"Why are you up this early?" I grumbled.
Abby was tying her shoes and getting ready to go somewhere. It wasn't even 7 am yet. That's usually when I had training with Cleo. I tried to make her put it at a later time but apparently I needed to learn discipline.
I watched as Abby pulled her hair into a high ponytail. "Gardening with Carl and Rick, remember?"
I rolled my eyes at the mention of Rick's stupid new career. Instead of being our leader, he chose to be a farmer. No amount of whining seemed to convince him of going back.
"You kids have fun with your plants," A yawn escaped my lips, "I'm gonna stay here."
I heard her chuckling to herself before leaving our cell. The apocalypse didn't change my sleeping patterns. If I was allowed to, I'd sleep through the entire morning.
No matter how much sleep I got, I was always tired. None of my siblings had that problem. Abby might even be considered a morning person which is simply unacceptable.
My thoughts were interrupted by screams. I froze at the sound. When I heard it again, I threw the covers of my bed onto the floor and grabbed my gun from the cupboard.
I didn't exactly have time to change into something other than sleepwear. My feet carried me towards the cell block with the screaming. When I got there, it was chaos.
There were walkers everywhere and I didn't have time to even wonder why. All I knew was that our people were in trouble. I shot two walkers and they fell down onto the floor.
People ran past me as I saw a walker feeding on a woman's body. I pushed it off and shot it in the head.
"Josephine!"
I turned towards the sound and saw Dorothy being a pinned by a walker against the wall. She was holding it back but its hands were dangerously close to her stomach.
I couldn't risk accidently shooting Dorothy so I grabbed the walker by the shoulders. It snarled at me and I fell with it on top of me. Dorothy grabbed a bucket and hit it on the head.
It didn't kill it but it was enough to knock it off of me. I used the back of my gun to kill it. My hands got blood stained as I finally got the brain.
Dorothy helped me up and I ushered her towards a cell. As I shot another walker, she locked herself in. From behind me I could hear Rick asking people if they were bit.
I ran out of bullets and swore under my breath. "Just what I needed."
Carol helped a little girl in front of me. I saw a walker about to lunge at them and I pinned it against a wall. Daryl saw me and stabbed it before it could attack me.
I motioned for him to give me a knife and he tossed it to me.
"Are we clear down here?" Rick shouted.
Sasha checked the cell block. "Yeah."
Daryl, Glenn and I went upstairs to check if there any stray walkers lurking around. I stepped over a dead body just as Glenn was attacked by a walker in the cell.
Daryl shouted for him to get down before firing an arrow. Glenn ducked right on time and the walker fell down. A sigh of relief left my lips. Rick joined us upstairs.
Daryl looked at the walker he shot. The boy was vaguely familiar to me, as if though I've seen him around Abby and Carl. Though to be fair, that was most kids to me.
"Oh, it's Patrick," Daryl looked around the cell block, "That's all of 'em."
------
After making sure that everyone was alright, it was time to clean up the aftermath. Ryan came to get Dorothy and make sure she's alright while Hershel examined some survivors.
"No bites, no wounds. I think he just died." Rick commented.
I scrunched up my nose in disgust at the dead body. There was blood from his nose down to his chest. His eyes, which were still open, seemed red as well.
"Horribly, too. Pleurisy Aspiration." Caleb stated.
I looked at Hershel with raised eyebrows waiting for an explanation that I'll actually understand.
He smiled at the gesture. "Choked to death on his own blood. Caused those trails down his face."
"I've seen them before, on a walker outside the fences." said Rick.
"They were on that kid, too," I replied, "Patrick, I think was his name."
At least there wasn't a breach in the cell block. We've spent months patching up the prison and working on its safety.
"They're from the internal lung pressure building up, like if you shake a soda can and pop the top. Only imagine your eyes, ears, nose and throat are the top." Caleb explained.
"It's a sickness? From the walkers?" Bob asked while crossing his arms over his chest.
As if them trying to eat us wasn't enough. Now we have to worry about them spreading diseases? We're constantly around them, there's no way we'd be able to avoid getting sick.
"No, these things happened before they were around. Could be pneumococcal. Most likely an aggressive flu strain." Caleb replied.
"Someone locked him in just in time." Hersel said.
Why wouldn't anyone report it? If he was feeling unwell, he would've come to Hershel. Maybe asked for some medication.
Daryl hummed in disagreement. "No, man. Charlie used to sleepwalk. Locked himself in. Hell, he was just eating barbecue yesterday. How could somebody die in a day just from a cold?"
I shifted uncomfortably at the prospect of it. If this sickness kills that fast, then we're all in huge shit. We saw what happened in this cell block. If it happens again, there'll be more of us dead than alive.
"I had a sick pig, it died quick. Saw a sick boar in the woods." Rick commented.
"Pigs and birds. That's how these things spread in the past. We need to do something about those hogs." Hersel added.
But how do we know who's infected and who's not? We thought everyone in this cell block was healthy and I doubt there's a test that we can do.
