— THE PRISON FELT SAFE, THE safest that she had felt since the farm burnt down, when they had to spend months on the road, fighting for survival without a proper place to stay, without a proper place where they felt like they could walk around safely. The prison gave them a sense of security, and Zoe actually felt like she was truly home, something she hadn't felt since the end of the world; she knew that Nate felt the same way, he had opened up to everyone in the group since the farm, and so had his brother, the two actually feeling like they belonged now, instead of just existing. Zoe remembered when she first met Nate — she would have never believed that she would fall in love with him, that the boy would be her lifeline, the boy that kept her sane. In fact, she disliked him at first, along with Daryl and Merle, but after speaking to him, she realised he just hid behind his brothers, especially Merle, who enjoyed his brother living in his shadow; after getting to know him, Zoe realised that Nate was one of the most selfless people she had met, along with Daryl, and she was always surprised when she thought back to how they used to act with the group, and how they never truly felt accepted.

So, as the girl opened her eyes during the early hours of the morning, a smile formed on her face when she looked down and saw Nate's bare arm draped across her stomach, his head close to hers as he was still fast asleep. They had come a long way since their old camp in Atlanta, and the girl was entirely grateful to be able to wake up every morning with him besides her — if she had to spend a night away from him, she didn't even think she would be able to get to sleep, not since she had become so accustomed to sleeping besides him and having his body next to her all night. She didn't want to know the feeling of sleeping alone anymore; and she was sure that he didn't want to, either. The girl looked down at him with a small smile, his sleeping figure never failing to do so, but she knew that she had to get up and help Carol with the cooking for breakfast, something that she had been trying to get the hang of — she still couldn't cook properly, and she wanted to learn so she could help out more.
Rick and Carl went down to the farm section every morning and evening to deal with the pigs and the crops, something their dad had been dragging Carl along for since the boy had shot an innocent kid during the attack of the Governor. Zoe could tell that Carl was truly sorry and regretted what he did, but their dad just wanted to make sure that he didn't do something like that again, so he confiscated his gun until he felt that he could have it back.

Hearing her dad wake Carl up downstairs, the girl sighed, knowing she had to pry Nate's arm away from her stomach so she could get up, something she had to do every morning she cooked with Carol. She felt awful doing so, as the boy always looked so comfortable, she would stay in with him, but she really wanted to learn, so she had no other choice. Zoe leaned down and kissed Nate on the cheek, gently raising his arm as she did so, the boy stirring as she did so, his eyes opening slightly and seeing that his girl was trying to get up — he grunted in protest, bringing his arm back down again and pulling the girl against him, not wanting her to move as he was too comfy. "Nate. I have to meet Carol." Zoe whispered, stroking his long hair out of his face. His hair had definitely grown over the past few months, and she loved the look on him, she couldn't deny that her hair had grown a lot, too; in fact, she was tempted to cut it to the length she was normally used to, shoulder length, there's no doubt it would be mote practical.

"Stay with me." Nate mumbled, his eyes shutting again as he attempted to go back to sleep again with his girl by his side, holding her waist close to his, but the girl giggled, moving her face closer to his as he peeked open his eyes again, "Cook another day." He begged, a pleading look on his face as he looked at her beautiful face. Everyone in the prison were dirty, there was no doubt about that, since there was limited showers so everyone could have their fair share of water — but even dirty, Zoe was the most beautiful girl he had ever set eyes on.

"It's my shift today." Zoe told him, bringing her hand up and stroking the side of his face with a loving look that made him want to tie her down so she couldn't leave him. "We have all day together, though." She added, the two having told Rick that they would go down to the farm and help out during the day, the pair knowing that it was one of the things that made Rick happy nowadays, and not a lot of things made him happy anymore..

"That's true." Nate whispered, pressing his lips against hers as she smiled against the kiss, "But you're coming back to bed after your shift." He ordered in a playful tone, the girl biting her lip as she nodded.

"Okay." Zoe replied, pressing her lips against his again before she attempted to pull away, the boy holding her close and preventing her from doing so yet again.

"I love you." Nate said, as the pair looked into each others eyes.

"And I love you." Zoe replied, one last kiss exchanging between the two before Nate finally let her go so she could slip on her clothes. He watched her doing so, obviously, and the girl leant down to give him one last kiss before slipping out of their cell, pulling the curtain back to cover the room, and heading down the stairs where she saw Rick and Carl already up and ready to get to farming. "Morning." The girl spoke up quietly, not wanting to wake the others as it was so early in the morning.

