CHAPTER FORTY TWO » CONTAINMENT
"If people die, they become a threat."

♔

I awoke to the sounds of a camera whirring.

I frowned slightly as I cuddled up closer to the sheets, eventually peeling my eyes open to see a sheepish looking Glenn with a polaroid camera in his hands. "Sorry."

"What the hell?" I mumbled, my eyes struggling to adjust to the bright light streaming through the window. I started to sit up, noticing that Glenn had something else in his hands. "What's that?"

He moved away from me and laughed, turning it around so I could take a look. My eyes widened at the sight of the picture of me he'd taken. I lunged forwards to grab it, but he quickly moved back so it was out of my reach. "Don't even think about it."

"Glenn, get rid of it," I grumbled, rubbing my hands over my sleepy eyes. I was way too tired for this, and I also had a pounding headache.

He held it out in front of him, smiling down at it softly. "Yeah. Not a chance. It's mine."

"Fine," I said, reaching over to pick up the camera. I held it up, and Glenn pulled his cheesiest grin as I clicked the button with a laugh. The two of us waited as the camera whirred, printing out the small picture. I snatched it first, holding it close to me and laughing. "Cute."

I turned it around so Glenn could see, and he shook his head, letting out an awkward laugh. "We even now?"

"I suppose," I mumbled, placing it in the top pocket of my shirt as I began to get dressed.

As I started to pull my jeans on, there was a loud knock on the door, and I shared a look with Glenn, expecting it to be Maggie to come and switch over guard duty.

"Is it safe to come in?!" She called out. I closed my eyes momentarily, feeling slightly embarrassed, despite the fact I could hear Maggie laughing to herself outside.

I quickly fastened the button on my jeans, craning my neck to shout back out to her. "Yeah, we're good."

The door creaked open and she stepped inside, watching at us both with a grin. "Have fun?"

"A great time," I responded, unable to keep a straight face due to the smirk playing on her lips. "Thanks for asking."

Glenn and I left Maggie in the guard tower, promising to bring her some breakfast as she hadn't had any yet. The courtyard was oddly quiet, considering it wasn't that early in the morning. Despite the absence of people, there was still a heaviness in the air, or perhaps it was just a heavy feeling within me, after the loss of Zach. 

Daryl went to break the news to Beth last night whilst Hershel was stitching up my arm. I'd wanted to go with him, I'd felt a responsibility after I was the one who fired the final bullet, but Glenn insisted I went to Hershel straight away. I hadn't seen neither Daryl or Beth since then, but I guessed it had gone as I expected.

Whilst getting stitched up, Hershel had assured me that the wound hadn't been infected, but that I had lost a fair amount of blood so to take it easy, especially if I wasn't feeling quite right. I didn't enjoy "taking it easy", but promised Glenn, Hershel and Rick that I would, even if I didn't exactly mean it.

"Do you think–" Glenn cut off, both of us pausing at the sudden sound of gunshots coming from inside the cell blocks.

Without another word, Glenn and I took off towards the prison, guns and knives at the ready. Racing down from the other end of the courtyard was Rick, Daryl and Sasha, panic-stricken looks on their faces.

"What's going on?" I questioned as Daryl ran towards us, barely slowing down to answer my question.

"Walkers in D, ain't a breach!" He called out in response, as Glenn and I shared a look, prepared to follow him.

"Blaire, get to C!" Rick shouted over as I stumbled to a stop. "Check on Judith, and stay with Hershel on guard in case he runs into any trouble."

I frowned, but didn't question it further, giving Glenn a reassuring look before heading the opposite way to Cell Block C.

I could still hear gunshots ringing throughout the building, and I desperately felt the urge to turn back and follow, but I had to follow what Rick had asked.

In a slight panic, I burst through the door to the cell block, a wave of relief washing over me when I found that things were calm.

"Everything okay?" Hershel questioned, looking slightly surprised to find me there.

"Walkers in D," I replied, taking a moment to catch my breath. "Rick sent me here to check on things. Any idea how this happened?"

