I'm sorry you guys that it took me awhile to update this one! I'm in the middle of exam week and I have been worrying about school, but here lately I've had a sudden urge of inspiration to write some more. Anyway, I bet you are all sad as I am that TWD season 3 is in its mid-season hiatus, I've been so Walking Dead deprived that I need to write more!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Diary of the Dead Days

Part 1: Atlanta

Chapter Six
Opting Out

The following day had been just a blur in my mind as my hands held tightly on the steering wheel of the mini van. Our intentions had been to head for Fort Benning though Rick Grimes had talked about the rumored CDC within Atlanta, which was a lot closer than the military outpost but was more of a risk. The rest of the survivor's were unsure which path to go, however, I had been indifferent about the decision. My mind was clouded with bloody images from the night before. Shane had been dead set on the fort, but his close friend had somehow changed his mind. I wasn't sure how many knew the truth about Shane and Lori's affair, but I never spoke a word of what I saw.

It was near to impossible to sleep that night, so I didn't and neither did Rose. We laid awake, holding each other in the van with all the doors locked and jerking at every noise we heard. When the sun finally rose, my head was in immense pain. The walker that grabbed my ponytail nearly torn my scalp off, no damage had been done but it was extremely sore. I wasn't able to see who shot the walker trying to kill me, but I was eternally grateful to whoever did. However, my lack of sleep was beginning to affect me as I keep rubbing my eyes and slapping my cheek to keep myself awake behind the wheel.

We suffered a great deal of losses, our camp was nearly halved. Ed and Jim had died during the attack, their deaths didn't faze me as well as the other faces I didn't recognize, which created guilt within me as we buried their bodies. The only death that affected me the most was Amy, gazing at her and her sister had made my heart ache. Andrea put Amy down herself, when her little sister started stirring with the deadly virus in her veins, Andrea pulled the trigger. Her sobs still haunted me.

We were driving down the road, towards Atlanta to find the CDC that Rick was so hopeful for. My hands kept shaking, Atlanta was the last place I wanted to go to, but my fear for the future did a good job of keeping me awake. Though after being ambushed by all those walkers, I didn't want to see another one for a long time. Rose was shuffling in the backseat, coloring pages with her crayons, while Ripley sat in the passenger's seat beside me with his tail wagging.

"Is mom and dad safe?" I heard Rose call out, "What if a group of walkers got them?"

"I'm sure they are fine." I lied through my teeth.

I knew one day I would have to tell Rose the truth, though I kept avoiding the topic. Part of me had hoped she would eventually forget about it, but that was never going to happen. Every night, I would hear Rose pray about our parents, asking for them to be safe and happy. Each day, I felt even more terrible for keeping the truth from her, but I had been lying for so long, it would make telling the truth even worse. I sighed, looking in my rear view mirror at the vehicles behind me. Rick was driving Carol's station wagon, and I was following the RV.

The Morales family had separated from us, heading the opposite way to be with other family they had. I had bitterly watched them go, knowing I had no family to search for. Even if I did, I didn't have the courage to depart from the group. I felt safe with them.

It wasn't long until we parked our vehicles in front of the CDC building, its large complex was shut off from the rest of the world as all the entrances were locked and covered with shutters. Bodies upon bodies laid in front of the structure. Hardly any walkers roamed around the building but as night began to fall, I'm sure more would show up.

"Stay close." Rick ordered as we all grouped together.

I had my metal baseball bat clutched in my hands with my sister and Ripley closest to me. My back was pressed against Carol's as she guided her daughter along beside us. Rick led us between the piles of dead, unmoving bodies. Shane, armed with a shotgun, flanked the right side, while Glenn guarded the left. Daryl brought up the rear, his weapon a crossbow instead of a gun. We reached the entrance, but there was no way to get in.

"Hey, let us in!" Rick yelled at the camera, waving his free arm towards the device.

I gulped, my eyes darting around as the sun began to set and more walkers started noticing our presence. Rose let out a meek cry and Ripley whimpered along with her. My heart started pounding as Rick began slamming his hand against the metal of the stutters.

"No one is in there." Shane hissed, pulling his friends away but Rick wouldn't give up.

We started drifting away from the doors, but Rick wouldn't budge as he kept knocking on the glass and the stutters, calling out to the camera. I wanted to stay but as more walkers began to show interest, we couldn't stand our ground much longer.

"You're killing us!" Rick screamed, agony in his voice.

"I'm scared." Rose cried as I held her tighter. I was the last of the group that stayed closest to the door, but as I was about to give up hope and race towards our cars.

