Chapter 14

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked, antognising as always.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself...But you look harmless enough." The doctor said, looking around at the group "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you." He was kneeling down directly talking to Carl.

The place looked even bigger than from outside, their trip in the elevator only taking them down further to a huge cavernous laboratory.

Janis wondered across the gangway, leaning across the rail, looking over the space.

"It's huge," she said, Glenn coming up behind her "and there's electricity...bet he has an ipod charger." She said excitedly. Glenn rolled his eyes and turned towards the rest of the group.

"Are we underground?"

"Are you claustrophobic?" The Doctor asked.

"A little."

"Try not to think about it." Helpful.

They all had their blood tested, Janis watched as Glenn flinched but stayed silent. She felt weary, their day had been long and the effects of the previous night were starting to set in. Before Janis could get lost in her thoughts Andrea almost fainting pulled her out of them.

"Are you okay?" Jenner asked, supporting her.

"Mmm." She really didn't sound sure as Jacqui rushed forward to help

"She hasn't eaten in days...None of us have." It was the first time Janis realized how long it had actually been, with everything that had happened Janis hadn't felt hungry.

It wasn't long before they were all sat around two of the cafeteria tables, pushed together, the smell of cooking filling the room as they all waited patiently, Jenner refusing help but finally giving in when Carol wouldn't give up.

"It smells so fucking good." Janis said, earning her a look from Lori as Carl giggled.

"Sorry."

"I'm going to set up a swear jar." She joked.

"Me and you gonna be broke girly." Daryl winked at her over the table, earning a laugh from T-Dog.

The food was amazing, Janis felt full after four bites but couldn't stop eating. With the food came wine, which Jenner shared generously, pouring them all large portions, and with the wine came laughter. The whole group dynamic changed as they drank, everyone loosening up, the stresses from their previous day melting away.

Janis laughed as Carl drank the wine, his face scrunched up as the taste hit his tongue. Rick patted him on the back as he choked and Lori seemed pleased.

"Well, just stick to sour pop there, bud." Rick was in good spirits, him, Lori and Carl looked like a proper family, laughing with Carl was tucked between them.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl leaned over, pouring him more wine.

"What?" Glenn and Janis both said in unison, one more terrified than the other.

"Keep drinking, little man...I want to see how red your face can get." He winked at Janis, motioning to fill up her glass as well. She nodded, his arm brushing hers as the wine spilled slightly.

"Glenn's face doesn't get red...more greenish grey."

"Fuck off Jay, or do you want me to tell everyone about the night of mezcal?"

"That's a dollar in the swear jar!" Lori called, as Janis gave Glenn her best evil stare, failing miserably as she laughed at Daryls cocked eyebrow.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick said, raising his glass as everyone agreed.

Daryl let out a 'Booyah', at which Janis almost spit out her wine, giggling as Glenn bravely mocked him behind his back, putting on his best scowl as Janis continued to laugh.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc? All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Shane asked, automatically killing the good mood.

"We're celebrating, Shane." Rick had an arm on his shoulder, which he promptly shrugged off, his face serious. "Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second...This is why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers." He started his rant, Janis tapped at her wrist, which Glenn spotted and immediately started timing Shane, counting each second on his fingers. "Instead we found him. Found one man, why?" Glenn stopped counting, looking disappointed as his he only held up 8 fingers.

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Andrea asked, she looked sadly at Jenner, as they all realized how long he'd been alone for.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door...They opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave...Why?"

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good." He said, a long pause of silence following.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man."

Janis carried on drinking, the mood in the room had darkened at the mention of 'opting out'.
Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here.

"Ya ain't comin' for the tour?" Daryl hung back, still holding his crossbow and a bottle of southern Comfort.

"You gonna share the whiskey?"

"Over ma dead body."

"I bet I can make that happen." She followed him down the hallway, as he passed the bottle back to her they caught up to the group.

"The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like." They were walking slowly down a white hallway, each door leading to a bedroom or lab. "There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies If you shower, go easy on the hot water."

