Merlin arrived back into the dungeons with Gaius at his heels.
"My, my. That smell!" Gaius said, wrinkling his nose. "Is there a corpse whom we have overlooked?"
"I did warn you…" Merlin said frowning slightly at the sudden air of tension which had appeared in the room since he had been gone. "Is everything alright?"
Arthur nodded sharply, "Yes, fine."
Gwaine smiled, and Merlin shrugged, putting it down to the situation that they were in right now.
"If you would allow me, Sire?" Gaius said, and Arthur moved out of the way.
"Don't get too close," Merlin said – just as the woman launched herself towards the bars again. Gaius looked her over, and turned back to the men behind him with a raised eyebrow.
"I've never seen anything like this before… I… I'm not sure what to suggest. There is no way for me to examine her properly?"
Arthur shook his head, "Too risky."
"Then I don't know. I can go and check the records and medical books I own in the hope that I will find something."
"Thank you Gaius."
Gaius paused on his way out, "Her eyes…" He shuddered, and the boys exchanged a look.
"We know."
"Do you think this is sorcery, Gaius?" Arthur asked, and Gaius flicked his gaze to Merlin for a second.
"No, I don't believe so, sire. It resembles most the work of a disease."
"Like rabies?" Gwaine asked, and Gaius nodded.
"Yes. But this seems to me, worse."
"Do you think you can find a cure?" Arthur asked, and Gaius raised his eyebrow.
"I will try my utmost."
"And what shall we do in the meantime?"
"If there are any new cases, quarantine them immediately so that they cannot cause any damage. And on doing so, look for a link. If you find one, let me know."
Arthur nodded as Gaius bowed and began to leave the room.
"Good luck Gaius."
Gaius paused, and turned back to them.
"I feel I should be saying the same to you, sire."
Arthur looked back at the woman, who had just vomited congealed blood all over the bars and floor of the cell, and was now snarling at them again. He sighed, thinking that they were probably going to need all of the luck they could get right now…
Meanwhile, in the lower town, the villager who had initially battled off the first victim was starting to get a headache. His wife told him to lie down while she fetched the physician, and he did so. When Gaius reached his chambers, he was burning up, shivering and tossing and turning in a sleep which they couldn't wake him from.
"Has he done anything different in the last few days? Eaten anything?"
She shook her head.
"Been anywhere different? Drank anything new?"
She shook her head again, "No. the only thing I can think of is infection."
"Infection doesn't cause a fever like this, has he got a wound?"
"Yes… that woman, she bit him."
Gaius raised an eyebrow at her, "Which woman would that be?"
"The one who rushed into our house last night and began to attack us."
"What happened to her?"
"The guards took her away to the dungeons… is he going to be okay?"
Gaius looked down at the man, "I'm not sure, but I will do all I can."
Half an hour later, the mans movements stopped. Gaius felt his mouth for breathing, and his neck for a pulse. He looked up at his wife, and her face fell.
"Oh no, please no…"
"I'm so sorry."
"Oh no!"
She started to cry, and Gaius held her until she had calmed down.
Once she was calmer, Gaius looked at her sympathetically.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we are going to need to take the body. We believe there may be an outbreak of a disease, and to prevent it from spreading…"
She nodded. "Can I say goodbye?"
"Of course you can."
The woman walked over to her husband, tears silently falling down her cheeks, and grabbed his hand.
"I'm going to miss you… and… I love you. I always will."
She kissed her husbands lips goodbye, and then stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I'll go and tell the children," she said, and he nodded.
"I shall go and inform the prince."
They both left the hut at the same time, trusting that no one would go inside, and Gaius gave the woman a friendly pat on the shoulder. She smiled weakly at him, and set off to find her children. And neither of them noticed her husbands hand twitch behind them…
A/N: Hello! I haven't had a chance to introduce myself on any of my fics yet, have I? I usually ramble all over them! Anyway, sorry, I know the last couple of chapters have been short and I've been skipping over the details which warrant this fic to be an M, but believe me, it's gonna start quickening its pace from now on as the introduction is over and my morbid story telling can start to shine. But come on, Merlin and zombies? It had to be done! It was just begging for it. Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can!