West Georgia Correctional Facility

"This place can be a gold mine."

- Rick Grimes

The  is a supermax prison featured in the AMC television series The Walking Dead. It is the primary setting for season three of the series, but was first seen at the end of the season two finale, "Beside the Dying Fire".

Description
The is a supermax prison located in the western region of the US state of Georgia. When a viral outbreak turned all of the dead into zombies back in 2010, the prison was overrun with shambling, rotting corpses, which have since become known as walkers. Prisoners were contained within their cells, but the prison guards had to suit up in riot gear to combat the zombie menace. Ultimately however, their efforts proved fruitless and they were eventually overtaken.

History
A small group of human survivors managed to barricade themselves inside the cafeteria, though they were largely unaware just how far-reaching this Apocalyptic chaos extended. This group consisted of Tomas, a Latino alpha male who considered himself the leader of the group, Axel, Andrew, Oscar, and a monstrous inmate known only as "Big Tiny". The cafeteria provided them with plenty of food and water and they were able to squirrel away a small ration of medical supplies. When the power cut out, they used the thawed walk-in freezer as a group toilet. Their situation was practically hopeless, but they did manage to survive on their own for the next ten months.

After the winter, a group of survivors led by a man named Rick Grimes came upon the prison. Rick told them that if they could secure the prison, they should be able to find food, ammunition and medical supplies. They fought through a herd of walkers until they reached the first barricade. Working as a coordinated team, they cut through the gates and then re-seal them. Rick went inside the prison and made his way to the warden's office where he found a dead guard with a ring of keys for all of the cell blocks. Once he got everyone else safely inside, they scouted the area until they were certain they had secured the entire cell block.

The group began exploring some of the other cell blocks, but as they made their way down a dark corridor, two groups of walkers leaped out and boxed them in. Glenn and his girlfriend Maggie Greene were separated and Maggie's elderly father, Hershel was bitten on the leg. Once Rick and two other men named, Daryl and T-Dog cleared the area, they pulled Hershel into an empty room where Rick had to quickly amputate Hershel's right leg before the virus could spread. It was at this time that Rick, Daryl and T-Dog learned about Tomas and his group. Tomas had a gun and the two had a tense stand-off with one another, but ultimately Rick convinced the hot-headed prisoner that he was woefully outgunned. Tomas stood down, but did not care at all for Rick's take-charge attitude. Rick told the men about how the world had been overrun by the dead and that there was no one coming to help them. The others had to come to terms with the fact that their family and loved ones were likely dead. Rick told Tomas that his people would help him secure a cell block for themselves in exchange for half their rations. Further, the two groups were to stay well clear of one another if they expected any kind of peaceful coexistence. Tomas reluctantly agreed, but Rick could see that the young man was going to be trouble.

Rick, Darryl and T-Dog gave Tomas, Axel, Andrew, Oscar and Big Tiny a hard-and-fast lesson in fighting off walkers, indicating that the only way to stop them was by destroying the brain. Both groups encountered a herd of walkers, and Tomas and his people went at them. They faired poorly however, having disregarded everything that Rick had told them. Though they emerged victorious, Big Tiny suffered a scratch upon his back. Tomas didn't take any chances. He bludgeoned Big Tiny to death with a pick axe.

During their second group encounter with walkers, Tomas nearly cleaved Rick's head off with a machete. He then pushed a walker directly into his path in the hopes of getting rid of both of them. Once the room was cleansed of zombies, Rick knew that Tomas was too much of a loose cannon. He brought a machete down upon his head and killed him. Another inmate tried running away. Rick chased him outside the prison and locked the door, leaving the man to be consumed by walkers. Satisfied that the other two prisoners were not a liability, he decided to let them live.

Original surviving inmates

 * Andrew
 * Axel
 * Big Tiny
 * Oscar
 * Tomas

Rick's group

 * Rick Grimes
 * Lori Grimes
 * Carl Grimes
 * Daryl Dixon
 * Glenn Rhee
 * Hershel Greene
 * Maggie Greene
 * Beth Greene
 * Carol Peletier
 * T-Dog

Later additions

 * Allen
 * Ben
 * Donna
 * Judith Grimes
 * Merle Dixon
 * Michonne
 * Sasha Williams
 * Tyreese Williams

Woodbury refugees

 * Bob Stookey
 * Caleb Subramanian
 * Chloe
 * Greg
 * Henry
 * Eryn
 * Karen
 * Molly
 * Owen
 * Patrick
 * Thomas
 * Zach