Their saviour was called Doctor Edwin Jenner, and everything about him suggested reluctance, regret. It was obvious his decision to let them in had been a spur of the moment thing. He walked like a man who'd lost all hope and incentive. He was alone, that much was clear, the thing that was unclear was... why. Everyone was too relieved and thankful and joyous to take note of all these things, but they needed this, and so Cassia put it to the back of her mind. Jenner's social skills leave something to be desired... has he been alone all of this time? He talks to an AI that is implemented into the entire building, and he calls it 'Vi'. Perhaps Vi has been the only company he's had all this time. It's not clear. Maybe he was merely the only one to come to meet and inspect them... maybe... maybe there are others. It's very possible. Jenner moves as if he's forgotten how to, or as if with every step he's forcing himself to move or carry on. Cassia was vaguely aware of Daryl glancing at her every time he was sure she wasn't paying attention. She hadn't spoken this whole time, she knew he was... Well, he wouldn't worry; perhaps he had noticed the change. She was usually fairly chatty. Or... maybe he was reminded of how she'd been when they met, when she hadn't been allowed to speak too often.
Jenner wanted blood samples, which was fair enough, Cassia had to admit. Since she'd fallen pregnant, she'd never been able to go for any appointments or scans, this would be the closest thing she would have to a check up. Daryl put a restrictive hand on her shoulder when it was her turn and raised his voice beyond the levels he usually took it to address Doctor Jenner,
"Them needles are clean, right?" He asked, his voice was stern and his grip was a little too tight on her, as if he was anticipating her trying to escape. She wondered why he thought she might, she wasn't one of the rabbits he hunted, she didn't frighten so easily.
"They are all sterilised, yes." Edwin replied politely but the tick going in his jaw told a different story. Cassia tilted her head slightly, examining him. He wanted this done and over with quickly, he wanted to be able to move on and away from them, it was clear. He had the little crease in between his brows that Ross often got when he was impatient. She would recognise it anywhere. Daryl seemed to be considering it, and finally, he nodded, his hand slipping off her shoulder. Cassia ran a hand up her bump, resting it over it and wandered over. Jenner's eyes immediately dropped down to her bump, thought it wasn't very noticeable, she'd brought attention to it on purpose, wanting him to know she was pregnant. Jenner's eyes went all big and sad and she felt the need to wince, couldn't he have at least hidden his despair for the situation? His sadness for the assumptions he'd made for her child's future?
Jenner opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him with a quiet voice,
"I know."
He closed his mouth and nodded. That was a private conversation.
Jenner licked his lips while he was dabbing at her arm, and re-opened his mouth to retry starting up a conversation, "And what would your name be?"
"Cassia Dunlain." Her voice was still quiet, she was processing everything and once again... she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, and the last time she'd had such feelings the camp had been attacked by a small horde of walkers. Jenner nodded slowly, his tongue peeked out between his lips as he concentrated on bringing her vein up, and then glanced back up to her,
"Cassia... from the cinnamon family?" She gave a heavy sigh and nodded, looking off to the left to avoid watching him insert the needle,
"My parents are called David and Jane, but they were quirky people. I have four siblings with similar names to my own." Jenner obviously found that amusing, because he chuckled and when she glanced at him, she could have sworn his eyes were sparkling,
"I would so love to hear their names," that was Andrea talking, Cass could tell without turning her head, but she did anyway and gave Andrea a little grin,
"The eldest are twins; Lavender and Basil, then there's me, Cayenne and finally, Ginger."
"Ginger?"
"I know. Poor kid. She was ginger, too."
"That's just... wow. Was she bullied?"
"No... Cayenne would never let anyone treat her badly, and Ginger was very likable, she got on with everyone all the time."
"Is she...?"
"I have no idea." Andrea's smile turned solemn and she exchanged the weight of her standing from one foot to the other, crossing her arms. She suddenly looks very pale and fragile and when Jacqui starts coddling her and worrying over her like a mother hen, Andrea genuinely looks frail and her pallor actually wasn't all that far off that of the walking dead. That realisation in particular freaked Cassia out more than anything else. Jenner's concerned, asking what's wrong with her.
