Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty-Three - Prison Cleanup
The group gathered in a circle in the courtyard.
"Uhmm..wouldn't it be better to use your guns instead of these things?" Axel cautiously raised his hand holding the spear.
"We don't fire guns unless you're back's up against a wall. Noise attracts them. It really riles them up." Daryl advised.
The prisoners turned towards Michael as they remembered the events before Micahel found them, but Daryl quickly cut them off before they could even say anything. He already knew what they wanted to say just from looking at their actions.
"He's an exception."
"We'll go in two by two. Michael will run point by himself. I'll bring up the rear with you." Rick immediately brought up the plan and pointed at Oscar by the end.
"Stay tight and hold formation no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone who breaks ranks, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker and end up with an extra hole to the head." Rick raised the consequences for not following the plan, before turning his attention to Michael. "Except you, these things don't apply to you."
"Got it." Michael had no problems with this arrangement. Though, it would have been better if he was doing this alone.
'I should at least make sure they'll have more experience in dealing with the undead before I leave. I'll have more opportunities to farm walkers later.' He's not sure when he'll be back and wants to make sure Rick and the others can close the gap from their Season 3 counterparts in terms of prowess.
"The head. That's where you aim. These things only go down with a headshot." Daryl solemnly reminded them.
Michael looked at the three probational members with solemnity. "Remember, the head. Got it? Don't apply your prison ways in dealing with these monsters."
"Got it." Axel hurriedly nodded in response.
"Alright. Let's begin." Shane quickly led the way inside cell block C and moved through the corridors that leads towards cell block D.
On the way to cell block D.
Michael had now taken point, with Daryl and Axel just behind him, followed by Shane and Big Tiny, and lastly, Rick and Oscar.
They decided to take care of the walkers trapped inside the cells last, and made their way deeper inside the building instead.
"Man, it's too damn dark in here." Axel complained while pointing his spear ahead of him. The group cautiously moved forward and matched Michael's pace.
Daryl looked at him and softly whispered, "Relax, you're gonna hear them before you see them. Besides, we probably won't see much action with Michael taking the lead."
"Graaah!"
The sound of a couple of walkers groaning from the corner ahead of them softly echoed through the corridor.
"They're coming!"
Following behind them, Shane berated him. "Shut up, stupid."
Michael gave the signal to pause. Their bodies immediately tensed up, especially the prisoners as this will be their first time personally dealing with walkers.
Three walkers slowly stumbled along from the corner, and Michael had started counting down the signal to attack, but he barely even started when the prisoners suddenly broke formation and charged ahead while shouting.
"Ahhh!" With a shout from Big Tiny, the other two quickly followed after him.
Big Tiny grabbed the arms of one of the walkers from behind while Axel started stabbing its body vigorously.
On the other hand, Oscar had kicked one of them down and started raining down kicks on it before splitting its head open with an axe.
Twang!
An arrow flew from Daryl's crossbow and saved Oscar in the nick of time when the third walker was about to bite him.
Michael watched the scene taking place before them and was annoyed. "Freaking noobs."
Shane, Rick and Daryl looked at each other worriedly and felt a little discouraged watching the scene before them.
*****
On the guard tower, Otis is attentively watching the perimeter through the scope of his rifle.
'I wonder what's happening inside? Are they doing okay?' Otis was a little worried and at the same time relieved that they didn't force him to go with them.
'Enclosed spaces are not a good match for me.'
Luckily for him, there weren't any disturbances on his side or else he would truly be in trouble when the others were busy inside the prison.
Meanwhile, back at the farm.
Herschel walked into Lori and the other women inside their kitchen.
"Oh yeah? I've never thought I'd be so happy to see a potato" Lori chuckled as they moved around the kitchen.
Carol was also smiling. "I'm just glad we're not roasting squirrels over a fire in the woods. Thank you, Patricia, so much, for letting us into your house."
Maggie walked past behind him while Herschel stood there, looking all confused at what he's witnessing.
