"Dad, stop," Aubrey said, her eyebrows raising as the RV behind them stopped.
"Daryl, cut it!" Shane shouted to Daryl, who had pulled ahead of them in his truck, his motorcycle strapped down in the truck bed. Both engines cut and they got out.
"What's going on?" Aubrey asked when the RV's door popped open.
"Can we get a hand in here?" Dale called.
Aubrey moved forward, and Shane cut her off, him and Daryl bounding in. Letting out a puff of air, she pulled herself into the RV anyway. Everyone was sitting around Jim, sweating heavy and delirious with fever.
"Jim, you can't," Jacqui was saying.
"I can. Christ, my bones are like glass...every bump... God, this ride is killing me. Leave me here. I'm done. Leave me to be with my family."
"They're all dead," Rick said pointedly. "I don't think you know what you're asking. The fever - you've been delirious more often than not."
Jim pulled himself up in bed, groaning with the effort. "I'm clear now. In five minutes I might not be. Rick, I know what I'm asking. I want this. Leave me here. Now that's on me, okay? My decision, not your failure."
"It's what he says he wants," Rick said to the people of the group who weren't in the RV.
"And he's lucid?" Carol asked skeptically.
Rick shrugged. "He seems to be. I would say yes."
"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that," Shane said, a guilty edge in his voice.
Lori scoffed. "It's not your call. Either one of you."
Partway up a hill just off the side of the road, Rick and Shane set Jim down on the ground and stepped back as he settled his back against the tree.
"Yeah, that's it," Rick said quietly when he was as comfortable as he could get.
Jim groaned, his breathing coming out heavily. "Look at that. Another damn tree," he chuckled lightly.
"Hey, Jim - I mean, it doesn't have to end this way, man," Shane offered.
"No, it's good. The breeze feels nice," Jim panted.
"Okay. Alright."
Jacqui came over and kneeled in front of Jim. "Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight." Crying, she pressed her lips to his cheek and walked back down the hill.
Shane looked over as Aubrey made her way up the hill.
"Hey, Jim, you want this?" she asked, kneeling in front of him and taking the pistol from the waistband of her jeans.
Jim shook his head. "No, you'll need it. I'm fine. I'm fine."
"Okay. No hard feelings?" she asked, giving him a small smile when he nodded, and straightened up, making her way back down the hill. Glenn put an arm around her shoulders as she nibbled on her fingernail. Silently, they watched Dale walk up and say his final goodbye.
"C'mon," Shane said to her quietly when Dale was done, making his way back to the jeep. She gave Glenn a quick see ya and climbed into the jeep with her dad.
"Do we even know where we're going?" Aubrey asked as they pulled away from the side of the road. She turned to the window and gave Jim one last wave before he fell out of view.
"Yeah, Rick and I were talkin' back at the camp. We think it'd be a good idea to see if the CDC is still up and running," Shane explained.
With her face forward, she raised an eyebrow. "CDC? Disease control?"
"That'd be the place."
A mile passed in silence until Shane cleared his throat. Aubrey took her head off her hand and turned to her dad.
"I've been meaning to talk to you about what happened in the walker attack," Shane started.
"Okay, shoot."
"When its a life or death situation and I tell you to get back, I expect you to listen to me. I don't care if you're nineteen or ninety, okay?"
"You got it, Daddy-o," she singsonged, giving him a comical salute.
〄
The vehicles parked outside the CDC as the sky began to darken.
"Oh, boy," Aubrey muttered, looking apprehensively out her window before climbing out.
Flies buzzed loudly; there were corpses everywhere - both military and civilian. Sandbag barricades had been constructed to reinforce security at the entrace. They were still in place, surrounded by the corpses littering the street in front of and behind the barricades.
People coughed. Shane cocked his gun over them. Aubrey took the pistol from her jeans just in case.
"Alright, everybody. Keep moving. Stay quiet. Let's go," Shane urged in a whisper.
Covering their mouths to lessen the stench, the group approached the CDC doors. Remembering Shane's words, Aubrey kept herself a few paces behind her father.
"Okay, keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on," Shane repeated.
"Shh," Rick said when somebody chattered.
"Oh, god," Glenn said under his breath as they walked past more corpses.
They made their way past the entrance and up through the parking lot. Tanks and more barriers were positioned around the entrance. More corpses. Everyone tried not to retch as they got closer to the doors.
"Keep it together. Come on," Shane urged.
"We're almost there, baby. Almost there," Aubrey heard Lori whisper to Carl. Rick tried to roll down the security door.
"Nothing?" Shane asked, pushing and pounding against it. Aubrey tilted her head to the sky, her eyes worried; the sky was getting darker faster.
"There's nobody here," T-Dog said from the back of the group.
"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick countered.
"Walkers!" Daryl hissed. Guns cocked and a child whimpered.
Daryl took the walker out with an arrow. "You led us into a graveyard!" he growled.
"He made a call," Dale mediated.
"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl argued.
"Just shut up, you hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane stepped in. "Rick, this is a dead end."
"Where are we gonna go?" Carol questioned.
"Do you hear me? No blame," Shane said. Everyone was talking at once.
"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark," Lori pointed out.
"Fort Benning, Rick - still an option," Shane said, a convincing tone in his deep voice.
"On what?" Andrea spoke up. "No food, no fuel. Fort Benning is a hundred miles!"
"Hundred twenty five," Glenn piped up, "I checked the map."
"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight. Now," Lori said.
"We'll think of something," Rick told them. Aubrey shook her head.
"Let's go. Please," T-Dog pleaded.
Aubrey looked over at the sound of Carl and Sophia crying. People started to head back to the cars.
At a slight whirring sound, Aubrey turned back to the fortress-like building. She looked up at a small white camera protruding from the side of the building, her eyes widening when it moved.
"Aubs, let's go," Shane called to her, giving her a weird look over his shoulder.
She ignored him. "It moved."
"What?" Shane asked.
"The camera - it moved," she repeated. She heard the groups footsteps stop.
"You imagined it," Dale suggested.
"It moved," she insisted.
"Aubrey, it's dead, baby. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay, they're just winding down. Now, come on," Shane reasoned.
When she still didn't move, he sighed, exasperated. Walking on long strides, he stepped in front of her, forcing her to look away from the camera.
"Baby, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Aubrey. Aubrey, there's nobody in there."
Aubrey ducked under his arm and took a few steps toward the building.
"I know you're there. I know you can hear us."
"Everybody, get back to the cars, now!" Shane shouted, hiking his gun over his shoulder.
"Please, we're desperate," Aubrey pleaded, "Please help us. We have children here, no food, hardly any gas left."
Lori shook her head and ran up to the girl. "Aubrey, there's nobody here. Give it up."
"We have nowhere else to go!" she fired back.
"Keep your eyes open," Shane muttered, now that they were fully blanketed in the darkness.
"If you don't let us in, you're killing us," Aubrey said to the immobile camera.
"Please!" Lori begged her.
"Come on, kiddo, let's go," Shane said, his voice a forced calm. He stepped forward and looped his arm around her midriff in an attempt to drag her back. "Let's go."
"Please, help us," Aubrey repeated.
People shouted at her to stop.
"You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Aubrey shouted, finally losing her cool. Shane set her down on her feet and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from squirming out of his grasp.
"Aubrey, stop! It's over!" Shane told her, his eyes traveling around her face.
Seconds after the words left his mouth, they heard it. Aubrey whipped around as the door opened, a bright white light from inside cutting through the darkness.
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nopecarl made me post this