Fun Kingdom
10 AM
Daryl and Carol made love slowly and lazily as the curtain-lace-filtered rays of the sun danced over their bare skin. Their entwined bodies moved in a gentle rhythm to the tune of their shared moans and sighs. Carol cried his name as she arched her back and pushed up against him to ride the wave of her climax, and he moaned hers as he thrust down hard and deep one last time and shuddered into her.
They breathed in and out for a moment, pressed against one another, recovering from the sensual shivering that coursed like electricity through their satisfied frames. As Daryl half slid off of her, one leg still covering both of hers, he murmured, "Fuck, I forgot how damn good you feel."
She turned her head to kiss his chin and teased, "It hasn't been that long."
"Yeah, but I forget every damn time between. Better keep remindin' me on the regular."
She chuckled, and he bent his head to kiss her bare shoulder. They'd crawled into bed around 3 AM, too exhausted and too shook up from the yesterday's events to make love, had slept hard for a little over six hours, and then had awakened to reunite properly at last.
Daryl kissed her neck now and cupped a bare breast. He was bending his head toward it when there was a knock at the door. "Fuck you want?" Daryl growled.
"It's Sophia."
"Sorry! Hold on. One minute," Daryl told her. They scurried to get dressed in their t-shirts and sweatpants, and then Daryl said, "Come in."
Sophia crept inside. "I didn't sleep well," she said. "I woke up at four and couldn't get back to sleep until six. I was wondering if…"
Daryl scooted over to the edge of his side of the bed and patted the spot between himself and Carol. Sophia came over, crawled onto the bed, and settled on top of the comforter between them. Carol bent down, kissed her head, and slid down with Sophia to wrap an arm around her. Daryl stayed sitting up against the headboard but stroked his daughter's hair gently until Sophia had drifted off to sleep. Carol wasn't far behind before she was back asleep also.
Daryl slipped quietly from the bed. He went upstairs and peeked in on Mika and Eliza Morales, who were still asleep. Mika had been in the bed with Sophia last night and Eliza on the trundle. He peeked into the space room next. Louis was asleep on the bunk below Dixon. Andre, meanwhile, he knew, had crawled into Michonne's bed last night, and Judith was in the crib in Maggie and Glenn's room. At least, that was Judith's last known whereabouts as far as Daryl was concerned. She was like a hot potato that baby. You never knew who would be feeding her or changing her or cuddling her in any given hour.
Daryl headed back down the ramp and began to make coffee.
10:10 AM
The Sanctuary
Gavin had been asleep less than an hour when he was roused by a banging on his door and Laura shouting, "Breach! Breach! Lurchers in the yard!"
He grabbed his rifle, burst from his apartment, and clanged across the metal balcony to a back stairwell. He pounded open the emergency exit door and clamored down the gray stairs. A piece of the patched fence had toppled over near the west side by the woods, and several of the undead had streamed inside. DJ was already picking some off, as was a volunteer Hallowbrant guard.
Shit. Tobin had claimed the patch would hold for a week or two, but it hadn't, at least not in that one section of it.
Gavin left the work of walker-slaying to the guards and quickly organized a crew to temporarily patch the fallen section.
10:15 AM
Fun Kingdom
While he was waiting for the coffee in the French press to brew, Daryl picked up the CB and tried the channel they typically used to communicate with Terminus. "Come in, Paris. Egypt calling. Paris, come in. Over."
"This is Paris," a voice answered almost nervously. "Over."
"I wanna talk to Shuford Adams. Over."
There was no response. The timer beeped. Daryl pushed the top of the French press down and poured himself a hot mug. He was blowing across the top of it when the radio crackled. "This is Shuford. Over."
Daryl spoke into the microphone again. "Hell kind of name is Shuford? Over." He sipped his coffee.
"It's, uh…an Anglo-Saxon name. I don't know. I think it comes from a place name. A town. Over."
"Dumbass name, Shuford. So, anyhow, just callin' to let you know you're in charge of Paris now, on account of Mary and the other soldiers you didn't warn us about are all dead. Over."
There was a long silence and then: "I didn't approve of that invasion. I tried to talk Shane out of it. Mary and I argued over it. And then she just did what she did. I had no control over that. I swear. Over."
"Had control over whether you warned us or not, didn't you?" Over."
