run to you | daryl dixon

chapter twenty-eight

THE WOMAN CLOSED HER EYES IN DELIGHT AS THE HOT WATER RAN DOWN HER BODY, WASHING AWAY ALL THE DIRT AND BLOOD. It had been a week since her breakdown at the store with Daryl and he's been avoiding her ever since, which she thought was weird, but she didn't bother him about it.

Once she was dried off, she walked back towards her cell and grabbed her knife, walking outside to see Daryl, cleaning his bow as he sharpened some more arrows.

She cast her head to the floor and walked towards her sister, who was also outside. Once she got closer, however, she heard faint screaming coming from inside one of the cell blocks and Daryl made eye contact with her, nodding his head slightly as the two ran towards it.

As Allison approached the cell block, she saw walkers all around, biting into people's flesh and she instantly grabbed her gun, trying her best to kill the walkers that were in her sight and that were getting close to people.

She saw a little girl, Lizzy, almost being bit by a walker as it gripped her shoulder. Killing the walker, she grabbed Lizzy and threw her in a cell with the other kids. "Stay here." She ordered them, sealing it off from walkers.

Allison turned around sharply and bumped into Daryl, who grabbed her shoulders in response. "Go." He grunted and she nodded, him letting go of her and killing the other walkers around.

Moments passed and the gunfire and screaming stopped, everyone sighing in relief. Allison felt dizzy and she went to lean against the stairs, slightly sweaty as she killed the walkers.

"It's Patrick." She heard Daryl's voice from across the way, it echoing.

"He must've choked on his own blood." Hershel said, sighing. "Caused those trails on his face."

"They're from eternal lung pressure building up. Like if you shake a soda can and pop the top. Only it's your eyes, ears, nose and throat are the top." Doctor S stated as he got a closer look to Patrick.

"This happened from the walkers?" Bob asked.

"No, these things happened before the walkers. Could be pneumococcal. Like an aggressive flu strain." Dr. S furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what caused it to kill so many people.

Allison closed her eyes tightly and sighed, walking out. Her father came from beside her. "You need to be separated from everyone outside of here. We've all been exposed."

She nodded, biting on her lip. "Yeah, okay." For some reason, Allison couldn't look him in the eye, it was like she didn't want to.

"Are you alright? I heard about what happened. We've never got the chance to talk about it." Hershel raised his eyebrows at his daughter and looked at her closely, trying to see if there was any sign of her that was actually here.

"Really? In here?" Allison scoffed, looking around.

"Since you've been avoiding me all week, I'd say this is the best place." He sighed, his daughter now looking at him.

She motioned towards outside and he followed, wanting to see what she had to say. Sighing deeply, the two stood by the blocks outside, her biting her nails out of nervousness.

"It was mom's knife." Tears started to spring her eyes and she looked up, trying to stop them from falling. "I lost her knife... I'm sor- I'm so sorry."

Hershel nodded his head slightly and walked closer to her. "You gotta forgive yourself." He told her and she realized that he wasn't talking about her knife, he was talking about what happened all those years ago. "What happened wasn't your fault."

Allison wiped her nose that was leaking snot and she shrugged, holding herself. "It could've been. If I had just stopped what I was doing and actually take care of her then she would be alive." Her breath was shaky and her hair stuck to her forehead in sweat.

"You couldn't have known, darlin'." Hershel told her. Allison just sighed as a tear fell down her face once again, her not being able to hold back from crying.

Hershel watched as she cried, not wanting to get too close because of this sickness. "I love you. Don't forget that."

Allison wiped the tears away and nodded, sniffling. "I love you, too." She gave him a sad smile and sighed, holding her head in pain.

"Are you sure you're alright? Let me feel your head." Hershel said, motioning her to come closer as he held out his hand.

She obeyed and walked towards her father, him placing his hand on her head and pulling away instantly as he felt like she was on fire. "You're burning up."

Allison widened her eyes and backed away, not wanting him to get sick. "Does that mean I'm..." She trailed off, now realizing that she didn't wanna die from this dumbass sickness.

"You should go into cell block A. It's clean. I'll tell the others to go there, too." Hershel told her, giving the girl a sad smile. "You need rest, Ally."

Nodding, she walked away to cell block A, where all the sick people were. As she approached the door, she saw Carol, a mask over her face. "What are you doing in here?" She asked her, worried that she came here by accident.

"My dad told me to come in. I haven't been feeling great." Allison chuckled slightly, shrugging her shoulders.

"You're gonna be fine. Get some rest." Carol told her, sighing.