Ch 8

The trees passed by in a blur as the car sped down the road.

Sam pulled his coat as tightly as he could. Even though winter was technically over, the cold lingered.

"Two minutes before we get there," Rick told the other as he screwed a silencer onto his pistol, his son Carl doing the same. "Everyone know the plan?"

"You, Carl, T-Dog, and Daryl go in and clear out the Walkers, everyone else waits then you let us in. We rest for as long as able then we leave," Sam said, opening his eyes finally. "Same as the other couple of places. We know the plan Rick."

Rick nodded and faced forward. "Just making sure."

The car fell back into silence. Sam looked to his left and saw Beth looking out the window. Her gun was lying on the seat in between them.

"You okay?" She looked to him and gave a tired smile.

"I'm fine, just tired is all."

"With any luck we'll be able to stay here more than a few hours." Sam knew it was a pipe dream to hope for that, but any hope was good for him.

"Hopefully," she smiled.

When the cars finally stopped Rick and the others moved in to clear the house while Maggie and Sam led everyone else around to the back of the house to wait for T-Dog to open the doors.

No one spoke. It had become a sort of unspoken agreement among them. When it was an operation like this, no one spoke. For one it might alert the Walkers, and secondly, no one felt the need. After doing it so many times talking only served to complicatethe

way things flowed.

T-Dog opened the door and everyone flooded into the house.

They entered what might have once been the living room they all sat down on the floor to rest.

Sam closed his eyes and let out a sigh. His muscles relaxed and he felt the stress of the winter practically flowing out of them. He felt something press against his shoulder and opened his eyes to see Beth resting her head on it.

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her.

The sound of T-Dog's "Pst" made them all snap out of it.

Sam looked to the window and saw that there were already walkers outside.

He grabbed his pack and gun before he helped Beth up. They all ran out of the back door to the vehicles they had parked right outside the house, so we got inside them and drove off.

They stopped two miles down the road, so that the "adults" could figure out where to go next.

"We got no place left to go." Sam heard T-Dog say as he kept an eye out for Walkers.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south." Maggie warned.

"What would you say? That was about 150 head?" Daryl asked.

"That was last week, could be twice that by now," Glenn told him.

"This river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there," Hershel pointed at the map.

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." And that was how it went. Sam shook his head and went back to focusing on keeping watch.

He held his machete lightly in his hands and scanned the trees for any sign of the dead.

It had been a rough few months on the road. Moving from place to place, usually never staying put for more than a few hours, having to get most of your sleep in the uncomfortable seats of the car. Only having a few spare minutes every couple of weeks

/to bathe. Not exactly the ideal life, but then again it was the apocalypse.

"At Newnan, we'll push west; we haven't been through there yet. We can't keep goin' house to house. We need to find a place to hole up for a few weeks," Sam heard Rick tell the others.

"Alright, we gotta fill up on water first, won't take long," T-Dog told rick as he went to collect the canteens.

Sam handed T his canteen and went back to keeping watch.

Daryl and Rick had disappeared. Probably hunting.

"Sam, you okay?" The boy looked back and saw Beth standing there, holding her ax like a cane.

"Careful with the blade."

She smiled. "I've handled an ax before."

"I'm not saying you haven't, but last thing we need is for you to get some weird disease from a cut on a dirty ax."

Beth raised an eyebrow. "Some weird disease? You mean weirder than the one that makes people rise from the dead and eat the living."

"Touché."

Over the winter months Beth and Sam had started a relationship. They hadn't done anything besides kiss and lean on each other during the car rides that they would sleep on, but it was still nice to Sam.

Of course one of the consequences of living on the road was that there was absolutely no privacy so everyone knew about the relationship the moment it had started. Not that Sam minded them knowing. He honestly liked Beth and he didn't care if the othersknew.

Though it was a bit awkward when they were together in a car with Hershel, Maggie, andGlenn.

"Hey! Gather round!" Rick ordered the group.

Sam sheathed his machete and he and Beth walked over to the gathered group.

"We found somewhere we can hold up," Rick announced. As soon as he said that a surge of relief went through the entire group as the prospect of being able to lie down and sleep was the most appealing thing that they had heard in the past few weeks. "Nowwe'll

need to take out a few Walkers but it's nothing that we haven't done before."

They went down to the prison as soon as T-Dog had collected enough water.

They went to a small stretch of fence that was sandwiched between two guard towers and took out the few walkers that were outside the gate. Rick cut part of the fence so they could slip through the first fence, but it was getting cut close as the Walkerson

the outside of the prison were beginning to close in on them.

The walkers in the yard got agitated on their arrival, slamming themselves up against the fence between them. They quickly jogged down the path of the first fence which led them to the entrance to the yard.

