Push

Daryl was gone when I opened my eyes. I'd awoken a handful of times during the night, but focusing on him sleeping close to me had lulled me back into slumber each time. I so badly wanted to inch closer to him, to touch him, but knowing Daryl, his hunter's brain would alert him if I got any closer than two feet.

Waking up at the prison felt strange, and we hadn't even made it inside yet. The air reeked from the charred bodies of yesterday's walker-slaying session, and the overgrown weeds and smashed windows made the prison look decrepit.

I had to hand it to Rick, though. Although it wouldn't have been my first choice of location, it was a good one for the group. The tall fences and barbed wire offered another layer of defence as well as the prison walls themselves. Plus, the guard towers would make fantastic lookouts.

The walkers-guards still in their riot gear made us assume that the prison had fallen early in the infection, meaning there was a good chance that supplies could be waiting for us inside. With any luck, we'd be able to locate the armoury and infirmary. We were completely out of bullets now, and Hershel's medical supplies were lost at the farm. We needed to top up on both.

I spotted Daryl over by the fences, checking each panel individually to make sure they were secure. He wasn't a man who took chances when it came to keeping us all safe. I couldn't stop my mind from flashing back to him laying beside me last night and the way he'd shorted my name.

'Ath'

~

"We ready for round two?" Rick asked as we prepared to push into the prison.

He, Daryl, and I would be going in first, Maggie, Glenn, and T-Dog behind us - same formation as yesterday. There's a ramp that we're assuming leads straight into one of the cell blocks. All we need to do for now is take one that we can lock tight. The rest of the prison can be dealt with later.

Here we go.

Daryl yanked open the heavy door, and we cautiously made our way inside the building. T-Dog had the rear and pulled the door shut behind him with a bang and plunging the six of us into complete darkness.

This was not ideal.

We managed to make it a fair way down the corridor before those familiar snarls could be heard echoing in the distance. We knew there'd be more walkers in here, but we had no idea how many or which areas would be the most densely populated. We were taking it on faith that they'd be spread out enough across the vast building to give us a chance.

Their groans grew closer, alerted to movement by the thudding of the closing door. I wiped my hand on my pants before grasping my knife again. I usually maintained my composure better than this, but the dark had me thrown. We had no viewpoints whatsoever - literally going in blind.

We were still in the pitch blackness when we could tell they were getting close. We'd continued moving forward, hoping to make it to some kind of light before we met, but to no avail.

The sound of movement began to emanate from the end of the corridor we were still in. They were here, and we couldn't see a thing.

"Stay alert." Rick ordered, a tinge of panic in his voice. He was to my left, Daryl to my right. They sounded as though they were mere feet away from us now. I felt a strong arm gently move me backwards, in between the two lines.

What the fuck?

Then we met. Cantankerous bodies smashed into Rick and Daryl, arms grabbing for whatever they could get their hands on. They fought them, the slashing and slicing of knives echoing off the walls. I pushed myself forwards - I wasn't hiding in the middle of the pack like some scaredy-cat, I came in here to fight.

We eradicated walkers for what felt like forever, diluting the danger that faced us and moving forward as a group whenever the situation allowed. At some point, we'd finally made enough progress for light to reach us, which made the battle so much simpler. After talking down round after round of the undead, we eventually made it to a cellblock. Rick sprinted to close the gate at the far end as the rest of us nearly collapsed, lungs heaving and sweat dripping down our faces despite the harsh temperature outside.

After checking that none of us had been bitten in the dark, which was a miracle in my opinion, Rick and Daryl checked each cell to ensure all threats had been eradicated, while Glenn and T-Dog began to drag walkers outside to burn. Maggie had flopped down at a metal table, trying desperately to bring her breathing back to a normal pace.

I spent a moment taking in the appearance of the place we'd now be calling home. Twelve cells were spread over two levels, their doors all either hanging off or non-existent. A set of metal stairs and a grated catwalk connected the upper and lower storeys, and the floor was littered with debris - fragments of metal, shards of glass, and scraps of yellowed paper.

"Bingo." I heard Rick mutter to himself as he lifted a set of keys from a walker who must have been a prison worker. He already had two other bunches of keys in his opposite hand.

He tossed a set to Daryl before handing me one of the gaggles of keys. I couldn't help but smile at him gratefully. Rick had been confident in my abilities since I'd first joined the group, but since we'd been on the road, I could tell he'd come to see me as an equal - someone to bounce ideas off and depend on when we faced hardship or a dangerous situation.

Daryl would always be his right-hand man, but I relished the fact that I didn't get stomped down for being a woman, something that would most likely have been pushed for had Shane still been around. The misogynistic cop would never have been able to admit out loud that I was as, if not more, capable than him.

Rick left to deliver the news to those still outside that the cellblock was secure, as I span my new keyring around my fingers, eyeing Daryl, who wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Why?" I asked him.

He looked sheepish. He didn't answer.

"I asked you a question." I continued, my voice sassy, "Why did you push me back!?"

I was met with more silence.

"I'm just as competent as you are, Daryl." I reminded him, just as the rest of the group entered the cellblock with the few belongings we had left, cutting off our one-sided conversation.

"What do you think?" Rick asked everyone.

"Home sweet home." Glenn said unenthusiastically.

"It's secure?" Lori asked, taking in the new environment, her face uneasy.

"This cellblock is." Rick assured her, "In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary. I found keys on some guards. Daryl and Athena have sets, too. We keep the doors locked whenever we can."

"We sleep in the cells?" Beth asked.

Rick nodded in response and she looked horrified.

A few of us chuckled. Where did she think we were going to sleep? I loved Beth's innocence, but sometimes it bordered on dizziness. I gave her a cheeky wink as people started to claim their cells.

