Through the Trees

I'm not sure exactly how much time passed after that. I knew it had been months judging by the size of Lori's growing stomach, but I couldn't be sure how many. My ankle healed in time, but left me with a slight limp. Because of that, Rick never gave me too hard of a task.

The boys all came up with a system of how thinks worked from here on out. Rick, Carl, Daryl, and T-Dog would search and secure an area. Once it was secured, the rest of us would join them.

Rick waved us into the house we had just stumbled upon. I followed along behind Carl, walking into the house and sitting down next to Daryl. He had an owl in his hands, that he was plucking feathers off of to eat. Meanwhile, the rest of us watched as Carl opened a can of dog food that he was planning on eating. Had we really stooped so low?

When Rick saw it, he snatched the can from his son, and threw it into the empty fireplace. None of us said anything though.

When T-Dog noticed walkers approaching the front of the house, we left out the back door with Daryl leading the way. I followed between Lori and Carl, keeping a close eye on Lori to make sure she was alright. That was the job that had been assigned to me. Though Lori wasn't aware of it, Rick had previously pulled me aside and asked me to keep an eye on her. Just in case.

We made our way back to the cars, and loaded everything up. Though, knowing that we were very low on gas, we only drove a few miles before once more stopping. Beth, Carl, and I formed around the group to keep watch as they spoke. Daryl and Rick went off to hunt for something....anything. T-Dog and Carol went together to a nearby river to get water and wash off. Even though they came back empty handed, Daryl and Rick were the first to come back.

"We found a place." Daryl breathed in my ear as he walked past. "Really?" I gasped, suddenly filled with a new found hope.

We waited until everyone had come back, and allowed Daryl and Rick to lead the way to where ever it was they found. It was a prison. We got in the perimeter by cutting a hole in the fence, and then tying it closed with a bungee cord.

"It's perfect. If we can close that gate, prevent more from filling the yard. We can pick off these walkers, we'll take the field by tonight." Rick starting forming a plan as we all took a good look around. "So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel was the first to ask. He seemed rather interested in Rick's plan. Then again, looking around the group so did a few others...including me.

"I'll do it, you guys cover me." Glenn was quick to step up to the plate. "No! It's a suicide run!" Maggie quickly shook her head. "I'm the fastest." Glenn pointed out.

"No. You, Maggie, and Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop 'em through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol, you're a pretty good shot, take your time- we don't have a lot of ammo. Hershel, you and Carl take this tower. I'll run for the other gate." Rick sighed.

"I'll go with you." I stepped forward. "No, you stay here with Lori." He was quick to shake his head. "No, Rick, you're our leader and we can't lose you. Lori will be fine here, so I'm going with you to watch your back." I put my foot down. "Alright, alright. Fine. Let's go!" I was surprised that he gave in that quickly without a fight.

Lori opened the gate, and we crawled through. Sure enough, we got to the opened gate without a hitch and were able to pull it closed.

The others picked off the other walkers one by one, and once that was finished we all met up in the center of the field. Everyone formed a circle and dug a little fire pit for the night. I, however, sat away from the rest of the group. I had lay my blanket out across the grass, and was laying down against it. I could hear Beth singing from a few feet away. Maggie joined in as well. I had absolutely no problem with the girls singing- the problem I had with it was the song they picked. It had been one of my father's favorites and brought tears to my eyes.

Other than that, it was a warm night, so I was using my jacket as a make shift pillow.

I was laying there for a few minutes, when Daryl came strolling over, and lightly kicked my boot-covered foot. "What're you doing way over here by yourself?" He asked, setting his crossbow down before sitting down next to me. "Just needed some space I guess." I sighed, shuffling to prop myself up on my elbows.

"I noticed you ain't been sleeping much recently." He sighed, looking me over.

"You noticed that, huh? I've just had a lot on my mind I guess." I breathed out, looking up at him. "You're thinking about what happened with that kid, Randall, aren't you?" He was quick to ask. Of course I was still thinking about it, how could I not? Even though I still hadn't told Daryl about what happened- he was able to read me like a book. Hershel is still the only one who knows. "Unfortunately, yes." I nodded slowly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Daryl offered. Over the past few months, Daryl had opened up more towards the group; so part of me felt bad that I was still too uncomfortable opening up to him. "Maybe not tonight." I shook my head ever so slightly.

He seemed to get a bit annoyed by my answer. Though with how many times he's asked me about it, I would be getting annoyed too. "You'll have to tell me eventually. I know whatever it was that happened is killing you inside. Besides, it's not good to keep secrets from the group." With that, he stood up and walked away.

I didn't get much sleep after that.We started work first thing the next morning. Daryl, Rick, T-Dog, Maggie, and Glenn went into the area we cleared off yesterday to kill walkers. While the rest of us did our best to attract some walkers over to the fence to get them. At one point, we lost sick of them; but I could hear Rick call out for Daryl before hearing the sound of a gate sliding closed.

