I Am Bulletproof

Chapter Ten: The CDC

The man's name was Dr Edwin Jenner, and he wanted blood tests to prove that we weren't infected. If that's all it took then hey, I was game. He showed us around and I mostly blocked him out; short attention spans aren't really that fun. Although when he mentioned hot showers I perked right up. A hot shower was the one thing I'd been dreaming about since we were back at the BnB, after the water was cut off. He led us to a small kitchen and Carol started putting something together for us. We didn't eat much the past couple days, probably because we were too distracted to even think of food. T-Dog, Luke, and Daryl found a stash of wine in one of the cupboards and it wasn't long before they were drunk. I took a long shower and found a change of clothes in a closet. Julie asked me to watch Belle while she took one, so we looked around and found Carl and Sophia in a rec room playing checkers.

"Loofia, I pay?!" Belle tugged on Sophia's shirt, "I no lose. I good at theckews."

Who could say no to that? I watched them play Belle's weird version of checkers until Lori and Carol came in, saying it was time for Sophia and Carl to get some sleep. It was pretty late, so I led Belle back to our room. Julie was asleep on a cot, and Belle cuddled up next to her. I made a bed up on the floor and covered myself up, finally falling asleep.
The next morning I helped T-Dog make some powdered eggs and bacon for breakfast. It had been a long time since any of us had bacon and it was gone within seconds.

"Do you have a hangover?" Carl asked his father, and Rick nodded. "Mom said you would."

"Never let me drink again, okay?" Glenn groaned from his chair and I laughed at him. He looked so miserable, compared to everyone else. I tended to stay away from alcohol, because alcoholism runs in our family and I didn't want to go down that road. Jenner walked in, and right away the group began to question him. He said he wanted to show us something, and I offered to stay behind and clean up as well as keep an eye on Belle. Like I said, having a short attention span isn't that fun. I knew Jenner would be going into detail about the walkers and all the scientific aspects. Science wasn't something I was interested in and staying away from it would probably be best.

"In case something goes down, be ready to leave." Julie whispered before she went off with the group. I finished washing the dishes and went to check on Belle, who was still asleep.

"Where Mama?" She asked sleepily and I picked her up, taking her back to the dining area. She ate some eggs and applesauce, and I told her to wait in her chair quietly. I packed most of our things, and went into each of the rooms to grab some important things that belonged to the other group members. Once I was finished I went back to see if Belle was ok. We sat in a rec room and I read her a book until she fell asleep. It didn't take long for Luke and Daryl to come back and I asked where the others were.

"Something went wrong. No time to explain." Luke picked up the bags and Daryl led us out to the main entrance.

"Here, I found this when I washed your uniform." Carol said and handed Rick some round object.

"Everyone down!" Rick shouted; he had a grenade and threw it at the window.

"Hey, where's Andrea? And Dale?" I asked Lori, but got no answer. I assumed they were dead.

"One minute until facility-wide decontamination." That stupid computer-animated voice called out and we ran out the window.

"Come on!" T-Dog shouted; walkers were everywhere. My ears were ringing from the grenade and I was starting to feel dizzy when I heard Belle screaming. There was a female walker, with one arm and no lips, running straight at us. Someone shot it and Daryl pushed us into the truck.

"What happened?" I whispered and seeing Glenn and Luke climbing into the back, sighed in relief.

"Stupid asshole locked us in the control room. Wouldn't let us out, either. He said the generators were runnin' out of fuel and the place would explode." Daryl told me and we drove away. I watched as the building burst into flames, destroying everything inside. We were that close to death, and yet still managed to get out safely. Well, minus the woman who announced to the world that Jim had been bit. I think her name was Jacqui or something...

"Missa Gouch, d'you know where my Daddy is?" Belle pouted. I guess in all this mess, Julie hadn't had a chance to talk to her about what most likely happened to Scott. From my calculations it was nearing the end of August and close to her third birthday. Daryl didn't answer; how can you answer something like that? I would have to talk to Julie about it. She was still too young to even begin to grasp the concept of death.

We pulled over and looked around for food, extra clothes, anything really. I found some clothes for Belle and Sophia in an abandoned car while Julie and Andrea talked. She and Dale had made it out at the last second, to everyone's surprise. Is it wrong that I was disappointed to see her again? She really got on my nerves. Not that I was wishing her dead or anything. I looked around to make sure there were no walkers and made my way towards Daryl. I had found a stuffed squirrel in one of the trucks and wanted to give it to him as a joke. It was wearing leather vest, sort of like the one he wore.

"Hey, Mr GRouch. I found something for you." I snuck up on him, causing him to jump and curse.

"Christ! Stop that, why don'cha?" he muttered in irritation, and I laughed at him. Annoying Daryl - funner than annoying Julie or Luke. It was just much more satisfying in a way I can't even begin to explin.

"Can't, it's fun." I grinned and handed him the toy. "You'd better not throw it away, either."

He tucked it into his belt and we made our way back to the group. Rick, Shane, Dale, and Glenn were discussing where we would stay for the night, and I handed some jerky out. Good thing I had thought ahead, back at the quarry when we had all that meat.

"Andy, I need to tell you something." Julie glanced over at Daryl, "Alone."

"What is it?" I asked once we were alone in the truck.

"I'm pregnant." she explained it must have happened right before we left Canada, and Jenner confirmed her suspicions with the bloodtest - he'd pulled her aside and told her. "This world is no place for a new baby."

"We'll find someplace safe. I know it." I reassured her and remembered what Belle had asked Daryl earlier as we drove away from the CDC. "I think you might want to talk to Belle about Scott. She's been asking about him."

"I told her before we left for the CDC. She's just confused." Julie sighed and we saw Rick and Glenn making their way over.

"Time to leave, I guess." I shrugged and we hopped out of the truck. Rick said he knew of a place back in Atlanta that would be safe and we got ready for the long drive.

I wasn't planning on Julie telling about her pregnancy just yet, but the timing seemed right.
Can I get some reviews? Pleeease?! :) I know there are a bunch of you reading this! Next chapter is gonna be twice as long! I'm almost finished writing it, and it'll most likely be up by next week.