Fic: Lost In the Woods (4/4)
Title: Lost in the Woods, Ch. 4: Life Goes On.
Author: 3am_moonlight aka mirrored_illusions.
Rating: FR-13.
Crossover: The Walking Dead (TV) & Criminal Minds.
Disclaimer: Property of Joss and whoever owns TWD & CM.
Summary: The Slayers and their backup begin to clear the prison and find survivors.
Timeline: Post-Chosen, S3 for TWD, between S7&8 or early S8 for CM. Assuming TWD begins in 2012.
Word Count: 3,000 (this chapter) / 6259 (complete story).
Written for Day 27 of the 2017 August Fic-A-Day Challenge for Twisting the Hellmouth's sister community,
twistedshorts , on LJ.
The next morning they all got up with the rising sun and ate an early breakfast. They didn't have much, but with a heavily pregnant woman and another woman who had given birth less than a month prior, there really was no choice but to ensure they at least got everything they needed. Baby food, baby clothes, and other related items were a high priority on their 'shopping' list every time they went on a food run. The second priority was the three older children in the group. Everyone else came after that.
To everyone's relief, JJ's pregnancy had been much smoother than Lori's and she was now the proud new mother of a baby girl she had chosen to name Savannah, and five-year-old Henry was now an equally proud big brother. No one had said anything about the no doubt deceased father of the two children and focused instead on the happy event. Celebrating the arrival of a new life when the dead were all around them had lifted their spirits a lot in the time since. It gave them hope.
After a quick brainstorming, once they'd finished eating, it was decided that all the children (Henry, Savannah, Carl, and Sophia) were all staying in Cellblock C along with JJ, Lori, Carol, Beth and her boyfriend Jimmy. The adults were on a combined babysitting duty and cleaning and decorating duty. It was nothing less than an attempt to make the cellblock looking less like what it really was and more like a home, just in case they were staying there for a while.
Andrea, Lenny, Leighanne, and Stephen would go outside and put the walkers into stacks for burning later. All of them would be placed in the outer yard, so as to be as far away from them as possible. If they had the time they were also to kill as many of the walkers outside the first fence as they could. They would arrange for a group to collect all of them at a later point, but they needed to get rid of them as soon as possible since walkers tended to attract other walkers. The last thing they needed was to be surrounded again, and for all that the fences were built to keep male prisoners inside, they were not made for the relentless pushing of the undead. That meant they needed to regularly kill all the walkers who arrived outside in order to keep their fence standing for as long as possible.
Meanwhile, Buffy and Faith were organizing the remaining people into what was something in between a strike force and a team of explorers. Granted, they weren't searching for treasure, at least not in the common use of the word, but they were looking for the infirmary and it's hopefully fully stocked storage of medicine. They were also hoping to find the cafeteria and a storage of food. Both pursuits were equally important.
As Buffy and Faith were discussing tactics, Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, and T-Dog were putting on the bulletproof vests they had removed from the riot walkers they had killed between the second and third fences. There weren't enough for all of them so both of the Slayers chose to go without, despite there being one extra after they vetoed Hershel's attempt to join them. He was their only doctor and they couldn't afford him going into such a risky situation without good reason.
The last vest was instead given to Andrea since she was one of the people who might be at risk outside while working with the dead walkers. If needed they could switch, depending on who was in the most dangerous situation.
"Okay, everyone!" Buffy raised her voice to be heard over all of the planning and chatting going on around her. "Are everyone clear on what your job is today?" At the affirmative nods and replies, she continued, "Right then. Those of you going outside to work on the dead geeks can leave now. Remember to be careful, we might have missed some of them and they could still bite or scratch you. Make sure that all the walkers you touch have had their brain destroyed, and if you're not sure use a knife or something else to stab it with. Always keep at least one person on the lookout, you don't want to be caught unaware. We can't afford to lose anyone, so please, be careful."
"We'll be careful. But you and the others going deeper into the prison are at a bigger risk since we already know there are more walkers inside this building." Andrea's expressive eyes were mirroring her concerned words. The past winter had calmed her down some, particularly as she got more proficient with the various weapons and fighting techniques. Not having to listen to her trying to be 'one of the boys' was a relief. It also helped that she had gotten to grieve for her sister properly.
A few more words were exchanged before Andrea took her group and went outside to begin working. Inside Cellblock C Buffy and Faith gathered their group and moved out. The two Slayers were in the front, ready to kill anything that moved or which shouldn't be able to move but had an intact head. It was better going for overkill in this than lose even more people to something that could've been easily avoided.
