A/N: Hey, lovelies. Wow, only one chapter, and I already have two reviews! ^.^ Thanks. It's only two reviews, but I know how these things go. Hardly anyone ever reviews on the first chapter, so thanks. And, as always, on with the story!

I awoke to the sound of the sheet gently rustling. I groaned, stretching my arms high above my head, and attempted to rub sleep out of my eyes. I looked at the sheet door, then beneath me, seeing an empty bed. Beth must've already went to check Judith.

"Alyssa?" someone called behind the sheet, gently knocking the wall beside it.

I hopped from my top bunk to the floor, calling. "Come in!"

The sheet moved swiftly, revealing my mother on the other side. I gave her a quick hug as I threw on my denim jacket.

I frowned at her. "You're leaving again, aren't you?"

She gave me a nod. "He's still out there. He's still a threat."

I sighed, walking with her through the cell block. "When are you going to give up the ghost chase?"

She gave me a stare. "It's not a ghost chase. He's alive, Liz. He needs to be taken out."

"You sound like an assassin." I opened the door to the courtyard, hissing at the sudden sunlight blinding me.

"If it's what gets the job done, then yes, I am." she murmured to me.

I shook my head at her, not bothering to answer her as Rick and Carl made their way towards us. In Rick's hand were the reins to the horse that mom rides on the wild goose chases. He handed her the reins as soon as they were close enough.

"Careful out there." Rick said to her as we walked down the paved path to the gate.

"Always am." She gave him a kind smile with a nod, then turned to Carl and me. "Any requests? Books? Comics? Some stale M&Ms?"

"You're the one that likes stale M&Ms." Carl reminded her with a laugh. It's true; she always steals them from us!

"Then I'll definitely be looking for some." Mom gave a laugh back. She called to Rick, "I'll look for some stuff you like, too."

He gave a nod to her as we walked down the slight slope of the courtyard, making our way to the gate.

"Why don't you wear your hat anymore?" mom asked Carl out of the blue. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's not a farming hat." He shrugged. "See you soon?"

"Pretty soon," she answered.

"Better be." I joked lightly with her. Getting to the gate, she mounted the horse, kicking her legs lightly and getting the horse to move forward.

"Stay safe out there, mom." I called out to her as she began to trot down the street.

"I always am." she answered me. "You stay safe, too."

I gave her a nod as she and the horse began to canter.

"She'll be alright." Rick told me, my eyes following the form of my mother slowly going from the prison.

"I know." I nodded to him.

"Carl." Rick jerked his head to the barn, signaling Carl to come with him. I was supposed to go watch the baby with Beth while he took care of the pigs.

Before Carl could follow after his dad, I grabbed his arm, "Wait!"

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Yeah?"

"Did you, ah..." I jerked my head at Rick, who was making his way to the barn. "Tell him yet?"

Realization flashed over his eyes, and he shook his head. "No. Not yet."

"Oh." I replied, unsure of what to say. I released his arm from my grip.

"It'll be fine, you know." he said. "Dad'll get over it. He won't like it, but he'll get over it."

I bit my lip. "I'm not sure about that. You know how he is."

"Hey," I moved my head up, looking into his sea blue eyes as he spoke. "It'll be fine."

I nodded to him, standing with him until his father called for him. He walked to the barn, I walked up the pavement path. Since Beth was already with Judith, I wasn't in any hurry to get into the prison.

I wasn't, until I heard the gunshots.

Lizzie and Mika busted through the side door of cell block D, screaming. "Help! HELP! Please, come quick!"

My feet began to pound against the pavement, running as fast as I could to get to the two blondes.

"What happened?! What's wrong?!" I asked them, finally getting close enough.

"THERE'S WALKERS IN D!" Glenn shouted, running with a gun in his hands and Carol at his side.

"What about C?!" Rick shouted, running his way up the path to us.

"Clear." Sasha panted, Daryl and Tyreese hot on her heels. "We locked the gates to the tombs. Hershel's on guard."

"It ain't a breach." Daryl informed Rick, each of the adults grabbing weapons and making their way to the infected cell block.

Carol handed me a gun, "You're coming with us."

"No, she's not!" Rick argued, grabbing his Python.

"Rick, I can help!" I argued back. "You know how good of a shot I am! Let me help."

He seemed to be having a mental war with himself, but he finally nodded to me, handing me a knife as well. I set it in my sheath on my belt, checking the clip of the gun for bullets and cocking the gun in my hands. I gave Carol a nod, a silent thanks for getting Rick to let me help. She nodded back.

"We followed the plan." Sasha continued to inform the leader. We, as a group, ran to the cell block, holding our weapons up in defense as we opened the door.

