TS-19
"Ow!" snapped Ingrid as Jenner jabbed a needle into her skin. "Watch it!" Jenner said nothing, and with a small roll of the eyes, continued his work. After several more complaints, Ingrid got up, rubbing the spot he had taken blood from and stalking away. Andrea was last, and much less whiny. When she got up, almost falling over, Jenner asked if she was all right. Jacqui remarked that they hadn't eaten in days. That was all the put-upon doctor needed.
The group was scarfing down dinner. Felicia sat between T-Dog and Shane, with Teeth flopped over her feet. If Shane found her closeness awkward, he said nothing, focusing on his food. T-Dog was growing increasingly animated with each sip of alcohol, and as he flailed his arms around, she was forced to dodge him. Felicia herself was sipping her wine tentatively, and although technically she was a few months shy of the legal drinking age, she doubted the fuzz were going to come after her any time soon. She snickered at this thought, and Shane's gaze snapped over to her, eyes narrowing slightly. She turned the laugh into a cough and looked down at her food. Shane stared a moment longer before returning his attention elsewhere.
Ingrid had just finished her third glass of wine, which she was chugging haphazardly, and now looked somewhere between nauseous and dead. Carol was reprimanding her, but her remarks fell on deaf ears, so Carol turned her attention back to censoring what Sophia heard. Ingrid swayed back and forth slightly before slumping forward onto one arm, and then all the way onto the table, her head narrowly missing her plate. Daryl snorted, almost all the way through his once-full bottle of vodka and not even seeing the effects yet. Ingrid peered up at him, dazed and annoyed, but couldn't formulate a response. The redneck returned to his belligerent conversation with Glenn, and Ingrid was ignored.
Felicia, someone who enjoyed her privacy even in the apocalypse, had opted to shower after everyone else. After she had finger-combed her damp hair and wrapped a towel around herself, she stole out into the hallway, being as stealthy as she could. Her wet feet squeaked slightly on the linoleum, and the cold air nipped at her skin. She had almost made it to her room, where Teeth was waiting and she could finally get a good night's sleep, when a door opened suddenly, and would have hit her in the face had she not darted back.
An obviously angry and inebriated Shane stormed out, slamming the door behind him with enough force to break bone. He turned in her direction at her sudden intake of breath, and jumped when he saw her, hissing through his teeth. She noticed that there were what appeared to be fresh claw marks slashed across his face. She felt her cheeks heating up when she realized that her sole form of clothing was a towel that now seemed incredibly short, and she tugged at it to get it lower without exposing her chest. "A-are you…?" she let the question die, as the answer was obvious. "Do you…?"
Shane looked ready to kill someone, and he opened his mouth to snap at her, but she finished her question before he could respond. "Do you want help cleaning that?" Felicia finished, pointing one finger in the direction of his face while still trying to keep a hold on her towel.
Shane pressed his lips together, exhaling a surprising amount of air through his nose. He reminded her of a bull about to charge, but surprised her by letting his muscles relax, and turning to lead her down the hallway (to what she presumed was his room). She shuffled behind him, pausing only to snag a big t-shirt from her room, pulling it over herself and letting the towel fall to the floor behind her.
Felicia bit her lip as she dabbed antiseptic onto Shane's wound, feeling as though one wrong move would get her hand ripped off. Shane winced at the pain, but showed no other emotion as he sat rigidly on the sofa. She felt as though she should ask what happened, but then thought better of it, guessing that conversation would lead nowhere good.
Shifting so she was no longer kneeling in front of him, Felicia sat on the couch beside Shane to get a better angle for finishing the cleanup. Shane had said nothing during this whole process, and when she put the cap back on the antiseptic and prepared to leave, muttered, "thanks". Felicia stood a minute in the doorway, unsure what the proper response was, then mumbled, "no problem" before retreating to her room.
That night, before she fell asleep, she found herself thinking about what had caused those scratches. She could only venture a few guesses, however, before the weight of the day crashed down on her and forced her to sleep. Meanwhile, Shane, though preoccupied with thoughts of Lori most of the time, found himself thinking about wet blonde hair and the sting of alcohol just as he was drifting off.
Ingrid scowled into her milk the next morning, finding that it reminded her more of gasoline today than the dairy product it was supposed to be. She felt like she could still taste alcohol in her mouth, and there was a subtle throbbing at the back of her neck. She had complained that the milk "tasted like shit", but was not rewarded with a response, as the majority of her companions recognized that it was no different than any other milk. Her hangover wasn't as bad as Glenn's, though. He was slumped over, remarking that he should never be allowed to drink again, as T-Dog came around and put eggs on everybody's plates.
