Hey again! Here is the 10th installment. Please review, it would mean a lot to have peoples opinions and see where I should head! Enjoy! Yes, the pairing will take a little time, it needs to build appropriately! it'll come! don't worry

Chapter 10

Blake, Tanyon, and the rest of the group were greeted by three doctors. The two males had rifles at their sides as they surveyed the run down, filthy survivors.

"Are any of you infected?" a young male doctor asked.

"One of our own was, he didn't make it," Rick answered honestly.

"Why did you come here?" the older male doctor asked.

"We can't live out there, man. We need a chance," Shane begged as he stepped forward next to Rick.

"Price of admission is a blood test, all of you," a young female doctor said as she stepped from behind the two male doctors. She had wavy auburn locks that fell upon her shoulders and big bright blue eyes. She was very attractive. She stepped forward and introduced herself.

"My name is Dr. Daphne Allister. Please follow me," she said as she led the group deeper into the government facility.

"You'll be happy to know we have plenty of space for you all, some of you might have to share because we shut down part of the building to conserve power. We have hot showers, food and drink…. walls. We're currently underground. Like I said, price of admission is a blood test. If you would all please step in here," Daphne finished as she brought the group into a small conference room.

Carol, Blake, Tanyon and Daryl were the last four to take their tests. Blake sat in the white chair in front of the young male doctor.

"Hello Miss," the doctor said to her sweetly. "I'm Dr Kristopehr Dowd, and you are?" he smiled at her. Blake finally got a look at his face and was completely blown away by his perfect white teeth and lightly tanned skin. He had a full head of messy brown hair and green eyes. Blake knew she was blushing immediately and looked down at her lap.

"My name is Blake Carter. You can call me Bea though," she said quietly as she again brought her eyes back up to meet Kristopher's.

"Just call me Kris…Bea," he smiled back at her as he uncapped a syringe to take her blood sample. "Scared of needles at all?"

"Needles are the least of my worries now-a-days," Blake said. Kristopher frowned as he wrapped a strand of blue rubber around her upper arm. She wondered if he's even been outside since this whole thing began.

"We appreciate you three taking us in. We're complete strangers. I'm very grateful you gave us a chance," Blake said, hoping to wipe the frown off his face.

"I don't know how I'd be able to turn away such a pretty girl," he said to her as color started to show on his cheeks. Blake giggled at the notion that this handsome man was blushing in front of her. She turned her head away to see Daryl next to her, eyeing her as Dr. Allister took his sample. He continued to stare Blake down, as if he was scolding her for stealing out of the cookie jar.

She grumbled under her breath and looked down at her lap as Kristopher finished taking her sample. "Boyfriend?" Kris asked.

"Daryl? No!," Blake said a bit quickly. She still found Daryl really attractive but his constant glares and his piss poor attitude made him subpar. They barely talked beside the occasional follow-up with instructions from Rick or Shane. Daryl stood up very quickly and grabbed his bow from beside side and went to wait outside of the conference room. Blake watched him go as the older male doctor introduced himself to the group.

"Just to inform you all, I'm Dr. Edward Jenner and if you didn't get a chance to meet these lovely folks; this is Dr. Daphne Allister and Dr. Kristopher Dowd. I'm the head of this facility. We have plenty of food stashed away here; so you guys can go to bed with full stomachs." He smiled as he rustled Carl's hair. She couldn't help but smile. Blake was beyond happy the kids were finally able to have a decent meal and not fear the world outside. But she also felt a nasty twist in her gut when she thought of the fact that those kids had to witness such brutal things also. Adults can barely keep their cool when they see the horrors they have to face outside these walls. Blake truly believes that these children will be far stronger than any of the adults could ever be.

The survivors sat with the three doctors as they enjoyed a hot meal around a large dining room table in the kitchen. Jenner had distributed some bottles of wine and other bottles of various liquors. Blake noticed that Daryl had gotten his hands on the Southern Comfort. Everyone was up and milling about, chatting with everyone. It was the first time Blake had seen Daryl loosen up the whole time she has known him. She wonders what happened to his brother. Blake had sat there mourning Amy's death but didn't even consider that Daryl might have lost his only family left too.

