midnight rain | daryl dixon

chapter 19: sick.

A/N: this chapter is a little bit angsty and includes a fair bit of injury mention but overall is quite cute at the end! 

also, I have been really on a roll with my writing at the moment so expect lots more updates soon! 

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Alison stood, leant against the door of a cell as she awaited the return of the group. The idea of the people she cared about most all risking their lives together made her stomach flip when she thought about what life without any one of them would be like.

Subconsciously, she found herself fiddling with the silver chain '22' necklace that Shane had given her months ago. Once Ali realised what she was doing, she stopped and placed her hand in the back pocket of her blue denim shorts as she repeatedly looked up and down for any sign of the group's return. Although they hadn't been gone long, it already felt like too long and she was getting anxious for their return.

Just as she planned to go and find Carol, or someone else to talk to in hopes of passing the time, a commotion could be heard from the direction in which the group went. Alison looked up, her green eyes locked on the cell door that separated the two sections. Her forethought was that walkers were coming through, attempting to break through and enter their secluded section of the building but the reality was far worse.

"Open the door." Rick yelled as the entire group came rushing through. Alison ran forward to join Carol who was already making quick work at unlocking the door. Ali took a moment to adjust before she saw Hershel, bleeding and laid on a makeshift stretcher. Her hand instinctively went to her mouth as he was moved through to one of the cells.

"Go, go, go, go. In there" Rick commanded, to which everyone followed and delivered Hershel to the nearest cell. "Get him on the bed." he added.

"What the fuck happened?" Ali said from a few paces behind as she looked to Daryl, subconsciously checking him incase he was hurt as well.

Daryl looked at her as they paced over to the cell "He got bit." he stated.

Alison arrived in the cell, pulling her hair out of her face as she joined Rick and Carol in moving the man onto the bottom bunk bed.

Without any prompt, everyone looked to Alison for what to do. Considering Hershel was usually the person in charge of medical, it was down to her to call the shots on what to do next. "We need bandages." She spoke, feeling her voice crack slightly as she did so.

Sometimes it was easy to think straight in times of emergency but not this time. The fact that it was Hershel laying there bleeding out, the man who had collected her from school when she was younger. Made her and her siblings dinner when their parents were out of town, the man was the whole reason she had survived this long in the new world so seeing him like that broke her heart.

"We used everything we had." Glenn spoke, breaking her from the brief trance she was in.

Alison shook her head "Well get more. Anything" she commanded as she rolled up the sleeves of the flannel shirt she was wearing and began to apply pressure to the wound.

"Carl, go get the towels from the back, right next to my bed." Lori instructed her son, who ran quickly to get what was asked.

The rags which were being used to soak up any blood were quickly becoming too saturated and Ali's, along with Carol's, hands were getting soaked in the blood.

Ali quickly removed the shirt, leaving her in just the tank top that sat underneath and used the fabric as a makeshift rag until Carl returned with towels.

"Is he gonna die?" Beth asked in a terrified tone, a question which Alison ignored as she focused on what to do next.

Rick looked at her "You think you can stabilise him?" he asked, to which the brunette chewed her lip, unsure of how best to answer the question. She didn't want to make her lack of faith in herself apparent, and she didn't want to give anyone false hope.