Chapter Five

"A greater woman has faith

But even statues crumble if they're made to wait

I'm so afraid I sealed my fate"

The Prophecy by Taylor Swift

"Wake up, sleepin' beauty!"

"Merle Dixon, if you do not vacate this cell in the next five seconds, I will go absolutely feral."

I pulled my pillow over my head. I deserved to sleep in. Hell, he had even told Rick I needed a day of rest yesterday and now he was the one trying to get me out of bed?

"Group meetin' going on with Officer Friendly's cult. I need ya awake for that," he said as he pulled my blanket off of me with an aggressive tug.

My pillow went airborne as I flung it at the large man's head. I didn't have time to be proud of the sound of the pillow thunking against his skull because suddenly his large hands clasped around my shoulders and hauled me into a sitting position. My eyes locked on his and I gave him my most menacing scowl.

"Listen, I know we're friends now, but you're entirely too comfortable waking me up. We're going to have to change that."

"I brought coffee," he offered as he released my shoulders, "But yer part of us now so I need ya present for the bullshit that is about to get discussed. Sent the kid to the library with the other little ones. They got a little school thing set up for 'em there. So get outta bed and let's go."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm hardly part of anything yet. I've been here for three days and yesterday we weren't even here."

"Three days and ya've contributed more than some of these useless fucks have the whole time they've lived here," he grunted.

He turned to grab the coffee cup from the desk behind him and placed it in my hands. The warmth immediately made me start to feel better. I stood, wincing a little at the sharp pain in my side, and stretched my legs out as I took a sip of the liquid.

"Ya all bright eyed and bushy tailed now?"

I nodded my head and took another drink.

"Perfect. Let's go," he placed his hand on my upper back and started pushing me out of the room.

"Wait! I don't have shoes on! And I'm still in my pajamas!" I protested.

I glanced down. I had taken a few pairs of sleep clothes from the store we stopped at and was currently sporting a pair of blue plaid pajama pants with a black tank top. Which really wasn't that bad, except I didn't have a bra on.

"Yer fine. Keep walking."

I tried digging my heels into the smooth concrete to stop him, but that did absolutely nothing except serve to remind me that I really had to work on my strength. He kept prodding me along until we were standing at the railing, looking down at the main floor to the cellblock. Most of the group was present, standing in a haphazard circle below, similar to how they had been when I told them about the pigs.

Carol looked up from her spot leaning against the wall under the windows and waved with a small grimace. Daryl was standing beside her, arms crossed in front of his chest. His gaze snapped to mine for a second before dropping again.

I remembered seeing him on the landing outside of our room last night. I wondered for a second what he had wanted, but Rick's loud footsteps filled the space around us. He had a concerned look on his face and his eyebrows were drawn together like he was thinking.

I took another drink of my coffee and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I leaned over into Merle, my side making contact with his body.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"You were right 'bout the pigs. Couple of 'em are sick. Guess no one took yer warning seriously and one of the guys in the other cellblock got sick this mornin'," he murmured.

Fucking great.

I looked around the group and noticed Hershel and Dr. S, who I remembered died from the illness in the show, standing close to each other and talking quietly. I wasn't concerned though. We had what we needed to treat anyone who got it. I was just hoping we could have avoided anyone getting it at all.

"Sure most of you heard by now, but David got sick. He was down by the pigs yesterday. Whatever it is they're carrying seems to have hit him hard this morning," Rick said, placing his hands on his hips and glancing up at me, "We've segregated the pigs we believe to be sick in a different pin off to the side of the field. Hershel has already started treating them. We have David locked up in a room off of the tombs."

Seriously? I remembered what the tombs looked like in the show. It had to be the darkest, saddest place in the prison. The thought of going in there sent shivers down my spine.

"He was only around a few other people while sick, but we're thinking about segregating those people as well, just to make sure nothing else spreads," Rick continued, looking around the room.

"You're not going to quarantine David with the people he was around, right?" I asked loudly, unable to keep my mouth shut.

Rick's eyes bounced up to mine.

"Why?"

