𝟖. cdc
WHITE FLAG
chapter eight : cdc
{ season one - episode five & six }
THE RV'S RADIATOR hose decided to unfortunately burst, meaning the group had to come to a stop to check it out. Kloe sat on the step of the RV, just in case something happened to Jim and Jacqui inside.
"I told you we'd never get far on that hose," Dale glanced at Rick. "I said I needed the one from the cube van."
"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked.
"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose," Dale answered. "And I'm out of duct tape," he added.
Shane brung a pair of binoculars to his eyes and gazed through them. "I see something up ahead," he informed everyone. "Gas station if we're lucky."
"Y'all, Jim..." Jacqui ran past the younger Schmidt and jumped onto the concrete. "It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore," she shook her head as she stepped back into the RV.
"Hey, Rick, you want to hold down the fort?" Shane asked. "I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back."
"Yeah, I'll come along too and I'll back you up," T-Dog offered.
"You all keep your eyes open now," Shane instructed. "We'll be right back."
Rick treaded toward the steps of the RV, making Kloe shift over a little to let the man through. He nodded as a thank you as he stepped inside.
She glanced back down to her fingers and began to twiddle with them with nervousness. "Hey," a voice greeted. She lifted her head to see Zayn.
"Hi," she replied simply.
"Are you all right?" he asked as he leant against the door of the RV.
"I'm fine, except he isn't," she gestured toward the back of the RV where Jim was with her thumb.
"It's just a fever," Zayn reminded. "If we can get him to the CDC, then there might be a cure."
"Weren't you the one who didn't want to go?" she asked, staring plainly at the concrete road.
"Yeah," he answered truthfully, "but I'm just trying to make you feel better, Klo."
"No, Zayn," she shook her head, rising to her feet at the speed of light. "I know, we all know, that Jim isn't going to make it to the CDC. His bones are extremely fragile, and he's coughing up his own blood," she explained. "If there was a cure, don't you think it would be here by now?"
...
"It's what he says he wants," Rick stated, he informed the group all that Jim wanted to be left behind and that he wants to be with his family.
"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.
"He seems to be," Rick answered. "I would say yes."
"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down," Dale spoke up, "you misunderstood." He shook his head, "I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."
"We just leave him here?" Shane muttered. "We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that."
"It's not your call," Lori said, "either one of you."
Rick took a deep breath as he finally decided what was best for Jim. It wasn't long before Rick and Shane went inside to grab the man, making the group patiently wait with sadness.
They all walked over to a large tree. It was beautiful. If Kloe ever died, she would've loved to be under this type of tree. The forest green leaves poked out of the branches, the edges beginning to die by the season change.
Rick and Shane placed Jim against the bark of the tree as he grunted. "Yeah. That's it," Rick whispered softly as he gently released his grip off of the sick man.
"Hey, another damn tree," Jim muttered, looking up at the beautiful tree.
"Hey, Jim..." Shane panted, "I mean, you know it doesn't have to be this." Shane shook his head slightly, knowing he was going to regret leaving the man behind.
"No. It's good," Jim quietly replied. "The breeze feels nice."
"Okay. All right," Shane stood up, allowing Jacqui to step over to the weak man.
"Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight," she leant over him and kissed him on the cheek, a few tears brimming her eyes.
Kloe quickly wiped away a single tear that managed to escape her eye. There was too much death. Death was everywhere and there was no way around it.
Rick knelt down beside Jim, lifting out a hand with a gun placed inside of it.
"Jim, do you want this?"
"No," Jim weakly shook his head, "you'll need it. I'm okay. I'm okay."
Rick nodded his head sadly as he stood up and turned around. Kloe knew this was hard on him, too. This was hard on everybody.
Dale walked over and bent down in front of Jim. "Thanks for, uh, for fighting for us," he said barely above a whisper. Dale and Jim were really good friends, they both knew things about cars.
"Okay."
Kloe blinked a few tears away as many people began to step away, heading toward the car. Although, she stayed in front of Jim.