Daryl moved to the front and unlocked a barred door leading into another hallway and they carefully walked inside, flashlights lightening up a small area in front of them. The two Slayers moved back to the front and then took first one right turn and then a second before they came into another hallway. The new hallway had at least three corpses, two of which appeared to have been partially eaten, and the third seemed to simply be dead.
The two women used their sharp and shiny weapons to penetrate the brain of the first two bodies before Faith stepped carefully forward and stabbed the third in the forehead with her sword to be on the safe side. Behind them, Glenn used a spray can to paint an arrow on the wall so they could find the right way back to where they came from. As they moved forward they found another partially eaten body in front of an open barred door, and Faith stabbed that one in the head as well.
Faith took point when they turned the next corner and Buffy backed her up, her Scythe at the ready. The next hallway had another two corpses and even more debris. They made short work of the bodies and carefully moved on while the rest of the group followed. The two next corners were clear of anything except for some small amounts of trash, but both of the Slayers could hear the walkers beyond that point and used hand signals to get everyone to back up a bit.
Faith began explaining the situation in a low whisper once they were far enough away. "There are a group of walkers around the second right corner, at least six of them. Maybe more." She gave the group a serious look, "B and I will go in first and slay them, the rest of you stay here until we come back and tell you it's clear. Got it?"
At the groups' silent acceptance, she switched her sword for a machete. It was easier to wield in the small space available. Buffy kept the Scythe but made sure her own machete was within easy reach in case she needed it, and she patted her thigh to confirm that her knife was still in its sheath. In her peripheral view, she saw Faith make sure she could get to her sword if need be and also that her other knife was where it was supposed to be. A quick, silent plan was made using facial expressions and body language only and they were off, this time with Buffy in the lead and Faith covering her.
They crept silently forward and around the first corner and then Buffy went closer to the right wall as they were about to turn right for the second time, while Faith took the wider turn to cover her. They made eye-contact and then on a silent three-count they took the turn and moved forward at a speed only a Slayer could accomplish. Three of the geeks were dead before the rest could react and then they groaned in greeting and shambled towards their final death as the two women sliced and stabbed them.
They quickly realized they had miscounted as there turned out to be a lot more than six of them and even worse there were more coming from the other corridors, including from behind the rest of the group. By the time they had dispatched of what turned out to be over 15 walkers in the original corridor, and gotten back to where they'd left the group they had gone. Both of them extended their hearing to find out which direction they had gone in and only heard more groaning and shuffling feet. Silently they decided to go for the walkers, in the hope that the others had gotten inside a room or a closet. A lack of screaming supported the theory. If they had gotten inside they could be retrieved later, but for now, there were undead who needed to be killed.
The next ten minutes were spent slicing and dicing the geeks who came shambling towards them, and stabbing the ones on the ground, as they moved from corridor to corridor while keeping an ear out for the others. When everything was finally silent again they began going from door to door, alternately opening and covering each other, and looking inside for more walkers to kill and the missing members of their so-called strike force. Mostly they only found more walkers and in some cases actual corpses, before they finally found Glenn and Maggie hiding in a closet.
As soon as Buffy saw who was inside she said, "Come on you two, we've cleared the way. Where did the others go and why are you two alone?"
"We were forced in different directions when we came to a corner and they were suddenly in front of us, blocking us off from both the front and the side. In all the confusion we didn't see where the others went. We were too busy looking out for each other and getting away."
As Glenn inhaled so he could continue, Maggie interrupted, "Did you see the others?"
"No. We haven't seen anyone since we re-grouped to take out the first walkers."
Faith continued from where Buffy left off, "We've been slaying all the geeks we've found, and going through all the doors to check for more. The hallway behind us is clear, so we'll go forward. We haven't heard any screaming so they're here somewhere, probably hiding in a closet just like you." She smirked at the couple, who just sighed in exasperation at her continued teasing.
They re-grouped and moved forward, Buffy taking the lead and Faith bringing up the rear with their resident couple in the middle. Two hallways further down and half a dozen doors later, they came to a set of doors with a pair of broken handcuffs on the door handles. Inside the Chosen Two could hear talking, and not all of the voices were familiar to them.
"Stop," Buffy ordered in a low voice. "They're in there, but there are at least three other people as well."
"Live ones?" The surprise in Glenn's voice was echoed on Maggie's face.
"Yes. Lives ones. Probably either prisoners who'd been locked in when all hell broke loose, which means there's food in there, or they're other survivors who didn't bother to clear out the prison before moving in."
