CHAPTER FORTY THREE » RETURNED
"It's okay, it's me. Stay with us."

♔

I awoke with a start, shaken by my unfamiliar surroundings. My body jerked, causing a harsh cough to force its way up my aching throat.

Quickly, I attempted to sit up, until a warm hand softly pushed my shoulder down again. I became unable to shake the cough away, causing pained tears to begin to brim within my eyes.

Once I finally got myself under control, although the feeling still resided in my chest, I tried to sit up again, my eyes nervously darting around. My body ached, but not like I'd ever felt before. This ache was worse. It was fiery and painful, as if every single nerve in my body had been set alight.

"Blaire," a gentle voice said. I found myself looking up into kind, warm eyes. Again, I tried to move, but my body felt too weak to respond. And all of a sudden, I felt helpless, like I wasn't in control, like I'd never be in control again. And it scared me. It terrified me.

"Blaire, stop," the voice instructed, firmer this time as I started to squirm, struggling under their grip. "You're okay. You're okay. You're safe."

My already struggling lungs had quickly flew into panic mode, but as I heard my chest rattling with every uneven breath, I tried to slow down, allowing myself to relax more as I adjusted to my surroundings.

I wasn't outside anymore, I was back in the cells. The putrid stench of burning flesh now only felt like a distant memory, and I wondered if perhaps it had all been a horrible nightmare.

Blinking rapidly, I let my attention fall on Hershel, who was hovering over me, his hand still on my shoulder. To my left, the brown cell walls were coated with splashes of blood. To my right, bodies, alive or dead, lay limply on the floor.

"Fuck–" I breathed out, my voice coming out as a harsh wheeze, so struggled that it didn't even sound like me.

Even the effort to speak was too much, and I found my mind clouding over again, pulling me back into a blackness, back into my deepest, darkest nightmares.

~

"Here," Hershel said, one hand still on my forehead to check my temperature. He then moved his hand to my back, helping me to sit up as he began to pass me a glass of water. "You've been out of it for a few days."

"What happened?" I croaked out, the back of my throat burning. The last thing I remembered was being outside, but I was still struggling to decipher whether that was real or not. I took a sip of water. I was alone in my cell, but I could hear harsh coughs and painful cries ringing out throughout the block. There were more than three of us in here now. "Are Karen and David okay?"

Hershel pressed his lips into a thin line, taking the glass from my hands and placing it on the side again. "Karen and David didn't make it."

My breath hitched, my heart sinking in fear. They didn't make it. Did that mean this thing going to kill me too? "What?"

"The illness didn't kill them," he confirmed, as if knowing the conclusion my mind had already jumped to. I noticed the expression in his face, tortured, disappointed. "But somebody else did."

My eyebrows drew together, my gaze falling. Involuntarily, my mind cast back to my real or not-so-real nightmare. "How?"

"Somebody dragged them outside, set them on fire–" I let out a shaky breath, my reaction halting his words. It was real. "You were there too."

"Why did I–" I cut off, having no recollection whatsoever aside from the horrid stench of burning flesh. My stomach twisted. "How did I–"

"Tyreese found you, brought you back," Hershel replied, offering me a small smile despite it all. "You've been out for a couple days. Drifting in and out of consciousness."

"Is everyone okay?" I questioned, again, hearing an awful, hacking cough sounding from someone nearby. "Is Glenn–" I stopped, not even wanting to finish my sentence. This was one of the worst experiences I'd ever faced.

Hershel didn't respond for a few moments, the silence torturing me. Deciding that I knew he was in here, I started to sit up again, preparing to leave and find him. Yet, the sudden movement sent an agonising wave of pain through me, along with gut wrenching coughs.

"You need to stay put, Blaire," Hershel cautioned, his hand on my shoulder again to keep me at bay. He gave me a weak smile as my coughs settled down, and I let out an annoyed groan, resting my head back against the wall. "Glenn warned me you would be stubborn about it," he said, the smile widening on his lips for a brief moment, before it faltered and he became serious again. "He didn't want me to tell you."

"Is he here?"

Hershel nodded solemnly. "The virus has spread, massively."

"Who else?" I asked, my heart already plummeting to the ground. Part of me didn't even want to know.

"Your mom," I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "And Sasha, she's here too. Daryl and a group have gone out to get some antibiotics."

An overwhelmingly painful headache suddenly came over me, as if this whole interaction had already taken any small amount of energy that I had out of me.

"I need to see Glenn," I stated, my voice already straining under pressure as I felt a cough fighting it's way up my throat again. "And my mom. I need to–" I cut off, wincing as I began to cough into my elbow.

"No, you need to get some rest," he told me sternly, but despite the instruction, he still wore a sympathetic look on his face. "I'll send Glenn and your mom to see you in a bit."

