30 days without an accident
"morning." carol mumbled, greeting me as she handed me a plate full of breakfast foods.
"good morning" i smiled, taking the food from her hand, placing it down on a near by table while my eyes scanned over to the people looking for glenn.
"hey daryl." everyone greeted, smiles spread across all of their faces as he walked in, coming over to where me and carol were.
i scoffed at their reactions, carol booty bumping my side, as she cut veggies, "smells good" he complimented, glancing between us.
"just so you know, we both had you first." she joked, grinning up at him. he shook his head at both of us, "stop."
i grinned to myself, popping a cherry tomato in my mouth, "hey, have you seen glenn?" i asked, looking between the two.
"not since i woke up" daryl replied, carol nodded in agreement. i groaned, turning my head so i could look across the yard.
"rick did a good job" i stated, talking about the garden which had vegetables that just started to show. "we all did" carol corrected, putting the knife down.
"mr and mrs dixon..." a voice came up behind us, causing me and daryl to turn and look, "i just wanted to thank you guys for bringing that deer back yesterday, it was a real treat."
i laughed as the words came out of the teens mouth, unsure if he had really just said mr and mrs dixon.
"we appreciate it, but i'm not mrs dixon." i informed, trying not to be rude, daryl continued to laugh beside me.
"oh, my apology." he muttered, his cheeks flushing a bright red. i felt a hand wrap around my waist, causing me to smile already knowing it was glenn.
he planted a kiss on my temple, before looking between daryl and the kid. "oh um, i- i would be honored to shake your guys hand" the kid stammered, stumbling over his words at the sight of glenn.
"sure" i smiled, chuckling at his reaction as i reached my hand out for him to shake, he shot me back a smile, shaking it.
"hey, can we talk?" glenn asked, pulling me to the side, away from the others. i gave him a questioning look but agreed, "okay?"
he slipped his hand into mine, pulling me with him as we walked to the fence. i looked out, watching seeing the walkers piled up against the fence.
"i don't think you should go today."
"really?" i questioned, kind of sarcastically, earning a glance from him, "yeah."
he looked down at the ground obviously concerned about something, "we got the suits" i reminded, referring to the armor and riot gear from the prison.
he shook his head, "yeah but you don't have to go. you shouldn't."
his words causing me to turn towards him, running my fingers through his soft hair, "you know everything will work out, right?"
he paused for a minute, causing me to raise my eyebrows at him. he caught on, finally nodding, "right....right."
he gave me a reassuring look before leaning in to kiss my lip, my stomach erupting from his touch.
he soon pulled away looking into my eyes, "but you're staying, okay?"
i rolled my eyes, "glenn rhee"
"melanie rhee" he stated in a stern voice.
"they need me there, i need to start pulling my weight again." i informed, connecting my eyes with his.
he shook his head, "i pull our weight as a whole."
"yes, and i appreciate you for it, but i miss being out there with everyone." i muttered, trying to plead for his consent.
we both know id go either way, but i liked him being on my side instead of against it.
"fine" he started, taking a deep breath, "i hope i don't regret this."
his words causing a smile to spread across my face, "you won't, i promise."
my attention quickly turned towards the gate when i heard a whistle, "just pick me up down there" i informed glenn, who nodded, before i took off down the driveway.
i smiled seeing michonne walking in with rick and carl, "miss me?" she questioned, returning the smile.
"you bet" i stated, engulfing her into a hug as the cars pulled up beside us.
i pulled away from her, looking at them, "you going on a run?" she questioned, glancing between me and glenn, who was in the car smiling towards us.
"couldn't let my partner in crime go without me anymore." i informed, gesturing towards him.
she smiled, "that's good, i'm glad to see you happy."
i nodded, "come on, let's not keep them waiting any longer."
with that, we both moved to the car, hopping in. glenn gave me a smile, holding my hand in his as we drove away.
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once we arrived, i stepped out of the car with my hand on my gun, checking the place out.
"so they all just left?" bob questioned, talking about the walkers who used to be behind the fence.
"give it a listen." sasha stated, causing us all to go silent, hearing faint music start to ring through my ears.
"you drew um out?" i asked, turning to her. she nodded, "put a beat box out there three days ago."
glenn appeared by my side as he messed with his gun, "hooked it up to two car batteries."
"all right then, let's make a sweep." daryl started, entering through the gate, "make sure it's safe. grab what you can. we'll come back tomorrow with more people."
me and michonne broke off from the rest of the group, as we made our way inside. the only noise that could be heard were the wheels from the shopping cart.
i looked around me, passing all of the untouched items until my eyes landed on a baby add, which caused me to stop in place.
me and glenn have talked about if we would ever want one, a baby. i didn't think it was the brightest idea and i never wanted one before this. glenn had agreed, but just thinking of a baby rhee running around made my hurt warm.
a loud crashing noise caught both of our attentions, snapping me out of thought. we both looked at each other, before we rushed to where it had came from.
"what happened?!" i yelled in panick, looking down to see bob under a shelve, the others joining around me.
"i was moving fast, i drove right into the drinks." he panicked, causing me to kneel down beside the shelf.
"it's okay, we'll get you out from under there." i assured, looking down at him.
a loud crash rang through the room, light brightening through a new hole in the ceiling.
i looked up, my eyes widening as a walker body came into view, dangling right above us. "jesus" i mumbled, backing up to get a better view.
glenn and sasha ran around the corner, joining us, "yeah, uh, we should probably go now." glenn stated, looking up at the body.
