Chapter 021

The following morning came too quickly as everyone began to get up and pack their things. The summer heat clung to our bodies as we readied ourselves for the day ahead, worries stretched thin as groups were formed. Half of us would stay right here with our bags, while the other half would venture further to take out the walkers in the smaller courtyard that lead to a cell block. Then we'd come together to go the cell block in hopes to find a safe shelter.

That had been the plan, until Rick led Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn and Maggie into a cell block without the rest of us. We had helped them from behind the gate, gaining the attention of a few walkers and taking them out as they killed some as well and closed another gate. We had saw them conversing with one another, pointing to a few walkers that were dressed as visitors rather than prisoners, before they had went inside the prison. So my guess; they wanted to make sure no walls were down.

Moving my ankle in a circle in an attempt to rid it of the tightness, I sigh as I failed. They were swollen once more from me standing on them for too long, but I had to help. I don't like sitting around seeming useless, so I got up and helped them take down a few walkers. Looking away from the door they had gone inside, I tilt my head to my right to look toward the kids.

Carl and Sophia are standing off to the side, their guns in their hands as they kept watch behind us. Millie is with them, sitting just by their feet as she takes in the warm rays of the sun. Looking to my left, Hershel is standing not too far from me as he looks down at Beth. They are having their own conversation, whether it be about their worries of Maggie or something else, I don't know.

Lori stands next to me, her fingers laced with the gate as she stares at the door with worry. She doesn't like the fact they told us nothing, it worried her for anything could happen to them or us. Carol is busy walking the permitter of the courtyard, a rifle in her hand as she makes sure none of the walkers in the other courtyard found a way into ours. Rubbing my belly as my baby decides to move, I wince due to them jamming a foot or something into my ribcage.

"Are you okay?" Lori asks as she had caught the wince, her brows knitted together as she stares down at me. Rubbing around my ribs to ease the pain from the kick. "Yeah, I just got a foot or something in my ribcage." I reply honestly, before looking away from the older woman. She doesn't push further as she looks back toward the door just as it opens.

      Standing up fully, I watch as everyone but Rick piles out of the cell block. Glenn and Maggie supported smiles on their faces as they made their way toward us, Daryl following after with his crossbow slung over his shoulder while T-Dog stood by the door. "So what's the verdict?" Hershel asks once they had finally reached us, Lori opening the gate with ease. Daryl walks over to me and places a soft kiss to my forehead, before he turns to look at the much older man.

      "We got the cell block," Daryl informs as he grabs one of our bags from next to us. He easily slings it over his shoulder, before he motions for everyone to do the same. "We are going to move our stuff in, regroup and go from there."

      Sophia and I grab what is left of our bags before we start following Daryl into the cell block. Making our way through the gate, we try to keep our eyes away from the decaying bodies that lay at our feet. Walking through the door that T-Dog holds open, we walk down a hallway before making a turn to our right. We are met with a little area with a few tables and chairs, most likely where prisoners would sit when they were let out of their cells.

      Walking further into the cell block, we walk through another door type of gate before we are greeted with the cells. There are a line of cells on the main floor, with a set of stairs in the center that lead to another row of cells. Rick is standing close to the entrance, a small nod in our direction before we walked further into the area. "Go ahead and pick your cell, Soph," I sign before motioning for her to pick a cell. "You'll probably bunk with Carl anyway. Daryl and I will be right up those stairs."

      Sophia smiles wide as I basically give her permission to share a cell with Carl. They know the rules we have set in place and have followed them so far, so I don't see why they wouldn't know that we found a somewhat permanent place to reside. Following through with my words, Daryl and I make our way up the stairs and toward the last cell on the left. Daryl had grumbled about not wanting to sleep in a cage and would have rather taken the perch, but with our current situation he'll get over it.

      "Is there a way to make these not bunk beds?" I ask once we entered the cell we chose. Placing the bags down next to the bunk bed, I watch as Daryl looks at them. He walks toward them and begins to look in the area that the beds connect, chewing the dead skin around his thumbnails once more. "They have screws in 'em. I'm sure I can get them apart tonight," Daryl states as he looks over toward me. "Let's go see what the plan is from here."

Making our way down the steps, with a little help from Daryl as I can't see over my swollen belly - we make our way into the area just off from the cells. T-Dog and Rick stood by a table that is now covered with gear, both slimy and decently cleaned. "Not bad." Daryl comments as he picks up a flashlight, clicking it on to ensure that it works. He puts it down as he begins to look at the other stuff on the table.

"Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers. Not sure how they'll work on walkers, but we'll take them." Rick says as he rests his hands on his hips, surveying the objects on the table with ease. Picking up a helmet off the table as the Walker remains slide out, I fight back a gag. Placing it back down almost instantly, I share a look of disgust with Daryl. "I ain't wearing this shit." He states as he looks toward T-Dog who picks up some gloves in the same condition.

"We could boil them." T-Dog suggests as he places the gloves back down, equally as disgusted by them as the rest of us. Soon, Hershel joins us by the table as he takes inventory on what we have. He too spots the helmet and gloves and scrunches his face up, also grossed out by them. "Ain't enough firewood in a whole forest, no," Daryl exclaims as he shakes his head a bit, voicing his disgust toward the objects. "Besides, we've made it this far without them right?"

Suddenly everyone's head snaps toward the cells, causing me to follow their gaze to see that Carol is standing there. She motions for Hershel to follow her, before voicing a 'everything is fine' to Rick. Shrugging it off, I look back toward Rick as he stares toward the cells a moment longer. "We need to start getting ready to head for the cafeteria." Rick states just as Carl and Sophia begin walking toward us, Maggie and Glenn following closely.

They begin to prepare themselves, shrugging on the safety gear that isn't contaminated with Walker remains. I watch as Carl puts a helmet on, causing Sophia to giggle a bit at how oversized it was for the pre-teens head. "You won't be needing that." Rick informs as he pulls the helmet off, earning a glare from the younger Grimes'. Carl scoffs at his dad, annoyed that he couldn't prove that he'd be fine going with them.

"You're kidding!"

"We don't know what's in there," Rick informs as he places a hand on Carl's shoulder. The younger Grimes only nods as he listens to his father. "If something goes wrong, you could be the last man standing. I need you to handle things here."

      Carl mumbles something as Rick hands him the keys to the cellblock, instructing him to keep it on him at all times. With that, Sophia and Carl walks away from the table and back toward the cell block just as Hershel returns. The older man begins to prepare himself to go with the others, already having the approval of Rick. Turning to Daryl, I watch as he checks his arrows before slinging the crossbow over his shoulders.

      "Be careful in there. Make it back to us, Dare."

      "I always will, sweetheart."

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      An hour has passed since they had left to go to the cafeteria in hopes to find food. None of us seemed worried, for none of us truly knew the layout of this prison, or any prison for the matter. Carol and Lori walked aimlessly throughout the cell block, tending the food that we need have or the clothes that we have gathered that needed clean. Carl and Sophia stood by the entrance of the cell block, keeping watch for the others as they had been instructed to do.

      Beth sat in her and Hershel's cell, trying to tidy it up the best she could with what we have. Mille stuck by me, her head resting on my legs as she sits next to me. I sat on the steps, seeing as I am too out of shape to be trying the stairs by myself to get to my cell. Nobody spoke, or dared to question the whereabouts of the others - keeping some sort of faith on their promises to return.

Rubbing my swollen bump as the baby moves for what feels like the millionth time, I let out a tired sigh. The days felt longer now than I had reached the third trimester, my energy failing even if I had nothing to do. My body ached and felt that I ran a marathon more days than not, yet I still woke and pushed myself forward. Before I could fall into my own thoughts, everyone begins to rush toward Carl and Sophia as they force open the gate.

Struggling to stand up, I watch as Rick, Glenn and T-Dog push a tray cart through the doors. My eyes grow wide at the sight of Hershel laying on it, Maggie running next to them while holding a towel over her father's leg - or what is left of it. A wave of nausea runs through me at the sight of Hershel's leg missing, as everyone rushes him into a cell. Knowing that I wouldn't be much of a help, I allow them to work on him as I force myself to walk into the other area of the cell block.

Daryl stood with his back toward me, his crossbow raised toward the door of the cell block. Knowing that there is danger beyond the door, I step next to him as I pull my gun from its holster. "Kat...." Daryl mutters, hoping that I'd take that as my cue to go back to the others. But he knows better, he knows I'll stick right next to him to defend him.

Suddenly a group of men walk through the doors, do doubt prisoners as they all wore jumpsuits. Two black men, a scrawny white dude and a Hispanic man stood in front of us - untouched from the world. The Hispanic man is clearly the leader as he stood in front of them, his brown eyes narrow as he holds up his own gun. How did a prisoner get access to a gun?

      "That's far enough." Daryl says as he tightens his grip on the crossbow, casting a glance in my direction as I look toward the prisoners. He really didn't want me standing here, but he and I both know I'm useless when it comes to the issue with Hershel. "Cell block C, cell four," The Hispanic man informs as he motions toward the cells. Narrowing my eyes, I keep my own gun trained on him. "That's mine, gringo. Let me in."

