Chapter Text
You could feel the tension in the almost empty classroom, especially among the older kids, the ones who had been in your extra-curricular art activity since the first year that you started working there, six years ago, including your nephew, Sam Dixon.
Sam was still a kid, but not the little six-year-old that you had in your class since day one when you first moved to that small town to work in a school where almost every other teacher seemed to dislike you, where you had no friends, and where people didn't want to have anything to do with you.
Those first moments had been hard, but you'd go over everything again a thousand times if it meant that you'd get to meet Daryl.
At first, he'd only been the uncle of little Dixon, and the kid's guardian during Merle's absence, but despite the rumors about him and his family, Daryl had seemed decent enough, he'd never been actively against you like almost everyone else had seemed to be, he'd been good to you, in his own way, and he'd become your friend...and over time, through good and bad, despite both your insecurities and every difficulty that was thrown your way, Daryl and you had become more than friends.
Since then, your relationship had just grown stronger, and by now, you and Daryl had been married for over three years, making you a Dixon, for the good and the bad, and making you Sam's aunt officially...most times, though, after all these years, it almost felt like he was your own kid.
You couldn't be happier about the family that you had gotten, and lately Daryl and you had been giving thought to the idea of maybe making the family bigger...it was not something to take lightly, especially for Daryl, and so you both had thought and talked about it long and through.
You knew you wanted to have a kid with Daryl, besides Sam, even if you felt a bit nervous about it and how it'd change things, but you hadn't wanted to impose the idea on Daryl. On his side, you knew he liked kids, and he'd fought his insecurities, fears, and memories, in order to come to terms with the fact that he too wanted to have a kid with you.
You supposed you both couldn't have agreed on that at a worse moment... now all your plans, dreams, and ideas of future had come to a halt due to the current state of the country...or the whole world, you weren't sure.
It all started almost as just an anecdote on the news, some report about a new virus or sickness, or you didn’t even know what, with some isolated cases popping here and there. Just the next day, the number of cases had grown while nobody seemed to know what sickness was that, and on the next couple of days, the cases seemed to grow exponentially, while there was still no answer to what that sickness was, just some theories here and there.
People were worried, even in the small town where you lived, although some said that the sickness would stay in the cities and won’t spread there. People in the cities seemed to think the same, and some had moved to that small town as if fleeing from whatever virus was that.
Whether they had brought the sickness with them or if it had arrived by itself, you didn’t know, but the truth was that the day before, some cases of the new illness had started popping out on the town, growing at a pace that was more than worrisome.
The mother of Tulip, one of the students that you had since your first year, who was one of your very few friends, was a nurse, and even though she couldn’t speak much about it, she’d told you hushedly how it was nothing like she’d ever seen before, something like out of a horror movie, before she had to rush to the hospital, unable to tell you any advice other than to try to find a place where that virus, of whatever it was, couldn’t reach you.
She had been pale, looking haunted and exhausted, dark rings under her eyes, and her look had worried you as much as her words, or even more.
You’d been talking about it with Daryl, and you both had decided you’d leave for the woods the next day, a Friday, and stay there the weekend, away from the town and the people, and hopefully, the sickness. The garage owed Daryl free days from when he took long shifts, and so he’d be asking to take them this weekend.
If by Monday things weren’t better or were worse, he’d try to get more free days, if you wanted to still camp at the woods, and you could try asking for days at the school too, though you felt a bit bad for leaving the kids.
You weren't sure if the school was going to be open for long, though, if the sickness kept going at that rate.
Quite a lot of kids hadn’t come to class that day, which you understood, and much less to your class activity, but there were still a few kids there, whose parents couldn’t stop working to go pick them up until late in the afternoon, one of the main reasons why your art activity existed. You didn't know how they would do if you took free days, and you felt a bit guilty, but you knew you had to think about your family too.
A couple of hours after your art activity started, you glanced at the clock, anxious and antsy, you couldn’t pinpoint why, but you felt like you couldn’t wait to be out of the school and back home. By now, there were only three kids left, Sam and Tulip, and a little girl that had started school that year, Claudia.
