A/N: So I haven't updated in a while and I wish I had an awesome excuse like a bear attacked my laptop or something. But I don't. It was a combination of laziness and needing to take a step back from writing the sequel. Honestly, World Without Words has been done for some time, but I'm buying myself time to get half way done with the sequel and I was running low on ideas and needed to take a break from it. Anyway, thanks to those to read this and like it as much as I do. It means a lot to me to know people like my work =) you guys are golden baybay!

Disclaimer: Don't own The Walking Dead, do own Alice.

Daryl, Shane, and Rick had their weapons drawn as they cautiously entered the CDC. A man stood in the center of the room, his gun also drawn and pointed at them. Alice took a moment to look around, noticing that the windows all went from the floor to the ceiling. There were a few red chairs covered in a thin layer of dust. It was a large space with a few artificial plants places at the corners of the room for decoration.

"What do you want?" the man questioned apprehensively. His sandy blond hair was disheveled. The outer corners of his eyes were etched in crow's feet and his face held a wisdom that he had earned through this ordeal .

"A chance." Rick responded, his gun still aimed at the unfamiliar man. Both men stared each other down for a moment, sizing each other up.

"That's asking a lot these days, don't you think?"

"I know… But we need the help. Please." The mans eyes wondered to the group behind Rick.

He analyzed them quickly, his rifle still pointed. "Is anyone infected?"

"There was one, but he's gone now."

"I'll still need a blood sample from you all, that's the price of admission."

Rick nodded his head quickly. "Done."

"Alright. If you need to get anything from outside, I suggest you get it now. Once the gate comes down, there's no going back." He warned.

They all stood close together in the tight elevator, everyone holding belongings close. Alice eyed the back of the mans head, her thin, dirty fingers fidgeting with the straps of her bag. He didn't seem dangerous. She licked her dry lips, moistening them.

"We're a rude bunch I suppose. We ain't even ask your name." she spoke softly. Shane looked at his wife, surprised that she had spoken first.

"No, it's my fault. As your host, I should introduce myself. My name is Dr. Edwin Jenner." He looked around the tense elevator, unsure of what to say next.

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

"Well, there were plenty left so I familiarized myself with them." He paused for a moment before continuing to speak. "You all look harmless enough." He smiled slightly when his eyes landed on Carl. "Except you, I may have to keep an eye on you." The boy sheepishly smiled.

They all stepped out of the elevator and turned into a narrow hallway. Carol looked around, holding her daughters hand tightly.

"Are we underground?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Are you claustrophobic?"

"A little." She admitted.

"Try not to think about it." Was the best that Dr. Jenner could offer the woman.

Andrea had not spoken since entering the CDC and Alice noticed. She placed her bony hand on the woman's shoulder. Andrea gave her a small, hollow smile, but still did not speak. Her eyes were misty as if at any moment she would burst out into tears. The happy, strong woman Alice remembered meeting was nowhere to be found.

"Vi, bring on the lights to the big room." Dr. Jenner called to out. Alice looked around, wondering if she had missed the one called 'Vi', but saw no one. The lights came on showing a room filled with a neat cluster of computers in the center. It shot chills down Alice's spine to see how empty and cold the room had been, knowing at one point people sat at those computers. Where were those people now? Were they nothing but memories?

"Welcome to zone 5."

"Where is everyone? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked, looking around as if a welcome party of doctors in white lab coats would pop out.

Jenner walked to the center of the room and looked back at Rick. "I'm it. It's just me here."

"What about the person you just spoke with? Vi?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guest, tell them welcome." Everyone half expected a woman to appear out of thin air.

"Hello guest." A robotic female voice spoke. "Welcome."

"I'm all that's left… I'm sorry." Ricks face dropped.

He didn't want to lose hope. Alice had been right. Everyone depended on him to have the answers and keep the hope. It was getting harder to believe there was any hope or an answer to this. He looked at everyone's face, letting his eyes linger on Carl. He needed to make sure his son survived this all, but what if he was just conning himself into believing there was a safe haven for them? What if this wasn't the answer they had been looking for? For now the CDC was better than roughing it outside. It was a place to lay his head and finally get a good nights sleep, it was a place where Carl could be safe for the moment.

Dale laughed jubilantly as he refilled Alice's glass with the red wine Dr. Jenner had gifted them. She thanked him as she took it and sipped it slowly, savoring the flavor. Before the world ended, she had only drunk wine on special occasions, now she wondered why she hadn't treated herself to a glass daily. Wait, she remembered now, her mother would say it was sinful to indulge in such activity. Even on her wedding day, her mother had been closely monitoring her champagne intake.

