Jessamine Dixon lives in the apocalypse

Killer Within

I walked back to the room with Beth and Lori. It had taken a while and we nearly thought we wouldn't find any here but we were able to bring crutches back to Hershal.

We walked past Carl and he was cleaning his gun. He gave "that" smile to Beth and I have no idea what she gave back to him. Normally I'd cheer him on, but this seemed like one he wasn't gonna win.

"All right." Lori said as we entered the cell. Hershal was already sitting up, ready to go. I'd want out of that bed too.

"Just take your time." Lori told him.

"Daddy, don't push yourself." He grabbed onto the top bunk and pulled.

"What else am I going to do?" He asked and pulled himself onto his feet. He had the crutches under his arm and we all put a hand on him to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.

"I can't stand looking up at the bottom of that bunk anymore--" Hershal started to go down but we all caught him and made sure he didn't fall. We held him back up to his feet until he was standing up right.

Hershal tapped the crutches on the ground a few times and then went forward. Lori and me were there with our hands on both sides.

"You know, I think I'm pretty steady." He told us.

"You might want to knock on wood for that one." I told him and we both smiled. Hershal went a few more steps and was almost out of his cell.

"That's a good start. Want to take a rest?" Lori asked him and he looked at her like she was slightly crazy.

"Rest? Let's go for a little stroll." Hershal told her and he exited the cell he had been in for a while. Lori slid the door open and Hershal made his way into the outside world.

Lori went down the stairs backwards and I watched Hershel from behind.

"Got you here if you need it." She told him.

"Just take your time on these steps." Beth told him. Hershel started to lean back and his crutches went a little crazy. He got down the stairs and now we were just walking through the courtyard.

"You cleared all those bodies out?" I looked around and all of the bodies from the courtyard were gone. Where they went, I'm assuming there going into the fire.

"It's starting to look like a place we could really live in." Hershel told us. It was a crazy thing to think about, but maybe he was right.

"Hey, you watch your step. Last thing we need is you falling." Lori told him and we continued walking.

"All right, Hershel!" I looked down at the fence and saw Glenn get shushed immediately after yelling it.

"You're doing great, daddy." Beth told him.

"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl asked.

"You give me another day. I'll take you on." Hershel looked at him and we all cracked a smile. Everybody stopped what they were doing so they could see Hershel. 

I heard something behind me and then Carl started to yell.

"Walkers! Look out!" Carl yelled and we all looked behind us. It wasn't even a few. It was about a dozen and they kept coming. I grabbed my katana and stood in front of the four people.

I could hear Rick yelling at us. Actually, I could hear everybody yelling at us. From wherever they were. I walked forward and swung at all the ones who came close. Carl and Lori had there guns. Beth and Hershel were able to get in one of the guarded stairs. But I still had Carl and Lori out and exposed.

"Jess! Lori! Carl! Here!" It was Maggie. I could take them all on everybody would be fine. Lori grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the staircase.

Lori shut the door behind us and we disappeared behind the sliding door. Maggie went towards the cell block but then walkers started coming from that direction too. Carl and Maggie turned hot on there heels and our only option was to go down the hallways.