A/N: Spent the last two hours writing this chapter for you guys because I had work all week! But I'm quite happy with the result and I hope you guys will be too. There's not as much Rick/Pol but there's a lot of other interactions with other characters I hope you guys enjoy. For your reference this chapter covers episodes 4 and 5 because it obvs is from Pols POV. I'm gonna skip episodes 6 and 7 because that is literally all the Governer's back story of how he comes back to the prison which I'm sure you guys know. So the next chapter will be episode 8.

Thanks to emmymay96 and hrodenhaver who are following and favouriting this story! Also to my reviewers who take the time to say what they thought, it helps so much!

Ryane: Haha I didn't know she would be sick until I just decided it in the moment. Enjoy this chapter!

purplepecky: Hey. So I thought a lot about your review. Of course I'm not gonna kill off my main character! Especially not after I've built her up to you guys, I would never hate you for being upset you are entitled to your own opinion and frankly you are one of my most loyal reviewers so I appreciate it, a lot. So my reason for saying I want to finish in season 6 is because I actually want to end on a high note, before the thing with Negan goes down and a lot of people get killed off. I had a vision in mind for the ending but it's not set in stone. I'm not saying get your hopes up, but I'm saying that I may change my mind eventually. I know how much you love this story and I appreciate your comment and how you would want to see how she deals with Negan. But this story will end eventually, I just haven't decided when. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead or Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings.

- Angels and Douchebags.

"Carol yooo." I smirked at her through the glass.

"How are you feeling?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh you know, feverish, delusional. Hopped up on elderberries." I gave her a sloppy grin, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"You need to rest." She said firmly.

"What were you talking to Lizzie about?" I asked her, watching the retreating back of the young girl.

"Oh I'm going on with run with Rick." Carol shrugged nonchalantly, but I could sense something was off.

"A run? With Daryl and Michonne gone to find antibiotics shouldn't you guys stay here?" I sobered up slightly.

"Yeah but we lost food in D-Block. So we're gonna go find some more." Carol replied.

"Ah okay. Can you find me some baked beans? Starved for those goodies." I licked my lips.

"I'll try if I can." Carol gave me a faint smile.

"Are you alright though Carol?" I asked her seriously, but her gaze was far away.

"Yeah, we'll be back soon." She smiled walking off.

Hmm. Something was definitely up with her. The good thing about us in A-block is the Elderberry really helped with slowing down the symptoms. Some of us were much worse off than others, bed ridden and unconscious.

And some of us were too stubborn to stay in bed (me) which Hershel consistently reminded me of.

I hadn't seen Rick at all today and I honestly missed him. A lot. I missed seeing his face, his presence. Even though he didn't like me in the way I liked him, friendship with Rick was better than nothing.

He seems to be more distant. Like he had something to hide. But whenever I had the chance to press him on the subject, he became rigid and refused to even acknowledge it.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Hershel's stern voice came from behind me.

"I was just talking to Carol." I defended getting up out of the chair, as I stumbled slightly.

"Is the room spinning? It feels like it is, I feel hot. Is it hot in here? My body feels like its on fire which is hilarious." I chuckled.

"I told you not to take too much of that elderberry." Hershel walked over to me.

"Yeah but I wanted to help everyone! How's Ren? Lem? What's his name?" I scrunched up my forehead trying to think.

"Your son in law."

"Glenn?" Hershel raised his eyebrows disbelievingly.

"That's the one!" I clicked my fingers grinning at him.

"Okay that's it. Back to bed." Hershel dragged my arms towards one of the empty cells.

"Why? But I'm fine!" I exclaimed.

"No. You are feverish and delirious, you need to sleep." Hershel sat me on the bed.

"And Glenn's fine. He's just getting some rest." Hershel stood at the cell door.

"I'm not tired though." I slumped down onto the pillow, my eyes closing.

"Sleep well."

...

I woke up a few hours later to the sound of violent coughing and wheezing coming from the cell beside mine. The elderberry was definitely leaving my system, I got up and left the cell peeking around to the next one.

Sasha, Glenn and Hershel were hunched over one of the new guys who was on the ground, fighting the fever, he was getting worse.

"You should've fucking woke me." I growled as I bent down beside Hershel.

