We reached the CDC just after sun down. The moment the doors to the station wagon opened, I could smell the scent of death. I pulled the front of my shirt up so that I could block the smell a bit, but it didn't much. The group gathered on the sidewalk and Daryl gave me a funny look at me when he saw me struggling to keep my shirt over my mouth and nose. I was prepared to give him a retort but Daryl didn't say anything. Instead, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the red bandanna he always carried and handed it to me.
I took it from his hand slowly, feeling as if he would snatch it back. But he didn't. I took it from his hand held my name before wrapping the bandanna around my face. I looked back at Daryl and he snorted at me. I assumed I looked silly with it over my face, but it was blocking the smell better than my shirt. Daryl and I were at the rear of the group and we hurried to keep up.
Bodies littered the ground and I could tell that they had been here for a long time. I was walking close to a body covered in a black blanket, but then I took a step too close and the blanket dissolved into a swarm of flies as they took flight. My stomach clenched and I walked a bit faster to keep up with Daryl and the others. More flies swarmed the air and I could see some bodies that were completely covered like the one I had just saw. I exchanged a glance with Daryl and we finally reached the others at the metal doors to the CDC.
Rick and Shane were trying to lift the door but to no avail. I heard loud growling behind me and I turned to see Walkers begin to approach us. A few of the others heard as well and we got on defensive as Shane told Rick that Fort Benning was still an option.
"That's a hundred miles the other way! We don't have gas or food!" Andrea said.
"Hundred and twenty-five," Glenn corrected her. "I counted how far we went."
The growls of the Walkers got louder as they got closer. I stood at the edge of the group with T-Dog, Daryl, and Dale. Carol, Lori, Jacqui were in the center and the kids were kept huddled between them. Meanwhile Rick, Shane, and Glenn were still trying to crash into the CDC.
"It moved!" Rick suddenly shouted. I glanced over my shoulder to where Rick was pointing at the camera mounted on the wall. I turned back around to face the Walkers right as one got too close. Daryl shot an arrow at it and the Walker crumbled to the ground in a lifeless heap.
"Rick, there's nothing here!" Lori was yelling at her husband. "We have to get out of here!"
"Someone's in there!" Rick screamed. More growls and snarls emitted from in front of us. Rick's screams were bringing more of them to us. And it was getting even darker so I couldn't see most of the Walkers.
"Can you see anything?" I asked, not caring who it was who answered me.
Daryl was the one who heard me, probably because his bandanna was muffling my voice and Daryl was standing close enough to hear. "Nah. We can't hit 'em if we can't see 'em." I glanced over my shoulder again to see Shane trying to pull Rick away from that camera.
"You're killing us!" Rick was screaming. "You're killing us!"
A blinding light came out from the metal door as it slid open. The entire group froze as we stared at the now open door. Rick turned around and looked at all of us, "C'mon! Get inside!" We snapped out of our daze and hurried to run inside, leaving the Walkers behind.
The inside of the CDC was absolutely spotless. I hadn't seen a place this clean since the beginning of the outbreak. The smell from the outside was practically nonexistent. I yanked Daryl's bandanna off my face and handed it to him; he took it back and shoved it into his pocket without saying anything.
"What do you want?" A voice asked from the shadows of the clean building. From beside me, Daryl instantly pointed his crossbow at the source of the voice, a blond man who was pointing a shotgun at us.
"A chance," Rick said, sounding as tired as everyone else. I guessed that screaming your head off and pounding against a metal door really wiped you out.
"That asking a lot these days." The man said, stepping closer. "Was anyone bit?"
"One of our own was. He didn't make it."
The man slowly lowered his weapon and, as a response, we slowly lowered ours too. His shotgun hung by his side as he carefully looked at all of us. "You'll all need to take a blood test before I can let you stay here." Rick automatically agreed. "If you want to leave, this is your last chance. Once those doors close, they won't open again."
Shane, Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog went to go grab everyone's stuff. When they came back, the man closed the metal doors and introduced himself as Dr. Jenner. He led us into a room where he sat us down to take samples of our blood. We formed a sort of line as Jenner did the procedure one by one. When it was finally my turn, I didn't even flinch away from the needle when he plunged it down into the crook of my arm. Jenner noticed my calm about needles and commented on it.
In response, I used my other arm to reveal my tattoo on my left side, right on my ribs. "I got used to needles." I said. Jenner nodded, seemingly impressed, and sent me along so that he could take some of Glenn's blood.
"I didn't know you had a tattoo," Carl said, looking at me with wide eyes. Sophia looked just as surprised as he did and I could see their mothers listening in on the conversation.
I showed them the tat again. Carl frowned. "Why do you have a bird?" Lori nudged her son, reminding him not to be too nosy.
"It's a magpie," I said, looking down at it. "It was my mom's favorite bird. I got this when she died." Carl's eyes went wide and the air around us went solemn. I turned back to where the blood tests were almost finished and I saw Daryl watching me with an odd expression in his face. He looked away when I caught him though.
Daryl had been acting odd ever since he got back from Atlanta. He saved my life from that Walker, but that was something that I would hope he'd do on his own. He lent me his bandanna back when we were outside, and he seemed to be keeping an eye on me for a while now. I told myself that I should talk to him later, but then I thought about how weird that would sound.
The blood tests were finally finished and Jenner led the way to an elevator that took us underground. "Don't plug in anything that requires electricity." Jenner was saying. "There should be plenty of rooms to go around, and there are fully functioning bathrooms in each room. Just don't go crazy with the hot water. I'll meet you all in the cafeteria for dinner later." He left us alone to go into the cafeteria, but we were too shocked about the idea of a hot shower.
I chose a room and quickly threw myself down on the large bed. This was the best bed I had lain on in a long time. I gave myself a little tour of the room, moving around it, running my hand along the sleek furniture, and finally going into this fully functional bathroom. The bathroom was sleek and polished and I instantly felt wrong for sitting in there while being so dirty and sweaty. I stripped down to nothing and stepped into the shower, crying out as the warm water fell down on top of me.
It was the best shower I had ever had. Sure the water was lukewarm and the shampoo and soap could've been better, but I had gone for so long without even rinsing off. Even after I cleaned myself, I just stood under the spray of water, smiling like a fool and catching water in my hands so that I could splash it in my face again.
When I got back to the cafeteria, most of the group were already sitting and eating the food Jenner made. I saw baked beans, sausages, salad with vegetables that actually crunched. I loaded a plate and sat down between Rick and Glenn. Jenner watched us quietly from the edge. Then Dale found a bottle of wine and everyone poured themselves a glass; even Carl got to taste a little bit, but the kid instantly hated the taste and Lori poured Carl's glass into her own.
Shane looked drunk already as he swallowed a large mouthful of wine. He looked over at Jenner. "Hey Jenner, where is everybody?"
"Shane, we're celebrating," Rick said from my side. "We'll get answers in the morning." Shane completely ignored him and asked again. Jenner got a sad look in his eye.
"We held up as long as we could." Jenner said. "But after communications went out, many of the employees here left to be with their families. But, most of them opted out."
"Opted out?" Shane repeated.
Jenner blinked. "Hung themselves, overdosed, they found ways." A chill went through the air and Glenn narrowed his eyes at Shane.
"Dude, you are such a buzzkill." Glenn said. Shane ignored him and stared at Jenner, apparently thinking hard about what Jenner said.
