Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 6 (CDC)

The group cautiously entered the building, weapons raised. CJ put her bow over her shoulder and unholstered her gun from her leg, lifting it slightly to be ready to shoot if need be. Daryl walked backwards next to her keeping a close eye on the entrance for walkers.

"Hello?" Rick called out. His voiced echoed around the room which looked like a lobby.

The sound of a gun clicking turned everyone's attention to the doorway across the room from them. A nervous-looking man stood with a rifle pointed at the group. Judging by his stance alone, CJ was pretty confident that he had never fired a gun before.

"Anyone infected?" he asked.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it," Rick answered in a calm tone.

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

"A chance," CJ responded simply, stepping forward so she was stood next to Rick.

"That's asking a awful lot these days," the man shot back.

"We know."

The man paused for a moment and scanned the whole group with his eyes, gun still raised. "You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission."

Rick nodded his head and lowered his shotgun more. "We can do that," he said.

The man hesitated again before eventually lowering his rifle. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it won't open again."

Some of the group ran back to the road to collect all their belongings from the cars. CJ and Daryl grabbed everything from the truck they had ridden in without speaking and headed straight back to join the group inside, collecting their arrows from the rotten skulls of the dead walkers from before as they ran. Once everything was brought in, the doors were shut and the shutters came down.

"Vi, seal the main entrance and kill the power up here," the man said as he tapped a key card on a pad on the wall.

"Rick Grimes," Rick introduced himself and held his hand out.

"Doctor Edwin Jenner," the man responded and shook Rick's hand with a small smile. "Come with me."

Jenner led the group into an elevator. With everyone plus the bags it meant the small space was filling up quickly. Glenn came to stand next to CJ as they were forced to stand uncomfortably close to one another.

"Ow!" Glenn whispered loudly at the woman. "That's my foot you're standing on!"

"You put your foot right where I was gonna stand it is not my fault!" CJ argued back, matching is tone through gritted teeth.

"What? What does that even mean, CJ? That makes no sense!"

"You really didn't have to stand this close to me, Glenn. Okay? This is on you!"

The two of them kept bickering until they turned their gaze over to Shane as he cleared his throat. They saw him glaring at them with an annoyed expression and they both looked to the ground.

"Sorry," they both said simultaneously. CJ heard a small giggle and looked down to see Carl looking over at her with an amused expression. Okay, maybe they weren't really whispering.

Everyone else piled in to the elevator and the doors shut. Daryl looked over to Jenner from where he was stood behind CJ. "Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" he asked.

"There were plenty left lying around, I familiarised myself," Jenner replied. "But you all look harmless enough," he added as he looked down at Carl with a smile. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

The elevator stopped with a jolt and opened to reveal a long corridor with white walls. Jenner started walking and gestured for the group to follow him. "Are we underground?" Carol asked.

"You claustrophobic?"

"A little."

"Try not to think about it."

Jenner brought the group into a huge, round room filled with computers and desks. As they walked further into the room the lights switched on around them. CJ's eyes widened at the sight of where she was.

"Welcome to Zone Five," Jenner said, turning to look at Rick with a small smile.

Rick questioned the doctor, "Where is everyone? The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it. It's just me here," Jenner replied, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guests," Jenner called out, looking up slightly as he spoke.

"Hello guests. Welcome," an automated voice echoed around the large room.

Jenner looked back at Rick again. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry," he said. "If you'd like to follow me," he added as he gestured to another door.

He brought the group to a much smaller room, CJ figured it was some kind of presentation room judging by the chairs and the projector screen on the wall. A small table sat at the front of the room and Jenner set up all his equipment for everyone's blood tests.

Rick went first, then Shane, then Lori, then it was CJ's turn. She stood up from her seat and made her way over to Jenner. She sat down across from him and held out her left arm. She looked away as he cleaned up her arm and took her blood. As he stuck a small band-aid over her vein, Jenner nodded over to Daryl to come over after CJ.

As she stood up CJ suddenly became very light-headed. It was then she realised how both hungry and exhausted she was from the last few days. She tried to push past it and took a step forward but her vision went slightly blurry and she felt her legs slightly give out beneath her. She suddenly felt two hands grab her arms and lift her to stand up straight before she could fall to the ground. She looked up and her vision focused again, she saw Daryl was the one that had caught her and he was looking right at her with a concerned expression.

"You good?" he questioned, still holding her up.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good," she sighed out as she looked up at him. "Headrush. Stood up to fast, that's all," she lied.

Daryl held onto CJ for a few more seconds before nodding his head and gently letting go of her arms.

CJ pursed her lips into a small smile at Daryl as she walked around him and went back to her seat next to Carl. After everything that had happened over the last few days, she knew that everyone was feeling the same way as her. Nobody was complaining, why would she? Honestly, she didn't care too much how she felt, she was just relieved and grateful that her and the others in the group had made it this far.

Once Daryl's blood was taken he went back over to where he was stood leaning with his back against the wall next to the door. He kept unintentionally glancing over at CJ who was whispering and giggling with Carl. He could see in her face that despite the fact she was smiling, she looked sad. He had noticed similar things before in the camp. She would be sat on her own, clearly spaced out with an emotionless expression but as soon as Carl or Sophia or the other kids would call her name or run over to her, her whole demeanour would switch to humour them.

Andrea went last for her test and questioned Jenner as he took her blood, "If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever, so what's the point of all this?"

"I've already broken all the rules just by letting you in here," Jenner answered. "At least let me be thorough."

Once he was done, Andrea stood up and closed her eyes for a moment, clearly experiencing a similar feeling to CJ. "You alright?" Jenner asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"She hasn't eaten in days," Jacqui answered as she helped Andrea to her seat. "None of us have."

Jenner looked across the whole group for a moment before standing up with confidence and walking over to the door. "Come with me," he said with a smile.

Everybody looked around slightly confused. CJ's eyes met Daryl's for a second before he immediately looked down as if he had been caught staring. CJ thought nothing of it though. Jenner opened the door and started walking down the corridor, closely followed by everyone else.