"No idea," he replied, shaking his head. "Didn't come through the tombs. It just happened out of nowhere."

But how was that possible?

~

Somehow, in just one night, one person had caused everything to go to shit. Patrick, a younger boy, and a friend of most people, had died in the showers and turned, causing an outbreak within the cell block. Inevitably, we had lost a lot of people; a lot of good people.

It was concluded that the cause of Patrick's death was some kind of flu, one that most of us had likely already been exposed to.

The council had called a meeting in an attempt to deal with the situation, but all of us were utterly lost on what to do. My head had been spinning all day.

"Patrick was fine yesterday, and he died overnight," Carol started off. "Two people died that quick? We'll have to separate everyone that's been exposed."

"That's everyone in that cell block," I replied, sharing a glance with her from across the table.

"That's all of us," Daryl added, gesturing around the table with a shake of his head. "Maybe more."

"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?"

I paused, thinking back to how unwell I'd felt yesterday. In fact, I still wasn't feeling great today. Hershel said the wound hadn't been infected, but maybe there was something more to it.

"We can't just wait and see," Carol continued, her eyes seeming to scan over each of us. "And there's children. It isn't just the illness. If people die, they become a threat."

"We need a place for them to go," Hershel added on. I swallowed thickly, wondering whether or not I should say anything. I couldn't be selfish about this, other people's lives could be at risk. "They can't stay in D. And we can't risk going in there to clean it up."

"We can use cell block A," Carol suggested.

"Death row?" Glenn asked, arching an eyebrow. "I'm not sure that's much of an upgrade."

"It's clean," Daryl affirmed. "That's an upgrade. Think that'll work for Dr. S?"

Daryl turned to face Hershel, who nodded thoughtfully. "I'll help Caleb get it set up–"

"Guys," I interjected, my voice wavering more than I'd have liked it to. The five of them turned their attention towards me, their gazes making my pulse quicken. "I think– I'm not sure but– I might be showing symptoms."

A deathly silence hung over the room, until Glenn shook his head firmly, his palms placed on the table as he leaned forwards. "What are you talking about?"

I turned to Hershel, my eyes searching his for some kind of reaction. I wasn't sure why, perhaps I just wanted some kind of reassurance. "Yesterday, I didn't feel right after getting injured on the run. I thought the wound could be infected but Hershel, you said it wasn't."

The others seemed to look to him for confirmation, to which he nodded solemnly. "It wasn't infected."

"And I'm still not feeling right," I said, my eyes landing on Glenn, who seemed to pause, inhaling heavily at my words.

"That virus killed Patrick," Daryl stated, as I glanced over at him, raising my eyebrows.

"Thanks man," I mumbled, brushing it off as light heartedly as I could. But deep down, that thought scared the shit out of me. Even if it was a slim chance I could be infected, it was still a chance. "Seriously. Thanks."

"What do we do?" Glenn asked, his voice rising in pitch ever so slightly. He shifted his gaze for the briefest instance, before his eyes landed on me again.

"Don't panic," Hershel started softly. "We'll figure it out," he turned to face me, his expression gentle; yet, it didn't instil any calm in me whatsoever.

"Hershel," I began, a horrible thought dawning on me. "I was in Cell Block C," I swallowed thickly, not even wanting to think about what I was about to say. "What if Judith–"

"You weren't anywhere near her," Hershel assured, dismissing my thoughts with a shake of his head. "She was in another room with Beth. She'll be ok," he affirmed, the response managing to bring slight comfort to me. "But you should stay separated from now on. I'll get Dr S to come and check you out."

"Yeah," Glenn agreed with a nod. "And I'll stay with you," he finished, reaching for me from across the table.

Quickly, I drew my hand back before he could reach me, shaking my head at him. "Like hell you will."

"Blaire–"

"Look, I know what I have to do," I said, my eyes scanning over everyone's solemn faces. I found myself barely feeling able to meet Glenn's eyes. "This is just how it has to be."

