Chapter Ten: Decontamination
Decontamination: the process of cleansing an object or substance to remove contaminants such as micro-organisms or hazardous materials.
Day 60
Daisy's commandeered truck stuttered to a halt in front of the King County Police Station, all four occupants inside slamming back into their seats. She gave an apologetic smile to the others and released the handbrake, yanking the keys from the car.
"Pretty sure even I could drive better than her…" Duane mumbled in the backseat. Daisy's head whipped around and she gave him a playful glare.
"I heard that, Duane! Next time, you can walk…"She said, shaking her head in mock disappointment and slamming her rusted car door open with a slam of her shoulder. There was a harrowing squeal as the door swung fully open, and she dropped down from the towering height of the truck, waiting to the side for the others to join her.
Three more successive squeaking doors later, Daisy, Rick, Morgan and Duane made their way from the car to the station's side entrance. Rick took the lead and opened the door, they all stood back as it revealed the dark hall of the station. Nothing was visible save two lone coffeepots sitting together on a bench, which Daisy narrowed her eyes at for their blatant mundanity.
Rick turned on his beaming flashlight and shone it down the hall as they all followed him. They made their way through the station, each with a flashlight in hand, shining the light in each room that they passed, cautious for any unexpected walkers.
A few twisting halls later, Rick had led them through a locker room then to a bathroom. Duane and Daisy hung around the door, Daisy leaning her elbow on his shoulder, as Rick and Morgan investigated the showers. Rick turned the knob and water spluttered out, the pipes groaning with the apparent effort. Daisy became hopeful—finally, a fucking shower. That was something that she never thought she would miss.
"Gas and light have been down for, maybe a month." Morgan informed Rick, and Daisy's hopes were dashed. She slumped over Duane with a groan, who just giggled quietly and pushed her away.
"Station's got its own propane system." Rick countered as he held his hand on the apparently hot water. "Pilot's still on." He confirmed with a nod.
Daisy's hands came up in fists in front of her face, which had screwed up in happiness. "Oh, thank you, shower god." She mumbled as she moved forward, dashing her hand through the luxuriously warm water. "I'm first." Daisy declared.
There were three simultaneous protests, but they were silenced when Daisy gave them a serious, wide-eyed stare. All three shrunk down and skulked out to sit in the hall outside as Daisy gave a happy smile, shucking off clothes to step into the shower stall, hot water warming her skin.
A short five minutes later, Daisy finished up in the shower, rushed along by a shout from Duane through the door for her to hurry up. She rolled her eyes with a fond smile and shut the water off, picking up a towel from the bench to dry herself off. Another knock prompted her to just wrap the towel around her, reluctantly pick up her still-dirty clothes and push open the bathroom door.
Daisy passed Duane who was buzzing with excitement just outside the door and looked down to see Morgan and Rick sitting against the wall with similar dispositions that accurately portrayed that they had experienced similar situations with their respective wives.
"I'm finished, you sad sacks." Daisy said with an amused huff, ushering the three into the bathroom.
Soon, she heard the showers turn on and shouts emanated from the room. Daisy laughed at them and quickly dried off and then dressed in her old jeans and her long-time favourite long-sleeved, striped shirt. A sigh sounded in the room and Daisy tied her wet hair up in a messy ponytail and dropped to the floor, sitting where Rick and Morgan had been before.
Daisy sat for a short moment before curiosity drove her to investigate the station around her. She stood and sidled along the wall to an adjoining hall, and entered into a room that was filled with desks, most haphazardly pushed against walls. There was evidence of owners to these desks, most had photo frames depicting happy families, one notably had a mug filled with old coffee claiming the owner to be the 'World's Best Dad'. Not to dispute that fact, but she had gotten a similar mug for her own father years previously…one of them had to be a lie.
Daisy shook the depressing thoughts of her father and his disputable World's Best Dad status, eyes catching on the nearest desk, which had a framed picture of Rick and some men that she didn't know, all in police uniforms. She picked it up and studied it with a smirk, noting that Rick's arm was around a man with curly black hair, a large nose and disconcerting smirk. Save the smirking man, all of the officers had bright smiles, looking at the camera with a genuine happiness that Daisy respected.
She simply hummed and set the picture back down, looked around the abandoned room once more with disinterest and then made her way back to the room from which she had come.
Her fingers trailed along the peeling paint of the wall, stopping with a quick tap before the wall ended in a corner, now being close to the shower room she could hear that the showers were in fact not running. Daisy's nose scrunched up and she went to the door and, after hearing muffled voices from within, gave a firm rap.
"Hey! Don't discuss important plot points without me, you turds!" Daisy yelled through the door, continuing in a mumble, "Thank you very much…"
She leant back against the door and after a few short moments she heard footsteps approaching from the other side. The door swung open and she caught herself from falling, giving a sheepish smile to the freshly showered and dressed trio.
"What are you on about now, girl?" Morgan grumbled, passing her with Duane in tow. Daisy gave a short laugh.
