* There has been some confusion apparently. Remember, Ed survived the attack because of the tin cans Layla had set up around the camp. Remember, Ed attacked her shortly after the attack was over and done with.

The CDC

Daryl turned the music down. "You sure about this?"

I nodded. "I know you wanna turn back," I said. "But staying anywhere near Woodbury will only screw us over." I plucked the aux chord out of my iPod, cutting off the music completely. "You'll see Merle again, I promise you that."

He sighed through his nose, shaking his head unsurely. "I'm trustin' you, Layla," he muttered.

"Let's hope I don't fuck up, then." I let my head fall back and yawned.

We only got a few hours of sleep last night, which would've been fairly normal if we hadn't been up for more than twenty hours straight prior. We were still pretty tired. We were now headed back to the quarry camp. Daryl had woke me up after snuffing out the fire to tell me his decision. I could tell he definitely wasn't thrilled.

Neither was I. I wasn't looking forward to coexisting with Ed. He and I did not have any mutual respect or trust and we were going to be on edge around each other all the time. However, it helped that Ed was more or less predictable.

I could coexist with Shane, but no longer trusted him either. Shane made it clear that I was constantly irritating his ego and that he thought I had issues with his leadership. I did, but that didn't mean I wanted to take over. Unfortunately, he didn't see it that way. Ever since more and more group members had come to me looking for help and advice about things, my acquaintanceship with Shane was on eggshells. Even though I told him up front one day that I had no interest to be leader of anything, he didn't believe me. The only understanding that we had of each other by that point was that I needed my space often and that I didn't like being touched. And after he felt the need to tear me off of Ed even though I was already in the process of letting him go, any mutual trust I had for him went right out the window.

Ed was a landmine, and you could always trust a landmine to go off the second you messed with it. For the most part, he had already lost his mind and would only continue doing so.

Shane was a stick of dynamite. You had to light the fuse and wait apprehensively for it go off. Ever since Rick came into the picture, Shane was beginning to lose his sanity with things. I could tell it was only a matter of time before he lost his mind, and when he did…it wasn't going to be pretty.

I shook my head with a scowl, and was about to plug my iPod back in when Daryl suddenly slowed the truck.

"The hell," he muttered.

Just ahead of us was a caravan of vehicles, and people gathered on the side of the road. One of the vehicles was Dale's RV. The closer we got, the more I could pick out the familiar faces of the group.

"I would joke that they went on a field trip without us," I muttered. "But, I mean, who are we to talk?"

Daryl pulled the truck over in front of the RV. As soon as the others saw us, Rick came over.

"What happened to you two," he asked as Daryl and I got out.

"We, uh, gave looking for Merle one last shot," I said.

Rick looked at Daryl. "Anything?"

Daryl shook his head, glaring at Rick.

Rick looked away for a second, eyebrows scrunched together in sympathy. "Daryl, what I did-"

Daryl made a harsh huffing sound and waved him off, turning his body to face away from him. "What's goin' on there," he asked, pointing up the hill. Everyone had started to gather up by a tree Jim was leaning his back on.

Rick glanced at the ground solemnly. "Jim got bit in the attack last night," he explained, and I frowned sadly. "We thought we could get him help before…" He sighed. "But he's chosen to rest here."

"Y'all reap what you sow," Daryl scoffed. "Help where?"

"The CDC," Rick said.

Oh, man.

"Don't you think if the CDC could fix things, they'd have done it by now," Daryl said dubiously.

Shane came over to join us. "Look," he said to us. "We don't know if there'll be anythin' there, but it's better than nothin'." I tilted my head with a frown. Shane didn't sound enthused in the least.

"It's a chance," Rick concluded.

"Jesus," I muttered, shaking my head. "Whose hair-brained scheme was this?"

"Mine," Rick responded. "We need relief, we need sanctuary, and if possible..answers."

"Answers to what," I asked, probably a little too harshly. "The CDC's a dead end, and the only thing they'll tell us is that we're all infected anyway."

They fell silent at that, sharing shocked glances with each other.

Then, Shane scoffed, plastering on an amused grin. "Last I checked only some of our group got bit last night. Not all of us."

"What do you mean, Layla," Rick asked, and I could see the determination in his face weaken slightly.

"There's…I don't know," I said quickly. "Something in the air or something-"

"All I heard from that was 'I don't know'," Shane mumbled.

I rolled my eyes. "Man, I'm not a scientist, I don't know the details! All I know is that somehow, someway, we are all infected with whatever this is."

Shane shook his head at me.

Rick glanced at Shane, and then looked at me again, this time with determination returning. "Do you have proof," he asked with narrowed eyes.

