Chapter 70 – Territory
The lights inside the prison's underground transfer station shone so brightly that they cast long shadows across the platform.
Merle lounged in a folding chair, a deck of cards in his hands, wearing the expression of someone chewing on a live fly.
Across from him, Daryl calmly arranged the cards in his hand one by one without changing expression.
The two soldiers sitting nearby barely dared to breathe.
"You rigged the deck again, didn't you?"
Merle slammed his cards onto the table and glared at Daryl.
"I've had eight terrible hands in a row!"
Daryl glanced at him lazily.
"You shuffled the cards yourself," he said flatly. "Not my fault you kept raising the bets with garbage hands."
Merle opened his mouth, looked down at the scattered cards, then at Daryl's permanently emotionless face.
The curse he wanted to spit out died in his throat.
He flipped over his final two cards, cursed under his breath, then pulled several cigarettes from his pocket and tossed them onto the table.
Daryl reached over, gathered the cigarettes calmly, and stuffed them into his pocket.
A low humming sound echoed through the tunnel.
The rails began to vibrate faintly, like distant drums rolling underground.
Merle immediately stood up, scooped the cards together, and shoved them into his pocket.
"The train's here."
An armored train emerged from the darkness, its headlights flooding the platform with white light.
The roar of steel wheels against the rails grew louder and louder before the train finally slowed to a stop.
Compressed air hissed from beneath the cars, making everyone's pant legs flutter.
The doors slid open.
Rick stepped down first, followed by Carl.
Carl carried a small backpack and looked around curiously at the brightly lit station, the massive Umbrella logos on the walls, and Merle's crooked grin.
Rick wore a clean black combat uniform. A folded map protruded from his chest pocket, and the holster at his waist gleamed beneath the lights.
Merle crossed his arms and looked him up and down dramatically.
"Well, well, well. Look who's here."
He dragged out every word like an actor delivering lines on stage.
"The great frontier commander himself—Sheriff Rick Grimes."
Rick pulled Carl slightly behind him and stared back evenly.
"What? Not happy to see me?"
"Happy? Of course I'm happy."
Merle grinned broadly.
"Whoever the boss sends is the right person. I wouldn't dare object."
Lori stepped out of the train and moved beside Rick, giving Merle a calm, unreadable glance.
For once, Merle simply nodded without making a sarcastic comment.
"Alright!"
He turned toward the tunnel and shouted.
"Daryl! Get everyone moving! Time to head out!"
Daryl emerged from the far side of the platform carrying a duffel bag. He nodded briefly at Rick.
A dozen soldiers in black combat uniforms filed silently onto the train.
Merle boarded last.
Standing beside the door, he glanced back at Rick.
"The vehicles are yours now. Guns and ammo are loaded in the truck beds, inventory sheets are in the driver's cabin, and the rest of the weapons are stored in the prison armory."
His gaze lingered on Rick for a moment.
"The boss said to manage this place properly."
Rick nodded once.
Merle turned and disappeared into the carriage.
The doors closed.
The train rumbled back into motion and soon vanished into the depths of the tunnel.
Silence returned to the platform except for the steady hum of the ventilation system overhead.
Rick led Carl up the stairway.
Lori followed behind slowly, one hand gripping the railing.
When they pushed open the iron door above, bright sunlight flooded their vision.
Outside lay an open gravel yard that crunched beneath their boots.
Freshly repaired wire fences surrounded the area, sections of new steel gleaming silver beneath the afternoon sun.
Beyond the fences stretched a wide clearing where weeds had been cut away, providing a clear field of vision.
Farther out stood a dense forest, dark and impenetrable.
Lori walked beside Rick and gently took his arm.
"This place is our territory now."
Her voice was soft.
But firm.
Rick stopped walking immediately.
He turned toward her with an expression like cold water had just been poured over his head.
"What?"
Lori met his eyes without retreating.
"I said this place belongs to us now. You're in charge here. You don't have to answer to anyone else anymore—"
"What do you mean by 'our territory'?"
Rick interrupted her, his voice low but sharp as nails.
"We're managers. Not owners."
Lori froze.
"Is there really a difference?"
"Of course there is."
Rick pulled his arm away.