"Never mind." She said, mostly to herself. Daisy looked back at Rick and gave him an appreciative once over, he was now dressed in his police officer uniform. "Rad uniform, Officer Grimes." She complimented him, getting a reluctant thanks in return. Daisy gave another short laugh at his distrusting her genuineness, and gestured for Rick to take the lead.
He led them through to another room, inside which was a cage wall. Rick took out his keys and unlocked the heavy chain that shut this door, and they entered the armoury of the station.
"A lot of it's gone missing." Rick noted. Both he and Morgan inspected the guns that hung on the wall, Daisy stayed behind them with Duane, not one exactly used to firearms.
"Daddy, can I learn to shoot?" Duane asked hopefully, "I'm old enough." Morgan stopped and looked back at him.
"Hell yes, you're gonna learn. We gotta do it carefully, teach you to respect the weapon." Morgan informed his son.
"That's right. It's not a toy. You pull the trigger, you have to mean it. Always remember that Duane." Rick stressed with a finger pointed at the kid's shoulder, calling his complete attention.
"Yes, sir." Duane agreed with a serious nod.
"You too, Daisy." Rick looked up at her, she startled.
"What, you're gonna teach me?" Daisy looked unsure.
"Might as well, just to be safe." Rick said, continuing after seeing her unease, "Ain't got nothing to be afraid of, Daze." He reassured her. Daisy gave a slight nod.
"Double negative." She mumbled.
"Huh?" Rick didn't hear her.
"Uh, nothin'." Daisy gave him a sheepish smile and leant back against the wall. "Yeah."
Rick and Morgan turned back to the guns, Morgan asking his son to fill up a duffel bag with the spare ammo. Daisy stood with a furrowed brow, watching Rick put a rifle into position, checking the scope. He brought it down and handed it to Morgan.
"Here, take that one. Nothin' fancy. Scope's accurate." Rick said, and Morgan took the gun. He passed Daisy and she ducked away from the gun. She guessed that she'd just have to get used to it.
A few minutes later they were exiting the station, duffel bags full of guns and ammunition in hand.
"Duane, take this to the car." Duane headed off with their bag.
"You sure you won't come along?" Rick asked Morgan, who rubbed at his head in thought.
"A few more days." Morgan conceded. "By then, Duane'll know how to shoot and I won't be so rusty." Morgan looked back at his son. Daisy stood leaning against the car with an elbow. She twisted her lips at the bad feeling she got about splitting up, it never seemed to work in the old Scooby Doo cartoons. Daisy felt that this might be true to life in that regard.
"You got one battery." Rick informed Morgan as he handed him a radio, it squeaked with static. "I'll turn mine on, a few minutes every day at dawn. You get up there, that's how you find us."
"You think ahead." Morgan patted his shoulder in commendation, turning to go towards his son and their car.
"Can't afford not to. Not anymore."
"Listen, one thing. They may not seem like much one at a time, but in a group all riled up and hungry…man, you watch your ass." Morgan warned him. "Watch each other's ass." He added, giving Daisy a look. She gave him a smirk and a reassuring nod in return.
"You too."
Morgan looked at him, and held his hand out for a shake.
"You a good man, Rick. I hope you find your wife and son." Morgan said with complete sincerity. "And Daisy, I hope you find whatever you might be lookin' for." Daisy gave him a thankful smile. Morgan turned to leave.
"Be seeing you, Duane." Rick bent slightly and shook the kid's hand, "Take care of your old man."
"Yes, sir." He said with a smile.
Daisy gave them a fond smile and stepped forward, bending slightly to bring Duane into a hug.
"See you later, kid." She told him, giving him one tight squeeze then releasing him. Duane gave her a smile and a short nod. Farewells all said, they started to break away.
Suddenly, Daisy saw them all stop and focus on something behind her, Morgan's hand retreating to pull a small, silver gun from the back of his belt. Daisy turned to see a lone walker ambling up to the gate, faint growls growing louder.
"Leon Basset?" Rick muttered, his brow furrowed. "Didn't think much of him. Careless and dumb, but…can't leave him like this." The walker, Leon Basset, reached the fence and his fingers tangled in the wire, mouth chomping on air.
"You know they'll hear the shot."
"Let's not be here when they show up."
"Let's go, son. C'mon." Morgan said quietly, and they backed away to their car. Daisy gave Duane one last comforting smile and turned to the police car that she and Rick were taking, opening the passenger side door. She got in and shut the door with a quiet thud and watched out the window as Rick approached his former colleague, stood for a moment, then shot him point blank in the forehead.
Daisy gave a slight flinch at the noise, then watched as the walker sunk down, hands still clinging to the wire. There was a rattle as its fingers released, catching on the fence. She sighed as Rick turned, put his gun back in its holster, and walked over to the car, getting in. They gave each other a glance and he started the engine.
The two cars pulled out of the station, Morgan ahead of them gave them two quick taps of his horn and Rick gave two quick whirls of the siren in return. Daisy gave a smile, hopeful as they turned onto the road and started their drive towards Atlanta.