"It's perfect," Rick said quietly to himself as he admired the prison. "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by the night."

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel questioned him.

"I'll do it. You guys cover me," Glenn volunteered.

"No, it's a suicide run," Maggie told him.

"I'm the fastest."

"I can do it." Sam offered.

"No. Sam I want you, Glenn, Maggie, and Beth draw as many as you can over there," he pointed to the side of the fence, "Pop 'em through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol," his voice became softer, "you've become a pretty good shot, takeyour

time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Hershel, you and Carl take this tower; I'll run for the gate."

Sam wished him luck before following Glenn and Maggie to the fence where they would draw the Walkers.

Sam reached into his pack and pulled out a broken pipe that he had salvaged from one of the many houses they had ransacked. While his machete was good for most situations the end of the blade was too thick to go through the small spaces of the chain linkfence.

"Over here you little bastards! Over here!" Sam banged the pipe on the fence along with Glenn, Maggie, and Beth. Walkers began walking toward them slowly and as they reached the fence the four of them began using their weapons to kill the undead.

Rick got to the gate and clamped it shut, but unfortunately the Walkers began to ignore Sam, Beth, Glenn and Maggie and went for Rick instead. He was pinned up against the gate, but luckily the door right next to him led into another tower.

"Light it up!" Daryl yelled to the others.

Everyone pulled their pistols and began picking off the Walkers. As each Walker fell the atmosphere of the group seemed to lighten up. It was almost therapeutic in a way. Massacring the things that had massacred most of humanity and your loved ones seemedto

put a smile on everyone's faces.

They all laughed when the shooting was over with and quickly made their way to the main gate.

"You okay?" Sam heard Carol ask Lori as he passed her.

"Haven't felt this good in weeks." She laughed.

When they entered the yard, a sense of accomplishment fell over the whole group and it felt great. Something good finally happened.

"We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!" Carol excitedly ran around the new land.

Everyone laughed as they enjoyed the space and avoided the corpses of the Walkers.

The rest of the day was spent unloading all of the group's stuff and things before night fell.

When it did they got a fire going pretty and they all sat round it together. Or at least most of them. Daryl was off standing watch on top of an overturned bus keeping watch, and Rick was scouting the perimeter.

"Tomorrow, we'll pull all the bodies together. Want to keep them away from that water. Now, if we can dig a canal under the fence, we'll have plenty of fresh water," T-Dog told everyone.

"The soil is good. We could plant some seed. Grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, soybeans," Hershel said as he shifted a small bit of soil over in his hands. "That's his third time around." Hershel pointed out, talking about Rick. "If there was any part ofit

compromised, he'd have found it by now."

"This will be a good place to have a baby," Beth excitedly told Lori, changing the subject. "Safe."

They sat in silence for a while, staring at the fire. Beth intertwined her hand with Sam's and the two of them leaned on each other.

"Bethy," Hershel broke the silence and Beth sat up quickly, "sing Paddy Reilly for me. I haven't heard that, I think, since your mother was alive"

"Daddy, not that one please?" Maggie asked softly.

He thought for a moment. "How about Parting Glass?"

"No one wants to hear."

"Come on," Sam nudged her arm, "We could do with another moral boost. Your singing always brightens up the day."

"Okay." She said uneasily.

Then she began singing. Her voice was so angelic. Maggie joined in singing, and their voices merged in a beautiful harmony. But just as soon as the song had begun they seemed to have finished it.

"Beautiful." Hershel smiled.

"Agreed," Sam said, causing Beth to look down with a blush covering her face.

"We better all turn in, I'll take watch over there. We got a big day tomorrow," Rick commanded as he came back from his walk of the perimeter.

"What do you mean?" Carl asked, his voice had lowered over the past few months.

"Look, I know we're all exhausted, this was a great win. But we gotta push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact. They'd havean

infirmary, a commissary-"

"An armory?" Daryl and Sam said at the same time.

"That'd be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine. This place could be a goldmine." Rick told them.

"We're dangerously low on ammo. We'll run out before we make a dent." Hershel reminded him.

"That's why we have to go in there. Hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it. I know it." Rick said, the determination that the group had come to see on his face more evident than ever.

"If we can survive a few months on the road with little sleep and barely any food, we can take out a bunch of walkers easily," Sam said confidently. Rick nodded and then got up to do his perimeter check again, with Lori following him.

Everyone lay down next to the fire, then, preparing for a good night's sleep.

Sam and Beth curled next to each other. Sam wrapped one of his arms around her and used the other as a pillow as he had learned to do during the months he had been alone.

