Jacqui and Andrea chose to stay and wait for the timer to go down. They didn't want to face a world with no hope. Dale refused to leave without Andrea but there was no time to argue. CJ was slightly hesitant to go without Dale but she ran regardless. Glenn ran next to her all the way to the stairwell. Everyone ducked into their rooms as they past them to grab their bags.
"Come on, we got four minutes!" Glenn shouted, urging the group to go faster up the stairs.
They got to the ground floor and reached the main entrance which, as Jenner warned them, was locked. Shane and Daryl tried smashing the windows with their axes and T-Dog threw a chair at them, but they wouldn't give. CJ even pulled out her gun and shot at the glass, but the bullet barely left a scratch.
"The glass won't break?" Sophia asked from behind CJ.
Carol then ran over to Rick with a bag. "Rick! I have something that might help."
"Carol, I don't think a nail file is gonna help," Shane replied, rolling his eyes.
"Asshole," CJ muttered as she walked past him over to the others. Shane glared at the back of her head as she walked away.
"Your first morning in camp, I washed your uniform," Carol said as she fished through her bag. "I found this in your pocket." She held up a hand grenade. Rick took it from her and nodded at everyone to get down. He pulled the pin and dropped it in front of the window. He quickly sprinted away and was pushed forwards by the explosion that shattered the bulletproof glass.
CJ grabbed her rucksack and lead the way as everyone ran for the windows and climbed out. They sprinted across the street and into their vehicles, barely having enough time to get in and down before the explosion of flames engulfed the building, shattering the structure like it was nothing.
As they slowly sat up, CJ could feel the heat of the fire through the walls of the RV. They looked out of the windscreen and saw that Dale and Andrea were hiding behind a pile of sandbags. They had made it out. But by the look on Andrea's face as she entered the RV and ignored everyone, she wasn't to thrilled to have survived.
When Dale came up the step into the vehicle, Glenn and CJ immediately went over to him with relieved smiles on their faces.
"You scared the shit out of us man," Glenn sighed out.
"Yeah what he said. Never do that again," CJ said, pointing at Dale with furrowed eyebrows.
"I'll do my best," Dale replied with a chuckle. He tapped both of them on the arm before walking around them to the drivers seat.
The engine hummed to life and the RV moved off, the rest of the group in the other cars following closely behind.
CJ went to stand by the window and watched the huge, burning flames dancing where the CDC once stood. She couldn't help but think about Jacqui's decision to stay behind. To take the easy way out. To give up...
Jenner's final words to Rick bounced around CJ's mind. But she couldn't spend her time worrying about the days to come. The were safe now. That's all that mattered.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a hand on her left shoulder. She turned around and was immediately brought into a hug by a teary-eyed Lori. CJ tensed up for a moment before hugging her back.
"Thank you," Lori whispered as she took a step back, keeping her hands on CJ's arms. "For what you said to Jenner. Thank you."
CJ tilted her head, slightly taken aback by Lori's words. "Lori, you don't have to tha-"
"I do," Lori said, cutting her off. "You saved all of us. You saved my son. So, you are going to let me say thank you," she continued sternly, with a hint of a smile, making CJ chuckle.
"Okay," CJ said with a smile. "It's alright."
The two women spoke for a couple of minutes before Rick appeared next to them. "Hey, CJ, can we talk a sec?"
"Yeah sure," she responded. She sent Lori a smile and followed Rick to the back of the RV, waving at Carl as she walked past him which caused him to giggle and wave back.
When they reached the back of the RV, Shane and Glenn were there waiting for them. Glenn was looking over a map which was laid out on the chair. Meanwhile, Shane was looking right at CJ with a frustrated glare. It was a subtle expression, Rick and Glenn didn't even notice it. But when CJ looked him in the eyes for just a few seconds, she knew he had a problem.
"What's going on?" she asked, looking away from Shane to Rick.
"Just figuring out our next move," Rick answered. "We wanted your opinion."
"We don't need anymore opinions," Shane snapped at Rick, who just sighed. "Fort Benning, that's where we're going. It's where we should have headed when we first left the quarry."
Glenn looked up from the map. "It doesn't make a difference what we should have done. Just a matter of what we do now."
Rick nodded in agreement. "It's one hundred and twenty miles out, but I think it's our only option right now," he said.
"Well, after what just happened I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sceptical about heading for another government-run 'safe haven'..." CJ responded, making air quotes with her hands. "...but I trust your judgement and I agree that it's our only real choice. Plus, who knows? Maybe Fort Benning really is still up and functioning," she added.
"Then it's settled. Fort Benning it is," Rick said with a nod.
"I'll go let Dale and the others know," Glenn said as he rolled up the map and went to the front of the vehicle to go over the plan with Dale.
"Hey, listen. I know Lori already said it, but I wanted to say thanks," Rick spoke sincerely to CJ, who turned back to look at him. "Not just for what you did in there, but for all that time before that. Lori told me that you always looked out for Carl at the camp. And he tells me you're fun to hang out with. I'm grateful," he continued with a smile.
"He's a good kid. And he's right I am very fun," CJ laughed and Rick chuckled. She looked past Rick to see Carl asleep at the table of the RV next to Lori who had her arm around him. "You should be proud."
Rick turned to follow her gaze and smiled at his family. "I am," he replied quietly before turning back to CJ. "I'm glad we have you here. Thank you. Again." He placed his hand on her upper arm and nodded as he spoke. She nodded back and he turned and walked away.
"You're a goddamn hero," Shane muttered from behind CJ. She turned to face him with a confused frown and furrowed eyebrows.
"Excuse me?" she asked, tilting her head to the right slightly. She was genuinely confused as to what she had done to piss him off.
He stood up and slowly approached her where she stood. He kept eye contact with her, as she watched him walk, completely unfazed. She refused to let him intimidate her. "Nothin'" he whispered through gritted teeth. He bumped her shoulder as he walked around her and she just sighed and rolled her eyes.
One hundred and twenty miles. CJ was in for a looooong trip.
*****
~~~~~ END OF ACT ONE ~~~~~
A/N: act one? completed it mate
also hit 70 reads so yay me :)
first part of act 2 will be posted as soon as xx
as always, comments and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated <3