38. isolation

MILO

     THE SMELL OF BURNT FLESH WAS PAINFUL in his nose as he stared at the bodies on the ground. There was almost nothing left of them, just black chunks of flesh and a horrible smell that made his eyes tear up. His heart ached in his chest as he looked at the burned bodies. Karen and David were gone, someone had burned them alive. It looked to Milo like a hopeless attempt to stop the virus from spreading but that didn't make it any more okay.

'You found 'em like this?' Rick questioned Tyreese.

The man was standing still as a statue, breathing heavily, his eyes focused on the burned bodies as if they were the only things in the world. Anger seemed to radiate off the man, so much so that Milo felt like he could touch it.

A few minutes ago Tyreese had come charging unto the courtyard, yelling that someone had killed Karen and David. Killed had turned out to be a mild way of expressing what had truly happened.

Finally Tyreese turned to face Rick. 'I came to see Karen,' he mumbled, then pointed at the floor. 'I saw the blood on the floor. Then I smelled them.' He took a deep breath before suddenly screaming: 'Somebody dragged them out here and set them on fire!' He looked around, as if seeing things they couldn't. 'They killed them and set 'em on fire!'

Suddenly he turned and took a step towards Rick. 'You're a cop. You find out who did this and you bring 'em to me! You understand? You bring 'em to me!'

Daryl took a step forwards, trying to put his hand on Tyreese shoulder to calm him down. 'We'll find out who-'

But Tyreese didn't let him finish, hitting away Daryl's hand while keeping his gaze focused on Rick. 'Do I need to say it again?' He groaned at the former cop.

Rick gave a shake of his head, raising his hands to try and calm the man down. 'No, no. I know what you're feeling. I've been there, you saw me there, it's dangerous.'

Images of the night Rick had started yelling like a mad man at ghosts in his head flashed through Milo's mind and he knew Tyreese must've remembered it as well, but the man seemed unable to think rationally and let himself remember it. 'Karen didn't deserve this!' He screamed loudly. 'David didn't deserve it. Nobody does!'

Once again Daryl reached out to Tyreese, starting to say something but before Milo could even blink, Tyreese had turned around and pushed Daryl against the wall, holding him by the collar of his shirt while screaming: 'I ain't going nowhere till I find out who did this!'

Both Milo and Rick were about to step forwards but Daryl raised his arm as a sign for them to stop, then he turned back to Tyreese. 'We're on the same side, man,' he said straight to the man's face, staring daggers at the angry man.

'Hey, look,' Rick said quietly, 'I know what you're going through.' Slowly he took a step towards Tyreese who was still holding Daryl in his grip.

Milo shared a worried glare with Carol, a gleam in her eyes that he didn't quite understand.

'We've all lost someone,' Rick continued. 'We know what you're going through right now, but you've gotta calm down.' He placed his hand on Tyreese shoulder, the movement made the man turn around and push Rick away from him. 'You need to step the hell back!' He screamed.

'No!' Carol told the men, trying to calm them down.

'She wouldn't want you to be like this,' Rick said and with those words something inside of Tyreese seem to explode. He raised his fist, hitting Rick right in the face, making him fall on his knees. Carol's screams for Tyreese to stop echoed through Milo's ears as he watched the man lash out again, his fist landing in Rick's face once again.

He blinked, pulling himself out of his state of shock and jumped forward at the same time Daryl did, both of them taking a hold of Tyreese his arms. 'Stop it man!' Milo screamed.

Tyreese was breathing heavily but seemed to slowly calm down when suddenly Rick stood up, taking his turn to punch the man in the face.

Milo and Daryl were forced to let go of Tyreese as he flew to the ground and Rick was on him within seconds, raining down punch after punch on the man.

'Rick,' Daryl said but his voice didn't seem to reach him and that made Daryl rush forwards and pull Rick off Tyreese.

'Let go of me!' Rick screamed. 'Let go of me!'

'No, no!' Daryl yelled back and finally managed to pull Rick away.

The former cop suddenly seemed to go limp, staring at his bruised hands before his eyes fell on Tyreese, who lay whimpering and sobbing the ground.

Milo felt himself as loss for words, his eyes being drawn back to the burned bodies, a shiver crawling down his spine.

The table at the council meeting the next morning was one seat shorther. Sasha had become sick too and Milo couldn't stop staring at the seat she used to be in.