Ingrid poked at the eggs with her fork, amusing herself at the way they jiggled, but was unable to eat anything, and settled for shifting it around on her plate. She waited for Carol's chastising remark about "wasting food in a time of need", but her mother was occupied helping T-Dog with the rest of the breakfast.
Felicia came into the room next, the sound of Teeth's claws clacking on the floor after her. Her hair was matted and looked as though she had slept on it wet (the price to pay for curly hair) and she sat down at one end of the table, grabbing a piece of toast for herself and a piece for Teeth. She looked like she was thinking about something else, however.
Shane came later, looking like he tasted something nasty and pouring himself some coffee. T-Dog noticed the markings on his face and commented on them, at which Shane replied that he must have done it in his sleep. He met Felicia's eyes briefly as he headed back to the table. She neglected to contribute to the conversation.
After Rick had discussed this a bit more with Shane, Jenner entered the room, at which Dale began his gentle interrogation.
Ingrid was reading a terribly dull book, trying to keep her mind off the image of the infected mind, shot clean through, that had been shown to the entire group on a laboratory screen earlier that day. She was also wondering what "full decontamination" meant, but it sounded ominous enough to keep her from thinking about it too hard. Sophia was on the floor playing solitaire, and Carol was examining something overhead, a frown on her face. Ingrid went back to scanning but not absorbing the text. She then heard some commotion as voices in the hallway began to demand why the air had been shut off. Carol poked her head out of the doorway, Ingrid and Sophia following suit (the former happy to chuck the book over her shoulder).
The group was walking down the hallway, following the doctor, and was eventually led to the main information center. No one was quite sure what was going on, but Jenner had an eerily placid look on his face. Glenn, T-Dog, Shane, and Rick, who had gone into the basement to check the power, returned, and soon everyone was asking questions. It wasn't long before Rick had taken the initiative of asking VI what "full decontamination" meant, and at the answer of an explosion on par with a nuclear blast, the group collectively surged toward the exit, but stopped short when they all slammed shut.
Teeth whined, tail wagging confusedly. Felicia, whose hair was now collected into a ponytail, rested a hand on his head and tried to contain the panic that was threatening to consume her. Everyone was now shouting at Doctor Jenner to open the doors, but he refused. The group was freaking out, Carol grabbing her two daughters and all three whimpering. Rick was apparently trying to absorb the situation, and Felicia couldn't blame him. She swallowed hard, trying not to cry, as she knew it wouldn't help anything. Daryl and Shane took the liberty of attacking the doors with axes, but to no avail. Shane, furious, strode up to Jenner, putting a gun to his head and demanding that he open the door. He was soon after restrained by other group members, Felicia shooting him a look that she hoped he understood.
A collective despair overtook the group. Felicia sank onto the floor, Teeth setting his head on her legs and looking up at her as he sensed their impending doom. Carol was pleading with Jenner to give her daughters a chance, at which he justified his actions by arguing in favor of a quick death.
It was then that Rick made in argument about hope and chances, and it took Felicia a moment to realize that it had affected Jenner in some way. The doctor complied and opened the doors, taking a moment to whisper something to Rick before the group started towards the exit. Jacqui made the announcement that she was staying, as did Andrea. Dale looked horrified and began arguing with her, but Felicia and the others didn't have time to witness this, as they were already sprinting out of the room.
When they reached the front of the building, they tried the doors, which were locked. After attacking the windows with chairs and guns, they realized that they needed something stronger; Carol announced that she had taken a grenade from Rick's uniform when he first arrived, and they used this to escape from the building.
Felicia shooed Teeth in front of her as the group made their way towards the cars, shooting any Walkers in their way. Felicia was lucky enough not to be jumped by any, following Shane to his car, which he yanked her into roughly, but with a visible look of concern showing briefly on his face. They were all ducking down in the cars when Andrea and Dale emerged from the CDC, and everyone shouted at them to seek protection. They did that just before the entire building exploded. After the blast, everyone looked up to witness the destruction. As devastating as it was, it was still awe-inspiring. Felicia stole a glance at Shane, who was busy assessing the CDC. What are you playing at? she wondered, but that was all she could think before turning back to the destruction the group faced.