C H A P T E R  10

❛ welcome to the new world ❜

MILO

     'PANTRY'S BACK THERE,' TOMAS CALLED over his shoulder as they entered the cafeteria once again.

Milo looked around with a small frown on his face. The space seemed to have shrunk after standing in the courtyard and feeling the sun on his face again. Looking around now, he could barely believe he had survived here for ten months.

'You never tried to break out of here?' The man they called T-Dog asked the inmates.

'We tried to take the doors off,' Oscar replied. 'But if you make one piep in here, those freaks will line up outside that door, trying to get in.'

'Hey, you coming? I'm sick of waiting back here,' Tomas yelled, leaning against the doorframe of the pantry with his arms crossed over his chest, looking bored with the conversation.

Milo couldn't help but notice how hatchet man, who he now learned was called Rick, placed his hand on his gun before following Tomas into the pantry. He couldn't blame him for not trusting the inmate. He just genuinely hoped his behaviour wouldn't get the rest of them in trouble.

He followed the group into the kitchen and watched as the three men walked into the pantry, their eyes wide at the sight of the shelves stacked with bags of corn, canned beef, canned beans and more.

Daryl turned to look at Tomas. 'That's what ya call a little bit of food?'

'It goes fast,' Tomas shot back, shamelessly lying straight to the bowman's face. 'Now you can have a bag of corn, some beans-'

'We said half,' Rick said sharply. His eyes caught sight of the door that led to the walk-in freezer they had used as a toilet for the last few months. 'What's in there?'

'Don't open that,' Milo warned him but the man didn't listen. With a few great strides he reached the door and pulled it open. Immediately the stench of shit and piss hit him and he gagged then coughed to try and get rid of the smell. Quickly he slammed the door shut again, leaning against it while he gathered himself.

'Can't wait for my own pot to piss in,' Axel mumbled, making Milo nod.

Rick sighed, glaring at Milo before walking over to the shelves. He started to gather as much food as he could carry. T-Dog and Daryl followed his lead and with their arms heavy with boxes of canned corn and canned beef they made their way back to the cell block.

The prisoners followed them and watched as they disappeared in the cells, careful to close the gate behind them. When they came back they weren't carrying food anymore but weapons.

Rick gestured for them to put the weapons on the table. The inmates stepped forwards, all of them eyeing the rusted, sometimes even blunt, weapons that lay spread out before them. Milo threw a quick look at the, mostly makeshift, weapons before finally choosing a black crowbar. He lifted it, testing the weight. It was light but the point was sharp and, if used right, could do a lot of damage.

'Why do I need this?' Tomas asked, pointing at the sticks on the table before taking out his gun, 'when I got this?'

'You don't fire a gun,' Daryl explained, annoyed, 'not unless your back's against the wall. Noise attracts 'em, really rouses 'em up.'

'We'll go in two by two,' Rick said, 'Daryl'll run point with T. I'll bring up the rear with you, stay tight, hold formation, no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down, anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker and end up with an axe to the head.'

'And that's where you aim,' Daryl added. 'These things only go down with a head shot.'

Tomas scoffed. 'Ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man.'

'Except, these things ain't men,' Milo said, not even bothering to look at Tomas, knowing the man would be glaring at him.

'Just remember to go for the brain,' Rick said before gesturing towards the tombs.

The group turned and headed back into the darkness. Their footsteps echoed loudly through the small space as they slowly made their way through the tunnels. The tiniest of smiles appeared on Milo's face when he remembered his little sister, always so afraid of the dark. She hated tiny spaces and darkness without a light. When she was younger he had taught her some breathing exercises, to close her eyes and count to ten. He almost felt like doing the same now to calm his own racing heart down to a steady rhythm.

'Man it's too damn dark in here,' Oscar whispered.

'Hold it up high,' Daryl said, gesturing to the axe in Oscar's hands. 'You'll hear 'em before you see 'em.'

Carefully they kept stumbling forward but then he heard it, the familiar haunted moans of the dead. The group rounded a corner and out of the darkness two corpses came stumbling at them. Daryl held up his hand to stop them from attacking. Instead he counted down with his fingers to make sure they would all charge at once. Milo's eyes were so focused on the signal that he barely even noticed how the other inmates charged when Daryl had only reached two. Confusion waved through him as he watched them attack the corpses. He took a small step forward but stopped himself at the very last moment, wondering why they weren't listening. The strangers clearly knew what they were doing, the pile of corpses in the courtyard proved that.

He watched as Tomas hit a corpse in the stomach with the hammer he'd chosen, over and over again, but the corpse didn't go down. It kept growling and biting and stretching out its fingers as though tearing the flesh from Tomas' bones was its only goal left in life.

A frustrated sigh left Milo's lips and without giving it a second thought, he stormed forwards. He held the crowbar tightly in his hands, gathered his strength and pushed his weapon through the skull of the corpse. Immediately it went completely limp. With a grunt of effort Milo removed the crowbar and watched as the dead one fell to ground, not getting back up this time.

