Stop Falling (Rick Grimes Romance)

Chapter 19

Chapter 19.......gone

The point on no turning back. That fine fraction of a point when everything just....slips. Dead centre as if your reality lurches sideways abruptly. Where once was just simply disappears leaving only a distant memory. The path you fallowed no longer existent. There is no right or wrong answers anymore.....only choices.

The fog was so thick you could part it in waves. A fine mist that coated your skin making your clothes cling to your body as if you were a living mummified wrap. The intense heat made nearly intolerable by the relentless swarm of bugs that festered about you. The sun had yet to rise but the moment had silently slipped without notice. My point of no return had come and gone. For better or worse I had made my choice.

Shane had awoken me in the early predawn hours. "If your coming with me lets go." his voice but barley an audible whisper.

Grabbing my gun, knives and bullets from the table I left a note for Maggie in their place....I love you Mags and I know one day you will understand. Swallowing hard to push down the feelings of guilt and fear as I fallowed Shane from my cell.

Without making a sound we inched our way against the wall across the landing and down the stairs. Once on the bottom level we worked our way to the back of the prison and past the medical lab. There was four locked prison gates down the back corridor that lead to the basement of the prison or the tombs as everyone called them.

When the original outbreak occurred at the prison all hell must have rained loose. Clearly panic stricken and trapped nearly all prisoners and staff alike lost their lives. Apparently when the original group arrived there were both prisoners and riot guards infected milling about outside the prison walls but trapped inside the fences. The cell blocks themselves were littered with prisoners shot dead. Several of whom were found shot inside their cells with the gates still locked. There was an endless stream of faceless corpses to drag out and burn.

When the group first entered the tombs they found prisoners, guards and administrative personal all turned walker. Eventually as they worked their way through they discovered a massive hole where once the prison offices once stood. Guessing from the degree of damage there must have been explosives used resulting in a massive fire. People fled for their lives and ran into the tombs hoping for freedom out the back of the building but found their deaths instead. It became top priority to seal off the back again to protect everyone from the outside. There were a few hidden high spots that if you moved some of the rocks you could squeeze out. A fail safe just in case the group ever had to run.

Moving the gates painstakingly slow as to not make a sound we opened them just far enough to squeeze threw before closing and locking them again. The goal was to get out not leave the group unprotected. After making in past the final gate I relocked it and as quiet as possible slid my keys back under the gate into the hall far enough that no one from the outside of the gate could possibly reach them. For a moment I stared at my keys. The symbol of trust that I had earned from the members as not all of us had keys casually tossed back under a gate so easily dismissed.

Touching my shoulder Shane pulled me from my sinking guilt back to the here and now. Weapons drawn we methodically began our decent through the tombs to the final recesses of the prison. I hated being in the tombs and up until this point had done everything possible to avoid having to enter them. Plan and simple they scared the hell out of me making my skin crawl. They recked of death and you could just feel the pain and suffering vibrating off the walls. It had in essence become one giant gravesite for many lost souls.

The original group had cleared the tombs but there was no guarantee that you wouldn't cross paths with a walker or some stranger who had gotten in. The key to survival was never letting your guard down as you were never as safe as you thought. When we got to the back wall I showed Shane what boulders to move so we could finally reach outside. Once through it became a matter of blind luck. Who ever was in tower three could clearly see this part of the prison. That's only if they were on the left side of the tower and looking this way. There was no way to tell if they were looking either unless a commotion started and by then it would be to late.