Shambles- The Walking Dead [Alden x Maggie] [1/2]

4- People die

Alden and Rose officially called the prison their home now. Everyone here looked out for each other. Alden hadn't gone on any other runs since his injury, he didn't like being out there anyway. He didn't like how easy it was for him to kill the people who had taken his brother from him. Killing shouldn't be that easy. He didn't have any moral objections to bashing in walker heads along the fence line and that was how he spent at least a couple of hours every day. They burned the corpses some distance away from the fence anytime they had the time for it.

Within the confines of the prison everyone felt safe, maybe a little bit too safe. It made them forget about the dangers in this world. There were other dangers lurking than walkers and people with ill intent. A flu had spread through the prison like a wildfire. They'd tried to contain the spread through quarantine, but it was no use as more and more people fell ill. The disease was horrible. People who fell ill would cough up blood till they choked on it and died.

A lot of good people had already passed before Daryl, Tyreese, Bob and Michonne managed to get back with the medical supplies Hershel needed to treat the epidemic. But with the medicine things were finally starting to look up.

"Good morning," Alden greeted when he saw Maggie walk up to him by the water tap. He took a sip from an old tattered tin cup. "How's Glenn?"

"Good morning to you, too." She filled her own cup. "He'll be alright. The antibiotics did their job. A couple more days of rest should do."

"That's a relief. This epidemic had me stressed out." He took another sip. Something zoomed over the top of their heads and rammed into one of the prison towers. The explosion that followed shook the ground. He choked on his water in his panic and dropped the cup. "The hell was that?" he snapped his head to the side. "Is that a fucking tank!?"

They ran for cover without any further delay and sought to hide behind one of the small sheds along the fenceline of the inner courtyard. The tank was far away, all the way across the field and outside the prison's fences. More people ran up to see what was going on.

"Beth!" Maggie exclaimed once she saw her younger sister run up. She pulled her close. Maggie would always feel responsible to protect her.

Rick and Daryl ran outside as well, followed by Tyreese and Carl.

"Keep back!" Rick yelled to no one in particular.

"Rick, get down here!" a man standing on top of the tank yelled. If Alden squinted his eyes he thought he saw the man had an eyepatch. "We gotta talk!"

"Wait. Do you know this crazy pirate that owns a tank, Rick?" Alden's voice was pinched and squeaky as he spoke. None of this made sense to him.

"Yeah, but he didn't have a tank," Rick grunted tiredly. He stood still for a moment. "It's not up to me!" he yelled back to the pirate. "There's a council now. They run this place."

"Is Hershel on the council?" the man taunted.

Not a second later Hershel was dragged out of a car with his hands bound behind his back. Alden swallowed hard. Hershel had been out with Michonne to burn the bodies of the deceased. Alden could only wonder where she was, there was a chance she had managed to flee. If there was anyone that could do it, it was Michonne.

Maggie and Beth gasped in shock and held each other tighter. Alden reached out and squeezed Maggie's shoulder to show support. He knew how much she cared about her father.

"What about Michonne?" the man continued. "Is she on the council too?"

Michonne was dragged from the same car in a similar manner to Hershel. Her hands were tied behind her back as well.