— EVERYONE IN THE GROUP WERE EXHAUSTED, but they had to push on to try and find the supplies that they all knew were in this prison somewhere.. Especially since Lori was so close to giving birth, finding the infirmary was the best thing they could do at the moment. Zoe and Nate had barely had enough time to rest before they had to get up and get ready for the next task at finding more supplies and hopefully some food, due to the fact that they hadn't been able to eat much since the farm was overrun, the group were on their last legs.
Using the gear they had found from the walkers wearing the riot gear, they had all geared up so they had more protection over the walkers they were about to kill. Zoe was nervous about heading through some thin hallways she had no clue about, but she knew that she had to do it for her mom. She faced away from Nate as he tightened her bulletproof vest onto her chest, watching as the others did the same with their own gear. Once that was done, she did the same for him, listening to her dad explain to Carl why he couldn't come along, and why he had to stay here and look after the others.
It was nice to see that Carl had grown up and now wanted to protect the group as much as he could - but he also needed to realise that none of this was a game. It was real life, and it was scary. He only wanted to prove himself and that itself, would cause trouble.. After Rick gave Carl the keys, the group headed out. Zoe didn't spare her mother a glance before leaving, not thinking much of it, nor did she realise that it hurt Lori; but it didn't matter at the moment, all they needed to do was find the supplies and head back immediately. She wasn't exactly happy about doing this and wanted to get it over and done with.
The second the group had left the main block they resided in, they all hushed, not making any noise due to the loud echos in the hallways. Rick took the lead, shining his flashlight around every corner to get a good look at where the group had to go; this was one of the most riskiest thing they had to do, and they all needed to be completely alert. Zoe stayed close behind Nate, who stood close to Daryl, as they ventured forwards. She felt Maggie close behind her as they turned the corner, shining their lights forwards onto the floor, only to see that there were guts on the floor, being eaten by dirty rats. It almost made Zoe gag at the sight, and also the smell that drifted towards them all. Half of the bodies were simply bloody stained skeletons from the amount that they had been eaten by the walkers who resided here - and it was disgusting. The whole group cringed in disgust as they carried on forwards, keeping as quiet as they could.
Maggie and Zoe stayed close together, as Glenn spray painted the wall with an arrow so they all knew which way they had to go back to get back to the others. Only, when Maggie screamed slightly at Glenn banging into her, she pushed Zoe back into Nate, who instantly held her up. She turned around and gave Nate a nod, indicating that she was okay, and that it was just a fright to hear Maggie screech. Zoe had to push the thoughts back of this horrible place, as they ventured forwards again with Rick as the lead. With one more swift look around the corner, they moved forwards again, keeping their lights up and their weapons drawn in case of any danger.
Zoe's heart was beating out of her chest as they ventured forwards, and her breathing had quickened due to the thoughts of being eaten alive. Even if she had the rest of the group with them, it still plagued her thoughts. It was bad enough having to fight off walkers, but in the complete dark, wasn't something that she was fond of. She just hoped that they would get this done sooner rather than later. Glenn sprayed the wall besides them once again, as they all slowly walked forwards, finding more and more corpses as they went along the empty hallways. Zoe found it quite strange that they hadn't stumbled across any walkers yet, but at the same time, she didn't want to question it. Whenever someone questioned their situation - it all went down from there. She had learnt her lesson at this point.
The more they went forwards, the more rotted corpses they found were half eaten, indicating they were getting closer. It was as if this place was the walkers home of some sort. Zoe's questions were answered, when her father suddenly turned back around after moving around one more corner, "Go back." He whispered loudly, "Walkers." He announced.
The second that Hershel tripped on a walker leg and was sent crashing into the wall behind him, Zoe broke off from Nate's hold and grabbed onto the old man's arm to keep him upright. "Come on." She hushed, pulling him along with her. Hershel needed to be kept safe in all accords, being the best at health care, which they needed for Lori and the baby. Not only that, he was the one that allowed the group onto his farm in the first place - Zoe wouldn't allow anything to happen to him.
