𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐒 | 𝐭𝐰𝐝 ²

29.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE,
one, two. death is coming for you.

━━━━

Hacking coughs boomed all around the struggling blonde as she struggled to help Hershel and Glenn keep a fellow patient named Henry alive. Nadia had gotten so sick that she could barely stand up, which left Nicole forced to take her place. Glenn and Nicole struggled to try and still Henry as Hershel was putting together a breathing pump. She could feel the beads of sweat pooling at the crown of her head - she was getting weaker. Nicole kept trying to fight her coughs, but they kept slipping out along with the building blood in her lungs.

“Henry, I need you to calm down. We’re trying to help,” Hershel ordered. Nicole coughed into her arm; the chances of this man hearing them were slim to none. Hell, she could barely hear what was happening because of the building pressure in her head. Nicole watched as Hershel slid the tube down Henry’s throat - Nicole pushed his arms down when he tried to flail them. After a moment, he stilled as he sucked in a deep breath that the pump provided him. The blonde let out a sigh of relief, leaning back against the wall to cough into her shoulder to avoid spreading it more. They had saved one person - now they only had 30 left to go.

“Drink some of that,” Hershel ordered, gesturing toward his canteen of elderberry tea. “Both of you.” Glenn poured a cup for Nicole and handed it to her. Weakly, she seized it from his hands, downing it in a matter of seconds. The wet feeling felt amazing as it slid down her dry and burning throat; Nicole sighed in a second of comfort as she leaned back against the wall.

“Some council meeting, huh?” Hershel chuckled.

Nicole scoffed, leaning her head back against the wall but keeping her eyes on the older man. “Most fun I’ve had in years,” she said sarcastically.

“Sarcasm’s a good sign of health,” Glenn rasped, sending a weak but playful glance at his sick friend.

Hershel chuckled slightly again. “I think we should make some new rules before the others get back,” he began. “I hereby declare we have Spaghetti Tuesdays every Wednesday.” Nicole lifted her head up, giving him a half-amused expression. Normally, Nicole would’ve been laughing at his poor attempt at lightening everyone's spirits, but all she could do was give a slightly forced smile. “Now, we just have to find some Spaghetti.”

Nicole shook her head slightly as Hershel turned to her. “You okay to take over for me?” he asked, holding out the air pump. “I want to check on Sasha, Nadia, and the others.” She nodded, taking the pump from his hands and doing what she was told. Hershel and Glenn stood up.

“Can-” Nicole paused to cough into her shoulder. “Can you check on Arabella for me?” Hershel gave her a reassuring nod before the two of them made their way over to the little girls cell first. Nicole sighed, staring down at the man within an inch of his life. If they had any chance of beating this thing, Daryl and the rest of them needed to hurry the hell up.

✦✧✦✧

It had been two hours since Glenn took over her position with Henry. Second by second, she could feel death creeping closer and closer to her shoulder. It wouldn’t be long now before it tore through her flesh like the walkers would. Her breaths were shallow and scarce; it hurt her to breath. This wasn’t how she wanted to go out. She didn’t want to die from a glorified cold; though she probably would have been better off had she not trashed her system so many years ago.

Her green eyes seemed dimmer than they usually were as she stared blankly at the bed rungs above her. Coughs erupted from her throat and so did the usual blood that came with it. She wiped it away with the back of her hand just as a gunshot boomed through the concrete walls and ricocheted inside of her head. The sound made her cringe, but she didn’t hesitate to just jump into action. She pushed herself from her bed and darted downstairs.

Nicole’s frantic eyes saw what had triggered the panic. It was absolute chaos. Nicole quickly unsheathed her knife, and stabbed the monster crawling toward Hershel, who was on the ground, before she went over and finished off the walker feasting on a man’s neck. The dead man had a revolver in his hand - she assumed that was where the gunshot rang from. She quickly made sure that revolver man couldn’t come back either. Nicole stepped over to grab the small revolver and tuck it into her pocket before moving over to Hershel. She gave him her hand and pulled him up. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he told her before a bloodcurdling scream erupted from above. Both of them jerked their heads up, seeing Lizzie on the ground with Henry trying to drive his teeth into her. Hershel instantly started up the stairs - Nicole was hot on his tail. Hershel went toward Lizzie, but Nicole ran toward Henry’s cell. Glenn was the last shift.

Glenn had collapsed on the ground, choking on the blood that was starting to build in his mouth. “No, no, no,” Nicole muttered to herself, turning him on his side as coughs forced their way out of her mouth. “C’mon, Peach, you ain’t dying on me today,” she told him as the blood spilled from his mouth. “Hershel!” she shouted.

The old man appeared beside her, kneeling down beside her to check Glenn’s pulse. “Keep him breathing,” he said before he disappeared again, leaving a frantic Nicole with a dying Glenn. Blood was pooling on the ground beside him as his body started dry heaving in an attempt to rid the bloody blockage. There were several gunshots in the background but Nicole focused herself on her friend. She tried to rack her brain for any sort of solution; Hershel returned to her side just as she shot up to spring into action.

Nicole jogged over to the chainlink bed that Henry was laying on with the air pump they’d used to save his life. Nicole yanked out the revolver she’d taken from that man earlier, aiming it at the monster. “Nicole, no! You could hit the bag!” Hershel’s voice called out to her, but she ignored him as she shot the bullet directly into its head. Nicole smirked, jumping in with it to retrieve the pump.

“Nicole?!” Maggie’s voice shouted from below. The blonde directed her attention to the brunette for a split second.

“Glenn’s upstairs! Cell 100!” Nicole shouted as she unclipped the support. Her brain was racing with thoughts as she removed the tube from Henry’s throat.

“Nicole!” Maggie called out. “Hurry up - he’s turnin’ blue!” Nicole finally got the pump off of Henry and rushed over the railing and then to Glenn.

“Roll him on his back,” Hershel ordered, taking the bag from Nicole. Both Maggie and Nicole complied. “Pin his arms down.” Maggie straddled him, pinning his hands and arms underneath her knees. That’s when Nicole started panicking more than she already was; Glenn began choking as his airways got clogged again. Nicole watched as Hershel fiddled with the bag and new tube before motioning for Nicole to hold open his mouth. She didn’t hesitate to do as she was told while Hershel slid the tube down his throat, trying to comfort the choking man.

After what seemed like forever and a day, Glenn stilled and as his lungs took in the air that the bag was providing. Nicole sighed in relief, pushing back his sweaty hair. She couldn’t have been more grateful that her friend was alive. The people she cared about most were alive.

✦✧✦✧

Nicole sat beside Nadia as Bob crushed up the medicine that would make her feel better. Her bloody hands gently stroked Nadia’s greasy hair as she leaned into Nicole’s shoulder, struggling to breathe. Thankfully, Nadia’s symptoms were mild compared to Glenn’s. She wasn’t choking on her own blood, but she was dizzy and coughing up blood like a storm. Nicole stared at Bob as he grabbed ahold of Nadia’s clammy arm and pushed the needle into her arm.

“Bob?” Nicole whispered as he injected the meds into her friend’s bloodstream. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch before,” she continued, rubbing gentle circles on Nadia’s intertwined hand. “I shouldn’t have blamed you for what happened to Zach.”

“You were right to blame me, Nicole,” he responded as he removed the needle from her friend’s skin. “I did cause Zach to get bit.”

Nicole didn’t respond as she maneuvered to help Nadia lay back down on her bed. Bob gathered his things to move on to the next patient, but Nicole stopped him. She extended her hand, which caused a confused expression to contort on his face. “Truce?”

Bob gave her a toothless smile and took her hand. “Truce.”