He could feel Tomas' eyes burning into his back and he braced himself for what he might see when he looked the man in the eye. He turned slowly, staring back at the inmate. He just saved Tomas' life and couldn't even fully explain why. Maybe it was because he knew what it was like to live with the guilt of killing someone. And even though his fellow inmate was dangerous, he couldn't just let him die. Milo refused to be a person who didn't even try to save someone's life, whether or not they deserved it be damned.

Thomas' eyes were filled with a boiling rage and Milo knew he had to be careful from here on out. Because by doing this, he just proved he trusted the instructions from a group of strangers more than he trusted the instructions from a man he'd been locked up with for ten months. He refused to blindly follow Tomas and that made him dangerous.

'Let's move on,' Rick mumbled, stepping around the corpses and continuing down the hall.

Milo was the first one to look away and he followed the hatchet man without looking back over his shoulder. Even now he could feel Tomas' gaze lingering on him but he refused to give him the satisfaction of looking over his shoulder.

As they walked down the hallway another corpse came stumbling out of the darkness, probably attracted to the noises of the fight.

'It's gotta be the brain,' Daryl said. He aimed his crossbow and fired the bolt. It hit the corpse in the eye, bringing it down. 'Not the stomach, not the heart. The brain.'

'I hear you,' Axel replied, 'the brain.'

Another walker came their way and this time Oscar headed towards it. He swung his axe and nearly cleaved its skull in two. With one last nasty moan, the corpse went down.

'Stay in tight formation, no more prison riot crap,' Rick ordered.

The group formed a line and prepared themselves for the group of ten corpses that came stumbling towards them. Milo held his crowbar high and pushed the point through the skull of a walker heading for him. The corpse collapsed on the ground but its place was immediately taken by another. With a shout he pushed his weapon through its eye, killing it.

A pained scream came from behind them, making him turn with a wild beating heart. His eyes widened when he saw a walker putting down its teeth in Big Tiny's shoulder.

Rick was about to kill the corpse but before he could take another step a gunshot rang out through the tomb. The corpse fell down, truly dead this time.

With ringing ears, Milo turned to look at Tomas, who was still holding the gun in his hand.

Big Tiny whimpered, making MIlo turn back towards his friend. He watched as the man touched his shoulder and when he pulled his hand back, it was colored red with blood. The air seemed to grow heavy with sudden realisation. Milo could remember Rick's words clearly, they were all sick. If they didn't do something, Big Tiny would turn into another living corpse.

Rick was the first one to move, walking towards Big Tiny to inspect the wound on his shoulder. A sigh left his lips, confirming what Milo had been afraid of.

'I'm alright guys, it's just a scratch,' his big friend said.

'I'm sorry man,' Rick said, shaking his head.

'I can keep fighting!' Big Tiny yelled at him, panic laced through his voice.

'You cut that old guy's leg off to save his life,' Andrew started, gesturing towards the wound.

'Look where the bite is!' Rick replied, frustration on the edge of his voice.

'Guys, I'm fine!' Big Tiny yelled once again and Milo desperately wanted to believe him. 'Seriously, I'm fine. Look at me, I'm not changing into one of those things.'

'There's gotta be something we can do!' Andrew said, eyes wide with panic. 'Save him!'

'I'm sorry,' Rick said again. 'There's nothing we can do.'

'You son of a bitch,' Andrew snarled.

Rick took a step forward but Milo would never know what he planned on doing because just then Big Tiny let out another pained scream, before falling on the ground, silent.

Tomas stood behind him, his hammer raised and shining red with blood from where he hit Big Tiny against the head. Then he brought the hammer down, again and again. Milo winced with every hit, taking a step backwards away from the scene, disgust threatening to overwhelm him. Blood was everywhere, covering Tomas' face, his shoes, the wall, the floor. Even when Big Tiny's head was nothing more than a puddle of brain matter and blood, Tomas didn't stop.

Silence filled the hallway as everyone stared at Tomas when he finally took a step back. His eyes were wide but not with regret. They were filled with rage. Pure, hot, rage. There was not a single doubt left about the sanity of the inmate. He was dangerous and they were going to have to deal with him, sooner rather than later.

Tomas scoffed at them before walking away, heading down the hallway they'd been clearing out. Andrew followed suit. Why he chose to remain loyal to the maniac even now, was beyond Milo's understanding.

Axel's eyes were glued to the spot where Big Tiny's head had exploded all over the floor. Milo took a step towards him and put his hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake from his trance. He watched as his friend swallowed his tears before heading after the other two. It didn't go unnoticed by Milo how the three strangers shared a knowing look before heading after the inmates. He knew Rick wasn't going to take the risk of having someone like Tomas around. He just hoped the man could see that he, Axel and Oscar weren't like that. Swallowing his grief and disgust he walked on, locking away his grief for Big Tiny away, saving it for when they were in less dangerous circumstances.

