I don't own Total Drama and The Walking Dead.
Sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. I'm still learning English because it's not my first language.
wood21: I'm glad you liked it! :)
Brendan: Here you go! :)
The smell of burned corpses went through Rick's, Chef's, Daryl's, Tyreese's and Carol's nostrills as they stared down at Karen's and David's torched corpses, trying to figure out what happened to them. Carol watched the bodies from the back as Daryl furrowed his brow as his gaze was set on the blackened corpses as Chef knelt down in front of Karen's body and shook his head. He wouldn't pay much attention to it if it was a walker, but it was a human in this case. Someone in the prison killed two of their own people.
"I came to see Karen and I saw the blood on the floor." Tyreese spoke up for the first time since bringing Rick, Chef, Daryl and Carol in here as Rick walked over to him, "Then I smelled them. Somebody dragged them out here and set them on fire. They killed them and set them on fire!"
He shifted his gaze from the bodies towards Rick and came closer to him as Chef and Daryl exchanged a look with each other before stopping behind Tyreese, intending to do something if Tyreese started something he was going to regret later on. Anything could have happen in the state that Tyreese was in after finding the bodies.
"You're a cop. You find out who did this and you bring 'em to me." He told Rick, "You understand? You bring 'em to me!"
Daryl placed a hand on Tyreese's shoulder to comfort him, "We'll find out who..."
Tyreese cut him off and pushed Daryl's hand away, keeping his gaze on Rick, "I need to say it again?"
"No." Rick shook his head, "I know what you're feeling. I've been there. You saw me there. It's dangerous."
"Karen didn't deserve this!" Tyreese yelled out, "David didn't deserve it. Nobody does."
"All right, man, let's..." Daryl was once again cut off in the middle of the sentence as Tyreese turned around towards him and grabbed him by his clothes.
He pushed Daryl towards the gate and held him against it, "Man, I ain't going nowhere till I find out who did this!"
Chef quickly came over to his side to calm him down, "We're on the same side soldier. Fighting among ourselves is not going to help anyone right now."
"Hey, look, I know what you're going through." Rick added, coming over to Chef's side with Carol, "We've all lost someone. We know what you're going through right now, but you've got to calm down."
Tyreese freed Daryl from his grasp and pushed Rick away from him, "You need to step the hell back!"
"She wouldn't want you being like this." Rick attempted to reason with Tyreese but received a punch to the face in response from the dark skinned man.
Rick was brought down to his knees as Carol cried out, "Stop!"
Rick looked up at Tyreese and received another punch to the face as Chef stepped in and wrapped his arms around Tyreese, intending to stop him from punching Rick again, "Stop, soldier. I understand your anger but starting a fight with us is not going help you find whoever did this."
Tyreese attempted to free himself from Chef's grasp as Rick got himself back on his feet and set his gaze on the dark skinned man before swinging his fist towards him. He hit Tyreese right in the face, bringing him down to his knees and freeing him from Chef's grasp. Rick glared at Tyreese and approached him before placing a kick on Tyreese's stomach.
The dark skinned man was brought down on the ground, with his back facing it as Rick got himself on top of him. The sheriff deputy started placing one punch on Tyreese's face after another as Chef and Daryl came over to him and took him away from Tyreese while Carol just stood there, with her hands over her mouth. Tyreese started sobbing on the ground as Rick looked down at his bloodied hand.
Chef burried his hands in his face as and sighed. Things were getting just worse. Everything was going so well for him and his group for a long time and everything came crashing down in the matter of a few days. He removed his hands from his eyes and eyed the yard before spotting Chris who was standing in front of the water barrel in front of the gate. Chris dipped his hands into it before splashing the water all over his face. Chris rubbed his water soaked face, letting out a deep breath.
"Hey!" He called out to his fellow host, approaching him, intending to fill him in about everything, "Pretty boy."
Chris turned his gaze towards him and pointed at him, "Don't come near me, Chef. Don't risk it."
"What?" Chef asked, confused by Chris' words.
"I thin..." Chris was interrupted as he started coughing violently.
Chef's eyes snapped open when Chris began coughing violently. Chris placed his hand over his mouth, to stop to himself from coughing in Chef's direction. His fellow host asked him, worried for him, "Chris. Tell me this isn't what I think it is."
Chris let out a few more coughs into his hand before moving it away from his lips, "I think I got it..."
"Shit." Chef cursed under his breath. The flu was spreading, "We need to get you to the A block..."
"I was already on my way there." Chris explained, making sure to keep his distance away from Chef, not wanting to get him infected, "I stopped here because I wanted to splash my face..."
Their conversation was cut off when a coughing rang through their ears. They turned in the direction of it and saw Harold coughing into his wrist as he was making his way out of his block. Harold looked at them and pointed his hand at him, telling them to not come near him without saying anywords.
Chef could only shake his head as Chris walked past him and made his way towards Harold, informing the nerd that he had the flu too. Chef sighed, knowing that the flu was spreading and that that he had just ecountered two people who were infected with it.
He will have to tell Rick and the rest about it.
