FALLEN ANGELS.

chapter twenty-one, not you.
[ season four, episode three ]

KAREN AND DAVID WERE killed. Someone killed them and set their bodies on fire. And then Rick beat the shit out of Tyreese. Odessa's heart hurt for the the man. He lost the woman he loved to murder. She didn't know what it felt like to lose the person she was in love with and she hoped she never had to but she still hurt for the older man.

Their deaths didn't stop the spread of the illness either. Cole realized that as he sat in a council meeting without Sasha Williams.

"It's spread. Everyone who survived the attack in cell block D. Sasha, Caleb, and now others." Hershel informed them.

Cole glanced back at Michonne who stood away from everyone else as they'd all been exposed. Carol asked, "so what do we do?"

"First things first, cell block A is isolation. We keep the sick people there like we tried with Karen and David." Hershel said.

"What the hell are we gonna do about that?" Cole spoke up. Their deaths shocked everyone. It scared everyone. And it saddened Cole. Karen had been there for him after his mother's death.

"Ask Rick to look into it," Carol piped. "Try to make a timeline— who's where when. But what are we gonna do to stop this?"

"There is not stoppin' it. You get it, you have to got through it," Hershel responded.

"But it just kills you?" Michonne asked.

"The illness doesn't. The symptoms do. We need antibiotics." Hershel told them.

"We've been through every pharmacy nearby. And then some." Daryl said.

"That veterinary college at West Peachtree Tech, that's one place people may not have thought to raid for medication. The drugs for animals are the same we need." Hershel informed.

"That's fifty miles. Too big a risk. Ain't now. I'm gonna take a group out," Daryl stood. "Best not waste anymore time."

Cole stood, "I'm going."

"I'm in," Michonne stepped up.

"You haven't been exposed. Daryl and Cole have. You get in car with them—"

"They've already given me fleas," Michonne smiled.

Hershel chuckled. "I'll lead the way. I know where everything's kept."

Cole and Daryl shared a look before the redneck spoke, "when we're out there, it's always the same. Sooner or later we run."

"I'll draw you a map," Hershel replied. "There are other precautions we should take."

"Like what?"

"There's no tellin' how long it'll be before Daryl and his group return. Wouldn't it make sense for us to separate the most vulnerable? We can use the administration building. Separate office, separate room," Hershel said.

"Who is the most vulnerable?" Glenn asked.

"The very young." Hershel answered.

"What about the old?" Glenn asked in return.

After that, the young were told to pack what they need and go to the administration building. Odessa and Theo didn't go. Beth went in with Judith. Carl went despite his hesitance.

Odessa stayed away from her people. She stayed to herself in her cell. But she did one thing Theo found odd.

She packed an extra bag. Everyone was supposed to have a go-bag prepared at all times. Odessa already had one packed and shoved under her bed with essentials. Canned food, bottles of water, water purifier, flashlights batteries, ammo. He watched as Odessa folded her clothes and set them on her bed. She grabbed her journals and pens.

Then she opened a drawer and inside were two items. He watched her as she pulled out the fisherman's hat and police badge.

She stared at the hat for a long while. Tears gathered in her blue eyes. Then she blinked them away and set the hat and badge down on the bed. She grabbed her album of Polaroids.

And put them all in her over-the-shoulder bag and shoved it under her bed. When she saw Theo watching her, she said, "if something bad happens, you need to be ready."

He nodded. "I know."

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Glenn was sick. And Hershel had disobeyed the rules of quarantine and went into isolation to help the sick people.

Odessa laid on her bed, sweat beaded at her brow. She fiddled with the fraying bracelet on her wrist. Three colors braided together. Gray, red, and black. Her father's favorite colors.

Her dad had his as well.

Beside the old braided bracelet rested a watch. A watch Odessa hadn't taken off since Dale Horvath gave it to her.

She remembered finding his body in that field with his stomach ripped open and his insides in the wet grass. She wish she didn't. She prayed, despite her hatred for God, that she could forget.

She rubbed the scar on her right hand.

And she remembered that night. She remembered it more than she did finding Dale. The way her blade ran across Shane's throat. When his blood stained her hands and he fell into her arms. How he died right there on Hershel's farm in her arms.

A tear fell down her face.

And something happened that hadn't in a long time.

Her eyes locked with Shane Walsh's.

He stood at her doorway, the curtain waving gently behind him. Odessa simply stared at him before whispering, "why are you here?"

He shrugged. Shane's hallucination never talked to her like Dale's had. Dale was clean, not stained with blood. Shane, however, was covered in it. His throat was slit open.

Odessa feared him still. He was dead, his corpse rotted alone in an overgrown field. And yet she still felt her hands shake and blood run cold.

"Leave," she said. "Leave."

When he didn't budge, Odessa threw her legs over the side of her bed and stood. "Leave!"

She threw a punch at him but as she did he was gone. She stumbled against the wall.

Suddenly, a harsh cough came from deep within her chest. Once the fit passed she pulled her hand away from her mouth and saw it.

Blood.

Odessa could only say one word. "Goddamnit."

The teen made her way to cell block A. But on the way, she was intercepted.

"Des?" Came a voice.

Odessa stopped in her tracks. She looked back. "Hey, Dad," she said weakly.

He stood there and stared at her. "Are you— are you sick?"

She nodded, her body shaking. "Ye— yeah. I'm sick."

Rick nodded back. "Okay," he tried to keep his composure but he couldn't. He eyes welled as he approached his sick daughter.

"Dad, no—" she held out her arms to stop him but he didn't. He grabbed his daughter around the waist and immediately she fell against him.

He helped her to A where he opened the door for her. He kissed her pale and sweaty forehead. "I love you, Odessa."

"I love you, too, Dad." She whispered. "Tell Carl the same please."

"I will." He nodded. He watched as his daughter walked into the cell block. He blinked and his tears fell.

"Hershel?" She called out weakly. The man came out of a cell and stared at her, shock and sadness written all over her old face. "I'm sick."

He helped her to the cell right beside Glenn's. When the man saw her, Glenn's stomach plummeted.

"Oh no. Not you, Odessa." Glenn whispered.

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word count: 1,207

and odessa's sick. once everything goes down hill she can't catch a break. i can't decide if she the luckiest or unluckiest person alive.

i originally planned for theo to get sick but he has another big part coming up and lemme tell y'all you definitely need to prepare for it.

i'm actually almost done with season four. i'm so excited to start on season five. we get to meet gabriel and then the alexandrians. i'm so so excited for that story line omfg.

but what i'm NOT excited for in season five is episode eight. neither is odessa but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

anyway, next chapter is a cole chapter!! he starts to get more attention during this act and in the rest of the series. hope y'all are happy about that.