Up ahead Tomas had opened a set of doors at the end of the hallway and when the others followed him, Milo realised they had entered the laundry room. On the other side of the room the walkers were banging on a set of double doors, trying to get to them. The sound echoed through the tiny room and made his ears ring. That set of doors led to the other cell block, but it meant taking down those corpses first. And it sounded like there were a lot of them.

The sound of a keyset rinkling made Milo turn around. Daryl took them out of his pocket and threw them before Tomas' feet. They were testing him, Milo realised.

The man looked down at silver keys on the ground. Then he shook his head 'I ain't opening that.'

'Yes, you are,' Rick replied, 'cause you want this cellblock. You're gonna open that door, just the one, not both of them, we need to control this.'

With an annoyed sigh Tomas bent down and took the keys. He walked towards the door, unlocked it and then turned back to them. 'You bitches ready?' He grabbed the handle tightly. 'I got this.' And then he pulled both the doors wide open.

'I said one door!' Rick shouted as walkers spilled into the room.

'Shit happens!' Tomas yelled back.

Milo raised his crowbar, pushing it into the skull of an approaching corpse. Gritting his teeth he pulled it back out. A walker to his right caught his attention and he turned, hitting it with the end of his crowbar. The blow made the walker fall down but it wasn't dead yet. Instead it lay there, grasping at him, snapping its teeth with never ending hunger. With a shout Milo brought his foot down, crushing the corpse's head.

He caught movement out of the corner of his eyes and quickly turned. With wide eyes he watched as Tomas swung his hammer into Rick's direction. It was a clear attempt at ending the man's life but he was able to move out of the way at the very last second. So, not willing to give up, Tomas grabbed a walker and pushed it into his direction instead. That caught Rick by surprise and he stumbled backwards, falling down with the walker on top of him. Its teeth were mere inches away from his face.

'Shit,' Milo cursed through gritted teeth. He rushed forwards and pushed his crowbar through the corpse's skull. It stopped moving immediately.

Rick pushed the dead one aside, staring with shocked blue eyes at Milo. Then he got back on his feet, taking the machete he had dropped in his hand.

Milo turned around, seeing the others had taken care of the remaining dead ones. The ground was littered with corpses, but the group was still standing, all except for Big Tiny...

Rick walked up to Tomas, his eyes stone cold and his face an emotionless mask.

'He was coming at me, bro,' Tomas shrugged, and Milo knew that even Tomas himself knew it was a pathetic excuse.

'Yeah,' Rick said, 'yeah I get it. Shit happens.' And before anyone could even blink he raised his machete and buried it in Tomas' head.

For a moment he stood there, the blade stuck in his skull, blood dripping down his face. Then Rick removed the blade and Tomas collapsed on the ground, his body nothing more than an empty shell, dead before he even hit the floor.

'No!' Andrew shouted and ran towards Rick with his bat held high. But Rick kicked him to the ground. Before he could kill him too though, Andrew scrambled back on his feet and sprinted off into the hallway, disappearing into the darkness.

'I got him!' Rick yelled, heading after him.

Milo didn't have to turn around to know Daryl had aimed his crossbow at the remaining inmates and T-Dog had pulled out his gun. Carefully he lay his crowbar down on the ground and turned around with his hands held up in surrender.

'Get down on your knees!' Daryl shouted.

He did so without questioning, watching Oscar and Axel do the same.

'We have no affiliation with what just happened,' Axel cried. 'Tell 'em, Oscar, Milo!'

'Stop talking man,' Oscar replied.

Axel's eyes went to Milo who simply gave his friend a nod. He needed him to know it was okay. Tomas was stupid and would've gotten them all killed. With him out of the way, maybe they could start something that looked like a life in this prison. And then he could get himself organised and go look for his sister.

Heavy footsteps caught their attention as Rick rounded the corner and stepped back inside the laundry room, no Andrew insight. Rick wasted no time and pointed his gun at Oscar's head.

'We had nothing to do with it,' Oscar stated calmly, his hands still raised in the air.

'You knew,' Rick snapped. 'Come on Daryl let's end this right now!' And he stormed over to Axel, aiming the gun at his head.

'Would I have saved your life back there if the plan was to kill you?' Milo said, taking the man's attention. He held his stare, trying to force him to look at things the right way.

'Please,' Axel begged, 'it was them who was bad, not us!'

'Oh, that's convenient!' Rick shouted.

'You saw what he did to Tiny!' Axel cried. 'He was my friend, please, we ain't like that. We're not the bad guys they were! Please, I swear to god! I wanna live.'

Rick stared at a crying Axel for a while, his eyes scanning his face, trying to detect even the smallest hint that he was lying. If Milo was right, and this guy had indeed been a cop before shit went down, he could only hope he was a good one and could tell when people were speaking the truth. And he was proven right when Rick turned away from Axel and walked over to Oscar instead. 'What about you?' He asked.

'I ain't never pleaded for my life,' Oscar replied calmly, 'and I ain't about to start now.'

Rick frowned before turning to Milo, placing the gun to his head. 'You got anything to say?'

Milo looked him right in the eye as he said: 'You do what you gotta do.'

edited: ✔