He turned around to look at his daughter. "What's this?"
Maggie turned to look at his father while her hands were busy aligning the chairs. "Well, Lori and the others are cooking us dinner tonight. You know, as thanks for letting them stay on the property."
"That's the first time I'm hearing this."
"Well, I didn't think that this was big of a deal. They just want to thank us for helping them" Maggie shrugged and softly explained.
He looked sternly at her. "We need to be setting clear boundaries with these people. They're getting a little too comfortable."
Maggie widened her eyes at him. "It's just dinner."
Hershel decided to overlook it as it already happened and instead questioned her about something. "Anyway, what's going on with you and the Asian boy?'
Maggie sighed. "Glenn, he's a friend."
"I'd rather he wasn't. It's bad enough that I have to chase Beth and Jimmy around." Hershel still looked stern.
Maggie stated the obvious. "Well, I'm not 16. So, you don't have to chase me around."
"I know you're not. That's why I'm counting on you to be the mature one." Hershel looked a little annoyed with that.
"You know how I feel. Please don't make things harder than they need to be."
Maggie watched the women busy themselves in the kitchen before turning her attention back to her father. "I'm a little old for us to be having this conversation with you."
She started walking away from him, but she only took a few steps in when Hershel made her paused in her tracks and warned her. "Do not get close to them. They're not going to be around forever."
Maggie just looked at him and didn't say anything. She just turned around and left.
*****
At the camp, Dale was making his way back to the RV while carrying a jug of water.
"What's with the Annie Oakley routine?" He called out when he saw the woman standing on top of the RV with a rifle in hand.
Andrea turned around and looked down from the RV. "I don't wanna wash clothes anymore, Dale. The least I could do now is help keep the camp safe. That wouldn't be a problem, right?"
Dale looked at her and seemed unsure. "Do you even know how to shoot a rifle?"
Andrea froze and suddenly seemed hesitant. "Uhh..kinda."
Dale sighed and warned her. "Do not ever fire it. Just call for someone if you spot any threats nearby."
"I got it." Andrea answered in a drawn out tone. Her motivation was slightly doused.
Dale just shook his head and entered the RV to see Glenn inside holding one of his books.
Glenn smiled. "Sorry. I was just returning your book."
"Oh, no. I'm sorry. " Dale chuckled and with a sarcastic tone. "If I had known the world was ending. I should have brought better books with me."
It made Glenn chuckle, though it looked like he had something to say but was being hesitant.
Glenn stood up and leaned against the bathroom wall. "Uh, Dale. You think Andrea's on her period?"
Dale quickly gestured to him to keep it low and slowly walked towards him.
"I'm only asking, cause it's like almost all the women are suddenly acting really weird. And I read somewhere that when women spend a lot of time together, their cycles line up and they all get super crazy hormonal all at the same time."
Dale softly chuckled and reminded him. "I suggest that you keep those thoughts to yourself. I think they're just worried since Michael, the most capable member of our group, has suddenly decided to leave for an extended period of time. And that's no exaggeration, you heard the first hand account from Sophia like the rest of us. If the kid didn't embellish some of it, then Michael is someone the group desperately needs. Some of them had probably already noticed the growing tensions between Rick and Shane, and like me, they might also be worried that something might suddenly happen between them during Michael's absence."
Glenn chuckled, then his face became serious. "Yeah. About that, what's going on between those two?"
Dale didn't want to say anything further and immediately deflected it to another subject. "I'm not sure myself, but anyway, who else is also acting weird?"
Glenn looked at thim and remained silent for a moment as he slowly sat down. "Maggie."
"Ah, the farm girl." Dale wasn't even surprised.
"She started off being mean to me. Then she wanted to have sex with me." Glenn looked a little pleased by the end. "And now, she's being mean to me again, and I don't even know what's going on with Lori."
Dale looked at him like a proud Dad with that huge smile on his face, but then lost his smile when a name was brought up. "What's going on with Lori?"
