cassette tapes |d. dixon| [1]

57

"We need Daryl and the others to get back soon. We don't have the numbers to handle the sick and the walkers. Things are going to go south and fast."

THE THREE OF THEM WERE CUTTING UP MORE LOGS FOR THE FENCES WHEN THEY HEARD GUNSHOTS GO OFF,

As much as Caroline wanted to go running in there, she stayed put. She had to for Daryl's sake.

She could see the internal struggle on Maggie's face. Glenn and her father were in there.

"Go." Rick told her,

"The fence is more important." Maggie argued, "We need to keep it standing."

Caroline reached for the axe Maggie was holding, "We got this, Mags. Go."

Maggie sighed, glancing at the two before nodding, "Okay." She began to sprint off towards the prison.

Caroline watched her go before turning towards the cluster of walkers, "We can't catch a break, can we?"

Rick shook his head, "We're gonna need more help. I'll be back."

He quickly came back with Carl and Caroline was loading the logs. The three of them went over the fence and began stacking the logs again,

"Think they're okay?" Carl asked as he hammered the log into the ground,

"If things were going bad, we would have heard more shots." Caroline told him, "Maggie would have gotten us."

"We have to do this." Rick stated and they moved onto the next log,

"Let's do it."

They heard the snapping of wood and turned to see one of the logs breaking, "Oh, shit." It snapped and the two ran over. Caroline and Rick held up the fence, "Grab another log!" Rick told his oldest.

The logs around them began snapping. The fence wasn't going to hold.

"Run!"

The fence collapsed and Caroline grabbed Carl, running towards the exit, "Rick!"

"Behind you!" He yelled back.

They entered the tower and Rick slammed the door behind them, "You okay?" He asked the both of them and they nodded,

The three of them ran into the courtyard and looked back at the walkers that were now pushing on the inner fence,

"Dad, what do we do?" Carl asked,

"Maybe I could back the bus up against the fence." Rick answered,

"Will it hold?"

Caroline shook her head, "Rick, we don't have the time."

"If the walkers had gotten in, it would be the end of the prison. We didn't have enough people to kill them all and repair the fences. Heck, we didn't have the numbers to get everyone out of there."

Rick grabbed their arms, "Come on." He led them over to the basket full of automatic weapons they had taken from Woodbury.

He handed the two of them multiple clips full of bullets, "Pockets." Caroline stuffed them into her jeans,

Rick handed them each their own gun, "All right, listen to me." He showed them how to work the guns, "Magazine goes in here. Release is here. Make sure it latches. Pull back the operating rod and rounds feed up. Keep squeezing the trigger for rapid fire, okay?" They both nodded,

They ran back towards where the fence was giving, "All right. You shoot or you run. Don't let 'em get close, okay?"

The fence gave in and Caroline raised the gun. It was all up to them now.

The three of them stood in a line and began shooting. It took her a few tries before she could get the aim accurate.

Dozens of walkers went down. Once their magazines were empty, they took a few steps back and put new ones in.

Rick had forgotten to grab one for himself. He used the butt of the gun to knock a walker to the ground and Carl shot it. Caroline tossed him a magazine before continuing to shoot the walkers.

It didn't take long for them to get through all the walkers. Caroline grabbed a bunch of weapons to stab the walkers with, handing them to the Grimes boys before they went through, taking out any walkers that were moving on the cement,

"What's wrong?" Rick asked, looking over at the blonde,

"We're not safe anymore, are we?" Caroline sighed, watching Carl kill another walker with the tire iron,

They heard the sound of tires in the gravel and looked over at a pair of headlights approaching the gates,

"Everything's gonna be okay." Carl smiled as he walked over, squeezing her hand,

She gave him a small smile, "Let's go."

Caroline and Carl ran down the yard, opening the gate for the group to get in. Rick opened the upper fence into the courtyard and the van drove in.

The van stopped in the courtyard and the doors opened. A figure began running towards them and Caroline stopped in the dirt road.

"I told you to stay out of trouble!" Daryl yelled, approaching them,

"Trouble's my middle name." She grinned, tears filling her eyes,

"I've never been more relieved. Daryl was okay, and he was back. With the medicine, hopefully. Maybe, just maybe, the storm has passed. We just have to pick up the damage, rebuild."

Daryl lifted her up into his arms. Caroline wrapped her arms around his neck and during her face into his shoulder, "Please don't leave me again."

"Never."

Daryl set her down and flicked Carl's hat, "You watch out for my girl while I was gone?"

"Or course." Carl smirked.

Caroline wrapped her arm around Daryl's waist and another around Carl's shoulders as they walked back up towards the prison.

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Yo, this book is so close to being finished! Just one or two chapters left!

You guys are going to hate the ending and I can't wait.