I nodded, realising I had to accept that as the only way forward. As much as I wanted to get out of bed and go searching for my family, I knew it would hurt too much to even lift a finger. "Thank you."

"You're tough, Blaire," Hershel stated as he began to make his way to the door.

I looked up at him, forcing a smile. "There's no way in hell I'm letting some virus finish me off, not after all the shit I've been through."

He nodded, responding with a small smile of his own. "Good. Keep fighting, Blaire."

I nodded, listening as he shut the door behind him, his footsteps becoming distant. Exhausted, I rested my head back against the pillow, allowing my heavy eyelids to fall shut again, thoughts of Glenn and the rest of my family swirling through my mind.

~

It took me a few moments to realise that I was actually awake, and the screams weren't in my nightmares, or coming from me. I blinked quickly, readjusting to my surroundings. The screaming had intensified, sounding as if they were coming from a young girl. God, there were kids in here too?

Grimacing, I pushed myself up, feeling slightly stronger than I had when I was last awake. My body wasn't in as much pain, it was just more of a dull ache now.

"Hershel! Hershel! Help!"

I pushed through the aches and pains, my feet touching the floor. My gun lay on the side table, conveniently, and I reached for it, my shaking hands accidentally knocking the glass of water in the process. The smash jolted me slightly, my heart rate picking up from the sudden spark of adrenaline.

I made my way out of the cell, stepping over the shards of glass and stumbling into the midst of chaos. My eyes fell to a man lay on his stomach in the middle of a room, a walker feasting on him. A pistol lay only inches away from his hand.

I scanned the room again, spotting Hershel, who was struggling as he battled a walker on top of him. I moved forwards as fast as I could, raising my gun up and lining my sights to the walker's head.

The weapon felt heavier in my grip, and I found holding it in place to be a little more difficult than usual. Dismissing those thoughts promptly, I pressed down on the trigger, not wanting to waste any more time, as I quickly moved to shoot the walker feasting on the man nearby too.

Hershel lay still for a moment, seeming stunned before he slowly began to rise to his feet. I rushed over, taking his arm to help him up, the added weight causing me to wince. "You alright?"

"Thank you, Blaire," he said, his eyes glancing around the room momentarily. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard screaming," I replied, also finding myself looking around to try and pinpoint wherever the sounds had come from. "What's going on?"

As Hershel opened his mouth to respond, another blood curdling scream came from above. We both lifted our heads to the floor above, and I spotted a young girl pinned to the floor with a walker on top of her.

Immediately, Hershel began to dart to the stairs, and I followed behind, the sudden movement practically taking my breath away. I paused for a moment to control a sudden coughing fit, my eyes watering so much that everything became a blur.

I blinked quickly, watching as Hershel rushed to the girl. I started to climb the stairs again, ready to follow until another sound caught my attention. I turned my attention to my right, spotting someone partially hanging out of their cell, blood dripping from their mouth.

"Glenn!" I cried out, abandoning anything else and rushing over to him in an instant. I dropped to my knees beside him, as he wheezed, gasping for air, his eyes wide. "Hershel!" I cried out, glancing behind me in a panic. Doing the only thing I could think of, I pushed Glenn onto his side, allowing the blood to come spluttering out of his mouth, trying to help him breathe again. "Hershel! Help!"

Moments later, he appeared beside me, leaning down to check Glenn's pulse. "Hold on, Glenn," he said before turning to me. "I'll be back."

"Hershel, wait–" I started, but he was gone before I could even finish. I turned my attention back to Glenn, noticing the blood now pooling around us both. "Shit," I mumbled to myself, my hands shaking as I tried to prop him up again, realising he was now vomiting profusely. "Come on, stay with me," I whispered, tears pricking in my eyes. My chest felt tight. "Breathe, Glenn," I encouraged, my words catching in my throat. "Come on."

Gunshots rang out behind in the distance, but as I cast a brief glance behind me I couldn't see anything. Nothing until Hershel appeared again, moving down beside us. He patted Glenn's back heavily to get rid of any excess from his mouth.

"We have something," Hershel thought for a moment. "And we still have it, stay here."

I let out a breath, unable to even get any words out as Hershel left me again. I swallowed thickly, feeling way too out of my depth. Cries were building in my throat, and I was trying desperately to keep my cool for Glenn.

I'd been faced with tough situations before, and training to be a police officer was a lot about keeping calm in situations. But when it came to Glenn, all of that training seemed to go out of the window.

"Blaire," I glanced behind me, watching in confusion as Maggie crawled over to the two of us, helping me to prop Glenn up again without another word.

"Mag–" I started, being cut off by a forceful cough.

Maggie poked her head out of the cell, calling for Hershel. "He's turnin' blue!"

