The opportunity came soon after.
The maintenance team had to inspect the wiring on the east side of the wall, which meant using a ladder.
Gargulio was assigned to hold the ladder while Oscar, who handled the prison's water and electrical maintenance, climbed up.
The ladder was old, but sturdy.
When Oscar climbed to six meters, all Gargulio had to do was give the ladder a slight shake, or suddenly let go, and Oscar's weight would bring it crashing down.
A fall from that height would either kill him or leave him badly injured, and no one could prove it had been deliberate.
Oscar shouted from above, "The wire on the left is loose! Hand me the pliers!"
Gargulio took the pliers from the toolbox and got ready to pass them up.
He looked up at Oscar, his palms sweating.
Oscar was struggling to keep his balance, one hand gripping the edge of the wall while the other reached down for the tool.
Just a little shake.
All it would take was one little shake.
Gargulio took a deep breath and handed the pliers up steadily.
"Okay!" Oscar grabbed the pliers and grinned. "Thanks, kid!"
At noon, Haley ran into Carl and Sophia near the water tower. They were not playing with the other children. They were practicing.
Carl was practicing throwing knives, while Sophia was still practicing the archery Haley had taught her. Their target was a wooden board with the outline of a walker drawn on it.
"Want to try, Haley?" Carl asked, handing her a small knife.
Haley shook her head. "I, I'm not very good at that. I still prefer the bow."
Carl hesitated, then said sincerely, "But your aim is kind of average. Maybe archery isn't your talent. Why not learn knives instead? I can teach you."
Haley was caught off guard by his bluntness, and Sophia glared at him. "Carl."
Haley's hand trembled as she took the knife.
The prison's water tower was only ten meters away, and the door was unlocked. She knew because she had seen Patricia and Beth go in that morning to draw water.
If she walked in and poured something into the water, anything at all, she could make a lot of people sick, or even poison them.
Haley looked at Carl. He was only eleven, a cute boy with a maturity in his eyes that had come far too early, but when he smiled, he was still a child.
"Your dad really loves you," she said suddenly.
Carl nodded. "He protects all of us."
Sophia nodded too. "My mom does too. So do Andrea, Jacqui, T-Dog, and everyone else. They all work hard every day.
They cleared the prison themselves. Last year there weren't many people here, and they still had to go out searching for supplies at the same time. This year is much better."
Haley asked curiously, "They don't go out this year?"
Carl shook his head. "They still go out, but now they take turns. Some of the new people can help protect everyone too. Boone, Tyreese, Sasha, and the others. It's taken a lot of pressure off Dad and the rest."
Sophia added, "Glenn and Maggie are really good too, but they haven't been here lately."
Haley suddenly heard two unfamiliar names, and something stirred in her mind. "I haven't met them. Did they go out searching for supplies?"
"No. They went with my mom to Calista's place," Carl explained.
Carl's mother. Calista.
Two more unfamiliar people.
Haley had always assumed Carl's mother was gone, so she had never asked about it. Now it sounded like there was another force out there, and one that had a good relationship with the prison.
Trying to sound casual, she asked, "Are Calista and the others nearby too?"
Sophia shook her head. "They're in Tennessee. The prison was taken by Calista's people."
Haley wanted to ask more, but Carl quickly tugged Sophia and pulled the topic back. "Come on, I'll teach you how to use a knife."
Haley's mind was a mess. She had no heart to keep practicing, so she hurriedly handed the knife back. "I think I should learn how to cook first. Patricia said she's making stew tonight, and I need to help."
She turned and left, as if fleeing from something.
That night, Haley and Gargulio confronted each other in low voices inside their cell.
"They're not raiders!" Haley was becoming more and more doubtful of Martinez's judgment. "You've seen how they live. They're ordinary people, just like us!"
Gargulio sat on the edge of the bed with his head lowered deeply. "But the Governor said they kill children!"
"Have you seen any children being killed here? Sophia, Carl, Liz, Mika... they're all alive and well!"
"Maybe, maybe the Governor got it wrong? The information might be bad..."
"Or someone is lying!" Haley said the possibility neither of them had dared to think about.
The two of them fell silent.
"But we have to do something, or at least cause some trouble," Gargulio said after a moment. "If we do nothing and go back empty-handed, the Governor won't be satisfied."
Haley hesitated, then decided to share the new information she had learned. "Maybe we can bring back something more useful."
"What?"
"They have an allied force. From the sound of it, it's even stronger than the prison. The prison was originally taken by that group."
"What?!" Gargulio was shocked. "Are they nearby too?"
"No. They're in Tennessee. But I don't think they're too far away. Probably near the Tennessee-Georgia border, because someone from the prison went there recently."
Gargulio pressed, "Any other information?"
Haley shook her head. "I didn't get anything else today. We'll pay more attention over the next two days."
Gargulio was deeply conflicted. "But, but we've already been here for more than a week. If we stay any longer, we'll be over the mission deadline. Maybe the Governor and the others will think we failed."
Haley frowned. She did not understand what the problem was, or why Gargulio was so afraid of the Governor and Martinez. "The Governor won't blame us for staying a few more days. We can only find out more if we stay."
Gargulio scratched his head and thought, That's because you don't know what Martinez and the Governor told me before we left. They said this was a righteous mission, but they wanted me to kill people.
In the end, he still could not convince Haley, and he did not dare tell her the real order he had been given.
A Governor fangirl like Haley would never believe him.
The next day, Haley, now carrying the task of gathering information, was noticeably more nervous. She decided to help in the kitchen a little, partly to ease the guilt in her heart.
She had just reached the hallway outside the kitchen when she heard low voices coming from inside. It was Beth and her boyfriend Jimmy.
Haley instinctively softened her footsteps and stopped in the shadows around the corner. She had not meant to eavesdrop, but what they were saying made it impossible to walk away.
"I didn't expect Calista and Leah to have developed things this far!" Beth said enviously. "In a place like that, Lori and the unborn baby will be safe."
"Calista is always prepared," Jimmy said as he put away the dishes. "If she can send a helicopter over, that means Rock Fortress is already running well enough to spare resources for the outside. That's incredible."
Calista.
That name again.
This time, there was a little more information.
Rock Fortress. A helicopter.