"She's tired. She hasn't eaten in a while... none of us have," Jacqui responded, all solemn glances and pointed stares thrown his way, Jenner himself doesn't seem to notice her efforts, which Cassia has to admit is very, very slightly satisfying to watch. Daryl obviously agreed with her, a snort that could only have belonged to him can be heard from approximately the area he'd been standing in, and when she glanced his way, lured by the untoward noise, his eyebrows were quirked upwards, already looking her way. What an absolute bundle of mixed feelings and surprises, Cassia pondered to herself, watching Daryl for a fraction of a second before she returned her attention to the front. Cotton balls pile up beside Doctor Jenner, he never once demonstrated his ability to use a bin, and once he's done he simply collects them all up, dumps them on a metal tray of some kind, produces a small hip flask and dribbles alcohol over the pile itself. By this point, Cassia had pretty much guessed what his next act was going to be, but... why? The blood? Regardless, the harmless little pile of cotton balls were sent up in flames; contained, but... necessary? Cassia wasn't so sure. Sophia choked a little, and Carol narrowed her eyes in the general direction of Jenner, throwing him a look. Shane's eyebrow took itself so far up his forehead she was surprised it managed to stay there and not disappear into his hairline, which, in itself, was also very far up from his forehead. Rick was still panting and Lori and Carl were tucked behind him and to the right of him. Lori looked as if she would have her claws stuck in her cub if she were, in fact, a bear. Jenner, to his credit, either didn't notice, or was beyond the point of giving a shit. Either way, she felt she could relate.
Jenner redeemed himself with what looked like a feast to them, to him... she couldn't say. His eyes never widened the same way theirs did when the food was placed in front of them, and the wole time he sat there with this shy little almost coy smile; simply watching all of them. Observing, it felt like. Glenn offers her some wine, and when she simply blinks at him, he looks puzzled for a second before his eyes drop down to the little bump causing a distinct swell in her shirt, and realisation and remembrance dawns on him. Cassia smiled to see it. Daryl rolled his eyes. Glenn simply chuckled and apologised meekly, passing the wine on beyond her.
Cassia's grin was hard to reel in, it was so... refreshing to see these people smile. Actually, genuinely, for the first time; smile. Sure, she'd seen it when Rick was reunited with his family, or whenever Andrea and Amy would look at each other. To be frank... those had been the only examples she had to offer since the Outbreak. She screwed her mouth up at that, not sitting well with her. Daryl must have noticed as he nudged her, and she let out an amused huff when she turned to see him rosy cheeked, a flare of pure nostalgia flaring up in her chest. He was even grinning at her. Alcohol really does turn people into different versions of themselves. Daryl had been trying to say something to her for a few minutes now, fumbling over words and pronunciation until something else caught his attention and he kicked his chair out from behind him, throwing his hand up in a dramatic flare of a gesture, every inch of him screamed joviality and he raised the wine, reaching out for people to hand their glasses to him, giving out refills,
"Booyah." He proclaimed, completely out of nowhere, and the smile she had fixed on him turned fond.
That was when Shane decided it was time for him to 'perk up'.
"So... when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc?" He had his legs propped up and crossed at the ankles on an extra chair, and Shane's expression was just that amount of cocky that would have infuriated all kinds of men, and probably been attractive for a crap ton of women, too. Not her, obviously. She couldn't quite look past the vile personality he possessed. With a groan, she covered her eyes with her hands, briefly, and dragged her hands down her face. Cass was feeling the exhaustion then, and she settled forwards with her elbows propped up on the table; bracing her. For about the fourth time that day, Doctor Jenner looked unperturbed by the group's bullshit. Poor man. He was providing them with safety and food and warm water and kindness and they repaid him with this? When Doctor Jenner didn't reply straight away, Shane's expression turned up to exude higher levels of arrogance, some sort of misguided rebellion and, of course, the ever present cockiness, "The uh, other doctors-" Shane, with a flourish of his legs, altered his position so he was sitting on his own chair properly, feet on the ground, arms crossed over his chest; boosting his biceps, Cassia suspected. She repressed the urge to gag, not entirely convinced it was due to the pregnancy.