~

Karen and David had also been encouraged to stay in Block A, which boded quite well with me considering I'd been bored out of my mind. Although, it didn't give me much hope that the virus wasn't spreading around.

Glenn had constantly been coming to check up on me, but I hadn't had the heart to tell him that I'd been feeling worse, so instead I just assured him that I was doing fine.

There hadn't really been much of a change until a short while ago, when a pretty rough cough suddenly sprung upon me. It was when I drew my hand away to see dots of blood coating it that it suddenly hit me how severe this really was.

"How are you doin'?" Daryl questioned from outside the door. I noticed a bandana tied around his neck, one that he'd obviously been using as a mask.

"Not bad," I replied with a shrug, as Daryl raised his eyebrows challengingly, obviously not accepting my answer.

"How are ya really doin', Blaire?"

I sighed defeatedly, leaning my head against the door in exhaustion. I couldn't lie to Daryl. "I feel like shit."

He was silent for a moment, his brown eyes glancing down, away from me. "You gettin' worse?"

"I– I don't know," I admitted softly, swallowing thickly as I blinked away a couple of tears brimming in my eyes.

"You want me to get Glenn?"

"No–" I replied immediately. Of course I wanted to see Glenn, of course I did. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that I didn't want him to see me; not like this. "Don't get Glenn."

Daryl's eyebrows drew together in confusion for a moment, but he didn't press any further. "What about your mom?"

I shook my head silently, giving him a defeated shrug in response. "She's already been to see me. There's no point." I sighed heavily, attempting to divert the focus. "How are things out there?"

"Don't worry 'bout us, Blaire," he said, the tone in his voice unsettling me slightly.

Were things getting bad out there too?

Silence lapsed between us, and I took that as a sign that Daryl would want to leave soon, considering he didn't seem to have much else to say. "Hey, can you do me a favour?"

He glanced up. "Yeah?"

"Keep an eye on Glenn," I said, meeting his eyes. "I just– I don't want him to keep coming here. I'm going to get worse, and I– I don't want him to see me like this."

Daryl exhaled heavily, shaking his head at my request. "Blaire–"

"Please," I pleaded. "Just keep an eye on him, okay?"

After a moments silence, Daryl finally gave in, nodding. "Okay."

"And take care of yourself too," I added, glancing back into the room behind me, where Karen and David were both slumped against the wall in exhaustion. "You don't wanna end up in here, trust me."

Something passed through Daryl's eyes, but he didn't say anything for a while, seeming to hesitate a few times. Instead, he settled on nodding solemnly. "Look after yourself, Blaire."

I gave him a weak smile, speaking softly. "I will."

I watched as Daryl left, waiting until he'd disappeared out of sight before resting my forehead against the door, allowing my emotions to finally get the better of me.

"You okay, honey?"

Startled, I quickly wiped underneath my eyes, turning around to face Karen, who was watching me with a sad smile. However, her expression faltered as I faced her, noticing her skin had paled significantly more than it already was.

Confused, I glanced down at my hands, realising the tips of my fingers were coated in something warm. Blood.

My heart soared fearfully, and I frantically wiped underneath my eyes again, only to pull my hands back to see them stained with blood again.

"Holy shit."

~

I'd never felt anything like it.

My lungs felt as if they were constantly being squeezed, and the pain within my body came sharply, twisting and jarring at my insides with no remorse.

I could feel my body being dragged along the floor, stirring me awake from my half sleep. My eyelids felt heavy, like concrete. I struggled as I began to open them, only to be met with the clouded, blue sky above.

I couldn't smell the fresh air though; all I could smell was burning. Burning flesh.

My stomach churned, as a blast of heat from my left side hit me. I began to move my aching limbs, gritting my teeth until the pain became too intense. A short distance away, somebody placed a red tank down besides their feet.

I wanted to call out to them, call out for help, but I could taste blood on my lips, dripping down and catching in the back of my throat.

Defeatedly, I let my head fall back against the floor, finding myself drifting back into unconsciousness again.

❃

Words: 2421
Published: 31st August 2017

well, shit.