Carl replied with a tired grunt, nodding his head, causing the girl to laugh and ruffle his hair. "Another shift with Carol?" Rick asked, smiling at the interaction between his children. Ever since Lori died, he didn't think he could be truly happy again, but watching his kids interact always changed his mind, and he knew that he would be happy as long as they were around and safe.

"Yeah." Zoe replied, as they walked out of the cell block and into the courtyard, the early morning hitting them, Carl especially, who shielded his eyes from the sun, "I'm getting the hang of this whole cooking thing. Maybe I'll be as good as mom one day." She explained, the three Grimes' smiling at the thought of Lori. They didn't speak about the woman much, with it being a lot of pain to go through again, the pain of loosing her, but they made small comments about her every now and then, allowing them to keep the memory of her alive, which is something Zoe always wanted.

"I doubt that." Rick said, trying to hide the sadness that suddenly swept over him at the thought of his wife. He often tried to hide how sad he felt in front of his kids, but sometimes it would slip through the cracks and Zoe would take notice of it.

Zoe smiled sadly, giving her dad a side hug, "I'll see you later for those lessons on tending the farm. Nate's really excited." She said, Rick's smile instantly returning to his face at her words. He knew that she was lying, but he didn't care, because at least he would get to see his daughter for the full day, and the boy whom he considered family, now.

Zoe headed off, knowing that Rick and Carl needed to get an early start down at the farm, the girl heading in the opposite direction to the cafeteria where the kitchen was — she had to pass a few cell blocks in order to get there, but she didn't mind, it gave her a chance to talk to some of the residents in the prison. There were a lot of people who lived here now, and Zoe didn't know everyone, but she knew a fair amount, and spoke to them often, but most of the time, people tended to leave herself and Nate to it, since the two were inseparable. The girl opened up the door to the building, closing it behind her and heading towards cell block D where she would have to move past, when she heard something strange, knowing that people wouldn't be awake this early, the girl peeked through their door to see what the commotion was about, when she saw something that made her curse.
Zoe swung open the door, seeing multiple walkers moving around the cell block, people trying to fight them off and other people failing and getting bit — the girl didn't waste any time in rushing to a little girls aid as shots went off from someone else trying to fend them off. "Help!" The little girl shouted, backing up as a walker slowly approached her with a look of hunger.

Zoe grabbed the walkers arm, swinging him around and shoving her machete up through his chin, piercing his skull and instantly killing it as it fell to the floor in a heap, the little girl crying her eyes out at the sight in front of her. "It's okay, you're alright." Zoe told her, instantly picking the girl up when she reached out for her and glancing around, finding the girls mother screaming for her daughter from inside her cell. So, Zoe rushed up to the cell, dodging walkers on the way and swinging the door open, handing the little girl to her mother, the woman thanking her over and over again. "Keep this shut." Zoe instructed, motioning to the cell door, when she turned around, finding a walker already pouncing on her and dragging her to the floor.

She landed on the ground with a grunt of pain, the walker grasping at the girl and attempting to rip her stomach open, when she saw an arrow fly through its brain, Daryl having come to her rescue. "You good?" The man asked, taking the girls hand and pulling her up to her feet. He was checking her over for bite wounds, but she seemed to be clean — it didn't surprise him, since the Grimes girl was tough.

"Yeah. Thanks." Zoe panted, watching as Daryl bent over to retrieve his arrow, pulling it out of the walkers head as another approached from behind them, "Watch out!" She warned, pushing Daryl aside slightly and bringing her machete down into its head, killing it instantly and watching it fall to the ground.
Daryl nodded in appreciation, before rushing off to help another kid having fallen over, whilst Zoe headed in the opposite direction, hearing her dad yelling over everyone's screams and making sure everyone was alright. Zoe saw a walker munching on a man's arm, and didn't think twice before shoving her blade through the walkers skull, moving onto the next, and the next, when she heard Nate yell her name.

When Nate heard the gunshots, he thought of the worst thing possible, that Zoe had maybe been shot or had been attacked, and he had never gotten up so quickly, and had never ran so fast in his life to get to the cell block to make sure that she was okay. But seeing her here, shoving her machete into a walkers skull with no hesitance, he realised that she was fine, he often forgot about how strong the girl was, and every time he saw her in action, he was reminded of that. Since the commotion had died down, Nate pulled the girl into a hug, the man instantly calming down at the sight of her being completely fine, he couldn't be more happy that she was okay. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?" He rushed out, the girl shaking her head as he pushed her hair out of her face.

