Emily stood quietly behind Carol, her skin paler than usual. The sight of the bodies burned and marred made her want to vomit, but she couldn't. She leaned back against the wall, rubbing her temples. She groaned when Tyreese started yelling.
"You have to find out who did this!" Tyreese yelled, getting in Rick's face. Rick spoke calmly, trying to get him to calm down. This made him angrier, leading to him lashing out and punching Rick in the face.
Emily watched in stunned silence as Rick lashed back, tackling Tyreese to the ground, repeatedly hitting him in the face. Everyone desperately tried to pull him off, but by the time he was calm enough to pull him away, both him and the man beneath him were bloodied.
"Rick, this isn't how we need to solve this," Emily told him softly, resting a hand on his arm. He stared at her in silence, an icy look on his face. "We need to work together to figure this out. Not beat the shit out of our friends," she said, shaking her head at him before she walked away.
As she left, Tyreese stormed away to start digging graves, leaving Hershel to lead Rick inside to take care of his bloodied knuckles. He tells Rick about the council meeting, shaking his head gravely. "We could be facing an outbreak, Rick." After a moment, Hershel left, slowly finding his way outside.
"Hey, are you okay?" Emily asked, noticing Sasha's violent coughing, more worried about her friend even though she was coughing herself. She covered her mouth with her elbow, wincing at the blood that splattered onto her shirt.
"I'm alright. . . You seem to be worse than me," Sasha commented, grabbing her arm as they walked out into the sunlight. Sasha started to speak again, but a harsh coughing attack seized her body, making her hold onto Emily tightly. Emily then noticed Hershel and Glenn, both men asking if they were okay.
"Yeah, yeah, we're good," Sasha said, waving them off. Emily nodded in reassurance, her and Sasha leaning against one another as they made their way back into Cell Block A, where they find Doctor S.
"We need to tell them," he said through a cough. "It's starting."
Emily made her way into a cell, watching as Sasha hobbled off the warn more people. She sat on the bed, coughing violently. She leaned back, taking deep, wheezing breaths to calm herself. She sat there for a long while, coughing into the silence.
"Hey," Sasha said weakly, smiling softly. "Carl's at the window. Wants to talk to you."
Emily thanked her quietly, slowly making her way to the execution room. She smiled the best that she could at Carl, sitting down in the chair that had been placed there.
"Hey bud, what's up?" She asked him, knowing he could hear her through the glass. Carl sighed.
"Dad's making me go into quarantine with the rest of the kids. He says that I need to protect them, but I know it's really his excuse to keep me away from all of this. Away from seeing you like this," he told her angrily, dropping the bag he had packed onto the floor with a thud.
"I'm sorry, Carl, but I'm sure he's just trying to protect you. You and Judith are the only family he has left, and he needs to make sure you're okay." Emily told him, smiling softly. "They do need you Carl. You're stronger than them, and they need to see how brave you are through all this. It will give them hope. . . Please. Do what Rick says."
"Can I still come see you?" Carl asked hopelessly, looking to the woman he had grown close to over the month that she had been there. She had always been maternal towards him, making sure he was okay. Emily smiled brightly.
"Of course, Carl. But just know, if I don't-" she started, but he cut her off.
"Stop it, Emily. You aren't going to die. You can't," Carl said, his voice becoming dejected towards the end of his sentence. He looked at her hopelessly. "You can't die. You can't."
"I'll stay strong for you, Carl. But I have no control over what this does to me. No one does. . . If this was any other situation, we could get through this. Easy peasy. But, bud, it's the fricking apocalypse. We don't have medical supplies. We're weak enough as it is. I can't promise you I'll get through this," Emily told him, breaking off into violent coughs at the end of her little speech. Carl watched in terror.
"Daryl's going to get medicine, Emily. You'll be okay. You have to be okay," Carl said, watching her cough for a moment longer before he hurried off, not wanting to be caught where he shouldn't be.
Emily stood, still hacking as she made her way back towards the cell she had claimed. Her heart sank when she saw Glenn being led into the cell block.
"You too?" She asked him hopelessly, lightly touching his arm. He nodded solemnly, looking back as though he could see Maggie through the concrete wall. "You'll get through this, Glenn. You and Maggie will get through this."
Glenn smiled lightly at her. "You'll get through this too, Em," he told her, leaving her to go to a cell. Emily nodded absentmindedly to what he said, going to her cell. She gently shut the door, knowing that if she died, she wouldn't be able to get out.
"They're going to get medicine," Sasha called softly from the cell next to Emily. "They're going to save us. We'll be okay."
"I know," Emily called out, forcing herself to sound brave. "Let's just hope they can save all of us."
It was silence from there on out, loud coughing breaking it every once and a while. Emily watched sadly as Lizzie walked past her cell, heading into her own. She didn't look sick.
Emily broke into a coughing fit, forcing herself to sit up. She barely noticed Hershel enter her cell, a bandanna over his mouth and nose. He gently patted her back as she coughed, handing her a rag to clean her mouth.
"Here," Hershel said, holding out the cup of a thermos. "It's elderberry tea. It helps with the flu."
Emily gave him a skeptical look before taking it, drinking it. She made a face. "This is awful, Hershel."
The old man laughed at her words. "It'll help, Emily. I promise." He watched as she drank the rest, taking it from her. He murmured something about needing to go to Glenn now, leaving her alone with her dark thoughts.
Word Count: 1114