"They're supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?" Just like that, Cassia saw Rick almost fall apart again, out of the corner of her eye. Lori was fixing Shane with a stern look, though Cassia wasn't certain what exactly that was supposed to do. Rick heaved a sigh, that of a man heavily burdened, and imitated Cassie's own stance, elbows braced in front of him on the table,
"We're supposed to be celebratin', Shane, we don't need to do this now," Rick muttered, eyes cast awkwardly down at the table. Shane almost sneered. Sophia looked like she wanted to cry in the seat adjacent to Cassia's, and Carol began to rub the little one's back, between the shoulder blades, back and forth like a pendulum. Someone burped in the awkward silence. Shane continued on, failing to sense everyone's discomfort and disapproval in the room,
"Now wait a second, that's why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers, instead we, uh, we... found him." Shane's expression was far too smug to imply his concern for the group was all that reason, or the motivation behind his little interruption at all. This time he really did sneer, nodding his head in the direction of Doctor Jenner, who was busy watching his wine as he swilled it round in his glass, as if mesmerised. Shane completed the gesture with the quietests of scoffs, disregarding Jenner as if her were nothing more than a parrot in a cage in the corner of the room who kept making nose or repeating unwanted phrases at inopportune times. Rick's hands formed fists. "We found just one man, instead. Why's that?"
"Well..." Jenner didn't look up from his glass, his tone was monotonous, it would have sounded almost bored on anyone else, but on him it only sounded a little as if he wasn't capable of expressing more emotion than he was, "when things got bad, a lot of people just... left. Gave up. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military got overrun, the rest bolted. Made a break for it."
"Every last one?" Shane responded, as if the thought of people dying and the military being overwhelmed was actually pleasing to him. This was a power play against Rick, and it was sickening. Carol was now stroking her long-ish fingers methodically through her daughter's hair, and Sophia was clutching her stuffed bear close. Daryl, for the most part, had been completely silent; something completely to do with his occupation with his wine. His eyes swooped up to meet Cassia's when she turned them on him, and, such as had been the reaction before, he quirked his eyebrows, inquiring. She shook her head and drew her attention reluctantly to the battlefield. Lori could have passed as a mannequin, she was so stiff and upright and tense. Her spine must have been ram-rod straight. Carl just looked really extremely grumpy. Cass couldn't exactly blame him; his face mirrored the way she was sure her thoughts looked.
"No." Jenner replied, for once his voice changed it's pitch slightly, raising the tiniest inch to portray his growing irritation, "Many couldn't face the outside world, couldn't walk out the door. They opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a very bad time."
"You didn't leave... why?" Andrea spoke up, and everyone seemed to startle subconsciously, having forgotten anyone other than Rick, Shane and Jenner knew how to talk. Jenner looked a shade grateful for her steering the conversation away from Shane's petulant questions,
"I just kept working. Hoped to do some good." He murmured, and Andrea smiled softly.
Glenn groaned, scuffing his foot against the floor, "Dude you are such a buzz kill, man," He muttered in hostile undertones, fixing Shane with a resentful glare. No-one laughed too often, after that, and everything about Daryl stopped screaming joviality.
Next were the showers.
Warm. Water.
If there had been anything in the material world she would have traded her left arm and four of her toes for it would have been a nice, warm shower. Now here Cassia was, all parts still firmly attached to her, under the luxurious stream of a wonderful. Warm. Shower. She could be clean. She also had the time and luxury to admire her bump. It was definitely much bigger than it had been a couple of weeks ago. Cassia had actually forgotten the calendar back in Daryl's pickup truck when they'd rushed inside the CDC, but she still had a good enough grasp on the time to reckon she was about 9 weeks pregnant. It was absolutely more pronounced now, supposing that Cassia herself was without a doubt under-nourished. She managed with what she had, though, the members of the group being kind enough to prioritise her along with the children and to try and find things to benefit the baby. Daryl had been the biggest contributor to this. Cassia allowed herself this time really alone, something she hadn't had for what felt like the longest stretch of time, now. A serenity ghosted through her and bundled around her, settling in her chest. A caring hand soothed it's way over her stomach and for a while she simply stood like that, droplets dripping off of her in every which way, replacing the rain in all the most satisfying ways.
Eventually she washed her hair and her body and dried off, putting some clean clothes on. There was an ostentatious kind of a noise, much louder than it had ever needed to be in such a closed in, intimate area. Cassia padded through into the main bedroom, towel drying her hair as she went, not at all suprised to see it was Daryl, leaning against her doorframe with a bottle of scotch in his hand. He must have heard her in the shower and made a big deal of announcing his arrival in order to avoid any awkward naked confrontations.
