Survival Guide: To Surviving the Living Dead 101

Rule #14

No Place is Safe

No place is safe, not completely. Everyone thought the farm was safe. But it wasn't. Rick and Daryl were going to take Randell out again and drop him off somewhere which Shane didn't like. Hershel had suggested with it getting colder and with Dale being attacked that everyone should move into the house. It would have been tight but it was the best option. Everyone was packing everything up and moving it to the house. When Rick asked T-Dog to go get Randell he had come back saying he wasn't there.

The lock was still on the door and the cuffs were still chained to the wall. Everyone assumed he had slipped them and got out through the rafters. That was until Shane came hobbling out of the woods. His nose was all busted and he made up some story about Randell getting the jump on him. Rick, him, Glenn, and Daryl all went out looking for him. Everyone else was ordered to stay in the house. And of course like always Lori wasn't watching Carl. So now I was out looking for him.

When I found him he had his gun pointed at Rick until I realized he was actually pointing it at Shane who was behind Rick. Except it wasn't Shane, it was the walker version of Shane. Carl had shot him in the head. Then a very large herd of walkers came over the hill and across the field. We had to leave the farm. Jimmy and Patricia didn't make it out. Andrea was also missing. Carol had told us she went down while saving her. We had nowhere to go now. It was getting closer and closer to winter, Lori was pregnant and we had no shelter.

Rick confessed to killing Shane. But only because he was going to kill him first. Lori got mad about that even after she basically told Rick he needed to go. That Shane was dangerous and couldn't be trusted. Rick also decided to let us in on a little secret Jenner had told him. No matter how we die we will always come back. You don't need to be bitten to turn. That explained why Glenn and Daryl found Randell as a walker with his neck broken.

We've stayed in a few places over the last couple months. Lori was getting bigger as the days went by. The air was getting colder as winter settled in. We were lucky enough to find a storage building where we could stay. We also found warmer clothes and more blankets to keep everyone warm or as warm as possible. Fires were built but we tried to keep them low so it wasn't too easy to spot in the dark. We've stayed in old houses but it was never for long. It seemed like we ran into a herd of walkers around every corner. We've backed tracked a few times. We needed to find a more permanent place to stay. We needed somewhere that would be relatively safe for Lori to have the baby.

I was sitting away from the group, back against a tree, caught in my own thoughts. Thoughts of how we would get our next meal. Thoughts of if we had enough gas to make it to the next place wherever that may be. I was even thinking about Lori. As much as I despised the woman I was still worried what would happen when she went into labor. "You good?" I looked up to see Daryl standing in front of me, shifting back and forth on his feet. "Yeah. Just thinking." He sat down beside me, sitting his crossbow on his other side. "Bout what?" He asked me. "Everything. When are we going to eat next? Where will we be sleeping tomorrow? Will we make it through the winter?"

We did eventually find a place. Some place that was kind of safe but as we know, there is no place that is actually truly safe. We found a prison. We had to take out walkers that were in the yard but it wasn't difficult. The cell block we went into was empty besides a couple walkers that were stuck in the cells. It would be good enough. It had fences to keep walkers out. It would be a good place for Lori to have the baby. Of course, Rick and her were still not on good terms. She was trying but Rick was still upset and mostly avoiding her. I didn't blame him. He should have left her a long time ago. But again I understand why he didn't.

I had decided to take a cell on the second level to the right and all the way to the end. It was clean and didn't have blood or brains on the walls and floors. The mattresses on the bunk bed were clean as well. I set my stuff on the top bunk and collapsed on the bottom bunk. For being thin crappy mattresses they were actually pretty comfortable. It's been a while since I slept in a bed of any kind. It's been hard floors and hard ground for months. The temperature was perfect in the cell block too. Wasn't too hot or cold. The light from outside was shining in through the barred windows high above us.

"Hey." I looked up to see Daryl leaning on the threshold of the cell door. "Hey," I greeter and sat up. "Wanna share a cell?" I asked, patting the spot beside me. Daryl looked down as a light pink tint dusted his cheeks. "Nah. I'm not sleepin' in no cage," he said and I chuckled. Daryl and I had grown even closer while being out on the road. We went hunting together, him being patient with me as I learned. We kept watch together, kept each other warm on those blistering cold nights. He always made sure I ate after he caught me giving all my food to Carl. We became best friends. And if I was being honest, I hoped maybe we were more than that. Him and Rick had gotten closer too. Daryl became his right hand man.

"Where are you going to sleep then?" I asked. He finally came in and sat on the other side of the bed, leaning his back against the wall. I had my bed against the bar that held the two beds together. "On the perch right outside the cells at the top of the stairs. "That doesn't sound comfortable," I said. "I grabbed a mattress from one of the empty cells. Easier to keep watch," he said. He was playing with his thumb nail. I've noticed he did that when he was nervous or anxious. He would also chew on it. Pulling the skin off around his nail. "Who's gonna keep me warm at night?" I said in a joking manner. Or what I hoped sounded like it. He kicked my foot with his, shaking his head. "Shut up. You'll make do." I bit my bottom lip trying to hide the smile. I felt like a goddamn teenager.