Self Inflicted

6

They finally gave us our weapons back and we don't have to be locked in a cell anymore. It's been a few days since they got back from Woodbury, meaning I only had about two days left in a sling. I've felt completely useless in this damn thing. Michonne has been cleared of her concussion and is feeling better. We're out in a bus lying sideways in the yard right now, seeing if we can move in there. I have my weapon on my back but Michonne leans hers against the bus.

"Where do we go when they finally kick us out?" My questions seems to fill the once unweighted air.

"We just keep going, as long as we can," she replies quietly, her eyes never meeting mine. "Look." I look up to what Michonne is recurring to and Rick is sprinting toward us and then past us, gun slung on his back. I pull out my weapon and step around the bus to watch him open the gates and running down the isle by the tower and outside the fence. Michonne slowly walks over and closes the gate behind him and we watch him slowly approach the bridge above the river, sticking his hand out to something.

"What the hell," I quirk one eyebrow at the scene. Michonne returns beside me with my answer.

"I heard he lost his wife, that baby is his." Suddenly I felt very bad for judging the man, we've all been there and I couldn't imagine his situation. I never had enough time for kids before, hardly enough for boyfriends. Eventually I gave up because I never found any worth a shit. I've had my experiences. My fiancé was a real piece of work, did some damage that's for sure. I shake the thoughts and think about something else.

"What happened to Daryl?" Michonne meets my gaze this time and shakes her head.

"Merle is his brother," she starts as if waiting for something more from me. "After what he did to Maggie, Glenn, and us, Rick wouldn't let him come back with us. Daryl chose his brother over all this." That seems a little surprising to me, I saw the way he protected this place. The way he was the first to defend Rick. But if I know anything about Merle, he's a snake, and it's hard to get out of his grip.

Glenn called us back into the prison so we obliged, listening to their meeting. He used chalk to draw out a map of the prison, him and the boy with the sheriff's hat crouching down beside it.

"You said you found Tyreese's group here?" He asks, pointing to a square. Tyreese and his group were the ones Rick was yelling at to leave, so they did. "We secured this," a frustrated Glenn gestures to their map.

"Tyreese thought they came in through here," Carl points. "That means there's a breech."

"Okay," he begins again. "The whole front of the prison isn't secure, if walkers just strolled in that means it's gonna me cake for a group of armed men."

"Why are we even so sure he's gonna attack?" Beth questions with folded arms. "Maybe you scared him off." From the corner, Michonne speaks up and everyone in the room's heads snaps toward her.

"He had fish tanks full of heads. Walkers and humans. Trophies. He's comin'." Glenn then says we should kill him first, asking Michonne to take him to his apartment. Michonne gives him a small satisfying nod.

"He didn't know you were coming last time, and look what happened," Hershel crutches forward, speaking to an irrational and angry Glenn. "They almost killed you and Daryl was captured, you and Maggie were almost executed."

Glenn walks up to Hershel and sneers a response, "you can't stop me."

"Rick would never allow this."

"You think he's in any position to be making that call?" Hershel begins naming members they've lost and how it isn't worth spilling more blood. Glenn just proceeds saying they can't run. Maggie plasters a disgusted look on her face and storms off into the cell block.

"Alright, we'll stay put. We're going to defend this place. We're making a stand." Glenn crouches down again to Carl. "Carl, you and I will head down to the tombs, we need to figure out where the breech is."

"You'll need some help," Michonne steps forward.

"No, incase anything happens I need you out here, both of you," he gestures to both of us. Suddenly, Glenn looks around frantically and perks his head. "Who's on watch?" He spits, frustratingly standing and muttering under his breath a damn it as he leaves.

"We should keep up the fortifications, we never know when he's coming," I grumble to the others. I just wish I wasn't crippled at the moment. Michonne and I were even given guns, I was given a small pistol and a couple extra clips since I only have one arm. I tuck the weapon into the front of my pants for easy access.

"I'm going back out there," Michonne gestures with her head. I nod in reply and walk out to Beth and Carl in the courtyard. Beth gives me a small smile.

"How's the arm?"

"Oh, it's better. Thanks," I work up a pathetic smile back. Her and Carl chat for a bit, I can't help but not really listen, zoning out. My mind is too focused on this place. The quiet beauty in a place that was once full of convicts with unimaginable records.

Outside the fences, wilderness overcame everything, engulfing any humanity left. Inside the fences, people were beginning to overcome, building something useful and important. The tender moment is ruined when a gunshot rings out through the air, going right through Axel's head and he falls limply into Carol's arms. The shit-show is here.

"Over here!" Beth shrieks and the three of us duck, running behind the edge of a building for cover. More shooting begins and Carol rolls Axel's body in front of hers, bullets flying into his lifeless back.

We press our backs against the wall, painting. I pull out my pistol and at the front of us, I turn and start shooting at the truck parked outside our. Bullets hit the building beside me from my left and I swing back around. Maggie runs across the courtyard holding to machine guns.

"Beth! Here," the blonde girl grabs two guns and runs back to us but Maggie runs and ducks behind a filing cabinet. "Carol go!" The older woman rolls out from under the body and grabs a gun from Beth.

There is a lot of shooting back and forth, for awhile. Until it stops and I watch the Governor point his gun in the air and fire off a few more rounds for good measure. Then a a grumble comes from down the road and a bread truck speeds to the prison, crashing through the gates and stopping in the yard.

"What the hell?" I ask still staring in utter disbelief. The door rigged on the back of the van drops down with a load thud and then walkers just start pouring out.

The shooting back and forth begins again, walkers heading straight for Hershel. The man driving the truck get out and starts shooting at Michonne and we shoot back at him. I aim and fire at the gunman in the tower, hitting him and he drops limply to the ground. Walkers start coming out of the woods, drawn by the noise and Rick is pinned against the fence outside, down the his python.

Satisfied, the Governor stands up on his truck and fires more aimless shots before he and his men get in the truck and tear out of the grass and onto the road. Away from the death trap they made, our home.

I understand there has yet to be much Daryl and Luna dialogue, but where I started the story is a rough spot for that. I promise more will be coming for whoever decides to continue reading. I appreciate those of you who are reading. :)