The rest of the arrangements were much simpler.
Calista needed to send someone to the prison to pick up Dr. Caleb and deliver some supplies for trade.
Allowing time for the handoff and their stay, the round trip would take about a week. The Block Between Rock Fortress and the prison had already been patrolled several times and was relatively safe, but they still needed to be cautious.
Calista brought up the mission at a Defense Force briefing.
Maya volunteered, but Calista hesitated.
Maya was the Defense Force's de facto commander, and too many day-to-day operations depended on her.
Besides, sending an entire squad would be overkill.
The geothermal energy project was in full swing, and they were short on manpower everywhere.
Glenn volunteered. "I'll go! I know the route from Rock Fortress to the prison, and I'd like to go back and see Rick, T-Dog, and the others."
"I need a team of at least two," Calista said. "Glenn, if you're going, you'll need someone else with you."
"I'll go with him!" Maggie answered without hesitation, exchanging a smile with Glenn. "The two of us will be enough. Fewer people means a smaller target, and we'll be more flexible."
Glenn was quick-witted and observant, while Maggie was calm and capable. The two of them also worked extremely well together. They really were a good team for the job.
Calista had no reason to refuse.
After the meeting, Calista asked the two of them to stay behind. "This mission might look simple, but don't let your guard down. Your priority is to bring Dr. Caleb back. We're still seriously short on medical personnel."
"Got it!"
Two days later, Glenn and Maggie drove a modified SUV out through the gates of Rock Fortress.
Along with enough supplies for the two of them to last a week, the vehicle carried goods for the prison: a box of antibiotics, a set of surgical instruments, and twenty pounds of dried fish as a gift.
The mountain forests were lush and green in May, with wildflowers blooming everywhere. It was beautiful enough to almost make them forget they were living through the post-apocalypse.
"Glenn, does this feel strange to you?" Maggie asked, gazing out at the scenery rushing past, one hand resting on the window frame. "Going back to the prison."
Glenn kept both eyes on the road and was silent for a moment. "A little. Kind of like going back to your old hometown, I guess. But every time I go back, I think about everything that happened before.
"The Quarry Camp falling apart, us having to leave the farm... all of it."
Maggie placed her hand over his. "We have Rock Fortress now. We have a home. A real new home."
Glenn nodded, though the tension in his brow didn't fully disappear. He had always hoped the prison could prosper the way Rock Fortress had.
Around noon the next day, they reached the prison.
The perimeter had been reinforced since the Governor's men had attacked. Another layer of wire fencing had been added outside the original one.
Several people were working in the corridor between the two fences.
One person moved along the fence, banging on it to make noise, while the others thrust spears and daggers through the gaps, killing the walkers drawn over by the sound.
Rick had received Glenn's message in advance. He came out of one of the buildings, and the moment he spotted Glenn and Maggie, his face broke into a broad smile.
"Maggie! Glenn!"
Glenn noticed that Rick looked much better than before. His beard had been shaved clean, and he once again resembled the young sheriff Glenn had first met in Atlanta.
"Rick, you doing okay?" Maggie asked, looking him over carefully.
"I'm good, I'm good," Rick said with a smile. "Things are a lot easier than they used to be!"
Rick had someone unload the antibiotics and dried fish from Glenn and Maggie's vehicle, then the three of them headed deeper into the prison while they talked.
"I saw you've added another layer of fencing around the perimeter. This way of dealing with walkers is brilliant!"
"Hahaha! Carl and the other kids actually came up with it. They usually play near the fence, and after helping deal with the walkers a few times, they all came to me with the idea. It really works. There's a lot less pressure on the outer fence now."
"We've had quite a few people come down with the flu at Rock Fortress lately. The infirmary's packed. How are things here?"
"Pretty much the same. A lot of people get the flu in spring, and a few of our pigs got sick too. Luckily, thanks to Rock Fortress, we've had enough medicine and antibiotics. Even the pigs recovered. Without those supplies, things would've been a lot worse."
"How's everyone else? T-Dog, Jacqui, Oscar, Axel, Big Guy, Boone, Tyreese, and Sasha?"
Rick's expression brightened, and an amused, knowing smile appeared on his face. "Come to think of it, you two don't know yet, do you? T-Dog and Jacqui are together now. And Tyreese has a girlfriend too."
Gossip was always fun.
Maggie's eyes immediately lit up. "Wow! I could already tell there was something going on between T-Dog and Jacqui back at the farm. Who's Tyreese's girlfriend? Is she new?"
"Not that new. She's one of the people who came over from Woodbury. Her name's Karen. She had a really bad case of the flu a while back, and Tyreese was worried sick..."
As the three of them chatted and laughed, none of them knew that in another timeline, one without Calista, this flu, or rather, this plague, would bring devastating tragedy to the prison.
...
In the prison infirmary, Dr. Caleb, an Indian man in his early thirties, was carefully examining an elderly patient.
When he saw Rick bring people inside, Dr. Caleb gave them a nod, then returned his attention to his work.
On the other side of the room, Dr. Bob was treating a wound on a young man's arm.
As he cleaned it, he kept talking to the patient to distract him. "...So I told him, if you're determined to mess with rusty wire, at least wear gloves. But young people never listen, right?"
Bob stitched the wound with practiced hands, never looking up as he spoke. Once he finished, he gave the patient's shoulder a pat.
"All done. Keep it dry for three days, and come back every day so I can change the dressing."
After seeing the patient out, Bob finally noticed Rick and his visitors. His gaze moved over Glenn and Maggie.
"New faces. I'm Bob, one of the doctors here. You two from Rock Fortress?"
"Glenn and Maggie." Glenn stepped forward and shook his hand. "We're here to pick up Dr. Caleb."
"Ah, Caleb." Bob glanced toward his colleague. "He's a lot more meticulous than I am. Really focused when he's working. Me, I'm more of a rough-and-ready type. I'm a military doctor, so I'm used to battlefield first aid."
Bob was standing close enough that Glenn caught the faintest smell of alcohol on him, but he didn't give it much thought. Maybe Bob had just used alcohol on the patient's wound.
"I heard you're a military doctor," Maggie said with a smile. "You must've dealt with a lot of emergencies."
"Plenty!" Bob laughed, though the smile never quite reached his eyes. "Amputations, gunshot wounds, blast injuries... Compared to those, walker bites are actually pretty 'clean' wounds. At least you don't have to worry about tetanus or gangrene. They'll turn into walkers anyway."
Bob deliberately kept his tone light, but Maggie could hear the exhaustion underneath.
It was the numbness that came from living under constant pressure and seeing far too much death.
"How long have you been working today, Dr. Bob?" Maggie asked casually.
"Since six this morning. About six hours, I guess? I've lost track. We've had a lot of flu cases lately, plus injuries like the one just now. Patients keep coming in. Nothing much we can do about that."
Rick cut in. "Bob, you need some rest. Caleb can handle the rest."
"Yeah, yeah, in a minute!" Bob said as he headed over to the sink to wash his hands.
He washed them a little hurriedly, then turned his back to the others. In a corner outside Rick's line of sight, he pulled a small metal flask from his pocket and quickly took a sip.
Bob slipped the flask back into his pocket, took a deep breath, then turned around and gave them a wave.
"All right! I'm going to get something to eat. You guys talk to Caleb. He's the star of the day."