"Arthur?" Rick called out sternly, but Arthur didn't listen. He was in a trance, lost in his thoughts. Maybe he shouldn't be in shock, considering he was in the future, along with Sean, but he couldn't help it. The strange situation was overwhelming him.
The same could be said for Hosea, except he didn't expect this to happen at all. Ever since he somehow appeared in this future, he had been locked inside the prison cafeteria, living there with some prisoners. It was a confusing and frightening place for him.
Arthur stepped toward Hosea, and Hosea did the same. The others on Arthur's side lowered their weapons slightly but kept a sharp eye on the prisoners behind Hosea. Tension was high.
The two men embraced briefly. They pulled away, and Arthur said, "I can't believe you're here too, old man..."
Hosea pointed a finger at Arthur with a small grin. "You'll have to explain to me what in God's name is goin' on."
Suddenly, T-Dog was standing by the door when it flung open. A walker lunged at him and grabbed his arm. Before it could bite into him, Arthur quickly drew his gun and shot the walker in the head.
"What in tarnation was that, Arthur?!" Hosea exclaimed, startled.
"You don't know?" Arthur asked, surprised.
Before Hosea could answer, Shane hurried over to him. "Reunion can wait, brother. We gotta go. Get the door!" he said urgently.
Arthur nodded. "Sorry, Hosea. This has to wait until we're safe," he said, then sprinted to the door. He pulled back the makeshift barricade—a table—and pushed the door open.
He pulled out his hatchet and immediately split the first walker's head open, killing it. The group started moving quickly, with Arthur and Shane covering the rear. Arthur made sure to pull Hosea along with him.
Eventually, they reached the cell block, and Shane shut the door behind them. They caught their breaths, listening as footsteps approached.
Shane whistled sharply from the entrance of the cell block. Arthur and Daryl ran over as they heard the approaching footsteps.
Seven men entered the cell block. Daryl raised his crossbow, and Shane and Arthur raised their pistols. "That's far enough," Shane warned firmly.
One of the men, wearing a vest, stepped forward. "Cell block C. Cell 4... that's mine, gringo. Let me in."
"You're in luck today, fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia. You're free to go," Daryl said with a smirk.
"What's going on in there?" one of the prisoners asked nervously.
"Get the hell out of here before we shoot y'all dead," Shane warned, his gun steady. The Mexican man with the vest smiled slyly.
"Don't tell me what to do," the Mexican snapped, grabbing his pistol.
"I wouldn't recommend that, kid," Arthur said coldly.
"A group of civilians breaking into a prison they had no business being here. We ain't leaving," he spat at Daryl.
"Yeah, you are," Rick's voice boomed from behind Arthur, Shane, and Daryl.
The Mexican pointed at Hosea, who was still standing there, confused. "What about the old man?" he asked.
Sean suddenly appeared from a cell, saw Hosea, and grinned. "Ah! Old man!" he said happily, running over to him.
Hosea's eyes widened with shock, happiness, and confusion. After all, Sean had died before Hosea did. The two embraced warmly.
Everyone else looked at Arthur, Sean, and Hosea. Arthur gave an intimidating stare, making everyone shift uncomfortably—except for Maggie, who bit her nails, slightly smirking, her eyes fixed on Arthur's intense gaze.
"He's family. Hosea's staying, 'cause if he's not, then neither am I," Arthur declared firmly.
"Same here!" Sean added, glaring defiantly.
Rick turned back to the prisoners. "That's that," he said, shrugging. Despite his tough attitude, he accepted Arthur's words. "Anyway, this place is dead. The world is dead. When you die, you come back to life, but not as yourself. You eat people—one bite—and they turn into monsters like us. The world's finished. Most of America is already gone."
"Shit..." cursed one of the prisoners. "Okay, we're leaving."
"No, we're not," the Mexican insisted again.
Rick holstered his pistol and stepped closer. "My family is in this prison. I don't know what you're in here for, and I don't care. I'm giving you a chance to leave alive." Without warning, Rick brought his machete down onto the Mexican's skull. The man died instantly. His friends all began to run, except for two— a large man and a white man with a handlebar mustache.
Sean, Daryl, and Shane immediately started after the fleeing prisoners. Rick ordered the two remaining men to get on their knees and stay in a corner.
The four of them ran outside, surveying the chaos around them. They saw bodies strewn across the area. Sean, Shane, and Daryl then stepped out into the open, and the prisoners cowered in a corner.
"Y'all willing to leave?" Shane asked.
"No! This is our—" one prisoner began, but before he could finish, three gunshots rang out. Smoke from the pistols dispersed as three bodies dropped to the ground.
The last prisoner trembled and then sprinted toward Daryl, who calmly fired his crossbow into the man's chest. The man collapsed. Shane, Daryl, and Sean looked at each other, sighing with relief and a bit of dark humor. Sean chuckled softly.
They approached the corpses, and Daryl retrieved his bolt. They began stabbing the dead prisoners in the head to be sure they were gone.
Afterward, they headed back to the cell block. In the corner, the three prisoners who hadn't run looked terrified. Glenn aimed his pistol at them until the others arrived.
"Where are our friends?" one of the prisoners asked nervously.
"Dead," Daryl answered grimly, grabbing the Mexican's body and dragging it outside.
"Look, we'll do whatever you want. We're not like those guys. We just want to help," one prisoner pleaded.
"Alright, listen up! First, me and me mate here are heading to that cafeteria," Sean said, pointing his pistol at them. "Grab every scrap of food you can find and bring it back to our cell block, yeah?. Then, we're going straight to the infirmary because one of 'em's got a bun in the oven. Any funny business, and you'll face the same fate as those other poor sods. So, mind yourself." The prisoners nodded nervously. "Get up. Lead the way, now," Sean ordered, pistol ready.
—––
Arthur gently took Hosea's arm, guiding him a few steps away from the others, into a quieter corner of the cell block. After explaining everything in the most simple way, Hosea looked around, his face a mixture of shock and grief. "I can't believe it," he muttered softly. "All these years… and this is where we ended up. The gang we cherished, gone… Dutch, he's lost his mind completely, isn't he?"
Arthur nodded quietly, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Things got pretty messed up. The world changed fast, Hosea. We lost everything—friends, family, the way of life we knew. And Dutch… well, he's not the same man anymore. He's gone deep into his own world, lost in his ideals or whatever's left of them."
Hosea's eyes darkened with sorrow. "It's a damn shame. We fought so hard to keep the family alive, and now… look at us. Strangers in a strange land, fighting to survive, still." He hesitated, then looked at Arthur with a quiet curiosity. "So… you adopted a little girl?"
Arthur's eyes flicked over to Clementine, who was nearby, cautiously observing the conversation. He nodded slightly, then called out, "Clem, come here."
The girl hesitated for a moment, then wandered over, her small face curious but guarded. Arthur gently ruffled her hair. "Clem, this is Hosea. He's an old friend."
Hosea leaned down, eyeing her with a gentle, amused expression. "Well, ain't you a cute little thing. So… Arthur's got himself a little girl now, huh? Bet he's been spoiling you rotten." He winked at her playfully.
Clementine's face broke into a mischievous grin. "He's made me scoop up a lot of horse poop back on the farm," she said matter-of-factly. "And whenever it was his turn, he'd just throw the responsibility to me." she added, crossing her arms with a sly smile.
Arthur's face flushed slightly with a mixture of embarrassment and defensiveness. "That's not true," he muttered.
Hosea chuckled, ruffling her hair gently.