Phoenix
Author's Notes:
Thank you for reviews, favorites and follows. I appreciate it.
I changed the summary a little to mention that this is TWD and that people get hurt and people die. No one is really safe, as we all know. There has already been one major character death in my story (so far). I haven't worked out all the details for the rest of the story, but there will be violence and not-nice things (and possibly deaths) in coming chapters. Be forewarned.
Now, on with the story…
Chapter 9
INVITATION
"We need to get back to our group. Let them know what is happening." Rick said.
Kevin looked at him. "So how many of your group are immune?"
Rick looked at him questioningly.
"You didn't seem all that surprised when I said that we found some who were immune. I took that to mean that you had seen it before."
"We have," Rick replied. "Two of our group are immune. Others were bit. They lasted longer than expected, but eventually succumbed. We are only sure of the two so far."
"Well, we have discussed it here and your group is welcome to join us," Kevin said.
"We appreciate the invitation. You certainly have resources that we have not seen in a while. I have no problem volunteering for testing. I will leave it up to each in our group to make the decision for himself or herself."
"That's fine," Susan said. "As we said before, we only test those who volunteer. You are all welcome here regardless."
"Thank you," Karen said. "I know that Olivia and I will be back no matter what."
"Would any of you like to be tested before you leave? Knowing where you stand may not make a difference, but you might like to know, though."
"I would," Rick said.
"Me, too," Karen said.
Kevin looked at them. "What about the folks you left outside?"
Rick and Karen looked at him sheepishly.
"It's ok. Really. This is a new world now. You can't be too careful. You needed to see what the situation was and have some kind of backup or someone to let the others know what happened. We aren't offended."
"I appreciate that," Rick said. "Thank you for understanding. I'll go get them, fill them in and let them decide for themselves what they want to do."
With that, Rick stood up and headed out to the front gates.
LAB TESTS
"So, how does this test work?" Sasha asked. "What does it tell you?"
Susan began to explain. "We take the sample of cells as we said, using a tiny needle through your nose. We then stain the sample and count the cells. We modified a lab machine to do this. We had several that could do a complete blood count…red cells versus white cells, etc…which was common before the outbreak. It will now count encapsulated viral cells and total infected cells. From those two numbers we get an estimated percentage of cells that have encapsulated, which is on a scale of zero to 100."
"Now, this gives us a number…a starting point," Kevin continued. "We don't know the threshold for immunity. We don't know how many cells need to be encapsulated before there isn't a reaction. You may not need to be 100% to have the immunity. You said that one of your people got sick but recovered and the other didn't get sick at all, correct?"
"Yes. Glenn had a mild reaction, but recovered quickly. Daryl didn't have any reaction at all."
"Glenn may not have been at 100% and that is why he got a "little" sick. Daryl may have been 100% or very close to it which might explain why he didn't react. Again, though, we really don't know for sure. A lot of this is still educated guessing at this point."
"We understand," Tyreese said. "I think we need to get our test done so we can get back."
The four all agreed to be tested. Susan returned with the results.
"You all had high percentage rates. Karen, you are at 91%. Rick, you are at 96% and both Tyreese and Sasha are at 98%. Their result being the same may have to do with the sibling relationship or it may just be a coincidence. Hopefully, this will put you in good shape in case the worst happens, but as stated before, they really don't have a known safety level."
DESTRUCTION
As the four approached the prison, they could sense that something was amiss. They pulled off the road and decided to approach on foot. They needed not to be caught if something was happening.
When the prison came into view, they could all see the destruction. The fences were down and the walls were crumbling.
Karen immediately jumped up. "Oh my God…Olivia!"
Rick grabbed her and pulled her back down.
"Let go of me," she hissed.
"No. You need to calm down. We can't just run in there. We don't know what happened or is happening."
"But…" she said with a sob.
"Karen, I understand. My kids are in there, too." She nodded, wiping away the tears.
"I'm ok. I'm good," Karen told them taking a deep breath.
They split into pairs to see what they could figure out and then met back up.
"We didn't see anyone at all," Sasha said.
"Neither did we," Rick responded.
Tyreese looked at the group. "Ok, we need to try to get in there. There is an opening through the south wall. I saw a few walkers but nothing we can't handle between the four of us. Then we make our way in from there."
"Sounds good," Rick said looking at Tyreese. "Sasha and I will go first. Once we get in, we'll signal for you to follow. Stealth is the key. We might be walking into a trap and need to be prepared for anything. We also need to keep our cool," he mentioned looking at Karen. She nodded.
The four moved closer to the opening, all afraid of what they might find inside.
GONE
They carefully worked their way into the areas where they were all living. There were no signs of anyone at all. While they were relieved not to find their friends dead, or worse, it was disconcerting that they didn't find anyone.
They heard a noise behind them and they all turned pointing their weapons in that direction and taking fighting stances.
"Whoa, whoa, don't shoot," Glenn said peeking around a corner. He came out followed by T-dog. "Oh, man, am I glad to see you."
"What the hell happened?" Rick asked.
"It was the Governor. Two days ago. He attacked us. We were defending the prison, but somehow he got a hold of Beth and Judith," Glenn began.
"What?!" Rick shouted.
T-dog picked it up from there. "We think he had help getting in. His men suddenly stopped shooting and that's when he came out with them. He was holding Judith and had a gun on Beth. He told us to surrender," T-dog continued with the story. "Hershel and Maggie did. Then others followed. Daryl held out until the end but he had to surrender or they would have all be killed."
Glenn made a distressed sound at Daryl's name. "They were tied up and put on a truck. They took everything that wasn't tied down. We don't know where they went."
Karen launched herself at T-dog, claws bared. "You bastard. You just let them be taken?"
"What were we supposed to do?" he asked. "We were outnumbered and outgunned. How would them taking us too have helped in any way?"
"You couldn't have gone after them?" she spat.
"How?" Glenn snarled. "They were in trucks. They trashed our cars before they left. We couldn't chase them on foot. They had Daryl on one of those trucks. Don't you think I would have gone after them if I could?"
Karen just turned away, sobbing and screamed in frustration. Rick paced back and forth swearing.
Tyreese, trying to diffuse the situation, asked Rick and Karen to fill them in on what they found out at PRD while he a Sasha looked around. Glenn and T-dog had already thoroughly investigated the area, but they knew that he was trying to get Rick and Karen to calm down, so they didn't say anything.
Rick and Karen filled the in on everything that they found out. Glenn and T-dog looked at them with open-mouthed astonishment.
Tyreese and Sasha rejoined them. "Ok," he began, "we need to figure out what to do. We cannot act impulsively. That is too dangerous."
"We think," Sasha picked up from there, "that we should go back to PRD and regroup."
Rick gasped. "Shit! PRD. I should have warned them about the Governor and his men. Damn it!"
They all grabbed their gear and weapons and headed back out to the two cars. They had no choice but return to PRD for now. They needed to come up with a plan.