infection | D. Dixon

chapter twelve

mad gunman

Merle pulled me in for a one-armed hug as soon as I climbed out of the RV. "Damn Girl!" He cheered. "What other tricks do you got up your sleeve?" He pulled me towards the house, where the rest of the group had come outside for Josef to unlock the houses.

I opened my bag and pulled out a leatherback notebook. "Lots." I joked.

Merle clicked his tongue. "Lori says she's fixing a barbecue." He said, snatching the book from my hands. "'DIY walls with insulation for winter'." He read aloud. "You are officially scary." He chuckled, handing me back the book.

Shane dropped an armful of timber in the centre of the yard. "Shane, you might want to make the fire closer to the house." Rick said as he approached me. "We were going to start a garden here. I can help you move it if you want." He said, attempting to pick up some wood.

Shane hit his hand away and scoffed. "I don't need your help. And if you keep supporting her behaviour Amy isn't going to be the only one she kills."

I sighed and rolled my shoulder, which was hurting something crazy. "Amy died because the infection spread before we amputated her arm." I snapped.

Shane scowled at me. "I don't want you anywhere near the children."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I don't have a choice. I'm the doctor, they're going to need to come see me."

Shane flipped me off and began making the fire closer to the house.

Daryl moved the RV next to he smallest house while Merle moved the ambulance into the gates. "We should bury the girls in the back with my girlfriend." Josef said quietly.

Dale, standing next to Rick, seemed to disagree. "We should burn the dead." He said.

Glenn shook his head. "No way. We bury our own." He snapped, thrusting a shovel into Dale's hands.

I left the conversation with my notebook in hand. I was going to start a winter garden to keep my mind off of the group's bickering.

+

I had decided to sleep in the ambulance overnight to stay away from the rest of the group. Daryl and Merle had slept in the RV, but were long gone before I woke up. Lori was at the door with a smile on her face and a plate in her hand. "Good morning." She said, motioning for me to take the plate with my rations on it.

I shook my head and told her to eat it. "How did the test go?" I asked, sitting cross legged on the gurney I used as a bed.

Lori chewed a piece of rabbit in thought. "It was positive." She said quietly. "What do we do?"

I put my head in my hands in thought. Pulling my hair away from my face I looked up at the pregnant woman. "Do you want to terminate or keep going?" I asked.

Lori put her hand on her stomach. "I want to keep it." She said with a thin smile. "I know it'll be a lot of trouble, but I can't help but think that this could be a good thing. This can be the future."

Opened up a calendar. "So if you've been throwing up for a week that means you're seven weeks along." I said. "Which means your due date is the seventeenth of July."

Lori smiled.

"I have a portable ultrasound in my suitcase. We can do monthly checkups. I'll find you some prenatal vitamins, but for now I would keep this between us. Does the father know?" I asked.

Lori's eyes widened. "I haven't even thought of telling Shane." She gasped. "What if he doesn't want the baby?"

I glanced out the door at the thin layer of frost covering the ground. "Then he should have worn protection."