"Daryl, you cover the back," Shane ordered as we walked inside and it was really quiet. I looked around the place, no one was in sight. "Hello?" Rick called. A gun cocks and all the boys held their guns to a man with short blonde hair.
"Anybody infected?" He asked. "One of our group was. He didn't make it," Rick said and I looked away, grabbing Jacqui's hand. Poor Jim, I miss him.
The man took a few steps towards us, still holding the gun. "Why are you here? What do you want?" He asked. "A chance," Rick said. "That's asking an awful lot these days," The man said. "I know," Rick said.
The man looked at each of us. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission," He said. "We can do that," Rick agreed. The man lowered the gun, "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."
Rick, Shane, Glenn and Daryl went to the cars and got our bags. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here," The man said into a little box right next to the doors. The shutters one again cover the doors to the outside. "Rick Grimes," Rick said, held his hand out to the man. "Dr. Edwin Jenner."
We were all stood in the elevator, going down I guess. "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked Jenner, about the gun in his hand. "There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself," Jenner said and then looked at us. "But you look harmless enough."
Then he looked at Carl, "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you," He joked making Carl to smile.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened, we walked down a hallway, following Jenner. "Are we underground?" Carol asked. "Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked. "A little," She replied. "Try not to think about it," He told her.
We followed Jenner into a dark room, "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room," Jenner shouted at someone and all the lights turned on and we were in some kinda computer lab. "Welcome to zone 5."
"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked. Jenner turned and looked at us, "I'm it. It's just me here," He said. "What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked.
"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them . . . Welcome," He said. "Hello, guests. Welcome," A comuterize voice announce. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry," He said. We went into a room where Jenner's going to take a little of our blood.
I rubbed my bare arm, hitting the little bandage where Jenner had gotten some of my blood. I was sitting with Carl, watching Jenner taking some of Andrea's blood. "What's the point?" She asked. "If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever."
"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough," Jenner said and Glenn and I exchanged glances. "All done." Andrea was getting up and almost lost her balance but Jacqui grabbed her arm. "Are you okay?" Jenner asked, concerned. "She hasn't eaten in days," Jacqui explained. "None of us have."
Jenner took all of us into the dining room. I sat next to Lori and Carl sat between her and his father. We ate and laughed and the adults, of course, were drinking wine. T-Dog handed me a glass of wine but before I could drink it, Lori took it from me, "Oh no."
"Why not?" I asked, smiling. "You're not 21, not old enough," She said, smiling as everyone laughed. "Can I try some?" Carl asked. "What makes you think you can if I'm not letting Quinn?" Lori said.
"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France," Dale told to Lori. "Well, when Quinn and Carl is in Italy or France, they can have some then," Lori said. "What's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick said and I smirked.
Lori finally gave in and Dale took our glasses and Daryl filled a little bit of wine in them. "There you are, kids," Dale said as he gave me and Carl the glasses.
"Eww," Carl said as he shaking his head as we all laughed, "That's my boy. That's my boy," Lori said, taking Carl's glass. Then she and everyone looked at me and I tasted it, "Yum," I said and everyone laughed while Lori shook her head, smiling.
"Well we know that Carl should stick to soda pop at least," Shane said. "Not you, Glenn," Daryl said. "What?" Glenn asked. "Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get," Daryl said and we all laughed.
Rick got up and cleared his throat, "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," He said. "He is more than just our host," T-Dog said. Everyone raise their glasses up, thanking Jenner.
"There's another reason to celebrate," Andrea said and we all looked at her. She smiled at me, "Yesterday was Quinn's birthday." I gave her a smile. "What? Birthday girl?" T-Dog asked, smiling.
"Yeah, yesterday was my birthday," I said. "Well, happy birthday, girl," Jacqui said and they all raise their glasses up. "It's not only mine, it's Amy's birthday too," I said and Andrea smiled at me. "To Jenner, and for Amy and Quinn," Rick said and they all raise their glasses up again.
"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc? All the . . . the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Shane asked Jenner.
"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," Rick said. "Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move . . . Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we- We found him," Shane said, pointing at Jenner. "Found one man. Why?"
Jenner cleared his throat, "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," He said.
"Every last one?" Shane asked. "No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They . . . opted out," Jenner said. "There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time," He said.
"You didn't leave. Why?" I asked. "I just kept working. Hoping to do some good," Jenner said. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man," Glenn said to Shane.