"We're gonna miss you," she pursed her lips. "Thanks for everything you've done."
Jim weakly nodded in return, smiling weakly as she spun on her heel, following Zayn and Glenn, who stayed silent the entire time.
They all climbed into the vehicles they were previously in. Kloe sat with Jacqui, her arm around her shoulder for comfort as tears fell down her cheeks.
...
"Guys, we're here," Glenn's voice awoke his brunette friend from the sleep she had fallen into on the journey. Jacqui was resting her head on her shoulder.
The younger Schmidt reluctantly tapped her shoulder to wake her, which worked. She lifted her head and rubbed her puffy, teary eyes.
Simultaneously, they got up and hopped out of the RV, Glenn being in the lead with the gun he had used to save the brunette two nights before. Kloe stood by his side, Zayn being beside Dale.
She peered over her shoulder, watching the rest of the group pour out of their cars. There was a swarm of flies everywhere, surrounding the endless amounts of corpses scattered across the ground.
Realizing it was probably better if Rick should take the lead, Glenn threw his arm out in front of the younger Schmidt, stopping her from walking.
Once Rick was taking the lead, he led the group over to the big building that pretty much looked abandoned. Kloe began to think about the conversation her and her brother had earlier that day, thinking maybe he was right after all.
"All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go," Shane ushered, whispering over the loud coughs coming from everybody's mouths.
As they grew closer and closer to the entrance, the smell got worse and worse. Kloe abruptly relinquished one hand from her bow and threw it over her nose. Holding a bow with one hand was not the best idea since it was exceedingly heavy, but she couldn't deal with the putrid smell.
"Okay, guys, keep moving. Stay together," Shane instructed.
"Keep moving. Come on," Rick encouraged.
Several shushes got thrown in, along with the sound of buzzes from the flies. "Oh God," Glenn muttered as he stepped over lifeless bodies.
"This is horrible," Kloe added from beside him.
"No shit."
"Keep it together. Come on," Shane spoke. They all hurried to the entrance of the building. Rick began to rattle his hand against the door, but everything was locked. "Nothing?" Shane asked, pushing his back against the door to pry it open, but it didn't work.
Kloe and a few others jolted back slightly as Shane ponded his clenched fist against the door.
"There's nobody here," Zayn stated, glancing over at his younger sister.
"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick questioned.
"Walkers!" Daryl yelled. Simultaneously, they all spun around, noticing a single walker approaching them. A variety of guns cocked as Kloe went to lift her bow, but immediately paused when Daryl had already fired an arrow from his crossbow, causing the walker to fall lifelessly to the ground. He spun on his heel as he harshly walked over to Rick, "You led us into a graveyard!"
"He made a call," Dale defended.
"It was the wrong fucking call!" Zayn sided with Daryl, harshly stepping over to Shane. Kloe silently scoffed at her brother and shook her head with disbelief. One moment he was saying it was a bad idea, then a good idea, and now a bad idea again. Was he even going to make up his damn mind?
"Just shut up, both of you. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane gritted his teeth. He turned to Rick, "Rick, this is a dead end."
"Where are we gonna go?" Carol asked, fear written all over her face.
"Do you hear me? No blame," Shane added, pointing his finger at Rick.
"Carol's right," Lori spoke up, her eyes darted between Rick and Shane, "we can't be here this close to the city after dark."
"Fort Benning, Rick, still an option," Shane reminded.
"On what?" Andrea spoke up, "No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles."
"One hundred-and-twenty-five. I checked the map," Glenn corrected, panicking in his voice as more walkers stumbled near the group.
"Forget Fort Benning," Lori stated, "we need answers tonight, now!"
"We'll think of something," Rick reassured, lifting his hand to calm his wife.
"Come on. Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please," Shane instructed as numerous shouts traveled through the air. "All right, everybody, back to the cars. Let's go. Move."
Zayn gripped onto his sister's forearm, pulling her. "Let go of me, Zayn," she hissed, yanking her arm out his grasp as she turned back around to Rick and Shane.
