A/N All characters belong to the writers and creators of The Walking Dead. Except those that arose from my own twisted imagination.
Chapter 39-Patient Zero
Daryl woke when he heard Jesse starting to fuss in his bed. Dani started to wake up but Daryl stopped her.
"Go back to sleep. I've got him." Dani dropped her head back to the pillow as Daryl got up and picked his son up out of the mail crate that had once been Judith's bed. He took Jesse, the bottle and a clean diaper down the hall to the table. After he got Jesse changed, Daryl sat down to feed him. It made him feel better that he could help Dani more with the baby now. Every time he picked up that baby boy, every time Jesse smiled at him, every time he looked at that face and saw his own features staring back at him, it was pure joy.
"You look like you've been doing that for years." Daryl looked up as Carol sat down at the table.
"Yeah? It's strange, you know? I've taken care of Little Ass Kicker and everything but this is different." He smirked. "C'mon Carol did you ever think I'd be a father?" Carol smiled.
"No I didn't but I have to say, you've taken to it like a duck to water." Daryl looked back at Jesse who was reaching for his hand that was holding the bottle. Carol turned as the first rays of sunlight hit the windows.
"Well, I should probably head out, get breakfast started. Everyone will be awake and hungry in a little bit." Carol left and Daryl finished feeding Jesse. He could hear the sounds of the cell block coming to life and knew that Dani would be getting up soon. He walked back to their cell to get Jesse ready for the day.
"Michonne!" She turned from putting the saddle on the horse when Rick called. "You takin' off already?" Michonne turned back to the horse and began buckling the saddle.
"I'm gonna head towards Macon. They might've headed down that way." Rick frowned and looked past the gate to the walkers.
"You know what Daryl said. That trail went cold. And what are you gonna do if you find the Governor huh?" Michonne didn't respond so Rick stepped closer. "We need you here. Look, Taylor and Daryl are goin' to look for this other group that's nearby." Michonne looked at him, hard.
"But Daryl's got a kid here. Why is he goin'?" Rick put his hands on his hips and watched her face carefully. Michonne had been fiercely protective of Daryl since Dani first announced she was pregnant. Rick hoped he could use this to his advantage.
"Daryl's the best tracker we've got and this group might be dangerous. We have to know how many there are and what they're capable of. I know I'd feel better, that Dani would feel better, if you went with them to check it out." Michonne frowned and looked away, the wheels turning in her head. She finally looked back at Rick, a faint smile on her lips.
"You know Sheriff, this is blackmail." Rick smiled back.
"Go to the station and file a complaint. Please Michonne, I've never asked you to stay but we need you. If the Governor's gone, let him be gone. Tracking him down for revenge or justice won't do anything for anyone. We need you here. Stayin' here, you can make more of a difference than you will huntin' down that sick son of a bitch." Michonne looked over the yard. Kids were playing together in the field, people were working in the garden and, in the chicken coop, she could see Danielle with Jesse strapped to her chest gathering eggs with Beth and Judith. That little boy touched something in her, reminded her of her own baby boy. She could feel the emotions building up and quickly squashed them back down. She looked back at Rick.
"Well, since you all can't seem to do without me I guess I can help out for a bit." Rick noticed the change in her face and could have sworn that she was struggling not to cry. Michonne was still a mystery, even after all this time but he didn't ask the questions he wanted to. Instead, he smiled and pointed at the horse.
"Need some help puttin' the saddle away then?" Michonne looked at the horse and nodded.
"You take care of the horse. I'll go find Daryl, let him know I've got to babysit him again."
"Ok Taylor, try it now." Taylor turned the key and the car started. Daryl nodded and clapped his hands. "There it is." He shut the hood on the Dodge and bent down to pick up the rag he'd knocked to the ground
"You boys got room for one more?" Daryl squinted as he looked up, saw Michonne and smiled.
"Hell yeah. You stayin' around for a while?" Michonne smirked at him.
"Seems I have to since you obviously can't listen to instructions." Taylor watched the back and forth between Daryl and Michonne with amusement.
"Am I missin' somethin' here?" Daryl nodded towards Michonne as he wiped the grease off his hands.
"Before Jesse was born, Michonne threatened to kick my ass if I run off and do somethin' stupid. Said my kid needed a chance to know me, not just hear stories about me." Michonne smiled and nodded.
"That's not just a threat you know. It's a promise." Daryl raised his eyebrows and picked up the gas can to fill the tank.
"You might have to get in line. I'm probably gonna have to do some major ass kissin' to get out of here as it is." Taylor frowned.