"I ain't sleepin' in no cage. I'll take the perch!" Daryl clarified, as he made his way up to the area the guards would have used to keep an eye on inmates. It sat in the opposite corner to the furthest right cage, close to the high, barred windows.

Everyone seemed to have chosen their cells already, some even stretching out on the cots - enjoying actually having something to lie on the instead of the ground - but I stood frozen.

"Athena... Are you okay?" Maggie asked, looking concerned.

"Yup!" I lied, pulling myself out of my daze and trepidatiously making my way to the top of the stairs. There were six cells lining one side of the upper level. T-Dog had claimed the one furthest to the left, Glenn and Maggie next-door-but-one. Three cells remained empty to the right, and I chose the one in the middle. I'd been tempted to choose the furthest one along - closest to Daryl's newly claimed perch, but decided not to. The guy liked his privacy and he'd no doubt get defensive about it.

I entered my new cell, looking around at the four small walls, bunk bed, toilet, and sink. There was also a broken, metal dresser in the corner. I'd chosen well, this cell was gore free, unlike some of the others that held the blood of walkers we'd killed or their victims.

Sitting on the bed, I took a few deep breaths, reminding myself why we were here.

Security, supplies, a home for Lori to have her baby.

"Yours looks bigger than ours." Maggie said jealously as she entered my cell.

"They're all the same!" I laughed. "Yours just seems smaller because there are two people in it."

"There isn't gonna be two people sleeping in yours?"

I blinked at her.

She winked at me.

I rolled my eyes.

She left.

Two minutes in my cell had been enough, so I ventured back down to the lower level. Carol was already there attempting to clean up some of the waste that was strewn all over the floor.

"Can I help?" I asked her.

She looked at me confused, "You want to clean?"

"Uh.. yeah..?"

"Well, okay, it's just... You're not usually one for the chores."

"I am, too!" I lied.

She had a point. Never had I helped with the laundry or the cooking either at the farm or when we'd been on the road. It was a waste of my skills. Rick usually had me out hunting with Daryl, or off on a run. Plus, chores were hella boring.

Carol did accept my help eventually. We'd actually made the place look somewhat acceptable, venturing outside to toss the rubbish atop the pile of walkers about to be burned.

Dinner was a cheerful one. We shared cold baked beans, canned sweetcorn, and a handful of granola bars between all eleven of us. It wasn't much, but it would keep us sustained until we located the cafeteria tomorrow.

I watched as Daryl sneakily slid a very pregnant Lori his portion of granola bar.

I'd offered to take the first watch. The second level of the cell block held a heavy metal door, flanked by another, barred door, that led to a long flat rooftop that offered the perfect view of the surrounding area.

Most people had already decided they'd take their watches in the tower toward the front of the prison, but I liked it up here. It didn't make much of a difference, and being closer to the cellblock was easier anyhow.

I sat out on my roof with the stars above me. It was colder, but I had a thick coat on, and the twinkly lights were worth it. At some point, in the early hours, I heard the door swing as Daryl made his way onto the roof for his shift.

"My turn." He spoke in his thick, southern accent, approaching where I was sitting on the floor, my back against a concrete block.

The asshole had copied my watch spot.

"I'm good." I told him. "You go get some more sleep."

He eyed me suspiciously. "Nah. Ya need sleep."

"I'm honestly fine." I replied.

"It's my shift."

"I don't care."

"Why ya' bein' weird?"

"Why are you being a fuckwit?"

We escalated quickly into arguments, Daryl and I - both hotheads who had to have the last word. Often, we didn't even realise we were doing it until one of us took it too far.

"A fuckwit?" Daryl raised an eyebrow at me, a wry smile lifting the corners of his lips.

My stomach flipped. He looked mind-numbingly beautiful in that moment.

"Daryl..."

"What?" he groaned, growing increasingly frustrated that I still hadn't moved from my spot on the roof.

"You just smiled!"

"So..?" he retorted, trying to act nonchalant but looking embarrassed, the top of his ears turning red.

"I've never seen you smile."

He turned his back on me. This guy was so strange when it came to emotion, physical contact, plus a whole bunch of other things. I wondered if he'd ever had any sort of diagnosis.

"You should do it more often." I teased.

"Ath..."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up... And get the fuck off my roof."

I flung my own smile back at him, lifting myself to my feet and making my way inside.

"G'night smiler!" I shouted back to him, closing the door before he could get mad.

I grinned to myself the whole time I walked, replaying Daryl's little smile in my head. He'd looked so different when he did it - younger, lighter, more free. Why didn't he do it more? It's actually impressive how long I've known him and never seen it.

I knew there was more to Daryl's story than he let on. He didn't give a lot away about his life before the turn, only sharing the odd story about Merle's antics, or a specific hunting trip he'd been on, never revealing anything more.

As I've got to know him better, it becomes more and more obvious that there's a deep pain inside him, buried somewhere so nobody can find it. It escapes, to an extent, when he's angry - his sharp tongue knowing exactly what to say to hurt someone, and the way he'll never let his guard down.

As I reached my cell, still wrapped up in my thoughts. I halted at the door. The urge to go back out onto the roof felt overwhelming me, and it didn't even have anything to do with a very sexy, grumpy redneck being out there.

I just didn't want to be here, not in a cell...

...not again.

Oooh! Are we about to start learning some of Athena's backstory? 😜

I have a question...

I'm not a writer. In fact, this is my first attempt at writing any sort of story since I left school.

I'm paranoid that I'm switching between tenses sometimes without meaning to...

Is this something you've noticed? And does it bother you? Please let me know honestly.

Lorelai x