As soon as the group started running back to where they were currently living in the cell block, the walkers started coming from left right and centre, cutting the group off one by one, causing them all to split up in different directions. Zoe was panicking way too much to even realise that Glenn and Maggie weren't with them, as the remainder of the group crouched down and quietly spoke amongst at themselves to find out what to do next. Luckily for her, Nate was right besides Zoe, practically breathing down her neck as he refused to move away from her in fear that he would loose her in this shithole. Rick opened the next set of the doors, allowing the group to head forwards once again, Zoe staying back with Hershel as the rest of the boys headed forwards in order to keep back any walkers.
She held her machete in one hand and her flashlight in the other as they rushed through the dark and damp hallway.
Zoe slowly walked in front of Hershel as they both called out for Maggie and Glenn. Only, as Zoe was about to turn around the next corner, she heard a yell come from Hershel's mouth, causing the girl to instantly turn around at what he was yelling at. "No!" She yelled, upon seeing Hershel sprawled out on the floor in pain, as a rotted walker took a huge bite out of his ankle. Without any time to move forwards and get the walker off of him, she instantly pulled out her gun and shot it in the head, just as the others rushed around the corner to see what was going on. A thousand thoughts were running through her mind as she looked down at Hershel in shock - he had been bitten. The others had come back to the two of them upon hearing Hershel's yells, and they all looked down at him in panic once they saw what had happened.
"Daddy!" Maggie yelled, afraid that her dad was going to die from the bite on his ankle. The screams and yells of the group as they all herded around Hershel had attracted more walkers, as Glenn and Rick pulled the old man up to help him walk. They had to get out of here, and fast.
Daryl and Nate shot the walkers around them with their bows, as Zoe stuck by T-Dog, with her machete, as the two of them tried to fight off as many walkers as they could. At this point, being quiet was blown out of the window, as the whole group were yelling and shouting at what to do - Zoe's ears were ringing as she hurried behind the others, keeping an eye behind them so no walkers could make a jump on them. Her head was spinning due to the loud noise and she didn't even know what to do at this point. Luckily for them, they had found a set of double doors with a lock on, causing the group to yell at everyone to open it, causing T-Dog to rush forwards and break it, just as Daryl and Nate had caught up with them all.
"Shut the door!" Rick yelled, as they laid Hershel onto the floor to get a look at Hershel's leg. "Zoe!" He shouted, causing her to turn around with wide eyes. She hurried over to Hershel and lifted up his trouser as some of the others tried to keep the door shut - now, Zoe didn't know a great deal on being a doctor, but she had been taught some things from Hershel and Carol, like stitching and sprains, due to the amount that she had sprained her ankle and needed stitches - but this was way out of her comfort zone..
"Shit, shit, shit." She mumbled, looking at his ankle, where a huge chunk of his skin and bone had been bitten into and yanked off. Zoe knew one thing, and that's the fact that they weren't going to be able to save this foot. She looked up at her dad with a knowing look, knowing that there was one thing they could try. Rick saw this look, and nodded tiredly at her, knowing also what they could do to save this man's life.
"Hold him down." Rick announced, pulling off his belt so he could tie it above the bite on the old man's leg. Zoe pulled off her jacket and took off her shirt, leaving her in her very bloody vest top, ready to use her shirt as a bandage to try and stop the bleeding for when they cut down on his leg. This whole thing seemed scary as hell, but they had to get on with it to save Hershel's life. "Only one way to keep you alive." Rick told Hershel.
"Get him something to bite down on." Zoe told Maggie hurriedly, before her dad was able to grab an axe from the bag besides him on the floor. Maggie nodded quickly, finding some material that Hershel could bite down on, just Rick brought the axe down onto the man's leg. When Rick did so, he just kept going until it was finally off, causing Hershel to pass out from the pain.
Instantly, as soon as the leg was off, she wrapped her shirt around Hershel's half leg - trying to keep him from bleeding out, when she heard Daryl mutter, "Duck."
Nate instantly moved in front of Zoe's crouched body with his own weapon aimed behind her, causing her to instantly look up at what they had seen.