While Faith had been talking Buffy began moving silently towards the doors while listening intently. "They seem to be at an impasse. The prisoners don't seem to be aware of the apocalypse, and have been expecting the National Guard to show up."
Maggie and Glenn gave Buffy an incredulous look, "From what they're saying they've been locked in the cafeteria for ten months and have no idea about the walkers. Just that there's been something outside the door."
"Are all of them in there?"
"Yeah, they're all in there. Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog." While answering the question Faith had moved up beside Buffy and exchanged her machete for the sword. Presumably, because there would be more space inside, and it had a better reach.
Faith lifted her hand, and in a show of good manners, knocked on the door in front of her instead of just trying to open it. Buffy couldn't help but laugh softly at the irony of that, but otherwise kept quiet.
A set of footsteps moved towards the door on the other side and when they were close enough they heard T-Dog ask, "Who's there?"
"Your friendly neighborhood Slayers, and the kissing couple."
They heard a snort and then something being put on the ground before something else was removed from blocking the door handles, and then the door was open. No one in the group knew why they were calling themselves Slayers, they simply took it to mean it was related to their ability to kill a lot of the undead. The walker variety, not vampires. Strangely enough, they hadn't seen a single vampire, or demon for that matter, since about a week before the global outbreak. The leading theory was that the walker infection was somehow stronger than the demons who took over the human bodies who would otherwise have become vampires.
Buffy had spoken to Angel in person nine days before the global outbreak had become official since she was passing through Los Angeles, and he had seemed fine. Nothing had appeared out of the ordinary with him, but when she'd tried to call him on the phone five days later she'd only gotten Cordelia on the line. According to her Angel seemed to simply have vanished three nights prior. He'd gone out to get more blood from the blood bank and never returned. Wesley had been bitten and turned into a walker two days later, and now she and the rest had locked themselves into the Hyperion and barricaded it to the best of their abilities. That had been the last time she'd been able to reach them.
When they entered the cafeteria they saw Daryl having a group of five men at arrow point. One of the men, a Hispanic looking one, had a small hand gun pointed at him in return. Slightly behind him and to the sides were three black men and a blond man with a mustache. Rick was on Daryl's opposite side holding a gun at the prisoners, and T-Dog had clearly been between Daryl and the door.
Buffy smiled at everyone while Maggie and Glenn went behind her and Faith to check up on the other three. "What's going on here?"
"You're making yourself comfortable in my house and need to get gone. That's what, little girl."
"Hey!" Buffy huffed in pretend indignantly, "I'm not a little girl, just a little on the short side."
From there, things went a little south until Rick agreed to let them outside to see the yard, and all the dead walkers Andrea and her group were piling up for a bonfire. The shock on the prisoner's faces was short lived before Tomas, the Hispanic one, tried once again to take back the prison. An hour later another Cellblock was cleared and Big Tiny, a tall, black man, was dead after being scratched by a walker and then had his head smashed in by his group leader after Rick explained what the scratch meant for the man's life. Tomas himself was dead after having tried to kill Rick by pushing random walkers at him while they'd cleared the cellblock and the way there. In return, Rick had killed him with his machete in front of both of the groups. There was showing mercy and then there was being stupid, and Tomas had already shown them that he was unstable and violent.
In retaliation one of the others, Andrew, Tomas's right-hand man, had attempted to attack Rick before running away. When Rick had returned a while later he told them the other man had run into yet another courtyard with a few walkers in it, and that Rick had simply locked him in there. He hadn't waited to find out if the man survived the meeting with the undead or not, just left him in there and returned to the others.
Buffy's group then lead the remaining two prisoners, Axel, the blond with the mustache, and Oscar to Cellblock B, where they were met by the sight of every single prisoner lying dead on the floor, with their hands zipped behind the back, and a gunshot to the head.
"You're gonna leave us in here with all the corpses?" The surprised question came from Axel. "That's sick. Really, really sick!"
"If you think that's bad, you should try leaving and see how things are outside. The corpses aren't just lying harmlessly on the ground, they're walking around in increasingly large herds just looking for someone else to eat. You're free to leave if you want, or you can stay here." Faith didn't care, and if Buffy was honest she didn't either. They already had a lot of people to protect, they didn't need any convicts. Faith, and probably Daryl, notwithstanding.
Before they left them there, T-Dog decided to give them a piece of advice. "Take those bodies outside and burn them."
They locked the door behind them and returned to the others. Only time would tell if allowing them to stay was a good idea or not, but just killing them in cold blood wasn't an option. They weren't quite there yet.
