Chapter Forty-one

Erin steps through the front door and out onto the wide wraparound porch that embraces three sides of the charming Twin Pine Inn. The wind stirs the hem of her big blue Emory tee-shirt that hangs loosely over her Capri jeans. The rising sun is making a valiant effort to brighten the day, but the thickening clouds above the treetops reveal only scattered patches of blue sky here and there. Erin lets the screen door close behind her with a strong draft against her bare calves. She carries her treasures to the cluster of Adirondack chairs rocking gently at the end of the porch, Sophia's chair squeaking the loudest as she puts more of an effort into her sway than Carol or Tara.

Erin had liked Tara immediately. With her brown hair pulled back into a youthful ponytail she appeared younger than she probably was, but she had caring eyes and an honest face and Erin trusted her completely. Her companion was a little harder to peg but he'd seemed harmless enough, especially when Tara looked at him with such fondness. Her expression was not one of a romantic love, but a deep affection just the same. And that made it easy to believe that Eugene was a decent guy. He was also an extremely bright man according to the young woman. Listening to him speak, that wasn't hard to believe either.

With much of her life lived inside the world of medicine, Erin had met many people over the years who were highly intelligent - and extraordinarily quirky. This man was no exception. With a plump frame held in a rigid posture, humorless eyes and a timid chin, the only part of him that moved free and easy was the long dark hair hanging loosely down his nape, at complete odds with the short cropped strands covering the rest of his skull. And though his speech is obviously percolated through a sharp mind, his words seem to be forced upon the air in a short staccato of clipped sounds; blunt, almost angry, and strangely monotonous. But Erin did detect a strong sense of compassion behind his serious gaze, despite the permanent pout of his expression.

"Okay, Tara, these aren't as good as crutches but they should help you get around a little." Erin lowers her hands until the rubber tips of the three canes she'd found are resting against the wooden deck. Reaching her left hand forward, she offers Tara two canes; one powder blue and the other a glittering silver. Both are much more feminine than the shiny black one in her other hand. "Why don't you take these two and we'll give the black one to Daryl in case his knee gives him trouble again."

"Yeah, he doesn't seem like the glittery type to me." Tara reaches out to take the two canes and then shifts in her seat to settle her injured foot more comfortably on the low wicker table in front of her. "Thanks, Erin."

"No problem. Just keep your foot elevated as much as possible today." Erin hooks the third cane over the railing and then perches herself right next to it, worrying that the shiny staff will be needed again soon.

Though Daryl was walking on his own today and insisting that his knee was much better, Erin still noticed the limp and occasional wince from a particularly painful step as he moved around the house this morning. She knew he was determined to ride the motorcycle out of here, but he wasn't doing a great job of masking his discomfort.

When T-Dog had found the portable gas generator behind the inn and suggested that they dump the bike to make room for it in the pickup truck, Daryl had immediately declared he was fit to ride. He then mumbled something about not leaving his brother's bike as long as he was still breathing and hell wasn't serving Slurpee's. Erin didn't have the heart to fight him on it knowing what his brother meant to him, so she'd bitten her tongue and prayed that his knee held up long enough to get them to Savannah. That is if they'd ever make it out of Pineview.

While Rick and Morgan work at getting a bedroom door off its hinges to use as a ramp for the generator, Dale and Glenn are fiddling with the engine of the old Winnebago. Upon driving it ten feet forward to clear the tailgate of the pickup, it had belched and squealed and spit a stream of smoke through its grill.

Now, Erin hears Duane pose another question to Dale about the inner workings of the large engine. His voice is energetic and inquisitive during his lesson in automotive mechanics, showing much more exuberance than the quiet expression on Carl's face as he examines the sleek frame of the '70 Triumph chopper with Daryl. The boy nods often but remains quiet, occasionally adjusting the sheriff's hat on his head as Daryl points to the silver pipes beneath the fuel tank.

A clattering of footsteps descending on hardwood floors echoes out of the house. A hinge squeaks and Erin watches Eugene emerge and then turn to hold the door open for the men at his back. Hefting one end of a long white door with four rectangles etched into the wood, Rick leads Morgan across the porch and down toward the truck. Eugene closes the door behind them with a calculated hand, methodically securing it in its frame before following the others with a coil of rope in his grip.

"What's his story?"

A voice, hoarse from a lingering cold that refuses to release its victim, floats up from the other side of the railing at Erin's back. She cranes her neck to see Michonne and Kelly approach the splintering stairs after waiting for the white door to pass them by.

