LVIII

—/<3/—

"Rory, I need your help. One of the pigs is dead." Rich caught her as she made her way back into the prison after the run. She was still in a bad mood from the whole store ceiling collapsing inward onto her and her friends debacle but she turned to Rick with a frown anyway.

"What? They were all fine yesterday." Rory changed directions breaking away from Daryl, Michonne and Glenn as she jogged after Rick.

"It's just dead in the pen, the rest of them are fine."

"This is bad, Rick, like really, really bad." Rory swore as she caught sight of the piglet stiff and cold as its siblings rolled around in the mud, oblivious.

"How? We don't know how it died," rick said.

"It probably died of Swine Flu, that means the rest of the pigs are contaminated with it. It doesn't just kill pigs either, it's a respiratory virus that infects and kills humans too. It's kinda rare but if the whole herd is infected and one has already died, it might be a more serious strain."

"How infectious is it to humans?" Rick questioned, running a hand through his hair as he let out a stressed sigh.

"I don't know, it depends on the strain but if a pig has died without us noticing it was ill, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it's the really bad one. It spreads quickly. We need to get rid of these pigs."

"We can't."

"Why?"

"We don't even know if it was Swine Flu."

"Bring Hershel out and see if he can spot the symptoms, I don't know what the symptoms are."

"I ain't bringing an immunocompromised old man out here to look at potentially contagious pigs."

"Simple solution then, Rick, kill the pigs or set them loose before people get sick."

—/<3/—

"Hershel, can you do me a favour and tell Rick that swine flu isn't something we should let slide when you next see him? And that if it spreads to humans it's extremely contagious and potentially lethal especially when we don't have any antibiotics to treat respiratory illnesses?"

"The pigs have got swine flu? Let me take a look at them." Hershel gripped his crutches and hoisted himself up.

"No, no, Rick doesn't want you near them just in case it is swine flu, but one of them has died without any signs that anything was wrong with it and from my understanding that indicates swine flu."

"Yeah you're right, it is swine flu, and with the size of that pen, the rest of the litter are definitely infected.We need to keep everyone away from that field. It can be spread through contaminated objects and surfaces and through respiratory droplets. No one should go near that field until the pigs are long dead."

"Okay, thank you...Would you mind telling Rick though? He doesn't listen to me because I'm smarter than him and he doesn't like it."

"He said that did he?" Hershel chuckled.

"In those exact words," Rory joked.

—/<3/—

"Rory, come help me figure out some lyrics for a song I'm writing? Niamh and Mikey are no help," Jonah spoke from behind the curtain that separated her cell from the rest of the prison block. He pulled back the flimsy, greyed fabric a second later, revealing Rory stood in her underwear, trying to get a proper look at the particularly large and sore bruise on her lower back that had formed earlier after a walker knocked her into the corner of a shelf.

"Oh shit, that's gnarly," Jonah hissed. "Nice ass though."

"Dude, what the fuck?" Daryl said from behind him.

"Hey Daryl," Jonah said with a smile as if the situation didn't bother him. "Anyway, Rory, how much do you remember from your Greek Mythology class?"

"Why?" Rory ignored both the men stood staring at her in the doorway and grabbed a clean pair of shorts, stuffing her legs into them.

"I'm trying to write a song about Orpheus and Eurydice but I don't know enough about them and Mikey and Niamh aren't the best songwriters so i'm struggling. I need your expertise."

"Ain't ya gonna wait for her to change first?" Daryl raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing I haven't seen before, but why are you looking?"

"We share a room, I've seen her change clothes before."

"Suspicious." Jonah narrowed his eyes.

"The myth is about the musician Orpheus and his wife Eurydice but Eurydice died of a snake bite. Orpheus was heartbroken and travelled to the underworld to beg Hades to bring her back to life. He plays Hades a song and Hades grants his request under the condition that he doesn't look at Eurydice as they ascend back to the land of the living, but Orpheus was worried that he was being tricked and looked back to check if his wife was behind him, then he lost her forever."

"Hmm, okay." Jonah strolled into the room like he lived there and grabbed the acoustic guitar that Glenn had given Rory all the way back at the farm. He played a few notes whilst he thought and then the lyrics flowed out of his mouth as if he'd known them for years. Songwriting was one of Jonah's superpowers.

"I'd be the voice that urged Orpheus when her body was found..." He looked at Rory to think of the next line.

"I'd be the choiceless hope in grief that drove him underground..."

"Yes," Jonah said excitedly.

"I'd be the dreadful need in the devotee that made him turn around," Rory continued.

"And I'd be the immediate forgiveness in Eurydice..."

"Imagine being loved by me." Rory finished. Jonah raised his hand for a high five and Rory complied.

"Verse one finished. Remember to write it down this time, I have stuff to do."

"This is why you're my favourite," Jonah blew her a kiss as he stole her guitar and ran out of the room with it to go to his own cell and finish the song.

"Is that normal?" Daryl asked, looking appalled.

"Not normal for your average person but it's normal for Jonah." Rory sighed and pulled her shirt over her head.

"I don't like that, he just walks up in here and starts starin' at ya like you're his."

Rory scoffed. "Fight him then. It's not like I want him to walk in here when I'm trying to change but he does it anyway, we've known each other since we were kids and he thinks I'm single, if he knew we were together, he wouldn't. If it bothers you, go tell him that I'm yours."

"Maybe I will." Daryl sassed matter-of-factly as he turned and left the cell.

—/<3/—

Song is Talk by Hozier for anyone who was wondering.