I really meant to get this chapter out sooner! I went on a brief vacation and then I had major writer's block after returning. Please forgive me for the wait!
Beth had to admit that she was nervous heading into town to visit the nearest library. The last time they had gone into town, she had been bitten, and the town had been much smaller than the one they were heading to today. But the Cook County Library was in the town of Adel, and her need for answers was stronger than her anxiety about the dangers that the town could hold.
Daryl was clearly even more nervous than she was. He was endlessly gnawing on his thumb nail as he drove, and Beth could feel the tension radiating off of him. She couldn't blame him, though. It had been hard enough to convince him to go to the library at all, and for good reason. But Beth couldn't just sit around waiting for something to happen; she had to know how likely it was for her to be immune. Daryl was clearly still unconvinced of the possibility, but Beth had hope, and her hope only grew with each hour that passed with no symptoms.
Their plan was to go to the library and the library alone, grab all the books that could possibly contain any helpful information, and head back to the campground so Beth could research there in the safety the campground's isolation offered. Daryl had emphasized several times how important it was to be in and out, no dawdling. Beth had joked around about the last time they'd gotten distracted in a library, but Daryl hadn't been amused. He clearly just wanted to get the ordeal over with.
Beth kept her eyes peeled for signs of trouble as they entered Adel's city limits. The town had had a population of about 5,000 before the outbreak, meaning it was one of the largest towns Daryl and Beth had dared to enter in quite some time. However, she only saw a few straggler walkers wandering the town's streets. Beth decided to take that as a good sign. Until she had actual cause for concern, needlessly worrying wasn't going to do her any good.
It didn't take long for them to find the library. Daryl pulled up into the first parking spot out front by the book return box. Both of them scanned the area, but thankfully saw no walkers approaching the single-story building. Daryl reached for his crossbow and Beth tugged her pink hammer from her belt loop, also grabbing several bags to load up with books.
"Remember what I said," Daryl grunted to her. "You stay close to me. I don't want you more than an arm's length away. Got it?"
She resisted the urge to sigh. "Yes. And we'll be in and out, just like we discussed."
Daryl gave her a curt nod before the two of them exited the truck. He made his way over to a row of windows along the front wall with Beth following, but shades blocked their view of the inside. He gave the window a heavy tap and waited. Nothing stirred inside, and they walked over to the front door. Daryl readied his crossbow as Beth gave the door a pull. It was unlocked and swiftly swung open to reveal the darkened interior of the library. Daryl knocked the butt of his bow along the doorframe, but still the inside remained quiet.
Daryl entered the library first with Beth on his heels. He went over to the front windows and quickly opened the shades, allowing light from outside to enter the shadowed library. He then began quickly walking past each aisle, crossbow raised, searching for threats. Normally they probably would have determined that the library's silence meant it was walker-free, but not today. Daryl was especially on edge, and he was determined to take every precaution. When he had surveyed the entirety of the library and was satisfied it was safe, he lowered his bow and went to close the front door.
"All right. Find what you need and let's get out of here."
Beth nodded and quickly made her way over to the nonfiction section. She scanned the titles until she found the section she was looking for. The library had an impressive selection of titles relevant to what she wanted, and she hastily began loading her bags with anything related to infectious disease, whether it be history books, medical textbooks, or even Microbiology for Dummies. Before long, her bags were bursting with relevant material.
"You really need all that?" Daryl commented as he glanced down at her full bags.
"I'm just taking everything that's relevant," Beth shrugged. "And who knows, maybe some of this stuff will come in handy in the future if one of us gets sick or injured."
She could see Daryl's jaw ticking as if he wanted to say, One of us is already sick and injured. But he kept his mouth shut and nodded curtly.
"C'mon, help me carry all this out to the truck," Beth said, grasping a few of the heavy bags in her hands. Daryl grabbed the others and the two of them made their way back toward the entrance. Beth hesitated for a moment, glancing at Daryl to make sure he was still waking, and grabbed several novels from the "Staff Recommendations" shelf. She hurried to catch up with Daryl before he noticed and fell into step behind him. They loaded the full bags into the trailer and climbed inside the truck.