Blake continued watching the group as she sipped on her third glass of wine. Daryl and Glenn were talking animatedly as the group all settled back down together.

"I wanna see how red your face gets," Daryl said as he took a swig of his personal bottle.

Blake felt warmth on her right side and realized that Kris had taken up a seat next to her. "How're you feeling," he asked.

"The best I 've felt in at least two months, Dr. Dowd. Thanks to you and your colleagues," she said as she gave him a small smile.

"Well, ya know…There haven't been many survivors coming around here. Jenner questioned it at first, but then he changed his mind." he said.

" Why the change of heart?," Blake asked.

"I don't know," Kris said as he contemplated the reason himself.

They sat quietly for a few minutes listening to the others chat around them. Blake scanned the increasingly drunk crowd and noticed that Lori, Carol and the kids had departed. Smart. Who knows how rowdy it might get in here.

At that she looked at Glenn, who was continuing to drink from his personal wine bottle as he talked drunkenly to T-Dog who sat with a drunken, toothy grin. Then her eye's landed on Daryl again. He had a seat not too far away from T-Dog. He was eyeing Kris with a cold look. Maybe it's because he's jealous? Blake scoffed at herself and laughed on the inside. Of course he isn't. He probably doesn't trust him.

"What is it?" Kris asked, looking at Blake.

"Oh, nothing," Blake said as she tried her best to avoid looking back over at Daryl.

"Did you come here alone?" Kris asked

"No, thank god. Tanyon is actually my brother," she said as she glanced over at her brother.

"I thought so," Kris said. He continued, "I would have guessed that eventually. You two definitely look related,".

"Enlighten me?" Blake pushed as she smiled up at him, meeting his blues eyes.

"Well, first your nose. You two have the same nose and the same teeth. He doesn't have those beautiful green eyes you have though," he said as he sucked down the last of his glass.

Blake blushed uncontrollably, sipping her wine to hide the smile that gleamed on her face. Blake was starting to get push her limits with the drinking. It had been a few months since she went to a party and drank at school. Her arms and legs were tingling and her body started to get warmer.

Blake noticed that the bottle Kris was enjoying was decreasing a little faster than hers was. He was very tall and wide, so she knew that it was going to take more alcohol to get him going. Blake and Kris continued to sit together and chat. Blake hadn't had this in depth of a conversation with anybody who wasn't her brother. They laughed, they told stories of their college days and they reminisced about life before the turn. That conversation proved to be the last of the night as the stories started making both of them emotional over those they had lost. Kris has been stuck in the CDC since the disease started spreading in Asia. This was before it had even hit American soil. He had know idea where any of his friends or loved one's were. Blake didn't know whose story was more devastating.

When the very lengthy conversation slowed and Blake said goodnight to Kris, only a few stragglers were left in the kitchen. Blake, Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, Rick, Tanyon, and the other two doctors sat laughing, talking or playing cards. Off to the side of the poker game, Tanyon and Dr. Allister were lost in their own discussion. To Blake it looked like they were lost in each other, Blake didn't even recognize the look in Tanyon's eyes as he listened to Dr. Allister tell a story. Blake smiled. It had been a long time since Tanyon looked genuinely happy. A year before the turn, Tanyon had just broken his drinking problem. He developed it shortly after his fiancé had passed away. Leila was such a nice girl and the whole family was devastated after her passing. Tanyon took it especially hard and Carl, their brother, used to drag him home from bars almost every few days.

Blake felt her throat clench at the thought of her late brother, Carl. It was still hard to believe he was gone. Out of everyone, his death was too hard to accept. On that note, Blake poured herself another glass of wine.

Blake lifted her head off of her arms and blinked her eyes open. She could feel someone shaking her body as she tried to focus on making everything stop spinning.

"Hey. You alrigh'" the strong but soothing voice said. Blake turned her head lazily to see who it was.

"Officer…Sheriff. Rick," Blake stuttered, trying to make herself as coherent as possible.

"Yeah," Rick questioned with a goofy smile. Blake smiled back and knew she was pretty plastered as well. "Bea," he began, stifling a laugh, "You passed out on the table, I think you might want to call it a night," he said.

