𝙘𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮¹ ━ 𝙩𝙬𝙙

ii

╔═══*.·:·.★ ✦ ★･:･:*═══╗

It was weird. To have a sort of home again, although Paola didn't feel as safe here as she did at the farm, it would have to do for now. Maggie and Glenn had left with the rest of the group in guard armour they had taken from infected to clear out the rest of the prison, so now it was her, Carl, Beth, Lori and Carol left behind.

She stayed hidden in one of the cells. Paola liked the quiet and since the farm, she hadn't really spoken to anyone aside from Glenn and the greene family and to be completely honest, she missed Carl. She missed talking to him about comics and she missed how he would listen to her rant about her special interests but since Dale died, the pair had hardly exchanged a word.

Speak of the devil, Carl stood by the cell door, the keys rattling by his waist. Paola was just surprised he wasn't stalking Beth, it was obvious he had a crush on her and he barely left her hip nowadays. "Hi." He waves.

Paola nods at him, picking at the skin of her fingernails and her legs dangle from the bed. She felt like it shouldn't have been this hard talking to him, but for some reason or another, it felt like the hardest thing in the world.

Neither spoke after that, the silence hung heavy in the air, but it wasn't uncomfortable, it never was when it came to Carl and Paola, she only hoped that things could go back to how they were at Atlanta, with Sophia, before the highway. But the only way now was forward.

From down the hallway, shouting echoed through the cell block. The kids quickly ran to the gate to open the lock, Hershel was rolled in, his leg chopped at the knee and he was bleeding more and more by the second.

They got the vet to the nearest bed, gently lifting him, "he got bit." Daryl says, staring down at the panicked group with his crossbow.

Carol began to wrap hershels leg in the sheets, but it quickly soaked through, "we need bandages."

"We used everything we had." Glenn explains, his face and body armour covered in blood as he captured his breath.

"Well get more, anything!"

"Kids, go get the towels from the back, right by my bed." Lori orders, waving her hand out the cell.

Paola gripped Carl's hand tightly, running to Lori's room to find anything to stop the bleeding. Her hands were trembling around his, Hershel had been kind to her, he treated her nicely and the thought of losing him so soon, the thought of what would happen to Maggie and Beth felt debilitating.

"He'll be okay." Carl whispers, scooping the towels in his arm, leaving the remaining for Paola, his eyes held determination, a contrast to hers before helping her back to the room, handing them over to Lori.

The girl glides over to maggie, taking the womans hand in hers and squeezing. The woman was too stunned to speak as she watched her fathe from the doorway.

Then, the group hear shouting from where Daryl and T-Dog had disappeared to. "What was that?" Beth asks, still crouched beside Hershel.

Rick looks back from his place next to Maggie and Paola, "prisoners, survivors. It's alright, everyone stay put." Before stalking off taking Glenn with him.

|

Hershel had stabilised not too long after that, now being chained to the prison bed with his new found family watching over him as he slept.

Casualties weren't unheard of in the group, in fact, at least half the group from atlanta were dead. But it didn't make any loss any less difficult.

It was quiet, as though the level of noise echoing throughout the prison rested on Hershel's fate. While Maggie and Beth sat by his bedside. watching him eagerly, Paola leant against Glenn's side as he fiddled with a watch.

The watch brought Glenn comfort, watching the clock arms steadily move around while the little girl clung to his arm, though the action was small and insignificant to most, the arm that struck each number gave him enough sanity to keep his cool. For he needed it, he needed to be strong in this situation, even if he felt like breaking down a hundred times by now.

One around wrapped Paola, smushing her face against his arm before Carl rejoined the group, carrying and duffle bag.

"I thought you were reorganising the food?" Glenn asks, peeking his head around the corner.

The boy only smiled, "even better." Walking past Paola and Glenn, he dropped the bag on the floor, "check it out."

Lori gasps upon Carol zipping it open, "where did you get this?"

Carl smirks, feeling a wave of pride wash over him, "from the infirmary. Wasn't much left, but I cleared it out."

"You went by yourself?" His mother asked, taking bandages from the small bag.

"Yeah." He nods.

The women surrounding Hershel were stunned into a silence, Lori snapped hushly, "are you crazy?"

"No big deal." He shrugged, not seeing their concern, "I killed two walkers."

"You..."Lori trails over, before pointing at Hershel's bitten form, "alright do you see this? This was with the whole group."

"We needed supplies so I got them."

"I appreciate that-"

"Then get off my back!" Carl snaps, cutting his mother off.

Though Paola was older now and more used to the dead infested world, she still despised shouting more than words could describe, gripping Glenn's arm tightly, she narrows her eyes, "Carl." His gazes flickers over to his best friend, "you know it was stupid doing it alone, now stop fighting over it."

Beth nods, taking Paola's side, "she's your mother, you can't talk to her like that."

"Listen, I think its great that you want to help-" Lori begins, handing bandages to Carol, but her son rushes off in hurry.

No one was prepared to leave the prison just yet and so they waited on Hershel to be okay. It would be hard on Maggie and Beth just as it would be hard for everyone, but the prison was their home now. A place for them to be safe even if it only lasted a couple of weeks. The group had to make sure to stay together, because even if the place fell, they would always need each other.

╚═══*.·:·.★ ✦ ★･:･:*═══╝