"I thought I heard him say something to Amy about the CDC." The dark woman coughs into her shoulder and then looks at Tara. "Did he work there?"

Tara emits a soft sigh as she slightly rolls her eyes. "No, but I think he wished he did. His cousin worked there and he talks about him a lot."

"He does seem very smart though," Kelly says. "What did he do?"

"Oh he's real smart. He was a high school science teacher. When he first joined our group, he told us that he was a scientist at the CDC. I think he wanted to sound more useful so we would let him stay. And he probably thought that would impress the young ladies too," she adds in a softer mumble aimed at the ground. She looks back up to meet Erin's gaze. "But after a few days he admitted that he was a science teacher."

"So he's a liar and a letch?" Carol asks with a strong hint of suspicion.

Tara nods her head with a gentle smirk that begs for forgiveness. "Sort of, but he's harmless, I swear," she adds quickly. "You just have to get used to him. I think he has Asperger's or one of those conditions with all the quirks. His social skills have a lot to be desired, but he's really a good guy. He's been looking out for me since the day we met and he's saved my life more than once."

And in this world, Erin knows that that's the stick that people are measured against. Social skills are fine and can make life much more bearable, but at the end of the day - they can't do much to protect you. When Eugene had announced earlier that he 'wasn't sleeping with Tara on account of her being a lesbian', Erin had thought it was an odd way of ingratiating himself to the group. But then he'd turned around and asked Rick what he could do to help us.

"It's okay, Tara," Erin tells her. "We aren't going to send you two away. Who knows, a scientist may come in handy on our way to the coast." She smiles at the latest edition to their group, feeling confident in the young woman gazing back at her.

"Thank you." Tara's eyes shimmer with emotion. "God, you have no idea how much we appreciate it."

Erin gives her a sympathetic look and nods her head slowly. "Yeah. We do." Recalling the awful people who lived in Woodbury, she thinks, Thank God we found you before somebody else did.

Michonne clears her throat. "Is there anything else we should know about your friend?" Her tone is half-joking but Erin knows she is being completely serious.

"No. Well… other than the fact that he says we're all infected with the virus." The words are spoken lightly, almost nonchalantly, but they have a great impact on the women in her company.

"What?!" Amy asks as she steps out of a side door with T-Dog, the screen door slamming behind them on a squeaky spring. "What do you mean infected?"

Though her face is still slightly swollen and broken blood vessels paint much of her cheek a purplish yellow, the alarm in her expression is clear.

Erin sits up straighter on the railing. "How can we all be infected, Tara?" The nurse in her would like to know how that could be possible from a medical standpoint, but the terrified survivor in her can't keep the edge of accusation from her voice. She shakes her head slightly, hoping to clear it enough to absorb the answer to the million dollar question.

"I'm not sure how," Tara responds. "But he says the virus is already inside us. All of us." She turns to look at each of their faces and then stops to focus on something beyond Erin. "Right Eugene?"

Erin turns as Rick and Eugene climb the stairs heading for the front door. She watches the mullet-man reach the platform and turn stiffly toward their gathering. "I'm sorry, my attention was otherwise engaged. Can you please repeat the question?"

"You said that we all carry the virus. That it's in all of us already. Right?"

"That is correct."

"What? How?" Several astonished voices echo the same sentiment, drawing the attention of all the mechanics who immediately stride over toward the railing of the quickly crowding terrace.

"The Center for Disease Cont-"

Michonne cuts him off mid-monotone-sentence. "Tara just told us that you didn't really work at the CDC, so why don't you leave them out of it."

"No, I did not. But my cousin Edwin was employed there. He informed me that we were all infected whether bitten or not." A flicker of sadness softens his gaze. "And then he… opted out."

Erin notices Rick share a glance with T-Dog and Morgan while Glenn, Daryl and Dale all look conspiratorially between each other. "Rick?" she calls softly, her tone begging for an answer. When he turns to her, she sees a strange glimmer in his eyes. Guilt? Admission? No, not a confession exactly. More like… acceptance. "Oh my God, it's true. And you knew!"

A dozen heads swing in unison from Eugene to Erin to Rick.

"What? When did you know? How could you know? You all knew?" The women's voices blend and bounce off of each other, ricocheting against the glass panes of the windows looking into a spacious dining room. The men shift nervously on their feet as they stare at the ground.

"Alright, hold on." Rick raises an arm to quiet the group but doesn't look away from Erin. The voices settle into a few murmurs and then eventually fall silent. He hesitates, guilt now floating freely in his eyes.

