No Rest For the Wicked ~ A Walking Dead Fan Fiction

Chapter 35: Killer in Me is the Killer in You

Chapter 35

Killer in Me is the Killer in You

First Person~ Kate

The next morning we stood around a table in cell block C's canteen preparing to continue pushing in.  "You know, I never imagined I'd willingly end up living in jail with my cop buddy."  I said to no one in particular as I pulled on a pair of fingerless leather gloves. I wished they did have fingers, but this was second best.

I may have been making jokes, but last night, laying alone in that prison cell, I felt like I was suffocating. In the wee hours of the night, it had started to feel like this- the entire apocalypse- was all just some grand play of karma to get me in the prison cell I should have been in years ago, with some extra walker hell added to make up for lost time.

Everyone but Daryl laughed.   They'd come around to accepting my past and it wasn't such a delicate subject any more.  Even Olivia had minimized the amount of digs she took.

Rick noticed Carl trying on a helmet that was way too big for him. He and Elsie shared smiles as it rolled off when he looked down.   I shared a knowing look with Rick, who took the helmet from Carl.

"You won't need that.  I need you to stay put."

"You're kidding!"  Carl groaned.

I'd already talked with Elsie about staying here.  She was always eager to help out and prove herself to the group and to be honest, I had a hard time saying no to her. Discipline wasn't really my style, but I had to draw the line somewhere and I thought the bowels of a walker infested penitentiary were a good place to do so.  To her ever going credit, she'd taken it well with minimal complaining.

"We don't know what's in there. If something goes wrong, you could be the last man standing. I need you to handle things here."   Rick said smartly, making Carl feel important even though he wouldn't be helping.

"Sure." Carl nodded.   I wished that kind of thing worked on Elsie, but she always saw right through it.

"Great, let's go."  Rick gave the cue and I filed out along with Glenn, Maggie, Hershel, Daryl Eric and T-dog.   Carl shut the door behind us.

"Better keep that boy of yours away from my girl. I don't want her little heart getting broke."  I joked quietly so neither Carl nor Elsie would be able to hear me.

Rick chuckled.  "If their anything like us, she'll be the heartbreaker, not him."

I laughed a little too, but it was forced now.   Did he know about what happened between Eric and me so long ago?   We'd kept it on the down-low aside from the very first night in the CDC when Olivia had her blow up.   But Daryl had somehow known and it was quite possible others did too.  I glanced at Rick but he didn't look like he'd meant anything by it. I noticed Eric was watching me, his eyes intense. He'd obviously been listening and I looked at the my feet shamefully.

What would happen if I had to avoid being alone with Daryl, the way I did with Eric? If all our conversation became polite and meaningless? If every time I looked at him, all I saw was guilt?

"Goldielocks, eyes up."  Daryl grunted, brushing passing me to unlock a door.   I got back in it and raised both my eyes and knife, switching into hunting mode as we stepped through the now open passage into the dark, dank corridor. It smelled foul, which I ignored as I switched on my flashlight and followed Rick's lead.   The bodies we came across were dead for real, eaten down to fleshy skeletons.

It was pitch black in there aside from our flashlights and I hated it. We could hardly see a thing and the place was designed like a maze. Glenn marked the wall with white spray paint so we'd know which way to return, the sound of the spray can the only noise aside from the scuffling of our boots.