Rick groaned as Hershel was patching up his bloodied hand as the two men sat across each other in one of the cells. The eldery man held Rick's hand while using his free hand to douse the blood away from his skin with wet cotton while Rick made sure to fill Hershel in about everything that happened between him and Tyreese and that Karen and David were murdered by one of their own people.
"This is gonna be sprained at least a week." Hershel declared, keeping his eyes on Rick's hand, "Good news, none of these cuts need stitches. I wouldn't plan on much typing the next few days. You okay?"
Rick's answer was short and quick, "It hurts."
"I wasn't talking about the hand." Hershel pointed out, "We just went through something terrible. Everything we've been working so hard to keep out, it found its way in."
"No." Rick shook his head as Hershel started wrapping a bandage over his hand, "It's always there."
"Council meeting tomorrow morning. Thought you should know." Hershel informed him, "We just lost of our own. Two more we killed in cold blood. We could be facing an outbreak."
"I think I've done enough damage for one day." Rick stated, gesturing towards his bandaged hand.
"I've fallen off the wagon before." Hershel told him as he finished wrapping a bandage around Rick's hand.
Rick moved his bandaged hand a little, "That's what this is?"
"Pretty close." Hershel nodded, "When it happened, I didn't stand around feeling bad about it. I got back up. I had responsibilities. People to keep safe."
Glenn made his way towards the gate which was leading to the yard, exchanging a look with Bob who was making his way towards Tyreese who was digging graves for Karen and David while doing so. He walked into the yard and came across Hershel only a few seconds later. The two men started walking across the yard while having a conversation about the flu.
"I'm gonna be okay, right?" Glenn asked his father-in-law, walking next to him, "I mean, Karen and David, they were already sick. So if we were gonna get it, we'd have had it by now. Chris and Harold are already infected, it might a matter of time."
"It doesn't happen on a timeline." Hershel began his explanation, "It's different with everyone."
"But we could be okay." Glenn wanted to be sure.
Hershel nodded, "Yeah, we could be."
"If it's walkers, if it's people, we can do something." Glenn stopped walking, making Hershel stop too as Sasha and Gwen walked out of the cellblock behind them, "We can fight. But with this, I'm just digging graves."
Their attention was shifted towards the two women when they started coughing. Sasha placed her hand on the the wall, waiting for the coughing to stop as Gwen placed her wrist over her mouth, not wanting to risk getting anyone infected. Hershel and Glenn set their gaze on them as Sasha's and Gwen's coughing lasted a few more seconds.
Gwen removed wrist from her mouth and looked up at them, "We're going to see Dr. S."
"Don't worry about us." Sasha added.
Glenn lowered his gaze to the ground, not knowing what to say, with worry growing in his facial features as Hershel's eyes followed Sasha and Gwen who slowly walked next to her each other, disappearing from Hershel's and Glenn's view after several seconds.
Gwen and Sasha had no idea how long it took them to get to the A block because it in their condition it felt like hours to them. Gwen rubbed her eyes, hoping that it'll help her with her blurry vision but unfortunely it did not help at all. Sasha was not feeling better than her. She felt blind inside of these darkened tunnels. The light was barely coming out of the small windows and her vision was blurry just like Gwen's.
Sasha could feel a tiny bit of relief overcoming her body when she grabbed the handle of the doors which were leading to the A block. She and Gwen finally arrived at their destination. He twisted the handle, opening the entrance to the block. She entered it which was followed by Gwen entered it shorty after. The goth rubbed her eyes once again before closing the doors.
The sound of one of the sick people coughing rang through their ears as they walked through the cellblock, eyeing everything around them. The sick people were sitting in different cells, completely isolated from each other.
"Dr. S." Sasha called out for Dr. Stevens, proceeding to walk through the cellblock, but received no answer from the said doctor.
"Gwen." A familiar voice rang through Gwen's ears. She turned to the souce of it and saw Harold sitting on the bunk in his cell, "You and Sasha are infected too?"
Gwen could only give him a small nod of confirmation as Harold turned his gaze towards the floor, letting out a sigh. Gwen turned her attention away from him when she saw Sasha backing away from the cell as the walker of the person that was killed by the flu slammed itself against it.
"We have to tell them..." A weakened voice which belonged to Dr. Stevens went through Sasha's and Gwen's ears. They turned to the source of it and saw Dr. Stevens moving towards them. She clinged onto the rails of the stairs, to prevent herself from falling down on the floor. She was infected too, "...It's starting."
Michonne leaned against the bookshelve, making sure to not miss anything from the council meeting. Daryl, Chef, Hershel, Carol and Glenn sat around one table, talking about everything that had to be discussed by them. The council was missing two members because Sasha and Chris were revealed to have the flu just like many other people from the prison.
Hershel looked around the council members around him, "Everyone who survived the attack in cell block D. Chris, Harold, Gwen, Sasha, Anna, and now others."
Daryl lowered his gaze, "Jesus."
"So what do we do?" Carol asked.
"First things first. Cell block A is isolation." Hershel replied, "We keep the sick people there like we tried with Karen and David."
"What the hell we gonna do about that?" Daryl wanted to know.
"We ask Rick to look into it." Chef answered he folded his arms, "Try to make a timeline- who's where when, but I can't figure out what to do to stop this?"
