A/N: So I decided to do this differently than I had originally planned because I think it would have been rushing things a little. Hershel's farm seems like the place for me to get my hands dirty ;). As always, thank you for your reviews and feedback. Any and all is welcomed and appreciated. Hope you enjoy!
We all stepped into the bright room, weapons raised.
"Daryl you cover the back," Shane said as we all looked around for any sign of life.
"Hello?" Rick called into the huge, empty, room.
"Close those doors. Watch for walkers!" my brother called again, trying to stay alert.
"Hello?" Another voice called from a shadowed corner of the room and we pointed our weapons quickly. A tall man with short blonde hair stood across the room with a military-issue machine gun pointed at us.
"Any of you infected?" He asked, looking harmless, but I wasn't taking any chances.
"One of our group was. He didn't make it," Rick said, visibly shaking. He had put all of his hope into this and now that he was this close to finding answers, he was loosing it.
"Why are you here? What do you want?" the man asked, walking forward, making me tense and keep my gun pointed directly at him.
"A chance."
"That's asking an awful lot these days," now that the man was closer I could see he was wearing a white lab coat. He must be a doctor here.
"I know," Rick said and we all looked a little panicked. If this man turned us away, we had nowhere to go and no way to get there anyway.
"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission," he said and we all relaxed a little.
"We can do that."
"You got stuff, bring it in now. Once these doors close they stay closed," he lowered him gun and we all rushed to grab our bags from the cars. Once we had all of our thinks, the doctor walked over to a keypad on the wall.
"VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here," he said and I noticed for the first time how cool the place was. Air conditioning ran through the room, ruffling my hair slightly.
"Rick Grimes," Rick extended his hand and the doctor looked at it for a moment before taking it.
"Dr. Edwin Jenner."
He led us across the room to an elevator that opened automatically. We all got in and once we were in the confined space, it became apparent how smelly we all were. The dirt on our skin and clothes made a sharp contrast between the clean metallic walls of the elevator.
"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked, nodding to the gun Jenner still had in his hand.
"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough. Except for you, I'll have to keep my eye on you," he said looking down at Carl who smiled.
The elevator opened into a long hallway that smelled like antiseptic. He led us down the long hall.
"Are we underground?" Carol asked, looking around like the roof might collapse at any minute.
"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked, looking back at her.
"A little."
"Try not to think about it," he said and kept walking. We eventually got to the end of the hall, which led to a dark room.
"VI, bring up the lights in the Big Room," he said and lights immediately flooded the room. It was circular with small workstations scattered throughout it and a large screen at the front.
"Welcome to Zone 5," he said and walked to the middle of the room.
"Where is everyone? The other doctors? The staff?" Rick asked, voicing the question we all had. This place was like a ghost town.
"I'm it. It's just me here."
"What about the person you were speaking with? VI?" It was Lori's voice from the back of the room.
"VI, say hello to our guests, tell them, welcome," Jenner said with a smile.
"Hello guests. Welcome," A computerized female voice answered and we all jumped a little bit.
"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry," he said and turned and led us into another room.
"Okay, who wants to be first?" he asked, pulling out needles, bottles, and gloves to take our blood. Everyone was quiet.
"I'll go first," I said after a minute and walked over to where Jenner was, sitting in the chair beside him and offering him my arm. He tied the rubber strip around my arm and the needle bit into my arm with a prick. He filled a small valve with my blood and then removed the needle, placing a bandage over the small hole. I stood up and walked back over to the group.
Everyone went one by one to have their blood taken, Andrea being last.
"I don't see the point. If we were infected we'd be running a fever," she said as he pricked her arm.
"I'm already breaking every rule in the book by letting you in here, at least let me be thorough," he said and finished up. Andrea stood up and stumbled a bit. Jaqui went to her side.
"Are you all right?" Jenner asked.
"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have," Jaqui answered.
"Well why didn't you say so?" he asked and started walking. We followed him and he led us back to the Big Room.
"Wait here," he said and walked off. Once he was out of earshot, we began talking.
"That guy gives me the creeps," I whispered to Shane as we leaned against one of the workstations.
Rick overheard me though, and came over.
"He had taken us in, Adeline, given us shelter, a refuge," Rick was getting louder with each word and everyone in the room was looking at us.