Though she is angry at the dishonesty, Erin also feels sorry for him. But anger wins again and her voice is harder than intended. "Why didn't you tell us, Rick?"

"Because I didn't know, honey. Not for sure."

"But you suspected it though?" Kelly asks, also sounding highly irritated. "Why?"

"Jacqui." A collective sigh whispers across the porch as their dear friend is remembered. Rick hesitates for a moment with a quick glance at Amy. Looking back at his sister, he swallows hard and says, "When we were digging the grave, she came back. Her body did anyway."

"But she was never bit," Amy says numbly.

"No," Rick replies gently. "We didn't see any marks on her."

Carol, now standing, glances at several of the men before landing back on the sheriff, directing her question specifically to him."Why didn't you tell us?"

Again, Rick hesitates.

"We should've said something, man," T-Dog mumbles as he shakes his head wearily and settles into a wicker chair. "I told you guys, we should've said something."

Voices are raised once again, both male and female in a heated discussion about control and moral responsibility.

"Alright enough!" Erin yells, merging her voice with Rick's as he hollers the same two words. Surprising each other as much as the group, they share a tender look as their friends quiet down once more. She moves to stand at his side and takes his hand in both of hers, calling a truce. His fingers tighten against hers and then she watches him scan the faces of his flock.

"Listen," he says, voice raised to address them all. "Maybe we should've told you, but it wouldn't have changed anything and I didn't want everyone more upset than you already were. I'm sorry." He looks back at Erin with a remorseful shrug, his eyes downright rueful and hopelessly sad. "But honestly, Red, I really didn't think it could be true."

Erin's heart aches for him and then it drops, suddenly realizing the terrifying truth as his words sink in; she and all of her loved ones are already carrying the deadly virus inside of them. Sweet baby Jesus. She lays her palm against his cheek, comforting herself as much as him. "Okay. So now we know."

"Now we know." He tilts his chin against her hand. "And we'll deal with it when we have to."

"And no more secrets!" Carol calls out, inciting a chorus of supportive appeals.

"No more secrets," Rick agrees.

"Good." Erin exhales a shaky breath and turns to search the crowd for Dale. "Now if we can just get the camper going, maybe we can actually get somewhere."

Three hours and a roll of duct tape later, they are ready to leave the Twin Pine Inn. Erin walks through the kitchen and out the side door, finding Kelly deep in conversation with Eugene on the other side of a chessboard. "I think we're ready to go, Kelly."

"Now? Damn, when I'm finally close to winning one."

"Maybe Eugene can take it in the camper so you can play again later."

"Yeah, but I'll never get this close again."

"You are not as close as you think, Kelly," Eugene says as Kelly leans over the board, scrutinizing her queen and its remaining kingdom. "But if it will ensure your happiness, I will memorize and duplicate this board in order to resume this particular contest."

Erin watches him tilt his chin slightly as he gazes down at Kelly. His expression softens and though his mouth barely curves at all, she can see the tender smile in his eyes. Oh, so that's the guy that Tara was talking about!

"Alright, Eugene. We'll continue this game in Savannah." Kelly pushes her chair back and rises to her feet. "You're going down, my friend." The good-natured goading elicits a broad smile from her challenger, transforming his face completely.

Five minutes later, Erin walks with Kelly out to the van as cars are filled and doors are closed. The midday sun is forced to float above a sea of solid gray as a breeze blows steadily across the grounds of the sleepy resort. "Hey maybe Amy could ride in the camper with Tara, and your boyfriend can ride in here with you," Erin teases as she pulls a thick strand of flying auburn away from her face.

"You think she'd switch with him?"

The excitement in Kelly's voice surprises her, but confirms exactly what Erin had suspected. "Wow, you really do like him, don't you?"

"I don't know," Kelly says with a casualness that seems just a little too forced. "There's something about him. He's kind of innocent, you know? Not like most guys who truly believe they are God's gift to us women. He's different."

"I'm sure he's very sweet." Erin gives her friend an encouraging smile.

"And I've dated enough macho guys that are all brawn and no brains. It might be nice to go out with a guy who is not just a pretty face," Kelly says somewhat defensively.

"Yeah, and just think of all that hair you can run your fingers through." Erin closes her mouth on the laughter that is trying to surge from her chest as Kelly grins in good spirit.

"Hey, you can't talk. You think Rick is cute and he's just gross!"

This time Erin lets her laughter explode. "Spoken like a true sister."

"You're just jealous because my brother doesn't have a sexy mullet."

Erin smiles at the joy on her friend's face. "Yeah, that's it exactly," she says dryly, still chuckling as they open the doors to the van.