From the Shadows

Daryl and Teagan arrived at the group with almost no food, except for the one squirrel. They had forgotten about hunting after the group of walkers and the good news. Everyone was happy to see them, until they saw they had almost nothing. Both Teagan and Daryl were confused, but quickly caught on.

“I think we found what we've been looking for.” The group all rotated their weary heads towards Teagan.

“What did you find?” Glenn held the most hope out of anybody in the group.

“There's a prison down that way.” She pointed to where they were earlier. “From what I could see, there were fences. Sturdy, intact fences.”

“How far is it?” Rick's interest was blatantly apparent.

“Not too long. Not sure about roads. We can seek some out if ya want.” Daryl's voice didn't show much excitement, but it never did.

Teagan and Daryl took a small excursion to see if they could find roads leading up to it. They found a huge turn off ahead of them, and deciphered a rough path to take.

The next day, the group piled into their vehicles, hopefully for the last time. Daryl was in lead, and today, Teagan was on the back of his motorcycle. They both needed to work together to remember the path. The directions they decided on were correct, and they parked a ways away from the prison to figure out a plan.

“There are a lot of walkers there. Are you sure about this?” Lori held her precious son close to her. He had grown so fast, and in such a cruel world. Teagan wondered how he'd be as an adult, if he lived that long. She shook the negative thought from her head to contribute to the conversation.

It was decided that Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Teagan, and Daryl would make a phalanx to clear out the front of the prison. T-Dog and Andrea, also respectable fighters, stayed behind to defend the rest of the group. The phalanx would keep themselves from getting exposed, and prevented any blind spots. There were very few walkers outside, so they drove to the opening of the fence. There were two layers of fence, and the gates were on heavy duty wheels, making it easy to slide open. Once inside, they made their formation and stabbed, sliced, shot arrows at and beat down any unlucky and staggering walker that came their way. By the end, the group was exhausted. They split into smaller groups and looked around. This part of the prison was fenced off from the rear side. The back side of the prison seemed to have even fewer walkers than the front, and they decided to tackle them using the same tactic as before. Once the entire prison yard was clear, they called in the rest of the group.

Once reunited, they tried to further their plan. Rick suggested they try to clear inside the prison as well.

“I don't think that's a good plan. You are all clearly exhausted, and the day is almost up. It'll be dark in there, and any light from outside will be gone to you soon. We should rest instead, and clear out inside tomorrow.” Hershel was right. The people who cleared the prison yard were exhausted. They were running on low tanks and low water, and so many walkers were motionless on the ground. While the group rested and ate what little food they had, Rick walked the perimeter of the prison repeatedly. Lori was getting worried.

“Do you want me to check on him? I'm sure he's just nervous.” Teagan volunteered herself. As much as she enjoyed sitting down and doing nothing at that particular time, she needed to stretch her legs and get some fresh air that wasn't smoke from the fire. Lori wordlessly thanked her, and Teagan stood up too quickly. He vision got spotty and she collected herself, but not before Daryl noticed.

“You feeling alrigh'?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Going to go check on Rick.” Daryl nodded, and took this excuse as something more personal. When Teagan approached Rick, he was nearly pacing.

“Rick, the fence is fine. I've seen you go around more times than I can count. You should join your family.”

“Just worried I missed a hole in the fence.” He didn't even make eye contact with her; just kept looking at the fences

“If you want, I'll keep watch for the night. Please, go join Lori and Carl. By tomorrow, we'll be able to call this place home.”

“No, you need to rest. I can see it your face. You've taken night watch a lot recently. I'll get someone else to do it.”

“I'll rest if you stop pacing.” They smiled at each other.

“Deal.”

The next morning, Teagan's back was stiff and sore. She stretched and yawned and prepared for another day of clearing the prison. Rick double checked that everyone from yesterday was still up to doing it, and everyone said yes. One cell block was nearly clear. Only a handful of walkers were left, and they were cleared quickly. Luckily for them, this cell block had the most natural light. Since electricity was gone, they needed all the light they could get. In a large group, they traveled down corridors deeper in the prison, which were much darker than the cell block. Glenn was spray painting arrows on the wall, so they knew how to get back out. The corridors felt like a labyrinth, so many places to turn and get lost. It was dark, and everyone was bumping into each other. In a scuffle, the group got split up. Maggie, Glenn, and Andrea were separated from the group, and a small herd of walkers forced Rick, Teagan and Daryl into a side room. They bolted the doors closed to catch their breath.

