Chapter 39

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I woke up to coughing next to me and saw Glenn. "What..when did..you get here?" I managed out and he turned to me, leaning his head against the glass like me. "Before they left." He said and then turned away so that he could cough. He leaned back against the wall and I placed my head on his shoulder. "This sucks." I said breathy and looked up to see his weak smile. "We're going to be taken out...by a glorified cold." He said and turned to cough, while I gave a weak chuckle. He turned back and looked as if he wanted to say something, but turned away again.

It stayed silent for awhile, but he soon broke it. "I'm sorry...about Leona." He managed out and I sat up, turning slightly to look at him. He looked at me waiting for a response, but I just watched him. "Scarlett?" He said breathy. I turned away from him and closed my eyes, listening to all the coughing and groans in this cell block. "Scar?" I opened my eyes and turned towards him. "I miss her." I stated and Glenn just watched me. "Are you okay?" He asked and gave a small cough.

I shook my head and returned it to its position his shoulder. "She made..me..kill her." I managed out and closed my eyes. "She was scared." Glenn said softly and I looked up at him. "So was I." I mumbled and he looked down at me. "She knew that...if someone else did it...you wouldn't forgive 'em."

I gave a weak smile and felt a tear ran down my cheek. "She was..always right." I said weakly. "And crazy." Glenn added and I chuckled. "Most...definitely." I smiled and looked around the cell block. "She didn't like..you at all." I said and we both chuckled weakly. Leona and Glenn never got along, she always voted against him even though she agreed with him and it drove him crazy. She would also steal his shirts and tie them to the stair rails. "I'm going to miss her...driving me insane." He chuckled and then gave a loud cough.

"Me too." I said weakly. I slowly sat up and tried to get to my feet, using the rails. "What are you doing?" He asked and tried to do the same, but I used my foot to push him back down. "Something...stay here." I managed to get out and slowly made my way towards a cell. The empty cell I found was in a dark corner with little to no light. I stood at the entrance and looked at the bare walls, my fingers roaming to my knife. I slid it out and walked towards the wall to the left of me, my knife pressed against the wall as I began to mark into it with the knife.

Third person:

Hershel was about to leave for the woods when Carl saw him. "Where are you going?" Carl asked Hershel. "I'm up here away from y'all, so you kids can stay away from me." Hershel said back to the boy. "I've been walking the halls, my dad told me to look out for everyone." Carl said. "Well, you should keep your distance." Hershel said and Carl moved forwards towards him.

"You're walking towards the exit." Carl stated. "I need to go out there." Hershel said back and continued on. "To the cell blocks?" Carl questioned. "To the woods." Hershel corrected. "So you're sneaking out?" Carl said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't need anyone worrying about me and I damn sure don't want someone telling me I can't go." Hershel replied back. "I can't just let you go out into the woods by yourself." Carl stated and Hershel scoffed. "Let me?" Carl watched as he walked away. "I can't stop you, but I have to tell my dad." Carl said and Hershel chuckled.

"Go ahead then, I'll be out there by the time you find him." Hershel stated. "Hershel, if you have to go, then I have to come with you." Hershel stopped as the boy came up. "Carl." Carl looked up at Hershel. "I have too." He said and Hershel sighed as they made their way towards the woods.

"When did your dad give it back?" Hershel asked Carl, who was on guard as Hershel picked elderberries from a bush. "Yesterday, after everything happened." Carl replied and glanced back at Hershel. "You've grown a lot these last few months, there's a responsibility about you, I think it's done you good to step back." Hershel said as he walked over to the boy. "Yeah, it was alright, can't be like that all the time." Carl said. "I would have been fine on my own, it's peaceful out here." Hershel said, looking around.

"These past couple of days, we might be safer outside of those walls rather than in." He finished. "No we're not." Carl said as a walker started heading their way, a bear trap stuck in its leg. "Let's wrap this up." Hershel said and began to walk away, but Carl didn't follow. "Don't. You don't need to." He said back to the boy, who was aiming at the walker. "It was so peaceful." Hershel said as they walked away. "It was, can't be like that all the time." Carl said back as they headed back with the berries.

When they reached the prison, Carl went back while Hershel went to work with the elderberries. "Why aren't you in quarantine?" Maggie said, when she saw her father heading towards cell block A. "I'm no good to anyone in there." He answered back to his daughter. "Daddy, please." Maggie begged. "Maggie, dear, there are people in there suffering. I can bring their fever down and keep them stable." He argued back. "Daryl's getting the antibiotics." She stated. "Some of these people won't last 12 hours." Hershel said as Maggie shook her head.

"I can't let you do this." She pleaded. "Maggie, Glenn is in there and so is Scarlett." Rick came around the corner, confused. "What's going on?" He asked, looking between Hershel and Maggie. "Elderberries." Hershel stated. "My wife used to make tea with them, they're a natural flu remedy." Rick looked at Maggie and then back at Hershel. "Caleb's too sick to help, I can. There's so many times we haven't been able to do anything to change what was happening to us. We wished we could, but we couldn't. This time, I can. I know I can." Hershel said to both of them. "Hershel, if you go in there, you're gonna get sick." Rick argued. "Wait, we don't know that. What we do know is that these people's symptoms need to be controlled." Hershel stated. "Hershel, please." Rick pleaded. "We can wait." Maggie said back.

Having enough of this, Hershel shook his head. "Listen, damn it. You step outside, you risk your life. You take a drink of water, you risk your life. And nowadays you breathe, and you risk your life. Every moment now, you don't have a choice. The only thing you can choose is what you're risking it for. Now I can make these people feel better and hang on a little bit longer. I can save lives and that's reason enough to risk mine, and you know that." Hershel stated to the both of them. Maggie followed him and opened up the gate to cell block A as Hershel pulled the white towel over his face and nose.

Hershel was next to Glenn, who was still sitting near the window. "I'm fine, I'm fine." Glenn argued and tried to stand up, but sat back down. "Keep this on your forehead." Hershel said handing him a damp towel. "Veterinarian's orders." Glenn rolled his eyes. "This sucks, after everything we get taken out by a glorified cold." He muttered. "Don't say things like that, don't even think things like that." Hershel said back. "All I can do is stop saying them." Glenn said and looked at Hershel. "No, you can do more. We got this far somehow, you can believe somehow." Hershel said back. "Where's Scarlett?" He asked and Glenn motioned with his head to the far cell.

Hershel walked over to the cell to see Scarlett sitting on the floor, her back to the wall on his right and a knife in her hand. She was looking at the wall across from her and when Hershel looked, he saw the names of 24 girls and at the very top was Leona's name. She turned to look at him and he gave a small smile. "You..shouldn't be..in here." She managed out and he crouched beside her. "So I've been told." Hershel said and handed her a damp towel.

She placed it on her forehead and closed her eyes, the cool towel feeling nice against her burning skin. "You need to rest, Scarlett." Hershel said softly, but the girl just shook her head and looked back at the names. "Not yet." She breathed. Hershel could see the flu's control over the girl was strong, but Scarlett was fighting it every inch of the way. "Please try and get some sleep, Scarlett, it'll do you good." She gave him a weak smile before he stood up and left the dark cell.

After a few minutes, Hershel could hear the soft scrapping and he knew she was back to keeping herself busy. He smiled and then made his way to the people in the cell block, while he listened to Scarlett carve the names of the dead into her cell walls.

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