Time to Grow Up

Chapter 9: Really?!

...Cara's POV…

…Last Chapter…

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asks from behind me.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough. Except you," He looked down at Carl, "I'll have to keep my eye on you." He chuckled.

"Actually, you should be keeping an eye on me."

…Cara's POV…

…Now…

Dr. Jenner looked at me funny, before turning to face the doors. There was an awkward silence for a while, then the elevator opened. Jenner stepped out first, then the group followed. I stayed by Glenn and Daryl, not wanting to be near Jenner more than necessary.

"Are we underground?" Mom asks, resting a hand on Sophia's shoulders. I gulped, thinking about my greatest fear.

"You claustrophobic?" Jenner asks back.

"A little." She looks over at me.

"Try not to think about it," That is kind of hard to do when your fear is being buried alive. I thought, "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The room lite up as we walked in, "Welcome to zone 5."

"Where is everybody? Rick asks, stepping forward, "The other doctors, the staff?" Good question, Rick.

"I'm it," Jenner replied, "It's just me here."

I looked up at Glenn and rolled my eyes. He frowned, mouthing 'What?' I moved one of my fingers around in a circle next to my head, saying that I thought Jenner was crazy. Glenn chuckled and nodded, basically agreeing with me.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Lori asks, looking around, "Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome." Jenner yelled, slightly looking up at the ceiling. I followed his gaze, but didn't see anything. Suddenly, a computerized voice echoed through the large room.

"Hello, guests. Welcome." For some reason, I pictured a computerized woman smiling and waving at us.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner said, looking distraught.

…

One by one, all of us got our blood drawn. I didn't even flinch when he shoved the needle into my thinning arm. He looked at me like he was trying to figure out why I didn't flinch. I told him that I didn't feel pain anymore. That made him upset.

Andrea was the last person to get her blood drawn. While he was working on her, I went and sat down next to my sister. She cuddled up next to me, not really liking us being a part after what happened at the camp. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight. I felt eyes on us, which caused me to look away from her. It was Andrea. I could see the pain in her eyes. I frowned and mouthed, 'I'm sorry'. She just shook her head.

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea said, looking back at Jenner.

"I've already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here. Let me just be thorough." He replied pulling out the syringe, "All done." She stood up, but it seems that she got dizzy because she nearly fell over.

"ooh." She said, using one hand to grab onto the chair and the other to wipe her forehead.

"You okay?" Jenner asks, looking concerned.

"Mmm"

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." Jacqui said, looking around the group. We all kind of nodded in agreement.

…

Everyone had been sitting at the tables in the CDC cafeteria, laughing. I was sitting next to Glenn and T-dog. I took small bites of my food as I watched Daryl almost fall out his chair with a bottle in his hand. I turned to look at Carl, who was sitting next to his mother, as he asked her if he could have a drink of wine. Lori had just laughed and gave him a stern no.

Raising his wine glass, Dale gestured with it, "You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner," Dale laughed, pouring some into his glass. "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France then he can have some." Lori said, shooting Rick a look.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick laughed, "Come on," This time Dale laughed, "What?" Everyone started to laugh. I smiled a little bit, before shoving some potatoes into my mouth. I watched as Dale poured a little bit into a glass for Carl.

"There you are, young lad." Carl looked at it for a second, then he took a sip. Everyone laughed loudly when his face twisted in disgusted.

"Eww." Everyone laughed harder.

"That's my boy. That's my boy." Lori chuckled, patting his back.

"Yuck." He shook his head.

"Good boy." I smiled softly, taking a sip of my own drink.

"That tastes nasty." Carl said, glancing over at me. Everyone continued to laugh.

Shane looked at Carl and said, "Well, just stick to sour pop there, bud."

Daryl looked over at Glenn, who was taking a drink of pop, "Not you, Glenn." Daryl said, taking Glenn's glass and filling it with wine.

"What?" Glenn looked around confused.

"Keep drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." All of the guys laughed. I simply smiled up at Glenn.

Then Rick stands up and says, "It seems to me that we never properly thanked our host."

T-dog stood up and yelled, "He is more than just our host!"

"Hear! Hear!" Everyone, but me, called.

"Here's to you, doc. Booyah!" Daryl yelled, raising his wine bottle.

"Calm down, Daryl. No need to get yourself too excited." I laughed.

"Booyah!"

"Thank you," Jenner replied, meekly.

"Booyah!" Everyone clinked their glasses together.

Everyone was having a good time, but then Shane had to and mess it all up. He just had to turn this into something somber.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked, "All the other doctors that were supposed to figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane," Rick said, "We don't need to do this now." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move... We're supposed to find all the answers. Instead we..." Shane chuckled. It was kind of dark and creepy, "We found him. Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad," Jenner sighed, "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."

"Every last one?" Shane asked, leaning forward.

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

"You didn't leave," Andrea said, "Why?"

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

Glenn looked at Shane, before taking another drink of his wine, "Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man."

…

After everyone had finished eating, Jenner led us down a long hallway. Sophia held onto my hand the whole time.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that the kids might enjoy," He looked at us, "Just don't plug in of the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies...if you shower, go easy on the hot water." He said, before walking away.

