C H A P T E R  1 4

❛ alarms ❜

MILO

     THE CELL BLOCK WAS COLD AND EMPTY and no matter what he tried to tell himself, Milo was still locked up. He'd been freed from the cafeteria, but now he was forced to lock himself in a cell block. Once again trapped between empty grey walls without a way out.

Oscar, Axel and Milo had gotten rid of the corpses that had been left behind in the cells. They'd taken them out to the back and burned them, just as T-dog had suggested to them. After that Milo had chosen one of the cells to be his room and tried to clean the bloodstains the best as he could. But staying inside was slowly choking him and he just wished he could do something. But the other group didn't trust them with even the smallest of chores and their leader most certainly didn't trust them. He understood why, he just wished it was different.

More than anything he wanted to go out there and find his sister. The problem was he had no idea where to even begin. She was smart so she probably would've left the city at the start of the outbreak. Which meant she could literally be anywhere. If she was even alive at all...If he just could find a lead, something, anything he could use to help him find her. Instead he was sitting in this cell with not a single option.

'We could always try,' Axel's voice echoed through the empty cell block.

A small sigh left Milo his lips. Oscar and Axel had been arguing for hours now about trying to gain the other group's trust. None of them wanted to stay in this horrible cell block a minute longer with nothing to do but be haunted by the ghosts of their past.

Axel thought they should just go over there and try to talk them but Oscar had declared him to be stupid multiple times.

Milo stood up from the bunk bed and walked out of his cell, making his way over to the two men. They stopped talking once they heard him approaching. Axel looked hopefully at his friend. 'What do you say, Milo?'

He crossed his arms over his chest, sighing, knowing that what he was about to suggest could only end in disaster. 'We can try.'

Oscar scoffed, giving a shake of his head. 'They won't listen, you saw the look on that guy's face. He doesn't want us anywhere near his group.'

Milo nodded. 'True, but he can't keep refusing us forever. The least we can do is offer our help.'

The three inmates looked at each other, silently trying to figure out what the best option was but since none of them wanted to stay in here a minute longer, there was truly only one option to go with. And so Milo made his way to the door, followed by his two friends.

Once they stepped outside Milo immediately knew it was going to be a hot day. The sun was already shining down on them mercilessly, slowly burning their necks but he welcomed the heat, grateful to be able to feel the sun on his skin again.

Their presence was immediately noticed by Rick, who came walking over as soon as he saw them. Milo took a deep breath, ready to defend himself and his friends to the man. If it hadn't been for Tomas, he probably would've trusted them a lot sooner. Now, they were going to have to earn his trust.

'That's close enough,' Rick snapped once they reached each other. 'We had an agreement.'

'Please mister, we know that,' Axel started. 'We made a deal, but you gotta understand, we can't live in that place another minute. You follow me?'

Milo turned around at the sound of the door to the guard tower opening. The asian boy and the girl came walking out, staring with suspicion at the prisoners. He was getting tired of their ever judgemental glares.

'Look, we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew, nothing!' Axel said, walking closer to Rick while pleading his case. 'You're trying to prove a point, you proved it bro. We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Please.'

Milo looked at Rick and could see in his eyes that his mind had been made up. From the moment he had first laid eyes on them, his mind had been made up.

'Our deal is non-negotiable,' Rick answered. 'You either live in your cell block, or you leave.'

Axel shook his head, turned his gaze to the ground and Milo felt himself too angry to even find the right words.

'I told you this was a waste of time,' Oscar said. 'They ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. Do you know how many friend corpses we had to drag out this week? Just throw 'em out like...'

Milo looked at Oscar. He hadn't had many friends during his time in the prison but Oscar had told him plenty of stories of how his friends had saved him from the real bad ones. After what happened with Aiden, Scott and Stephen, Milo had never wanted to make new friends just so he could watch them die later on. But being locked up with Oscar and Axel all those months gave him no other choice than to become friends with them. And so he knew that carrying those bodies out of the cell block had been tough for the both of them.

'These were good guys,' Oscar went on, 'guys who had our backs against the real bad ones like Tomas and Andrew. Now, we've all made mistakes to get in here and I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint but believe me we've paid our due. Enough that we would rather hit that road than to go back into that shit hole.'

Rick studied their faces, his intense blue gaze reading all of them, trying to come to a decision. Then he turned around, giving Daryl a questioning look. The archer shook his head, making the final decision.

