Take On The World

5.Prison Bells

       Daryl's been gone for a while, so he should hopefully be back soon. I smile when Hershel walks out of his cell on crutches.
"good to see you up!" I say politely.
"Mason, I know you and Carl got in a bit of trouble for getting the medicine... but thank you." I smile and blush.
"Your welcome. Where are you going?"
"I'm going to take a walk outside, get some fresh air... care to join me?" I nod and walk beside him careful not to trip him or get in his way.
"Does it hurt?"
"A bit." I can tell he's probably just trying to act tough, it probably hurts worse than almost anything.
Lori smiles at me and takes my hand leading me over to some bleachers.
"How are you doing sweetheart?"
"I'm okay, how are you?"
"Pregnant," She says with a smirk, and I chuckle.
"I could tell," I say cheekily. She laughs and pokes my ribs a few times getting me to laugh a little louder.
"What do you think the baby will be?"
"I'm not for sure. When I had Carl he was really low, I'm carrying higher, but I just want the baby to be healthy.
"It will be, What's the name?"
"I haven't really thought about it, when Carl was born he was going to be named Rick after his daddy, but as soon as I saw him I knew he was going to be his own little person."
"Is that what you're going to name it?"
"A girl?" She chuckles.
"You said you weren't sure."
"If it's a boy I think that's a good name."
"Why doesn't Rick stay with you in your cell?" I've wanted to ask but I've been busy.
"It's complicated..."
"I'm sorry, Daryl tells me I need to talk less and listen more."
"No, in this world, you need to have a voice, you may be young, but your smart."
"Was that supposed to be funny?" I say with a smirk, it's been so long since I've heard my last name I almost forgot it.
"That was supposed to make you smile, you don't do it enough."
"Not always something to smile about in this world."
"Mason, there is something good that comes out of everything, sometimes you just have to look a little harder." She brushes the hair out of my eyes.
"It's gotten longer, I'm surprised the others have let it get this long," I shrug.
"Let me braid it?"
"Sure."
I cant help but sigh with contentment and lean my head back as she runs her fingers gently through my hair. She hums softly as she braids it in a side french braid.
"How do you know how to do girls hair?" I ask curiously, I mean all she has is Carl she doesn't have a daughter.
"The truth is, I asked Carol to teach me on Sophia's hair when I noticed you sneak off to the woods. I figured if you would learn to trust me, maybe you would open up and trust others too. I always wanted a little girl after Carl."
"You knew I snuck off? What didn't you tell Shane?" It's the first of him I've brought up he was insane
"Cause I knew what you thought of him, and what he thought of you. It's like you saw through him the minute you ran into him at the beginning of all this."
"What did he think of me?"
"He wanted respect, almost everybody gave it to him, except for you."
"And the Dixon's."
"True... but he always played them off as the redneck jerks, but you... he didn't know what to do to get you to respect him. He didn't like that at all."
"I know, I kinda liked seeing him scrambling." She laughs.
"Let's go meet up with the others." She says as she ties it with the one pony tail I have.
"Mason, you're gonna make it."
"What do you mean?"
"Call it women's intuition." She says with almost a sad smile.
"Okay?" I say in confusion.
I jump up walk beside her to the others outside with Hershel. I smile as I see Lori and Rick actually make eye contact, I think he smiles at her and I know she's smiling at him.
     Everything is so perfect until I hear the snarls behind me. I turn around and see walkers everywhere. There's so many how are we going to fight them all. All the good fighters in our group are down by the fence. Everybody is starting to freak out, Carl grabs his gun out, but I freeze. What do I do? Where do I go?
"DARYL!" I scream as I'm pushed off my feet. He can't help me this time, I've done it before I can do it again. I roll over A few times, and scramble to my feet. I get into a fighting position Daryl showed me, And pull my slingshot out. I take out two walkers closest to me, retrieve my arrowheads, and shoot one that is going for Lori. I think there are sirens going off, but it's like they're in the distance. Everything seems it's slow motion, I see Lori, Carl, and Maggie run into an entrance. Beth and Hershel start going to the cell block. I don't know where Carol and T Dog went, but I just keep fighting. Until I hear Daryl,
"Mason get inside!" It's faint but I know he's coming to save us. I run in the direction that Lori, Carl, and Maggie went, I'll tell them the others came to save us. I can feel a migraine coming on, but I keep going. I open the door and start to walk down the hallway with my knife in my hand. I come to a doorway. I don't know if I should go in, or keep going down the hallway. That's when I hear the screams... Lori's screams.

GOOD NEWS 59 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!!!🎅🏻🎄🤶🏻