Jinx || Daryl Dixon || The Walking Dead Fanfic

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JINX

Jinx crouched on the ground alongside Glenn and Sasha as they attempted to hold Henry down so Hershel could intubate him. He was choking on his own blood as the virus moved into the end stages and Hershel told him he needed to calm down.

Once the tube was in, Henry's body finally relaxed as Hershel squeezed the bag, breathing for him. Jinx held in the cough that tried to escape caused by the exertion, but Sasha and Glenn weren't able to do the same and Hershel told them to drink some of the elderberry tea he'd made to try and ease their symptoms a little.

"Some council meeting, huh?" the older man observed as they sat there.

"We're two members short." Sasha pointed out.

"I think we should make some new rules before they get back." Hershel stated and Jinx looked up at him from her spot on the floor. "I hereby declare we have spaghetti Tuesdays every Wednesday." Sasha tilted her head with a weak groan at the suggestion and Jinx gave a weak smile. "First we have to find some spaghetti." He told them, a smile in his voice as he tried to distract them. "You okay to take over?" he asked Sasha and she nodded taking the bag from him. He gave her instructions on how regularly to squeeze the bag to keep Henry breathing and told her to get someone else if she felt light headed. Next, he turned to Jinx and Glenn and asked if they wanted to help him go on his rounds and they both nodded, they needed the distraction.

"How long will that keep him alive?" Glenn asked when they reached the doorway, turning back to look down at the unconscious man.

"Just as long as we're willing to do it." Hershel confirmed. "As long as it takes."

It was almost dark outside and they navigated their way around the cell block following the lantern Hershel carried. They followed him slowly down the stairs and into a cell where a man Jinx recognised but didn't know had passed away.

Glenn pulled out his knife and went to stab him in the brain to ensure he wouldn't turn but Hershel stopped him, "No. Not here." He grabbed a trolley from just outside and pulled it into the room. "Here, help me get him onto this." Jinx immediately began untucking the sheet the man laid on to make it easier to move him, understanding that Hershel didn't want the others to see.

"Okay, but in a couple of hours when Henry's dead..." Hershel interrupted Glenn as he spoke, but he continued, "How are we gonna get his body down the stairs, across the cell block and through those doors without anyone noticing?" he asked.

"If that happens, if," Hershel emphasised the word, "you're both gonna help me." He looked between Glenn and Jinx and she nodded back to him, biting her lip.

"And what if I'm gone?" Glenn asked him.

"You won't be." Jinx hissed at him at the same time as Hershel almost growled "Shut up and help me get him on this." Neither of them willing to think about the very real possibility Glenn had presented.

They were almost out the door with the body when Lizzie, a girl of about twelve whose father had died in the cell block where the first infected people had turned, approached them. "what are you doing?" she asked gently.

Hershel turned to her, "We're taking Mr Jacobson to a quieter place." He told her. He rested the back of his hand on her forehead checking her temperature. "Go get my copy of Tom Sawyer from my room," he told her, "I want you to read it by tonight. We all got jobs to do, that one's yours." He told the young girl.

She coughed into her shirt and looked up at him, "I won't finish it." She said in a small voice and Hershel asked her why, "It's going to get too dark."

"Well," he said a smile in his voice as he took the girl's hand, "Give it your best try. And drink some tea." He told her and Jinx gave her a small smile as her eyes flickered up to where she stood beside Glenn and Mr Jacobson's body.

Finally, they were in a separate room and Glenn pulled out his knife as Hershel whispered a verse from the bible. Hershel stared at the knife in Glenn's hand and the younger man asked, "You haven't had to do this yet, have you?"

The vet shook his head, "There was one late last night. Sasha did it." He stated sadly. "People don't need to see it. I don't want them to." He told them both, just as Mr Jacobson began to growl and sit forward.

Jinx held the reanimated corpse's shoulders down and Glenn quickly put the knife through his forehead.

___

Jinx and Hershel moved into the room with an observation window they were using to speak to those who weren't infected. A small part of her hoping to see Daryl on the other side, but instead it was Maggie who stood there, trying not to cry and Jinx attempted to give her a weak smile. "Where's Glenn?" she asked, "He said he would meet me."

"He's resting." Hershel told her in a reassuring tone and Maggie asked if he was okay. "He was helping us and he got tired, that's all." Jinx nodded in agreement. Maggie offered to help, but he cut her off, "I don't. I was just keeping him occupied. Keeping his mind on helping people."

"I can come in there and help you." Maggie told him, but he cut her off again.

"No, you don't need to." He told her adamantly.

"It's okay Maggie," Jinx told her, "I've got him."

"You both can rest-" Maggie started again, but Hershel interrupted again with a more forceful "No!"

None of them spoke for a few seconds until Hershel asked how Beth was and Jinx took it as her cue to give them a moment. She slipped back into the hall where Glenn sat on the ground leaning against the wall just beside the door.

"Thanks," he said weakly with a nod, she smiled and rested her hand on his shoulder for a second.

"Thank you for stopping her," he repeated looking at them both as Hershel exited the room.

"We need someone out there taking care of things." Hershel informed him confidently.

"If she saw me," He paused, catching his breath, "couldn't keep her out." Jinx looked down at the ground chewing her lip, knowing that Daryl would be the same if he knew she was in here, she didn't want to know what his reaction would be when they returned.

"I wasn't lying." Hershel said in response to whatever Glenn had said while Jinx was distracted, "Look at you, you're resting." He told him and the younger man chuckled weakly.

The coughs she'd been holding back finally escaped and she buried her face in the crook of her arm as she coughed so hard she couldn't breathe. When she caught her breath and looked down she saw spots of blood on her arm, but quickly wiped them on her top before the others noticed.

"I'm almost done down here," he looked at them both pointedly, "why don't you go lie down?" he suggested. Glenn nodded and weakly pushed himself away from the wall and towards the cells.

"If it's all the same, I'd rather keep working." Jinx told the older man and he nodded, indicating which cell they were off to next.

___

Jinx had followed Hershel around as he continued his rounds on the ground floor, but eventually she had to admit defeat and he told her to go lie down before he headed back upstairs to check on Henry and Dr S, whose first name Jinx had finally remembered was Caleb.

She walked into the closest empty cell and sank down on the ground her back against the cool brick wall. She coughed again and her hand came away with more blood, she felt a surge of fear threaten to overwhelm her, but quickly pushed it down.

She pulled a small notebook and pencil from her back pocket and began to write, she struggled to know what to say, how to say it and quickly screwed up the first few attempts and threw them away half finished, but eventually she managed to finish the short letter. She ripped the page from the notebook and folded it neatly in half, writing Daryl on the front. She crawled forward and placed it on the mattress where it would be easily seen. She pulled the pillow from the bed and placed it on the floor so she could lay on the cold concrete as the fever took over. She coughed again, but eventually managed to drift into sleep.