"We were afraid of what Shane and those Saviors would do to us if we radioed you. Over."
"Is that why?" Daryl asked. "'Cause I heard you got paid half of the shit looted from Rome to keep your mouth shut. Over."
"Look, Paris doesn't want any trouble with Egypt. We just…we're just trying to survive here. Over."
"Sound real nervous, Shuford. Is that 'cause you know we now got a bunch of RPGs, a crate of new guns, hundreds of extra rounds of ammo, a new machine-gun mounted Humvee, and a new military truck? Oh, and uh…we just wiped out Shane's entire army in under an hour. Over." Daryl smirked as he released the microphone while he took another sip of coffee.
"Nothing like a little smack talk in the morning," T-Dog said as he strolled up to the kitchen counter.
Daryl turned to look at him. "Hey, just want to make sure they know they can't fuck with us. General policy of deterrence."
"Ever the diplomat," T-Dog said.
They'd all talked last night and agreed Terminus wasn't much of a threat to them, since they'd taken a half-hearted approach to the conflict and tried to hedge their bets. They had also lost seven of their best fighters in Woodbury and seven more in the battle at Fun Kingdom, not to mention the guns those fighters had brought with them. They didn't have many fighting men and women left, and they weren't as well armed as they used to be, certainly nowhere near as well armed as Fun Kingdom.
Shuford's voice came through again after a long pause: "Like I said, we don't want any trouble. We want peace. And…we're already paying a price. One of those Saviors who came here was coughing on and off. He assaulted one of our women. Grabbed her and kissed her and shoved his tongue down her throat before Shane shoved him off her. And now she's coughing up blood. I think he made her sick. And then she made others sick. A whole bunch of our people are coughing and have fevers. Over."
Daryl, feeling considerably less smug now, pressed the talk button again. "Listen good, Shuford. This is a bad, bad virus, and it works quick. Need to quarantine anyone with a fever or a cough right away and get an antiviral into everyone with any symptoms right now. Over."
"We quarantined the worst cases, but someone has to work and keep guard. We gave everyone antibiotics. But we don't have antivirals. Do you? We'll give you anything you want for them. Over."
"Talk to my people. Let you know later. Over and out."
"Shit," Dixon said as he walked across the living room to the kitchen in his bare feet. He'd come down at some point and overheard part of the conversation. "If one of those Saviors got infected…and he was in Fun Kingdom last night…we need to do a temperature and symptom check on everyone again. See if anybody new needs to be quarantined." He shook his head. "Louis and Eliza were with Molls all evening. I thought all her hacking and coughing was from the cigarette smoking, but maybe she's been sick, too. She might have passed it on to them."
"Are we going to run an antiviral over to Terminus?" T-Dog asked.
"After the way they left us to die?" Dixon asked. "Knowing we'd be attacked?"
"There are children," T-Dog reminded him. "They didn't have any part in that."
Dixon sighed. "Yeah. You're right. But only if we have enough. Our people first. If we do…I'll get on my bike and run some over. I'm recovered and immune now, so I don't have to worry about getting it from them."
"So am I," Daryl said. "I'll go with you. If there's enough."
"I'll get Patricia to help me and get started on symptom checks," T-Dog said and headed off up the ramp to the bedroom he shared with Patricia at the end of the back hallway.
Daryl picked up the walkie talkie on the counter when it crackled with Hershel's voice. When Daryl answered, Hershel replied, wryly, "You're officially dismissed from quarantine. Over."
"Please tell me the odds I passed this shit on to Carol by leavin' early are zero. Over."
"I'd say they're 0.5%. But rumor has it you saved her life out there, so I'll forgive your impulsivity. No smoking for at least the next three weeks. Preferably for life. Keep drinking plenty of fluids. And now that you're back in your own bed, for Pete's sake, get some decent sleep. Over."
"Can't sleep. Got to get some antiviral to Terminus. If we have enough. What's our supply, if we save enough for everyone here? 'Cause there might have been some more exposure through those invaders. Over."
"I've got enough for eighteen people here, but check with Bob. He'll have more at the infirmary. I wanted to tell you, Luke's holding strong. Over and out."
"Heard all that," came Bob's voice now. "I've got enough for ten people. And I've got some bad news. Dr. Stevens didn't make it."