"There is no stopping it." Hershel declared, "You get it, you have to go through it."
"But it just kills you?" Michonne spoke up for the first time since the meeting started.
Hershel turned around to look at her, "The illness doesn't. The symptoms do. We need antibiotics."
"We've been through every pharmacy nearby." Daryl pointed out as Hershel shifted his attention towards him.
"That veterinary college at West Peachtree Tech, that's one place people may not have thought to raid for medication." Hershel explained, "The drugs for animals there are the same we need."
"That's 80 miles." Daryl stated as he stood up from his seat, "Too big a risk before. Ain't now. I'm gonna take a group out. Best not waste any more time."
"I'm in." Michonne instantly volunteered.
"Ask someone who wasn't with us when the attack yesterday happened." Chef told him, knowing that his idea was risky, but Daryl needed more people in his group if they wanted to complete their mission, "You might find some volunteers among them."
"Good idea, general." Daryl nodded as a few people flew through his mind.
"I can lead the way." Hershel rose up from his seat, "I know where everything's kept."
"When we're out there, it's always the same." Daryl told Hershel, "Sooner or later we run."
After a few seconds of not responding to Daryl's words, Hershel nodded his head, "I can draw you a map. There are other precautions I feel we should take."
"Like what?" Carol wanted to know.
"There's no telling how long it'll be before Daryl and his group return." Hershel explained, "Wouldn't it make sense for us to separate the most vulnerable? We can use the administration building. Separate office, separate room."
"Who is the most vulnerable?" Glenn wanted to know.
"The very young." Hershel responded.
"What about the old?" Glenn asked him another question.
Rick wiped his forehead as Carol who standing in front of him. The short haired woman was bending over and was trying to pump the water. She let out a tired grunt which was followed by annoyed sigh sigh as she couldn't pump the water.
"The whole line's mudded up." She told Rick, "The end is dragging the bottom again. We'll have to go out there and clear it. Set the bird, go out through the tombs, swing around through the forest route."
"We got enough for now." Rick stated, "That's tomorrow's problem."
"Rick, five more people have come down with it since Sasha and Gwen went in." Carol pointed out, "There's not a lot of us left. What if you get sick? What if I do?"
"What if we get in trouble out there and don't come back?" Rick pointed out in return, "Let's get this up to the people who need it. Let's get what we have to get done first."
He picked up the bucket from the ground and spilled the muddy water all over it as Carol asked him, "Is Carl pretty pissed about going into quarantine?"
Rick nodded, "Of course. But it's better to be safe."
"Always better to be safe." Carol said as she set her gaze on Tyreese who was still digging the graves, with Rick following her example shorty after, "You should talk to him."
"We should both pay our respects." Rick nodded his head to that.
"I'll take this up first." Carol said, as she gripped the empty bucket and started walking towards the gate, "Meet you."
Rick titled his head to the side, watching Carol walk away from him. He turned his gaze away from her and turned it towards Tyreese. He started making his way towars the grieving man who was focused on digging in a grave for Karen and David and didn't notice Rick until he stopped in front of him. He set his shovel down and looked up from the grave he was digging at Rick.
"I'm sorry about what happened." Rick said to him, "What I did to you."
"It's on both of us." Tyreese told him in response, getting himself out of the grave he had dug for his girlfriend, "You got to find who did this."
"I'm working on it with Chef." Rick assured him, "We didn't know David. Did you?" When Tyreese remained silent, he asked, "Did anyone have a problem with him or Karen?"
Tyreese shook his head, coming closer to Rick, stopping in front of him, "No. No way. I was with her all the time, every day. She got along with everybody. Same with David."
"They were the only two who were sick. The person who did it might have trying to stop this thing from spreading." Rick suggested.
"They didn't." Tyreese pointed out, "Now Sasha has it."
"Look, whoever it was who did this, they're not going anywhere. I and Chef will find them." Rick assured Tyreese that he and Chef will find the person responsible for Karen's and David's deaths.
"Today? Right now?" Tyreese wanted to know, "Because I'm not feeling the urgency. All I see you doing is pumping water. In fact, what I'm picking up is murder is okay in this place now."
"No, it is not." Rick shook his head, "But we have to save lives first. We have to keep this place going."
"You worry about that." Tyreese told him, beginning to walk away from Rick, "I'll worry about what's right."
Glenn had no idea what he felt as he sat on top of his bunk in his cell. His forehead was sweaty and his hair was wet like a recently boiled meal. His throat dry as he lost the count of how many times he coughed into the rag he held in his right hand. He clenched his other hand into fist, knowing that he the flu got him and that he'll have to move to the A block quickly.
He turned around to the entrance to the cell when he heard someone enter it. It took him a few seconds to recognized this person as Maggie because of his blurry vision. He didn't waste time and spoke up to her, not wanting his wife to get infected too.
"Don't." He paused for a second to let out a cough, "Don't- don't come in."
"What is it?" Maggie asked him, with worry growing on her facial features.
Glenn responded with a weak, "I have it."
"Oh, no." Ezekiel's voice sounded behind them as Maggie turned around saw him the homeschool standing along with Izzy, "Glenn has it too, eh?"
