C H A P T E R 1 5
❛ ripped away ❜
MILO
C BLOCK WAS EMPTY WHEN THEY ENTERED IT, empty of living bodies anyway. There were several walkers stumbling around. Rick ran towards a group of three of them, using his axe to cut them down with a ferocity that betrayed his despair at the situation. Meanwhile Daryl took care of another one while Milo stood by and felt utterly useless since he didn't have a weapon.
'Lori!' Rick called out, his cry leaving an eerie echo in the empty cell block. 'Carl!'
His screams were a pain to listen to, filled with an anxious fear of the whereabouts of who Milo assumed to be his wife and son. Empty silence was all that greeted him, only adding fuel to his despair.
'There's no sign of them,' Rick said, walking around aimlessly.
'They must've been pushed back into the prison,' the asian kid pointed out.
'Somebody is playing games!' Rick screamed, seeming as though he could've burned down the entire world in that moment to find his wife and kid. Finally though he managed to pull himself together enough to devise a plan. 'We'll split up and look for the others. Whoever gets to the generators first, shut them down!'
With those orders clear in their minds they ran into the dark tombs of the prison.
For a moment all Milo could hear was his own panicked breathing, blinded by the sudden darkness. He tried his hardest to keep up with Rick's quick footsteps while slowly his eyes adjusted to the dark and his surroundings came back to him.
Snarls came from behind them and when he looked over his shoulder he could see a group of walkers gathering in the hallway, chasing them with their cold limbs and never ending hunger.
'We'll go left here!' The asian kid yelled. 'Axel, with me.' And the two disappeared down the tunnels in a frantic search for the rest of the group.
Milo and the others ran on through the darkness and he felt extremely exposed without any weapons as the dead stumbled after them.
'In here!' Rick yelled, entering the room with the generators. 'Daryl get the door!'
The archer immediately threw himself against the door, trying his hardest to keep it closed while the walkers pushed against it. Milo gestured for Oscar to go and help Rick before heading over to Daryl to help him. He threw his weight against the door in an attempt to help and keep the dead out. They wouldn't be able to fight so many when only two of them had weapons.
The strength of the walkers surprised him as they pounded against the door. It seemed their hunger fueled them to keep on chasing their prey until they were either dead, or their prey was. And Milo didn't plan on dying today.
Daryl put his shoulder against the door while Milo put his back against the door, trying to ignore the day the doorknob was pushing against his skin. Both men tried to gain a grip on the slippery floor as they held the door closed. But their focus was broken by a scream echoing through the small room, followed by a hard bang.
'What the hell,' Milo breathed, while keeping his entire body pressed against the door.
Daryl tried to keep the door closed while simultaneously trying to look at what was happening behind the huge machines that separated them from Rick and Oscar.
Another loud bang sounded, followed by the pounding of fist landing against skin.
Milo could just see Oscar from this distance and he wasn't fighting anyone, meaning someone else had to be in the room. He watched as Oscar bent down and took a steel pipe from the ground, throwing it at someone he couldn't see. Then he bent down once again to pick something else up and when he stood straight again Milo could clearly see Rick's Colt Python in his hand but not who he was pointing it at.
'Shoot him! We can take back this prison!' A familiar voice suddenly echoed through the room. It was Andrew. 'What are you waiting for! It's ours, shoot him!'
The alarms kept on blaring in the background as Oscar seemed to take forever to make a decision. Milo pushed against the door once again, desperate to help his friend. And with that last push he finally heard the lock click into place, closing the door. He allowed himself a second to catch his breath before heading after Daryl towards whatever was happening behind the machines.
When he rounded the corner the first thing he saw was Andrew as he lay dead on the ground, a puddle of blood forming like a halo around his head. The second thing Milo noticed was that Oscar hadn't moved and still had the gun aimed at Rick.
Daryl took a step forward, ready to intervene just as Oscar turned the gun in his hand, handing it with the grip forwards to Rick. He took it with a stunned expression on his face, which lasted only a second before turning into his normal cold look again. Then he turned around and walked towards one of the machines, turning a handle, killing the alarm. The sudden silence made a high pitched beep hurt his ears and he shook his head to get rid of it.
'Let's go,' Rick mumbled, heading with fast steps towards the exit.
Daryl followed him, though not without a last glare at Oscar.
Milo walked towards his friend as his gaze was now focused on Andrew. 'You good?' He asked carefully, unable to tell what the man was thinking.
His gaze flickered away from the corpse and towards Milo instead and then he nodded. 'Never been better.'
For a moment Milo held his gaze, wanting to make sure he was telling the truth and when he realised that was indeed the case, he nodded. It seemed Oscar had come around after all and decided it was possible to win their trust and try to fit in. He was about to head after Rick and Daryl when his eyes fell on a steel pipe standing against the wall in the corner. He took it in his hands, glad to have at least some sort of weapon to defend himself with.
Oscar grinned at him but Milo didn't give him the satisfaction of replying, making his way after the two other men instead.