As usual, Daryl would come to pick you and Sam up once he was done at the garage. Tulip’s mom would work all night at the hospital, so if when Daryl came Tulip’s dad hadn’t come to pick her up yet, you’d told him you’d take her home with Sam and he could go for her there once he was free.
As for Claudia, usually, her parents would have picked her up by now, and their absence was making anxiety grip your gut. If they still hadn’t come when Daryl arrived, you’d try phoning them to check if they were okay and would be there soon…the custodian, the only person who was at the school at that moment besides you and the kids, had to close the school soon after that, and parents knew it.
You were worried about everything, your fingers tapping nervously on your desk even if you wanted to appear calm in front of the kids so as not to worry them or even scare them, when you hear the siren of a police car, and then you saw one driving fast down the road, followed by a military truck...this couldn't be good news, and you felt anxiety gripping your stomach even worse...you really didn't know what to do.
The kids saw it too, and they looked at you, but you were out of your depth and didn't have answers for them...you tried, though.
“I think...I suppose they're going to help at the hospital, with the sick people...”
“Mom didn't say anything...” Tulip said. “But I haven't talked with her since last night...”
“I hope she has a moment to rest soon, sweetheart,” you told her, but it seemed that the cases of sick people were just growing and growing even in your little town, you didn't know how in less than a couple of days, everything seemed to be going out of hand, enough to call the military there...
Sam wasn't saying anything, but you noticed him frowning as he looked out of the window.
“Sam?” You called for him, and he kept frowning at the window for a couple of seconds before he spoke.
“I thought I saw...nothing...” He muttered, before looking back at the drawing in which he'd been working.
You looked at the little girl, Claudia, who was engrossed in her drawing. You chewed on your lip before looking at your clock again, and you decided to approach her.
“Sweetheart, did your parents tell you when are they going to pick you up?” You asked, but the little girl shook her head. “Okay...” You didn't know what to do, you were feeling anxious...you hoped Daryl would come soon, you'd rather wait for Claudia's parents with him there, even if it might be silly, but still, it was past time her parents came to pick her up.
You had decided that you'd go to the office and phone Claudia's parents, even if you weren't too hopeful on that solving something, when your mobile began ringing from inside your bag.
You frowned, and for a second you had the crazy hope that it'd be Claudia's parents, but they'd phone the school, not you...maybe it was Daryl...you hoped that it wouldn't be bad news, or him being late...
When you picked up the phone, you saw that it was Tulip's mom calling, not from the hospital but from her own mobile.
“Hello?”
“Y/N, where are you?” She asked, sounding scared and exhausted, and there was so much noise in the background that you could barely hear anything.
“I'm still at the school...”
“What?! Is Tulip there?! You have to leave, now! I told you!”
“I can't, there's a little girl, her parents-” You tried to explain but she interrupted you.
“You have to leave! Things...things are bad, Y/N, I don't understand, I don't know what's happening, I...the sick people, they die, I saw it with my eyes but...but then they're alive again, they're dangerous, they attack people...”
“What?” You were trying to understand what she was saying.
“I...I'm not crazy, I know what I saw, I...” She stammered and you didn't know what to think...you wanted to believe that she was overworked and so she thought she had seen something that was not, and yet, the cold shiver that ran through you told you otherwise.
“I saw a military truck...they'll help...” You said weakly.
“Help...Y/N, I don't think they're here to help...you have to leave, you...hey!” Her voice sounded away from the phone now, as if she were talking to somebody else. “Hey, what are you doing?! No! Wait!”
You heard some gunshots at the other side of the line and you gasped aloud. “Hello? Hey? Someone?” You called to no avail and you stared at the phone.
You were scared, confused, anxious...but you had three kids to watch over...you didn't know what to do, though...
“What's happening?” Tulip asked why you kept staring at your phone.
“I...I don't know...” Sure, not the most
reassuring answer, but it was true.
You didn't know what to do, feeling helpless and scared. Should you just take the kids and go home? But what about Claudia? Their parents wouldn't know where she was, you'd be pretty much kidnapping a student...where were her parents, though...
