A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S4Pt5 - A New Virus

While we were at the gates, we saw Michonne approaching and running on foot. The walkers were active because of the gunshot and flicked towards Michonne. Carl helped me opened the gates for her, but once she was in, two walkers managed to sneak through. Michonne ended up tripping over her own feet and fell to the ground, twisting her ankle. I ran behind a walker and stabbed it, and Carl shot the other one. I saw Carl was a little nervous about the gun he was holding and cautiously dropped it on the ground. I then helped Michonne stand up and wrapped her arm around my shoulder to support her. Once we closed all the gates, Maggie grabbed Michonne's other arm and helped walk her up to the cellblocks.
Once we reached the courtyard, we saw Rick come out of Cellblock D's doors. Carl ran up to him but Rick held up his hand.
"Carl, stay back." Rick said, but Carl hugged him anyways.
"Dad I'm so sorry. I used a gun by the gates. I swear I didn't want to." Carl cried.
"It was worth it." I said.
"He saved me." Michonne added.
Rick just nodded and took a couple steps back.
"What happened in there?" Maggie asked.
Instead of Rick answering, we saw a woman walk out of the cellblock carrying a dead body, wrapped up in a sheet, in her arms.
"Patrick got sick and died. Some kind of flu that attacks fast. He attacked the entire cellblock." Rick said. "We need to separate everyone who's been exposed. I'm sorry, but Glenn and your dad were in there. Daryl too." Rick told us, then looked at Carl. "I'm sorry Carl. I know he was your friend."
Carl just nodded and walked back over to my side. We walked past Rick and into the cellblock to fix up Michonne. I sat her down at a table and left to go find Daryl. I had to make sure he was okay.
After searching half the prison I saw Daryl walking around outside. I ran up to him and he opened his arms for a hug.
"Kelley. Thank God you're okay." He said.
"Me? What about you?" I said and hugged him tighter.
"I'm okay." He said and rubbed my back.
He then let me go and looked at me.
"There's a council meeting in a few minutes." Daryl informed me.
I grabbed his hand and we walked over to the administration building where we held the council meetings. After a few minutes everyone showed up and we sat down to discuss the situation.
"Patrick was fine yesterday, and he died overnight. Two people died that quick?" Carol said. "We are going to have to separate everyone that's been exposed."
"We could used Cellblock A." I suggested.
"Death row?" Glenn said, not really liking the idea.
"It's the best we can provide right now." I sighed.
Trust me, I didn't like it either. I felt my anxiety get worse and I clenched my fists. I shook Patrick's hand, I came in contact with him and so did Daryl. We could possibly get this virus and end up just like him.
"We need to go-" Hershel began to say.
Suddenly we heard coughing in the hallway.
"You okay?" We heard Tyreese ask.
"Mh-hmm." A woman said.
We all instantly walked to the door and looked it the hallway. We saw Tyreese and Karen walking together and we stopped them.
"Are you sure?" Carol asked. "You don't sound too good."
"I'm just taking her back to my cell so she can rest." Tyreese said.
"No you're not." I butted in. "Judith is in that cellblock and she's vulnerable. Karen will have to go to Cellblock A for now." I said.
"You have symptoms of a flu that possibly killed Patrick." Hershel explained.
"Oh god." Karen said and covered a small cough. "Yeah, okay." She nodded. "If that's the case, David from the Decatur group, he's been coughing too."
"I'll get him." Glenn said.
He led Karen and Tyreese to go get David and head to isolation. I sighed and stepped away from everyone.
"I'll get to burying the dead ones." Daryl said.
"You wear gloves and a mask." Hershel ordered.
Daryl nodded and left the room. I followed him to go help and we went to the field. In the bottom corner of the yard, we starting digging graves for each person we lost. Rick showed up to help when Maggie started to yell.
"The fence is starting to give!"
"Shit." Rick muttered.
We all dropped our shovels and ran over to the fence with Maggie. Rick, Daryl, Maggie, and Glenn, and myself grabbed weapons and started killing them, but there were too many. One walker that was in front of me lunged at the fence and knocked me to the ground. Daryl noticed and held out his hand to help me up, but I dismissed his hand and got up. I walked farther down the fence line, trying to get a better angle, when I saw chewed up rats at the edge of the fence.
"Rick!" I yelled. "Is someone feeding these things?" I said and pointed at the rats.
They looked at me and were shocked when they saw the rats, but then the fence started creaking. The walkers were climbing up the fence and weighing it down.
"It's gonna give!" Rick yelled. "Hold it! Hold it up!"
Everyone started yelling at each other in frustration and we were panicking. We were struggling to hold up hundreds of pounds of dead weight. Legitimate dead weight.
"Everyone back!" Daryl ordered.
We listened and all stood back. The walkers still pushed against the fence, but it wasn't collapsing. Rick looked around and ended up staring at the pig pen.
"Daryl, get the truck. We need to lead them away." Rick said.
Daryl nodded and ran to get the truck. I followed Rick over to the pigs and help lift them into the truck bed. Maggie and Glenn opened the gates, and they drove outside the prison. I noticed the walkers started following them, heard pigs squealing, and knew it was time to tear down the pig pen.
I started a burn pile and was almost done tearing it down when they came back. Rick walked over and helped me finish burning the rest. He then walked over to his toolbox, opened it, and took out his belt. He put it on, slowly picked up his gun, and holstered it.
Before he shut the toolbox, Rick picked up Carl's gun and sighed.
"Can you give it to him?" He asked, handing me the gun.
"You should. He's your son Rick." I said.
Rick nodded and tucked the gun in his pants. He walked over to the gasoline can and poured the rest into the fire. The fire roared and we had to step back. Rick wiped his forehead and noticed he had blood all over his hands and shirt from the pigs. He unbuttoned his shirt and held onto it for a moment. Rick sighed, shook his head, and threw his shirt into the fire.
I put my hand on his shoulder and told him to follow me. In the cellblock, I had a spare shirt I could give him, so I did. He left his cell with a clean black shirt on and I smiled at him.
"Nice." I said.
He nodded and straightened him shirt. I walked closer and felt the material and laughed.
"Yeah, it's nice." I said. "Daryl's going to be jealous. This was supposed to be his."
Rick laughed and scratched his beard.
"To make it look nicer, maybe shave."
I joked.
He laughed and looked down at me. I quieted down when I notice Rick slowly leaning forwards. He lightly touched my cheek and tried to kiss me when I stopped him. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him away.
"No. Rick.. What-?" I said, speechless.
Rick shook his head in frustration and wiped his forehead. He automatically turned around and walked away and I stood there in shock.
"What the hell was he thinking?" I asked myself.