Author: 3am_moonlight aka mirrored_illusions.
Rating: FR-13.
Crossover: The Walking Dead (TV) & Criminal Minds.
Disclaimer: Property of Joss and whoever owns TWD & CM.
Summary: The Slayers and their backup begin to clear the prison and find survivors.
Timeline: Post-Chosen, S3 for TWD, between S7&8 or early S8 for CM. Assuming TWD begins in 2012.
Word Count: 3,000 (this chapter) / 6259 (complete story).
Written for Day 27 of the 2017 August Fic-A-Day Challenge for Twisting the Hellmouth's sister community,
twistedshorts , on LJ.
The next morning they all got up with the rising sun and ate an early breakfast. They didn't have much, but with a heavily pregnant woman and another woman who had given birth less than a month prior, there really was no choice but to ensure they at least got everything they needed. Baby food, baby clothes, and other related items were a high priority on their 'shopping' list every time they went on a food run. The second priority was the three older children in the group. Everyone else came after that.
To everyone's relief, JJ's pregnancy had been much smoother than Lori's and she was now the proud new mother of a baby girl she had chosen to name Savannah, and five-year-old Henry was now an equally proud big brother. No one had said anything about the no doubt deceased father of the two children and focused instead on the happy event. Celebrating the arrival of a new life when the dead were all around them had lifted their spirits a lot in the time since. It gave them hope.
After a quick brainstorming, once they'd finished eating, it was decided that all the children (Henry, Savannah, Carl, and Sophia) were all staying in Cellblock C along with JJ, Lori, Carol, Beth and her boyfriend Jimmy. The adults were on a combined babysitting duty and cleaning and decorating duty. It was nothing less than an attempt to make the cellblock looking less like what it really was and more like a home, just in case they were staying there for a while.
Andrea, Lenny, Leighanne, and Stephen would go outside and put the walkers into stacks for burning later. All of them would be placed in the outer yard, so as to be as far away from them as possible. If they had the time they were also to kill as many of the walkers outside the first fence as they could. They would arrange for a group to collect all of them at a later point, but they needed to get rid of them as soon as possible since walkers tended to attract other walkers. The last thing they needed was to be surrounded again, and for all that the fences were built to keep male prisoners inside, they were not made for the relentless pushing of the undead. That meant they needed to regularly kill all the walkers who arrived outside in order to keep their fence standing for as long as possible.
Meanwhile, Buffy and Faith were organizing the remaining people into what was something in between a strike force and a team of explorers. Granted, they weren't searching for treasure, at least not in the common use of the word, but they were looking for the infirmary and it's hopefully fully stocked storage of medicine. They were also hoping to find the cafeteria and a storage of food. Both pursuits were equally important.
As Buffy and Faith were discussing tactics, Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, and T-Dog were putting on the bulletproof vests they had removed from the riot walkers they had killed between the second and third fences. There weren't enough for all of them so both of the Slayers chose to go without, despite there being one extra after they vetoed Hershel's attempt to join them. He was their only doctor and they couldn't afford him going into such a risky situation without good reason.
The last vest was instead given to Andrea since she was one of the people who might be at risk outside while working with the dead walkers. If needed they could switch, depending on who was in the most dangerous situation.
"Okay, everyone!" Buffy raised her voice to be heard over all of the planning and chatting going on around her. "Are everyone clear on what your job is today?" At the affirmative nods and replies, she continued, "Right then. Those of you going outside to work on the dead geeks can leave now. Remember to be careful, we might have missed some of them and they could still bite or scratch you. Make sure that all the walkers you touch have had their brain destroyed, and if you're not sure use a knife or something else to stab it with. Always keep at least one person on the lookout, you don't want to be caught unaware. We can't afford to lose anyone, so please, be careful."
"We'll be careful. But you and the others going deeper into the prison are at a bigger risk since we already know there are more walkers inside this building." Andrea's expressive eyes were mirroring her concerned words. The past winter had calmed her down some, particularly as she got more proficient with the various weapons and fighting techniques. Not having to listen to her trying to be 'one of the boys' was a relief. It also helped that she had gotten to grieve for her sister properly.
A few more words were exchanged before Andrea took her group and went outside to begin working. Inside Cellblock C Buffy and Faith gathered their group and moved out. The two Slayers were in the front, ready to kill anything that moved or which shouldn't be able to move but had an intact head. It was better going for overkill in this than lose even more people to something that could've been easily avoided.