"Are you sure you don't want to look for any supplies while we're here in town?" Beth asked, glancing around at the still quiet surroundings.
"Ain't takin' no risks we don't need to take," Daryl muttered in response, answering as Beth had expected he would.
He started the truck and they began the short drive back to the campground. Adel was only about 8 miles from the campground, and soon they were pulling back into their usual parking spot. Beth hopped out of the truck and made her way into the trailer, eager to begin her research. She grabbed a notebook to write down any pertinent information and situated herself at the kitchen table, the bags of books surrounding her. She heard Daryl stringing up the perimeter alarm outside as she pulled the first book toward her.
Beth had hardly made it through a few paragraphs before Daryl entered the trailer and stood beside the table, looking over her shoulder and staring down at the pen poised in her hand above her notebook. She glanced up at him with arched eyebrows.
"Are you just gonna stand there and stare or are you going to help?" she asked pointedly.
Daryl shrugged. "I ain't good at research. Never really done it before."
"It's not hard. You never wrote a research paper in school?"
"High school dropout, remember?" Daryl shrugged again.
Beth sighed and set down her pen.
"Why don't you go on a hunt?" she suggested. "It's going to be a little hard to focus with you hovering over me like that."
Daryl shook his head. "Ain't leavin'."
Beth sighed again. She had understood his refusal to leave her side the day before, when it was more uncertain how much time she would have left. But now, his stubborn refusal to leave her side was starting to annoy her.
"For Pete's sake, Daryl, if I somehow suddenly develop a fever, I'm not going to croak right away. You aren't going to leave and come back to find me on my deathbed. And if you're really that worried about it, just stay close by and check on me as often as you like."
He didn't look convinced.
"It will help you clear your head, you know it will," Beth pressed on. "And it will get you out of my hair so I can think. It's a win-win idea for both of us."
"I dunno," Daryl mumbled. "What if a herd comes through while I'm gone? Or people find the campsite?"
"If you stay close by, you'll hear trouble approaching. Besides, if my time left really is limited, it would be nice to have a good meal. Please, Daryl? Catch us a nice fat rabbit for dinner?"
She flashed him her best smile, and Daryl sighed in resignation.
"All right," he muttered. "But I ain't goin' far. And I'll be back to check on you every half hour."
"Perfect," Beth grinned. He hesitated for a short moment before leaning down and pressing a firm kiss to the top of her head. Beth tried to ignore the fact that it looked like he was taking his last look at her before he finally opened the trailer door and left, closing the door softly behind him. Beth picked up her pen again and took full advantage of the now quiet trailer, immersing herself in her research.
Innate immunity. Adaptive immunity. Natural immunity. Artificial immunity. Passive immunity. Active immunity. Specific immunity. Non-specific immunity. Premunity. Asymptomatic carrier.
Beth's notebook was filled with her scribbled research notes, and her hand ached from all the writing. By the time sunset was near, she had filled pages upon pages of the notebook with facts and information. Many of the books had contained the same information with varying levels of detail, and after perusing them all afternoon, Beth felt she had a decent understanding of the subject matter.
Daryl's hunt had been successful as well. He seemed slightly more relaxed after he returned, which Beth suspected would be the case. She stood from the kitchen table and stretched before grabbing her notebook and going outside to where Daryl was roasting the freshly caught rabbit over the fire. He looked up and gave her a nod in acknowledgement as she sat down next to him.
"So? What'd you find out?" he asked. Beth had been shooing him away all afternoon so she could focus, and she could tell he was eager to find out what she had learned.
"Lots of things," she said, flipping through her notes. "If I am immune, it's likely either innate immunity, meaning I was born with something that makes me immune to the virus, or natural active immunity, which means that I developed an immune response after exposure to the virus."
"Any way to tell which it would be?"