"Daryl?" She greeted, an easy smile on her face, something that seemed to take him by surprise,
"Someone's awful zen right now." He noted, taking a small swig from his token bottle,
"This close to enlightenment, I tell you," she teased, finishing with the towel and angling herself a little to be able to throw the towel back into the bathroom from where she was. When she looked back Daryl was a lot closer than he had been, but still far enough away that it was polite. He looked very... hesitant. Cassia couldn't quite discern if the redness about his face was due to intoxication or sheer embarrassment, either way, her curiosity was piqued for whatever he was about to say,
"Uh, so, uh-"
"Daryl-"
"I-"
"Daryl-"
"How lo-"
"Daryl?"
"Cassie-"
"Daryl." She finally caught his attention and he stopped stammering. Cassia raised a hand in a bewildered gesture and watched him carefully, "What is it?"
"How pregnant're you?" He blurted out, his face reddening even further. Cassia cleared her throat and swooped her gaze up towards the ceiling as she counted, propping up and then pushing down her fingers to assist her with the endeavor. She wrinkled her nose up and then sighed, shrugging,
"About 9 weeks, give or take a few days. Almost 10, I reckon." Cassia informed him with a small nod, and his eyes widened a little, he very clearly spaced out a little, his gaze not quite focused on her any longer as it floated off to the right a bit, and his next nod was very serious,
"Damn... time flies."
"Sure does."
"Does it...?" Daryl trailed off, scratching awkwardly round the back of his neck, eyes cast down towards the floor at her feet.
"Does what?"
"Does it ...- the baby; can y'feel it yet?" Daryl finally returned his attention entirely to her, dropping briefly to her little bump, and then back up to her eyes, alternating to her cheekbone, and then back into her eyes again. She considered that. Every now and again she'd feel uncomfortable, sure, but Cass hadn't felt it move or kick yet. Though, from what she'd heard and researched on her own, that was completely normal for a first pregnancy. That thing typically started happening around the 16 week mark. Cass shook her head, her damp hair moving solidly with the motion, slow.
"I won't feel that for a while yet. Earliest would start in about six weeks or so." Daryl nodded once again, much slower this time, as if he were making the effort to process and remember what she'd said. A hard process, she was sure, considering he was inebriated.
"Uhuh, alright," Daryl continued the awkward nodding and ran his tongue over his teeth, it was visible beneath his lips. He patted the door frame and then nodded to her with more definition, making as if he was about to leave,
"Do you, uh- maybe want to try and see if you can feel anything?" He looked startled at first, probably misinterpreting her meaning, but then his expression shifted as if it had all just slot into place and he looked to be seriously considering it for a moment or two, but Cassia knew better than to get her hopes up with these things when it came to Daryl Dixon, so it wasn't such a let down when he shook his head with a stiff neck, already two steps backwards and towards the exit,
"Uh, nah- I'll pass."
Cassia nodded to herself as he left, and then swiftly stopped herself; remembering just how much nodding the last five minutes had facilitated.
The sleep that night is quick to sink into, almost easy. Cassia makes the most of it, waking up on her own the next morning. The kitchen reveals Glenn, Daryl, Carol and Sophia, Shane and Lori, for the shortest time, before she flees the room, a lot of the tension of the room with her. Cassia shares a look with Daryl, each of them sporting a cocked eyebrow. Neither push for any answers, though, after all, it is none of their business. A death groan that is all too real and familiar sounds from her left and she jumps in her seat, her hand going to shield her stomach, flinching away from the danger, only to see that it's just a very hungover Glenn,
"I am never drinking ever again," He whined, his eyes were squeezed shut and he had a hand to his head, he looked up to stare at her beseechingly, "Cassie, don't let me do it."
"You think a pregnant woman could stop you?" She questioned him lightly, popping a blueberry into her mouth, and Glenn looked very thoughtful for a moment; evidently trying to figure out if it was a trick question that could get him in trouble. He licked his lips, a light sweat breaking out on his forehead. Daryl sips his glass of water and says nothing, ignoring Glenn's silently pleading looks for help.
"... Yes?"
"You're damn right I could." She answered cheerily, reaching forward to muss up his hair, grinning at him and offering him a strawberry. Glenn heaves a sigh of relief and relaxes, returning her happy mood and munching on the peace strawberry. Daryl snorts and rolls his eyes, shaking his head almost as if he's been betrayed. Glenn shrugs,
"Sorry Daryl, but appeasing the hormonal pregnant woman is much higher up on my list."