"Hot water?" Glenn and Janis asked in unison, their faces lit up just at the idea.

"That's what the man said."

It was ten minutes later when Janis was stepping into the shower, wrapped in a slightly too small towel. Turning the shower on she threw the towel over the top of the curtain. The hot water rained down, each drop more cleansing than the first. Before even attempting to wash anything Janis stood under the heavy stream of water, letting it wash over her, watching as the water fell from her a lot darker than when it started. Finally she remembered Dr. Jenners words about not wasting water. Working the shampoo through her hair, her fingers getting stuck in all the knots.

Once she was done, she felt cleaner than ever. Her hair fell damp around her shoulders and her legs were now smoother than they had been in weeks. Wrapping the towel around herself, not particularly bothered at how short it was, she jumped out of the shower, laughing at the sighs and laughs coming from the other stalls.

Standing in the hallway she was now unsure of where to go. She'd given Glenn her stuff as they passed in the hallway, and had no idea where he'd set up 'home'.

"Glenn?" She called, "You seen him?" She asked Andrea who'd just finished cleaning up. She shook her head, just carried on down the hallway.

"Jay? In here." Glenn had poked his head around a doorway, now fully dressed in clean clothes Janis didn't recognize.

Coming through the door Janis realized Glenn wasn't alone. Daryl sat, stretched out in a reading chair, the bottle of southern comfort still in his hand, now almost empty. Janis looked between the two of them, turning to Glenn to ask about his new found friendship. Not before noticing Daryls eyes playing at the bottom of the towel, he bit his lip before realizing she'd caught him, his face turning red as he abruptly turned away.

"He wanted to keep drinking?" Glenn said unsurely, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Did you find any clothes for me?" She asked, pointedly looking at his fresh t-shirt and shorts.

"Oh, yeah!" Glenn ran towards the bed, grabbing the carefully folded t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Thanks..." Janis looked between the men who were both awkwardly turned away from her "I'll go get changed." She looked to Daryl before she left, feeling somewhat satisfied knowing his eyes were following her out.

The clothes were huge on her but with a few turn ups, a pair of socks she managed to steal from T-Dog and a hair band from Sophia she felt a lot better.

Finding her way back to the room, Daryl was still there, staring moodily into the bottle of Southern Comfort which was now dangerously close to being empty.

"Where's Glenn?" He didn't even look up as he replied to her.

"Gone to get more booze."

"That a good idea?"

"As good as any."

"You holdin' up okay?" She asked, hoping she wouldn't have to bring up Merle but that he'd automatically know what she was referring to.

"Seems fishy."

"Jenner? He took us in, fed us...I'm cleaner than I have been in months. I'm not gonna complain."

"How long ya reckon this is gonna hold up for?"

"Who cares, hit it and quit it right?" At that exact moment Glenn came back.

"WHAT?" Janis was laughing, Daryl shook his head as Glenn stood in the doorway, a bottle of wine in one hand, half a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other.

"Never you mind Glenn...pass the Jack." Before he could say anything else T-Dog and Jacqui were behind him.

"We heard this was the party room?"

"You heard right...only, there's an admission price."

"Oh yeah?" Jacqui asked, her eyebrow raised playfully.

"More drink."

She laughed raising the vodka in her hand, pushing past T-Dog to sit on the bed. Daryl looked gloomier than ever, like he regretted his decision to join Glenn in the first place.

"This place is amazing...I think the pillows are duck feather."

"An upgrade from the cold hard ground and a thin ground mat." Janis laughed as she sat down next to Jacqui on the bed, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"Can we talk about something NOT walker related?" T-Dog asked, he was drinking wine straight from the bottle.

"Like...how did you and Glenn meet?" Jacqui turned to Janis, a smile behind her eyes.

"It isn't that interesting."

"Speak for yourself." Glenn said smugly, leaning back on the wall.

"Now, now Glenn, don't start a war you can't win."

"Jay was working in a coffee shop...part time."