I looked at Sasha and Glenn, equally pale and sweaty with raging fevers burning through their bodies.

"What's wrong?" The anger disappeared from my voice upon seeing Henry writhe on the floor in pain.

"Hold him down." Hershel instructed as I used whatever strength I had.

"He can't breathe." Glenn panted.

"Henry, I need you to calm down. We're trying to help." Hershel said in a calm voice.

He stuck the breathing tube into his throat and began pumping oxygen from the respirator inside his mouth. Henry's breath became more even and there was no more blood pouring out of his mouth.

Glenn and Sasha both began coughing violently. I handed them the glass with the elderberry root to calm their throats.

"You too Pol." Hershel pointed out.

I shook my head at him. "I've still got it in my system, it's controlling the cough for now." But I could feel my entire body burning up, my muscles were weak and I had vomited everything out of me. I had shakiness and chills.

"Some council meeting huh?" Hershel quipped.

"We're two members short." Sasha wheezed drinking from the cup.

"Don't I count?" I half smiled at her, my vision getting blurry.

"Maybe half." She joked as I nudged her gently.

"Maybe we should make some new rules before they get back. I hereby declare we have spaghetti Tuesdays, every Wednesday." Hershel grinned as we rolled our eyes at him.

"First we have to find some spaghetti."

"You okay to take over?" Hershel continued pumping air as he looked at Sasha. She wasn't in any state to help, but I knew she wouldn't say no.

"Every 5 to 6 seconds squeeze. You feel lightheaded, get someone to take over." He instructed her.

"We'll take it in shifts." Hershel looked between the three of us as we nodded.

"You wanna help me go on my rounds?" He looked at Glenn who was even more paler than usual.

"I'll go with you. Glenn should stay with Sasha." I interjected as Glenn resigned sitting beside Sasha.

"Well alright then." Hershel agreed.

Hershel stood up and headed towards the cell door.

"How long is this gonna keep him alive?" I used the wall to help myself stand up. I pushed down my wet matted hair and shuddered in disgust at myself. What I would do for a shower right now.

"As long as we're willing to do it. As long as it takes." Hershel said determined.

I followed him in the dark cell-block down the steps, illuminated by the single fluorescent light we had. We walked into an open cell, but it was too late. The man had streaks of blood down his face and his eyes were wide open, unmoving. I pulled out my machete to stick into his throat before Hershel stopped me.

"He's gonna turn." I whispered urgently.

"I know. But not here." Hershel left the cell and came back with a gurney.

"Hershel. I don't want to end up like that." My eyes were transfixed on the dead body before I looked back to the old man.

"I don't want to die." I said fearfully, my voice wavering.

"Polaris." He walked over to me, compassion in his kind eyes.

"Right now you're gonna help me with all these sick people. And by the time we've finished and made all our rounds, they'll be back with the antibiotics." Hershel said hopefully.

"But how do you know? I could die before then." I whispered.

"I could die before then too. We don't know what the future holds, but we can control what we know right now. And what I know is that we have to move this body, and if more people die you're gonna help me. Are you up to that?" Hershel asked seriously.

I thought for a moment staring at the body lying on the bed. It was very real that I could end up like that in a few hours. But he was right, I made a promise to heal people and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make it through alive. For Rick. Carl. Judith.

"Yes." I nodded.

Very quietly we managed to lift the body on to the gurney. I looked into his eyes and felt despair, I shut the lids, now he seemed at peace. We threw a white sheet over the body and very quietly tried to wheel him out of the room.

"What are you doing?" It was Lizzie's voice that came from a cell as I was halfway out the door. I was speechless, but Hershel thought quickly on his feet and walked over to the young girl, checking her fever.

"We're moving Mr Jacobson to a quieter place." He tactfully replied.

"Go get my copy of Tom Sawyer from my room. I want you to read it tonight. We've all got jobs to do and that one's yours." His eyes twinkled at her.

"I won't finish it." Lizzie replied sadly. My heart sunk and I held my breath at her response, to be so young and to have lost so much already I felt for her.

"Why?" I could hear the dread in Hershel's voice.

"It's gonna be dark out soon." Lizzie replied. I broke out into a smile at her innocence and could hear the relief in Hershel's voice.