Glenn looked at him. He realized he fucked up. So he quickly tried to shrug it off. "Nothing. I don't know."
Dale knew something was up, but just ignored it for the meantime as he wanted to address his concerns first. He chuckled. "All right, let's take this back a step. How do you know that Maggie wanted to have sex with you?"
Gleen remained silent and just conveyed his answer through his eyes.
Dale realized it and he lost his smile. "Oh son, you did not. Did it ever occur to you how her father might feel about this?"
Glenn has this huge smile on his face like he had just won the Lotto. "She's 22."
"And he's our host." Dale added. He knew things had just gotten slightly serious. Especially, since Hershel does not like them at all being here.
The young man also lost his smile as he also realized that it might turn into a problem later. "He doesn't know."
"And it better stay that way. We don't know what he'll do to you if he finds out about it." Dale advised him.
".."
"Goodness Glenn, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that I might be dead tomorrow."
"Fair point."
Glenn was slightly hurt though. So he quickly stood up and made his way out.
"Thanks for the book."
Dale wanted to say something, but could only watch him leave.
"And you're right. It sucks."
*****
In the prison.
Daryl once again reminded them. "It gotta be the brain. Not the stomach, not the heart..the brain."
Twang!
A walker fell down with an arrow lodge on its head.
"I hear you. The brain." Axel replied as his feet fidgeted while watching the walkers stumble towards them.
Oscar quickly stepped forward and split the walker's head into two with the axe before returning to the formation. "Like that."
"You should have done that in the beginning." Michael snorted.
"Sorry."
Axel took down his own walker, while Rick quickly followed suit with the other one.
"Stay tight in formation. No more of that prison riot crap."
Then more walkers slowly came through the door and the others quickly did what they had to do. Michael, on the other hand, had decided to leave these things to them while leaning against the wall watching them.
Looking closely though, he was actually keeping an eye on Big Tiny who had slowly retreated from the group out of fear.
'I can't let you go dying by yourself big man. We need all the muscle we can get.' He knows that the big man will only suffer a long deep cut, but he's still not taking any chances since he doesn't know if a cut could also cause someone to turn.
Big Tiny kept retreating until he noticed a walker trying to sneak up from behind him and immediately smashed it with a hammer before shoving it away. He turned his attention to another walker who got past the others and smashed its head multiple times.
The previous walker who has its hands cuffed, forcefully tore its hand off from the handcuffs and staggered towards Big Tiny with a now pointed and bloody bonearm.
But just as the inevitable was about to happen, a knife suddenly flew out from somewhere and lodged itself on the walker's head.
Michael walked towards him and grabbed the long haired walker the big man was trying to kill by its neck and shoved it aside.
"We told you not to break formation." Michael sternly reminded him. He snatched the hammer from Big Tiny and finished off the remaining walker.
x2 [You terminated a Zombie! Gained +1 EXP and +1 Coin.]
The others were just finishing up when Rick quickly walked towards them. "What happened?"
"This guy broke formation and had almost gotten himself into trouble." Michael pointed towards Big Tiny with his thumb.
The man in question looked ashamed and didn't say anything. He was truly intimidated by Michael.
"I warned you not to do it." Rick was also angry since it could have also landed them in trouble. Though his tone is still not as rough as his Season 3 persona.
"Come on, let's continue."
This time, Rick paired up with Big Tiny at the back while Oscar was moved to the front with Daryl.
This time, nothing uneventful happened. The group steadily cleaned up the corridors until they reached the laundry room.
There's a door on the opposite side of the room. It was closed, but they could hear the sound of numerous walkers on the other side.
Michael handed the keys to Oscar. "Open it. Just one, not both of them."
"Alright." Oscar had no problem with it as he was also of the same mind as the others, to integrate themselves to Rick's group and gain their trust.
Oscar walked towards the door and started fiddling with the keys, trying to look for the right one.
"Everyone ready?"
"One door." Rick reminded him again.
Oscar listened and he immediately hid behind it as the walkers started filling through the room.