Maggie titled her head, nervously, "Too?"
"It's Noah and Cody." Izzy revelead, obviously worried for the two friends she just mentioned, "They've been coughing. We think they have it. They just headed out to the A block."
Maggie could let out a saddened sigh after she heard how three more people, one of them being her husband got sick with the flu.
Daryl pulled the hood of the Hyundai up and locked it in place before setting his gaze on the engine for a few seconds. He turned his gaze away from the engine after a few seconds and turned it towards Duncan and Eva who were doing the same thing with the car from the gas station. When he started asking for volunteers to join him and Michonne on their mission to get the antibiotics, Duncan was quick to volunteer and Eva volunteered as well after giving it some thought.
He turned his gaze towards the engine again, knowing that four people might have been enough to head out on this mission, but they still could use some volunteers. He asked Leshawna earlier that day to send the word out among the people who don't have to worry about getting the flu, and was hoping that at least one or two of them was going to volunteer.
He looked up from the engine at Michonne as she approached him, "Son of a bitch is about a quart low."
Michonne nodded her head as she looked at Duncan and Eva, "What about this one?"
"It's fine." Eva replied.
Duncan shrugged, "We won't have to worry about it stopping in the middle of the road."
Michonne nodded her head, once again as she turned back to Daryl, asking him, "You still keep it in the bottom of tower three?"
"Yeah." Daryl nodded in response.
"I'll go get it." Michonne told him as she turned away and was about to head out, but Daryl stopped her from doing so.
"I'm glad you're here." Daryl told Michonne, making her turn to look at him again.
"Where else would I be?" She asked him.
"Running off." Daryl shrugged.
Michonne titled her head to the side, "You know I'm not running off."
"So it's just gonna be me and the three of you?" Michonne asked, shifting her gaze between Daryl, Duncan and Eva.
"Yeah, and Bob." Duncan responded from where he was working, "Still feels like we could use more people, though."
Eva shrugged, "Four people is still better than two."
"Hey, Daryl." A familiar voice which belonged to Trent rang through their ears. They turned to look at him and saw the musican approaching them with Alejandro and Oscar, "Leshawna spread the word among us that you're looking for volunteers to go with you and get the antibiotics. Do you have a room for three more?"
"Yeah." Daryl nodded his head as the group of five, just became the group of eight.
Hershel shook his head as he got himself out of the seat in the room he was currently staying in after spending several minutes staring at the painting which was hanging on the wall in it. He exited the room and walked into the hallway, just a second before something stopped from him walking any further.
"Hershel." A familiar vocec called out to him. He turned in the direction of if and saw DJ who was walking with Carl, "Where are you going?"
Hershel was about to respond, but Carl cut him off by saying, "You're walking towards the exit."
"I need to go out there." Hershel explained to them what he was doing, seeing no point in lying.
"To the cell blocks?" DJ wanted to be sure.
"To the woods." Hershel replied.
"So you're sneaking out." Carl stated, "I can't just let you go out into the woods by yourself. I can't stop you. But I have to tell my dad."
"Go ahead, then." Hershel turned away from them, "I'll be out there by the time you find him."
"Hershel." DJ called out to the farmer, "If you have to go, then let me come with you."
Carl nodded, "I'll go too."
Hershel sighed, "DJ."
"Let me help you." DJ insisted, "Because I know you and I know that you wouldn't just head out all by yourself if you didn't have a good reason to do so."
Hershel nodded his head at them as he spun around, starting to head towards the exit once again as DJ and Carl exchanged a look with each other before following the farmer out of the building.
Carol made sure to keep her mouth covered with a mask "as she led the group of people who recently got infected with the flu into the A block. She watched how the people slowly made their way into the A block, one by one, while making sure to cover their mouths with either their hands and rags. She closed the doors as the last person walked into the A block.
It was when a quiet voice called out to her, "Carol..." The short haired woman turned to the source of the voice and saw Lizzie, "MiKa said you were here. I don't feel good."
She placed her wrist over her mouth as coughed into it as Carol walked over to her and embraced her in a comforting hug, "It's okay. Don't worry. Hey, don't worry. We're gonna get you better. You just go in there and lie down."
Lizzie looked up at Carol right after she released her from the hug, "Will you tuck me in?"
"You know my friend Glenn?" Carol asked Lizzie, as she shook her head, knowing that she won't be able to do it right now. She started leading Lizzie towards the entrance to the A block, "He's the best tucker I know. And he'll make sure that you feel toasty and warm, okay?"
She opened the entrance and Lizzie embraced her in one last hug before entering it. She released Carol from the hug after a few seconds and walked into the A block. Carol locked the doors right after Lizzie walked through them and quickly walked away from it. She stopped after a moment and leaned against the wall before removing the mask from her mouth, sobbing.
Carl kept his pistol aimed at the ground, as he moved his head back and forth, eyeing his surroundings, trying to spot if there were any walkers nearby. DJ and Hershel stood behind him. The older and the younger man were kneeling down in front of the elderberries which were the reason why Hershel wanted to head out to the forest in the first place.
"When did your dad give it back?" Hershel asked Carl.
"Yesterday." Carl replied, eyeing their surroundings, "After everything happened."
