Once A Dixon, Always A Dixon (Daryl Dixon)

Spreading Like a Wildfire

Setting: The Prison, Season Four

*Nico's POV*

"Merle!" I shriek. I try to advance but Daryl stops me. 

"Stay back!" Merle hacks and coughs up more blood. 

"Sasha, get him to Cell Block A!" Hershel commands. Sasha nods and helps Merle away. I hold my head in my hands. 

"What do I tell Harley?" I sniff. 

"Just tell her Merle's sick and it's under control," Hershel suggests. "I'll call another meeting later."

"Alright," Daryl nods. "I'll get to burying the dead ones."

"You wear gloves and a mask," Hershel commands. 

"Uh-huh," Daryl mutters and walks off. He stops my me and kisses my temple, "Just tell her the truth." I nod. I see Carol seems a little bothered. 

"You alright?" I ask. 

"I'm worried about Lizzie and Mika. They were both around Patrick," she says. 

"We all were," I point out. "Karen, Merle, and David are gonna be separated till they feel better."

"You're right," she smiles. "Are you okay?" 

I nod and look at my large belly, "Gotta be." I walk to Cell Block C, leaving Carol to her thoughts. 

I enter the block. Harley seems happy, she's cooking a pack of Ramen Noodles we found. She looks up and smiles. 

"Hey," she smiles. "You okay?" 

"We need to talk. Come into my cell," I say quietly. Harley's mood changes. 

"What's wrong?" she asks. I take a deep breath. There's no escaping the horrid and sad truth. 

"Merle's got the sickness that killed Patrick," I blurt out. Tears form in Harley's eyes. 

"B-but we can treat it, right?" she cries softly. I shake my head. 

"We don't have the medication. I expect we'll send someone on a run soon, but for all we know, it could be too late," I admit. Harley breaks down and cries onto my shoulder. 

"Hey, Merle is the toughest guy I know. He'll fight and win," I reassure my sister. Harley nods and gives me a look of gratitude. 

Outside, someone screams. It sounds like Maggie. 

"The hell?" I question and we both run out to see Rick, Daryl, and Maggie holding up a fence that's about to give. 

"Holy string cheese!" I exclaim. "Harley, get a pokey-stick and get stabbin'!" Harley nods and we grab a stick. In unison, we plunge the pointy ends into the walkers' soft skulls. 

Even after lots of stabbing, there are too many walkers. The barbed wire starts to rattle dangerously. Maggie yelps and falls over. Glenn and I rush to help her. He notices me for the first time. 

"Uh, who let Nico out of the cell block?" he yells. Thanks, Glenn. I roll my eyes. 

"I did, you dingleberry!" I snap. 

"Are you seeing this?" Sasha calls suddenly. Our attention is drawn to some half-eaten rats at the foot of the slowly-collapsing fence. 

"Someone is feeding these things?" Sasha questions in disgust. 

"Heads up!" Daryl exclaims. 

"This part of the fence, now!" I order. One of the walkers is slowly climbing up the wire, causing it to fall even further.