipped bus, putting her bow over her shoulders and setting the bowl at his feet. Jumping up, she pulled herself up with his help, standing next to him,
"It's not much" Riley said, folding her arms over her stomach "and knowing you, if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all"
"Guess little Shane over there's got quite the appetite" Daryl said sarcastically, beginning to eat
A snort emitted from her, playfully rolling her eyes and nudging his shoulder slightly, earning a small chuckle in return, letting out a small sigh,
"You think they know?" She asked, looking at him
"Might think something's up" he replied with a shrug "don't know we're together, though. We'll tell them eventually" Riley looking up at the stars
"Big Dipper, Orion's Belt" she said, a smile forming on her lips
"Little Dipper" he added "better get back"
"Why?" she asked playfully "this is pretty romantic" puckering her lips "wanna screw around?" causing his cheeks to redden
"Pff" he huffed, crouching down and getting ready to jump off "I'll go down first"
"Ooh, even better" she replied
"Stop" he replied with a chuckle
Riley jumped off, Daryl catching her by the waist, making sure she don't fall, looking up at him, one of his hands softly tracing her cheek, placing a kiss to her lips, which caused her to comply instantly. Both of them slowly pulled away, letting the kiss linger before heading back to the others, he had his poncho around him and she had a black one on with a scarf, taking her bow from her shoulders and holding it with her left hand.
"Of all the money
e'er I had
I've spent it in good company
And all the harm
E'er I've ever done
Alas it was to none but me" Beth sang
"And all I've done
For want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me
The parting glass
Goodnight and joy be with you all" Maggie began to join in
"Of all the comrades
That e'er I had
Were sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts
That e'er I had
Would which me one more day to stay
". . . But since it falls unto my lot.
That I should rise and you should not" Riley sang
I'll gently rise"
Gaining everyone's attention, a smile forming on her lips
"and I'll softly call,
goodnight and joy be with you all.
Goodnight and joy be with you all"
A smile formed on some of their features, Daryl discretely lacing his hand with hers, being covered by their ponchos,
"You said you couldn't sing" Glenn accuse playfully
"I said I didn't" she countered "never said I couldn't"
"Better all turn in" Rick said "we've got a big day tomorrow"
"What do you mean?" Glenn asked
"I know we're all exhausted, but this was a great win" he replied "we gotta push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards or prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early. Could mean the supplies may be intact, infirmary, commissary"
"An armory?" Daryl offered
"That would be outside the prison itself, but not to far away" he replied "wardens officers 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'll run out before we make a dent"
"That's why we gotta go in there" Riley concluded, looking at Rick "hand in hand" earning a nod "after all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance against us"
He nodded once more and walked off, Lori getting up and following, Riley let out a small sigh, the rest of them getting up and grabbing their things to head to sleep. She knew this will be their new home, maybe not forever, but for the time being.