» Time Is Dancing « | » Carl Grimes «

» ISOLATION «

I Don't Get Sick Often, But When I Do It's Go Big Or Go Home

I woke up feeling like shit. I knew why, I knew what was happening to me. But I was scared. I had been told what happened to Karen and David. With Patrick and Charlie dead, there were no known cases of the illness. At that moment, it could've been over completely. At least, until Karen and David stepped forward admitting they were showing symptoms. They were quarantined from the rest of the group until they got better, but someone had other ideas. During the night, the two sick people were killed and burnt in an attempt to stop the illness from spreading. Whoever it was had the right ideas, just the wrong execution. It didn't work anyway as several other people started weakly making their way to the cell block A, the quarantine zone. Or as it was known before the world ended, Deathrow. Yeah, because that would give them hope of survival.

"You're looking a little pale, Belle." Glenn and Hershel walked over to me in concern. I was sitting on a bench outside, taking in the fresh air. I breathed deeply, an obvious mistake when I started coughing heavily. Hershel put a hand against my forehead, feeling my temperature and giving Glenn a worried glance.

"Yeah, I know. I was just on my way to Deathrow." I joked weakly. I got to my feet and took a step, my legs failing in supporting me. I stumbled and fell into Glenn's grasp, his arms holding me up. "You can't touch me, I'm sick."

Glenn just helped me up into a standing position. "Don't worry about me, I've already been exposed. I'm taking you to block A."

A cough echoed from the steps and we turned, seeing Sasha grabbing onto the fence. Her eyes were heavy and her skin sweaty as she heaved coughs from her lungs. Hershel started towards her but she held up her hand, keeping him away. "I gotta see Dr. S, I'm gonna be okay." She breathlessly told them.

"Why don't you go with Sasha, and I'll check up on you later?" Glenn let me go with a reassuring smile and I struggled my way over to her, helping each other walk. I tried to ignore the feeling of Glenn's fearful gaze on my back.

One thing I learnt today was that Deathrow was a dark, depressing place. I couldn't imagine the world before, where people would sit in these cells and wait until they were finally called upon to be executed. It wasn't much better now, as Sasha helped me into a bed before trying to find Dr. S. All through the building, coughs and sobs echoed and bounced off the walls. With these sounds wracking my mind, I drifted off into a restless sleep.

It wasn't long later that Glenn himself shuffled into the cell block, dropping himself down on the bed opposite me. "Fancy seeing you here." I joked, my laughter resulting in a cough. The back of my hand felt warm and I glanced down through tired eyes, seeing blood smudged across it. I didn't even have the energy to get scared.

"Brought you something. I had some time to pack up a couple things to bring in here." He leaned across his bed and opened his bag, taking out my all too familiar doll. I still had it, all these years later. He tucked it between my arms and I cuddled it. I didn't care in that moment if it was childish, the doll had always brought me comfort.

»« »« »« »«

Coughs racked through my whole body and I could feel my eyes stinging from the pain. Glenn was passed out beside me and I clutched at my throat, my coughs subsiding into gentle wheezing. Through my watery eyes I saw Carol at the entrance, mask and gloves on. Her eyes were uncovered, and I could see the sympathetic gleam in them before she said, "There's someone here to see you," and walked away. I struggled up and followed, my heavy legs slowing me down. We arrived at a room and she opened the door for me. It was empty aside from a chair in the middle, and one wall had a big glass window showing a room on the other side. Standing against the wall, his back facing the glass, was Daryl. He turned when he saw me and his face fell.