A/N: I am so sorry guys! There's no excuse for my laziness! I am really tired of the winter stuff though, so next chapter wraps it up and we are moving into season three! And how about that awesome season premiere on Sunday?! I am so super excited to see what Addie is going to be up to in season four :) Anyways, please read and review!
Time Lapse: Two Weeks
I was dying. At least it felt like that. I was burning up and freezing cold all at the same time. Every breath was labored and there was a rattling in my chest that sounded like my lungs were drowning in my own bodily fluid. Every muscle in my body ached and I felt so weak it was a struggle just to walk. Pneumonia was a bitch. I knew I was slowing down the group, I knew I was putting everyone in danger but there was nothing I could do about it.
We'd found another house along the road. This was our life now, moving from place to place, just trying to stay ahead of the herds that seemed to be only mildly affected by the harsh winter. This one was even smaller than the last; I suspected it had once been a hunting cabin. It only had one room that served as a bedroom and kitchen. There was a cot pushed along the wall that Lori slept on. It was toughest on her, having to deal with all the harshness of the world while worrying about the baby.
"Adeline. How are you feeling today?" Hershel's voice penetrated the fog I'd been in for nearly a week now.
"Same," I wheezed, I'd given up pretending I was okay. He touched my forehead and recoiled.
"You're burning up," he said with a sigh. This was not good, nor was it the first time it had happened. It was so hard to break this fever when it came, but Hershel was resourceful.
"Daryl," he called and the redneck appeared in the doorway. "I need you to go outside and gather as much snow as you can, quickly," he ordered and Daryl went immediately. Once he returned, Hershel wrapped the snow in a bandanna and placed it on my neck, sending chills running down my spine.
"Leave it there. It's the best way to try and bring down that fever," he said as I lay back against the wall, barely enough strength to hold my head up. Soon I found myself drifting off to sleep.
The nightmare came again, just as it had since the night after the farm. I watched Shane die and cry for me, but this time I didn't transport to a place where I could see him. Ever since the night dream Shane, or whatever he was, had told me to move on, that dream had stopped. There was a part of me that missed them so much, because losing them had sort of been like losing Shane all over again. But then again, without them it had been easier to move on, they had been a crutch. I still missed my brother with every breath, but I had toughened up and stopped moping around like a child.
I woke up in a sweat, heat pouring off of me in waves. The snow had long since melted, leaving a wet stain on my shirt. It was dark outside now so I'd been sleeping all evening. I stretched, my muscles complaining with every movement. Everyone was sitting around quietly, some sleeping and others just staring at the walls. Daryl wasn't there, so he must have been on watch. Hershel walked over to me and knelt. He touched a cool hand to my forehead.
"That's better. You still have a fever but I don't think we have to worry about you keeling over right now," he said, nodding.
"Thanks Hershel," I said, still tired and I could feel myself drifting again. The world of dreams took me once again.
It was morning when I woke again. There was something cooking on the small fire, but food had no appeal to me right now.
"We need to get on the road again soon. We can't risk staying here much longer," Rick said, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Rick," Hershel spoke up from his spot, "I don't think that's wise. Lori can't take much more moving and Adeline is in no condition for the road." I hated that I was so weak, but he was right, I could barely stand on my own.
"The herd from last week will be here soon," Rick said. We'd stumbled upon a herd last week but outran them. We'd started mapping them and if they were still moving in the same direction they would be here in a couple days.
"Well they aren't here yet. We need to wait until Adeline is well again," the elderly doctor stood his ground.
"One day," Rick said with finality. "One day and we move on." No one argued with him anymore. What he says goes was the unspoken motto we had adopted since the farm.
We all fell quiet again as we moved about the day. Daryl had to go hunt so he left not long after. Rick was on watch so luckily he was outside. Everyone else just mulled about, Hershel checking on me occasionally. The stillness was sometimes worse than having to run for our lives. It was like the calm before the storm, we all knew a hurricane was coming but all we could do was wait.
Sleep was my best friend and I stayed with it constantly that day. Most of the time I found it too hard to even keep my head up and sleep was peaceful and pain free. I dreamed about the past, and it was so vivid I could have easily mistaken it for reality.