"No, but it doesn't really matter. Immunity is immunity. But from what I've been reading, throughout history, a small percentage of the population is immune to almost every disease. Now, this outbreak could be different considering its almost supernatural effects and widespread reach, but I sort of doubt it. We know it's a virus, and if history repeats itself as it usually does, a percentage of the population is probably immune to it."
Daryl grunted in response and turned the rabbit over the fire, not looking Beth in the eye. She ignored his less-than-enthusiastic reply.
"Take the Black Death, for example. It was a huge pandemic that killed about one third of Europe's population, and an estimated 40% of the population worldwide. But about 0.2% of the European population was immune," she continued, looking down at her notes. "When DNA was studied from these people's remains, they found unusual protein structures that gave them that immunity. Obviously those people survived the plague and passed their DNA on to their descendants. Apparently the odds are that about 15% of Caucasian Americans now have this gene that makes them immune to the bubonic plague."
"Well, this ain't the Black Death," Daryl replied. "And this outbreak's death toll is much higher than the Black Death's was. Plus, all of us are infected, so it's definitely more widespread. I'd say that it's an optimistic guess to say that 90% of the population was wiped out, and when that remaining 10% dies, they'll join the ranks of the dead and infected. Totally different scenario."
"Yes, you're right," Beth agreed. "It was just an example. But that brings me to my next point. I might not be immune at all. I could be an asymptomatic carrier."
Daryl frowned in confusion.
"It means that I have the disease, and I carry the virus, but I display no symptoms. Have you ever heard of Typhoid Mary?"
"Heard of her, I think. As an expression maybe."
"Yeah," Beth nodded. "Basically she was a cook who worked in New York City in the early 1900s. The people she worked for kept getting typhoid fever, even when she changed employers. They say she's responsible for infecting over 50 people. She was forced into quarantine in 1907 where they determined that she was a carrier of typhoid. She never displayed any symptoms herself, but she was a carrier of the disease. She lived to be 69 years old and died of pneumonia, and apparently during her autopsy, live typhoid bacteria were found in her gallbladder. She went her whole life without ever having any symptoms of the disease, but she definitely carried it."
"So you think you could be like her? A . . . what is it, a carrier?"
"An asymptomatic carrier. Yes. I think it's very possible. Even if I have the virus, like we all presumably do, I may not ever display symptoms."
"Yeah, but like I said with the Black Death, this ain't typhoid fever."
"I know that, Daryl," Beth replied somewhat shortly. "I'm just saying, these are examples. These things have happened before. Why should this be any different? I just want you to acknowledge that it is entirely possible that I won't get sick at all. Whether it's because I'm immune or whether it's because I'm an asymptomatic carrier, it doesn't matter. It's very possible I can live a long and healthy life despite the bite."
Daryl sighed and stared into the fire. He gave a slow nod.
"All right. It's possible. I guess we'll just wait to see what happens."
Beth had to resist the urge to snap at him. His defeatist attitude was wearing on her. She wished he could be more positive and more hopeful. She felt incredibly frustrated that he was still waiting for her to get sick and die. It was disheartening. But still, she was glad that she had at least been able to prove to him that similar situations had happened in the past, and she felt even more hopeful herself after learning more about them.
"I sure do miss modern science," she sighed wistfully, and Daryl nodded. "If the entire world hadn't gone to shit, maybe someone could study my blood or DNA or whatever and tell me for sure what's actually going on."
"Yeah, who knows, maybe you would've been the cure to save mankind," Daryl joked half-heartedly, the corners of his mouth slightly turning upwards in an attempt to smile.
"I guess the world will never know," Beth smiled somewhat sadly, leaning into Daryl.
He put his arm around her and drew her closer to him, and she closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. Maybe Daryl wasn't completely convinced yet, but Beth was determined that eventually, he would be.
Watch out, world, she thought to herself as she listened to the crackling of the fire. I'm going to show you what Beth Greene is capable of.
Someone recently asked me how long I expect this story to be. I don't have a concrete answer for that, but I'm going to guess around 45 chapters, give or take a few. We're nearing the end of the story, but there's still more to be told before we get there. :)
Thanks so much for reading! Please review!