Calista narrowed her eyes and studied Axel carefully.
She was certain she had never seen him before.
"Who are you?" Her tone was openly wary. "How do you know us?"
Axel seemed to realize he had gotten carried away.
He quickly pulled his head back, glanced around, then lowered himself and leaned over the railing, speaking in a hurried whisper.
"My name's Axel. Carver and Mike told us about you. They're inside. We're on the same side!"
Carver. Mike.
Her team really was here.
And not only safe, it looked like they had taken in new people as well.
Wait. Axel.
Weren't there a few surviving prisoners in the prison who later joined Rick?
One of them was named Axel.
Leah and Merle both relaxed slightly, though the caution in their eyes didn't fully disappear.
After all, it was still just his word.
"Proof," Leah said simply. Her dagger was still ready in her hand.
Axel scratched his messy hair, looking troubled for a moment before his eyes lit up.
"Carver said if we saw a blonde woman who looks tough as hell, with a really beautiful blonde woman and a bad-tempered one-armed guy, that had to be you. He also said there's a crooked scorpion carved into the handle of Merle's axe."
Merle instinctively reached up and touched the crude, ugly scorpion he had carved out of boredom on his weapon, muttering, "…Fuck. When did he see that?"
That was enough.
Only someone who had spent time with them would know something like that.
"How are they? How many are there? Is anyone hurt?" Calista asked quickly, one question after another.
"They're all fine. They've been here a while, and they even saved us," Axel said, nodding eagerly. "There are nine of them. One guy's pretty badly hurt though."
"Who?" Calista and Leah asked at the same time.
"Uh… what was his name… Rorenzo?"
Calista's face went blank. "Where did a Japanese name come from?"
"No, no, Italian," Axel corrected himself quickly. "He's in a separate room. Don't worry. The boss is taking care of him. They've got people watching over him around the clock."
Calista fell silent for a moment.
Got it. Lorenzo was being held somewhere.
At that moment, another figure stepped out hesitantly from the corridor.
It was the Black man who had gone down earlier, a rifle in his hands and the same confused look Axel had just had.
He glanced at Calista and the others, then at Axel's excited expression, and quickly understood who they were.
"I'm Oscar," he said. "I was on watch with Axel. We used to be prisoners here."
He added quickly, "We're not hostile. We didn't commit anything serious. We just want to survive."
Calista nodded. "Understood. I'm Calista. This is Leah and Merle."
Before the apocalypse, and even in the early days when everything collapsed, she had already killed. As for Leah, she was a professional.
Between them, prison would have been the least of their worries.
"Calista." Oscar clearly recognized the name, his tone turning respectful. "The bosses mentioned you. Are you… their leader?"
"That's right. Take us inside. Oscar, keep watch," Calista said to Axel.
"Got it. Follow me." Axel responded eagerly, sliding down the ladder like a nimble monkey and waving them over.
As he walked, he pointed things out.
"They cleared out the inside. We're holding Block C now, it's safe. This is Block C. There are still a lot of walkers in A and B. Over there's the kitchen…"
Calista memorized everything quietly.
As they neared the center of Block C, the sound of a fight suddenly broke out from the intersection ahead.
"Hey. Stop right there."
"Who are you?"
"Fuck."
Jenson's angry shout mixed with Rick's pained grunt.
Calista and Leah exchanged a look, both sensing what they were about to see.
They immediately quickened their pace, with Merle following behind.
When they reached the intersection, the sight made Calista press a hand to her forehead.
Jenson and Rick were locked in a brawl, neither using weapons. It was pure fists and force.
Jenson had taken a hit to the face, and Rick had a bruise forming near his eye.
Off to the side, Shane was trying to restrain Jenson, but Carver grabbed him from behind, slammed him to the ground, and pinned him there.
Shane quickly realized that his strength, something he had always been confident in, meant nothing against this man.
Carver had already pulled out a knife, the tip pressed against Shane's cheek as he threatened him.
Mike, Turner, Bossie, Wells, Ethan, and Danny stood a short distance away, arms crossed, watching with tense expressions.
"I said stop." Calista raised her voice.
Jenson and Rick froze at the same time.
Rick was breathing hard, wiping his mouth as he shot her a frustrated look.
Jenson and Carver followed his gaze. The moment they saw Calista, and especially Leah beside her, both men froze, eyes going wide.
"Calista. Leah?" Jenson stammered, forgetting the pain on his face.
Carver released Shane and rubbed his eyes. "No way. It's really you."
Then everything changed.
"Calista. You finally made it."
Carver rushed forward first, excitement written all over his face. He started to pull her into a hug, but stopped halfway under Leah's calm gaze and settled for patting her shoulder instead.
Mike stepped forward as well, smiling in relief. "Leah. We've been waiting for you."
The others abandoned Rick and Shane entirely and gathered around Calista and Leah like a group of large dogs greeting their owners.
"Calista, Leah, you're okay. That's great," Jenson said, grinning despite his swollen cheek.
"No trouble on the way?" Wells asked, giving Merle a firm pat on the shoulder.
The tension from moments ago disappeared, replaced by the warmth of reunion.
Left off to the side, Rick and Shane looked at each other, confused.
Shane's anger faded into disbelief. He looked at the men he had just been fighting, now crowding around Calista and Leah, and couldn't quite process it.
Rick understood quickly. He let out a breath and gave a small, helpless smile.
"Looks like these are Calista's people," he said quietly to Shane.
Axel stood behind them, watching the whole scene with a grin.
Calista looked at her team, a faint warmth settling in her chest.
She raised a hand to quiet everyone, then turned with a slight smile toward Shane, who still looked stunned, and Rick, who looked resigned.
"Let me introduce you properly.
Shane, Rick, these are the teammates I told you about. The ones we got separated from. Carver, Mike, Bossie, Jenson, Turner, Wells, Danny, Ethan. Looks like you've already had a… friendly introduction."
...
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