salvation → g. rhee

cdc

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you all in here. At least let me be thorough."

"All done," he added with a click of the syringe.

"Ooh," Aubrey said halfheartedly. As she stood, she started to faint. Shane caught her easily and put her arm around his neck.

"Are you okay?" Lori asked her, concern edging her voice. Aubrey hummed in response.

"She hasn't eaten in a while. None of us have," Rick told the doctor, adressing the unsure look on his face.
Carl looked at Aubrey, his eyes wide. It was scary, seeing her yelling at the camera half an hour ago to tottering on her feet.

〄

They were all seated around a large table, talking and laughing, filling up on pasta and wine.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. France, too," Dale told them, his attention on Lori and the boy sitting next to her.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then," Lori responded in her mom voice.

"Come on, what's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick urged with a smile.

"What?" Carl asked.

Aubrey raised an eyebrow across the table from them, smirking at the red tinge in Carl's freckled cheeks. Dale handed the boy a cup with half an inch of wine in it.

"There you are, young lad."

The table quieted as they all watched him take a sip. His face puckered.
"Ew!"

"That's my boy," Lori said proudly, pouring the remenants of Carl's cup into her own glass.

"Yuck. That's nasty."

Shane raised his eyebrows as Rick poured a glass and set it infront of Aubrey. He smiled when she took it and set it in the middle of the table.

"Thanks but no thanks," she said politely.

"That's my girl!" Shane whooped, tousling her hair lightly.

"You just stick to sodapop there, baby. You too, bud," Shane said, jutting his chin at Carl.

"Not you, Glenn," Daryl said, walking up to Glenn's spot at the table from his.

"What?" Glenn asked. Aubrey smirked at his innocence.

"Keep drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get," Daryl laughed, pouring him a full glass.

Glenn turned to Aubrey, amused embarrasment playing on his face.

〄

After dinner, Jenner showed them around the living area.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall you kids might like. Just don't plug in the video games, or anything that draws power. Same applies, if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

Glenn, who had been looking at his shoes while the man talked, perked up immediately.

"Hot water?"

"That's what the man said," T-Dog chuckled.

〄

Aubrey turned the knob carefully, relishing the feeling of the hot water beating down on her grimy skin. She scrubbed the grease from her long hair, and tipped her head back under the stream, her eyes closed. It felt good to be clean again.

Outside of the shower, Aubrey rubbed her hair dry - although it wouldn't be dry for hours - with a towel and swiped her hand over the foggy mirror. She looked at herself for a while; she still had the small cut in her bottom lip from Merle, and she had dark circles under her dark brown eyes.

She redressed herself and pulled her damp hair back into loose braids as she walked around in search of an empty couch. When she found one, she was asleep the second she stretched out.

〄

Aubrey woke up, panting, when her hand connected with something. Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she saw her father kneeling next to her couch, his hands gripping her shoulders. In the low light she saw two red scratches on his neck.

"Did I - did I do that?" she asked groggily. Shane nodded.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just having a nightmare," she muttered, sitting up on the couch, and swiping at her damp forehead.

"I know," Shane said in a low voice, "I could hear you screaming from down the hall."

"Oh, shit, I hope I didn't wake anyone else."

"What were you dreaming about?" Shane asked quietly.

Aubrey shook her head. "I can't remember."

"Go back to sleep, okay?" Shane told her, kissing her forehead gently and leaving the room. Aubrey laid down again, her mind reeling and her chest still heaving.

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yikes sorry to the fans of this book for not updating in a long ass time!

uhh this has a lot of lil time skips (that's what 〄 means) and im not sure how i feel about that but what can ya do

❧ shelby