"You've grown a lot these last few months." Hershel stated, "There's a responsibility about you. I think it's done you good to step back."
"Yeah." Carl nodded. He turned around towards Hershel and DJ and walked over to them, "It was all right. Can't be like that all the time."
"I would have been fine on my own." Hershel said to DJ and Carl, "It's peaceful out here. These last couple days, we might be safer outside those walls than in. No, we're not."
"No." DJ shook his head, putting some elderberries in the bag that Hershel gave him when they arrived at this place, "We're not. I wish that I could say that, but even after everything that happened in the past few days, I would still choose prison over being out there."
Carl raised his pistol at something ahead of them, "Guys."
DJ and Hershel turned in the direction Carl was pointing at and saw a torn up tent. Carl started walking towards it, keeping his pistol aimed at it as DJ placed his free hand on his handgun, beginning to follow Carl along with Hershel. They stopped when the remains of a reanimated woman appeared in their view. She looked terrible. There was nothing but bones left of her and the lower part of her body was completely missing.
Carl aimed his pistol at the dead woman as she set her dead eyes on them. She started reaching her arm towards them, letting out short grunts and growls as Carl lowered his pistol, seeing no need in killing the walker that couldn't even move.
DJ adjusted his elderberry filled bag over his shoulder, "Let's wrap this up."
"It was so peaceful." Hershel said, beginning to head back towards the elderberry bushes, with DJ walking next to him and Carl walking ahead of them.
"It was." Carl nodded, "Can't be like that all the time."
"Hey, Hershel." DJ whispered to Hershel, "Remember when I said that you wouldn't head out here without a good reason?"
Hershel nodded, whispering back, "Yes."
"Are you planning to go to the A block?" DJ wanted to be sure, "I read that elderberries are natural flu remedy, and I thought that it might be reason why you went out here."
"Yes." Hershel nodded in confirmation, "Anna is too weak to do anything. She needs my help."
"Would you mind if I asked you something else?" DJ asked Hershel another question.
"What is it?" Hershel asked him in return.
DJ bit his lips before responding with, "Are you going to need another pair of hands?"
Tyreese did his best to hold back tears, but was failing at doing so as his gaze was set on his sick sister. He made his way into the A block, wanting to see how his sister was doing. He didn't had to worry about getting sick because there was a wide glass seperating him and Sasha from each other.
"It's not as bad as it looks." Sasha tried to assure him as Tyreese whimpered, "Don't do that."
Tyreese sobbed, nodding his head, "Okay."
"I must be a sight to see." Sasha stated, "I'm so sorry. I heard about Karen..."
"Don't." Tyreese cut her off, "Don't think about that now. Think about getting better. Positive thoughts. Positive vibes."
Sasha lowered her head as she broke into tears, "I don't know."
"Daryl's got a group going out." Tyreese told his sister, "They're getting medicine. Someplace Hershel knew about."
Sasha looked up at him, "That veterinary college? It's far."
Tyreese nodded, "But they feel sure about it."
"So we could have medicine as early as tomorrow." Sasha stated, feeling how a spark of hope appeared in her body. She will have to tell the others in the A block about it, "We've got a chance."
Tyreese kissed his hand and placed it on the glass. On her side of the glass, Sasha placed her hand in the exact spot where Tyreese's hand was as her brother told her, "Get some rest. I got to go."
The group was almost ready to head out to get the antibiotics for their people. Duncan, Eva, Trent and Alejandro were putting their stuff in the car from the gas station as Daryl, Michonne and Oscar were putting their stuff in Zach's car which they take instead of the Hyundai because the Hyundai was refusing to work with them.
Bob came over to them, carrying two gas cans, "Everything look all right?"
"Yeah." Oscar nodded his head as he closed the the hood of Zach's car, "We should be heading out in a few minutes."
Bob nodded his head as he put the gas cans on the ground before taking a good look at Zach's car, "This is Zack's car?"
Trent nodded in confirmation as he walked past him, "We decided to take this one because the Hyundai was refusing to work with us."
"We'd fix it but we can't waste time." Duncan added as Trent walked over to him, Eva and Alejandro.
"Not to mention that it's the fastest one we've got." Daryl added his part as well as Bob paused, his eyes not leaving Zach's car, "You all right?"
Bob was silent for a moment before turning to look at Daryl, "You really want me coming along?"
Daryl stared at him for a second before pulling out a piece of paper out of his pocket and pointed at one word. "What's that word?"
"Zanamivir." Bob read what was written on the paper without any problem.
Daryl nodded, "Yup, we need you."
It was when Tyreese approached the group, earning everyone's attention. Oscar leaned against Zach's car, asking him, "What's up?
"Still got room for one more?" Tyreese asked them.
Daryl nodded in confirmation, "Hell, yeah."
"Good." Tyreese said, as he started heading out to get his gear, "Just got to get my gear."
Hershel walked through the yard with a crate filled with several cups of herbal tea in his grasp, making sure to not spill a single cup, not wanting it to go to waste as he was making his way to the A block. He turned around the corner, and the metal door leading to the A block appeared in his view.
"Why aren't you in quarantine?" A familiar voice cried out to him.