The block was in total chaos. There were walkers everywhere, families and loved ones crying over dead bodies, screams and cries everywhere.

Rick and Daryl barked out orders to everyone who'd listen. Move people out, shoot walkers. Get everyone to safety. I began to herd people into cells that were clear. I took out walkers as fast as I could, shooting my gun and stabbing ones that were closer to me. I heard the cries of anguished family members as I killed the reanimated corpses of their loved ones, and it wasn't a happy feeling.

Once I thought the first level was clear and everyone had quieted, I was almost going to walk up the stairs.

Almost.

As I went to the stairs, a mangled walker ran towards me, its hands outstretched in an attempt to grab me. Its long hair was matted, a red blotch on its shoulder (most likely from where it was bit,) and long stains of red flowing from its eyes and its mouth. What was wrong with its eyes? And its mouth?

I took a few steps back, raised my knife, and pushed the walkers shoulder so its back was against the staircase. I leveled my knife with its forehead and plunged it into the decaying skull, giving it a good twist as I watched it fall to the ground. Stepping over the corpse and making my way up the stairs, I heard an arrow fly and sink itself into another walker. Walking to where Daryl, Rick, and Glenn were, I saw a walker in the middle of them.

"Oh, it's Patrick." Daryl solemnly said. My heart sunk as I looked at the dead corpse that used to be my friend, an arrow lodged into the side of his temple. The lines of red were on his cheeks and mouth, too.

"Oh, no." I groaned, looking down at him and feeling a wave of sadness pass through me. He was a good friend.

"That's all of them." Daryl looked around the room, trying to find any walkers that we might've missed. There were none left.

After the walker attack, we had to do damage control to the cell block. The people in the cell block were checked up on by Hershel and Dr. S. The dead bodies were to be put in sheets so we could bury them in the front yard. There were so many of them in the block. How could this have happened?!

I walked around the cell block with Daryl, stabbing the dead bodies on the floor with him in case they reanimated. Rick did the same on the other side of the block.

"Hey, Daryl," Rick called. Daryl and I followed. I watched as Rick stabbed a walker through the bars of a cell. Like the others, it had twin red tears from their eyes, and blood out of its mouth. We called up Dr. S and Hershel to look at the body. Dr. S moved to the side of the walker, kneeling down next to it. Rick did the same to the other side.

"No bites, no wounds." Rick said exasperatedly. "I think he just died."

"Horribly, too." Dr. S added solemnly. "Pleurisy aspiration."

"He chocked to death on his own blood." Hershel finished. "Caused those trails down his face."

"I've seen them before. On a walker outside the fences." Rick told them, shaking his head as he talked.

"I saw them on Patrick, too." Daryl jerked his head over to the limp form of my dead friend.

"They're from the internal lung pressure building up, like if you shake a soda can and pop the top. Only, imagine your eyes, ears, nose and throat are the top." Dr. S diagnosed.

"It's a sickness." I concluded. "From the walkers?"

"No." he shook his head. "These things happened before they were around. Could be pneumococcal. Most likely an aggressive flu strain."

"Someone locked him in just in time." Hershel gestured to the closed cell door.

"Nah, man. Charlie used to sleepwalk. Locked himself in. Hell, he was just eating barbecue yesterday." Daryl looked at his undead friend. "How could somebody die in a day just from a cold?"

"I had a sick pig. Died quick." Rick said, speaking of Violet. "Saw a sick boar in the woods."

"Pigs and birds." Hershel theorized. "That's how these things spread in the past. We need to do something about those hogs."

"Maybe we got lucky. Maybe these two cases are it." Dr. S said.

"No." I said, my heart sinking deeper. "I saw another one. Near the stairs."

Dr. S groaned, pulling a hand through his messy hair. I gave him a sheepish smile.

"Haven't seen anyone be lucky in a long time." Bob walked towards us. "Bugs like to run in close quarters. Doesn't get any closer than this."

"Way to boost morale." I muttered under my breath.

"All of us in here, we've all been exposed." Hershel stated, and we all slumped.

The silence after the firm statement was deafening, everyone having the thought in their heads as we stood.

I walked with Rick outside, looking through the harsh sunlight as we moved through the courtyard.

"You want the gun back?" I asked him quietly, holding the metal object in my hand.

He hesitated for a second, just a second, then answered. "No. You keep it. You're gonna need it."

I nodded back, making our way around the side of the cell block. As we passed, we saw Maggie and Carl holding my mother from the sides. She was limping.

"Mom!" I called out. "What happened?"

Carl tore himself from my mothers side, running towards me and Rick. I took a step back from him as he got to us.

"Hey, you might want to stay back." Rick told his son, but he didn't listen. "Carl."

Carl grabbed his father, hugging him tight.

