Discalmer: I don't own AMC's The Walking Dead.

Ch. 4—Wine or No Wine, That is the Question

"Hey, wake the hell up already." Something shoved my left shoulder and I instantly sat forward, raising my bow in that direction. But it was only Daryl.

"Hey there Robin Hood, how are you going to kill me without the other half?" he laughed. I pulled down my hood and reached for an arrow but I didn't knock it. Instead I smacked it on Daryl's arm like a flyswatter.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"You didn't have to shove so hard." I looked out the window. "There's the CDC."

"Thanks for pointin' that out; that's why I woke your sleepy ass up." Daryl said rolling his eyes, but I didn't comprehend him. I was too busy controlling my emotions, trying not to get my hopes up; everyone could be dead, my friends and family never making it, and no cure. We pulled to a stop behind the RV after running into a cement roadblock. Immediately, I swung open his truck door and slid out, throwing my duffle bag over my shoulder and making sure my bow was ready for the Biters we were sure to meet. The group congregated next to the block for Rick's instructions. All eyes scanned the new surroundings. The building was tall and sleek. It would have seemed untouched if not for the bodies and military machines that littered the green grass and sidewalks around it.

Rick and Shane moved around the small blockade and the group followed. The women and children were kept in the middle with T-Dog and Daryl covering the sides and Dale had the rear of the group. I jogged closer to the front, scanning the bodies everyone was so wary of. With every step closer to the CDC, my heart grew heavy. All of them were dead, both Biters and those who hadn't changed. They were in a war for the CDC and there were no survivors- at least not on the outside.

We had reached the huge building, but its entrance was shut. Where there were normally glass sliding doors, metal shutters were forced down. We were all still for a moment. Rick looked at all of us and a look took over his face. He spun around, and talked to the closed door asking for entrance. He wanted again. But there wasn't an answer.

"Come on. We tried but no one's here. We should get out before night. We can head to Fort Benning," Shane reached out to him. Rick pulled away from him and swung out at the metal in frustration. His action and the sound startled me. The clang seemed to resonate throughout the area dispersing in the open behind us. If there were any Biters near, they would have heard it for sure.

The group looked worried as Shane tried to convince Rick that the CDC was a lost cause. "But the camera! It moved. Someone's inside!" Their voices rose in argument and then that's when Daryl shouted, "Now you've done it!"

He raised his bow behind the group and a bolt flew into a Biter's head yards away. But he wasn't alone. The noise brought a small herd of them closer. They stumbled over the fallen dead, some joining as the men began shooting their guns in hopes of gaining some time to get out of there.

I shot a nasty one coming from the opposite side. As grotesque as it looked, it went down easy. I watched it fall to the ground beside another dead Biter. Something next to it caught my eye, somthing I recognized; it was a neon purple cloth twisted around a corpse's arm. Without thinking, I ran out from the building's overhang we stood under to the cloth. I was afraid of what I would find.

I held in a breath as I drew near. It was the cotton bandana my sister wore. Ignoring the shouts from the group, I bent down to remove it from the arm. Thankfully, it wasn't her that it was attached to, but that meant my family had been in danger and I had no time to search every body to see if they were here. My only hope was that they were safe in the CDC already.

I heard the moans before I had time to react. A Biter latched onto my leg, knocking me onto my back. I pulled and kicked while bringing my bow out in front of me. His ugly eyes glowed a viscous pale white before he fell on top of me.

I shoved him off to see not only that I didn't inflict the fatal blow (a bolt protruded from the back of its skull) and that Daryl stood above me.

"Tryin' to be Robin Hood again, huh?" He reached down to drag me up roughly by the arms.

"Actually, no I wasn't. I saw this." I held out the bandana as we ran back to the door, which was now open and everyone was shouting for us to hurry.

He grunted, "I don't think this is a great time to be addin' to your wardrobe."

It's a good thing he said that because I had dropped my duffle bag before running for the bandana; I would have completely forgot it.

We made it in. Before I could catch my breath, a man came down warily from a stairway, a rifle aimed at us. "Are any of you infected? Bit or scratched?" He asked intensely.

I looked down quickly at my bare legs in panic. The Biter outside had grabbed ahold of them. They were dirtied and bruised, but my legs were smooth of any cuts or scratches.

Rick spoke up after I gave him thumbs up. "We had one infected. He didn't make it here. Thank you for letting us in."