My eyes narrowed as well. "Not unless you find me a fresh stiff that hasn't been bitten."

"We're goin' to the CDC," he said firmly. "It's up to you two if you wanna come with us." On that note, he walked away to go pay his respects to Jim.

Shane glanced between Daryl and I. "Personally," he said slowly. "I wouldn't have extended the invitation, 'specially since you two abandoned us last night."

"Next time," Daryl snapped. "Have better control of your camp."

While they glared at each other, all I could thing was, It's not Shane's camp anymore.

When Shane stalked away, I turned to Daryl. "I'm gonna go say goodbye Jim."

He nodded, and I stared at him for a second before making my way up the hill. He hadn't said a word while I was talking with Shane and Rick, and there was no hesitation or distrust in his face towards me. I didn't know whether he believed me about all of us being infected, but at least he didn't seem to really be doubting me.

As I approached Jim, Glenn was walking passed to go return to one of the vehicles. As soon as he saw me, a smile spread across his face. I smiled back and nodded a 'hello' to him.

"Um," he said awkwardly. "I'd hug you, but…you know."

I nodded again. "It's good to see you, too."

He nodded at me and kept walking, still smiling.

I walked up to Jim now that everyone else had gone back to their vehicles. I took some leftover blueberries from my pocket and set them down beside him.

"You know," Jim rasped. "Most people put flowers on graves." I chuckled. "It's what you do, though, so thank you."

I raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Providing for people," he said. "You're either…" He inhaled sharply at the pains his body was creating. "You're either providing us with food, or providing us with protection. As soon as I heard the cans go off, I was grabbin'…the nearest weapon I could find…It was too late, though. I wasn't quick enough."

I frowned, trying to suppress a wince.

"Wasn't your fault, of course," he continued. "They were on us before we knew it. But the cans helped some people…Just not me." He looked above my shoulder at the horizon. "I'll get to see my family again."

I nodded slightly. "Um," I murmured. "I'm not good with sad goodbyes or anything, um…"

"It's alright," he said with a small smile. "Just keep doin' what you're good at. Without you…or Dixon…these people might not survive."

I didn't say anything to that, I just nodded one last 'goodbye' and turned around. When I did, I could see Daryl doing the same, nodding respectfully at Jim. Daryl glanced at the road when everyone started their engines to their vehicles. He and I looked at each other once and we both headed for the truck, leaving Jim alone.

"Were you tellin' the truth," Daryl asked as we got in and followed the line of vehicles in front of us. "We're all infected?"

I nodded. "The CDC's a bad idea," I sighed in frustration.

"Why?"

"There's nothing there worthwhile," I scoffed. "Hell, even the scientist gives up and blows the place to smithereens. You guys almost get killed." I kept rambling. "But it's not like I could explain that to Rick or Shane, not without sounding like a mental patient. On second thought, I should've just told 'em it blows up, because they weren't heeding my subtle warning either way." I exhaled and stared out the window.

"Look," Daryl started. "I know I haven't called you crazy in a long time-"

I snapped my gaze to him. "You don't believe me!"

"You got any idea how you sound?!"

"Jeeze," I huffed. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Even if it does blow up, we all survive anyway, right? Otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell me all this."

I scowled at how logical that sounded. "Not all of us," I grumbled childishly. "Two people die," I said more seriously.

"Who," he asked.

I shook my head. "You never told me names."

He shrugged. "Either way, most of us get out of it alive."

I nodded tensely.

"Wow," I breathed as we all stared. "You can't say they didn't do their best."

The CDC stood before us in all its glory. It was surrounded by mounds of sandbags and broken blockades. And mass amounts of walker bodies and bullet shells littered the ground, posing as trip hazards. The government or whoever tried their best to protect the CDC, but, other than us, there wasn't a soul in sight.

Rick barely glanced at any of us as he led us forward determinedly. As soon we walked away from our vehicles, it was like it suddenly hit the group. Most of us were carrying weapons – even Ed, with a crowbar – while everyone else were pretty much hugging each other, hands over their mouths against the stench of the rotting bodies.

As I looked everyone over, I realized that Morales and his family where nowhere to be seen. I blinked, and glanced around again in confusion. They had survived the quarry attack. Where were they? Why weren't they here? I made a mental note to ask somebody about it later.

Daryl and I stayed close to each other. He had his crossbow at the ready, and I had my hand over my knife. As we passed some sandbags, I could see weaponry just on the other side of them. I was tempted to check for ammo, given how much was used last night, but I didn't want to get too far away from the group, not with everyone near the city like this.

