Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
MIKA SITS IN Aria's lap as Carol reads the book aloud. But Aria can't pay attention to the words, all she can think about is Zach. The poor teenager had a life to live and Aria hesitated, if she would've immediately went towards him, she could've killed the walker. Daryl had tried explaining to her that it isn't her fault, but she doesn't believe him. Everytime someone dies, Aria can't help but feel guilty because she knows she could've done something to stop them from dying. When Bob had told the group what happened, Aria can tell he was lying about something, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was.
"Today, we are talking about knives—how to use them, how to be safe with them, and how they could save your life." Aria's not exactly sure how she feels about Carol teaching the kids about weapons. She wants the kids to live their lives but she also wants them to know how to protect themselves, she goes back in forth each day. "Ma'am, may I be dismissed?" Aria turns around, her eyes catching sight of a nervous looking Patrick and she sends him a small and gentle look. "What is it?" Aria asks kindly, her voice soft. Carol and Aria are complete opposites, Aria is the more soft and kind one while Carol is the fierce one.
"I'm not feeling very well." Aria nods slowly, turning back towards Carol. "Sometimes you're gonna have to fight through it. What if you wind up at there, alone. You just give up because you're feeling bad?" Aria shakes her head at Carol, raising her eyebrows. "If they don't want to learn, that's their choice. We shouldn't force them." She tells Carol, who then agrees with the statement, motioning for Patrick to leave.
♚ ♛ (next day)
Sending a smile down towards the older lady, the pills are taken from her hand as the lady downs them quickly. This is her job; looking after elderly people and making sure they take their medicine. It's not a bad job, she loves helping people in need. "Alright, well I'll be—" Aria is cut off by screaming and gunfire echoing through the cell block and she pulls her gun out, creeping out of the cell and closing the door behind her.
"Put the gun down, Mr. Jones!" Aria yells at the man with the shotgun, her eyes looking down at him. Just as she begins to walk towards the stairs, bony fingers grip her arm and she slams against the wall, a walker snapping at her. Another walker stumbles her way and she groans loudly as she holds them back her hands digging into their chests. "Ms. Aria—what do I do?" A small and fragile voice calls out, wanting to help the struggling female. "Get somewhere safe." She yells out, despite the burning pain in her arms from the weight of the two walkers.
Raising her gun at an angle, she pulls the trigger, the walker falling limp. Pushing the dead walker away, she shoves the alive one backwards before raising her gun, sending a bullet through its brain. Looking over the rails, her eyes meet Daryl's and she blows out a breath. As Daryl goes to call for her, a force sends her flying over the rails and her gun smacks to the ground beneath her as her hands grip the rails tightly. A walker leans over the rails, its jaws snapping at her as her body dangles above everyone.
With her fingers slipping and the walker leaning down really close to her face, Aria's breathing becomes erratic. Just as one of her hands slip, the walker is pulled away and Daryl grabs onto her forearm, pulling the female up. Once her feet hit the ground, her arms wrap around Daryl as her body shakes, still shocked. "You're alright." He utters, his hands rubbing her back gently.
Blowing out a breath, she pulls away, wiping her hands on her jeans. "I—Is everyone okay?" She whispers, lowering her eyes down to the lower level. She frowns as she notices all of the bodies littered on the ground. Clearing her throat, she chews on her bottom lip before closing her eyes. For a while everything was going just fine, but you should never get comfortable.
Staring down at the walker corpse, Aria's eyes trail over the blood trails, her head shaking slightly. "No bites, no wounds. I think he just died." Rick concludes, sweat dripping down his face. "Horribly, too. Pleurisy aspiration." Aria looks over towards Hershel for a translation. She knows nothing about the word Caleb just said, it's foreign to her. "Choked to death on his own blood. Caused those trails on his face." Hershel speaks up after noticing the questioning look Aria had sent him.
"I've seen them before on a walker outside the fences." Rick explains and Aria shifts her weight onto her back leg, her eyebrows furrowing. "Saw that one walker caused that sickness?" She asks, looking around at the group of men. In the past, she would feel completely uncomfortable if she was surrounded by men but not anymore, these people are the only people she has. "They're from the internal lung pressure building up—like if you shake a soda can and pop the top. Only imagine your eyes, ears, nose, and throat are the top." Caleb tells them, ignoring the female's question.
Aria inwardly winces, it has to be painful. "It's a sickness from the walkers?" Bob asks, repeating Aria's question. "No, these things happened before they were around. Could be better pneumococcal. Most likely an aggressive flu strain." Aria crosses her arms over her chest, looking down at the doctor blankly. What am I? Chopped liver? "Someone locked him in just in time." Hershel says from behind Aria, staring down at the dead corpse. "No, man. Charlie used to sleepwalk. Locked himself in. Hell, he was just eating barbecue yesterday. How could somebody die in a day just from a cold?" Daryl states, a frown on his face.
"I had a sick pig, it died quick. Saw a sick boar in the woods." Rick says, raising his eyes to look up at the group. "Pigs and birds. That's how these things spread in the past. We need to do something about those hogs." Hershel sends a pointed look towards Rick, his fatherly instincts kicking in. "Maybe we got lucky. Maybe these two cases are it." Caleb hopes, his eyes slightly wide as he turns towards the group. "I haven't seen anybody be lucky in a long time. Bugs like to run though close quarters. Doesn't get any closer to this."
"All of us in here, we've all been exposed." Aria bites her lip, her body freezing. Should she tell them that she has a horrible immune system ever since she downed those bottle of pills and had to be rushed to the ER? For all she know, she could be dying right now.
