Road Trip To The CDC

Asher's POV:

It was dawn when the group started to pack up their stuff. Everyone was exhausted and wasn't looking happy to be amongst the dead once again.

"Everyone listen up. Those who have C.B.S., we're going to be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down. Now, if you have a problem and don't have a C.B., or can't get a signal, hit your horn one time. The caravan will stop. Any questions?" Shane said. Cat and I listened from our spot against our RV. The Dixons had already packed their stuff up last night and stuck it in the RV.

"We're, uh… We're not going" Everyone looked towards Morales in shock. No one was expecting him and his family to leave on their own.

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people" Morales' wife, Miranda, commented once she saw our faces.

"You go out on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane warns. Morales just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"We'll take our chances. I have to do what's best for my family." I shook my head and glanced at Cat, and saw she doing the same thing. Morales may think this is the best idea, separating from the group, but he won't be able to protect themselves. Seeing how they don't have many weapons. It was suicide.

"You sure?"

"We talked about it. We're sure." He responded firmly. Not changing his mind.

"Alright." Shane sighed and nodded to Rick. He pulled out a gun and handed it to Morales. Shane then hands him a box of ammo.

"This box is half full."

"Thank you all, for everything," Miranda says quite emotionally as her eyes fill with tears. Everyone began to say goodbye to them. What broke both my and Cat's hearts was when the children started crying while hugging their friends. Knowing Sofia and Carl won't see their friends again.

"Fuckin hell" Merle muttered. We all watched as their family climbed into their car and drove away. Causing Sofia and Carl to cry harder. Carol immediately took Sofia in her arms and whispered soothing words to her.

"Did you put your bike in the compartment already?" Cat asked Daryl who nodded in response. There's a mechanical section under the RV that allows us to store our motorcycles. Mine and Cat's motorcycles are stored underneath the RV. Just in case we needed to go on a quick run.

It didn't take too long for everyone to finish preparing for the trip. Dale is driving his RV with Glenn beside him and Jacqui, who is taking care of Jim. Rick is driving his car with Lori, Carl, and Sofia. Carol wanted to ride with Ash and me with the Dixons. After reassurance from Rick and Cat, she felt more comfortable with leaving her daughter with them. Shane is driving his car with Andrea, while Amy rides with T-Dog in his car.

On the way to the CDC, Dale's RV radiator hose busted, causing him to hit his horn to signal to the group that there was a problem. We all left our vehicles and made our way to Dale's RV.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the one off of the cube van" Dale said stressed. While some of the others looked around anxiously in case walkers approached.

"Can you jury-rig it?"

"That's all I've been doing so far. It's mainly duct tape rather than a hose. And I am out of duct tape." While the conversation was going on about the RV, I asked Cat to grab some fruit and sandwiches for the kids.

"Here you two. You guys must be hungry." Cat said, handing them the container filled with fruit and a box with sandwiches in it.

"Thank you, Cat." they said in unison. Making her smile and ruffle their hair. She walked back to us, as we were still around the RV.

"Y'all, it's Jim… I don't think he can take it anymore." Jacqui said, stepping out of the RV and getting our attention.

"Hey Rick, you think you can hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead and see what we can use." Shane said, earning a nod from Rick. T-Dog had offered to go with him. The two of them hopped in Shane's car and drove ahead. Rick went to check on Jim. I stood next to Cat who is next to Daryl with a cigarette hanging out her mouth and spinning her knives in her hand.

"Thank you for giving the kids some food. I appreciate it." Carol said with a small kind smile as she stopped in front of us.

"It is no problem, Carol. We just want them to stay healthy the best they can" I replied with a smile.

Shane and T-Dog came back shortly after that and Rick stepped out of the RV. Looking concerned.

"He wants us to leave him here" He sighed. Everyone but myself, Cat, and the Dixons had looks of disbelief. We had the look that said 'I told ya so'.

"He's lucid?" Carol asked while moving her arms around her with a frown on her face. I placed a small heating charm on her and watched as she relaxed a bit. Even though she was confused for a minute.

"Yes, he seems to be."

"If that's what he wants, then we got our answer." I hear Cat let out a quiet grunt while leaning her head on Daryl's shoulder. I look at Daryl and Cat with a teasing smirk on my face. We have a feeling that Daryl is our mate.

"We just leave him here and take off? I'm not sure I can live with that man." Shane said and ran his fingers through his hair. This was affecting him. We could tell he didn't want to leave a member of the group in the middle of nowhere.