"Officer Rimes, I would like to inform you that I can drink as I please. You gonna throw me in the drunk tank?," Blake giggled as she tried her best to tease him.

"Just let her drunk ass stay here, Rick. I'm tired of baby-sitting her ass all the time," a rough voice said from behind Rick. Daryl.

Blake looked at Daryl and felt her heartbeat quicken. " I never asked you to babysit. You're talking like you're making some kind of stand. Get the fuck out if you don't want to talk to me," she snapped.

"Pft," Daryl said and then pointing his finger at her, "You don't know nothin'" he said.

"Are you going to enlighten me or keep treating me like I stole your damn candy from your lunch box. Jesus Christ, are you always this childish?" Blake asked, already wanting to end this exasperating conversation.

"Childish? Me? Says the one with lil' hearts in her eyes talkin' to the doctor. Just met the damn guy and we know nothin' 'bout him," Daryl says rather loudly.

"What's it to you? Huh? You aren't my father, so fucking hop off. I barely know you. Stop acting like an inconsiderate prick all the damn time. What? You think we're gonna bite? Do you think we're gonna kill you? Beat you?" She ended, watching Daryl flinch back at her words. Odd.

Daryl waved his hand off at them and grabbed his liquor bottle. "You clean up this hoodrat trash then. Come to me if you have something important or somebody important to take care of," he said as he started walking out the door.

Blake mumbled, "Fucking redneck," under her breathe. The conversation had put her on her toes, she actually felt a little sober after yelling at Daryl. But, now that the room was quiet and she realized that they had had an audience, she flushed a deep red. Her head starts to swim again as her adrenaline fades away. The alcohol was making itself welcome again.

"Come on, Blake. I'll help you back to your room," Glenn said as he stood up from his chair, completely tripping over himself and falling over. He groaned on the ground, and Blake could only imagine how funny he looked with his face and hat mushing into the floor.

Blake giggled and felt some tension relieve itself. "You okay, buddy?" she said. She heard a groan from the floor, which meant he was still alive.

"I'll walk her, guys. I'm the most sober out of any of you," Rick said with laughter in his voice. "T-Dog, mind helping Glenn out?"

T-Dog gave him a nod, "You got it," and yanked Glenn up from the floor and threw Glenn's arm around his shoulder.

"Let's go, Rocky," T-Dog said as he guided a very drunk Glenn out the door.

Blake and Rick watched the two leave. Once they were sure Glenn was being escorted safely Rick sat back with his glass of wine.

"Quite a day, huh?" he said looking at Blake over his wine glass while he took a sip.

Blake let out an amused huff. "Yeah, something like that."

"What do you think? I mean, about this place, the doctors," Rick asked.

Blake was surprised he'd ask her opinion. It seemed that Rick and Shane confided in each other about these situations.

"I haven't really had a chance to talk to the other doctors. I had a nice conversation with Kris, he seems like a good guy," Blake said, trying to hide her blush from the smile Rick was giving her.

"Yeah, I saw that," he said still grinning at her.

"What?" Blake said, trying to give off a serious tone.

"Nothin'" Rick said taking another sip of his wine. He put down his glass. "Would you like another glass, Miss Carter?"
"I would love one Mr. Grimes," she said as Rick poured more of the cherry red wine into her glass. "How have the past couple days been treating you? You know, besides the known facts," Blake said

"I guess it's alright," Rick said with a sigh. "My family is still here and safe. That's more than a lot of people have these days," Rick said, his grin leaving his face, making him look exhausted, maybe even a little defeated.

"But," Blake said, knowing that Rick wasn't saying something.

Rick looked at her and back down to his wine glass in his long, freshly cleaned fingers. "I guess it's a good thing that it's not too obvious," he began, "Me and Lori haven't been on the same page in months and I have felt us driftin' a part for a while. I would think in times like these, we could find a way to fix it," Rick paused for a moment, thinking of the rights words to say. "We're together for Carl, but I think something happened between her and Shane while I was gone. In the end, if it's true, which I'm sure it is, she did it because she thought I was dead."