"bobs still stuck, get him out of there!" daryl announced, running to where he was.
"we'll get the other side." i informed, referring to me and michonne but before we could move, more bodies started falling through the ceiling.
we all separated, running in every direction where there wasn't a walker coming through the roof.
"hey!" bob screamed, making me run back in his direction, shooting every walker near me. "i'm coming!" i yelled to him, finally arriving to where he was.
both me and daryl started lifting the shelf, grabbing him out from under, while zach covered us.
i slung bobs arm over my shoulder, running towards the entrance with daryl on the other side of him.
a scream echoed through the whole building, causing us to turn back, "zack!"glenn yelled as we watched the boy get overtaken by a walker.
"just go! go!" daryl yelled, causing all of us to run and as we did, as a huge plane came falling through the roof.
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the ride was quiet as we drove back to the prison, zack never left my mind. i didn't know the kid, but he seemed like someone who'd be fun to have around the prison.
finally we arrived back, everyone unloaded the cars, trying to ignore the idea of zack.
daryl had informed me that he would be the one to tell beth, i nodded in agreement.
me and michonne decided to walk together back to the cell block to get cleaned up and maybe catch some rest if we could.
"do you think you and glenn will ever have a baby?" she questioned, my eyes shot to hers in surprise, considering how random it was.
"um, that's random." i mumbled, giving her a questioning look.
she smiled, "i just thought it would be nice for you guys to have one of your own, you know?"
i stopped in my tracks, causing her to turn and face me. "how can you say that after today? after i delivered judith and watched lori die."
"melanie, you're brave. you shouldn't have to be afraid of things like this." she stated, grabbing my hand and giving it a little squeeze.
my eyes wondered around the room, "being afraid is what's keeping us alive." i mumbled, my eyes connecting with hers again.
"no, it's how we keep breathing." she started, giving me a small smile, "look, i'm not trying to pressure you into anything, but this could be your light to such a dark world."
i gave her a nod before turning into my cell, the idea of a baby never leaving my mind.
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my body jolted from the sound of a loud click awakening me from my sleep. i opened my eyes to see a giggling glenn, holding a camera.
he nonchalantly pulled the film from the old kodak, while still smiling down at me, "sorry"
i chuckled, starring up at him, "i'll bring you breakfast after perimeter check." he mumbled, leaning down to kiss me.
i slipped my hand into his pocket, grabbing the polaroid picture causing him to pull away, looking at me. "oh my god, throw that away" i uttered in disgust.
he gave me a sad expression, before looking at it himself, "yeah. not gonna happen, it's mine." he stated, getting up to leave.
i shook my head, smiling at him as he opened the trap door, heading down the ladder. i held up the door, kissing his hand before he let go.
i stood up grabbing my gun, admiring the view from the guard tower. my eyes landed on rick, who was sending michonne off.
i gave her a wave goodbye, earning a smile as she mounted the horse, making her way to the gate.
a loud boom from inside the prison caught my attention, causing my eyes to shoot to where rick was.
"cell blocks?!" i yelled down to him, earning a shrug, "i don't know." he replied, sending carl in my direction.
i rushed down the guard tower, meeting carl at the bottom. "go up and wait, don't move until we know what's happening."
he nodded before i took off, running along side rick up to the courtyard. "walkers in d!" glenn shouted just as we made it past the gates.
"what about c?" i questioned, joining the others. "clear. we locked the gates to the tombs. hershels on guard."
"it ain't a breach" daryl informed, running past us with sasha and tyreese. "shit" i mumbled, bolting to the cell block.
while i ran, my hand reached down to my belt loop, grabbing my fighting knife before entering with the rest.
screams of terror filled the room as people and kids evacuated the rooms. i quickly jumped into action, grabbing kids and handing them to whoever was safe.
i felt bony hands grab my arm, causing me to turn and see a walker, getting ready to bite my flesh. before it could sink its teeth into my skin, i hurriedly pierced my knife through its skull, watching it fall limp to the ground.
"up here!" i heard someone yell as me and daryl made our way up to the loft. we met with rick and glenn, who stood in the doorway examining a body.
"oh, it's patrick" daryl muttered, looking down at the blood covered boy. i bent down, examining the trails of blood that ran down his face.
soon hershel and doctor s entered the room, also looking over patrick's body. "no bites. no wounds. i think he just died."
i nodded to rick before moving my eyes to doctor s, "horribly too. pleurisy aspiration"
"choked to death on his own blood. caused those trails down his face." hershel informed, looking down at the boy sadly.
"i've seen them before on a walker outside the fences." rick chimed in, glancing around the group.
"they're from the internal lung pressure building up-" i started earning a nod from doctor s before he finished, "-like if you shake a soda can and pop the top. only imagine your eyes, ears, nose, and throat are the top."
"it's a sickness from the walkers?" bob questioned, causing me to shake my head as i looked up to him.
"no, these things happened before they were around. could be pneumococcal. most likely an aggressive flu strain."
"i had a sick pig, it died quick. saw a sick boar in the woods." rick stated, glancing towards me.
"pigs and birds. that's how these things spread in the past."
"maybe we got lucky. maybe these two cases are it." doctor s mentioned, causing bob to shake his head, "haven't seen anybody lucky in a long time. bugs like to run through close quarters. doesn't get any closer than this"
i stood up, crossing my arms over my chest, "all of us in here, we've all been exposed."
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3/2/2021