I turned back to Glenn, realising she was right. All the colour had drained from him, leaving him a deathly white and blue colour. I turned away, feeling as if all the air had been knocked from my lungs. My hands balled into fists as I desperately willed myself to pull together again. I couldn't fall apart now, not right now.

"Clear his airway, I'm on the way!"

Maggie began to roll Glenn on his side again, as he continued to vomit more blood before falling onto his back again, gasping for air.

"Roll him on his back," Hershel then instructed, his voice sounding closer. I glanced behind me, noticing he'd stopped by the door.

"But he'll choke!" I started to argue, as Maggie also looked at her father incredulously.

"Do it," Hershel ordered. "Hold his arms down."

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I moved over so I was above Glenn, pushing his arms down as much as I could. He began to choke again, and my heart fell, wishing I could turn him over and help him breathe, but I knew I had to trust Hershel. This would be over soon. It had to be.

Hershel began fiddling with a bag, motioning to Maggie to open Glenn's mouth. She did as instructed, as I kept him held down whilst Hershel forced the tube down Glenn's throat.

"Come on, you know how this works," Hershel said as Glenn began to squirm from underneath me.

"Come on," I whispered, watching as Hershel began to squeeze the airbag. Glenn flinched again, continuing to struggle. "Glenn, baby, come on. It's okay, it's me. Stay with us."

After what seemed like an endless battle, Glenn finally took a breath, his rigid body beginning to relax. The three of us sighed in relief, Maggie even falling back against the wall in exhaustion.

I moved my hand, running my fingers through Glenn's messy curls, whilst his eyes fluttered shut. "You're gonna be okay," I told him softly. "We're gonna be okay."

"I didn't want you in here," Hershel told Maggie a few moments later.

"I know," she replied, a small smile pulling at her lips. "But I had to. Just like you."

~

"You okay?"

I glanced up at Daryl, who seemed to be watching me carefully as he leant his back against the outside wall.

"Just can't stop thinking about Glenn," I responded truthfully, pushing an exasperated hand through my hair. My mind had been racing all day.

To my relief, I'd finally been allowed out of A block. Once, Daryl and the others returned with the medicine we needed, Hershel and Bob got straight to work giving people the right doses.

Glenn had been instructed to stay in the block, along with my mom and many others, whereas I was deemed healthy enough to leave.

"He's a touch son of a bitch," Daryl commented, as I lifted my eyebrows, chuckling lightly at his words.

"I know."

"So are you," he continued, moving from his spot on the wall to place a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him in slight surprise, usually pinning Daryl as being the least comforting person ever. "After everything–" he cut off, shaking his head with a frown. "Man, you shouldn't even be alive."

"You know me," I replied, a small grin forcing its way onto my face. "Won't go down without a fight." The two of us fell quiet, and began to lean closer into Daryl's side for comfort, my smile faltering as I remembered what I'd been told about Karen and David's deaths. "So Rick just...cut her loose?"

"He cut her loose," he affirmed almost instantly, obviously knowing exactly what I was referring to. I found myself moving my head, resting it against his shoulder as I felt the sudden urge to break down into tears.

Carol was the one that had tried to kill me. And she'd succeeded in ending two other innocent lives. There weren't many words I could use to describe how I felt. But mostly, I was angry, angrier than I'd ever been. Never in a million years would a thought like that even cross my mind. And the worst thing– we'd known each other from the start.

I could see her reasoning, I could. But how could I live amongst a woman who tried to kill me? No matter how long we'd known each other. But still, there was a small part of me that felt guilty about Rick making her go out there alone.

"I get it, you know," I said, finally lifting my head to look up at Daryl properly. "Why she did it. I...I can't say I would have done the same, but, I get it."

He let out a heavy sigh, removing his hand from my shoulder, shifting uncomfortably. "She messed up. End of story."

I was opening my mouth to respond, but whatever I was going to say was suddenly cut off by a huge explosion. Daryl and I stepped back in surprise, watching as the remains of a guard tower crashed to the ground.

"What the–" I started, whipping my head around to locate whoever was responsible, until my blood ran cold.

A little way beyond the fence, a figure stood on a tank, in front of numerous other military vehicles. Others stood around, but the one man with the menacing look on his face caught my attention. One man, who we hadn't seen anything of for almost eight months. And now he was back.

The Governor.

❃

Words: 2917
Published: 15th September 2017

Smh Carol.

This kinda sucked, I'm sorry, I've been very busy.

But yeah, Carol's actions are obviously gonna create some tension in the group when it gets into season 5, which is gonna be pretty fun to write.

Tbh, Glenn and Blaire are still as cute as ever, and Daryl and Blaire are still the ultimate brotp.

And now everything is gonna go to shit in the next chapter 😊