First came the day the world ended. I was at the gallery that was going to display my work when my phone rang. I saw it was Shane and silenced it; I would talk to him later. Stephanie Collins was the curator and she was showing me where my pieces would be displayed.
"Your work is really spectacular. And you are so young. I think you'll have a very prosperous career," she said with a blindingly white smile.
"Thank you. And let me say that I have heard nothing but great things about you as well," this business was a lot more PR than I may have liked, but Shane had always told me my eyes and angel smile could get me anything. I definitely looked the part. I was wearing a simple yet elegant black dress with my long hair pulled back into a gentle ponytail. I'd had to learn all of this as I went; there was no schmoozing class at the university. My phone rang again, and again I silenced it.
Luckily we were just finishing up at the gallery and Stephanie bid me farewell as I climbed in my car. For the third time, the phone lit up with Shane's name but I didn't like to talk and drive so I ignored it. The ride back home was short but as I was pulling up, the phone rang again, and Shane's jeep was sitting in my yard.
"Where the hell have you been?" He screamed before I had even gotten out of the car. "I've been calling you all afternoon!"
"I was at the gallery. What's going on?" I asked. I hadn't seen him this livid since Rick had been shot.
"Pack a bag. We have to go," he said and started pulling me toward the house I shared with my old roommates.
"What are you talking about?" I asked him and unlocked the door, contemplating the possibility that Shane had actually lost his mind. He was still in uniform and his hand kept twitching towards his gun.
"There is some kind of…I don't know, disease going around making people crazy. Haven't you been watching the news?" He asked and stormed into the living room. "Pack!" He called as he went to the kitchen.
"I've been kind of busy," I said, but remembered what another artist had said to me at the gallery. They had been talking about how they'd been hearing reports of people eating other people. I'd dismissed it as nonsense, of course.
"Adeline Katherine Walsh if that bag is not packed in five minutes you are just going to leave without it. We have to go get Rick, Lori, and Carl," I heard rattling in the cupboards and walked in to see him shoving food and bottled water into a bag.
"Where are we going?" I asked, deciding to indulge him for now.
"Atlanta. They've been announcing a refugee center there all day. We need to get there," he said calmly, zipping the bag up once it was full. He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me to my room and riffled in my closet until he grabbed my duffel and threw it at me. "Only what you need. I don't know how much stuff we'll be able to take in there."
I sighed and grabbed clothes, assuming I'd do so and he would come to his senses and we could forget this whole mess and I could start working on my speech for the gallery opening. The front door opened again.
"Adeline! Whose car is that out front?" Tiffany's voice drifted into the room. I peered around the corner and saw her kicking off her shoes.
"My brother," I said and her face lit up.
"Well at least something good happened today," she laughed.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Some creep on the bus freaking bit me. I mean who does that?" she was in my room now, looking at Shane who was pale.
"Where did he bite you?" Shane asked, his voice strained.
"On my arm. It was so weird, I was walking off the bus and he just grabbed me. He was moaning like an idiot and someone went to talk to him so I left," she was nonchalant. She showed up the mark, a distinct impression of teeth that pierced the skin.
"We need to go. Now!" Shane barked and shoved more stuff into my bag.
"Shane, not now. Tiffany I think you should see a doctor, who knows what kind of diseases that guy had."
"You know, now that you mention it, I do feel a little feverish," she staggered a little and I moved to catch her. Everything happened so fast that I'm still not sure what came first. In the early days, people changed much more rapidly, and Tiffany did within the seconds it took me to grab her. Next thing I knew, I was wrestling with her on the ground and she was trying to rip my throat out. Then Shane stepped in and pulled her off of me, but she was so strong she sent him flying across the room. He pulled his gun out and shot her twice in the chest but she didn't even flinch. I screamed as he fired another round into her chest and finally one into her head. She fell in a puddle of blood on the floor.
"What the hell?" I screamed, my mind numb.
"I told you. We have to go. This is happening everywhere," he said, dilated pupils the only sign of the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Shane dialed the police and told them about Tiffany's body but didn't stick around to wait on them. He helped me finish packing and we tore off in his jeep.
That day marked the beginning of my world being ripped apart. But that was all forgotten when a gruff voice woke me from my sleep.
"We've got company."