"You don't mind for blood tests then," he asked after a shrug from Rick's thank you. "You can get your things that you'll need through the front door. Once it closes, it won't open again."

The group followed him to the front. I tagged along behind them feeling light headed from the short run. Another benefit to the CDC: my head injury would heal faster.

Seeing as I brought all my things in already and being rejected in my offering to help the others with their belongings, I waited against a stainless steel wall and welcomed the coolness on my sweaty back. The man hadn't moved an inch after the group left. He looked ordinary, grey baggy t-shirt and sweatpants; he didn't give off the appearance of a medical scientist. I wondered who he was and if he knew Adam because I'd never seen him at gatherings before. He must have felt my staring for he turned away from me and the door to stand farther back next to an elevator. But I noticed anxiousness stretched over his features and a heavy stride as he moved away. Or maybe I was thinking too much into it. Shane, Dale, and Andrea came through the doors right after the man moved. Then followed the rest of the gang with luggage and Rick bringing in the rear. As soon as he crossed through the entrance, the doors closed automatically with a clear click as the bolts slid into place. "So, what do we call our savior?" I asked curiously after glancing at the quickly darkening sky through the thick windows. I tucked the bandana in my front pocket, waiting for an answer.

"I'm Dr. Edwin Jenner. If you'll follow me, please."

After squeezing into an elevator, probably close to breaking the weight limit, Jenner brought us into a good-sized room that resembled a cross between a doctor's room and a high school science lab. We leaned against the counters and the kids sat in the extra rolling chairs, spinning and turning with genuine smiles on their faces. Jenner had us sit in front of him one by one under the fluorescent lighting.

When it was my turn, I plopped down heavily. It had only been an hour since sitting in Daryl's truck, but I felt drained. The last food I had was back at the Quarry which was more than most of what the others had. They gave the last of the porridge mixture to me because I was hurt badly- My thoughts were interrupted by the sharp pain of the needle leaving my arm. I hadn't even noticed it going in. Instantly, my head felt like a bag of bricks and I shut my eyes to get rid of the unpleasant side effects.

"What's wrong?" Jenner asked not unkindly.

"Sorry. It's just my head." I pointed to the long scabbing cut on the right of my forehead. "Someone gave me a severe concussion and I haven't been in the best environment for it to heal."

Jenner wrapped my arm tight with sterilized white wrap. "I can give you some meds to help with the process." He jumped up and rummaged through a cabinet in the corner, piling bottles into his arm clenched to his stomach. Jenner handed them to me, giving brief instructions with each pill in a doctoral manner.

"Thanks." I wanted to ask him more about what happened here, where were all the scientists, why he said the doors won't open again-and what I wanted to ask the most- where my family and friends are. But he had already shooed me away and now Andrea was getting her blood drawn.

Well, I could have smiled the whole rest of the night. There were tables pushed together set up with plates and silverware in a cafeteria. And hot edible food was being served. My favorite out of the spoils was the pasta. The only downside was that the Alfredo sauce had a less appealing taste due to using powdered milk. But my stomach couldn't tell the difference as I stuffed my mouth. I looked around for something to wash it down with. At first all I saw was wine. "We got anything besides this?" I asked holding up a bottle to the happy people. "What's wrong with that?" T-Dog asked laughing. He sat across from me with Carol and Sophia on my right and Lori and her family on my left. The others sat covering the ends of the long crooked table.

I smiled. "I don't drink anymore."

"Well Aubrietta, we're celebrating. I think this is the time to break it," chimed in Dale. I tried to stay solemn amongst the ecstatic crew as I said, "I think I'll pass."

"Why?" Glenn spoke loudly from the other end. He had gladly taken a bottle for himself already.

I smiled sweetly, but looked down at my plate of food. "The last time I drank resulted in having my daughter. It was a crazy night." I sighed. Most of the other conversations quieted at the mention of something new about me. It looked like they wanted me to further explain, on what exactly I wasn't sure, so I said, "I just don't like drinking. Every time I do, something drastically changes in my life. I've only done it three times before. The first time I was 15 and with my best friend. He died of alcohol poisoning. The second, I did something really illegal; got thrown in jail for a bit. And the last you know."

"What'd you do?" Of course Rick, the cop, had to ask about that.

I answered sheepishly and shook my head. "After my grad party, my friends thought it'd be funny to prank our school principle. No one liked him. So I brought over my paints and turned his silver Audi into something more pleasing to the eye." Rick chuckled. "It wouldn't have been so bad if Miles wasn't such a pyro and lit it up like the fourth of July." That got the whole table laughing. "I admit I had fun until the consequences arose; it's not good for me."