Daryl's and Hershel's snores echoed through our little camp and Sam knew Beth was asleep since he felt her breathing evenly. Sam kissed her head lightly and laid his head down, falling asleep almost instantly.

When Sam opened his eyes the first thing he saw was Beth's blonde hair. Somehow, despite bathing once a week if they were lucky, she kept her hair clean.

She began to stir and slowly she opened her eyes. "Hey," she said, smiling brightly.

"Morning Beth. Sleep alright?" She nodded and the two of them sat up.

"I did. Sleeping on the grass is a lot better than in the cars."

"Very true," the two laughed and Beth kissed his nose.

"Everyone up!" Rick barked at everyone. "We need to do it before it gets too late!"

"On it boss!" Sam shouted as he and Beth sat up. "Looks like the Ricktator is eager to clear out the prison." The two laughed at the name they had begun calling Rick when he wasn't within earshot.

The two went to the fence and saw Rick and the others ready to go into the walker infested area.

"Rick!" Sam said as he ran up to the man. "Why don't the rest of us go to the other end and start popping them through the fence, wear down their numbers before we go in."

"That's a good idea, but what do you mean before we go in? You aren't going in there."

"Oh come on Rick, I can handle myself-"

"I'm not saying you can't, but if anything goes wrong, and we don't come back I need you here. I need you to get them out of here," Rick whispered.

Sam shook his head but then nodded. "I get it. And fine."

Rick tapped Sam's shoulder and went to the fence. "Start getting them through the fence! Clear it out as much as you can!"

The inside of the prison smelled as one might imagine a cell block would smell. Horrible. It was dank and the metallic scent of blood hung thick in the air as well as the smell of rotting corpses. Thin streams of light flowed in through the high barredwindows

giving the block an ominous look.

Sam's hand hovered above his pistol just as it had always done in the past months on the road.

The bodies that once littered the prison were being put into a pile outside of the block, and everyone was beginning to lay claim to the cells that would become their new rooms.

"Home sweet home." Glenn said sarcastically.

"For the time being." Rick said.

"Is it secure?" Carol asked.

"This cell block is."

"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel piped up.

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary," Rick told him.

"We'll sleep in the cells?" Beth quietly asked.

"I found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set, too."

"I ain't sleepin' in no cage. I'll take the perch," Daryl walked toward one of the cells and grabbed one of the mattresses.

Sam felt something slip into his hand and looked down to see Beth holding it.

"Come on," she began leading him up the stairs toward the second level of cells and Sam was so tired that he just let her lead him. Half in a daze he lifted his feet one by one to climb the stairs and make it to an actual bed.

"This one ok?" Sam heard her ask.

"Yeah fine. If I'm being completely honest I just want to go to sleep," he heard her giggle. "Wait, are you staying with me?"

"Course I am."

"Hershel alright with it?"

"I talked to him before everyone went in. I figured we would get rooms and I told him I wanted to stay with you."

Sam sighed and laid down on the bed. He scooted over to the edge and made room for Beth. She snuggled into his chest and they were asleep in minutes, tired from the toll of the last months.

"Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers. Not sure how they're work on walkers but we'll take 'em," Sam admired the vast array of new gear as Rick listed off what they had found.

Sam strapping of the few clean riot gear chest pieces on and then secured the other pieces of armor. "So how is this going to work?"

"We go in and keep it tight. We don't know what we'll find in there," Rick told him.

Daryl held up one of the helmets and what Sam thought was very thick mucus fell out of the helmet. "I ain't wearin' this shit!"

"We could boil 'em." T-Dog suggested.

"Ain't enough firewood in the whole forest. No, besides, we made it this far without 'em, right?" Daryl was swinging around a baton.

"You never know Daryl," Sam told him before tapping the thick armor. "Better safe than sorry right?"

"Hershel," Carol signaled for him to join her in Lori's cell.

"Everything all right?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about," she gave a tight lipped smile and retreated back into the cell.

Sam slip his pistol into its holster and slid his machete into it's sheathe. The others were still strapping up and Sam, saw Carl sitting on the stairs looking envious of those that were heading out.

"Sam," he turned to Beth. "So he's letting you go?"

"I suppose so. Don't worry though I'll be back… probably." She smacked his arm but hurt her own hand on the riot gear.

"Don't joke like that!" She scolded him, ignoring the throbbing in her hand.

Sam laughed and brought her into a hug. "Sorry about that, but I had too. Don't worry, I'll be fine, you're da' will be too. I promise."

She smiled and kissed him. "I'll hold you to that."

"Sam we're leaving!' Rick shouted. Sam heard the block doors open and so he gave Beth's hand one final squeeze of affection and one last kiss before he left.

The group was waiting. Weapons and flashlights ready. All of them prepared to enter the tombs