my tears ricochet

Chapter Forty Four

Ivy's grudge against Woodbury couldn't help but shrink at the sight of the people vanishing into Death Row. They formed a line that was razor sharp, strangers turned familiar. She watched from a distance as they shuffled through the courtyard and into the gloom of the cell block.

Daryl had left with Bob, Michonne, and Tyreese. She had been miserable watching the sight of the car vanish, stuck waiting inside the fences, kept apart from the world by wire and teeth.

"Maggie wanted Beth to head into quarantine," Oscar told her seriously. He was leaning against the table as he watched two more residents start for that awful place. "Maybe we could get you moved down there tonight."

He was only saying what Rick had said. But she liked Oscar more so Ivy didn't snap back at him. She simply shrugged her shoulders and tossed the little paperback onto the table. "Daryl said I could stay put. I'm alone up there anyways."

The prison looked abandoned. Ivy had spent so much time hating everything about it and her that she never realized how much of a home it had been turned into. The evidence was everywhere; the recipe books left by the big clay oven Oscar had crafted, the toys under benches, drawings taped to walls, the bits and pieces of lives dragged out on display. They were down to just a handful of healthy people left and Ivy saw how their numbers burned away.

Rick, Maggie, Carol, and Oscar were the only ones she knew still outside Death Row and the temporary quarantine set up. Three people from Woodbury were still healthy enough and there was a handful of others who had arrived to the prison after the white flag had been planted.

Ivy missed Daryl. She missed the people she didn't have anymore.

It had only been a few hours since he had left but a shadow seemed to nag her, constantly looming over her shoulders and reminding her of how little she had left to lose. Ivy's ears had a dull ringing that failed to relent and it soured her day.

"You sure? Beth's got her little set up in there. I don't mind if you need help carrying anything down."

Oscar was one of Ivy's favourite people, she realized. He had a way of understanding her. The man kept his distance from her and never touched without asking first. Oscar even knew to keep in her eye sight before talking and never exaggerated his words. It was comfortable, sitting by him. "I can help with the fence if I'm out here," Ivy frowned, fighting the urge to turn around and check that they were still standing upright. No signs of tampering had been seen but she couldn't forget the sight of those rat carcasses left like an offering for the dead. "I'm okay."

"Let me know if you change your mind," Oscar said. He stretched his hands out and rolled his shoulders slightly, trying to work out some of the pressure building at his neck. She could see ink stains all over his fingers. "You gonna help down at the garden later?"

"Yeah."

The garden had the benefit of being in eyesight of the gate. Ivy didn't want to stray far from the best place to wait for Daryl's return. If he came back at night she was reasonably confident the headlights would cast enough light that it would wake her from inside the tower.

Ivy looked and saw Maggie storming across the yard. She blinked and realized she was after Hershel who was carrying a wooden crate of something towards Death Row.

She was on her feet and moving before she fully understood the scene, fresh worry catching fire in her veins. Glenn was already sick. Ivy couldn't lose him and she didn't want Hershel to die either. Lizzie had been describing the illness in graphic detail to anyone who would listen and so Ivy had heard the full description of eyes popping blood and the body suffocating from the pressure.