I opted for checking over the bodies we passed, making sure they all had head wounds. Once Daryl saw what I was doing, he started to do the same, cautiously aiming his crossbow at a body, checking the head, and moving on to the next one. The last thing we needed was for an army of walkers to suddenly wake up.

As soon as we approached shuttered doors, Shane and Rick were on it, pushing and knocking against the metal. With every second that ticked by, the group grew more and more fearful. I tilted my head, wondering how they got in the first time.

"There's nobody here," T-Dog said with a tremor.

"Then why are these shutters down," Rick snapped.

"Walkers," Daryl suddenly hollered.

Terrified screams erupted from some of the women. I shook my head grimly as I turned around and watched Daryl shoot down a walker. As soon as it was dead, Daryl rounded on Rick.

"You shoulda listened to Layla," he shouted as he stomped over to him. "You led us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call," Shane shouted back.

"It was the wrong damn call!"

"Shut up," Shane roared, shoving him back. I gritted my teeth together and strode towards them. "You hear me!"

"Back the hell off, Shane," I said in a low voice as I put my arm between them.

"Just shut up," he shouted at Daryl once more. He turned around to stare at Rick. "Rick, this is a dead end."

"Where are we gonna go," Carol cried as she kept Sophia and Ed close, with Ed brushing her off.

"She's right," Lori said desperately. "We can't be here this close to the city after dark!"

My teeth were still gritted as I leaned my back apprehensively against a barricade. The group was now starting to talk about Fort Benning, but no one even sounded hopeful of that idea. Daryl glanced at me and leaned in.

"What do we do," he asked in a rush.

"I don't know," I hissed. "Somehow, someway, you guys end up inside or something. I'm useless right now." I noticed more walkers coming our way. "Except against those," I said getting out my knife.

"I'd rather you get your bow out," he muttered as he aimed his crossbow.

"And lose arrows," I said. "Too close to the city. Too many walkers near. What happens when I run out?"

He hummed under his breath and nodded as he slung his crossbow back over his shoulder. He took out his knife. As we took down some walkers, the group was beginning to get a move on for the vehicles.

"Let's make sure these guys have a path," I told Daryl. He glanced back at the group, then at the walkers, and then nodded at me.

"The camera," Rick suddenly exclaimed. "It moved!" And that's all he kept repeating despite others in the group telling him to leave with them.

Daryl and I stopped and looked at each other. "I think this is it," I said as we watched Rick observing a security camera.

"You sure," he asked.

"Nope."

We went to join the others, even though most of them were moving in our direction.

Rick was banging on the shutters. "I know you're in there," he yelled to the camera. "I know you can hear me! Please," he begged as the others shouted at him to get moving. "We're desperate. Please help us! We have women, children. No food. Hardly any gas left. We have nowhere else to go!"

"Keep your eyes open," Shane was yelling frantically to the group. "Layla, Daryl, take care of those walkers comin' our way!" He kept looking at the group and at Rick, at a loss as to what to do for his people, his friend.

Daryl and I glanced at the oncoming walkers, but we made no move yet. They were still a comfortable distance away.

"You're killing us," Rick was yelling at the top of his lungs as Shane tried to drag him away. "Please!" The more Rick hollered, the more riled and loud the walkers were becoming.

All the while, the group was conflicted between staying with Rick and Shane, or heading to the vehicles.

"Shit," I breathed. "I've never seen 'em this panicked."

Daryl flexed his grip on his knife as his eyes darted back to the approaching walkers. Thankfully, these ones were slow, and were still a good distance away. He looked away to stare at the group and their indecisive behavior. He scoffed. "Still think they're gonna grow up?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick sobbed as he finally let Shane tear him away.

Just as he turned around, the shutters shrieked as they opened and we were bathed in harsh, white light. Everyone fell silent, not quite believing what they were seeing.

Shane was the first to speak. "You two cover the back," he said to Daryl and I as we all made our way inside to a clean lobby.

"Hello," Rick said as he gazed around. "Hello?"

"Close those doors," a voice said. "Watch for walkers."

"Hello," Rick asked again.

The cocking of a gun echoed, making everyone raise their weapons in the direction of the sound. A man stood at the end of a hall, pointing an assault rifle our way.

"Anybody infected," he asked, loud enough for all of us to hear.

"One of our group was," Rick breathed. "He didn't make it."

The man took a cautious step towards us. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance," Rick stuttered.

"That's asking an awful lot these days," he said to him.

"I know."

The man looked over each and every one of us, deliberating. Despite the intimidating weapon, there was only fear in his eyes, not violence.