"Well, give it your best try and drink some tea." Hershel held her hand before she walked off.

We took the body to a separate room as I held the knife over the uncovered head of the man. I looked down at him, I had just talked to him yesterday and here he was unmoving underneath me. My hand shook with the knife above him, not from fear but from the weakness my body felt.

"People don't need to see this, I don't want them to." Hershel stated.

Soft snarling sounds could be heard from the sheets. Mr Jacobson's bloodshot eyes opened and his hands reached out as he began growling softly. I took the knife and buried it into his skull with a sickening crunch. Yanking the knife out I looked at Hershel, whose eyes were fixed on the blood from the knife.

"You haven't had to seen that yet have you?" I asked him gently.

"No. Sasha did one late last night." He said quietly.

I pulled the white sheet back over his body.

"Come on." Hershel left the empty dank room as we walked back into the cell block.

We went to the next few cells. In one there was a father and son playing monopoly, they had light fevers and some coughing but no extreme signs of infection yet.

In other cells, people were coughing up blood, the evidence on the floor, bed and walls. They were pale and sweaty, the only thing we managed was to brew them more elderberry tea, but even the supplies we had were beginning to run out.

Hershel excused himself after a while, disappearing.

"Here you go." I gave the dice to the young boy playing monopoly and smiled at him.

"Will I get better miss?" He asked as I left. I looked towards his father for help but he was just as ill as I was.

"Well, take a look at me." I bent down to his level, wiping the sweat from my face.

"You look very ill." The boy said in a quiet voice.

"I do. But you know, I'm still walking around aren't I? And I just beat you at monopoly." I grinned which elicited a small smile from him.

"And you're a lot less ill. Daryl and the others will be back with the antibiotics soon. You'll be better in no time." The boy smiled happily and went back to his playing as I left the cell.

I looked over at Glenn who was leaning precariously against the wall, eyeing the corridor that led to the two way glass.

"Isn't there something sinful about lying to little kids?" He said humourless.

"Well I couldn't very well tell him he might die." I stated annoyed.

"Hope is all we got left." I said softly.

"I know, I'm sorry." Glenn nodded.

"It's alright. I get it."

"I miss Maggie you know. Hershel's out there talkin' to her. She wanted to see me." Glenn explained.

"So why don't you go to her?" I asked.

"You know her, she would worry if she saw me like this. And I don't want her to." Glenn stated.

"I hate being stuck in this cell-block." I kicked the ground.

"I miss being out there." I gestured to the window.

"You mean you miss seeing Rick." Glenn raised an eyebrow.

"And Carl! Judith, Carol, Daryl, Michonne, Maggie and Beth." I said defensively.

"But let me guess, Rick is the one person you can think about right now?" Glenn guessed as I nodded dumbfounded.

"It's not hard to see, you're in love with him."

"Apparently it is for him." I said sarcastically.

"Or he knows and rather doesn't feel the same. You know I wish he told me he didn't like me, first he kisses me back at the farm. Which confuses my feelings, and he flirted with me a lot! Or maybe he was just being friendly. But I wish he stopped me before I admitted my feelings to him." I finished sadly.

"Pol. You're kidding me right. I don't know if he loves you, but he definitely likes you. And I mean more than friends, I can see it. And he definitely flirts with you. But the guy is a mess. He feels guilty about his feelings because his wife died." Glenn said exasperated.

"And he's got two kids he's trying to raise. So things like his feelings? He's gonna have trouble figuring them out." Glenn clarified.

"You really think he likes me?"

"Yeah he does. He needs time to come to that conclusion for himself though." Glenn reassured.

"I'm not gonna wait around for him forever Glenn, if someone else comes along that likes me and I feel the same. I can't pine for him forever, I just don't see his feelings the way you do. I'm sorry." I shrugged.

"I hope it works out between you two. And if you wanna be with someone else, that's fine. But you think in this world that's 90% occupied by zombies, there's another Rick Grimes?" Glenn posed the question as I stayed silent.

"Sure you're not harbouring secret feelings for him?" I cracked a smile at Glenn who rolled his eyes.

"I see right through your defensive tactics Pol." Glenn narrowed his eyes at me.