Cassia sighs and throws a whole, unpeeled banana at Glenn's head.
A little later, the entirety of the group assemble in the main room. Vast rows of monitors and hauntingly empty desk chair surround them, row upon row of places where people once sat and worked, bustling about and working to save the world; the protect it from disease. Now just one man remained. One desk chair had an occupant, one monitor was in use. She turns to whisper this to Daryl and he replies with,
"A graveyard full o'nerds."
Doctor Jenner asks Vi to bring up a playback of some research they did here before everything went to hell. It was an X-Ray kind of view of a skull, and even further than that; a brain. All too fast, darkness and plague swallows up the brain, and it looks as though Test Subject 19 has passed on. Vi skips the footage forward a bit and suddenly something is different, these lights are shimmering and pulsing, traveling up into the brain, and the jaw is snapping up and down, up and down. There was nothing human left of them, after all. That was quite a heft weight off her conscience. Cassia startles for the second time that morning, though she and Carol are the only ones; something abruptly slicing across, or rather through the skull and kills off the brain. A shot to head, it must have been. She blinks in the aftermath, not quite sure what to think. Daryl catches her eye for a split second, a worried look is exchanged and then his expression shuts down again and she is left to return her stricken gaze back to Jenner, awaiting answers, just like everyone else. Andrea is the first to speak,
"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Her soft tone and gentle probing of Doctor Jenner's face with her eyes implies she came to this conclusion after studying him, watching him like a lawyer might observe her client, trying to decided whether he's guilty or not.
"It... could be microbial," Edwin is undisturbed and unaffected by Andrea's stare, "Viral. Parasitic. Fungal." He shrugs.
"Or the wrath of God," Jacqui pipes up righteously, and Cassia has to resist the urge to cringe. Jenner inclines his head towards Jacqui,
"There is, of course, that."
"Somebody must know something," Andrea interjects, frustration coming up to become visible on the surface of her as she adjusts her position and fidgets, moving closer to Jenner to bring more pressure to him, "Someone somewhere."
"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Lori asks from across the loose circle they've all structured themselves unconsciously by standing in, and Cass exchanges a look with her, and understands her panic. Rick remains looking stubbornly towards the floor.
"There may be some... people like me." Jenner suggests with a non-committal shrug. Rick snaps out of his floor fixation then, his head snapping up,
"You don't know?" He cries, "How can you not know?"
"Because everything went down, communications, directives, all of it. I've been a dark for pretty much a full month." Jenner seems solemn now, gracingly ashamed.
Andrea pounces on this, eerily reminiscent of Shane from last night, prodding and proving points; smug at the heart-breaking results, "So it's not just here, is it? There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing. That's what you're really saying, right?"
Jenner nods.
Daryl proclaims he wants to be drunk again. Cassia wants to be back in her isolated shower world. Just her and the bump and the warm water.
Dale, who has been very quiet and pensive this whole time, asks the last question; the one that brings the metaphor full circle,
"Doctor Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you, and I hate to burden you with more questions, but... that clock over there," He gestures towards the wall and for the first time, Cassie spots a big red countdown, ticking down. She stiffens and Dale continues, "that clock is counting down. What happens at zero?" Everyone turns to swivel their attention from Dale to Jenner. Cassia's heart starts thumping oddly, that feeling becomes almost overwhelming inside of her, the foreboding one, and she starts to wring her hands until Daryl catches one by the wrist and holds it still.
"The basement generators... they run out of fuel." Doctor Jenner sounded bored now. Rick shifts uncomfortably, one hand on Carl's shoulder, another tucked into two of Lori's own hands,
"And then?" He insists. Jenner sighs and wanders off. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick yells towards the ceiling, eyes searching frantically for an answer that simply wasn't written there. It feels like Vi takes her own time to respond,
"When the power runs out, system wide decontamination will occur." Everyone freezes, and Daryl's grip on her wrist tightens, dragging her back towards him. He starts moving them towards the door, muttering about something not being right. Something not feeling right. She could relate.
What was the best way to wipe out and de-contaminate the entire CDC?
... Fire?
... Fire.
And thus, the metaphor occurred to her, and she was oddly reminded of the harmless pile of cotton balls that Doctor Jenner had set fire to earlier. An alarmed giggle threatened to escape her, but she held it back. It seemed that now her group followed the same fate.
A harmless pile of cotton balls, set ablaze by a scientist.