CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Andie's staring at the two charred bodies with tears in her dark eyes; she can't tear her gaze from what remains of Karen. Daryl's looking at her, worried about how she's gonna take this after the way she reacted to what happened in D block this morning.

"You found 'em like this?" Rick asks, standing behind Tyreese.

"I came to see Karen..." He tells them. "And I saw the blood on the floor. Then I smelled them."

Andie kneels down, her elbows resting on her knees as her head hangs. She squeezes her eyes shut as she tries not to cry over her lost friend.

"Somebody dragged them out here and set 'em on fire!" Tyreese snaps. "They killed them and set them on fire!"

He turns suddenly, looking ready to lunge at Rick. Daryl moves behind him, preparing to intervene if he tries anything.

"You're cops." He says, looking between Rick and Stilinski. "You find out who did this and you bring 'em to me. You understand? You bring 'em to me."

"Hey, we'll find out who—" Daryl reaches out to grab his arm, but he shoves him off.

"I need to say it again?" Tyreese questions, and Noah looks over at Andie; the brunette gets very protective very fast, and he doesn't want her getting in the middle while he's this angry.

"No. No." Rick shakes his head. "I know what you're feeling. I've been there. You saw me there. It's dangerous."

"Karen didn't deserve this." He says, and Rick shakes his head. "David didn't deserve it. Nobody does."

"Alright, man—"

"Man, I ain't goin' nowhere 'til I find out who did this!" Tyreese turns and lunges at Daryl when he tries to pull him away from Rick; he pins him against the bars behind him.

Daryl holds his hands out to stop the others from advancing, and Noah grabs Andie to keep her in her place. Her hand's balled up into a tight fist, and he has his fingers curled around her wrist.

"We're on the same side, man." Daryl says, looking down at Tyreese as he has his vest clutched tightly in his hands. His fists are against Daryl's chest as he seethes.

Andie looks up at Noah. "Let go." She whispers, and he hesitates for a moment before doing as she asks.

"Hey, look," Rick starts. "I know what you're going through. We've all lost someone. We know what you're goin' through right now, but you've got to calm down."

"You need to step the hell back!" Tyreese releases Daryl as he turns and shoves Rick.

Andie watches them, and she sees Rick starting to lose his own composure. She snaps her fingers twice as she looks at Noah, and he looks down to see her motion for him to get a handle on Rick when this goes south. He nods, and she returns her focus to Tyreese.

"She wouldn't want you being like this." Rick says, and Andie sees the punch coming.

As Tyreese clenches his fist and gets ready to punch Rick, she lunges and knocks into his left side. Daryl grabs Carol, pulling her out of the way as Tyreese stumbles a few steps, but it doesn't take much for him to steady himself.

He's seeing red, and he has no idea who came at him from the side. He turns, throwing a punch in Andie's direction, and she steps back to dodge the blow. His body turns with the momentum, and she bends on one leg as she swings her other out and kicks him in the back of the knee. He goes down, one of his hands getting trapped between his torso and the concrete below him, and she stands one foot on the shoulder of his free arm, applying just enough of her body weight to keep him down.

"You done?" Andie asks, and she lets up when she hears him start crying. The brunette takes a few steps back, and Tyreese rolls onto his side. He isn't hurt too badly, but now the grief's overtaking the anger as he looks over at Karen's burned corpse.

Noah lets go of Rick as they all look between Andie and Tyreese, but she turns her head and looks at Karen's fried body as well. She takes a moment to make sure she can maintain her own composure, then she starts for the exit.

"Where are you going?" Noah steps into her path, forcing her to look up at him.

"To tell Carter and Zoe what happened out here."

"And it has to be you who does it?"

"Who else?" She questions. "Anger issues, out for blood, or the one who glares at him every time they're in the same vicinity?"

He sighs as he looks down, knowing that she has a point. "Were you ever a kid?"

"You and I both know that was never in the cards for me." Andie shakes her head, and he reluctantly steps out of her way.

The brunette's making her way through the prison, and it's not long before she finds Carter sitting in a corridor. He's slumped against a wall, his breathing heavy as his fever makes his body temperature skyrocket.

"You shouldn't...be next to me." He says as he looks up at her. "I don't wanna get you sick."

"That's the least of my worries right now." She tells him as she brushes his hair off of his forehead, listening to his lungs and heartbeat. "Theo!"

—

"It's spread." Hershel says as they sit around the table in the council room. "Everyone who survived the attack in cell block D."

"Everyone but Andie and Theo." Glenn says as he looks over at the brunette.

"Uh... Strong immune system." She says, glancing over at Melissa and Noah.

"Sasha, Caleb, and now others." Hershel continues.

"I just put another in A block." Theo says as he walks into the room. "Uh... Merle." He tells them, and Daryl grinds his teeth as Andie looks over at him.

"So, what do we do?" Carol asks.