Blake remained silent for a few moments. Bits and pieces of the conversation she heard between Shane and Lori when her and Tanyon found the camp flickered through her mind. She didn't want to get in the middle of this, deciding to keep that tidbit of information to herself. Right now, Rick just needed to talk.

"They look to me as their leader and I just hope I can keep everyone safe from the shit out there. I hope we get more answers tomorrow," Rick said, his face falling.

"Wow. You're a depressing drunk aren't you," Blake said, successfully putting a small smile on Rick's face.

"Maybe. Maybe more a stressed drunk," he said to her and then downed the last bit of wine. "We should probably get some sleep. We don't know what's in store for us tomorrow, always be prepared," as he stood, her offered his hand out to help Blake up. "I'll walk you, make sure you get back ok. Then I'm going to head in to my room, check on Carl."

"Alright," Blake said as she took Rick's hand, steadying herself on her own two feet. Once balanced Blake and Rick started to head out of the dining area. They wandered down the lightly lit hallways. Some lights were not being used to conserve power throughout the CDC.

As Rick and Blake neared her room she turned to him, "Listen, Rick, I'm not all that keen on relationships, especially marriages. But, I hope you and Lori can work things out. It's time like these where you find out who people really are. If you can't put anything into your marriage anymore, just put all that love towards your son. It will make you both happy and it'll lift the weight off of your shoulders. Forgiveness is something to be treasured," she said.

Rick nodded at her words, rubbing his stubble and looking at the ceiling. "I just want her to tell me the truth," he said.

"I'm sure she'll tell you, just give it time. It's hard to find the courage to admit such a fault, especially in times like these," Blake said putting her hand on Rick's shoulder, getting him to look up at her.

"Love should come as naturally as it does with your son. Don't force anything, let fate run its course," she said. Rick looked into her eyes.

"You definitely have a way with words," he said as he took a swig from the bottle he had taken from the dining area. He leaned his arm against the wall. To get Rick's mind off the topic of his crumbling marriage Blake said, "By the way, if you want a little more information on the doctors I saw Dale chatting with Dr. Jenner. Jenner seemed to be taking the earful but who knows what Dale might've found out. Maybe talk to Tanyon and Daryl too. I know Daryl isn't all that sociable but he talked to Dr. Allister for a little, maybe he found something out. My brother was definitely chattin' her up, so talk to him," she finished, watching Rick perk up at the mention of the Doctors.

"I'll do that, thanks Bea," he said. A few moments later a smile crept onto his face and he said, "Ya know. Daryl was staring down Dr. Dowd before, seemed a little irked that you and him were getting along so well," he said.

"Yeah," Blake said with a frown, "I don't think Daryl trusts me," she said feeling slightly shy with her admission.

"I don't know if it's that. He looks at Shane that way. Not you," Rick said.

"What are you trying to say?," Blake said, slightly peeved that Rick would even bring Daryl up like this anyway.

"Listen, I'm not trying to say anything," Rick said, still not wiping that grin off his face. Blake was happy to perk Rick up, but was not sure if she liked it at her own expense. "I guess I'll have to let fate run its course," throwing her words back at her.

"Well, well, Mr. Grimes, wonder where you heard that," she said, finally grinning at Rick's teasing.

"I don't know. From a friend of mine," he added with a wink and started to walk past her back to his room. "Goodnight, Blake. Get a good nights sleep," he said, grabbing her head and smacking a loud kiss on the top of her head.

She laughed and slightly pushed him off, the wine starting to get to him again.

"You sure you'll be okay getting back?" she asked as Rick was walking down the hallway.

"I'll be alright. I'm a cop," he said looking over his shoulder.

Blake laughed and opened her door, "Night Sheriff," she said as she stepped into the first bedroom she has had in weeks, and shut the door. Tanyon was snoring loudly on the long couch along the side of the plain, simple bedroom. Blake began to the feel the exhaustion and fatigue of the pass few weeks after she had closed herself into the darkness. She threw on a large t-shirt from her bag after stripping from her clothes. Crawling into bed she laid her head on the pillow going over the past few days in her head: meeting the group, the walker attack, Rick, Glenn, the loss of Amy and Jim, the CDC and Kris. Her final thoughts into what would be a deep and peaceful sleep was of a rough redneck.