Survivor (A Glenn Rhee fanfiction)

Dead Weight

Chapter 43: Dead Weight
[ song of the chapter - silhouettes - of monsters and men ]
Kadyn's POV

  "It's hard letting go.  I'm finally at peace but it feels wrong.  Slow, I'm getting up.  My hands and feet are weaker than before."

  My hands rest on Glenn's chest, rising and falling with every breath he takes.  I bunch up the soft fabric of his t-shirt with my fingers.   Although asleep, he is stable; breathing on his own without the annihilator pump.

I know if he was awake he'd be telling me to get some rest, but I can't leave his side. I cannot even fathom going to sleep next to his bedside in fear something will happen. He could fall into a near death experience any moment, but I'd still trade places with him in an instant.

The cell block is quiet. Most of the people are either asleep or mourning. The attack yesterday left quite a few residents dead.

Suddenly, Hershel appears in the doorway of the cell. "How's he holding up?" The older man asks, watching as Glenn breathes softly.

"He's stable. Sleeping." I reply, glancing at Glenn with a sigh.

"Good. We don't need any more accidents." Hershel chuckles.

"Agreed." I reply.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me." Hershel dismisses himself, leaving Glenn and I in the peaceful silence.

Not even fifteen minutes later, Rick rushes into the cell.

"Kadyn, we need your help. There's been another breech," Rick states. I jump up from the stool I was sitting on.

I'm torn between helping the others and staying with Glenn, but I quickly decide to go with my gut. I take one last look at Glenn before dashing out of the cell with Rick on my heels.

"How did it happen this time?" I ask Rick as we sprint out of the cell block.

"One of the fences had a weak spot. They pushed through a gap." Rick replies.

Out in the main courtyard, Daryl and Maggie are fighting against a group of walkers.

I draw my pistol out of the holster and fire at one of the walkers.

"Get to the fence!" Rick instructs. "We need to close the gap!"

I run around a few of the corpses, rushing towards the wall of chain link. I take out one of the nearing walkers with my knife before fixing the hole in the fence by pulling the two pieces together. With Daryl's help, we manage to close up the gap and beat off the walkers on the outside.

By the time we are done, Rick and Maggie have finished off the last few walkers in the courtyard.

"Kadyn?" I hear a light voice behind me laced with fear and worry.

I spin around to find Baylee. She stands next to the administration building with a look of concern etched across her features.

"It's okay, we took care of it." I assure the girl, taking a step towards her and holstering my pistol.

Baylee lets out a breath of relief. I haven't seen her since before the medicine run.

Suddenly, a walker stumbles out from behind the administration building.

"Baylee!" I cry out, rushing forward.

The corpse grabs Baylee and she screams, struggling to push it away.

I yell, pulling out my pistol once again. I shoot the walker the second before it takes a bite out of Baylee's arm. The corpse falls to the ground behind Baylee.

I rush forward to the shaken girl, engulfing her in my arms. There's no need to worry about the illness spreading to her, now that we have the medicines to take care of it.

Baylee buries her face into my shoulder and wraps her thin arms around my waist.

"It didn't scratch you or anything, did it?" I ask, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.

Baylee shakes her head and mumbles out a "no", hugging me tighter.

"You're okay." I breathe, resting my chin on the top of her blonde head.

Just the thought of losing Baylee makes me shudder. I've lost my family already. I lost Joey and Bella. I can't lose her too.

"Let's go back to the cell block," I suggest, and Baylee nods, pulling away from my embrace.

"I don't have to stay in there anymore?" Baylee asks, gesturing to the administration building.

"Not if you don't want to." I reply, rubbing her shoulder gently.

Baylee nods her head again and we head back up to the prison, following behind Rick, Maggie, and Daryl.

"Is Glenn okay?" Baylee asks quietly as we walk into her old cell.

"He's stable. He was sleeping when I left." I answer, sitting down at the end of the prison bed.

Baylee sits across from me, curling her legs up next to her body.

"Are you okay?" Baylee asks, looking up at me.

I smile a little at her. "I am right now. What about you?"

"Yeah." Baylee sighs, smiling back at me.

We sit quietly for a few moments until Baylee breaks the silence.

"When I was in the administration building, I started to think of my brother." She whispers.

"You miss him." I state, nodding my head in encouragement. "I miss my brother as well."

"We had to leave our parents behind. The car crashed right when we got out of Atlanta." Baylee continues, sighing.

"I'm sorry," I say, squeezing her hand a little.

"Thanks." Baylee replies gratefully. "What was your brother like?"

"He was sweet. Protective." I say, thinking about Joey in my head.

"So was Steve." Baylee comments.

"I know it's not the same, but we have each other." I tell the younger girl gently.

"It feels like the same." Baylee replies, smiling at me. She hugs me and then stands up.

"I'm gonna go find Carl." Baylee shrugs her shoulders, and waves.

I smile at her and wave back. "Be careful."

I stand up as well and stretch my arms above my head.

I make my way back to the quarantine cell block. After climbing the metal staircase to upper level, I enter Glenn's cell.

I seat myself on the small stool where I was before. 

Glenn is still asleep, one hand resting on his chest as it rises and falls. I reach for his hand and hold it in mine.

Glenn's eyes flutter and he squeezes my hand weakly. Through half open eyes, he looks up at me. A smile creeps onto his pale lips, tilting them upwards.

  "I'm already there, I'm already there.
Wherever there is you, I will be there too."

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hi. I know this is really short, but the next chapter will be a lot longer I promise. 

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I love you all so much, thanks for all of the support.

-Walker-Bait