When they appeared again, they were all panting, and Glenn moved to get us into the area- but Rick stopped him. They then moved to go inside of the prison.

"What the hell are they doing? This wasn't part of the plan!" I questioned, looking around the group of us that were left outside. "I-I don't know, maybe Rick thought of something." Lori gasped out, shaking her head. "They don't know what's in there, what if something happens?"

It was quiet after that as we waited for something to happen. My mind was clouded with worry when Glenn came walking back outside. "Gather everything up." He breathed out. I, for one, was confused as we gathered all our things up and followed Glenn into the prison, the same way that we had watched them enter before. Prison. Maybe that's what it used to be, but now it was more like one giant tomb.

"What do you think?" Rick asked, walking down the stairs. "Home sweet home." Glenn spoke in an emotionless voice. "For the time being." Rick corrected him. "It's secure?" Lori questioned, looking around the area.

They had cleared out a cell block for us all.

I stopped listening as I walked up the stairs, and went into the first open cell. I put my stuff down, before sitting on the ground and leaning up against the wall. From my spot, I could see Daryl claiming a spot on the walkway- directly in front of the cell I had picked out.

He had his dirty pillow up under his head, and his arm thrown over his eyes to black out the light so that he could rest. He looked so peaceful; but that of course didn't last long.

They got to rest of about an hour, before deciding to go even deeper into the prison. This time, Hershel went with them. I opted to stay behind and look after Lori and Carl for Rick.

Knowing that they knew where to find me if there were any problems, I stay in my cell for a majority of the time. At least, that is until I got an idea. I had found a deck of cards a while back. So, digging them out of one of my bags, I walked out of my cell and went down the stairs.

I found Carl sitting on his own in a cell. "Hey kid, want to play cards?" I smiled, tossing him the pack of cards. "Yeah, sounds great." The kid smiled up to me. I was fully intending on teaching him to play poker- that is 'til we heard Rick yelling for Carl to let them back into the cell block.

They were pushing Hershel along on a cart. One of his legs was missing.

Everyone gathered around, watching, hoping that the man would be able to pull through this. I, on the other hand, back away until my back hit the wall, and ended up sliding down to the ground and putting my head into my hands.

Hershel had gotten bitten. What the hell were we going to do if we ended up losing him? He was one of the main things that was keeping this group together. Without him, we wouldn't have been able to make it this far. Without him, I probably wouldn't have made it this far. I would have died if he never took me in. If Otis wouldn't have found me that day on his hunting trip, I wouldn't have been brought to the farm for Hershel to help me.

In the time I had known him, Hershel had become like a second father to me. He was the only one who knew my past of what happened before I ended up on the farm. I still remember how scared I was too. I would only let Maggie, Beth, and Patricia anywhere near me, let alone touch me.

Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog left again, and everyone else stay gathered around Hershel. No one even noticed me stand, walk back up the stairs, and go back to my cell.

I grabbed my pillow and blanket from my things before crawling onto the dust-covered cot and sinking into my thoughts.

I could still hear everything that was happening downstairs. At one point, they were losing Hershel, but Lori did CPR and saved him. It was a joyful moment; but I didn't leave my bunk until Daryl came back. Sitting up, I moved to stand in the cell door. "Daryl, can you come talk to me." I waved him over.

"What's going on?" Daryl asked, sitting down on the the cot next to me."We almost lost Hershel today." I whispered. "Yeah, but he's alright. He made it." Daryl was quick, and happy to say.

"I know; but it made me realize that I can't keep secrets. Hershel's the only one who knows the truth about my past; and I've come to see him as a father figure in my life. I think it's time I told you about what happened." I breathed out. Was I really ready to tell him my story? It's now or never. Never, yeah, let's go with never.

"We lost my mom first, then it was just me, my sister, and our dad. They were all I had left. One night, we stopped to make camp, and we were attacked. These men, they came out of nowhere. Two of them, they beat my father and held him down- while the rest of them, t-they forced themselves on my sister and I. They took turns raping us. And that kid, Randall, he was there. He was the one holding my dad down." I guess it was now. Tears filled my eyes as I spoke, and once they spilled over they wouldn't stop.

"A week later they- my father and sister- both killed themselves. They abandoned me in this world. It wasn't long after that when Otis found me and took me to the farm. Hershel took me in, and I could never thank him enough for it.

I looked at Daryl as I finished my story, and could see the absolute rage in his eyes. Though he said nothing, I expected him to start screaming and yelling. Instead, he reached over and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "As long as I'm around, nothing like that will ever happen again. I swear, I'll protect you." He spoke softly, and I could have sworn that I felt his lips press against the very top of my head.

I was shocked to say the least; but being in his arms I never felt more safe.

Daryl ended up staying with me in my cell that night; and for the first time in a long time I was able to get a good nights sleep.