Daryl muttered a curse and Dixon winced.
"I've put the body out back if someone would come by to burn it and bury the skeletal remnants," Bob continued. "The good news is…No one here has coughed up blood in eight hours now, and everyone has been fever-free for at least five. Except Patrick. He's still running hot. Over and out."
Daryl listed the people in his mind who hadn't had any symptoms yet and so had not yet popped a pill. They'd have to hold onto enough for everyone, just in case. He got back ahold of Shuford on the CB. "We only got enough for six of your people. So you're gonna have to prioritize. I'd let your worse cases go if I were you. Ain't gonna be much hope for those by the time we get there. We'll run it over this afternoon. Over."
"What do you want in payment for it? Over."
"Nothing right now. When this thing has blown through, whoever's left alive should radio us and let us know. And then we'll decide how much we want. 'Cause you're gonna have a lot less mouths to feed after this runs through your camp. Over and out."
The Sanctuary
11:45 AM
"We can't just leave them in those cells," Gordon said, "sitting on their asses, doing no work, and getting free food."
Laura poked Gavin with the eraser of the pencil she was holding and he jerked his head back up and opened his eyes and tried to look like he hadn't just dozed off at the council table. The fallen part of the fence was patched – for now – but they needed to complete fortifications before some other part fell over or the hasty patch gave. They'd killed a total of sixteen walkers inside or trying to come inside. Thank God no one had gotten bit. That was the last thing he needed right now.
"Why don't we just banish them?" Gina suggested. "If they're such a pain in the ass."
"Because if we banish them," Laura said, "they might form a gang to survive out there. And then they might raid supply runners and traders from the Sanctuary and the coalition communities."
"Better out there than in here," Gina said.
José asked, "What would Negan have done?"
Gordon shook his head. "Please tell me you did not really just ask yourself that."
"He would have heated an iron in the furnace and burned the side of the groper's face off," Gina said.
"But not really for groping," Gordon insisted. "For disobeying him. I'm pretty sure he did his fair share of titty groping." Gordon looked coolly at Gavin. "When he wasn't letting his lieutenants have a turn."
Gavin leaned forward on the table. "Let's just get this straight right here, right now. I never touched Frankie in any way she didn't ask me to. And if you ever again allude to her relationship with me in a lewd manner, I'll – "
"- You'll what?" Gordon sneered. "Violate the citizens' pledge by brawling?"
Gavin sat back. "We make them my construction crew. All six of the surrendered Saviors that have caused trouble. Put them under my supervision. That will keep them off the factory floor and out of the gardens, away from others where they can cause trouble. They sleep in the cells at night, but they work for me in the day. And they work hard. If they do that, without causing anymore trouble, until the entire fence is fortified, and until the harem and Negan's quarters are remodeled for multi-housing, then they get to sign the citizens' pledge and become full members of the community and be free of the cells at night. And if they don't, if they keep causing trouble, they're gone. Banished, like Gina suggested. But we tell them up front. So, they know what their choices are. A chance to belong."
"And if they are banished? And they do form a gang of raiders?" Laura asked.
"Then the first time they attack us on the road, we kill them," Gavin replied.
Laura shrugged. "I'm okay with that. All in favor?" She looked at the raised hands. "Passed, 5-0."
"What about the outposts?" Gina asked. "What's happening there? The Saviors abandoned them to organize for the war, but aren't there still workers there? A few, anyway?"
"The chemical plant outpost is gone," Laura answered. "But there are eight workers still out there tending the other four outposts. We should call them home to the Sanctuary. Since we aren't going to be extorting other communities anymore, it's probably more trouble to maintain those outposts than they're worth."
"I agree," Gavin said, "except I think we should keep one as a trading post. As a secured location to meet up and trade with the other communities. We should keep the Manassas battlefield outpost. It's the most centrally located, has a fresh water well, and has the longest-planted garden. We can roll what's left of the outpost workers in there, train a couple of them to guard it. All in favor?"
"Resolution passes," Laura noted as she scribbled on the legal pad. "5-0."
"Let's dismiss and get back to work," Gavin said as he pushed back his chair. He headed to the cells to round up his new construction crew, stopping only long enough to buy a piece of jerky and a snack-size bag of gas station sesame seeds in the market place for lunch.