"Back off Rick," Shane said, standing between the two of us. Rick held up his hands and took a couple of steps back before Shane relaxed and leaned back against the table.
"I'm with her on this one," Daryl said looking up. "He's just a little bit too squirrelly for me."
"Well, what do you want to do? Leave? Go back out there in the dark and hope we survive until morning?" Rick asked loudly.
"No. We have to stay here. It's safe," Lori said and I rolled my eyes. The conversation dropped once we heard Jenner walking down the hallway though.
"I hope you like spaghetti because that's what we're having," he said as he walked through the door. We all straightened up a little, because even though I didn't like this guy, a real meal sounded like paradise. He took us to a room with a large table, covered with plates, dishes, glasses, and wine!
"Wow," Glenn said and walked in. We all took up spots at the table and piled our plates with food and filled our glasses with wine. Daryl took a whole bottle and started drinking. Within minutes, we were all laughing and talking.
"You know, in Italy and France, children sometimes have a little wine with their food," Dale said, pouring a glass and handing it to Lori.
"Well when Carl is in Italy or France he can too," she said and took a sip.
"Come on, what's it going to hurt?" Rick asked and Lori shrugged. Dale poured a little bit into a glass for him and he took a sip.
"Yuck!" he said and spit it out. We all laughed and I grabbed the bottle of whiskey on the table and poured some, tired of the diluted wine.
"Stick to the soda pop bud," Shane said and Carl nodded.
"Not you little man", Daryl said to Glenn, "I want to see how red your face can get," the guys and I laughed, although I'm pretty sure the other women didn't get it.
"It seems we have not properly thanked our host," Rick said, raising his glass.
"He is more than just our host!" T-Dog said and everyone joined in with the cheers.
"Booyah!" Daryl called and took the whiskey bottle from me and poured another glass for himself.
"Lori? Would you like some?" I asked offering her the bottle once it was returned to me. She shook her head emphatically. "Andrea? Jaqui?" I asked and they both declined.
"It's alright Addie, you drink like one of the guys," Shane said and threw his arm around my shoulder, messing with my hair. Everyone laughed and I felt my cheeks flush a little as I pushed his arm away. Shane looked solemn for a moment then spoke.
"So, when are you going to tell us what the hell happened here doc? All the other doctors who are supposed to be figuring out what's going on, where are they?" he asked and the room fell quiet.
"Shane, we're celebrating, we don't need to do this now," Rick said looking at him angrily.
"This is why we're here a'int it? This was your move, to come here to find all the answers. Instead, we found him, we found one man. Why?" Shane continued.
"When things got bad, a lot of people just left to be with their families. When things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted," Jenner spoke quietly.
"Every last one?" Shane asked dubiously.
"No. Some couldn't face walking out those doors. They…opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time," he took a sip of wine and went quiet.
"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked.
"I just kept working, hoping to do some good." The way he spoke told us the conversation was over.
"Dude, you are such a buzz kill man," Glenn said to Shane. I hugged my brother and he put his arm around me. We finished eating in silence and Jenner told us he would show us where we could sleep. We were all beyond drunk and stumbling down the hallway behind him.
"Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall the kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in any video games, okay? Same applies, if you shower, go easy on the hot water," he said and we all stopped for a minute.
"Hot water?" Glenn asked and we were all smiling.
"That's what the man said," T-Dog responded and they took off down the hall. I picked the room at the end of the hall and threw my bags in. I was staggering and my vision blurred a little from all the alcohol. It had been months since I'd drank, so my tolerance was low and I'd drank more tonight than ever, drowning the pain and bad memories away.
I went back out into the hallway and headed toward where Jenner had indicated the showers were. I turned a corner and ran right into a hard, muscular chest. I looked up into two ice blue eyes and smiles.
"Sorry Daryl, think I had a little too much to drink," I said and stepped to the side so he could get by.
"It's alright, think we all did," he said and walked past. I kept going and got to the showers. I undressed quickly and climbed into the hot water. It was amazing. I couldn't remember the last time I had a real shower. I stood in there for a while, scrubbing the dirt off of my skin and out of my hair, my skin turning pink with the effort.
Once I was done, I got out and dressed in sweats and a tank top, that was I was comfortable but ready to go in case something happened. My head was still foggy when I went back to my room and climbed into bed, passing out almost immediately.