S4E2P4

Ava massaged the back of her neck as she went into the Library. Her head was a wreck. A headache had set in once her stomach had settled and her thoughts were a whirlwind of worries and fears.

Amy and Aidan. She yearned more than ever before to hold them and feel again that everything was alright. But it wasn't possible. There was no way she could risk their health. She was almost certain that should they contract it, there would be no hope that they'd survive.

The even greater fear was that they could already be exposed. Ava was trying very hard not to think about that.

"Patrick was fine yesterday," Carol said, her face drawn as she stared across the table. "And he died overnight. Two people died that quick?"

She looked between them all, Daryl beside her, then Ava, then Sasha, Glenn and Hershel. Andrea was excluded from the meeting to keep her at a distance. She, thankfully, hadn't been in the cell block.

"We'll have to separate everyone that's been exposed." Carol said.

"That's everyone in that cell block." Daryl pointed out. "That's all of us. Maybe more."

Ava swallowed.

"We have to limit all contact, whether it's between people in that cell block or not. Sickness travels fast in close quarters. We need to spread out."

"We know that this sickness can be lethal." Hershel said, nodding at Ava. "We don't know how easily it spreads. Close contact could be our biggest killer. Is anyone else showing symptoms that we know of?"

"We can't just wait and see." Carol said. "And there're children. It isn't just the illness. If people die, they become a threat."

Ava propped her elbows on the table massaging her temples and sighing.

"We're going to have to separate the prison. Andrea, Michonne and Maggie weren't exposed. They likely won't be infected – or are the least likely to be infected – because Andrea and Michonne only got back yesterday and you and Maggie live in the Guard Tower," Ava nodded to Glenn. "They should take charge of those who weren't exposed."

Glenn nodded.

"Cell Block C should be okay. We should put those not exposed in there. Maybe even have a separate area for at-risk people."

"At risk?" Daryl said. Glenn glanced at Ava.

"The children, the elderly. Anyone with other medical issues. They should be quarantined away from everyone else."

Ava shuddered, but nodded along with everyone else.

"What about everyone exposed?" Hershel said. "We need a place for them to go. They can't stay in D. We can't risk going in there to clean it up."

"We can use cell block A." Carol suggested.

"Death row?" Glenn said. "I'm not sure that's much of an upgrade."

"It's clean." Daryl shrugged. "That's an upgrade. Think that'll work for Dr. S?"

"I'll help Caleb get it set up." Hershel said.

Ava was nodding along when a cough echoed from the hallway. She stiffened, jumping from her seat as everyone else did.

"You okay?" Ava recognised Tyreese's voice.

"Mm-hmm."

"You sure?" Carol countered, exiting the Library. Ava followed close behind and saw Karen staring at them, confused. "You don't sound so good."

"We're just taking her back to my cell so she can rest."

"Tyreese, I don't think that's a good idea-" Hershel started.

"You can't take her there," Ava interrupted, perhaps harshly. Tyreese blinked at her, surprised.

"Why?" Karen said, looking between them. "What's going on now?"

"What happened in D block?" Ava said. "It was caused by an illness."

"We think it's a flu or something." Glenn said. "That's how Patrick died."

Ava stepped forward, halting before she could get too close to Karen and giving her an apologetic look.

"Amy and Aidan are in that cell block. Please, they're vulnerable to something like this. I can't risk my babies getting it."

"Anyone that may be sick or even exposed should stay away." Hershel added. "Even Ava won't be going anywhere near C Block."

Karen shared a look with Tyreese, who seemed torn between fear and denial.

"It killed Patrick?" She said, nervously.

"She's gonna be okay." Tyreese said. "Now that we know what Patrick died from we can treat it, right?"

"Don't panic. We're going to figure this out." Hershel said. "But we should keep you separated in the meantime. We'll have Caleb take a look at you. I'll see what we have in the way of medications."

"I'll give you a hand with that." Ava murmured.

"David from the Decatur group," Karen said, swallowing. "He's been coughing, too."

Ava stiffened. A collective groan-like sigh ran through the group.

"I'll get him." Glenn said, turning to Sasha as he left. "There're some empty clean cells in the tombs, right?"

"Yeah, we'll meet you there." She said, stepping forward to put a hand on her brothers' arm. "Come on. Let's get you settled."

Karen covered her mouth as they moved past, Ava pressing herself against the wall of the corridor. The cold felt good and she turned to press her warm forehead to the concrete.

"You okay?" Daryl asked. She nodded.

"Yeah. Not sick, just…" she sighed, shaking her head.

"Have to call another meeting later." Hershel said. Ava nodded.

"All right." Daryl said. "I'll get to burying the dead ones."

"You wear gloves and a mask."

"Uh-huh."

Ava rubbed her face and followed Hershel as he went to check the medical supplies.

Rick hadn't seen Ava since their moment on the courtyard. It felt strange, not being able to go into Cell Block C and find her with their twins. It felt strange knowing he couldn't just pop in and see them.

He was wandering around, doing bits and pieces for the farm, but he couldn't get the idea of infecting the produce out of his head. Sighing, he abandoned the effort until his head was on straight. Spotting Daryl working alone on the dead, he decided to head over.

Daryl was digging the graves, gloved up, his mouth and nose covered by a bandana. He saw Rick coming and nodded.

"Glad you were in there." He said.

Rick sighed.

"Wasn't much use without my gun."

"No, you were." He said, pulling the bandana down. "All this time you've been taking off, you earned it. We wouldn't be here without you."

Rick sighed, reaching down for a spare shovel.

"It was all of us." He said.

"No, it was you first." Daryl said, turning to him. "You gonna help us figure this out?"

Rick swallowed, tapping the earth with his shovel.

"I screwed up too many times." He said. "Those calls you got to make, I start down that road... I almost lost my boy, who he was." Daryl turned back to the grave. "Whatever else this place needs, I'm here for it."

"Like I said, you earned it," Daryl looked over his shoulder. "You and Ava both."

Rick followed Daryl's gaze and saw Ava heading towards them. He raised a hand and waved. She waved back.

"But for what it's worth, you see mistakes?" Daryl shook his head. "I see that when the shit hits, you're standing there with the shovel. Both of you are."

Rick pursed his lips, thinking on what Daryl said. He didn't have much time to dwell on it because at that moment Maggie screamed their names. Rick turned, seeing her at Ava's side. The two turned and Rick followed their gaze, finding a cluster of the dead pressing against the fence, and the fence was bowing.

"Oh, shit." Rick groaned, dropping the shovel.