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AS A COUPLE SHORT days went by, more and more people came up with the sickness. And, like clockwork, more and more died. Jules shakily breathed out, staring as Caleb pressed his ear to the chest of a sickly man, trying to figure out whether or not he still had any life in him. Caleb raised his head, shaking his head so gently Jules could barely tell.
Coughing could be heard in the distance as the three of them worked. Day in and day out Jules was staying in here, both putting an end to lives and trying to continue others. She's been fine this far; no signs of having the illness. Bob's words about no one getting lucky replayed in her head endlessly. How long would it be until she wasn't lucky anymore? Every second she awaited the feeling of a scratchy throat, but it never came.
Shortly after, Rick came in, in need of medical attention. Hershel nodded wordlessly at Jules, and she took that as Rick would be her next patient. They sat in a different room to prevent Rick from being exposed any further.
His knuckles were bloodied as Jules cleaned them, her examining them to make sure he didn't need any stitches. "On the bright side, it looks like you won't need stitches," Jules said, smiling humorlessly.
Rick's shoulders sagged, leant forward. He wasn't looking at her or his wound. He looked lost, like he was in a faraway place. Jules bit her lip awkwardly, knowing there was nothing she could do to pull him out of it.
"Are you okay, Rick?" she mumbled, albeit a little reluctantly. After all this time, the man still intimidated her. She blamed it on growing up without a father figure.
"Hand hurts," he replied hoarsely, though Jules knew it wasn't that. She only vaguely knew of what occurred earlier. That same morning, when Jules arrived in their makeshift med-wing, two bloody trails led outside. The trails ended at two burnt bodies. One of which being Tyreese's partner, Karen. It was a mystery as to who killed the two. It was no secret that the two victims in the matter were both the two showing symptoms the earliest (aside from Patrick and Charlie).
"I didn't mean your hand," she replies softly, trying to meet his gaze as she began wrapping gauze around the wound. However, he never looked up to connect. When he didn't say anything, she continues, "Everything's been going wrong lately. It sucks no longer feeling kind of safe. Death feels like it's always lurking around the corner."
"It was always there," he says crudely, finally looking up to his wound. Jules deemed that as progress.
"Um, Hershel wanted me to tell you there's a council meeting tomorrow morning."
