» Time Is Dancing « | » Carl Grimes «

» INFECTED «

Coughs And Sneezes Spread Diseases

I squinted my eyes against the sun as my finger skimmed the words on the page. It was the only book I had finished cover to cover, I knew every word by now. Beth's book. The pages had curled at the corners slightly and they were tinted brown from the times I read after hunting or gardening. I watched Rick and Carl in the garden, gathering the leaves and dirt from around the crops. Part of Rick's plan to keep Carl good was farming. Anything to get him away from guns and walkers. I saw Michonne leaving on her horse and I frowned. She had only been back a day and she was already heading out again. I wished she would give up, for her own sake. The Governor hadn't caused any problems in the past year, and we didn't know where he was anyway. After he killed his entire army, it's not like he was much of a threat anyway.

BANG!

I whipped my head up at the muffled gunshot. It sounded like it came from inside. More followed and I pulled my sword off the table, holding it by my side and running in that direction as another bullet fired.

"Help! HELP!" Lizzie and Mika ran out their cell block, stopping in front of me. "Belle, there's walkers inside." They sobbed.

"It's okay, stay here." I comforted them before yelling over my shoulder. "Walkers in D!" I checked for my gun and started towards cell block D when Daryl stopped me, telling me to stay outside while he ran for the door. There was chaos around me as people ran in and out, weapons raised and yells going back and forth. I couldn't just sit around and wait.

"Lizzie, look after your sister." I put their hands together and stood up but Mika dragged me back.

"No, you can't. It's not safe." She pleaded for me to stay. I reassured her that I would be okay and left the crying sisters in the courtyard. I ran into Carol at the door and she pushed me out with a sullen expression. She took me to the side and spoke in a soft voice.

"The girls' father...he's been bit." My face fell at her words. From her saddened gaze towards the sisters, I knew he couldn't be saved. I pointed her in their direction and wandered into the cell block, seeing most of the people dead on the floor. Terrified eyes peeked through the bars as the remaining people locked themselves in for safety. I scanned the faces, looking for someone in particular. I saw Luke and Molly, Karen, Mr Samuels lying on a bed. I ran up the stairs and searched through them, when a bloody hand suddenly shot out towards me. Without thinking, I stabbed my sword through the walkers head, blood splattering on me. I took in their face as they fell, recognising them immediately. This is who I was looking for. Patrick lay on the floor, red leaking from his eyes and nose. It was a horrible thing to look at, whether he was my friend or not.

"Thought I told you to stay outside." Daryl scolded me, walking up the steps. His gaze softened when he saw the tears in my eyes and he wiped the blood off my face. He knew who that was on the ground. Glenn and Rick soon arrived, feeling the somber atmosphere.

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There was a stillness in the cell block after all the walkers had been taken care of. Nothing like this had ever happened to us before. It was a massacre.

Dr. S stood from where he was analysing a body. "Pleurisy, aspiration." He took note of how the person had no bites.

"Choked to death on his own blood. Caused those trails down his face." I pressed my eyes shut. This happened to Patrick? It sounded painful. I didn't want to hear this but I couldn't leave now.

"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 finished. We were surviving here, living through the end of the world, and these people were killed by some flu?

"All of us in here, we've all been exposed." I couldn't take this anymore. I spun on my heel and trudged down the stairs, sitting at the bottom. I just needed to clear my head, but all I could think about was how Patrick was perfectly fine yesterday and now he was dead. I forced my tears not to fall. They wouldn't be any help now. I was distracted when I saw Lizzie leaving her father's cell with tears on her face, Mika trailing after her. I guess it finally happened. Carol sat beside me a moment later, rubbing her hands against her face in stress.

"He asked me to take care of them. Like they were my own." She confessed. "What if I'm not good enough?"

I leaned my head to the side, resting it on her shoulder. "Sure you are. You were good enough for me, right?" I reassured her. Carol, like the rest of the group, had a huge hand in raising me, this world only making it harder. But I thought I turned out fine. She smiled sadly, wrapping an arm around me and rubbing my arm. "Besides, if you need any help, I'm always here. I love those girls like they're my own sisters."

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"I'm sorry about Patrick. I know he was your friend." I was sitting outside cell block C, my legs folded up as I rested on the bottom step. I glanced up at Carl, who sighed from his seat at the top.

"He was your friend, too. I know you had to..." He trailed off. Rick had told him about what happened in the other cell block. How I had to put Patrick down. I shrugged, it was just something I had to do.

"It's okay. But I've been exposed now. His blood got on me. We gotta stay away from each other for a while." I didn't want to get separated from Carl, he was my best friend. But I couldn't risk him getting sick, not when he spent so much time taking care of Judith. He nodded in understanding, getting to his feet.

"You're gonna be okay." He told me as he went inside.

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RIP Patrick I actually miss him

It's only gonna go downhill from here