"This isn't any of your calls," Lori scolded. Glaring at Shane. Cat and I started to lose our patience with her. She seriously thinks she is the boss of everyone just because Shane and Rick are the leaders.

"Damn it, Lori. Would you lay off of them for a minute? Of course, they are unsure what to do. They are put in a difficult position. You going at them like that isn't helping this situation." I told her. She looked at me with anger and disbelief. Before she could say anything Cat spoke up.

"Shane, how about leaving him with a gun? Just in case he has any trouble or if he wants to use it as a way out." Cat said to him. Shane smiled with gratitude and nodded his head. I lead Cat away from Lori before she rips her head off, ignoring the glares she's giving us.

"Damn, he looks like hell" Merle commented as soon as he saw Jim. Who was pale and sickly-looking. Cat glared at Merle, he huffed slightly and smoked his cigarette. "You are a scary-ass woman".

"Good," She replied with a smirk. I glanced over at Daryl and saw he was looking at us. I smiled at him as he turned his attention back to the group. Causing my smile to widen and I turned my attention to the kids.

"There you go. That's it." Rick muttered as he and Shane placed Jim against a tree.

"Hey, look at that, another tree." Jim croaked out. Making everyone slightly chuckle. After a little conversation and everyone said goodbye, we got back into our vehicles. We continued our road trip to the CDC.

It didn't take long until we arrived at the CDC. Once Cat stepped out of our RV, I immediately saw Cat covering her mouth and nose from the smell. I immediately went to her side as I knew she hated the smell. The smell is coming from hundreds of corpses that surround the front of the building, where the military once was. We started to approach the building quietly, so we didn't attract any loose walkers. I was behind Cat and Daryl with Merle next to me.

"Alright everyone, let's keep moving. Stay together and stay quiet." Shane ordered quietly. We moved around the bodies carefully. Once we reached the building, we noticed that its shutters were down and locked. The Dixons, Cat, and I stayed in the back, with our weapons up, watching for walkers.

"Nothing?" Shane said. He hits the shudder, I groan slightly because the noise will cause walkers to find us.

"There is nobody there," T-Dog whispered. He looked between Rick and Shane frantically.

"Then why are the shutters down?"

"Walkers" I shouted as we started firing. I used my bow and placed two arrows on it before aiming them at the walkers. It struck and the walkers went down. I repeated this process.

"Nice shot," Daryl said, truly impressed. I smirked.

"Thank you, love" I winked before going back killing walkers. He nudged playfully before also going back to killing the walkers.

"You led us to a fuckin graveyard!" Merle shouted while killing the walkers coming close to us.

"He made a call" Shane replied. We could tell he was worried, just like the rest of us were.

"It was the wrong fuckin call"

The group began arguing and trying to get Rick away from the door but was hopeless. He didn't move as he stated he saw the camera move. They said he was seeing things and tried to get him to move again.

"I know you are in there! I know you can hear me!" Rick started to shout at the camera, trying to talk to the other person on the other side. I took my knives out and threw them at the walkers. Hitting their foreheads.

"Someone better open the door or I am burning it to the ground." I heard Catalina next to me say. I hummed in agreement. Times like this are why I am glad Cat and I don't ever run out of ammo or arrows or anything we need for our weapons.

"Please! We're desperate! Please help us! We have children, women and no food and hardly any gas" Rick begged desperately, as Lori and Shane tried to get Rick to move.

"Rick, there is no one there," Lori told him frantically.

"Please, we have nowhere to go" He shouted to the camera again. Ignoring his wife and best friend.

"That's debatable" I mumbled as I killed another walker.

"Not now, darling" Cat hissed, killing the walker that came behind the military truck.

"Fine" I glared with no real heat behind it.

"If you don't us in you're killing us! Open your eyes. Please!" Rick shouted.

"Come on, let's go, buddy," Shane said as I looked over my shoulder and saw the defeated look Rick had on his face. I frowned at that. He was so sure about this place. Not his fault. He suggested while everyone else stayed silent.

"Please help us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" My heart started hurting for the broken man behind me. Shane managed to drag him away. Right as we started heading the vehicles the shutters opened. Immediately drowning us with a bright light.

"Fucking hell. That's a bright light" I groaned as we shielded our eyes.

"LeFays! Dixons! Cover the back!" Rick instructed as we slowly made our way into the building. Rick called out a few times and got no answer.

"Hello?" The sound of a gun cocking was heard, causing the Dixons, myself, and Cat to aim in its direction. Same with those who had weapons.