"First things first — cell block A is isolation." Hershel tells them. "We keep the sick people there like we tried with Karen and David."

"What the hell are we gonna do about that?" Daryl questions, his gaze flickering over to Andie, knowing that she's taking Karen's murder pretty hard.

"Rick and I will look into it." Noah says. "It won't be easy, but we can try to make a timeline, see who was where when."

"And here I thought we were past the point of alibis." Andie mutters.

"What are we gonna do to stop this?" Carol asks.

"We can't stop it." Melissa says. "Anyone who gets it has to go through it."

"But it just kills you?" Michonne questions.

"The illness doesn't. The symptoms do." Hershel explains.

"We need antibiotics." Melissa tells them.

"We've already been through every pharmacy nearby." Andie says.

"And then some." Daryl agrees.

"That veterinary college at West Peachtree Tech — that's one place people may not have thought to raid for medication." Hershel tells them. "The drugs for animals there are the same we need."

"That's fifty miles."

"It was too big a risk before, but it's not anymore." Andie reaches out and swats at Daryl's chair, making him look at her. "You up for a road trip?"

"Hell yeah, let's go. Best not waste any more time." He says as he gets to his feet, and the brunette looks over at Theo.

"You know I'm in." He tells her as she stands as well.

"Me too." Michonne says, and they look over at her.

"You haven't been exposed." Melissa reminds her. "You get in a car with these three, you will be."

"Daryl's already given me fleas."

"I think that was Theo." Andie smirks. "Filthy mutt."

"You're hilarious." The Chimera flips her off as she howls, mimicking a coyote.

"I can lead the way." Hershel says as he gets to his feet, and Daryl and Andie exchange an uneasy look. "I know where everything's kept."

"When we're out there, it's always the same." Daryl tells him as Andie looks down. "Sooner or later, we run."

"I can...draw you a map." He concedes, knowing he'll only slow them down while they're worrying about how well he'll do on his prosthetic leg. "There are other precautions I feel we should take." He says, stopping them from leaving.

"Like what?" Carol asks.

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

"Who is the most vulnerable?" Glenn asks as he looks at him.

"The very young."

"What about the old?" He asks, trying to express his concern for Hershel.

"Oh, no, you gotta quarantine, Sheriff." Andie smirks, and Noah looks up at her.

"You were there when Stiles gave me that backhanded compliment when I was getting ready for my date, weren't you?" Stilinski asks, and she nods. "You remember what I said?"

"I'm not your son, so that comment won't offend me." The brunette winks at him as she starts for the door. "Nice hair, Pop!"

"Almost like he's here, isn't it?" Melissa muses, and Noah looks over at her.

"I should've grounded him from seeing her more often." He mumbles as she pats his shoulder, headed for the door.

"He was good for her."

After they gather all of the kids, Andie heads over to the administration office and calls out for the oldest. Carl rounds the corner, but doesn't walk over all the way; he knows he's not supposed to get too close to anyone who was exposed.

"What is it?" He asks as he looks at the older girl.

"I know you don't like this, but I wanted to explain something to you." Andie says as she squats down where she is. "Despite what you may think, this is an important job."

"Yeah. Sure it is."

"It is, Carl." She insists. "These kids didn't go through all the same things we did. Sure, they saw a lot of awful things, but most of them have had their parents protecting them... I may not agree with the way Carol's going about it, but you're right — she should be teaching them. Because they haven't had to kill walkers like you have, and they don't have the same know-how that you do. We don't know what's gonna happen or who could die from this sickness before we get back with the meds."

"You think we'll lose a lot of people?" He asks, and she takes a deep breath.

"I don't know. I really don't." She shakes her head. "I'm just being realistic. And it's very real that if this section of the prison ends up with any walkers, you're the one who has to take it down. I know you think you're being given the jobs that aren't as important, but that's not true. Every job that gets assigned is important, and you're the only one we have who can do this job. The rest of us were exposed or have been too close to someone who's been exposed. You're the best defense that these kids have, and that's no small thing."

Carl nods as he looks at her. "I'll protect them, I promise." He tells her, and she nods before heading out to find Tyreese.

The brunette walks out as he's just about finished refilling the graves. Tyreese stops and looks at her, and she takes a deep breath as she looks at the cross that he's standing next to.

"I want to find out who killed her too." Andie says, and he nods as he looks down at the bracelet in his hands. It belonged to Karen, and it's a bit burned after being in the fire. "She was a good person, and you're right — she didn't deserve what happened to her... I just wanted to make sure that you and I are alright after earlier."

"I understand what you had to do back there. No hard feelings." He tells her. "I am pretty impressed though. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"My dad believed that two women who lived alone should be able to defend themselves. He taught me and my mom everything he knew." She says, and he nods.

"Good man."

"Yeah, he was." A sad smile crosses her face before she turns around and walks away from him.