"You haven't told Dani yet?" Daryl smirked.
"You've seen her mad right?" Taylor nodded. "Yeah, well then you know why I haven't told her I'm headin' out yet." Taylor laughed.
"Just make sure she doesn't have her gun nearby."
Dani lay a sleeping Jesse on the bed and stretched her back. She loved carrying him with her while she worked outside but her back and shoulders weren't used to the extra weight yet. She rolled her head back and jumped when she felt hands on her shoulders.
"Sorry." Daryl said as he rubbed her shoulders. Dani relaxed as she felt the knots worked loose under his hands.
"Jesus Dixon you move like a damned cat." She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "So what's going on?" Daryl looked down at Jesse and then back at her.
"You remember I told you about that group the asshole told us about?" Dani nodded. "Me, Taylor and Michonne are gonna go try to track them down, see what's goin' on with them." He paused for her reaction. Dani took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder.
"Michonne and Taylor are goin' with you?" Daryl nodded.
"Yeah. Shouldn't take us too long to find them." Dani bit her lip and looked down. "Hey, you ok?" Dani looked back up at him.
"I know you need to find these guys. You just better come home to us. You swear it." Daryl nodded, relieved that the fight he had been dreading wouldn't happen.
"I swear. I'll always come home. Always." Dani nodded and kissed him hard. When they broke apart, Daryl pressed his forehead to hers.
"I love you Danielle." Dani smiled.
"I love you too Daryl." She kissed him again. "Now get going. The sooner you're gone, the sooner you get home." Daryl nodded then knelt down beside Jesse. He kissed his little boy and ran the back of his hand across his cheek. This was the hard part. He didn't want to leave Dani but the idea of leaving his baby boy was turning his feet to lead.
"I'll be home soon." He whispered and got to his feet. He looked back at Dani. She smiled but she was choking up.
"Stay safe and come home." He nodded.
"Always do." Daryl left and Dani picked up Jesse. She sat on the bed and held him close, trying not to cry.
"Your daddy'll be home soon baby."
Alice checked on Greg. He was awake and, though he couldn't speak, glared at her through his swollen eyes. She cleaned him up without a word and turned to Abraham asleep in the corner. She gently shook him awake.
"Why don't you go lie down for a bit? He's not going anywhere." Abraham stood and stretched.
"I'll send Tyreese in to keep an eye on him while I catch a couple hours." Alice frowned.
"You need to sleep more than that. Go get Tyreese and then go to bed. I don't wanna see you awake until dinner, you hear?" Abraham mock saluted her.
"Yes Ma'am." He left the infirmary and held the door open for Hershel.
"How's the patient?"
"He's giving me attitude so I'm thinkin' he'll recover." Hershel smiled.
"Then I'll take that as a good sign." He looked carefully at Alice. "How are you holding up?" Alice pushed her hair back out of her eyes and shrugged.
"I'm goin' just like I always do." Hershel smiled.
"You've taken on so much since you got here. I don't know what we'd do without you." Alice smiled.
"Thanks Hershel."
Carl went looking for Cassie when he didn't see her in the yard and found her still in her bed asleep. Her blanket was around her waist and she was shivering. He walked in and pulled the blanket up over her shoulder. His fingers brushed her face and he noticed how hot her skin was to the touch.
"Carl, what are you doin'?" He turned to see Rachel in the doorway frowning at him.
"I think she has a fever." Rachel quickly walked in and put her hand on Cassie's head.
"Go get Hershel or Alice. Hurry!" Carl ran out of the cell towards the infirmary. Alice and Tyreese were talking inside and both looked startled when Carl threw open the door.
"Cassie's running a fever," he blurted out and Tyreese nodded, pushing Alice towards the door.
"Go. I'll keep an eye on him," he said, motioning towards the other room. Alice quickly followed Carl down the hall.
"Is she awake?"
"No. She's still in bed and she went to sleep right after dinner last night." Alice did a quick calculation.
"She's been asleep for almost fifteen hours. Didn't anybody check on her?" They arrived at Cassie's cell.
"I stayed with her until she went to sleep. She was fine then." Alice felt Cassie's head and checked her glands.
"Her lymph nodes are swollen. Cassie?" Alice shook the girl carefully. "Cassie honey, you need to wake up now." Cassie slowly opened her eyes.
"My head hurts. My neck…I'm cold. Where's Mommy?" Alice frowned. She needed to get Cassie into the infirmary until she knew what she was dealing with. Quickly, she scooped up the girl and carried her back to the infirmary. Both Rachel and Carl were right behind her.
