Chasing Amy (Daryl Dixon/The Walking Dead)

Chapter 39 - Cell Block C

My skin was dotted with the tiny shadows left from the metal cage that surrounded us. It felt quite nerve-wracking as we stood atop the staircase, where we were boxed in like caged animals... It only served to remind me of just how trapped we really were if things went wrong.

I reluctantly pulled one of the knives from my pouch, watching as our leader stood before the rusted door to this building.

Rick turned to give us a short nod, his hand lingering on the dark metal door to the block. In the corner of my eye, I could see Daryl tense the grip on his crossbow beside me, as the door was forced to slide open, revealing nothing but...

Darkness.

From where we stood in the light, we couldn't see a single thing inside. Except for the black shadow that lingered inside the metal doorframe, which was hardly a beckoning sight.

Rick was the first to step into the strange building, followed swiftly by Maggie, Glenn, and T-Dog.

I looked up at Daryl as he moved into the darkness too, watching as his eyes flickered ahead of him, his back straightened in self-assurance. Even though Daryl was a much better fighter than me, the fact that he was prepared to stroll on into unknown territory was something I wanted to be able to do.

With his confidence spurring me on as an example, I followed him into the building.

The brightness and heat of the outside seeped away from my skin as I stepped through the foreboding door, my eyes taking a while to adjust as I shuffled blindly in the darkness. The difference between the golden temperature out of the door, and the grey lifelessness inside, added to the strange feeling of anxiety as I stopped behind Glenn.

There was another barricade to inside the block, this time in the form of dark metal bars.

It was a surreal kind of irony, making a home out of the one place nobody wanted to live in. A prison. I had a feeling that living behind bars would be either really depressing, or really safe.

Rick pushed his hand out to the bars, nudging back the heavy metal with a loud creaking sound that echoed through the empty space.

I however, the light from behind me was cut off as T-Dog shut the other door, and we truly were in the dark. Instead of dwelling on this suffocating darkness, I took my first unsure steps down the hallway and into the building.

Of all the places we'd been to over winter... Abandoned houses, shacks, petrol stations and anything else that'd classify as a particularly grim reminder of what had happened, this place was the worst.

Bits of paperwork and letters had been thrown about the room, littering the floor with white and yellow squares, covering the grungy concrete floor. Everything was grey, the walls, the ceiling, the bars on the windows that were placed insanely far up from the floor, so only the smallest amount of light could reach our skin.

Two metal tables were bolted into the ground on one side of the room, surrounded by a cluster of flipped chairs. There was a staircase that led upwards just beside another barred doorway.

My eyes scanned around me as stepped forwards, before lowering to focus on my clumsy wobble down the short staircase.

Rick pointed with his knife to one doorway, then to the staircase beside it.

Maggie, Rick, and T-Dog headed to the staircase, whilst I followed Daryl as he slowly made his way to the main doorway, leaving Glenn standing in the centre of the room.

Daryl was carefully scanning around with his crossbow held tightly in his hands as he lifted it about, expecting to see a roamer battering at the gate.