'Alright,' Milo sighed, 'I understand not trusting us but can we at least get a car and some provisions for the road. We'll disappear and you won't ever see us again.'

He could see those words appealed to Rick, despite the gasp of horror that came from Axel. 'Alright,' Rick said. 'You can wait there.' He pointed at the first row of fences that surrounded the prison.

Milo nodded and walked over to the gate where Daryl was waiting with the keys. They walked through, once again locked up, only this time between two fences.

Daryl closed the lock of the fence, glaring at them before walking back to the group, probably to discuss their fate.

A frustrated sigh left his lips as he made his way over to the guard tower, sitting down against the wall as they waited. It was fucked up how being an inmate had saved him from the end of the world. The most horrible action he had committed in all his life, had saved his life at the same time. He supposed it was only fair he would be punished for it by remaining separated from his sister.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the asian boy opening the fence and handing them a box with food. 'There's enough in there to last you guys a week.' He stepped back into the meadow, closing the fence as he did. 'We'll cut you guys lose when we get back.'

'Thank you bro,' Axel said, his voice sounding sad.

Milo looked at Oscar who gave a short shake of his head, probably just as annoyed by Axel's endless attempts to win the group's trust. It wasn't going to work.

'Sit tight,' was all the asian guy said before running away.

'Thank you bro?' Oscar questioned and Milo couldn't help the small laugh escaping his lips. Movement at the courtyard caught his eye however and he got to his feet, looking at the scene playing out in front of him.

The old man whose leg had been cut off was now walking around the courtyard, supported by handmade crutches. A woman who seemed to be pregnant and a blond girl supported him. Followed by a little boy with a sheriff's hat on.

Milo felt himself shaking his head. 'Too much for you to handle,' he mumbled, quoting Rick when Tomas had asked them how many people they had. It certainly wasn't a large group but as they all stood there, smiling because the man was up and about, Milo could feel they were not just a group, they were family and he knew then he couldn't blame Rick for not wanting to take the risk to put his trust in him and his cellmates. He wasn't just trying to survive with a group of people. He was protecting his family.

It seemed like the world, however, had decided that laughter and peaceful moments were to be ripped away just as soon as they came. Because the kid turned around, his attention caught by something behind him and then he screamed: 'Walkers!'

His heart started beating faster just by hearing those words. He watched as the peaceful atmosphere was shattered as the group pulled out their guns in a desperate attempt to protect themselves against the danger.

A distraught scream came from behind him and he spun on his heels to see Rick, Daryl and the asian kid running towards the gate as fast as possible. They had been outside the fences doing who knows what and were separated by the fence from getting to their family.

Milo shared a panicked glare with his friends, all three of them not entirely sure what to do. Rick and the others would have to open the gate they were now locked behind to get to their group. The only question now was would they run with them to help, or stay back here where it was safe?

He didn't have time to think about it because Rick had already reached the fence. 'Out of my way,' he growled, frantically searching for the right key. When he did he immediately opened the fence, running towards the courtyard with Daryl and the asian kid on his heels.

Milo turned to look at his friends who both seemed to be doubting what to do but his mind was already made up, it had been since the kid had so desperately screamed that warning. They were a family and if there was one thing he knew how to do, it was protecting his family. He saw no other choice but to help them. And so he ran after Rick and the others without a single doubt.

He caught up to Rick and opened his mouth to ask for a weapon but he was never able to because a sudden high pitched alarm tore through the prison. The same alarm that had sounded on the day the prison had been overrun.

They winced, looking around in horror but there was nothing to be done to kill the noise. Rick raised his gun and started shooting at the speakers but it was useless. The alarm was everywhere, painfully loud and putting everyone on edge, especially Rick. He ran towards Milo, his gun raised.

'How the hell can this be happening?'

Only then did Milo realise Axel and Oscar had followed him up to the courtyard as it was Oscar who replied to the former cop: 'Woah, woah, hey, it has to be the back-up generators.'

'Well, how do you turn those off!'

'There's three, they're connected to a diesel tank, okay. Each one controls a part of a prison. They had them all shut off when the prison was overrun,' Oscar explained.

'Could someone open up the main gates with full power?' Rick asked

'I don't know, I only worked in there for a few days, I guess it might be possible.'

Rick cried out in frustration before finally making his decision. 'Come with us!' He turned around, running towards C block and Milo followed without hesitation.

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