She looked down at her plate. It was a real plate. White and basic, but it had been a while since she had eaten off one. She felt silly for almost rejoicing over the sound of her metal fork clinking against the porcelain dish. Their celebration dinner was nothing special, but it was better than what they had been eating at the camp. Alice played with her powdered eggs before taking a bite. Of course it didn't taste like the real thing. In fact the taste reminded her of paste. It wasn't the most delicious thing, but at that moment, it tasted heavenly with the chewy freeze dried meat.

Any meat was better than squirrel.

Alice looked across the table at Daryl. He was eating the food, but didn't look too thrilled. He liked hunting down his food, he enjoyed the backbreaking labor it took to haul his catch to camp, skin and clean it then have someone cook it. This freeze dry shit was no where close to how good the venison he would catch tasted. This stuff was like chewing the rubber sole of his boot. In fact he may as well have been doing that because it was as flavorless as he imagined a rubber sole to be.

Carl had been allowed to try some wine. He took a sip of it and made a disgusted face as he pushed his cup away. Lori took his cup and poured it into her glass as she praised him for not liking the taste. Everyone erupted in laughter at the faces he kept making, trying to get the bitter after taste out of his mouth. Rick's lips curled into a smile as he patted his son on the head, feeling carefree for once in a long time.

"Stay sober there boy." Shane spoke, brooding at the end of the table. Alice looked at him, and for a moment, he looked back at her, but darted his eyes away just as quickly. Something was on his mind and she wonder what.

Shane didn't want to admit that he was hurt that Alice had purposely sat away from him or that Lori was avoiding him. The two women he cared about were the same two women causing his mind to run rampant. Trying to talk to Lori was pointless. All she would do was give him short, angry replies. Alice just looked for excuses to get away from him. His eyes drifted to Rick. He was laughing with his son and Lori was looking down at Carl with a fond smile only a mother could give. He longed to have Lori look at him and smile. He should have been sitting where Rick was. He should have been the one laughing with Lori and Carl. Before Rick decided to show his face again, Shane had been the one Lori would smile at and Carl would laugh with. Shane wanted to punch himself for become too use to taking Rick's place. He never should have gotten that comfortable with Lori, but he did and now he was paying the price.

"Not you Glenn. You keep drinking." Daryl said before taking a swig of whiskey. He smirked at the Korean man, not bothered by the burn of the whiskey down his throat.

"Huh? Why?" he asked, looking up from the wine bottle he had been reading.

"I wanna see how red your face can get."

"Oh haha." He humorlessly laughed.

Rick stood up, clinking on his wine glass with his fork. "It seems we haven't thanked our host." He tilted the glass in Dr. Jenner's direction. He was sitting separate from everyone, watching them all celebrate. It was odd that he was quiet and sitting alone, but no one questioned it. Maybe he just needed to get use to being around people again.

"He is more than just our host!" T-dog yelled as he raised his glass.

"Boya!" Daryl yelled, lifting his half-filled whiskey bottle. He was smiling and laughing. It was the first time Alice had seen him happy or smile for that matter. Maybe all he needed to be friendly was some alcohol.

"Boya!" everyone except Shane and Dr. Jenner repeated.

Alice giggled slightly from the buzz she was starting to feel. Shane had heard her and looked over. She was flashing a brilliant smile, the smile Shane loved. That same smile could melt his heart in a second. He felt an unfamiliar pain in his chest.

"Thank you." Rick looked at Dr. Jenner. He looked uncomfortable and far from flattered as he held his own glass up before downing his drink in two large gulps.

"So when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here Doc?" Shane asked. Everyone grew silent, either eager for an answer or annoyed at Shane bringing up a heavy topic.

"Uh the other doctors were supposed to be figuring out what happened."

Shane held his glass, looking at it before speaking again. "And where are they?"

"Shane, please," Alice frowned at her husband. "we're all celebrating. Ain't no need to talk about this right now."

"No, Alice this is why we're here right? This was your move Rick, we're supposed to be finding all the answers." he let out a humorless laugh and pointed at Jenner. "We found him. We found one man, why?"

"Well," Jenner started. "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 got over run, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?"

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

"But you didn't leave." Andrea spoke for the first time. "Why?"

"I… I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

Glenn stood up and looked at Shane. "Dude, you are such a buzz kill."