"Hot water?" Glenn asked, grinning widely.

"That's what the man said." T laughed.

I stepped forward, "I think that if we shower together, we'd save water."

Rick smiled down at me and ruffled my hair, "That's a good idea, kiddo." He looked at the rest of the group, "Lori and I. Andrea can you and Jacqui share?" They both nodded. "Alright, Carol and Sophia." I froze.

I looked at him, "What about me?"

He looked at Lori and my mother, they both nodded, "You and Carl can share, if ya both are comfortable with that." I looked over at Carl. He shrugged.

"I'm cool with that. We'll just turn away from each other." I nodded, turning away from him. A deep red blush invade my tan cheeks.

We all moved down the hallway to the shower area, Carl and I walked awkwardly next to each other. I tightened the straps of my bag, while everyone else chatted animatedly about the hot shower. As we entered the shower area, I led Carl down to the last shower. I didn't want to be close to the adults, mostly Rick and Lori because I figured they'd want to spend some more time together. For one, I didn't want to hear that and for two, I don't think Carl would want to hear his parents going at it.

I sat my bag down in the corner, "I have some shower stuff in my bag, if you want to use that. It is a little girly and I don't know if you want to smell like flowers." I pulled out my stuff.

He shrugged, "It doesn't really matter." I nodded and set the stuff in the shower.

I turned to look at him, "Can you turn around, please?" He nodded and turned away. I stripped out of my dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. I turned it on and put it at a temperature that would waste too much hot water.

"Can I come in now?" Carl asked.

"Yeah." I ran my head under the water, drenching myself in water.

I watched as Carl walked in with his eyes closed, causing me to giggle. I leaned forward and grabbed his hand, pulling him in. I didn't look anywhere but his face, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. I pulled him under the water with me.

"It is okay to open your eyes, Carl. It'll make it easier to wash yourself, if your eyes are open." He let out a shaky breathe.

"Okay." He slowly opened his eyes. "Oh." He looked down at my little chest.

"Carl!" I whispered, trying to cover myself.

"Sorry, Cara." He mumbled, wiping the water from his eyes.

I sighed, "Its fine, Carl." I turned away from him, opening my shampoo.

It took us twenty minutes to figure out that is hard to shower with two people, who aren't looking at each other. In the end, I told Carl that I'd wash him and myself. To say that we was a little red, was an understatement.

"You can wash your private parts. I'd feel more comfortable, if you washed that yourself." I whispered, wiping the dirt from his face. I had to lean up close and scrub a little bit.

I could feel his warm breath on my face. I don't know why, but I had this urge to lean forward and kiss him. I quickly moved away from him and turned to get more soap. I rubbed it on the cloth I found in the bottom of my bag, then I turned to Carl. Hs eyes were slightly parted, but not fully open. I blushed a little bit and walked back over to him, I slowly ran the cloth over his chest. The dirt came off pretty easily. Neither of us spoke. He let me wash him. When I finally got to his private parts, I took his hand and put the cloth in it.

"It's your turn. I'm done, so I am going to get out. I'll wait for you, if you want me too." I whispered.

He nodded, "Please?"

"Sure." I left him in the shower to finish up.

I dried off with a towel I found in the shower area. Once I was dry, I pulled out a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. I slipped on my undergarments, the rushed to put on the rest of my clothes. I left the enclosed area to let Carl get dressed. Once he was all done, I cleaned up the mess and led him out of the room. We walked down the hall, looking for an empty room. We found one close to the rec and took it. After we set our stuff down, Carl and I went separate ways. He went to the rec room to hang out with his mom and Sophia, while I went to explore the place. I took of my empty bags, just in case I found stuff that we might need if this all goes south. Which I think it might.

I searched the empty rooms, grabbing the useful things and shoved them in my bag. When I got to a four way hallway, I looked for a sign that told me where each hallway led too. I did find one. It said that if I turned right, I'd find the samples lab (not going down there); if I was to turn left, it would led me to the gym; and if I were to go forward, it would led me to the nurses office. Ding! Ding! Looks like I am going to be heading forward.

I silently moved down the long hallway, making sure to look in all the rooms I can on my way. There were some rooms that were locked, so I couldn't get in. When I finally located the nurse's office, the door was locked. I rolled my eyes and reached into my bag, pulling out a little hammer I found in one of the offices. I also grabbed a rag from the bottom of the bag and wrapped it around the hammer. With one hard strike of the hammer, the thin glass broke. I brushed away the broken glass and reached in to unlock the door. I guess I missed a piece, because when I pulled away I cut my wrist on it.

"Really!"

…

A/N HEY EVERYONE! I AM SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE THIS. I'VE BEEN SUPER BUSY WITH SCHOOL AND WORK. AND YES I TOTALLY WROTE THIS CHAPTER, WHILE WATCHING THE WALKING DEAD MARATHON RIGHT BEFORE THE SEASON 6 PREMIRE! I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS SEASON! I CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO START TONIGHT.

SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE SCENE WITH CARA AND CARL? I WANTED TO ADD A LITTLE SPICE TO IT WITHOUT IT BEING TOO SPICY.

Hey Guest! Thank you for reviewing my story! I hope you like this chapter!

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G-V Princess