𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇 || ᵈ.ᵈⁱˣᵒⁿ

XXXVI

—/<3/—

The peace didn't last long. Rory was helping Carol move all the cars inside the gates when Hershel strolled out on crutches and they all stopped to marvel at how fast the man had recovered. That was until at least a dozen walkers showed up behind him.

"Get out of there! Now!" Rick yelled as he sprinted towards the courtyard with Daryl. Rory skidded over to where she'd left her gun and ran after them. Carl and Lori pulled out their guns and began shooting, covering Hershel as Beth helped him to safety.

Archie, Maggie and T-dog got there first, doing their best to keep the walkers at a safe distance. "Lori! here!" Maggie shouted. Lori and Carl rushed over to her, getting safely behind the fence and on the building whilst the rest of them controlled the crowd.

Carol and T-dog got separated next as they went to close the gate the walkers had wandered in from and Rory made it just in time to pull Archie out of the way as a walker snuck up behind him. She put a bullet in its head and rushed to help Rick get the gate open so he, Glenn and Daryl could help.

She shot the padlock off and pulled the gate open. They didn't have time for Rick to carry on fiddling with the keys and they could get another lock easily. Rick placed his hand on her shoulder and then took off in the direction of the walkers.

"What happened?" Rick asked Beth and Hershel.

"The gate was open! Maggie led Carl and Lori into C block and T was bit!" Beth explained, her voice higher than usual in the midst of her fear.

"Stay put!"

They took out the remaining walkers in the courtyard and then stopped for a second to breath. Then the alarms started blaring.

"What the hell is going on?" Rick shouted to the two prisoners. Rory and Glenn started shooting down the speakers but there were too many dotted around the prison and the walkers were drawing nearer.

"The backup generators must have reactivated!" Oscar shouted, holding his hands up when Rick grabbed the front of his jumpsuit.

"How?"

"I don't know! The hacks turned them off when the prison got overrun."

"Well, how do we turn them off?"

"Look, I only worked in there a few days, but I can try." Oscar said. Rick let go of him and ran off with the prisoners following. They all ran into the cell block, only to be met with Niamh and Mikey trying their hardest to take down a hoard of walkers. Niamh had Pumpkin clutched in one arm as she short with the other. She looked relieved she she saw Rory run in with Archie and Rick.

"Did you see where they came from?" Rick asked them.

"No, we were trying to get the blood off the walls and when we turned around they were there. Lori and Maggie ran through here with Carl a few minutes ago so we held them off whilst they got to safety." Niamh explained, out of breath.

"Someone is playing games!" Rick shouted. "We'll split up. Whoever gets to the generator first shuts them down!"

Rory rushed over and took Pumpkin's shaking body from Niamh. She sprinted up the stairs two at a time and locked the cat in a cell. Pumpkin was smart enough to know not to come out when a walker was near, but she didn't want to risk one of them getting to her. Then she ran in the direction the group went in, gunning down any walkers she came across.

She couldn't find anybody, and the walkers were too much for her to handle alone, so she ran into a room. She had no idea if there would be any dead in there but it was either that or get bitten in the hallway. She heard yells when she got in—human yells—and she ran in their direction.