Ch.15

Dr. Jenner has gotten to Andrea. She has given up, too. "This isn't right. You can't just keep us here." Carol cries out. "one tiny moment - a milisecond - no pain. Isn't that what you want?" Jenner kneels down in front of her. "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." she continues crying.

I can't hold my tears any longer. The tears keep streaming down my face. I hear a gun cock and my eyes go wide. Shane is walking up with a shotgun in his hands and Rick runs up to stop him.

I get it. Everyone's in a bad mood and panicking. "I'm gonna blow your head off! Do you hear me?!" Shane points the barrel at Jenner's head. He shoots across the room to relieve stress. I scream and jump into Daryl's arms.

Rick fights Shane for the gun knocking him down. "Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick pants holding the gun. "Yeah, I guess we all are." Shane comments snarkly.

We all stare at each other wide-eyed. "I think you're lying." Rick finally says clearing the silence. He, then, starts talking about having hope. I get lost in my thoughts when Daryl whispers something to me I didn't catch, and starts hacking at the door again.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori pleads. Then Jenner walks over to a portable keypad sitting on a desk. He scans a badge or something to open the door Daryl's been trying to break down. "Come on!" Daryl yells to everyone.

We all gather through the doorway screamimg at Rick when Jenner whispers something to him. "Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!" Glenn yells. Jacqui mentions that she's staying.

I pause to look at her. "Jacqui?" I call out to her and she backs away with a sad look. "I'm staying, sweetie." she says as my tears fall. "I'm staying, too." I hear Andrea say. Before I could object, Dale walks up to her. "No!" he yells like he's scolding a child. He ends up staying behind with her.

As we run up the stairs, we see the light shining in from outside. The guys continue charging at the window with axes and chairs. Then Shane runs up with the shotgun he had before.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia cries out and I run over to hold her in my arms. "It's okay, sweetie." I squeeze her tight. "Rick, I have something that might help." Carol reaches into her bag to pull out a bomb.

My eyes go wide at her. "Carol, is that a bomb?" I question confused as to how she got one. Maybe we actually have a good chance to get out of here alive. "Get cover!" someone says over their shoulder.

Daryl runs up to me pulling me to him. Rick runs away just in time to get out of the way before the bomb went off. We run to the open window and crawl out. Daryl hops down first, then helps me down. "We made it." I sigh.

We run to our vehicles while Trevor runs up behind me. Daryl punches him before he could reach me. "Stay away from us!" Daryl yells before helping me into his truck.

I look back towards the facility one last time. I smile when I see Andrea and Dale climbing out of the window. They changed their minds. "Get down!" Daryl yells covering my body with his.

I hear the explosion in the background and when I look up, nothing but rubble is left. Daryl exhales as he watches the flames die down. He turns to me and checks that I'm okay.

"You okay?" Daryl pants. "Yeah. You?" I breath heavily. "Yeah." he answers. I hug him and let out a sigh. As we drive off, Trevor yells towards me. "Wait! Take me with you!" he runs up the road. We both ignore him as he slows to a halt.

"You deserve this." I whisper looking into the mirror at him. "Damn right he does." Daryl grunts in agreement looking through the rearview mirror. I didn't realize I said that out loud. We look at each other before paying attention to the road.

We stop at a few places along the way to gather what supplies we can find, refuel, and stop for bathroom breaks. The CDC was a bust, unfortunately. Now we're headed for Fort Benning like Shane wanted. We gotta hope for the best don't we?

To save on gas, Daryl decides to leave his truck behind. "Get your stuff out. We're leaving it. Gonna take the bike." he says walking up to me resting on the hood. "Really? Are you sure about this?" I squint my eyes at him trying to keep out the ray of sunlight. "Easier that way. Now get your shit and let's go." he sighs at me questioning his motives. "Okay." I shrug hopping off the truck.

I notice the vest that Daryl is wearing. "Nice vest." I say circling him to take it all in. It even has wings on the back. "Like that do ya? It was Merle's. Same as the bike. But he's not here, so it's mine now." he replies showing off the leather vest with a grin. "It suits you." I say trailing my fingers down the wing patch. I smile when I see a blush creep to his face.

I misstep when I walk over to the passenger side door. "Careful." Daryl catches me around my waist. How did I manage to trip over my own feet? 'That was not very seductive at all.' I think. Now it's my turn to blush. "Thanks." I avert my gaze out of embarressment. He lets out a little laugh. "Hey. Don't laugh at me." I whine wrapping my bag around my shoulders. He shakes his head and we laugh together.

I wait patiently for Daryl to grab his bike out of the bed of his truck. "Come on. Time to go." he waves over to me. I start to think about riding with my arms wrapped around his waist. Heat begins to rise to my face and I shove my feelings down as I hop on behind him.

"You all right?" Daryl notices my pinkening cheeks as I walk up to him. "Mm-hmm" I nod wrapping my arms around him. "Hold on tight." he says over his shoulder. My grip tightens, and I crush my face against his vest. He kicks off and away we go down the road.