"I'm your best friend remember?"

"Well you and Michonne." I gave him a sheepish smile.

"What?" Glenn placed a hand over his chest in mock horror.

"To be fair I survived for 9 months throughout the winter in the wild with her." I defended my katana-wielding friend.

"Yeah but I saved you from Walkers when we met." Glenn crossed his arms over his chest.

"Actually that was Rick." I rectified raising my eyebrow at him.

"Yeah well..." Glenn was grasping for straws and he knew it.

"I saved Rick from the tank, who then in turn saved you. So ha!" Glenn shouted in victory.

"Alright Pizza-Boy I'll give you that." I put my hands up in defence.

"Oh I can't believe you brought that up. That was an intimate conversation between friends in the sewers!" Glenn exclaimed as I began laughing.

"Hey it's common knowledge now." I smirked at him.

"Let me tell you I was the best damn pizza-delivery man they had ever seen." Glenn scoffed as I suppressed a smile.

"Alright G-man give me some!" I held out my hand for him to high five but Glenn just looked at me disappointed.

"Don't leave me hanging." I whined as he reluctantly high fived it.

"Oh there you are!" I looked at Hershel who came down the corridor.

"Thank you for stopping her." Glenn said with relief.

"We need someone out there taking care of things." Hershel nodded.

"If she saw me, couldn't keep her out. I know you didn't wanna lie to her." Glenn smiled slightly.

"I didn't lie. Look at ya, you're resting." Hershel gestured to Glenn leaning on the ground.

"I'm almost done with my rounds. Why don't you guys go rest now?" Hershel suggested.

"But I'm fine." I argued.

"You say that one more time, and I will put you to sleep." Hershel said threateningly.

"Okay fine! Come on Glenn, he doesn't want our help." I stuck my tongue out at Hershel as Glenn and I helped each other up the steps.

We walked into the cell finding Sasha still pumping away on the respirator. Glenn and I gave each other a look as we settled down on the ground beside her, no matter how much we wanted to collapse.

"Give me." I said to her as she barely stayed conscious.

"No I got this." I took it out of her hands and began pumping.

"Sasha you need sleep and drink this." I handed her the elderberry tea as she took a large gulp.

"Get to your cell, we'll take over." Glenn placed a hand on her shoulder as she nodded, leaving the cell.

A while later Glenn took over from me as we sat in silence making sure our patient stayed alive.

"Thank you." Hershel said to both of us as he looked inside the cell.

"No problem." We gave him weak smiles as he left once more, I could hear the cell doors closing with a clang as I gave Glenn a look.

"It must be bad. He's closing everyone in." I said seriously as I took the respirator from Glenn to pump more oxygen into the man.

"Come on Daryl. Come on." I whispered silently to myself, trying to find the energy to carry on pumping.

"Glenn take over for a minute." I said to him as he nodded.

I stumbled down the stairs looking around in the dark cell block for any sign of the vet.

He suddenly emerged from the corridors, his face looking grim and his eyes were wet with tears.

"There you are- what is it?" My tone turned serious seeing his eyes more downcast then before.

"I just spoke with Rick." He said.

"Him and Carol are back?" My voice perked up at their mention. They were gone for the best part of the day and I was glad to hear they were back safely. I desperately wanted to see Sheriff Grimes, I missed even just talking to him.

"Yeah." Hershel said uneasily avoiding my gaze.

"You're not telling me something." I said to Hershel as he closed a cell door shut. I followed his limping using the cells for support as we stopped, seeing the end of brown boots lying on the ground.

"Sasha!" I rushed to her side as Hershel grabbed the light.

I checked her pulse which was barely there and her forehead was on fire, she was sprawled on the ground. Hershel turned her over on her side and pulled out the IV bag from the plastic coverings.

"Okay since when did we have an IV line?" I asked in shock.

"For emergencies, here." He handed me the needle end which I uncovered.

"Think you can find her vein?" Hershel asked as I nodded. I patted and rubbed her elbow until the blue vein came into view, gently piercing the skin I pricked the needle in and taped it down.

Hershel held up the bag as we watched and waited for the nutrients to replenish her blood. About half an hour later Sasha's eyes flickered open as I bowed my head in relief.

