We all cautiously walked in with our guns raised. "Hello?" Rick called out. "Hello? Hello?"
The sound of a gun cocking cause us all to point our weapons at a man pointing a gun at us. "Anybody infected?" He asked.
"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick replied, out of breath.
"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked.
"A chance." Rick replied, lowering his gun slightly.
The man walked closer, gun pointed directly at Rick. "That's asking an awful lot these days." The man said, quiet now that he was closer.
Rick nodded. "I know."
"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." The man said.
Rick nodded. "We can do that."
The man lowered his gun, holding it at his side. "You guys got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."
I walked to the door to go get my stuff, but Daryl stopped me. "Wait here. I'll get your stuff." He said and head out the door.
I sighed and put away my gun and my knife, leaning against the wall. Soon enough, they all came back and Daryl handed my my bag. I "Thanks." We all went into a room and closed the doors behind us.
"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." He said, leaning towards a lit up panel in the wall.
Rick walked up to him. "Rick Grimes." He stuck out a hand.
"Doctor Edwin Jenner." Jenner shook Ricks hand.
We all crammed into the tiny elevator, and I found myself pressed up against Daryl's chest, blushing at the fact that he kept a hand on my hip. The ride was silent for a short time. "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked.
Jenner looked back at him. "Well there were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." He looked around. "But you look harmless enough." He looked at Carl. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you." Carl smiled.
We all walked down the hall, following Jenner. "Are we underground?" Carol asked.
Jenner turned. "Are you claustrophobic?" He asked.
She nodded. "A little."
He smiled. "Try not to think about it."
We all followed Jenner into a dark room. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." He called out. Who is he talking to? A circle of lights hanging from the ceiling turned on. The room was empty. "Welcome to Zone 5." He said, walking further in.
"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked.
Jenner stopped in the middle of the room, staring at us all. "I'm it. It's just me here."
I sighed. "What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" I asked.
Jenner spoke louder. "Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome." An automated voice echoed around the room.
"Hello guests, welcome."
"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner shook his head.
~*~*~*~
"You need to hold her still." Jenner told Daryl who was struggling to hold down my arms so Jenner could take a blood test. I can't stand needles.
"Charlie, quit fightin'." Daryl said, grabbing my wrists and holding them down. I sighed in defeat and turned my head to the side, closing my eyes. I felt the needle push into my skin slightly.
"This sucks." I complained. "Hurry up, please."
Jenner chuckled. "Just finished." Daryl let go of my arms and I stood up, stumbling slightly.
Jacqui rested a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" I nodded.
"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have."
~*~*~*~
I smiled, watching as Dale poured a glass of wine for Lori. "You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France." He handed Lori the glass.
She shook her head. "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."
Rick shrugged, obviously drunk. "What's it gonna hurt? Come on. Come oooon." He smiled, pointing at Carl's empty glass that she was covering with her hand.
We all laughed and cheered when Lori gave in, taking her hand off his glass. Dale poured a little into his cup and handed it to a grinning Carl. "There you are, young lad." The room was silent as he took a sip.
Carl put the cup down in disgust. "Eww! Yuck. That tastes nasty." He groaned. We all laughed, and Lori was glad that he didn't like it, pouring him some soda instead.
"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane said.
Daryl stood up, pouring himself some more whiskey. "Not you, Glenn."
Glenn looked up. "What?" Daryl smiled, leaning forward. "Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." We all started laughing again until we were interrupted by someone clinking silverware against their glass.
Rick stood up. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." We all lifted our glasses. "He is more than just our host." Everyone said "hear hear!" Daryl held up the whiskey bottle. "Booyah!" Causing everyone else to say it as well. We all clinked glasses. I laughed and took a sip of my wine, feeling a slight buzz.
Shane cleared his throat. "So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc." The laughing stopped and the room fell silent. "All the, uh, the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"
I rolled my eyes. "We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now." Rick tried to get him to stop.
"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move- supposed to find all the answers. Instead we-" Shane chuckled. "We found him. Found one man. Why?" He pointed at Jenner.
Jenner's eyes flicked all around, looking at everybody. "Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off the be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." He looked down as if he was reliving some horrible memory.
"Every last one?" Shane asked.
"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."
"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked.
Jenner kept his gaze down. "I just kept working, hoping to do some good.
Glenn sighed. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." He said.
~*~*~*~
Jenner led us down a hall, to where we're going to sleep. "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 that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies if you shower, go easy on the hot water."
Glenn turned around with a shocked look on his face. "Hot water?" He smiled at us.
T-dog laughed. "That's what the man said."
I chose a room and dropped my bag, taking off my guns and holsters and taking my hunting knife out of its sheath, setting them down. There was a knock at the door and I turned around to see Daryl. "Room for one more?" He asked. I nodded. "Plenty." He nodded and came over, dropping his stuff next to the couch.
I pulled a big t-shirt and shorts from my bag and went to the bathroom, setting them next to the shower. I undressed, revealing scars across my stomach and some on my back. There were more, they were just covered in dried blood and dirt. I stepped in the shower and turned on the water, smiling as it poured over my head, washing all the dirt and blood and sweat down the drain. I ran my fingers through my knotted hair before using the shampoo, conditioner and soap that were on a shower rack.
When I was sure that I was clean, I stepped out and dried myself off, putting on the t-shirt and shorts. When I left the bathroom, I found Daryl fast asleep snoring on the floor with nothing but a pillow. I rolled my eyes with a small smile and lied down on the couch, cocooning myself in a blanket and falling into a terrible dream...