The walkers had all gathered in one spot which made the fence tilt.
"Dammit," I said.
"The noise drew them out and now this part's starting to give," Maggie said.
I had taken a crowbar off the fence near the entrance and began to take out as many of the dead as I could. We all got so caught up in taking out as many dead as we could that Maggie ended up slipping on some gravel and fell on the ground. Glenn was about to help her up but I stopped him.
"She hasn't been exposed to it," I said.
"She's right. We have to stay away from each other," she said, getting back up.
We all continued but it seemed like it was getting worse.
"Hold up. Guys...are you seeing this?" Sasha asked.
We all went over to where she was standing. How could we have missed this? Near the fence were a small trail of dead rats.
"Is someone feeding these things?" she asked.
I looked at every single person that was around me and we all had no idea what to make of this.
"Heads up!" Daryl shouted.
"This part of the fence, now!" Sasha shouted.
The walkers had managed pile on top of each other, making the middle of the fence cave even more than it already was. We all worked together to push against it, not leaving our hands in one place.
"Alright. Nah, everybody, back up. Now!" Daryl ordered.
We all did and just watched as the fence kept on bending further.
"We have to do something. We can't let these walkers get in," I said.
"Daryl...get the truck. I know what to do," Rick said.
Daryl placed his crossbow over his shoulder and made his way to the cars. A few minutes later, Rick went and joined him.
"Maggie, can you finish placing the bodies in the graves?" I asked.
"Yeah. You guys good here?" she asked.
"We got it," I said.
"I'll help her," Glenn said.
"Keep your distance and wear a mask. Yeah?" I said.
"You got it, boss," he said.
"Yeah. I don't like the sound of that," I said.
"We'll see you back there," he said.
I nodded. I looked back at where Sasha had mentioned the rats.
"Who...who on earth would want to feed these things?" I asked.
"I have no idea. But we'll have to find them and know why," she said.
"Yeah. I can't think of anyone who would though. Can you?" I asked.
"No one comes to mind," she said.
There was then then sound of pig squeals going on in the distance. I looked over and saw Rick Leaving the piglets that we had. I sighed. We were gonna have to hunt for some food in the coming weeks. That deer that Daryl got for us wouldn't last long. The walkers started moving away from the fence and eventually, all their attention was on the piglets.
"Alright, let's get this fence from bending any further," Sasha said.
"Yeah," I said.
We both pushed against it in order to put it back to where it once was. That was a lot harder than I looked but we did the best we could. We then picked up logs that were more than likely brought out before all this happened and placed them against it.
"That'll have to do for now," I said.
"Yup. Let's head back," she said.
"Right behind you," I said.
We couldn't catch a break. First it was losing Zack, then Patrick and everyone else we lost. Now we had this to worry about. Was the world playing some sort of cosmic joke on us since we had gone a whole month without an incident? I couldn't help but think that yeah, it was. What more could possibly go wrong? Everyone who had been in D would be sleeping there with the others. Everyone understood that those in C needed to stay safe. Especially Judith. We couldn't risk getting close to her. The day was winding down. Rick had informed us that before all this had happened, he had noticed a piglet that looked sick and that he found it dead hours later. That's why he decided to use the rest of them to lure the walkers away.
Daryl and I were sitting at a table in the cell block and having a quick bite to eat when Glenn came over and sat with us.
"So, Beth told Maggie something very interesting," he said, folding his arms together and leaning into the table.
"Which is?" Daryl asked, taking a bite out of a peach.
"All I'm gonna say is that it's about time," he said with a smirk.
"Well, shit. Why don't you just tell the whole place? It would make it so much easier on us," I said, taking a spoonful of my canned peas.
"Man, y'all got big mouths," Daryl said.
I nearly choked on my peas at his remark. I cleared my throat and started laughing.
"You have no idea," I said.
"Jerks," Glenn said.
"I'm sorry you can't be with Maggie right now," I said, changing the subject.
"I hate it. She hates it too but I mean, it's what we gotta do right?" he said.
"It'll only make you guys stronger," I said.
"I hope so. Thanks, Kari. Well, I'm turning in for the night. Now don't you kids go doing anything Maggie and I wouldn't," he teased.
"You do know that we're older than you, right?" I asked.
"And that all the shit you and Maggie do...we ain't that eager to do," Daryl retorted.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Whatever. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Glenn said with a laugh.
Daryl and I finished eating and we headed to an empty cell.
"I think...I think we should sleep separately. You know, just in case," I suggested.
"Yeah. You wanna take the top bunk?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter," I said.
We stood there and it felt just a bit awkward.
"Uh...this is a bit," I began.
"Weird?" he finished for me.
"Yeah. I mean...we just started this whole thing and we aren't allowed to be close to each other," I said.
"Maybe we should have waited," he said.
"Maybe we should have," I agreed.
"But I ain't mad that we did it," he said.
I looked over at him and smiled.
"Me neither," I said.
We leaned in but I stopped and leaned back.
"Maybe we should hold back on that too," I said.
He bit at his bottom lip.
"Yeah. Good call," he said.
"I'll take the bottom bunk," I said.
"Alright," he said.
He climbed up and got himself settled.
"I'll see you in the morning," I said.
"Yeah," he said.
I took off my shoes and got settled in. I couldn't wait for this whole thing to be over. I closed my eyes and tried my best to get some sleep.
Moving around on the bed, I was slowly regaining consciousness from my lack of sleep. I kept tossing and turning. It was a rough night. I rubbed my eyes and slowly opened them. Running the back of my hand over my forehead, I quickly noticed that I was sweating profusely. I sat up and suddenly felt my throat dry. I cleared it and that just made it ache. I stood up and had to keep my hand on the top bunk otherwise I'd fall. Daryl wasn't in his bed and I was relieved about it. I took in deep breaths and tried to keep myself from worrying. The burn in my throat became unbearable. Dammit. I had it. There was no denying it. I sat back down on the bed, and place my head in my hands. I heard footsteps coming up the steps and I quickly closed the cell door. I kept my hands on the bars and rested my forehead against them.
"What's going on?" Daryl asked when he got to our cell.
I sighed and slowly looked over at him.
"I have it," I said.