Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. I own my Oc's; Bastet, Isis, Jade, and Noah.
AN: This is a fiction I work on when I feel like it.
Chapter 9 - The Cure
"I... I... can." Noah said, scared.
"What?"
That one word resounded around. This young boy was the cure? Jade placed her hand on his shoulder firmly.
"Noah? What are you talking about?" Jade asked him.
"I... I am the cure. If they bite me, they will be cured. I won't turn." he said to her.
"How?" asked Bastet.
"Well, it depends on how long they have been dead. The lab did experiments. They had people already infected for different stages. They had freshly infected and with a bite they were instantly cured. It takes longer the longer they have been infected. But if their decomposition is advanced there's no helping them." he explained.
"No wonder they shot me." Jade said as her hand went to her side.
"Yeah, I am what they really wanted to save." Noah said and hugged Jade.
"We've gotta protect this kid." Shane said coming up to Jade.
"How far back have you been able to cure?" Maggie asked, hopeful.
"No more than two months." he said.
"Mom can be saved then." Beth said.
"How long?" Jade asked them, holding Noah to her.
"She was infected shortly before y'all came here with you wounded." Maggie told them, "All the others have been here longer than two months. So, there's no saving them?"
"No, it won't work on them." Noah said to them, "No one over two months has ever been able to change back. They tried several times, and nothing ever worked."
"Alright. This is hard but, maybe, we should put the other's out of their misery, dad." Maggie said looking at Herschel.
Herschel looked so torn. These were people that he has known for years. Friends and relatives. Neighbors and fellow parishioners at the church. And here he was charged with their final death. But there was hope for his wife. This young boy could save her.
"Alright. If there is nothing to help them then we can take care of them and bury them." Herschel said.
Rick came to Herschel and patted his shoulder. They spoke for a few minutes and Rick went back over to his group. Guns were distributed and Maggie opened the barn. The dead came out and started towards the living. They laid them down and missed the one that was designated as the Green matriarch. Carefully they got the leash poles around her neck to keep her from moving forward anymore. Naoh was terrified but he went to her and offered up his arm to the crazed gnashing teeth. A yell tore from his lips as she snapped down on his arm intent on feasting. But no sooner did her teeth bury in did they retract.
She just stood there then. Her body was rigid and froze on the spot. Jade and Maggie were doctoring Noah's arm. Shane stood at the ready to blow her away if need be. He was not happy about this. But if it worked and the walker was cured, this boy was not leaving his sight. He would need to be protected at any and all costs.
"Do you know how long it can take?" Maggie asked Noah.
"It'll take at least a day." Noah said and whimpered as the skin of his arm began to reknit.
"Dad, y'all should take her to the barn. It'll be at the least a full day's process." Maggie told Herschel.
Merle helped Rick and Herschel get her rigid body to the barn. The men climbed up into the loft of the barn to watch over her and keep an eye out for other walker's that may come to the farm. The women and children headed for the house and locked up the house and placed heavy tall furniture in front of the downstairs windows, just as precautions. The night was the scariest and they all needed protection from the walkers.
"You think we should tell Isis?" Jade murmured to Bastet.
"We can tell her later. I think Darryl is going to be keeping her busy for a while." she answered.
"Yeah, probably." Jade retorted.
The women and children communed in the kitchen and made some snacks. This had spooked them. Walkers being in the barn, being that close to them all. It was not anything they wanted to happen again. This was going to take a while to forget about and to forgive.
AN: A bit short but mostly a filler chapter.