"Ty!" Tyreese jumped out of his chair and Alice handed Cassie off to him. "I've got to get one of the other beds ready. Just hold her a minute." Tyreese carefully cradled the girl against his chest.
"Damn Alice! She's burnin' up!" Alice grabbed a sheet and threw it on another of the beds. She turned to Rachel.
"Rachel, I need warm water. Not too hot but not cold either. I need to get her fever down but I don't want to do it too fast." Rachel nodded and ran out of the room. Carl was worried.
"Is she gonna be ok?" Alice didn't respond and motioned for Tyreese to bring Cassie to the other bed. The girl was barely conscious and mumbling.
"You want me to get Hershel?" asked Tyreese, concerned. Alice shook her head.
"No, not yet. Stay here. Here." Alice soaked a washcloth in the sink. "Rub her arms, neck and forehead with this." She looked up to see that Greg had turned towards Cassie and was straining to see what was going on. Alice walked over to him.
"She's running a high fever, is lethargic, barely conscience, complained of head and neck pain, and her lymph nodes are swollen. Do you know what's wrong with her?" He shook his head slowly but even though he couldn't speak, Alice knew he was lying. She leaned in closer.
"Goddamn you, you son of a bitch. You're talkin' to me now, not your ex-wife and I won't tolerate your bullshit. You and I both know this could be bad so you better tell me if you know somethin'!" Greg stared at her and she refused to back down. Finally, he nodded slowly and motioned for a pen.
"Carl! Run get some paper and somethin' to write with quick!" Carl left the room and Alice stared down Greg. "Is this what killed her folks?" Greg slowly nodded again. "Shit. Goddamn it!" Alice had to restrain herself from punching the man. Tyreese looked over at her from Cassie's bedside.
"What is it?" Alice turned to look at him and tried to calm herself.
"I don't know. Some of the symptoms say meningitis but I have no way of knowing for sure unless we do an LP or she gets worse." Tyreese frowned.
"LP?"
"Lumbar puncture. Put a needle in her back and collect some of her spinal fluid. But I don't have a lab, we can't do blood work to check for an infection. What scares me is that her parents died from this. Adults don't usually die from viral or bacterial meningitis. The serious cases are usually found in children under two." Tyreese's eyes grew wide.
"Like Jesse Dixon and Judith Grimes." Alice nodded, her forehead creased with worry.
"Exactly."
Carl returned with the paper and pencil. Alice handed it to Greg.
"I don't care if you can't see shit. You better tell me everything or so help me God I will kill you."
"Where exactly did that guy say the group was?" Daryl, Taylor and Michonne were walking along the creek. Daryl glanced back at Taylor.
"He said two days downstream but I'm thinkin' there's no way that dumb shit lasted as long as he said on his own with just a little girl." Michonne frowned.
"You think he was lying?" Daryl nodded slightly.
"I know he was. That story was too easy. Runnin' away from a big group of guys but pitchin' a bright orange tent and keepin' a fire goin'? He wouldn't have made it two days if they were lookin' for him." He held up his hand for them to stop and pointed. Across the creek through the trees he could see the tops of at least two tents. "There's a camp over there." Michonne strained to see.
"You think that's them?" Daryl turned slightly and pointed over his shoulder.
"You head due west from here and you'll be right at the prison fence by tomorrow afternoon." He quietly waded through the creek, Michonne and Taylor behind him. As they got closer to the campsite, they found the fresh body of a walker. It's head had been crushed in. Daryl looked at Michonne and jerked his head to the other side of the camp, motioning that she should go over there. She quietly headed in that direction while Daryl and Taylor moved closer. A man covered in blood stumbled out of one of the tents holding a bloody hammer.
"I did it!" He laughed. "I killed it too! What are you gonna do now huh?"
"What the hell?" Taylor muttered under his breath. The bloody man stood by the fire and looked up at the sky.
"You didn't kill me! You took everyone else but you didn't kill me!" Daryl raised his crossbow and stepped out of the brush.
"Put it down." The man turned to Daryl and blinked in disbelief. He looked back up at the sky.
"He's not sick. Do I kill him too?" He paused for a moment as if listening for an answer and then threw the hammer to the ground before sitting down. He looked back up. "Ok! I'll just wait here then." Daryl approached the man with caution. He caught a glimpse of Michonne heading behind the guy, her katana at the ready.
"Are you bit?" Daryl asked. The man looked up at him again.
"Nope. Haven't had food since December." The guy was crazy, that much was obvious. Daryl walked closer to him with Taylor right behind him.