Then the gates opened …

The man behind the camera was named Jenner. For us to stay, we had to submit a blood test. My face grew pale when he put out the syringe, but I tried my best to stay still when he pricked me with the needle. After it was confirmed that we all passed his blood test, he allowed us to stay in the compound. The presence of a dog had surprised Jenner immensely, but he rubbed Ripley behind the ears and had commented on how he was a brave dog.

It felt awkward being near Daryl, especially after all what had happened between us. He didn't pay me any attention, but it seemed like he was purposely avoiding me. I regretted saying those things to him. Mainly about his brother and how we should've left him behind. I promised myself that later I would personally apologize to him, hopefully regaining those archery lessons and make him no longer hate me.

We feasted that night, most drank wine and liquor. I only had a few sips of wine, enjoying the burning sensation of the alcohol in my mouth. I didn't drink, only a few times before the outbreak occurred, and I never been drunk. Carl was offered some wine, he took a small sip and instantly regretted it. Rose wanted to jump on the bandwagon too, but end up not wanting to drink it after smelling the spirit. Everyone laughed at her disgusted face as she placed the glass down. Jenner obviously didn't have any dog food laying around, so Ripley was fed table scraps and had a small bowl of water.

"Drink some more!" Glenn laughed, pouring more liquor in my wine glass. He hadn't had much but his face was starting to get red. I wasn't planning on getting drunk like Glenn, but I took a few more sips of what he poured me.

Everyone was having a good time until Shane abruptly questioned the doctor of what had happened here. His gaze was serious and quite unfriendly.

"Most fled to see their families," Jenner explained with a grim expression, "Others opted out. Killing themselves because they couldn't make it out the door."

My chest began hurting, my mind instantly thinking back to my parents. Rose was obviously unaffected by his explanation, she continued eating her meal and wasn't really listening to the conversation. I looked around, thinking everyone's eyes were on me, but they weren't as everyone was looking to Jenner. Though, I noticed Daryl glancing at me for a second. I stared down at my lap, biting my lower lip.

"You are such a buzz kill." Glenn sighed, taking another chug of his drink.

The doctor shown us where we would be staying, mentioning the rec room was down the hall and to go easy on the hot water. My eyes widened at the mention of being able to shower. It was one of the luxuries I've missed most of my old life. I let Rose go first. She hadn't took long, knowing how much I enjoyed bathing. Once she left to go to the rec room with Carl and Sophia, I turned on the hot water.

Bathing in the quarry wasn't all bad, after the first shock of cold water, it slowly got warmer the longer you stayed in there. But, it was nothing compared to the warmth of the shower. Ripley fur was started to get matted, so I bathed him as well. I didn't bother giving him a separate shower, washing him along with myself. The German Shepherd was pleased with the heat of the water, his tail constantly wagging.

After drying myself off and attempting to dry Ripley before he shook the water off himself, I changed into a clean pair of pajamas that I stashed in the bag I carried into the CDC. It felt nice being clean and wearing a fresh pair of clothes, but I couldn't help but frown. Jenner's words shocked me into remembering my parent's suicide. I didn't fully forget them, that would never happen, but I was starting to accept their deaths. However, hearing about the outbreak of suicides depressed me. His words made it sound like my parents were cowards that couldn't handle this world and it angered me.

I found Rose with the others in the rec room, leaving Ripley behind as he got cozy on one of the couches in our room. The walls were covered with shelves that were packed tight with books, I felt my eyes widen at the collection, noticing some books I had already read and others I haven't seen before.

"I wonder if I can take some?" I said to myself, picking up an interesting fictional novel. I was on the other side of the room, by myself browsing the books while Rose was with the other kids playing a board game. I couldn't help but still think about my parents and even Amy, her death was something I hadn't expected.

I had been so lost in thought, I hadn't realized the book slipping from my hand and it dropping on the floor, barely missing my foot. As I picked up the book, I noticed boots approaching me. I gazed upwards, slowly standing up.

It was Daryl.

I wasn't sure how to react to his presence, but I'm sure I must have looked awkward as I shoved the book back on the shelf. I had missed the slot and had to repeatedly push it in until the book fit properly once more. He questioningly gazed at me and his intentions were impossible to read, but the way he tilted his head upward and pursed his lips made it seem like he was judging me. I glanced down, noticing to half empty bottle of wine in his hand. I immediately thought of Merle. I had heard the group was too late, they found Merle's hand lying near the pipe where he was handcuffed. He probably used the saw from the abandoned box of tools to cut himself free and escaped.

"You alright?" Daryl said, he didn't sound concern but I was taken aback by his question.

"I'm fine." I hesitated before I spoke, confused.