"Anyone infected?" The man, who was holding the gun, questioned. Everyone can tell he was being cautious with the way his body is tensed up.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it" Rick replied.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" the man asked.

"A chance." I had to hold back a scoff at Rick's response. I looked at Cat and saw she had to do the same thing. Asking someone, who you don't know, a chance was a lot to ask for. That was even before the apocalypse. Now it was almost impossible.

"That is asking quite a lot these days" the man replied, lowering his gun slowly. He looked at each of us intensely.

"I know"

"You all submit a blood test. That's your price of admission." Cat and I let out a tired sigh, knowing we had to change our blood to stop showing our abnormal results because of our magic.

"We can do that" Rick accepted.

"If you have stuff to bring in, do it now. Once this door closes, it will stay closed." He demanded. Everyone rushed to their vehicles to get their belongings. Cat and I didn't have much, only our bottomless bags, but we needed to lock up the RV. So once the Dixons, and Carol got their stuff and Cat grabbed our bags I locked the RV. Everyone returned, and the man sealed the entrance electronically. He gestured for us to follow him.

"Rick Grimes"

" Jenner" Jenner shook Rick's hand as we followed him into an elevator. It was a tight fit. Cat found herself pressed against Daryl's chest with his hand sitting slightly on her hips.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked Jenner, eyeing him suspiciously while he held the gun. I looked at him and smiled, getting a smaller one back.

"Plenty was lying around. I just familiarized myself" He replied emotionless. Making me frown and I looked at Cat who had the same expression. We don't trust him. Something about him just made us tense up.

"Relax Mistress, Master. He's grieving and has given up having hope." Mortem whispered inside our heads, making us subconsciously lean our heads back. Cat ended up leaning against Daryl's chest and she was lost in thought she didn't notice the blush on his face or that he tightened his grip on her hips. Merle and I noticed and smirked before turning away when the elevator stopped. I heard Cat huff as she had to move away from Daryl's warmth and walk out of the elevator.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked as Jenner led us through the halls.

"Are you claustrophobic?"

"A tiny bit" She replied sheepishly. I smiled at her and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze before I fell back into step with Cat and the Dixons.

We had arrived in a big room and Jenner had ordered Vi, a voice-activated system, to turn the lights on. I squinted. He had begun setting up to retrieve our blood. Cat and I went last and as soon as he pulled the blood in the Syringe, we wordlessly removed any traces of magic from the sample. We learned that when we were healers in a past life.

That evening, the group was sitting at a large table, enjoying some dinner with a few bottles of wine. Cat and I were somewhat tipsy, knowing we wouldn't get too drunk thanks to our high alcohol tolerance. Everyone, besides the children, was also a bit tipsy. We noticed that Rick, Glenn, and the Dixons were becoming more intoxicated as time went on.

"You know, in Italy, children can have a little bit of wine with their dinner. Also in France." Dale had playfully suggested as he looked between Carl and Lori.

"When Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." She laughed as she picked up her glass and took a gulp of wine. Cat and I made sure to sit away from Andrea and Lori. With alcohol involved, arguments tend to happen. We would rather not ruin a somewhat good night because those two can't keep their mouths shut for once.

"What is it going to hurt? Come on" Rick teased. Although I can see the anger in her eyes. She placed a fake smile as Dale poured a small amount into a glass for Carl. I can tell Cat noticed the look as she tensed slightly.

"Here you go little lad" We watched Carl as he took a sip. His face scrunched up in disgust. As soon as he did the room burst into laughter.

"That's my boy" Lori laughed. She grabbed his glass and poured it into hers.

"Stick to sour pop bud" Cat laughed as I pushed some pop toward him, getting a large smile from him.

"Not you though Lina, Ash." I looked towards Daryl, who was at the other hand of the table. Smirking at us.

"What?"

"Keep drinking loves. I want to see how red your face gets." He teased before taking a sip from his drink. Causing both Cat and I to raise an eyebrow.

"Are you challenging us, Daryl?" Cat said. Daryl's smirk had widened as he kept eye contact with us.

"Perhaps I am" He purred out the words, causing chills to go down our back. I looked at my wife briefly before getting back into eye contact with Daryl. In unison, Cat and I took our half-filled glass and downed it in one gulp while our eyes never left him. The interaction caused the group to laugh before going back to their conversation. Our eyes stayed in contact with Daryl's until Merle got his attention.

"I swear you three have a strong sexual chemistry," Amy whispered to us. I turned and winked at her.

"I know right? It's so tense we could cut it with a knife" Catalina teased, causing Amy to laugh at us.