Not knowing what you do, you dialed Tulip's mom number, but she didn't pick up. It was the same when you phoned the hospital. You tried phoning Claudia's parents, but neither of them picked up. Next, you tried phoning the garage where Daryl worked, see if he had some idea of what was happening or what to do, but nobody picked the phone either, and you felt like crying.
You dialed Claudia's parents again, but they weren't picking up the phone. You were still waiting to see if somebody answered when Sam called your name and Tulip gasped.
“Y/N!”
They were looking through the window and when you followed their gaze, you saw a couple of people walking through the street at the outside of the school. They were stumbling seeming out of themselves as if they were sleepwalking, but Tulip's mom had been right, they seemed dead already, and a cold shiver ran across your spine.
“I... I think those are sick people...” You said as you looked at them.
“Should we help them?” Tulip asked.
Yes, usually you'd help a sick person, but in this case... “I...I don't think it's a good idea...”
It seem that the people noticed your presence, and they stumbled towards the classroom windows. You were paralyzed as you looked at them, they did look like walking corpses...what was going on...
Suddenly, they began banging against the door, not knowing on it as people, just throwing themselves at the window, even trying to bite through it. Tulip, Sam, and you jumped away from the window, scared, while Claudia let out a scream of fear.
It seemed to excite those two people, or whatever those were, and they banged the window even harder, while the commotion seemed to attract two other sick people, seemingly coming out of nowhere and throwing themselves at the window too, one of them with a big wound covering its neck...what the hell was going on.
Claudia screamed again, rushing to get to your side, holding to you and hiding her face on your shirt, while Sam and Tulip got behind you too, scared eyes fixed on those corpse-like people that were banging the windows so hard you were afraid it'd break.
You were paralyzed by fear, but you tried to shake yourself out of it, you had to do something.
“We have to leave, come on,” you instructed, trying to sound surer than you were feeling...you didn't know where to go, or how, not with those dangerous people out there, and what if there were more...but you couldn't stay there either, waiting for the window to break...
You rushed out of the classroom, the kids holding to your shirt, and down the corridor towards the main door of the school, but you stopped on your tracks when you saw the custodian struggling to keep the door closed, as if more of those sick people were pushing at it like they were doing to the classroom window.
“Y/N!” He yelled when he saw you. “Get back to the classroom!”
You tried not to let fear paralyze you again, and you turned to look at Sam, who looked at you with scared eyes.
“Get everyone into one of the classrooms where the windows face the backyard,” you instructed him.
“You ain't coming?” Sam asked you and you shook your head.
“I can't, I have to help keep the door close, okay?”
“But-”
“Sam,” you didn't let him speak. “To the classroom, now!”
He looked like he wanted to fight it but finally he nodded, and him, Tulip and Claudia rushed to the classroom while you ran to the front door, helping the custodian to push it closed.
“I told you to go to the classroom!” The custodian said but you ignored him.
“What is going on?!” You asked but he just shook his head.
You both struggled to keep the door closed, the people at the other side kept relentlessly pushing it, they didn't seem to tire no matter what, while you could feel yours and the custodian efforts growing weaker.
At some point, neither of you could keep the door closed anymore, and as soon as a little breach was opened at the door, a few arms reached through it, trying to grab you both, before they managed to push the door open enough for you to see a small group of those corpse-looking people throwing themselves at the door, pushing each other against it as they tried to get inside through the breach.
You and the custodian tried to push the door close again, but it was too late, and two of those people threw themselves at you both. You screamed, scared, jumping back, while the custodian moved in front of you, and so those two people, monsters, or whatever theywere, threw themselves at him instead of you, bitting him as they fell to the ground, ripping pieces of skin and meat as he screamed.
You stared at it in horror, unable to even scream, while another two of those people tried getting through the door too, one of them Claudia's mother, who seemed pretty much dead but walking even though her throat seemed torn open...maybe she had been attacked on her way to pick Claudia, maybe right there in front of the door while you didn't know it...
