Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter Sixteen.

Holy Shit.

"Holy shit" a new voice says from behind us, Rick stands up and i watch, i look to see a small group of prisoners stood behind a fences counter.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asks "who the hell are you?" one of the prisoners asks, "he's bleeding out, we gotta go back" i say push down on the bleeding as hard as i can.

"Get me that cloth" I order, "i need you to hold it there as hard as you can" i say as maggie brings the cloth, i move over to hershel's head with Rick and we both sit him up.

"Come on we gotta go!" Rick shouts as we both lift the injured man up, together we lift him and place him on a rolling table, Rick and I push the table through the halls, everyone else killing the walkers in our path.

........

We get back to the group and Carl opens the door for us, "oh my god!" "daddy!" Beth shouts rushing over to us, we move the table into a cell "get him on the bed!" I order.

Together we move Hershel onto a bed and i start looking at his leg, i ignore everyone around me and focus on saving the mans life, i move the cloth away from the wound, "i need bandages" I say.

"We used everything we had" Glenn says "well get me anything i dont care!" I shout, "get me something to elevate his leg" i demand, "we can burn the wound to clot the blood. I can start a fire." Glenn suggests "no. the shock could kill him" i say

"We just need to keep it dressed and let it heal on its own" I say, suddenly Bear starts barking from a different room, "Carol keep pressure on it, i'll be back" I say, i grab my gun from my leg holster and walk towards the barking.

The prisoners we found had followed us back, Daryl and Bear are all standing guard, and t-dog staying hidden just incase. "Todays your lucky days, fellas" Daryl says, i move next to him with my gun raised at the men.

Bear moves next to me growling at the newcomers, "you've been pardoned by the state of Georgia. You're free to go" Daryl says,"whats going on in there?" one of the prisoners asks "it aint none of your concern" I say.

"Dont be telling me whats my concern." the guy im guessing is incharge says, looking at me and pulling out his gun, Daryl moves closer to him and bear starts barking again.

"Chill man. Dudes leg is messed up" the big guy says "besides, we're free now. Why are we still here?" he asks "the mans got point" Daryl says, "yeah and i got to check on my old lady" another man says.

"A grup of civilians breaking in to a prison you got no business being in... got me thinking we aint got no place to go" the leader says, "why dont you go find out?" Daryl dares.

"Maybe we'll just be going now." another says "hey we aint leaving" "you aint comin in either" T-dog says coming around from the corner he was hiding in.

The leader lifts his gun and points it at T, "hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where i damn well please" "not anymore you don't" I snap, "yeah and what you gonna do about it little lady?" he asks.

"How about you leave before i show you" i threat "there aint nothing for you here. Why dont you go back to your own sandbox?" Daryl says, "hey hey hey hey!" Rick shouts walking over to us.

"Hey, everyone relax. Theres no need for this" he says "how many of you are in there?" "too many for you to handle" Rick says "you guys rob a bank or something? Why dont you take him to a hospital?"

"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asks "going on like ten months" the man says, "a riot broke out... never seen anything like it" the big guy says.

"Attica on speed, man" another says, "ever heard of dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? crazy" "One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria, told us to sit tight, threw me this piece, said he'd be right back."

"And that was 292 days ago." "We were thinking that the army or the national guard should be showing up any day now."

"There is no army." Rick says "What do you mean?" "There's no government, no hospitals, no police. It's all gone." I say "For real?" "Serious."

"What about my moms?" "My kids, my old lady! Yo, you got a cell-phone or something so we can call our families?" "You don't get it, do you?" Daryl asks

"No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population's been wiped out. Probably more." Rick informs "Ain't no way." "See for yourself."

They take the men outside and i head back to hershal with Bear, "hows he doing?" i ask walking into the cell, "he's still bleeding" Carol says "just keep doing what your doing" i say.

.............

"I thought you were organising the food" Glenn says, peering out of the cell, "even better" Carl says coming into the cell, "check it out" he says throwing a bag and the floor next to me, i pick it up and look inside.

Medical supplies, "where did you get this?" I ask, grabbing out bandages, "from the infirmary" he says, i rip open the packages and start covering the wound in antiseptic and placing the bandages onto the wound before wrapping it up tightly.

"This should help with the bleeding and the chance of infection" I say standing up and leaving the girls to be with their dad.

........

"Hey, hows he doing?" I ask, stepping into the doorway of the cell, Maggie looks up to me briefly before turning her focus back to her dad "hes hangin in there" she says.

I sit down next to her and look at the man, when i notice him not breathing, Maggie stands shaking "whats happenin?" Beth asks from the doorway.

I pull my knife from my belt slowly, "you two need to leave" I say "no no" Maaggie starts "maggie... you shouldnt have to see this... and neither should she" I say looking back at the young girl behind me.

Beth starts shouting "get them out of here" i tell Carl, i move past the girls and put my fingers to Hershals neck and i try to feel a pulse, it's there but faint. I quickly start to do chest compressions.

"Come on... dont die... come on" i whisper while i continue to do compressions, i stop compressions and move to to mouth to mouth, all of a sudden hershal reaches up and grabs my head.

Maggie and Beth manage to pull me out of his grasp, i look down at the man awake and alive, before he quickly falls back to sleep. I catch my breath after the scare and look over at carl pointing his gun at the man.

"Hey it's okay" I say pushing his gun down and pulling him into a hug, kissing him on the head before walking off outside.