'It's spread,' Hershel's voice broke through his thoughts. 'Everyone who survived the attack in cell block D. Sasha, Caleb and now others.'

'Damn,' Daryl mumbled.

'So what do we do?' Milo asked, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down.

'First things first,' Hershel spoke, 'cell block A is isolation. We keep the sick people there like we tried with Karen and David.'

'The hell we gonna do about that?' Daryl asked, and the imagine of their burned bodies immediately flashed through Milo's mind again, making a shiver crawl down his spine.

'Ask Rick to look into it,' Carol said. 'Try to make a timeline, who's where when. But what are we gonna do to stop this?'

'There is no stopping it,' Hershel said, voicing what Milo had been most afraid of hearing. 'You get it, you have to go through it.'

'But it just kills you?' Milo asked the older man, remembering Patrick's blood painted face. He hated that there was no way of fighting this. He hated seeing all the people they had promised safety becoming sick to a virus that was seemingly unstoppable.

'The illness doesn't,' Hershel spoke, looking up at him. 'The symptoms do. We need antibiotics.'

'We've been through every pharmacy nearby,' Daryl sighed. 'And then some.'

Hershel frowned before saying: 'That veterinary college at West Peachtree Tech, that's one place people may not have thought to raid for medication. The drugs for animals there are the same we need.'

'That's 50 miles,' Daryl said. 'Too big a risk before. Ain't now, I'm gonna take a group out.' He stood up, looking around the table before making his way towards the door. 'Best not to waste anymore time.'

The others stood up as well and Milo felt slightly better at the thought of a plan they could follow. It still wasn't ideal but it was a small spark of hope to hold onto, and that was something he desperatly needed.

'I can lead the way,' Hershel said, 'I know where everything's kept.'

Daryl stopped in his tracks, looking at the man. 'When we're out there, it's always the same. Sooner or later, we run.'

Silence fell over the room and however painful that was for Hershel to hear, he didn't move a muscle and instead said: 'I can draw you a map.'

Daryl nodded and was about to walk to the door when the older man spoke once again. 'There are other precations I feel we should take.'

'Like what?' Carol asked and Milo frowned at the man.

'There's no telling how long it'll be before Daryl and his group return. Wouldn't it make sense for us to seperate the most vulnerable? We can use the administration building. Separate office, separate room.'

'Who is the most vulnerable?' Glenn questioned.

'The very young,' Hershel said like it was obvious.

'What about the old?' Glenn said, looking the man straight in the eye, his gaze leaving no room for arguing.

And he was right, there were no arguments that could have been said to change the truth in those words. And so the gathering was dismissed and the word spread through the prison. Milo felt awful for sending the kids into quarantine, but it was the best they could do to protect them for now.

He found himself walking across the courtyard his eyes falling on Quinn who was loading supplies in a car.

'You going out?' He asked, walking up to his sister, watching as she put the last bag in the trunk before closing it.

She looked up to him, giving him a small and sad smile. 'Yeah, Daryl asked me to come.'

Nodding he took a deep breath, words failing him as he stared at the person most important to him in the world. But as always he she could see right through him. He should know better by now than to try and hide what he truly wanted to tell her.

'Hey,' she mumbled, taking a step forwards but stopped herself at the very last second, seeming to remember it was better to not touch anyone. 'I feel fine,' she spoke firmly. 'And I'll be fine out there.'

'I know,' he said, exhaling slowly. 'I just...wish I could come.'

'They need you here,' she said, frowning at him, as if wondering why he couldn't except that simple fact.

'I never wanted them to need me,' he sighed, putting his hands in his pockets.

A chuckle left her lips, a honest one this time and he felt his heart glow at the sound of her laugh. He had missed it. There wasn't a lot to laugh about these days and he missed when days had been simpeler and Quinn used to laugh more.

'What's so funny?' He asked, frowning.

She gave a small shake of her head. 'You have been the only voice of reason I had my entire life. You were bound to become it for someone else too.'

He shuffled on his feet, her words making him more uncomfortable than he liked to admit.

'I think Hershel knew that,' she continued. 'I think he saw what I've seen my entire life.'

A frown appeared on his face as he looked at her, not entirely sure where she was going with this and if he truly wanted to hear it.

'You inspire people,' she finished, smiling.