"Maybe we got lucky. Maybe these two cases are it." Caleb said.
I scoffed at his words. "Not to be pessimistic, but when was the last time any of us got lucky? We don't have the luxury of hoping this was an exception to the rule."
If we're wrong and these two cases aren't the only ones, then all of us here in the prison are at risk. And something tells me we don't have enough medicine to help everyone.
"All of us in here, we've all been exposed."
-------
The council meeting had begun. It consisted of me, Daryl, Carol, Sasha, Hershel and Glenn. Rick would've been included too but he chose farming duties instead.
"Patrick was fine yesterday, and he died overnight. Two people died that quick? We'll have to separate everyone that's been exposed." Carol stated.
Daryl frowned. "That's everyone in that cell block. That's all of us. Maybe more."
"Most of the group has already come into contact with people who've been exposed. I don't think separating people would be of much use at this point." I argued.
We can only separate the people that we know haven't come into contact with us. Keep the healthy away, not the sick. Mostly because we can't tell if we're healthy or sick.
"We know that this sickness can be lethal. We don't know how easily it spreads. Is anyone else showing symptoms that we know of?" Hershel asked.
"We can't just wait and see. And there's children," Carol sighed, "It isn't just the illness. People die and they become a threat."
That's exactly what happened in cell block D. A few people died and turned before going after the rest of the cell block. In the end, it was a slaughter.
"We need a place for them to go. They can't stay in D. We can't risk going in there to clean it up." Hershel said.
Carol suggested using cell block A. Glenn pointed out that it wasn't much of an upgrade but Daryl argued that it was at least clean. We need to buy time before we can make any plans.
That was when we heard coughing in the hallway. Carol and I shared a concerned look before getting up. We went to the hallway and saw Karen and Tyreese. He asked if she was okay and she reassured him that she was.
"You sure? You don't so good." Carol said as she stepped into the hallway.
Tyreese smiled reassuringly. "We're just taking her back to my cell so she can rest."
"Tyreese, I don't think that's a good idea." Hershel said.
I leaned against the wall wondering how they're going to explain to her that she might die because of a violent sickness. Reassuring pep talks aren't my thing so I might learn a thing or two.
"Why," Karen looked at Tyreese, "What's going on now?"
Glenn glanced at me for help and I shrugged. I'm the last person that he should ask about how to comfort people. Dakota is the one who's good at it.
"We think it's a flu or something. That's how Patrick died." Glenn said.
Hershel stepped closer to Karen and Tyreese. "Judith is in that cell block. She's vulnerable. Anyone that may be sick or even exposed should stay away."
"It killed Patrick?" Karen asked.
Her voice had a hint of panic in it. We can't risk people panicking. People are generally stupid and when you add panic, they turn to their darkest instincts.
"She's gonna be okay," Tyreese looked at Hershel, "Now that we know what Patrick died from we can treat it, right?"
I bit my lip in worry. In theory, we should know what to do. Yet it seems that neither Caleb nor Hershel have a clue. It's quite concerning.
"Don't panic. We're going to figure this out. But we should keep you separated in the meantime. We'll have Caleb take a look at you. I'll see what we have in the way of medications." Hershel explained.
Not a lot, I can tell you that. Pharmacies are the first place to go in the apocalypse and it's not like we can make our own.
"David from the Decatur group, he's been coughing, too." said Karen.
I sighed before nodding. "Glenn and I will go get him."
He nodded and followed me. I could hear the others speaking as we left and I decided to tune it out. It's been a long day. I don't need any more bad news.
"First Zack, now this. Why do I get the feeling that we're about to get really unlucky?"
Glenn frowned and glanced at me. We were all thinking it. This isn't going to end well and we shouldn't act like it is. Denial isn't going to help us out of this situation.
Glenn nodded. "We've had a few months of peace, something was bound to happen."
We passed by some of the members of the group and nodded at them. They were all waiting for some kind of announcement. I could see it on their faces.
"Can't say that I predicted a plague."
"Me neither."
Right after saying that, Glenn put his arm in front of me making me stop. I furrowed my eyebrows as he took a deep breath.
"Don't tell Ryan I told you this, but he's been feeling pretty miserable." He said.
The words made my breath hitch. Flashbacks to the CDC made me shiver. I looked at Glenn and I knew we were thinking about the same thing.
I cleared my throat. "Is it about Dorothy or something else?"
Glenn shrugged as people passed us by. I moved a bit to the side to let them pass. Glenn and I exchanged a few hello's to them.
"He was vague on the topic," Glenn put his hands over his chest, "Dakota tried talking to him but he brushed her off."
I nodded feeling pretty shaken up by the thought of his demons returning. A part of me thought that Dakota returning was the key to helping him.
They were sometimes closer than I was with them. Who could blame them though? I always was a difficult person.
"I'll talk to him, see if he opens up to me." I reassured him.
Glenn weakly smiled at me and nodded. Despite my sometimes crude comments, I did envy the friendship that they had. I had friends but it never felt like I had what they had.
I shook those thoughts out of my head as we went to talk to David.