"Dad, I'm sorry." Carl sobbed into his fathers shirt. "I didn't see you come out."

"It's okay, I'm here. I'm fine, but back away." Rick lightly pushed his son away, backing up next to me. Carl advanced to me, his arms opened. I backed up more, my hands up, saying softly, "Don't." I looked at anywhere but his face as his arms dropped limply to his sides.

"I had to use one of the guns by the gate. I swear I didn't want to." Carl told his dad.

"I was coming back." mom explained. "I fell. They came out and helped me."

"You all right?" Rick asked. She nodded.

"What happened in there?" Maggie asked. Rick and I looked at each other, unsure of where to start. We watched as a blonde woman from D shuffled in the courtyard, holding a full body bag and sobbing.

"Patrick." I started telling everyone. "He was sick last night. It's some kind of flu. It moves fast."

Carl raised an eyebrow at me.

Rick continued for me. "We think he died and attacked the cell block last night."

I crossed my arms, holding myself tight. The shock on everyone's faces was evident.

"Look, I know he was your friend and I'm sorry." Rick told Carl as he knelt down. "He was a good kid. We lost a lot of good people."

He stood up from the ground, pointing to Maggie, "Glenn and your dad are okay, but they- they were in there. You shouldn't get to close to anyone that might've been exposed, at least for a little while."

Carl took a few steps back from us, getting a hold of my mothers side again.

"Carl, all of you." Rick reiterated, and his son gave a nod in return.

"Stay safe, you guys." I whispered to the three of them as they walked to C.

"Always am." My mother answered, giving me a look as they went into the block. I sighed.

"What're we gonna do?" I asked, brushing my hair out of my face.

"Don't get close to them." Rick answered, as if it were obvious. "Keep our distance. Stay out of the cell block. Hopefully this passes quick, things'll go back to normal."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Hopefully."

He pointed toward the barn. "Check the pigs. See if more of 'em have gotten sick. Tell me if they are. I'm gonna help Daryl bury the bodies."

I gave him another nod, and together we walked down the pathway. I split with him to get to the barn, putting on the muddy boots to hop into the pen. I began to separately check each pig. Most seemed fine, but two of them had gotten sick, like Violet. Weak, lethargic, not wanting to move or eat.

"Shit." I muttered under my breath. "Not you, too."

I sighed, hopping out and yanking the muddy boots off. I looked over into the mini graveyard we have, the one that holds Lori, Andrea, T-Dog, and now many others. I saw Rick and Daryl yanking up dirt, putting it in a large pile while talking, about what, I wasn't sure. Doesn't matter anyway.

I began to trek down to the two, when Maggie, who was fence duty, suddenly called out, "RICK! DARYL!"

"Damn it, not again." I groaned, watching them as they ran to the fence that was bursting with walkers. I sighed in defeat, then began to run, catching up with the adults that were at the gates. As we passed the weapons on the wall, we each grabbed one, getting to the fence that began to topple over under weight. I grabbed a pipe as Glenn, Sasha, Tyreese, and Rick and Daryl each got their own weapons.

"The noise drew 'em out and now this part's starting to give." Maggie quickly explained, stabbing a walker as she spoke.

We got to work, stabbing the walkers through the fence post. I laughed under my breath humorlessly; just yesterday I was practically begging for fence duty.

To be honest, it was tedious work. Find a walker, stab it in the head, wrench the pipe out, find another. Repeat the process, again and again. It was boring. And it was doing nothing. The buildup was almost too much, and the fence kept bending due to the mass pushing against it.

At one point, Maggie tripped and fell to the floor. Glenn tried to help her up, but she brushed him off. "Don't. We're supposed to stay away from each other." The hurt that flashed across Glenn's face was evident. The poor man.

"Are you seeing this?!" Sasha panted to my right, pointing to the ground.

Daryl and Rick got a closer look. I managed to poke my head over, finding bits of chewed up mice on the ground. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"Is someone feeding these things?" Sasha wondered out loud.

"Heads up!" Daryl called, attempting to stab another walker.

"This part of the fence, now!" Sasha ordered, running back to her post, trying to help get rid of the undead. It didn't work. There were just so many pushing against us that the metal posts began to bend, pushing the fence down.

"Hold on, hold on." Rick repeated numerous times, looking at the fence. I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he assessed the damage and tried to plan.

"It's gonna give!" Glenn shouted as the fence was pushed down. We all moved forward, trying desperately to push the fence back in place. I groaned as the muscles in my arms tensed, the moans of the walkers and the groans of the others filling my ears. I continued to push the fence forward.

"Everyone, back!" Daryl barked. "Come on. Back, now!"

I did as I was ordered, looking at the hunter. The fence continued to bend down, dangerously close to being leveled out with where we were.

