Just Gone

53: 🎄Cornered 🎄

It'd been a week since we started living at the prison. It was safe and secure, which was odd to think about. Even the safe places we'd stayed in had their own dangers, but not the prison. The doors were either thick metal or made of bars, the walls were cement. Any Walkers that did get in had other obstacles.

Carl and I had been in the courtyard alone. It was nice not to need any kind of supervision for a while. Maggie, Lori, and some others were in the cell block taking care of Hershel or something else. Rick, Daryl, and the rest were far out in the yard, clearing the bodies out. It was hard to keep track of what everyone was doing at once.

While some of the group was exploring and securing the prison, they'd come across the gym, which had a few Walkers trapped inside but mostly only bodies. Some guessed that the prisoners were hiding in there when it all started. They'd taken the Walkers out but hadn't cleaned it out yet. There were some sports supplies but they didn't want to bother going through everything until they had a chance to properly clear out the room and clean everything.

T-Dog grabbed a basketball that day and cleaned off all the dust and dirt to give to me and Carl. The ball was slightly deflated so we could really only kick and toss it around. There were some basketball nets built into the side of the buildings in the courtyard, which were really only metal hoops, no netting. Carl told me it was for the prisoners to get exercise and fresh air.

I was repeatedly kicking the ball into the wall as I waited for Carl, he'd run inside for some reason I didn't listen to. I sighed when one of my kicks put a small dent into the ball. I hoped T-Dog would keep his word and search around for a pump, he'd mentioned there was a possibility of one hiding in the gym.

I furrowed my eyebrows as shadows stretched across the concrete next to me. I whirled around just as an unfamiliar voice hit my ears.

"Well, hi."

I stepped back, feeling a strong sense of nervousness and caution come over me. One of the prison survivors was standing a few feet away, smiling with his arms crossed. My eyes were drawn to his large mustache which was twirled at the end, I felt overwhelmed with the urge to cut it.

"Axel, we're not out here to bother a little girl."

I briefly glanced at the taller prisoner behind him, his head was bald and his skin was dark like T-Dog's. I'd seen the two of them a few times but from far away.

"I was just saying hi," Axel defended. "Maybe she can tell us where Rick is at."

"You're creeping her out, let's go."

I'd been barely listening to them speak. I had to guess that the tall guy was talking about the obvious disdain on my face, I was so distracted by the mustache I didn't bother hiding it.

"Toby!" An angry voice called out.

Peering past the prisoners, I saw Daryl with Rick, some others following behind them. Daryl was walking in long, quick strides past the fence into the courtyard. I made my way around the men before breaking into a jog to get to Daryl.

"The hell was that?" He asked me when I got to him. "You know better than to talk to them."

"I didn't say nothin'!" I defended, worried I was in trouble. Guillermo, Maggie, and Glenn were walking closer, curious about the commotion.

I saw Rick put a hand over his gun holster, "that's close enough. What's going on here?"

I turned around to the prisoners who had caught up with me.

"We didn't mean no harm, we were just looking for you." Axel attempted to explain.

"Well, you found me. We had an agreement."