"Hey." I smiled widely at her.

"Welcome back." Hershel smiled sitting on the bed.

"I passed out." Sasha stated weakly.

"You were dehydrated. Being a hero takes a lot of you." Hershel smiled good-naturedly.

"You should know. I thought you were an idiot to come in here." Sasha quipped.

"Oh shit." I chuckled uneasily looking at Hershel.

"I thought you were gonna be a dead, foolish man." Sasha continued to insult him as my mouth hung open in shock.

"I can't tell if that's a compliment." Hershel remarked.

"You are now my hero for calling Hershel an idiot and still being alive." I squeezed her hand, grinning at Hershel who shot me an unamused look.

"I don't know what I'm saying. I must have hit my head." Sasha closed her eyes.

"I don't believe in magic and luck. I do the math, and I don't gamble. But I don't know if I'd be here or not, if you both weren't so damn stupid." Sasha cracked a weak grin as I was mock-offended.

"Are you gonna take that shit Hershel? Sick or not I ain't." I smiled at Sasha.

"You know what? I'm gonna take that as a compliment." There was laughter in Hershel's voice.

"You better." Sasha turned her head still sweating.

"You good to take over? I need to check on Glenn." Hershel looked at me as I nodded weakly, the tiredness was getting to me as I sat down against the bed. I took the IV from him and held it up as he left the cell.

I stayed with Sasha a while as she slept, I tied the back up high from the bunkbed, hoping it would hold and went outside seeing Hershel took to the father of a young boy.

Suddenly a hissing sound came out of nowhere from the next cell, as a walker stumbled out. There was a large waterfall of blood stained all the way down to the neck with bloodshot eyes and a bloodthirsty growl. The walker clambered towards Hershel and knocked him to the ground, it's dirty hands around its neck.

"Oh shit!" I called out, making my way over to him as fast as I could.

"Everybody, stay in your cells!" Hershel called out as people began walking towards their cell doors.

I pulled out my machete and stabbed the creature in the base of neck until it stopped growling, pushing it off Hershel. I helped him up as he steadied himself against the stairs.

"You alright? She didn't bleed on you or anything?" I asked him.

"No. I'm fine." Hershel panted, slightly out of breath.

The father walked out of his cell a gun in his hands which he lowered, seeing us alright. Another walker, his son who was fine a few hours ago emerged behind him biting into his arm. He let out a scream of anguish as blood began pouring out.

"No!" I shouted as he let out a gunshot which ricocheted off the walls. The sound was loud and deafening to our ears, and it meant no good news.

I felt a weakness in my legs and collapsed to the ground coughing. There was red liquid splattering the cell-block concrete ground. Using the wall I got up and stumbled towards the boy-walker, killing him instantly. I fell to the ground again and crawled over to Hershel, my vision becoming blurry.

The elderberry had completely worn off now and I felt pale and shaky, my legs too wobbly to stand on. The father was nowhere to be seen.

"We need to amputate his arm." I said to Hershel as I panted heavily.

"You're in no shape to do anything." Hershel commanded.

"Come on." With difficulty he held me up as we backed away towards the stairs. The walker began growling it's way towards us as we heard thudding footsteps coming from up the stairs.

"Come on boy." It was Lizzie's voice. We looked up and saw a questionable sight. Lizzie was leading Henry who was now a Walker away from the cells.

"What. The. Fuck." I whispered in horror.

"Just a little more. Keep coming. Come on boy." Lizzie said backing away from him, Henry stumbled slowly towards her, the respirator still attached to his mouth.

"Hershel come on." I whispered to him as we walked up the stairs. Suddenly Lizzie was screaming and Hershel raced ahead of me towards the Walker growling on top of the little girl.

I walked after him, trying to keep up buy my body refused to cooperate. Hershel pushed the walker off Lizzie and threw it off the railing, he helped Lizzie up as I reached them.

"You okay?" Hershel asked.

"I called him nice. He didn't scratch Glenn. I thought maybe he'd listen." She whimpered.

"Lizzie, sweetie they're not-" But I was silenced by a glare from Hershel.

"Where's Glenn?" He asked.

Lizzie led us over to one of the empty cells as we found Glenn gasping on the ground with blood out of his mouth.