"If the fence keeps bending in like that, those walkers are coming over it," Sasha panted.

"What're gonna do?" I asked the question that was on everyone's minds. I looked at Rick, the natural leader, and his gaze was turned towards the pig pen we had.

"Daryl, get the truck." Rick ordered, running a hand through his hair. "I know what to do."

Daryl gave a nod, running to get the truck.

"Rick." I spoke. "What're you gonna do?"

He pointed towards the pig pen. "It's the pigs. They're making us sick."

"And?"

He gave me a look. That look, that broken gaze, answered my question. "No. You can't be serious!"

"Alyssa-"

"Rick! Really?" My voice broke, and I whispered. "Really?"

"It has to be done." his sharp southern twang answered me as Daryl drove the truck our way. I grounded my teeth together, but gave him a nod as he hopped into the back. I watched as he and Daryl loaded up the pigs into the back, putting them into a wooden crate and set off into beyond the gates, where the walkers were. Glenn, Maggie, Tyreese, Sasha, and I continued to stab through the fence, biding the two time to set up the truck.

I watched, bile rising in my throat, as Rick yanked out a little piglet, (Bella, as I named her,) and sliced open her back thigh. I heard her squeal in pain, and I shielded my eyes. I couldn't watch her die. I just couldn't.

I felt warm arms enveloping me, and I quickly peeked through my fingers. It was Glenn.

"We're both infected." He gave a quick explanation. "This won't do any harm."

I gave a silent nod, hugging him back tightly as I heard the last loud squeal from Bella; the last one she ever made. He hugged me back, gently stroking my hair to keep me calm.

"It's fine, it's fine," he repeated to me. It was a lie, but I nodded into his chest. The others began to grab the large pieces of wood and propped up the fence with them, securing it in place. The squeals of the other pigs filled my ears, and I just held on tighter to Glenn, sobbing lightly onto his shirt. I know we should be helping the others, propping up the fence, but I couldn't help it. I was frozen, hugging Glenn; those poor pigs were like friends to me.

As soon as all of the squealing stopped for the last time, I let go of him, drying my tears.

"Sorry about the shirt." I apologized as I looked at it. The tears were everywhere.

He shook his head. "It's fine. It's been worse before."

I nodded to him. "Thanks."

"No problem."

I helped Maggie open the gates to let the duo back in. Ricks plan worked; the pigs were an excellent distraction, and now the fence was stronger. It wouldn't hold forever, but we were in the clear for now.

Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, and Daryl went back to digging graves, Tyreese went to go say hi to Karen, and Rick went to burn what used to be the pig pen. I was walking up the pavement path the get to cell block A, where I could hopefully help the infected with Dr. S and Hershel.

I mentally kicked myself. Crying. Really?! Over pigs?! What was wrong with me? That can't happen again. I can't freeze up like that just because of some pigs.

Looking at where the pig pen used to be, I saw Rick and Carl lighting up a match, burning the wood that used to surround the pigs.

It looked like Rick dismissed Carl, so the latter began walking to the pavement path, to where I was.

"Hi." I greeted, keeping a safe distance from him.

"Hey." He answered, looking back at his dad.

He looked back at me. "I told him. He's not mad."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Really? He said that?"

"Sorta." He answered. "He says that he doesn't want you and Carol to stop."

I nodded to him, feeling relieved. "Good."

"Where are you gonna go?" he asked as we walked up the path to the prison.

"A." I answered. "I want to help take care of the infected."

"But you could get infected!"

I slowed my steps down. "I'm already infected, cowboy. This couldn't hurt me anymore than it already has."

"You don't know that for sure." Carl argued back.

I completely stopped my movements, looking at him. His eyes, which were normally the brightest blue, were dark and clouded. I wish I could give him a hug or a kiss on the cheek, or even just run my hands through his long hair, but I knew I couldn't. If I was sick, I didn't want to get him sick, too.

"You're right, we don't," I agreed with him, "but we aren't sure that I'm not, either. If I'm not, we all know that I've at least been exposed to it. I could still help those people."

He ran a hand through his messy hair, shaking. "You know, I hate it when you're right."

I grinned at him, "I know."

I took a few more steps away from him and instead to the cell block door, grasping the handle of it.

"I'll see you later?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Of course, Angel. Just... Don't die on me, okay?"

A look of hurt flashed across his face, and my heart nearly broke.

I shook my head, letting go of the door handle and took three tentative steps toward him. "I'm not gonna die on you, okay?" I gave him a kiss on the cheek. I know I wasn't supposed to, but how could I not after seeing him so broken? "I promise."

He nodded, and I walked into the infected cell, waving him goodbye with my other hand.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you guys liked the mini fluff at the end.