      "Today's your lucky day, fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia, you're free to go." Daryl states as his eyes never left the man with the gun, his own finger hovering over the trigger of the crossbow. He doesn't like the fact these people are here, but we did just break into their home in a way. The Hispanic man seems to pay no mind to Daryl's words as he looks past us. "What you go going on in there?" He asks, his eyes glancing in my direction before he looks at Daryl.

      "Ain't none of your concern."

      "Don't be telling me what's my concern." The man snaps as he pulls out his gun and aims it at Daryl. Clicking the safety off mine, I step forward a bit, lining the barrel of it against the man's head. Hovering my finger over the trigger, I mentally dared the guy to pull the trigger. Just give me a reason and you're gone, dude.

       "Chill, man. Dude's leg is messed up," A muscular black man says as he holds up his hands a bit, attempting to get his man to calm down. Big Dude is what I'm going to call this one, while leaving the Hispanic Man as Big Ole Sissy. "Besides, we're free now. Why are we still in here?"

      "Man's got a point." Daryl agrees just as T-Dog comes to stand next to him, his own gun aiming at the prisoners. Stepping back as Big Ole Sissy lowers his gun a bit, it looks as if a scoff leaves his lips. "Yeah, and I gotta check on my ole lady." Big Dude says as he looks at his 'leader'. It seems like most of them are scared of this dude and I'm not understanding why.

      "Group of civilians breaking into a prison you've got no business being in, got me thinking there ain't no places for us to go."

      "Why don't you go and find out?"

      "Maybe we'll just be going now." Waxed Mustache suggests as he backs up a bit, clearly nervous about the situation at hand. What the hell did he do to end up here being all scared like this? He reminds me of a dog that has been kicked one too many times. "Hey, we ain't leaving!" Big Ole Sissy snaps as he turned to face Waxed Mustache, his brown eyes full of rage.

      "You ain't coming in either." T-Dog yells back, his grip on his gun tightening as Big Ole Sissy grows more pissed. Keeping my gun aimed at him, I could see the rage beginning to bubble over with this dude. And this is why he's probably behind the walls, his rage got the best of him and he probably hurt or killed someone. "Hey, this is my house, my rules, I go where I damn well please!" Big Ole Sissy snaps once more, waving his gun around like a madman.

      "There ain't nothing for you here, why don't you go back to your own sandbox?" Daryl cuts in, his eyes narrowed as he takes a step forward. He was almost begging the man to give him a reason to put an arrow in him, threatening almost. Before either of the men could throw out more words, Big Ole Sissy and his group of dumbasses look behind us, causing me to do the same to see Rick. "Hey, hey, hey," Rick attempts, trying to ease the arguments that were forming. "Everyone relax, there is no need for this."

"Kat, go back to the cells. They need you more." Rick orders as he motions for me to go back to the cells. Nodding, I share a glance with Daryl as I click the safety back on, before putting my gun away. Narrowing my eyes at the men once more, I begin to walk back toward the cells, toward the others. Once I walk through the door, I notice that Glenn is standing outside of the cell they wheeled Hershel into.

"You want to tell me what happened out there and why Hershel is missing a leg?"

      "We were doing fine before we got caught off by a herd in the tombs," Glenn explains as he glances into the cells, worry plastered on his face as he sees Maggie standing next to her unconscious father. Following his gaze, my stomach turns at the sight of Hershel's missing leg. "Maggie and I were together, while Hershel was with the others. But he went separate from them when they came to find us. He got bit, we ran into the cafeteria and Rick cut off his leg. Hershel was unconscious for the most part. Now we are just waiting to see what happens."

      "Did Rick cut it off to prevent the infection from spreading?" I ask, my eyes wide at what Glenn had told me. The Korean man only nods his head in response, before rubbing his hands over his face. He's tired, we all are, but I can't imagine having to witness that. "He'll be okay, he's gotta be. Maggie will be too once he's awake."

      Resting a hand on his shoulder for reassurance, I walk over to the stairs and sit down as my lower back begins to hurt. It's been happening ever since I entered the third trimester, especially now that my belly seems to be dropping as the days go by. It feels as if the bottom half of my body is just going to fall off most days. Letting out a sigh as I notice Carl and Sophia rushing by with bags I've never seen before, I raise a brow by decide to leave it be for now.

      I hope Hershel will be okay.

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Word Count: 3,089

Welcome to Chapter twenty-one! It's been a minute, but between writing, birthdays and taking care of a very active one and a half year old - I've been busy. I hope you guys enjoy!

Predictions on what you think Katherine and Daryl's baby will be; Thalia Louise or Noah Lee?

Do you think she'll give birth before Lori, same time as Lori, or after?

Lots of Love,Crimson Rose