Hershel froze in his steps as Maggie's voice rang through his ears. He bent over and gently placed the crate on the ground before turning around to look at his daughter, "I'm no good to anyone in there."
"Daddy, please." Maggie said through gritted teeth, taking a step towards her father.
"Maggie, dear, there are people in there suffering." Hershel told her, "I can bring their fever down and keep them stable."
"Daryl's getting the antibiotics." Maggie argued, raising her voice.
"Some of these people won't last hours." Hershel tried to convice her, but Maggie's mind remained the same, "Maggie, Glenn's in there."
Maggie's next words died in her throat as Rick approached them, asking, "What's going on?
"Elderberries." Hershel said, pointing at the crate behind him, "My wife used to make tea with them. They're a natural flu remedy. Anna's too sick to help. I can. There's so many times we haven't been able to do anything to change what was happening- what was happening to us. We wished we could, but we couldn't. This time, I can. I know I can. So I have to."
Rick reached his arm out to him, "Hershel, if you go in there, you're gonna get sick."
"Wait, we don't know that." Hershel lifted his index finger back at him, "What we do know is that these people's symptoms need to be controlled."
"Hershel, please." Rick insisted, "We can wait."
"Listen, damn it!" Hershel snapped, loud enough to silence Rick, "You step outside, you risk your life. You take a drink of water, you risk your life. And nowadays you breathe, and you risk your life. Every moment now you don't have a choice. The only thing you can choose is what you're risking it for. Now I can make these people feel better and hang on a little bit longer. I can save lives. That's reason enough to risk mine. And you know that."
Hershel eyed his daughter and the sheriff deputy, reading the looks they were giving him. He read in their eyes that they knew that they won't be able to either stop him or change his mind. He placed a mask over his mouth and turned around. He picked up the crate and entered the A block.
DJ adjusted the bag of medication on his shoulder which Hershel told him to bring to the A block. The medication that their group had couldn't cure people of flu but he and Hershel decided to take it nevertheless just in case if they were going to need something because better safe than sorry, right?
"DJ." A familiar voice rang through his ears. He turned to the source of it and saw Bridgette and Geoff. The surfer looked at him with worried expression forming on her facial features, "What are you doing?"
"I'm heading to the A block." DJ explained, "Anna is too sick to do anything on her own. Hershel and I made our choices to help her as much as we can."
"What?" Geoff asked, suprised by the answer, worry starting to appear in his tone.
"DJ. You know it's too dangerous." Bridgette told him, worry evident in her tone.
"I know and I'm willing to take the risk." DJ told her in response. Her understood that his friends were worried about him but he already made his choice and was going to stick with it, "Harold, Gwen, Chris, Cody, Noah, Glenn and Sasha are only one of the few people that are sick, and without our help, they might not survive a day."
"We send a group to get the medication." Geoff said, sounding more worried than a moment earlier, "They should return here soon..."
"I'm not going to let those people, our friends suffer when I'm out here, perfectly fine!" DJ snapped, his sudden voice raise suprising even him. He looked at his shocked friends and offered them a apologetic look, "I'm sorry for snapping at you two. It just, when my Momma died I promised two things to myself when visited her grave on Hershel's farm. That I will survive for as long as I can and that I take care of my friends when they're going to need help. I understand that you're worried about me being in there, and I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful to have friends that care about me, but leaving those people to take care of themselves while I'm here not doing anything about it just feels wrong to me."
He stared at his friends, waiting for them to make any response to what he just said to them, hoping that they'll understand his decision. Geoff and Bridgette remained silent for several seconds and exchanged a worried look with each other.
Bridgette turned her gaze towards DJ again, offering him a nod of understanding as she accepted his choice, "Do what you want DJ. We're not going stop you if you want to take care of our people."
"I'm glad both of you understand." DJ offered his friends a grateful smile, "Bridge, without me, Hershel and Anna out here, you'll be the only doctor in our group that is not locked in the A block. Do what you must to help our people If anything will happen here that is not related to the flu."
"I will." Bridgette nodded her head at him, giving him a small assuring smile, "You don't need to worry about that."
DJ gave his friends one last smile, once again showing them that he was grateful to them for understanding his reasons as he turned away from them and started walking towards the A block again.
Geoff watched his friend take few steps before calling out to him, "Hey, DJ!"
DJ stopped and turned to look at Geoff and Bridgette again, "Yes?"
"Just watch out for yourself, dude." Geoff told him, accepting DJ's decision staying in the A block to take care of the sick people as well, "We don't want to lose you."
DJ gave them an assuring smile, "I will."
Chef rubbed his chin as he kept his gaze set on the trail of blood which was leading to the place where Tyreese found Karen and David earlier that day. Rick was there with him, kneeling in front of the scorched flesh, trying to find anything that could lead him and Chef to the person responsible for Karen's and David's deaths. So far, they didn't really find any useful information, but Chef knew it was just a matter of time before they would find something.
The path leading to the crime scene was not a short one. The culprit must have left something that would lead him and Rick to them. He looked at Rick who stood up from his kneeling position and gave him a nod of his head. Chef knew what he meant by that. He started following Rick who was walking along the bloody trail which was leading to inside block.