"This place still belongs to Umbrella Corporation. Wu Fan trusted me enough to put me in charge here. He didn't send me here to become some local tyrant."
Lori's expression shifted.
"That's not what I meant. I just—"
"You've said enough."
Rick's voice remained quiet, but the coldness in it made Lori stop speaking entirely.
What difference was there between the "territory" she imagined and becoming a tyrant?
Rick turned and walked away quickly, his boots grinding against the gravel.
Lori stood motionless, staring after him with her lips pressed tightly together.
Carl looked up at her nervously.
"Mom… is Dad angry?"
Lori lowered her head and stroked his hair gently.
"No. Dad's just tired. He'll calm down later."
At that moment, Glenn crawled out from beneath the stairwell and nearly collided with Rick.
"Hey, Rick. There are still three prisoners left in the prison—the ones Merle kept alive. I wanted to ask what you plan to do with them."
Rick paused briefly.
"Take me to them."
The holding cells were located in the east wing of the prison.
Each narrow cell contained nothing more than an iron bed, a sink, and a toilet behind thick iron bars.
One prisoner occupied each cell.
Rick stood outside the bars, studying them silently.
The first prisoner was a massive Black man with shoulders as broad as a doorway.
His hands rested on his knees like giant paddles.
When he saw Rick, he stood up, towering over the bars.
"People call me Big Tiny."
Rick didn't respond and moved on to the second cell.
Another muscular Black man sat inside.
When Rick approached, he rose calmly.
"Oscar," he said simply.
His voice was steady.
Rick nodded slightly before moving to the final cell.
Inside sat a shorter white man who quickly stood up the moment he saw Rick approaching.
"Axel!"
His head nearly brushed the ceiling.
Rick stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked at all three men silently for several moments.
"Do you know what's happened outside?"
The prisoners exchanged glances.
Oscar answered first.
"A little. One of the guards ran in yelling that people outside were turning into man-eating monsters. Later he opened the cells and helped us escape, but most of the prison got overrun. We barricaded ourselves inside the cafeteria and survived on canned food for almost three months."
Rick nodded slowly.
"Then you already understand the kind of world this is now."
His voice remained calm.
"There are no laws anymore. No police. No courts. Walkers are everywhere. And sometimes survivors are worse than the walkers."
The expressions on all three men changed.
Axel's nervous grin disappeared.
"So… what happens to us now?"
"Two options."
Rick raised two fingers.
"First: join Umbrella Corporation. You'll get food, shelter, work, and weapons. But you follow the rules."
He lowered one finger.
"Second: I open the gate and let you leave. You can go wherever you want."
His eyes hardened slightly.
"But you already know what's waiting outside."
The three prisoners remained silent for a long moment.
Finally, Big Tiny spoke first.
"I'll stay. I'm not going anywhere else."
Oscar stepped closer to the bars.
"I'm in too."
Then Axel gripped the bars tightly and leaned toward Rick.
"I'll join too," he said. "But I've got one condition."
Rick looked at him.
"Don't give me toy guns. I swore I'd never touch one again."
Rick paused for half a second before the corner of his mouth twitched upward.
"We use real guns here."
Axel immediately grinned.
"Then we're good."
Rick turned and walked away.
Glenn hurried after him and lowered his voice.
"You're really accepting them just like that? No interrogation or anything?"
Rick kept walking.
"They've already been checked. Not everyone inside a prison is beyond saving. Some people just lost their way."
At the far end of the corridor, Lori stood waiting beside Carl.
When she saw Rick approaching, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something.
Rick walked straight past her without stopping.
"I'm going to inspect the walls."
That was all he said.
Lori remained standing there, silently watching him walk away.
Carl looked up at her again.
"Is Dad still angry?"
Lori took his hand gently.
"No," she said quietly. "Dad just has a lot on his mind."
The setting sun cast a deep crimson glow across the prison walls.
Rick stood atop the ramparts, staring toward the distant forest while the evening wind carried the scent of the wilderness across the compound.
This place would now become his responsibility.
He remembered Wu Fan's words clearly:
"Do a good job. Don't disappoint me."
Rick slowly clenched his fists.
This place would never become anyone's personal territory.
And it would never become his kingdom.