They left the generators behind and walked through the hallways, shining with their flashlights in every corner as they moved back into the direction of the courtyard.
Sudden footsteps came from behind them, making them turn around with their weapons at the ready. Their flashlights illuminated the asian kid and Axel and Milo led out a shaky breath of relief.
'Let's go,' Rick said, heading into the direction of the exit.
Snarls and chewing noises came drifting from around the corner as they slowly entered the last hallway. Rick ran forwards and shot the two of the corpses that were knelt on the ground before they even noticed their presence.
Bright daylight shone through the window in the door ahead of them, illuminating exactly what the walkers had been feasting on.
Milo's eyes were glued to the sight even though every single bone in his body was screaming for him to look away. It was hard to tell who it had been if you didn't know him but the problem was that they did. Only his clothes were visible to confirm that the pile of blood, flesh and bones once had been the man they called T-Dog.
Rick stood as still as a statue, wordless as he watched what was left of his friend while Daryl looked away and Milo felt like he was intruding on their moment of grief.
Then Daryl's attention was taken by something on the ground. He bent down to pick up a pink scarf, left behind by the entrance of the door. He looked at Rick, his expression unreadable, before throwing it on the ground with a frustrated sigh.
Milo could vaguely recall a woman wearing it earlier that day. He felt himself thinking back to the car accident, his dead friends on the ground and he knew that the same hole had appeared in these men's hearts today.
The courtyard was horribly quiet as they entered it again. No one was there except the blond girl and the old man, waiting behind the fence. There was no sight of the others and Milo couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.
'Hershel!' Rick desperately called out to the older man.
'You didn't find them?' Hershel asked him.
'We thought maybe they came back out here,' the asian kid said but that clearly wasn't the case.
The blond girl shook her head, her blue eyes panicked.
'What about T? Carol?' Hershel asked.
'They didn't make it,' Daryl said, his voice flat.
Milo stared at Rick as he pinched the bridge of his nose, his mind spinning as he tried to think of something he could possibly do to get them out of this situation. Anxiety seemed to radiate off of him as he stood there when he suddenly turned around.
'That doesn't mean the others didn't make it,' he said firmly. 'We're going back.'
Milo gave a curt nod, holding the iron pipe tightly as he waited for any sort of idea that might help them get organised. He knew the events of today had changed things. Oscar saving Rick's life couldn't be ignored. They'd saved his life twice now and Milo knew the group wouldn't ignore that. But it was no longer about trying to win their trust. Even if they still wanted them gone after this, Milo would leave with a clean conscience. These people needed his help and so he'd done the only thing that made any sense to him. He helped.
'Alright, Daryl and Glenn you go with-' Rick interrupted himself and it took Milo a second to realise why.
Soft cries of a newborn baby echoed over the courtyard. New life on this earth filled with death.
Milo turned around to look at the source of the sound. The girl he'd seen earlier this morning came walking out of C block with a baby in her blood covered hands. The small body was covered in a jacket, which had blood on it too. She was followed by the kid with the sheriff's hat but something was clearly wrong.
The girl tried to talk but tears seemed to form a blockade in her throat. Her arms were shaking as she slowly stumbled forwards. She was shaking, her lip trembling.
The kid barely seemed to notice what was going on around him. His eyes were focused on the ground as he slowly forced himself to walk forwards, moving completely on autopilot.
Rick took one look at them and his heart seemed to shatter. His weapon fell from his hand as the whole world seemed to slow down at that moment. He looked at the girl, silently asking for confirmation and the girl could only sob in response.
'W-where i-is she?' Rick muttered, walking around as he awaited the dreadful answer, almost as if moving around would prevent it from being real. As if when he would stop, he would have to accept it. When no answer came he headed towards the door of the cell block but the girl reached out to him.
'No, Rick, no,' she cried, desperately trying to stop him from going inside.
The man stopped in his tracks, covering his eyes as hollow sobs forced their way out of his throat. He turned to look at his son, bending down so he could look him in the eye, as if he needed more proof of the horrible reality that his life had become. But the kid stood still as a statue and didn't even turn to look at his father, his gaze turned lifelessly at the ground.
'Oh no,' Rick cried out, 'no, no, no!'
Breathing had become hard as Milo watched the scene unfold in front of him. He hardly knew these people and yet he felt himself swallowing heavily not to cry with Rick. The raw sadness and the clear feeling of a horrible loss that was written on their faces made him want to run away. But he couldn't, he couldn't turn away from this grief. All he could do was stand here and take it all in as his heart ached for these people.
The asian kid walked towards the girl, taking her in his arms as she cried against his shoulder. Her sobs echoed over the courtyard littered with dead bodies, as the new life was still tightly held in her arms.
Rick had fallen down on the ground, his sobs were agonising to listen to.
Milo felt as though his heart had been broken and for the first time since the door of the cafeteria had opened, he wished he could've stayed locked in that place forever.
edited: ✔