“Now what do we do?” Teagan was panting. Her limbs felt heavy, but her head felt light. She never had to exert so much energy with so little fuel before. As they tried to collect themselves and regroup, a stranger's voice was heard.

“Who in the hell are you?” Teagan, Rick and Daryl turned their heads to see five guys holed up. By their uniforms, they were obviously prisoners.

“We could ask you the same question.” Rick spoke, while Daryl and Teagan raised their weapons.

All but one of the prisoners instinctively put their hands up. “We don't want any trouble.” The prisoner who spoke was blonde and bearded.

“Just step on out of there nice and slow.” Rick held his gun up. Daryl and Teagan kept their own stances steady.

“My, my. Got a feisty little gal here, don't we.” The prisoner who didn't raise his hands took a step towards Teagan. “What your name pretty darlin'?

“Don't you dare touch her. Don't even talk to her.” Daryl's eyes were angry, and he held his crossbow even tighter. The sleazy prisoner stepped back and held his hands up.

Rick asked for their names. Axel was the blonde, bearded man. Oscar was the medium-build African American. Andrew was a twitchy, smaller African American man. The huge guy was nicknamed “Big Tiny”. Big body, tiny personality. The sleaze was Tomas.

How the hell did they survive this? After some small talk, it was discovered that the prisoners basically lucked out. They were surviving in the cafeteria with no knowledge of how bad it was outside. Rick was very leery on letting these people into the group. They were prisoners after all. The judicial system and law of the old world no longer applied, but what did they do to get into prison? Thieves? Murderers? Rapists? If they were tax evaders, they probably wouldn't be an issue, but so many other dangerous deeds land people in prison. Rick knew he could use their muscle to get themselves back to the cell block. Rick hesitated to invite them alone, and they were very clearly instructed on what to do.

“Aim for the head. That is the only way to take them down.” Rick spoke, but his voice also carried the voices of Daryl and Teagan. Whether they wanted to or not, they were trusting their lives with these prisoners. One mistake, and the swing of their ax could land in their own heads, or a misstep could have them waltzing with a walker.

When the exited, the prisoners charged at a small group of walkers and did everything but hit them in the head. Rick, Daryl and Teagan were furious and stepped in to do the job correctly.

“Hit 'em in tha head. How many times we gotta tell ya. In the fuckin head.” Daryl kept pointing as his own head as a point of reference.

“Alright, alright. We heard you.” Tomas answered for his inmates and defensively, but jokingly put his hands up in a pseudo-surrender. He then glanced at Teagan and winked at her. “Maybe babygirl over here can show me how its done.” He licked his lips and stepped towards Teagan, but Daryl shoved his way in between them.

“Don't fuckin touch her, or I'll shot you in yer fuckin' head. Got that?” Teagan smiled to herself, but was also disappointed. She could defend herself. She shouldn't have to rely on Daryl to be the hero.

“Alright redneck. Just trying to have a little fun. Gets lonely in prison, ya know?”

“I don't give a shit. You fucked up and earned your place here. Keep harassing me and you'll still be alone, and six feet under.” Teagan spat at Tomas with furious eyes. She trained herself to take no shit from anyone. Redeemed.

The group settled down and prepared to keep walking when Tomas pointed out a wound on Big Tiny. “What the hell is that?”

Big Tiny grew defensive. “It's nothin'. I feel fine, honest. No big deal. I'll be okay.”

Upon further inspection, the wound was a deep scratch. “Was that from a walker?” Teagan asked the question no one else wanted to.

“He's gonna turn into one of them now, right?” Before Big Tiny could answer Teagan's question, Tomas interjected his own question. Teagan nodded slightly. Before anyone knew it, Tomas we beating the shit out of Big Tiny. By the end, Tomas' front was splattered in blood, and Big Tiny's head was an unrecognizable mess of battered flesh and bone.

“Ya said aim for the head, right?” Tomas put on a disgusting smile and left Big Tiny's body behind; no remorse. Daryl and Teagan exchanged glances, and it was mutually understood to not trust this guy. He was clearly dangerous.

Another small group of walkers crept up on the group. The group got split up even further: Rick, Tomas, Andrew and Teagan separated from Daryl, Axel and Oscar. Daryl frantically looked around, and upon realizing the separation, Daryl kicked himself internally and swore. Rick and his group quickly found a small side room to hole up in. Daryl, Oscar and Axel took more turns than any of them could remember, and finally found a safe room. She better be alrigh'...