Inside These Prison Walls(TWD fanfic)

Chapter Ten

We arrive back at the prison tired and sweaty. Rick has cooled off remarkably, and even apologized. After a glare from Daryl, I apologized too.

I jump out of the car and wince a little. The adrenaline was worn off, and I notice that I sprained my ankle when I jumped off the coolers.

"What's wrong?" Beth asks, who had moved to my side of the car to help me carry the baskets.

"Oh, I just sprained my ankle jumping down from something." I say, waving it off.

"Are you okay? Did y'all get attacked?"

"Oh no, well we did get attacked, but I'm okay. We got out easily." I say, giving Rick a look. A silent agreement passes between us that we will never speak of what happened again.

The worry lines in Beth's forehead disappear as she accepts the basket. I notice just how young she really is. Much too young to have to bear the weight of this world.

"How's Carl been doing on his crutches?" I ask her.

"Good. I took him out walking so he can get used to it. How long does he have to use them?"

"Normally, it would take six to eight weeks, but, I want him to use the crutches and cast a little longer just to be sure."

"He's going to go crazy." Beth says, giving a little laugh.

"I wouldn't doubt it."

We walk into the cellblock. Maggie and Glenn are nowhere to be found, and Carol is resting. We passed Hershel outside in the garden, so we are currently alone.

"I'm going to go help Dad outside." Beth says, setting the heavy load down.

I smile. "Okay. I might go outside for a little bit. See how Carl's doing with his foot."

Beth walks away, leaving me alone. I walk upstairs to my cell and sit down on the bed. Pulling out the picture I keep in my pocket, I stare at my family's picture. Everyone in that picture is gone except for me. The usual sadness wells up again as I stare at their faces. I study them, so that I may never forget what they looked like. My dad with his usual grin, my mom looking beautiful as usual. Christina with her blonde hair pulled up, smiling wide, and Ryan, looking so much younger, but bearing the looks of my father. The two of us both looked so much like him. It almost hurt to remember how much Ryan looked like me, and acted like me. He was one of the best little brothers ever, even if we were ten years apart.

After staring at the picture for a while, I hear murmuring coming from downstairs. It sounds very heated. I get up from the bed and walk out to the watch area. Looking down, I see Rick and Daryl, arguing quietly. Rick looks up and notices me standing there, shutting up.

"What's wrong?" I ask, walking down the stairs.

"Nothing. Everything's fine." Rick says, giving me his best attempt at a smile.

"No, everything is not fine." Daryl says. "She deserves to know."

"Deserves to know what?" I ask, perplexed.

"Nothing. We don't need to worry them." Rick says, glaring at Daryl.

"We're running out of ammo." Daryl says, looking at me.

"How much do we have left?" I ask.

"How much is in your gun?" Rick asks back.

I nod slowly. "So what, we go on another run?"

"That would work if there were any places that still had ammo and wasn't cleared out."

"I though you said the stores were virtually untouched?"

"The gun shops were hit first. All cleared out when we moved in a locked everything up. But even the stores are running low. That's why we started the gardens."

"So what do we do?" Daryl asks. "No ammo, no guns, no guns, no protection."

I think for a little bit. Then and idea pops into my head.

"I might know a place." I say. Both look at me, expectantly. "There's a store. The owner, he still lives there. I spent a few nights there after I was alone. It was a sports and hunting store. Everything was fortified. It was like a giant, ammo and weapons filled fortress."

"How far?" Rick asks.

"About fifty miles. If we leave tomorrow morning, we'll be back before nightfall."

Rick nods. "Okay. You know the area, what's the plan?"

*ten minutes later*

We sit outside on the ground. Using the piece of chalk Beth had to draw with, I drew out a map of the city and the buildings surrounding the store.

"Okay," I say, circling the store. "there's a parking garage right next to it, about seven feet of alley in between. A road leads to the garage from the back. We take that road, park in the garage and run across the alley. There, we open the door. Jerry hid a key up there, in case I needed to get in. He trusted me. Once we get inside, I can convince Jerry to give us some of his ammo. Maybe even guns."

Rick nods his head. "Sounds like a good plan, and this owner, can we trust him?"

I nod. "Of course. I spent some time there after Christina died. His son lived with him, but left with us. He is old, and a little off up there, happened after everything went bad, but he's trustworthy. He'll help us."

"Okay then, we leave tomorrow morning."

"There's one thing, though."

"What?"

"If I'm right, we can convince Jerry to come back with us, so he wont be alone. If that happens, we can take it all. All the guns, all the ammo, all the supplies we need. We'll need something bigger than that SUV out there. There's a van about fifteen miles from here. I spent a night in it. We'll have to take that. It's right on the main road."

"Okay. We drive out there, pick up the van and go to the store. Hopefully bring back this Jerry guy."

I glare at him. "He isn't just some guy. He's a friend. Plus I owe him. His son died helping me."

"Okay, we bring back Jerry if we can. If not, take whatever he'll give us."

Daryl and I both nod.

"Just the three of us?" He asks.

"Yes. I don't want to risk taking too many people and leaving them defenseless. Especially since Carl is hurt. I've seen you fight, Taylor, and you know the area. Daryl, I need you to watch my back."

The two of us nod.

"Okay, eat then get some rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day."