"Don't give me that bullshit, I saw your face when that doctor talked about the others opting out." His words made me cringe and I looked over to where Rose was. She was in earshot, but her attention was mainly focused on the board game they had found. Rose was concentrated on winning, if she lost, they would figure out how much of a sore loser she was.

"He talked like they were cowards. My parents weren't cowards." I hissed, lowering my tone so the others wouldn't hear. He snickered, rolling his eyes.

"Hmph, they seem like a bunch of shitty parents leaving two kids in a world like this." He took a swig of the bottle, but thankfully, he didn't seem as drunk as his older brother had been that night. The wine probably wasn't as strong as the gin Merle had been drinking.

"I'm not a kid." I narrowed by eyes, furiously at his comment. I wanted to yell at him for saying such things about my parents but the words weren't forming, and I just bit my bottom lip, "They were good parents, I was just a crappy kid." That was all I managed to say. It irked me how he knew nothing about them and were judging them so harshly.

"Whatever." Daryl said, "I don't care."

I turned towards the bookcase, trying to give him a hint that I wanted to be left alone. All my memories and all the things I regretted were flooding my mind as my self-hatred grew stronger. Daryl gulped down the last bit of wine. I wanted to apologize for being so inconsiderate about his brother, but I couldn't form the right words, and I was suddenly becoming conscious about my pajamas (my bottoms had cartoon puppies on them). My face was getting hot, both from being angry at myself and embarrassment. I felt like an idiot every time I was near this guy and the way he talked to me didn't help. Daryl was getting ready to turn to leave, I opened my mouth trying to force out an apology, but he looked back at me.

"Oh, and you're welcome for savin' your ass at camp." He said, "That walker was about to rip your ponytail off."

That was him? I had imagined in my mind that it was either Rick or Glenn that had saved me, but it didn't occur to me that Daryl might have been the one to pull the trigger.

"I told you, you can't handle yourself and you don't know what your doin'." Daryl sneered, making it obvious that he thought I was weak. Though his words made me smile, for some strange reason, I thought he hated me but there was someone looking out for me. At first, I wanted him gone like most of the other campers had, but I summoned all of my courage to ask for lessons, and he didn't seem so bad. Though after what his brother tried to do, I began to loathe him but if it wasn't for him, I'd be dead.

"Thanks." I smiled, interrupting his rambling of how useless I was. My words seemed to take him by surprise and he gave me a questioning stare.

"Yeah, whatever." He mumbled.

"Lily," I heard a familiar voice hiss from across the room, I glanced over and saw Lori approaching us. I hadn't noticed her entrance, "What's going on?"

Lori had been with Shane that day, when Merle had been drunk and the look in her eyes made it seem very obvious she thought of the younger brother the same. Her seething glares didn't go unnoticed by Daryl, but he ignored them. Thinking about it, his approach did seem quite suspicious and the fact we were alone made it worse. I hadn't realized Carol had already rounded up the kids for bed.

"Nothing." I knew Lori was looking out for me, but I couldn't help feel an odd bit of disappointment. Daryl had turned his heel and left, not even bothering to speak to her. He could tell why she interrupted us, and that fact might have irked him. A hand was placed on my shoulder as I met Lori's brown eyes that were filled with concern.

"Was he bothering you?" She asked with caution.

"No." I adverted my eyes.

Once Shane entered the room, I immediately left as the atmosphere turned even more awkward. Part of me believed I should have stayed, knowing full well that the immense reek of alcohol was a tall tale sign that Shane was drunk and wasn't looking for a civilized conversation. However, Lori mentioned that I should check up on Rose and I didn't bother to offer to stay.

My little sister was already wrapped up in three layers of blankets and had a fort of pillows surrounding her on the couch. I softly chuckled to myself, glad she left me a blanket and at least one pillow. Rose always liked to be snuggled up and warm while she slept. The cot on the floor was welcoming and I immediately dove under the cover and held it tightly against me, stretching out my body across the floor. Ripley settled next to me, but I ended up wrapping him up in my blanket and holding him close. It felt good to let my guard down and have a restful sleep for once. I breathed in the comforting scent of Ripley's fur, thankful that the wash I gave him earlier had rid him of his stench.

"Goodnight." I murmured to both my sister and my loyal companion, thankful for being able to have them with me.

Sleep had came quickly, my dreams were inviting memories of the past. Simplistic things like having breakfast with my family, helping with chores, and even reading a book while sitting on the front porch, enjoying the breeze.

It was pleasant.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please leave me some reviews because I love reading every single one. I'm not entirely sure the next time I'll be able to update, but it should be before Christmas. Thanks for reading!