22 (TWD Fanfiction)

Chapter 9 - Running Test

  I freeze in shock, my tears too. The doors were open, they were actually open. Before I knew it we were walking forward. Glenn has his hand on my shoulder, guiding me through the open door.

Rick's in the lead, his gun out in front of him. He cautiously take a few steps forward, looking around the room.

"Hello!" He yells. "Hello!"

After everyone's inside Dale tells Daryl to shut the doors. After their shut I feel a sense of calmness wash over me. Though I'm wary of what lies in store for us here.

"Hello?" The sound of a gun cocking follows the voice. "Anybody infected?"

A man in a white t-shirt with unruly red hair steps out from behind a wall. He holds a gun in his hands. I can tell he doesn't know how to use it well. The way he holds it is way different from how Shane and Rick hold their guns. This man holds it in a more relaxed position like he'll drop it to the floor at any moment.

Rick keeps his gun aimed at the man. "One of our group was. He didn't make it."

I frown remembering the smile Jim had given me that morning when we left him.

The red-haired man takes a step forward. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance," Rick replies.

The rest of us stand there, unsure of what to do. The last thing any of us want is to go back out there. But this man seems unfriendly.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." He takes a couple of steps forward, gun still aimed toward us.

"I know."

He surveys the rest of us, eyes lingering on me a moment longer. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." He finally lowers his gun.

Rick lowers his own before answering, "We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Glenn, Rick, Shane, and Daryl rush outside to grab a few bags. I stand beside Andrea while we wait for them to return.

Lifting Shane's hat up I take a look around the room and notice just how clean it is. There are no bodies in here like there are outside. Not even any blood stains or scratch marks on the walls.

It's a big empty room with ceilings that goes on forever. A receptionist's desk is really the only thing in here. The CDC's logo is painted on the wall behind it and a stack of paper sits on the desk.

The red-haired man walks across the room toward a wall with some sort of electronic panel on it. He keeps an eye on all of us from his position. I notice whenever his eyes come across me, Carl, or Sophia they grow sad.

The front doors burst open and the guys come running back inside, T-dog and Dale shut them.

I see Shane carrying my backpack so I hurry to his side and take it from.

"Thank you," I say but I don't think he hears me.

His focus is on the man by the wall who is taking a card out of his pocket.

He slides it all the way through the panel on the wall, the light turns green. "VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

A grating noise is followed by the metal shutters coming back down, closing us off from the outside world.

Rick extends his hand to the man. "Rick Grimes."

He doesn't shake his hand but introduces himself nonetheless, "Dr. Edwin Jenner."