"Him," he suddenly asked, pointing to Ed. "He's in rough shape. Is he bit?"

Ed scoffed and grumbled a curse under his breath.

"Naw," Shane responded. "Just an…altercation."

I narrowed my eyes at him. It made sense if Shane was the one who gave Ed those injuries. Two different explosives coming together.

The man paused before speaking again. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." Rick agreed. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed," he said quickly, pointing to where we just came in through.

"Whoever goes out, I'll cover them," I said.

Rick nodded at me, then pointed at Glenn, Shane, and Daryl to follow us. As soon as they were ready, I ran out the door, keeping a couple feet ahead of them. I stabbed walkers and shoved them sideways, creating a pathway so no one would trip over any bodies. As soon as we got to the vehicles, I made sure the guys were accounted for, that they'd all kept pace.

As they started gathering all that they could carry, I swiftly made circles around the vehicles, as it was impossible to keep all of them in my sights at once as they went from car to car. Normally, I would've stood still and just waited for growling, but all of the walkers in the area were starting to take notice of us. The growling was echoing and coming from too many directions, even though we weren't even swarmed yet.

Just as I was stabbing a walker for coming too close to the sidewalk, Daryl whistled. As soon as we made eye contact, he tossed me my backpack. Tediously, I had to remove my bow from my shoulders in order to put my backpack on.

I saw another walker stumbling towards us, specifically me. I put my bow between my teeth, and then secured my supplies on my back. When the walker reached out for me, I gripped my bow and swung it upside the walker's head, making it fall to the ground. After placing my bow back around my shoulders, I brought my knife back out and stabbed before it could get back up. Daryl whistled again. Everyone now had their supplies and were waiting anxiously for me to get ahead of them.

As soon as we got to the doors again, I stepped sideways, staying outside until everyone got in safely.

"Vi," the man said to a PIN pad. "Seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

I was fine with the door being closed. However, I was not fine when the shutter came back down. As soon as the shutter got to the floor, I felt my heart pick up speed. I took a shaky breath as I stared at it. Rubbing my hand over my eyes, I plucked at my bowstring, trying to focus on its thrum and not the sound of the door sealing.

I jumped when something touched my elbow. Daryl was staring closely into my eyes, eyebrows together in concern.

"I'm fine," I muttered. "It'll pass. It's not like we're in a car, so it shouldn't be too bad. Gimme a few seconds."

He frowned, not completely convinced, but he nodded once.

"Everyone," Rick said to all of us. He nodded at the man. "This is Dr. Edwin Jenner."

"We'll all head to the elevator," Jenner said. "It'll take us down into the main research part of the facility."

Daryl got close to my ear. "How're you with elevators," he asked.

"Interesting enough, fine," I shrugged. "I won't like the tight space with all of us being crammed in there, but…I think of it like a rollercoaster, except slow and unsatisfying." I paused. "That's what she said."

Daryl snorted and smirked, and we followed everyone.

The elevator was not made for as many people as there were. We all had to practically stand on each other's feet in order to be in the space. The only upside was how close Daryl and I were. I had one of my shoulders tight against a corner, with Daryl pressed against my other side. It was easy to focus on Daryl's body heat in order to ignore everyone's closeness.

"Doctors always goin' around packin' heat like that," Daryl said to Jenner.

"Oh," he said simply, glancing at his rifle. "There were plenty left around. I familiarized myself." He swept his gaze over everyone. "But you look harmless enough…Except you," he said to Carl with a smile. "I'll have to keep my eye on you."

The elevator finally came to a stop, and we exited into a hallway. As soon as everyone gave each other space, I felt like I could finally breathe. I was turning my neck to give it a crack when Daryl glanced at me. I gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded and we walked on.

Ever detail oriented, Daryl had always been observant of me. But I wouldn't have guessed that this Daryl would be the same way, especially with how stand-offish he was when I first met him.

"Are we underground," Carol asked at some point.

"You claustrophobic," Jenner asked her.

"A little."

"Try not to think about," he said bluntly. I smirked, enjoying his straightforward way of speaking.

My smirk faded when I unintentionally glanced at Ed. I looked away, keeping my gaze straight ahead. Ed hadn't said a word or made much movement since we got here. He stayed at his family's side, kept a grip on his crowbar, glared at everyone, but did nothing else. I flexed my jaw and frowned.

He was forcing himself to behave, not wanting to get another beating and not wanting to get knocked to the ground by me. That was disconcerting because it meant that I had no way of anticipating if he was to try anything else with anyone. To me, he was no longer predictable.