Chapter 44 While John was Away

It was a couple days after John left, Rick, Glen, and Daryl were outside the prison in the woods nearby gathering some firewood. As they gather a couple bundle, Daryl covered their backs. Daryl killed a couple walker that got too close for comfort with his crossbow, but other than that the time spent outside the prison had been quite peaceful.

They entered the prison through the front gate, and they saw something that made them happy. Hershel had come walking out of the building, using a pair of crutches that they had found, while moving the bodies of walkers outside. John left behind quite the workload for them, but no one complained because John had killed all the walkers for them.

They were even somewhat shocked because looking at the bodies, they didn't find one bullet hole. This meant that he had cleared the entire prison, by himself, using only his huge knife. This made their image of John within their minds, even more fearsome and strong, he almost seemed invincible. After all, they had never seen him bleed.

Anyway, walking toward the courtyard, they overheard Carl and Hershel talking to one another. Carl said, "You ready to race Hershel?"

Hershel replied with vigor, "Give me a few more days, I'll take you on."

Carl then laughed, some other following his example and laughing along. As they were having their moment.

Suddenly a loud alarm started blaring across the prison. It was an ear-piercing sound, many of the group had to cover their ears. Rick and Glen shot some of the speakers, but it didn't do much to dampen the noise. Daryl says, "You gotta be kidding me."

Rick then looked at the prisoners, Glen asked, "Do you think they did it?"

Rick replied, "Who else?" Rick then ran over to the three prisoners, pointing his magnum at them.

In the distance some walkers could already be seen, banging on the fence. They were drawn in by the alarm.

Rick asked the prisoners at gunpoint, "How the hell can this be happening?!" The prisoners put their hands up as Oscor says, "Whoa-whoa-whoa! It has to be the backup generators."

Rick asks firmly, "Well, how do you turn those on?"

Oscor answers quickly, "There's three that connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hacks shut 'em all off when the prison was overrun."

Rick asks, "Can someone open those gates electronically with-- full power?"

Oscor replies, "I don't know I only worked in there for a few days. I guess it might be possible." Rick then grabs Oscor by his shirt as he says, "Come with us!"

Glen says, "Let's go!"

Rick told the rest of the group to go into cell block C and wait there, as they have no idea who or what is causing this alarm.

The group then ran into the building containing the generators. This group consisted of Rick, Glen, Daryl, Big-Tiny, Oscor, and Axel. Andrew was nowhere to be seen. Running through the corridors and turning every now and then. The lights in the prison were flashing and the blaring noise accompanying it made it even more annoying. Rick was pissed, seeing this shit happen.

Lori who was with the rest of the group was having a panic attack. Being dramatic as always, she never gives it a rest. Everyone else was calmly waiting but you know Lori and her dumbass. She was starting to make everyone else worried, but Hershel started to calm them down. Hershel who had lost a leg a couple of days ago was acting calmer than Lori. The group somehow found her dramatic show, funny. You may think it cruel, but you get bored, you know?

Even Sarah who has trauma because of what she has been through was calm. All she did was snuggle into Amy's embrace to get more comfortable.

Rick and his group arrived at the generator room. Big-Tiny was in front and when the door opened, an axe came swinging towards his head. He was unable to dodge and was killed as soon as it hit him, blood gushing out of his head, a shocked expression on his face. Seeing this, Oscar was furious, he ran forward while Andrew was trying to pull his axe out, arriving in front of him quickly.

Oscar threw a right hook, hitting Andrew square in the jaw. Andrew fell to the floor; Oscar didn't stop his assault and got on top of Andrew. Pinning him down, Oscar landed hit after hit upon Andrew's face. For several minutes, he punched Andrew, then he stopped. Out of his furious daze, he looked down and saw that Adrew's face was a complete mess.

Andrew wasn't a big man by any comparison, he was quite short and lanky. In front of Oscar, he looked very small. Oscar's fists took up a good third of Andrew's face, so the devastation his fists left when they hammered down, was unquestionable.

Andrew's face was bloody, many of his teeth had fallen out of his mouth and his eyes were swollen shut. He was completely recked, choking on his own blood. Rick who had recovered from his shock minutes ago pulled his gun out and shot Andrew in the head.

Then like nothing happened, Rick walked over to Oscar who was looking between his fist and the now dead Andrew. Rick tapped him on the shoulder and said, "How do we shut these damn things off?" Oscar got up and quickly showed rick to the control panel that would shut off the alarm. Rick flicked a couple switches and turned a few levers, then the alarm turned off as the generator powered down.

The group then left the generator room, walking through the halls, Rick now having a better opinion of the prisoners that are still with them. They arrived back at the courtyard. Looking over at the fences, they saw they had some more work to do later, as many walkers had been attracted to the noise and were now banging on the fence.

The group then walked into cell block C and explained what happened. The group was relieved that everything was fine, but they were also a little sad that Big-Tiny had been murdered. Lori came running over to Rick and hugged him, they had a strained relationship, but they still cared for one another. Carl also came running over and hugged his dad.

Carol walked over to Daryl and hugged him before asking if he was alright. Daryl said gruffly, "Get off me woman." But you could see a hint of a smile on his expression.

Beth came over to Glen and asked him if he was alright. They shared a quick hug, Glen smiling like an idiot and Beth smiling while blushing a little embarrassed that she did that in front of her dad.

Everyone then came out of the cell block, then all the men, except Hershel, walked out of the courtyard, through the yard, and to the walkway in between the fences. Then using their melee weapons, they began to kill all the walkers that had been banging on the fence. Carl and Rob had also joined in and competed to see who could kill more, but Rick reprimanded them. The boys still competed though, but they did so quietly. After they finished killing the walkers, the group of men began to move the bodies away from the fence and to a pile, where they would burn them.

While Carl and Rob were moving a body together, they both said their number of walkers killed at the same time, "15", "19". Rob then started to laugh and said, "Haha, I beat you."

Carl responded confrontationally, "Who cares, you're older than me anyways!" Carl and Rob then began to argue as they continued to move the bodies, mocking each other playfully.

When all the walker bodies had been put in a pile, Rick had Glen run up to the courtyard and grab a gas can. When Glen got back, Rick took the gas can and poured gas over the bodies. He then lit a gas-soaked rag attached to a stick, on fire. Then he threw the flaming rag onto the walker's bodies, and they immediately began to burn.

The group walked away, not wanting to smell the stench of burning bodies. They walked back through the gate and closed it before they walked to the courtyard. By then it was late in the afternoon and the group had yet to have lunch, so they walked into cell block C and some of the girls made them some lunch.

Everything went back to normal, and this little episode came to an end. They had burned Andrew's body with the walker bodies, and they had wrapped Big-Tiny's body, ready to bury him in the corner of the yard later.