"Because he is sick. Those other people might not have caught anything. They should quarantine, but not with him."

"I agree," Dr. S said with a nod, "We want to stop the spread of this. Placing David with any of them could worsen it."

"Okay. Do either of you have suggestions?" Rick asked, his eyes going from Dr. S up to where I stood on the landing next to Merle.

I looked at the other doctor, who was staring up at me.

"We could put David somewhere alone. One of us could stay with him to treat his symptoms until he's better. The other could monitor the exposed patients for symptoms until they're deemed clear in a separate location," I offered, keeping my eyes on Dr. S.

The man nodded his head once more.

"That sounds like a good plan. We can put the others in the old administration building. Do you have a preference?" He asked me.

I sighed. My preference was to be on a beach in the Caribbean, living in a world that was walker free, but that wasn't an option right now.

"I can stay with David, but I'm not staying in any place known as 'the tombs', so we're going to need to move him. Do you guys have an infirmary set up?" I asked, knowing they didn't.

"We don't. We've discussed it before, though," Rick supplied.

"Let's set one up and that's where David and I will stay. We can make it a permanent situation for the infirmary."

Rick looked at the rest of the group.

"What about where the death row was?" Maggie suggested, "It's got enough room and we've already cleared it."

As the group continued to talk below us, I felt Merle's hand clasp on my upper arm and spin me to him. His eyes were angry as he took me in.

"The hell is wrong with ya, girl? Some kind of death wish I need to be aware of?" He asked, his tone harsh.

"No, just trying to help. I can treat it, Merle. Really. It's okay. I'll only be in there for a week at most, so long as no one else gets sick," I smiled at him as I took another drink of my coffee.

"I don't give a rat's ass. Ya don't need to be in there at all. What about the kid?"

I batted my eyelashes at him. "You can watch him for a few days, right? Just make sure he stays alive and all until I'm done?"

He let out a groan and actually rolled his eyes.

"What about me gave ya the impression that I can take care of a fuckin' child?"

I grinned at him.

"All you have to do is make sure he eats, showers, and doesn't get chewed on by a walker. How hard could that be?" I leaned in a little closer to him, "Besides, I trust you more than I trust anyone else here."

"God damn it, angel," he sighed, "Fine, but don't expect me to be all sunshine and fuckin' rainbows."

I gently shoved him with my shoulder again and turned back to look over at the group again. It sounded like they were going to start moving all of the medical supplies to the infirmary as soon as the meeting was done. As I watched them all talk, I felt eyes on me.

I glanced over to find Daryl looking up again, but this time his eyes were going between Merle and I. He looked somewhere between annoyed and downright murderous. For reasons that probably indicated I needed therapy, it made my heart thud.

"Scarlett?" Rick's voice sounded.

I quickly shifted my eyes to his.

"Yes?"

"I asked if you were sure you felt comfortable staying with David," he said with a raised brow.

That man and his damn eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine with it."

"Good. Next thing, Daryl is going on a run here in two hours. It might be pretty big so we need a few extra people to go with him," Rick continued.

"Where to?" Sasha asked.

Daryl stepped forward and cleared his throat. "It's called Big Spot. Seen it before. Had some kind of military outpost set up out front. Doesn't look too overrun. Could be a pretty good haul."

My heart was pounding but for a totally different reason now. Big Spot was definitely the place with the helicopter on the roof. My head started spinning. I had fucked up so many things by coming into this world. The run to the store was supposed to have happened before the sickness or the trip to the college. What if this was something else? What if my presence or me changing the order of events caused more people to die in the store than what had happened on the show?

I could feel my pulse thump in my ears as Sasha, Tyreese, Glenn and Bob volunteered. I couldn't tell everyone that I just happened to know that a giant helicopter was chilling on the roof, ready to fuck shit up and make it rain bodies. Then Merle spoke up, his voice causing me to look towards him.

"I'll go with 'em," he said.

Rick started talking again but I was looking at Merle. What if Merle died? He wasn't supposed to be alive right now anyway. I panicked and grabbed onto his forearm. His eyes locked on mine, a questioning look on his features.