"Holy shit." One of the prisoners spoke, as Zoe looked behind her - there were five of them behind the bars, all looking in complete shock at what Rick had just done to Hershel. It was the first time in a while that any of the group had seen anyone new, but the fact that they were all prisoners, didn't sit right with any of them. Zoe turned back around, knowing that Daryl and Nate had this, and they wouldn't let any of the prisoners hurt them, she put pressure onto Hershel's leg, hoping that it would do something, but she didn't think it would do anything, they needed a lot more supplies..
"He's bleeding out." Zoe spoke up, as Daryl and Nate stayed stood with their weapons aimed at the prisoners. Her T-shirt that she had wrapped around Hershel's leg had now soaked up as much blood as it could, meaning that there was now no use for it - they needed to get him back to the cell block. "We gotta get him back and fast. We need Carol." She told her dad, knowing that Hershel had tried to teach Carol everything he knew. She would be able to help him.
Maggie came and gave her some help on putting pressure down on Hershel's knee, as Daryl and Nate dealt with the prisoners. "Come out of there. Slow and steady." Daryl told them all, not taking any chances with them. Zoe didn't have any time to turn around and look at the prisoners, while she kept her hands pressed against Hershel's wound, but she could hear them from behind her.
"What happened to him?" One of them asked.
"He got bit." Daryl told them all, as Nate stood next to him with a glare prominent on his face, not wanting to take his eyes off of any of them, no matter what.
"Bit?" Another one asked, just as the main one began to take his gun out of his holster.
This caused for Nate to raise his bow even higher, while T-Dog raised his own gun at the unknown men. "Easy now." Nate spoke up, not liking that these men could potentially bring danger to his family. His group. He wouldn't hesitate to shoot one of these men if it meant that they would put Zoe in the slightest danger. And the fact that the man in the front kept looking behind Nate and his brother to take a look at Zoe and Maggie, made him just that more weary of them all.
He didn't like them.
"You have medical supplies?" Glenn asked, pushing past the prisoners into where they were hid, not taking notice of them as he searched for something to help Hershel.
Zoe shook her head at Hershel's wound that seemed to keep bleeding more and more as time went on, and what made it even worse, was that the walkers began to bang at the door once again, meaning that they now three problems. "Dad, we need to get back." Zoe pleaded, looking up at her dad, who nodded, before wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Who the hell are you people, anyway?" What looked to be the leader, spoke, not liking that these people had barged into their home.
"Don't look like no rescue team." Another spoke.
"If a rescue team is what you're waiting for, don't." Rick told them, as he began to try and lift up Hershel. But the fact that he was passed out, made it ten times harder. A commotion was heard from Glenn, before he rushed in with a table on wheels, able to act as a gourney for Hershel. "Come on, we gotta go!" He shouted at Glenn, ushering him to hurry up. When he came into the room with the table, Zoe sighed in relief as the men lifted Hershel onto the table, ready to bring him back to their temporary home. Still not taking any notice of the prisoners behind her. "T, the door!" He shouted, as Zoe rushed over to help T-Dog, as the others stayed near Hershel.
T-Dog took suit, as a walker in riot gear came stumbling into the room, allowing him to tackle him and shove his knife into its brain, just as another one rushed at Zoe, causing her to shove her machete into its brain. This was as the prisoners watched in complete horror. "Daryl, Nate!" Rick shouted as they left the room, Zoe following close behind. Although, it took a while for Daryl and Nate to catch up, as they wanted to keep an eye on these prisoners.
Nate grabbed his girlfriends arm the second he got near her, and dragged her along with him, making sure that his body was always in front of hers no matter which way the prisoners looked towards them. He wasn't taking any chances with theses guys, especially with the multiple walkers around them attempting to kill them. They all rushed through the hallways in record breaking time, taking no breaks as they needed to get back to the others, only, the prisoners had begun following after them, claiming to 'follow the flashlights'.
As they all wheeled Hershel into the room with the others, Zoe stood at the door, waiting to be instructed on what to do. This was as Daryl and Nate stayed in the main room, waiting for the prisoners to enter with their weapons drawn. It was bad enough that Hershel had been bitten, but now they had to deal with these prisoners.. Today just wasn't their day.