Lori passed me a can of Cola, a knowing look in her eyes. "You miss her."

I only nodded, feeling like I had spoken enough already. I wasn't hungry anymore. I wanted to see them again, to know they were still alive. I missed my little girl with all my heart.

Suddenly Shane spoke up, addressing Jenner. "So do you have what we came for? Where is everyone that's fighting this disease besides us?"

Jenner, who was sitting by another table by himself, looked up from his daze. "We were working on it night and day. But it was difficult."

"What do you mean?" Jacqui asked.

Jenner stood up, motioning for us to follow him. We walked through the dim hallways to a large room with multiple desks and a huge screen in front. "VI, turn on the lights in the big room." A center circle of lights lit the room. Jenner didn't look at us as he said, "I don't have a cure. I'm the only one left. "

"What about VI?" Lori asked.

"Virtual Intelligence," I said. Adam's facility had one too.

Jenner tried to change the subject by saying, "You must be tired. I'll show you to lounge rooms. There you can relax and take showers." He warned the excited faces. "But don't use the hot water for too long." As we walked to the cafeteria to pick up our things, he went on about what was all in the rooms and what we should do to save power.

However, I didn't feel like resting just yet. I had to get my answers. When the group followed behind Jenner to the opposite hallway we came from, I went to the table and began stacking the plates and cups. I was about to bring them to the back counter.

"You don't have to do that." It was Jenner.

"It's ok. It feels normal. Like cleaning up after my own family, cept' twice as big," I said quietly.

He grabbed a cloth and wetted it from the sink. "How big was your family?"

"How big it is, you mean," I corrected him. He nodded. "At a time it was my husband, my daughter, sister, and me. But Adam and I wanted to split up." I looked up suddenly at him while drying the dishes. "Have you ever met Adam Stone?"

Jenner kept his eyes on the cloth. "Before the apocalypse, I heard of him. He was asked multiple times to join us, but he refused. It's a shame he stayed in his subject; he was a genius and we would probably have a cure by now."

I looked down in despair. He hadn't been here then.

"But he was even more incredible in person." Jenner said with a ghost of a smile.

I felt like the wind got knocked out of me. "When was he here? Who was with him? Where did they go? Why did-"

"Wait. I'll answer all your questions. You just need to calm down. It's not good for your head."

"My head is fine," I lied. I abandoned the dishes and pulled out the purple bandana, scraping of the dried-on dirt.

"They came two weeks ago. I was alone then too. It was easier to let them in than you." I was about to inquire what he meant about that but he didn't leave time to ask. "With him was a little girl, almost five years old, and she barely spoke the three days they were here. There were four others as well. I'm sorry but I only remember the names of two: Josephine and Conner."

I laid the bandana over my arm. "Was she with them? The woman who had this?"

Jenner nodded again. "Yes, she had it with her before she left. Where did you find it?"

"Just outside, in the midst of the dead. Did they get out safely?"

"I believe they did. Unfortunately, there were some Walkers roaming about as always."

"What did they do while they were here?"

"Rest and recover mostly. Dr. Stone was working on something though. I helped where I could with information about the disease, but it looked like he was building a device of some sort. All he told me was that it would change the world...again."

Jenner drained the sink and was walking away. I asked him something before he disappeared in his own sorrow.

"Was he successful?"

"I'm not sure. They were urgent to leave and continue searching for you." Jenner turned the corner.

I sighed long and deep. He was right. My head felt on fire and my eyes stung. I sat in my old seat for a few moments going over the things I learned, fighting off the pain. I wished I had all my memory back. Nothing else popped back in from our discussion and I wondered who the last person was that Jenner didn't know the name of. I swear when we started that my group was larger.

My eyes focused on what was left on the tables. There were only a couple of wine bottles, one not opened yet and one half gone. The latter, Oregon Pinot Gris, sounded good. A sip wouldn't hurt. It felt good too. I took another swallow. It was strong; already it began to numb the pain throughout my aching body and mind. I folded Briana's favorite bandana I got her from my trip to Brazil and headed to the lounge for a shower, not realizing the bottle still in my hand.

Woot Woot! You got to know a little bit more about Aubrie's life. But the mysteries continue. And what bad luck she has with booze. Sad, just sad. Well, a daughter's not a bad thing though. Enjoy and thanks for all the reviews and favorites.