"What's wrong?"

I thought before opening my mouth, not that it was much help. I had a hundred 'Worst Case Scenarios' running through my head, but I couldn't lose Merle.

"Before you go into that place, please make sure it's safe. Totally safe," I said, my fingers digging into his skin.

His eyes narrowed. "We always do. What are ya talkin' 'bout?"

I shook my head frantically. "No, but really check Merle. Please."

He looked around down at the group for a second before shaking out of my grip and clasping his hand around my bicep. He pulled me towards his room, which was two cells down from mine. Once we were inside, he pulled the curtain he had up in front of the bars closed and turned to face me.

I got distracted for a brief second as I looked around at his space. It was surprisingly well organized. His clothes were folded in a neat stack on top of the desk in his room. There were piles of books around, but it was all well ordered. Multiple guns were propped up in various locations around the room, as well as a bow and a katana of some sort. His bed was even made.

"Focus," Merle barked, "Why do ya have that look in yer eyes?"

I locked my eyes on him.

"What look?"

"Like ya know somethin' that ya don't wanna share. Same look ya had when I walked into yer room for the first time. Same look ya had before ya told us about the pigs. What aren't ya sayin'?"

I was either a worse liar than I had thought or Merle Dixon could just read me like a damn book. I opened my mouth and closed it as his blue orbs bore into mine. The look on his face reminded me of a hunting dog zeroing in on his prey.

"I just think I know that place," I started, but was cut off.

"Ya said that ya came here from New York. Ya had passed by the college, which just so happens to be in the same general direction of the place I had been when I almost died. North of here. So I could understand if ya knew that area, but Big Spot is in a completely different direction. Further south of us. It wouldn't make sense that ya had been there before, so try again."

He didn't look angry. He looked determined.

I weighed options in my head, but none of them seemed good enough. Merle was more perceptive and a hell of a lot smarter than most people gave him credit for. The man knew I was full of shit. Which made me a little sad. Was he so nice to me because he thought I was a liar he had to keep close to him?

In any case, I couldn't exactly tell him about me. I had never told anyone what I was and Merle wouldn't believe me if I did. I didn't even know if I could. It felt like some kind of unspoken rule of the "gift" I had been given. But this life was different anyway. I was me. I was in a place that wasn't supposed to be real. It's not like I was taking over a life.

A small laugh fell from my mouth and I shook my head. Was I really considering telling Merle Dixon, of all people? Merle Dixon who I couldn't even really stand when I watched the show? The Merle Dixon I had watched was not the same man I'd come to know over the last couple of days, though.

"Tell me, angel," the man said softly, his hand wrapping around my forearm.

My eyes landed on him again. He was asking me to just tell him what I knew and why I knew it, but he had no idea he was really in for a whole lot of earth shattering bullshit.

"There are things about me no one has ever known, Merle. Things I've never told anyone and I'm not sure I can start now," I murmured, "What I can tell you is that I need you to be safe out there. When you get to the store, look on the roof, okay? Just make sure someone looks on the roof before you go in there. I need you to trust me."

It was a long shot. He was going to have more questions now, but I just couldn't let something happen to him. I needed him.

Merle just stared at me, looking as though he was deciding what to say.

"What's on the roof?"

I took a deep breath. "A helicopter and a fuckload of walkers. The roof could collapse at any moment. And once the walkers hear everyone inside, they will start falling through ceiling. Just please promise me you won't go in without dealing with it first."

His eyebrows pinched together as he watched me.

"How do ya know that, though?"

"I… I can't tell you that right now, but when you get back we'll talk. I swear. I will tell you what I can. Now promise me."

His head bobbed up and down as he continued to stare at me.

"Fine, but we're talkin' 'bout this when I get back," he demanded, his eyes daring me to say otherwise.

"Of course. You know where to find me for the next week. It's not like I can dodge you, right?" I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

I watched him as his eyes softened slightly. "Ya wouldn't anyway."

"Are you only so nice to me because you think I'm a liar that you have to keep close?" I blurted out the thought that had infiltrated my brain seconds ago.

