All of Us (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 25

"Someone get Siddiq!" I yelled out to no one in particular, but I couldn't leave Rick right now in his state. Luckily, I saw someone run towards the room Siddiq was sleeping in.

"Deep breaths," I said to Rick, my eyes wide as my mind raced trying to figure out what to do. We didn't have another respirator as the two we had were being used.

Rick continued to cough, desperate for breath. Siddiq was by our sides in an instant.

"He can't breathe," I said to Siddiq urgently.

"There are no more respirators." Siddiq said what we were both thinking.

All of a sudden, I felt a hand gently wrap around my ankle. I looked down to see Florence looking up at me. She reached for her respirator and started to pull on it slightly. I knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. Laura continued to squeeze the respirator, not sure what was happening.

Florence looked over at Rick, and then back at me. She grabbed my hand and placed it on the tube, and then nodded. I looked at Siddiq, who looked stunned.

"She wants Rick to have her respirator," Siddiq said, equally taken back. Tears welled in my eyes as I looked back to Florence. She had such a tender look in her eyes, and then nodded again. I heard Rick in the background start to cough again, and realized we were running out of time.

"Okay," I whispered. Siddiq moved over and started to take out the tube from her throat as I held onto her to keep her steady. When it was out, Siddiq ran away to wash it and quickly came back. I had been soothing Florence, but had to turn away to help Siddiq insert the tube down Rick's throat. I was relieved to finally see Rick calm down and start to breath normally.

I turned back to Florence and saw Laura rubbing her back as she struggled to breath.

"Siddiq, what do we do?" I asked frantically as I watched her in despair.  

"Get her some water," Siddiq said and Laura raised a glass to her mouth. Florence tried to drink but then spit the water out. She leaned forward and coughed out harshly, blood spurting out of her mouth and landing on my hands. I shrieked and looked back up at her, but couldn't handle seeing her like this as she gasped for air. I moved around behind her to support her and comfort her, stroking her hair out of her face. It didn't take long before her breathing slowed down. I smiled, relieved that she was able to breath again and the coughing was stopping. Everything would be okay. 

I leaned around her to look into her eyes, but stopped abruptly when I noticed them slowly fall closed. My eyes snapped to her chest that was no longer moving. The coughing had stopped because she was no longer breathing.

"Florence?" I said as I put my hands on her shoulders and shook them softly. When she didn't respond, I shook them harder.

"Florence?" I said louder this time.

"No, no, no," I said, shaking her more urgently. This felt all too real. This moment seemed so similar to when Emily had suffered in her last moments before finally slipping away in front of my eyes.

"F-Florence," I said, my voice cracking this time.

"Sloane," I heard Siddiq say quietly from where he sat beside Rick, pumping air into his lungs.

I stood up abruptly, and my vision swayed. I steadied myself and took a deep breath.

"Sloane," I heard Siddiq say again. His voice seemed so far away. I squinted and looked at him, my vision blurring slightly again.

"Go to your house and sleep. I'm good now. I'll handle everything for a while," he said.

I nodded, but stayed put. I stared down at Florence, lying lifeless on the ground in front of me, and then I looked at Rick. Rick, the man who found me and took me in. Rick, who felt like family. Rick, who was now not able to breathe on his own. Would he end up like Florence? Suddenly, it was all too much.