It was when something on the doors caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes, wanting to be sure if he wasn't just seeing things. He knelt down in front of the doors and reached his hand towards them.
"Chef." Rick called out to Chef, "Take a look at this."
Chef leaned towards the doors and saw the thing that caught Rick's attention. There was a bloodied handprint on them. Rick put his hand over the handprint and saw that it was smaller than his. The handprint was too small for a man, too big for a child which left him and Chef with only one conclusion.
The culprit was a woman but which one could it be? There were a lot of them living in the prison, asking all of them would take forever. It must have been someone who had been through a lot and had changed a lot since all of this started.
Rick and Chef exchanged a look with each other when the same person flew through their minds.
A distraction machine which was constructed by Carol moved back and forth across the fence, earning the undead's complete attention as Carol used this to her advantage and sneaked out to the other side of the fence to fix the water hose, wanting to make the water pump work properly again. If she got it working again, then her group would have one problem less to deal with.
At the same time Rick and Chef walked out of the cellblock and walked through the yard until they reached the fence. They stopped in front of it and saw the undead slamming itself against the fence as some strange device was moving back and forth. Not much had to pass until they spotted Carol doing her work outside of the fences.
It wasn't long before one of the walkers turned away from the fence and saw Carol working on the hose. She was not too far from it and was all by herself. It started moving towards her and shorty after, every walker that was standing beside it shifted it's target from the fence towards the short haired woman.
"Dammit." Rick cursed under his breath, pushing himself into run towards Carol who looked up and saw the undead heading towards her.
Chef took out his handgun as he followed him, yelling out, "Carol! Run!"
He and Rick quickly made their way to the other side of the fence as Carol threw the water hose into water and pulled out her blade. She moved towards the nearest walker and placed it in it's brain, getting rid of it. She tried to remove it from it's brain, but she couldn't. It got stuck. She looked up and saw all of the walkers around her.
She started running away from them, leaving the blade behind as Rick and Chef started firing their weapons at the walkers. They stopped firing when the short haired woman reached them and when she did, they followed her to the hole in the fence. They climbed through it and and made sure to close the hole, not wanting any of the walkers chasing them to follow them to the other, safe side, of the fence.
Duncan rested his hand on his hand as he watched how the trees were passing by from his passenger seat in the car from the gas station. He turned his eyes away from the trees and looked at Zach's car with Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese, Oscar and Bob inside ahead of them. He reached his hand towards the radio and started flipping through the channels, not really excepting to hear anything. He just wanted to kill time.
He considered starting a talk with someone, but ultimately decided to stay silent. He and Alejandro didn't talk much with each other since Courtney's death, mostly because Alejandro was distancing himself from him, even though he told him he doesn't blame him for what his brother did and Eva and Trent were already in the middle of a conversation and he didn't want to cut in.
His eyes widened in shock when he heard, "...find sanctuary."
Trent stopped saying whatever saying to Eva and looked at the radio, "What? Did you heard that too?"
"Is that a voice?" Alejandro asked, making sure to keep his eyes on the raod.
Eva shared their interest, "Turn up the volume."
She didn't had to repeat herself. Duncan turned the volume up and everyone heard, "...determined to survive...keep alive."
It was when their attention was completely shifted as Alejandro started waving the wheel around, to not crash the car because their friends in the other car started sliding across the road. They must have heard the message too and got distracted by it. He ultimately had to stop the vehicle in the middle of the road because the other group stopped their vehicle and he didn't want to drive into them.
Eva shook her head when she saw how the undead gathered around the other vehicle, "Shit. We drove into a herd!"
It wasn't long before the undead started ganging up on their vehicle too. Trent took his knife out, asking, "What do we do?"
He got his answer when he saw how the group from the other car hopped out of their vehicle. Duncan pulled his own knife out. saying, "I think you have the answer."
"Grab whatever you can." Alejandro said as he opened the doors of the drivers seat, his tomahawk in ready.
The two groups got themselves out of their vehicles and started making their way into the woods, killing every walker that stood in their way. Michonne swung her katana at one walker, slicing it's head off as Eva slammed her hammer on top of the other undead's head, taking it out. Daryl fired an arrow from his crossbow as Alejandro brought his tomahawk down on the head of the walker in front of him.
Duncan and Trent made sure to use their knives on every walker in their way, doing their best to get to the woods as fast as they could as Bob pulled out his pistol and started shooting down every walker around him while Oscar did the same with his shotgun.
The former prisoner paused when he noticed that someone was missing. Tyreese was nowhere to be seen. He glanced at Bob, "Where's Ty?"
Daryl, Trent, Eva, Michonne, Duncan and Alejandro almost made their way into the woods as Bob and Oscar paused, their gaze set on Zach's car, the former crying out, "Ty!"
Tyreese finally got himself out of the vehicle and brought his hammer down on the nearest walker as the undead started surrouding him, "Just go!" Bob and Oscar started running towards the rest of their group, as Tyreese started rapidly bringing his hammer down, killing the walkers around him as fast as he could, "Come on and get me!"
