Make it Till You Don't

Infected

I sat inside one of the cells in Death Row, coughing much like the others in here. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall, not wanting to sit on the bed, feeling the cold surface against my back. I let out a sigh of relief from the feeling.

I heard footsteps and opened my eyes, turning to see Sasha come in. "You too?"

She turned to me and nodded, stumbling off. "Dr. S?" I heard a growl a second later, making me frown.

This virus was killing us within the night, sometimes only a couple of hours by the looks of it. I stood up and went to the bars of the cell, grasping them as I looked out. I saw Dr. S come around the corner, not looking too good himself. "We need to tell them. It's starting."

I coughed once more into my hand, pulling it back to see blood. I felt fear slightly rack through my body as I wiped the blood off on my pant leg, resting my head against the metal bars. We've since locked myself into one of these cells after I first started coughing before I got worse. The blood was proof it was getting worse and that much was obvious.

Dr. S came over to me, catching my attention. "Someone wants to speak with you." Confused, I waited as he unlocked my door, leading me to the front entrance where a glass window was.

I stepped up to the glass and saw Daryl and Tyreese. "Sasha's in there, I ain't going nowhere." Tyreese stated as he turned back to look through the window.

"Hey?" I spoke up, standing at the window, bringing my gaze from Tyreese to Daryl.

"We're goin' on a run, try to find some medicine that Heshsel and Dr. S could probably use." Daryl explained, walking up to the window.

"Let's hope so, Dr. S isn't looking too good right now." I frowned, motioning my thumb behind me.

"What about you?" Daryl asked, looking at me in concern. "How're you holdin' up?"

I nodded my head slowly. "I'm fi-" I turned away as another cough erupted through me. Frowning, I wiped the blood off my hand before turning back to Daryl. "I'll be fine, you should go ahead and head out. Find that medicine."

He nodded his head before turning to Tyreese. "Standing guard ain't gonna do no good unless we come back with them meds." Not receiving an answer, he nodded his head. "Alright. We're gassing up by the front gate in case you change your mind."

As Daryl walked off, I turned my attention to Tyreese. "Hey..." I whispered out, gaining his attention. "Go help them out, I'll keep an eye on Sasha for you."

After a few moments of hesitating, he gave me a nod. "I want to speak to Sasha first."

"Okay." I felt my voice crack, scratchy from coughing before I made my way back to the cells and looked for Sasha. When I did, she sat on the bed, resting her head in her hands. "Tyreese wants to speak with you."

Nodding to me, she made her way to the door as Carol came in with a bandanna around her mouth, letting people in. "How's everyone else?"

"They're fine." She nodded looking at me as I leaned against the wall, feeling exhausted. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

I gave her a weak smile. "Hey, it's me we're talking about... I won't die from some virus, not in this world." I saw Lizzie come up behind her, nodding my head to her. "I should get back."

As she turned her attention to Lizzie I made my way back to my cell. I walked myself along the walls and bars to keep myself upright, jumping away a couple times as a Walker tried grabbing me through the bars. I came to stop at one of the cells, frowning. "Glenn?"

He looked up to me, looking miserable. "Hey..."

"It won't be long now. The others went on a run for meds." I reassured him. "We're gonna be fine..." I trailed off, making my way back to my cell and lying down.

My body felt so weak. I blinked a couple of times, looking out into the halls from where I lay, trying to determine how long it's been from the daylight.

I turned my head towards the ground below me as my coughing started back up, too weak to move my body. I watched as blood painted the floor below me, creating a splatter on the concrete.

"How are you feeling?" I turned my eyes and saw Carol at the door to my cell.

"I told you that you shouldn't be in here..." I rasped out, groaning at how irritated my throat was.

She crossed her arms. "I actually came to check on you."

I gave Carol a nod, gesturing to the splatter below me. "Thought my cell could use some decorating." I chuckled as I tried to lighten the mood. "Really brings out the 'Death' in Death Row, huh... kinda ironic how we locked us sick people in here to die, lives up to the name." I muttered to myself.

"(Y/N)..." Carol tailed off, assuming she was frowning under her bandana. "Daryl and the others should be back soon with the meds. Everything will be fine."

Reality began to sink in the longer I stared at the blood splatter as I began feeling stinging behind my eyes. "I'm not sure I can make it through this time Carol..." I bit my lip, trying to keep my tears back as my voice cracked. "I don't want to die."

I know it wasn't too long ago that I told her I'd be fine, not even ten minutes ago, but luck runs out. And like Bob said, no one has been lucky in a really long time. I'm incredibly sick, barely able to move anymore with no way to treat it until they come back. But how much time did we have? That I have?

———

I wasn't sure how I fell asleep, but I woke up with an IV stuck into my arm. I let out a groan as I tried to sit up, looking around the cell as I heard footsteps approaching and saw Hershel. "Glad to see you're awake."

"How long I been out?" I asked, looking at him.

"The rest of the day and all through the night." Hershel replied. "We almost lost you and Glenn."

I nodded my head, processing the information. "So I'm assuming the others came back with the medicine?" I asked rhetorically, gesturing to the IV.

He nodded his head, smiling. "Yeah, just in time too. We lost Dr. S but Bob was able to administer doses into the IV you got there."

"I see..." I trailed off, staring at the bag. "You said you almost lost Glenn and I... he made it through okay? Sasha too?" I asked, hoping they did. Receiving a nod, I let out a breath of relief.

"I'll go let Daryl know you're awake." Hershel told me, turning to walk out the door. "He was worried about you. Wouldn't leave until Rick had him help fix a breach in the fence."

I snorted at that as Hershel walked off. "Sounds like him."

About ten minutes later, I heard the heavy footsteps of Daryl's boots making its way over in my direction. I stood up shakily from the bed, using it as support as I let out a chuckle. "Eager much there Mr. Dix-" I was cut off as I was pulled into a hug.

"I thought I almost lost ya." Daryl mumbled into my neck, when I heard a sniffle come from him. "When we got back, they told me... told me if we didn't come back when we did-"

"Shhh..." I attempted to calm him down as I pulled my head back, giving him a reassuring smile. "It's going to be okay." I repeated the words I told him the day his brother died. "You made it on time."

"But if we were just a few minutes later, you'd be-"

I cut him off as I brought his face down into a kiss. After a few seconds, I pulled away. "Listen to me. It's because of you and the others that we're still breathing, okay? Don't sweat the details."

He brought his hand to mine that was cupping his face, giving it a small squeeze. "I was so scared."

I took a moment before speaking up. "I was too. I didn't think I'd hold out until you guys got back." I admitted, glancing down. "But then I remembered that you've always had my back." I glanced back to lock my eyes with his. "And I was right. You saved me. So, stop doubting yourself and remember that."

———
Published: 08/09/2024