"I didn't ask if you'd ate. I asked if you've been bit." The man looked at him and shook his head.
"Too sick. Rotten meat. All spoiled. Can't feed the skineaters. They don't like me anymore." The man's breathing was ragged. "All gone. They're all gone." Daryl kicked the hammer away and knelt down, knowing that Taylor and Michonne had him covered.
"How many were there here?" The man looked like he was thinking.
"Forty two. The ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything." Daryl was getting frustrated.
"Listen shithead, I asked you a question. How many were there here in this camp?" The man nodded.
"Seven is my lucky number so that's how many got to stay." Daryl nodded. Now they were getting somewhere.
"Was there a guy, a doctor, and little girl here a few days ago?" The man nodded.
"Greg and Cassie ran away…lived to fight another day…" Daryl looked up at Michonne who slowly lowered her katana.
"When did Greg and Cassie leave? How many days ago?" The guy looked at the ground and rocked back and forth.
"Three doctors here couldn't stop it. Couldn't fix it. We always could. Our job said we could. Always could before but now nope nope nope. Ed's dead baby. Ed's dead." Daryl recognized the name Ed as Greg's boss, Cassie's father. The man continued to mumble to himself as he rocked. "The fever burns. Get's in your brain like worms. Pushes and pushes trying to get out. But it can't get out. Greg leave. Take Cassie. Don't let her get sick. Run run run Forrest." Michonne frowned.
"You think he's just lost it?" Daryl looked hard at the man, saw sweat on his brow through the blood and shook his head at her.
"I think he's runnin' a fever. High fevers'll do that to you. Make you crazy until they break." Suddenly, the man's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he dropped to the ground, shaking violently. Taylor moved around Daryl.
"He's having a seizure." Taylor tried to open the man's airway but his jaws were locked shut. Taylor could hear the choking sounds as the man swallowed his tongue. The man's eyes rolled back in his head and then he was still. Taylor felt for a pulse but couldn't find one. He pulled out his knife and stabbed the man through the ear.
"I'm sorry dude." He said, more to himself than anyone else. Taylor stood up and began checking the man over for bites. The man's arms, legs and torso were clear with the exception of a tiny red pinprick-like rash over his arms, legs and chest. Taylor frowned, remembering something from college.
"I've seen this before I think." Daryl frowned.
"Don't look like poison ivy." Taylor shook his head.
"No, this isn't an allergic reaction." Suddenly he remembered and stood up. "I know what this is. It's meningitis. We had an outbreak on campus a few years ago but no one died from it." Michonne frowned.
"It's contagious then?" Taylor nodded and quickly ran back for the creek to wash his hands.
"It's highly contagious. Most people only get a little sick, think they just have the flu. It's when the nasty stuff like altered mental state, high fever or sepsis sets in that you need to really worry. But it's treatable with antibiotics usually, if you catch it early." He scrubbed his hands in the running water. Daryl and Michonne came up behind him.
"So if Greg and Cassie were at this camp in the past week," Michonne took a deep breath before continuing. "They could have this thing." Taylor nodded.
"It's possible. That's probably why he told the lie he did." Taylor looked at Daryl. "He's a doctor. He knows what this is, even without the tests to confirm it. He knew you and Rick wouldn't take him in if you knew he could bring some illness back to the prison." Daryl frowned and his eyes were worried. Taylor knew Daryl was thinking about Danielle and the baby.
"How bad can this get?" He asked Taylor. "You said most people just think they've got the flu." Taylor nodded.
"In the most common types of meningitis, yes." Taylor swallowed hard. "The ones who usually have the complications are babies and older people." Daryl glared at Taylor and then started back across the creek. He looked over his shoulder and motioned for them to follow him.
"C'mon! We got to get back now!" They hurried back to the car and Daryl quickly started it and spun the car around, speeding back to the prison. He drove with one hand, chewing his thumbnail on the other. Sitting next to him, Michonne glanced over.
"Jesse will be fine, Daryl. Don't worry. He wasn't anywhere near Greg or Cassie." Daryl shook his head.
"Dani was. I was. We could've caught it and gave it to him." Michonne didn't say anything else. Taylor cleared his throat.
"It doesn't usually work that way." Daryl glanced in the rearview mirror.
"You say 'usually' one more time and I'm gonna put my boot in your ass, you know that?"
A/N: Why did I pick something like meningitis over the standard, garden variety eye bleeding flu? My AU is on a different timeline than the show. This AU is currently in summertime. You don't usually (sorry Daryl) find flu cases in the summer. However, certain types of meningitis outbreaks occur in the summer months. So, there we go. =)