"No." I whispered, placing a hand on his forehead.

"Stay here." Hershel instructed before limping off.

"Hershel." I handed him the knife as he took off, disappearing from the cell. I half laid down beside Glenn, my eyes rolling back.

I was losing consciousness now, I could feel it. I focused on staying awake for Glenn.

"Pizza-boy." I shook him gently but he was muttering and writhing on the ground.

"Glenn." I whispered.

Another gun-shot echoed out into the cell-block and there was a sound that was like shattering glass. Hershel was back inside the cell as Glenn began vomiting up blood and gasping.

"The respirator! It's attached to Henry." I exclaimed as Hershel nodded giving me a smile.

"Hold on Glenn. Keep him conscious!" he raced out again.

I placed Glenn on his side as he began choking on the blood. There were sounds of more gunshots and shouts coming from outside the cell, but I just didn't have the energy to investigate, I could feel my eyes turning back.

"He's turning blue!" That sounded like Maggie.

"Maggie," I muttered opening my eyes. Sure enough she was in front of me.

"Pol." She smiled relieved as I sat up seeing Glenn joke.

"Dad!" Maggie cried desperately.

"Hold his arms down!" We did as he asked, as Hershel fitted the respirator bag around his mouth. Glenn gagged as Hershel fitted the tube into his mouth.

"Stay with us." Hershel said. My grip on Glenn became slack as I slumped back on the ground.

"Daddy! Pol!" It was Maggie's voice, but it sounded so far away.

"Pol, stay with us!"

"When Daryl gets back, tell him to give me the fucking meds." I muttered.

I allowed myself to slip into the sweet-dreamlike state, I didn't have the energy to stay awake. I didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

...

"Frodo woke and found himself lying in bed. At first he though that he had slept late, after a long unpleasant dream that still hovered on the edge of memory. Or perhaps he had been ill?"

Hang on, I recognise that. The opening lines of the Fellowship of the Rings.

"But the ceiling looked strange; it was flat, and it had dark beams richly carved. He lay a little while longer looking at patches of sunlight on the wall, and listening to the sound of a waterfall."

And that voice. I know that southern twang. I willed my eyes to open. I was back in my cell in D-block again. It was the middle of the day and the sunlight was streaming into the cell, warm against my skin. I moved my leg and hit an object sitting against the wall at the foot of my bed.

"Where am I, and what is the time? He said aloud to the ceiling."

"Rick!" I grinned widely at the man reading out of the book.

"And she's finally awake." He folded the page over and closed the book smiling at me.

I sat up in bed and threw myself into his chest, giving him a hug. He wrapped his arms around my back, his chest rumbling with laughter.

"I'm happy to see you too and looking less ill." He smiled.

"I feel a lot better. I'm guessing Daryl came back with the antibiotics?" I checked as he nodded.

I disentangled myself from his arms and crossed my legs on the bed sitting opposite him.

"Where you just reading Fellowship of the Ring to me?" I enquired seeing my book in his hands.

"Yep, and it took me all the way to the Council of Elrond until you woke up. You know this ain't that bad. This Token guy is alright." Rick nodded inspecting the cover.

"Dear lord. It's Tolkien." I corrected him.

"And I'm glad you like it." I beamed happily at him.

"So I take it your run with Carol was successful? How long have I been out?" I asked him and noticed his expression fall.

"About a day and a half." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Woah." I gasped in shock. It's true I felt much rejuvenated after the rest, signs of weakness and infection were gone from my body and I was definitely happy to be in my cell again.

"I'm really glad you're okay." Rick said seriously.

"I don't know what I would've done if I lost you." His blue eyes were earnest with emotion as I felt my heart swoon.

"You're not going to lose me that easily." I held out my pinkie to him. He grasped it with his own in a promise.

"So where is Carol anyways?" I asked swinging my legs over the bed. I began lacing up my boots and found some clothes to change in.

"She said she'd see me, when she got back." I chuckled and noticed Rick's sombre silent expression.

"Rick." I said seriously. There was something he wasn't telling me.

"That's what I need to talk to you about."

"About Carol."

A/N: I'm actually quite pleased with how this chapter turned out. What did you guys think?