the weight of living; c.g.

[1.1]: split

After the medicine was delivered to the sick, I was free to roam the prison again, not confined to the offices anymore. That last night, there was a rash of death in Cell Block A, most turning into biters and attacking, but apparently Hershel, Maggie, and a few other handled it. Grace had stayed in her cell, thankfully there were bars on those.

Nobody told me about that until the next day. That was probably a good thing, as I would have freaked out and rushed in there and done something stupid. As long as Grace was safe, it was okay. She was getting better, getting closer to a normal temperature and coughing less. She was always a strong kid when it came to being sick.

For a while, I tried to find Carol, but nobody seemed to know where she was. I hadn't seen her since watching her leave on the run with Rick. I assumed she was with the sick, so I made my way to Cell Block A. Hopefully, they would let me in. I could see Grace and Carol again after all this time.

First, I took a detour to Grace and I's old cell in Cell Block D. I had left my knife in there before the whole sickness started, and hadn't had a chance to retrieve it yet. I stuck it in it's sheath, the weight of it against my leg feeling comforting.

As I walked across the block, I heard someone call my name from a cell. I turned to see Mika's head poking out from behind a sheet.

"Come here!" She grinned, beckoning me with her hand. Slightly confused but still amused, I entered the cell. Lizzie and Mika were inside, playing with baby Judith.

"Judith won't play with the cups." Lizzie looked up at me from where she was trying to put the red Solo cups in front of the baby. Judith was acting fussy, refusing to play with them.

"Well, she probably just wants to-" I began my sentence, but before I could finish, a boom shook the cell block. Judith started bawling, so I took her in my arms.

"What was that?" Mika and Lizzie looked to me, eyes wide. I was at a loss for words. What could make that kind of noise?

"Lizzie, Mika can you two do me a favor? Can you go to Cell Block A and see if Grace is okay? If something bad is happening, I want you to bring her to me. I'll be here." I ordered them, still holding Judith.

I would have wanted to get Grace myself, but I knew they wouldn't be able to handle Judith in this situation. I had to trust them to bring Grace back safe. In the meantime, I bounced Judith in my lap, trying to get her to calm down.

It seemed like hours before they got back, with Grace in tow. I beamed as she walked in, having not seen her since the day the sickness spread. She hugged me on the side, since I was still holding Judith.

"I missed you." She grinned, putting her head on my shoulder.

"I missed you too." I smiled back.

"Okay, what did you girls see when you were out there?" I suddenly remembered the issue at hand.

"Theres a group of people outside the fence. They've got Hershel and Michonne. It looks bad." Lizzie filled me in.

"Okay. Are people evacuating to the bus?" I thought back to the escape plan Carol had explained to me, days ago.

"I think so. We should go!" Mika started gathering her stuff.

"Carol told us we should defend ourselves." Lizzie stood where she was, hands on her hips.

"They have guns. We should have guns too." Lizzie continued, staring at us.