"Careful." She raised one eyebrow at Glenn who just laughed. Turning, she saw Daryl, who was no longer looking as miserable as before, but intently listening to the conversation.

"And I had a coffee addiction, and a huge crush on Jay, I went to the coffee shop every day, and spent so much."

"He was an idiot...he had no money and was wasting it all."

"But..."

"But the fact he had no money came up, he was looking for a roomy, my apartment was genuinely shit."

"I thought I'd won the lottery, she moved in and we haven't actually spent a day apart since."

"When did you get together?" T-Dog was smiling, Janis forgot how much guys loved gossip.

"Errmmmm." Glenn was bright red.

"We didn't." Janis answered for him, no need for them to know all the details "Not really anyways."

"Ohhhh girl you can't say that then not tell us." Janis mimed zipping her lips closed, throwing the key to Glenn who promptly caught it and pretending to put it in his pocket.

"Wait...you two ain't...huh?" T-Dogs slightly slurred words came out louder than ever as Janis laughed and shook her head.

"I was gonna say...you were batting waaaaay above your average kiddo." This made Janis laugh more, smiling smugly at Glenn who just shook his head.

"What did you say about being careful Jay?"

"Glenn is like the little brother I never had."

"Little?"

"He's two years younger."

"A fact she literally never lets me forget."

"It's weird...we've all been with each other for months, I have no idea how old anyone is...their surnames, nothing." Janis nodded in agreement.

"How old do you think I am?" T-Dog asked.

"32?" Janis got in there first, she loved stuff like this.

"33." Glenn stared at her, his 'game face' on.

"35" Daryl said quietly from his chair.

"DING DING DING!" T-Dog shouted, raising his bottle to Daryl who drank more in response.

"Ah man...do me!" Glenn shouted, eliciting laughter from the room.

"You can't be more than...25?" Jacqui guessed, studying his face, Glenn said nothing.

"I think you're..."

"You aren't allowed to guess Jay."

"29." Daryl again.

"How the fuck are you doing this? Are you a carny? Did you used to do this for a living?"

"That's a good one, you all know I delivered pizzas..Jacqui you were a town planner right?" She nodded "Jay was a barista."

"Part time." Daryl added, staring at Janis, who stared straight back.

"I think Daryl worked on cars...something with his hands." Janis guessed, Jacqui and T-Dog were nodding along.

"I ain't tellin'."

"Drug dealer." Glenn guessed, his laughter stopping with one look from Daryl.

They carried on like that, talking about nothing really but managing to fill the silences easily. Janis felt safe, happy and warm, three things that had eluded her for so many sleepless nights. As she leaned back on the bed she could feel herself getting drowsy.

"I'm headin' to bed...ya gonna be okay Glenn?" T-Dog asked, as Glenn slumped further on the wall.

"Fine...I'm fine." Jacqui followed him out, not before helping Glenn into the now vacant settee T-Dog had left. Covering him with the throw from the bed.

"Ya okay there?" Daryl asked, getting up, standing over Janis.

"Mmhm." She stretched on the bed "So...you were a drug dealer?"

Daryl smirked, crossing his arms over his chest, staring down at her.

"What did you do the other half of the time?" Janis held out her arm, Daryl complied, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up in one swift motion. Alcohol obviously made Daryl more confident, as he pulled her up she was inline with him, her body pressed against his.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Their faves now dangerously close.

He was still looking down at her, Janis wasn't short, but Daryl always managed to stand tall against her.

"Get some sleep kiddo."

"We never did guess your age..." She swayed where she stood, as Daryl backed towards the door, his eyes still on her.

"Guess."

"38?"

He didn't answer, but smiled, a real smile that pulled up slightly more on one side.

He left the room, turning off the light as he did. Leaving Janis stood, in the dark at the side of her bed, staring at the door handle.

"Get a room...jeez."

Janis threw a pillow in what she guessed was Glenn's general direction. Satisfied when she heard the groaning which told her she'd met her target.