"Why would ya think that?" He questioned, his head tilting, "I'm nice to ya because I know yer probably the only reason I'm alive right now. Even if yer not going to admit it, I know it was yer voice I heard that day. I don't know why ya did it. I'm not complainin' 'bout it, because I know I shoulda died that day. I went there with the expectation to not live through it, but I did. Ya saved me and I've never had anyone do that fer me before. Not like that, not without a real reason behind it."

He stepped back and cleared his throat.

"We done braidin' each other's hair now? Because we got shit to do," he grunted.

My lips pursed in an attempt to contain my laughter. "Yeah, we're done. I'm going to get dressed."

I looked back at the books on his desk. I did need something to keep me occupied for a few days.

"Ya wanna borrow a couple? Here, take these. They're good," Merle grabbed a stack of books with one hand and shoved them towards me, "Ima go help get shit moved. Take yer time."

He pulled the curtain back from the bars and I followed him out of the room, watching as he disappeared down the steps.

I had been with David for twelve hours so far. The man mostly just slept in the room he was set up in. I continuously monitored his breathing and heart rate. I had set him up with an IV and had a saline drip going for him. It made it easier when it was time for medications, which I was able to crush and dissolve in hot water before injecting into the line.

Because I couldn't just sit and stare at David the whole time, I found myself pacing the cellblock. Carol had come to the viewing room a couple hours ago with Jax and let me know that the group that went out wasn't back yet. I had just nodded my head and tried to make it seem like I wasn't bothered as Jax had told me about his day and how he wished he could stay with me. He promised to come back to check on me in the morning. Since then, my mind kept imagining every terrible thing that could have happened. All I could do was hope that Merle had listened to what I said.

Eventually I pulled a mattress outside of David's room, where I had the bars closed and locked. I laid down with a facemask on, staring up at the ceiling, until my eyes finally drifted shut.

David woke me up in the middle of the night for water, but quickly fell back asleep after he took a few small sips. His skin was pale and I could see the sweat shining on his forehead, but he said he felt 'just fine'. I gave him his next dose of antibiotics and locked the cell door behind me as I stepped back out.

I didn't know what time it was, but it didn't matter because I was exhausted, so I laid back down and drifted off to sleep once more.

The scene before me played out as if in slow motion. The Governor and his men were firing on the walkers that surrounded them. Blood was flying and bullets were whizzing through the air. I kicked my legs against the brick building a few yards away from the scene, where I sat in a second story window, just watching.

As the bodies kept piling up around the Governor, my eyes stayed locked on the window where Merle Dixon was firing on the group. He had a look in his eyes that promised nothing but violence to everyone around him.

It was just like the show. Everything was playing out how it was supposed to.

I stayed still as the Governor's men figured out where Merle was. I didn't move an inch as they took off towards him and then proceeded to start beating the man who had just tried to sacrifice himself to save his brother and the people his brother cared about.

When the Governor himself reached Merle though, something shifted in my chest. It felt wrong. What I was about to witness felt so severely off that I couldn't sit still anymore. I didn't have a weapon, so I couldn't march in and save him or even take out the Governor myself, but I could give him a small distraction. A chance to get away.

I pulled myself back through the window and stood just to the side of it as I put two fingers in my mouth. Using all of the power in my lungs, I let out a loud whistle. The sound of yelling stopped.

But then screaming started. They were screaming my name. How did they know who I was?

"Scarlett! WAKE UP!"

I sat straight up in bed, my heart pounding in an unnatural rhythm.

"Scarlett! Open the fucking door!" A deep voice sounded, bouncing off the walls around me.

I scrambled to my feet, taking note that sunlight was shining through the small windows at the top of the walls to my left. I quickly made my way to the door and was greeted by Merle's grimacing face.

"You can't come in here! What's happening?"

But then my eyes took in what was actually happening. Daryl was draped between Merle and Tyreese, his arms hanging over each of the men's shoulders. His head lolled to the side and his eyes were closed. Blood dripped to the floor below him.

"Dr. S is dead. We need you. Open the damn door!" Merle yelled.