"So doc, are you going to tell us what the hell happened here?" Shane asked, causing the atmosphere to be tense.

"We're celebrating Shane. We don't need to do this now." Rick said with a deep frown on his face. He looked with slight disapproval at his best friend.

"Whoa, wait a minute. That's why we're here, isn't it? This was your big move. Supposed to find all of the answers but instead, we found… A single man. Why?" He made a valid point. Those questions caused Cat and me to exchange some worried glances.

"Well, when things had gotten bad, a lot of people just left. To be with their families. When things got worse and the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." Jenner responded.

"What a bunch of pussies" Merle mumbled, slightly drunk, to his brother who ended up nudging him. He kept his eyes on the doctor. Cat and I chucked under our breath at Merle's comment, earning a proud smirk from the older Dixon, but a disapproving one from Rick.

"Every last one of them?" Andrea questions with suspicion.

"No. Many couldn't handle going out the door. They just.. Opted out. There was a rash of suicides. It was a really bad time." Jenner seems emotionless about what the topic is about. Which did nothing to help with Cat and my opinion about the man. From the looks we saw on the Dixon brothers, we could tell they felt the same.

"But you didn't leave. Why's that?" Shane asked him. Waiting for the man to down the rest of his wine.

"I just kept on working. I was hoping to do some good" He shrugged carelessly. Glenn had stood up with a frown while he finished his wine.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill" He scolded lightly at Shane. My lip twitched up into an amused smile. Glenn is the one who usually stays away from confrontation, but a drunk Glenn is bold.

Once dinner was finished, everyone was either drunk or tipsy and in high spirits. Jenner showed us to the section of the compound that holds the bedrooms. Cat was currently on the back of a drunken Merle. I laughed when he stumbled into the wall or into Daryl's way causing Daryl to nudge him. I was behind them just in case Cat fell off.

"Most of the facility is shut down, including most of the housing, so you have to make it work down here. There are cots in storage, the couches are comfortable. There is a rec room down the hall but don't plug anything in." Making Carl and Sofia excited causing me to smile softly.

"Also don't plug anything in that draws in power and go easy on the hot water if you go and shower." The Dixon brothers, Cat, and I weren't all that bothered about the hot water as we were able to have one whenever thanks to our RV. Everyone had gotten excited and went to find a room. Leaving the four of us in the hall.

"We can make a comfortable bed for us if you two want once we find a room," I said quietly. The two brothers nodded their heads in agreement. Cat must have fallen asleep because she jumped a little when Daryl shook her. He gave her a small smile.

"We have found a room" He whispered. Cat nodded and slid off Merle's back. Daryl helped her stabilize as she stumbled a bit. I looked over and smiled at them. He rolled his eyes in fondness at Cat as Merle and I chuckled at them in amusement and adoration.

"Thank you, darling" He grunted in response. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how to handle any compliments when they are directed to him. We looked around the room and Cat and I scrunched our noses in distaste. I nodded to Cat and with a wave of her hand, the bed became big enough to fit all four of us.

"Man, I love magic" Merle sighed. He fell forward on the bed face first.

"Merle you can not sleep like that" I scolded. I nudged him but I got a light kick in the leg and a grunt in response. I turn to Daryl and my wife with a small pout. Cat watched with a smile, while Daryl was watching with a blank look.

"Get in" Cat ordered making Daryl look at me. I knew better than to fight with her and got in right away after changing into my night clothes and kissing her cheek. Cat looked at Daryl with a raised eyebrow and pointed to the bed. He didn't move, he just crossed his arms and looked at her with hidden amusement.

"Daryl, I would not fight her on this. She is one scary ass woman when she's mad. I made her mad more than once and she threw daggers at me one time. Her poison laced daggers." I stated, paled slightly at the memory.

Daryl raised his hands and moved his way to the bed not wanting to make Cat mad. Laying next to the wall, he nodded in approval. I saw she double-checked the door to make sure it was locked. Before taking her shirt off, leaving her in the red sports bra.

"Where is it?" I hear her mutter to herself as she looks for her baggy shorts in her bag. After a few minutes, she found them and started to change. I could tell she forgot who was all in there for a moment before I spoke up.

"Eyes to yourselves boys."

She turned around and noticed both Merle and Daryl were looking at her while I was glaring at the two more so at Merle. She smiled sheepishly before turning the lights off and slipped in between me and Daryl.

"Goodnight baby, Daryl, and Merle," I said before letting sleep take me for the night.