Daryl moved to the front and unlocked a barred door leading into another hallway and they carefully walked inside, flashlights lightening up a small area in front of them. The two Slayers moved back to the front and then took first one right turn and then a second before they came into another hallway. The new hallway had at least three corpses, two of which appeared to have been partially eaten, and the third seemed to simply be dead.
The two women used their sharp and shiny weapons to penetrate the brain of the first two bodies before Faith stepped carefully forward and stabbed the third in the forehead with her sword to be on the safe side. Behind them, Glenn used a spray can to paint an arrow on the wall so they could find the right way back to where they came from. As they moved forward they found another partially eaten body in front of an open barred door, and Faith stabbed that one in the head as well.
Faith took point when they turned the next corner and Buffy backed her up, her Scythe at the ready. The next hallway had another two corpses and even more debris. They made short work of the bodies and carefully moved on while the rest of the group followed. The two next corners were clear of anything except for some small amounts of trash, but both of the Slayers could hear the walkers beyond that point and used hand signals to get everyone to back up a bit.
Faith began explaining the situation in a low whisper once they were far enough away. "There are a group of walkers around the second right corner, at least six of them. Maybe more." She gave the group a serious look, "B and I will go in first and slay them, the rest of you stay here until we come back and tell you it's clear. Got it?"
At the groups' silent acceptance, she switched her sword for a machete. It was easier to wield in the small space available. Buffy kept the Scythe but made sure her own machete was within easy reach in case she needed it, and she patted her thigh to confirm that her knife was still in its sheath. In her peripheral view, she saw Faith make sure she could get to her sword if need be and also that her other knife was where it was supposed to be. A quick, silent plan was made using facial expressions and body language only and they were off, this time with Buffy in the lead and Faith covering her.
They crept silently forward and around the first corner and then Buffy went closer to the right wall as they were about to turn right for the second time, while Faith took the wider turn to cover her. They made eye-contact and then on a silent three-count they took the turn and moved forward at a speed only a Slayer could accomplish. Three of the geeks were dead before the rest could react and then they groaned in greeting and shambled towards their final death as the two women sliced and stabbed them.
They quickly realized they had miscounted as there turned out to be a lot more than six of them and even worse there were more coming from the other corridors, including from behind the rest of the group. By the time they had dispatched of what turned out to be over 15 walkers in the original corridor, and gotten back to where they'd left the group they had gone. Both of them extended their hearing to find out which direction they had gone in and only heard more groaning and shuffling feet. Silently they decided to go for the walkers, in the hope that the others had gotten inside a room or a closet. A lack of screaming supported the theory. If they had gotten inside they could be retrieved later, but for now, there were undead who needed to be killed.
The next ten minutes were spent slicing and dicing the geeks who came shambling towards them, and stabbing the ones on the ground, as they moved from corridor to corridor while keeping an ear out for the others. When everything was finally silent again they began going from door to door, alternately opening and covering each other, and looking inside for more walkers to kill and the missing members of their so-called strike force. Mostly they only found more walkers and in some cases actual corpses, before they finally found Glenn and Maggie hiding in a closet.
As soon as Buffy saw who was inside she said, "Come on you two, we've cleared the way. Where did the others go and why are you two alone?"
"We were forced in different directions when we came to a corner and they were suddenly in front of us, blocking us off from both the front and the side. In all the confusion we didn't see where the others went. We were too busy looking out for each other and getting away."
As Glenn inhaled so he could continue, Maggie interrupted, "Did you see the others?"
"No. We haven't seen anyone since we re-grouped to take out the first walkers."
Faith continued from where Buffy left off, "We've been slaying all the geeks we've found, and going through all the doors to check for more. The hallway behind us is clear, so we'll go forward. We haven't heard any screaming so they're here somewhere, probably hiding in a closet just like you." She smirked at the couple, who just sighed in exasperation at her continued teasing.
They re-grouped and moved forward, Buffy taking the lead and Faith bringing up the rear with their resident couple in the middle. Two hallways further down and half a dozen doors later, they came to a set of doors with a pair of broken handcuffs on the door handles. Inside the Chosen Two could hear talking, and not all of the voices were familiar to them.
"Stop," Buffy ordered in a low voice. "They're in there, but there are at least three other people as well."
"Live ones?" The surprise in Glenn's voice was echoed on Maggie's face.
"Yes. Lives ones. Probably either prisoners who'd been locked in when all hell broke loose, which means there's food in there, or they're other survivors who didn't bother to clear out the prison before moving in."