"I'm fine. I don't know what happened, I was walking past to meet Carol, when I heard commotion, so I came to check and everything was just going crazy." Zoe explained quickly, looking over at her dad whom had begun to climb up the stairs, the girl ushering Nate to follow as she followed behind him, wanting to find out the cause of all of this. When they reached the top of the stairs, Zoe witnessed Daryl shoot an arrow into a walkers head that was attacking Glenn, the girl instantly rushing up to check if her friend was okay, seeing the walker on the floor and sighing at the sight of the kid. "That's Patrick." She revealed, motioning to the young boy on the floor. Carl had complained about the boy a few times to her, sometimes even complimenting him and saying that he could be his friend; seeing him here on the floor, dead, was upsetting, he was so young.

"Well, that's all of them." Daryl said, as they all glanced around, dead bodies lying everywhere as they had suffered a huge casualty. They had gone so long without an accident, and this was the biggest one they had had since everyone had moved in; it was a horrible sight.

"What the hell happened?" Zoe asked, to no one in particular. She couldn't understand how something like this could have happened when they had no breaches, and nothing that could have killed anyone. So how had a walker gotten in? It changed her whole perspective on this place, was it as safe as she thought?
 
 
 
 
 
An illness. That was the cause behind the deaths in cell block D, starting with Patrick who had died in the night and come back as a walker, attacking everyone in sight — Zoe had seen him yesterday, he seemed healthy, he was fine, eating some of the meat that Daryl had brought back on his hunt, how had this happened in such a short amount of time? It didn't make sense. A man had choked on his own blood in the night, dying almost instantly, and it was now knowledge that they could all be infected, making Zoe panic instantly. What if they got sick? What if she choked on her own blood during the night and died? Then come back to eat Nate? She couldn't have that happening. After trying to get Carl to stay away from her, with no success, the girl sat next to Nate in the meeting room, listening quietly as they all spoke about what had happened today and what was to follow after the events.. In some ways, Zoe was glad that Nate had come to find her and entered the cell block, because it meant that he had been exposed and she wouldn't have to stay away from him, but at the same time, she wished that he would have stayed away so he didn't. They were both infected, and Zoe wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

"We know that this sickness can be lethal. We don't know how easily it spreads." Hershel spoke up, after Carol suggested separating everyone that was in cell block D from the rest of the prison so the illness wouldn't spread. "Is anyone else showing symptoms that we know of?" He asked, looking around the room.

Zoe was nervous about anyone else having this illness that she care about, and Nate could sense her nervousness, wrapping his fingers around hers under the table, the girl squeezing back as he instantly began to calm her heart rate down. Nate was scared, but he knew that if he started panicking like Zoe was, then they would both fall down, and he couldn't have that; he had to be strong for her, so he was pushing it back, using his remaining energy to think of ideas on how they could separate the occupants of cell block D. Carol had suggested the death row block, and it actually sounded like a good idea; people may not be happy about moving into there, but it was their best bet at the moment, not wanting anyone else to get infected.
Zoe didn't want to go back into her cell block, knowing that Judith was there and she was vulnerable, so she and Nate couldn't go back there until they were sure they were healthy and not sick. As much as it pained her that she wouldn't be able to see her baby sister, she knew it was for the best, and Judith would be safe with Beth and Maggie.

So, for the next few hours, herself, Glenn and Nate went around the prison, rounding up anyone who was coughing or showing any symptoms, and clearing the new cell block out for them. "It's gonna be okay." Nate told Zoe, as they stood outside in the courtyard, watching Rick work on the fence down below. They were taking a break from fixing an isolation room for those infected, and Nate could tell that Zoe was overthinking, it was something the girl was an expert at doing, and he always hated how she did it, because it made her worry more. "We'll find a cure for it, there has to be one." He said, wrapping an arm around the girl as they looked into the distance.

"And if we don't?" Zoe couldn't help but ask, watching as her dad now dug a few graves for those who had died today. "We could all die. And not even from walkers or humans. From a flu." She laughed humourlessly, knowing that the whole thing sounded ridiculous.

"That's not gonna happen, now we know what the flu is, we know how to prevent it." Nate said, trying to convince himself, also. He was just as nervous as she was, but he was holding it in to keep them both sane.

Zoe sighed, knowing that his words did make sense, "I guess you're right." She said, nodding her head.

But was he?