You were paralyzed in fear but instinct kicked in, making you run away from them down the corridor, not knowing what to do, but you spotted Sam at the door of one of the classrooms.
“Y/N! In here!”
He called for you and you rushed into the classroom, pushing Sam inside, and slammed the door closed.
“Help me block the door!” You said as you began pushing a table against the door, and the kids rushed to do the same, while you also placed chairs on top of the tables for good measure, trying to have as much weight against the door as possible.
“What's going on?” Tulip asked while the three kids looked at you with scared eyes. Claudia was crying silently, and you tried not to think on her mother out there, turned into one of those monsters, you couldn't tell her.
“I...I don't know...” You said helplessly as you barely managed to stop yourself from just crying. “But those sick people are dangerous, they'd attack us and hurt us if they see us,” you explained.
“Would they kill us?” Sam asked and you didn't want to scare the kids anymore but they needed to know, and so you nodded. “What do we do?”
The kids were looking at you as if you could help them, as if you had answers, but you didn't, you were just as scared as them, feeling helpless and like crying, but you had to do something, even if you didn't know what.
“I'm going to try calling for help,” you said, taking your phone.
You dialed the police, but nobody picked up, neither the hospital, nor Daryl...you kept phoning every number you had, but nobody was picking up...
“Nothing?” Tulip asked and you shook your head, you didn't think you could hold your tears any longer.
At that moment, the door of the classroom started to bang against the doors that blocked it, as if those monsters were pushing at it. The kids and you yelped, startled, which just seemed to make it worse, as those things pushed the door even harder.
“We have to get out of here...” You said even if you were still in despair.
“The window!” Sam pointed and you nodded.
“Yes!” You could get to the yard through it, and hope that the back door of the school fence was not locked, you couldn't go to the front door...or maybe if all that sick people had gotten into the school, the yard to the front door might be free too...maybe it was too much risk...
The door of the classroom kept being relentlessly pushed and you knew you had to leave, you'd deal with the doors once you got there.
“Come on...”
You rushed to open the window, and you were about to help Claudia out when you realized you better checked there were no monsters outside that could get her. There was nobody in front, but when you looked out of the window, you saw two of those people to the right...the door was to the left, though...but maybe there were more of them that you couldn't see? What other option did you have then... As soon as the monsters saw you looking out of the window, they began making they were to you, growling.
They were slower than you had first realized...could you and the kids outrun them on your way to the door? Maybe...but not if there were more of them coming from everywhere...but you hadn't seen any others...
What would be worse, try to outrun them outside or stay in that classroom, phoning for help, hoping to contact someone who could help before the door gave in. The monsters were still pushing the door, which threatened to open even if Sam and Tulip were pushing the tables against the door too when they noticed it.
“There are two of the sick people outside, but they move slow,” you explained. “I think maybe we can run to the door before they grab us.”
“No...” Claudia was looking through the window now, before she looked at you, frightened and shaking her head. “No, no.”
You got it, but you didn't know what else to do. “Sweetheart, we're trapped in here, we can't keep the door closed forever, we-”
You stopped what you were saying when you heard some noises from outside, it sounded like things falling, doors being opened...could those monsters do that? Before you could wonder or panic about it, the hitting noises reached your door, as if something were falling against it, and you rushed to push the tables against it, helped by the kids.
“Y/N?! The fuck are ya?!”
You gasped aloud...Daryl....that was his voice, Daryl was there? Had he come to help Sam and you? But what about those monsters outside, weren't they attacking him?
“Kid?!”
Merle? Wasn't he in jail, yet again?
“Y/N here!” Sam answered while you were still in shock, and the door was pushed against the tables again.
“Open the fuckin' door!” Yes...yes, that was Merle, somehow.
“Wait!” You said before you and the kids
began dragging the tables back, and the door was pushed open.
At the door frame was Daryl, his hunting crossbow ready, and next to him was Merle, holding a rifle which butt was bloodied...and around them, there were the corpses of those people, monsters, or whatever those were, lying on the ground.