While Faith had been talking Buffy began moving silently towards the doors while listening intently. "They seem to be at an impasse. The prisoners don't seem to be aware of the apocalypse, and have been expecting the National Guard to show up."
Maggie and Glenn gave Buffy an incredulous look, "From what they're saying they've been locked in the cafeteria for ten months and have no idea about the walkers. Just that there's been something outside the door."
"Are all of them in there?"
"Yeah, they're all in there. Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog." While answering the question Faith had moved up beside Buffy and exchanged her machete for the sword. Presumably, because there would be more space inside, and it had a better reach.
Faith lifted her hand, and in a show of good manners, knocked on the door in front of her instead of just trying to open it. Buffy couldn't help but laugh softly at the irony of that, but otherwise kept quiet.
A set of footsteps moved towards the door on the other side and when they were close enough they heard T-Dog ask, "Who's there?"
"Your friendly neighborhood Slayers, and the kissing couple."
They heard a snort and then something being put on the ground before something else was removed from blocking the door handles, and then the door was open. No one in the group knew why they were calling themselves Slayers, they simply took it to mean it was related to their ability to kill a lot of the undead. The walker variety, not vampires. Strangely enough, they hadn't seen a single vampire, or demon for that matter, since about a week before the global outbreak. The leading theory was that the walker infection was somehow stronger than the demons who took over the human bodies who would otherwise have become vampires.
Buffy had spoken to Angel in person nine days before the global outbreak had become official since she was passing through Los Angeles, and he had seemed fine. Nothing had appeared out of the ordinary with him, but when she'd tried to call him on the phone five days later she'd only gotten Cordelia on the line. According to her Angel seemed to simply have vanished three nights prior. He'd gone out to get more blood from the blood bank and never returned. Wesley had been bitten and turned into a walker two days later, and now she and the rest had locked themselves into the Hyperion and barricaded it to the best of their abilities. That had been the last time she'd been able to reach them.
When they entered the cafeteria they saw Daryl having a group of five men at arrow point. One of the men, a Hispanic looking one, had a small hand gun pointed at him in return. Slightly behind him and to the sides were three black men and a blond man with a mustache. Rick was on Daryl's opposite side holding a gun at the prisoners, and T-Dog had clearly been between Daryl and the door.
Buffy smiled at everyone while Maggie and Glenn went behind her and Faith to check up on the other three. "What's going on here?"
"You're making yourself comfortable in my house and need to get gone. That's what, little girl."
"Hey!" Buffy huffed in pretend indignantly, "I'm not a little girl, just a little on the short side."
From there, things went a little south until Rick agreed to let them outside to see the yard, and all the dead walkers Andrea and her group were piling up for a bonfire. The shock on the prisoner's faces was short lived before Tomas, the Hispanic one, tried once again to take back the prison. An hour later another Cellblock was cleared and Big Tiny, a tall, black man, was dead after being scratched by a walker and then had his head smashed in by his group leader after Rick explained what the scratch meant for the man's life. Tomas himself was dead after having tried to kill Rick by pushing random walkers at him while they'd cleared the cellblock and the way there. In return, Rick had killed him with his machete in front of both of the groups. There was showing mercy and then there was being stupid, and Tomas had already shown them that he was unstable and violent.
In retaliation one of the others, Andrew, Tomas's right-hand man, had attempted to attack Rick before running away. When Rick had returned a while later he told them the other man had run into yet another courtyard with a few walkers in it, and that Rick had simply locked him in there. He hadn't waited to find out if the man survived the meeting with the undead or not, just left him in there and returned to the others.
Buffy's group then lead the remaining two prisoners, Axel, the blond with the mustache, and Oscar to Cellblock B, where they were met by the sight of every single prisoner lying dead on the floor, with their hands zipped behind the back, and a gunshot to the head.
"You're gonna leave us in here with all the corpses?" The surprised question came from Axel. "That's sick. Really, really sick!"
"If you think that's bad, you should try leaving and see how things are outside. The corpses aren't just lying harmlessly on the ground, they're walking around in increasingly large herds just looking for someone else to eat. You're free to leave if you want, or you can stay here." Faith didn't care, and if Buffy was honest she didn't either. They already had a lot of people to protect, they didn't need any convicts. Faith, and probably Daryl, notwithstanding.
Before they left them there, T-Dog decided to give them a piece of advice. "Take those bodies outside and burn them."
They locked the door behind them and returned to the others. Only time would tell if allowing them to stay was a good idea or not, but just killing them in cold blood wasn't an option. They weren't quite there yet.