twenty-one - coughing blood

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE,
coughing blood
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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE,coughing blood————

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ELLIE WAS NOT happy when she saw Hershel hobble his way into the cell block.

"Hershel, what the hell are you doing in here?" She leaned against the railing of the upper level, coughing harshly between her words.

"I'm here to help." The Greene man answered easily.

"Help-" Ellie tried.

"Go lie down, Ellie. You need to rest too." He cut her off, not even glancing up as he continued through the hall. Ellie wanted to argue, but she didn't have it in her to.

Shuffling back over to the wall Glenn sat against, the Dixon girl flopped next to him, sliding to the floor heavily.

"Hershel's in here?" The Rhee man panted in question. Ellie just nodded.

"He's masked, but it doesn't matter." She then coughed into her elbow, splatters of blood now staining her shirt.

But before she could say anything about it, the brunette snatched the empty bucket next to her and began emptying her stomach. She felt as Glenn pulled her hair from her face and patted her back gently.

"You two alright up here?" Hershel's fake leg thunked on the metal heavily. Ellie held her thumb up with shaking hands.

"Yeah, never been better." Glenn added on to the sarcasm. The farmer sighed, dropping to his knee and pouring some of the Elderberry tea into cups for them.

Finally, Ellie was finished coughing her dry heaves. She turned slowly, wiping her mouth as her head fell back on the concrete wall.

Hershel pushed a cup to her, watching as she and Glenn drank as much as they could.

"I'm fine." Glenn coughed, grabbing for the railing. "I'm fine." He tried his damndest to pull himself up, but he knew he was too weak, so he sat back down with a huff.

"Yeah, sit down. You're too sick." Ellie patted his shoulder.

The older Greene man put a cool rag on both of their heads. "Keep this on your forehead. Veterinarian's orders."

Ellie snorted a laugh that quickly turned into a coughing as she held the towel down.

Glenn sighed. "This sucks. After everything, we just get taken out by a glorified cold?"

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"Shut up, Glenn. You're gonna jinx us." The Dixon girl waved her hand weakly.

"She's right, don't say things like that. Don't even think things like that." Hershel encouraged.

"All I can do is stop saying them." The Rhee man panted.

"No, you can do more." The farmer continued. "We got this far somehow, you can believe somehow. Now we all have jobs here. That one's yours." He then took the rag from the man's hand, pressing it against his forehead.

"You think my dad will find the things? What if they're gone?" Ellie turned to the makeshift doctor.

"He will, they're there. I know it." Hershel pushed himself up. "You need to focus on staying healthy, as much as you can, and getting rest. Your father is a very capable man. You should be proud."

Ellie smiled softly. "I am."

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A LOT OF people had taken a turn for the worst. Meaning Hershel needed help to try and get people through the hour. Meaning Ellie, Glenn, and Sasha had a job to do.

At the moment, the four of them crowded in a cell, Glenn and Sasha holding down Henry, one of the Woodbury people, while Ellie kept his mouth open.

"Henry, I need you to calm down." Hershel spoke calmly, holding a metal contraption in his hand at the ready. "We're trying to help."

He slowly lowered the thing into the man's mouth, holding back his tongue. Hershel then grabbed the breathing tube, and began lowering it.

"No-" Glenn and Sasha picked up their fight to settle him as the farmer finally got the tube in. Henry passed out, not wanting to fight anymore now that it was done.

Ellie and the others quickly began coughing fits, having used all their energy to hold him down.

"Drink some of that. All of you." Hershel glanced at the tea, squeezing the air bag in timed compressions.

Ellie nodded, pouring some of the tea into cups and passing it to Glenn and Sasha. They all drank greedily, trying their best to coat their throats.

"Some council meetin' huh?" Hershel joked.

"We're two members short." Sasha laughed along softly.

"And one added." Glenn glanced at a pale Ellie.

"I'm honored." She took a sip.

"I think we should make some new rules before they get back." The doctor wiped the sweat from his face. "I hereby declare we have spaghetti Tuesdays every Wednesday." They laughed airily.

"First we have to find spaghetti." The Dixon girl pushed the hair from her face. Hershel nodded with a soft smile before turning back to the Williams woman.

"You okay to take over?" He asked openly. Sasha nodded but Ellie was quick to jump in.

"No, you're the worst of us. I'll do it." She swapped placed with Sasha who did not put up any fight.

"Okay, every five to six seconds, squeeze. If you start feeling light headed, grab somebody else to take over." The older man told her, glancing at the others. "We'll take it in shifts. Glenn, you wanna help me go on my rounds?"

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