Bob and Oscar made their way to the rest of the group and turned around to see Tyreese fighting the undead all by himself, everyone else following their example. They knew they couldn't do much to help him. They could barely spot Tyreese among the undead. They turned around and started fleeing into the woods, with Trent and Eva being the last ones to run away from the herd.
Trent felt horrible for leaving Tyreese behind, because Tyreese was his friend and he was grateful that he brought him, Geoff and Eva into his group, even though they got separated only a week later when he, Geoff and Eva decided to stay at the prison with their old friends. Eva felt horrible too. She wasn't that close with Tyreese but he was still her friend.
They group of eight proceeded to run through the woods, intending to get themselves away from the herd as fast as they could and making sure to kill each walker that stood in their way. It took them several seconds to make it to the part of the forest which was completely empty, not a single walker was in their sight. Or at least they thought so.
They readied their weapons, ready to take the undead out, but much to their relief, a very bloodied Tyreese came into their view. Trent could feel a relieved smile forming on his lips as he ran over to Tyreese and wrapped his arm around him, "You're one crazy bastard, Ty. You know that?"
Eva shook her head as she wrapped her arm around Tyreese's other arm, saying, "Crazy? That's a way of putting it."
They pushed themselves into run and the group of nine started running through the woods, away from the undead which followed Tyreese who led them right to them, intending to lose the walkers chasing them as fast as they could.
Hershel poured the tea he had prepared for the sick people and held the filled cup out to Dr. Stevens who was sitting on the bunk, too weak to leave it at the moment. After arriving at the A block, he and DJ split up around the block and started helping the sick people whenever they needed their help. He was taking care of the people on the lower level as DJ was taking care of the people on the upper level.
"Drink it." He said to Dr. Stevens who grabbed the cup from him and started drinking, "Hang in there, Doc."
Dr. Stevens stopped drinking and looked up at him, before shaking her head, "You and DJ shouldn't be here."
"Tell me you wouldn't be." Hershel told her as Dr. Stevens started coughing, letting go off the cup which collapsed on the floor. She started coughing blood and some of it landed Hershel's face. He took off his mask and wiped the blood off his face. The farmer threw the bloodied mask on the floor, as he was not going to use it anymore and placed his hand on Dr. Stevens' shoulder, "If you weren't in here already, you'd be in here."
At the same time DJ watched how Gwen took a long sip of the tea he had given her, with Cody and Noah who were sitting next to her waiting for their turn, "How do you feel?"
"Do you really need to ask?" Noah asked DJ in return, grateful for DJ's concern, but it didn't change the fact that DJ's question was so obvious, "I understand the concern and I'm grateful for it, but the answer is quite obvious."
Cody sighed, "I'm fine. I'm coughing, but I'm doing better than some of the people locked in here."
Gwen put her now empty cup down, "You shouldn't be here, DJ. It's too risky for you to be here. Hershel shouldn't be here either."
"I'm glad that you're worried about me, Gwen, but I'm not going to do nothing while you guys suffer." DJ told the goth as he placed his hand on her forehead, feeling how hot it was. He sighed and pulled out a wet rag before placing it on her forehead, "Keep it on your forehead."
Gwen nodded her head and placed her hand on the wet rag, to prevent it from falling down as Noah shook his head with a sigh leaving his lips, "I can't believe it. I survived those bastards from Woodbury torturing me and now I'm going to die because of some sickness."
"Don't say that." Cody placed his hand on his friends shoulder. Even though Noah's expression was stoic, he knew that the bookworm was nervous, just like everyone else locked in here, "I know that you're nervous Noah, even though you're trying to hide it, all of us are. You may be scrawny like me, but you're not going to die, because you're stronger than that. It is just like you said, you survived worse things than that."
"He's right." DJ nodded, "We survived this far. We survived things that many of us wouldn't even think would have to go through before all of this started. Daryl's group is going to return here soon with the antibiotics, and I'm going to make sure all of you will survive to that point. I promise."
Carol walked through the yard with the bucket in her hands. She walked past Rick and Chef who were watching her march through the yard, without even acknowledging their presence.
"That was a stupid thing you did." Chef spoke up, as Carol stopped walking and turned around to look at him and Rick, "Going out there like that without anyone to watch over you reckless.."
Carol nodded, understanding how stupid was what she did, "Yes, it was."
"If you wanted to take care of that today, you should have just asked someone to help." Chef told her, beginning to walk towards Carol with Rick.
"Yes." Carol nodded, "I should."
Rick approached the short haired woman, with Chef walking next to him, "You know, you do a lot for us, for the kids. You sacrifice a lot. Is there anything you wouldn't do for the people here?"
Carol shook her head, "No."
Without even giving Rick and Chef a signal, Carol started walking away from them, walking even faster than before. Rick sighed, knowing that he had to push harder and go straight to the point, if he and Chef wanted to be sure that that Carol was the person they were looking for.
"Carol." He called out to her, making her stop again, "Did you kill Karen and David?"
Carol slowly turned around to look at Rick and Chef, again, her expression stoic, "...Yes."
She turned away from the two men and walked away from them as Chef and Rick watched her leave for a few seconds before exchanging a look with each other, a deep breath leaving the latter's mouth.
Just finished playing Resident Evil Village. It was great.
Hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.