"The camera," Rick yelled over the loud shouts, "it moved."
Dale peered over his shoulder, shaking his head, "You imagined it."
"It moved," he stepped forward closer to the camera that was looking directly at the group, "It moved."
"Rick, even if it did, man, it's an automated device. It's gears, okay?" Shane explained. "They're just winding down. Now, come on," he firmly wrapped his fingers around his best friend's arm. "Man, just listen to me. Hey, man, look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick!"
Rick pulled out of his grasp and slammed his fist against the shutters. "Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori exclaimed.
Kloe grabbed hold of an arrow from the quiver that was wrapped around her shoulder, placing it against the arrow rest and pulled back the bowstring. Beside her, Zayn lifted his gun, aiming into the distance.
"I know you're in there!" Rick shouted out to the camera. "I know you can hear me!"
"Get back to the cars now!" Shane demanded.
"Please, we're desperate!" Rick pleaded. "Please help us! We have women, children, no food! Hardly any gas!"
"Rick. There's nobody here," Lori seethed, stepping in front of him with her hand against his chest.
"We have nowhere else to go," Rick continued to pound on the shutters.
Kloe released the arrow as she noticed more and more walkers getting close. Once she realized there was no point in even trying to take down the walkers that kept appearing, she lowered her bow and stared with wide eyes.
"If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!" Rick screamed.
Frantically, the younger Schmidt sped over to Rick who was still pleading to the camera. As much as she wanted to believe the man, it was crystal clear that no one had heard him. She tugged onto the man's arm along with Shane and shouted, "Rick, we gotta go!"
"Come on, buddy, let's go," Shane pulled him. "Let's go."
"Please help us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick frantically screamed. "You're killing us!"
Suddenly, the shutters that Rick was previously pounding on screeched and made clanging sounds. Kloe's whole body froze, hell the whole group's body froze as they all turned around to face the bright white light that shined through the entrance.
She slowly took a few steps back, noticing that she was in front. She squinted her eyes as she blinked repeatedly to adjust to the bright light. In an instant, the group all stepped forward into the entrance of the CDC.
"Daryl, you cover the back," Shane instructed. Kloe raised her bow and pulled back the bow string and looked through the bow sight as all of their footsteps echoed in the big room.
"Hello?" Rick called. "Hello?!" he repeated louder.
"Watch for walkers," Zayn added. Everyone's eyes darted around the entire area, searching for people. A sudden gun cocked in the distance. Abruptly, Kloe tightened her grip on the bow string and aimed towards the top of a staircase where she spotted a man. He had messy blonde hair and plain comfort clothes.
"Anybody infected?!" he yelled.
"One of our group was," Rick answered, "he didn't make it."
The man grew closer and closer toward the group and lowered his weapon, causing everybody else to lower theirs.
"Why are you here? What do you want?" he asked.
"A chance," Rick responded.
"That's asking an awful lot these days."
"I know."
Kloe swallowed thickly at the silence that poured into the room. She watched the man's eyes scatter all across their group.
"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."
Rick nodded his head, "We can do that."
The man dropped his gun to his waist, "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."
"I'll go get our stuff," Kloe offered, spinning on her heel and stepping towards the open door.
"We all know you're strong and that you can defend yourself, but you can't carry all of our shit by yourself, Klo," Shane remarked. She stopped at the door, turning back to the others.
"It's okay, I'll go with her," Glenn stated as he walked over beside his best friend, sending a quick smile. She returned the smile with appreciation.
"Make that three," Daryl chimed in. "Ain't no way you two can carry that and not get got by a bunch of those ugly fellas."
"Yeah, I'll help out, too," Shane commented.
Almost instantly, the four adults all rushed out the door. While they were grabbing onto everybody's belongings, Kloe began to think about everything that could happen in the CDC. They could live there and never think about the outside world again.
There could be a whole new generation. But she really didn't want to get ahead of herself, something bad could happen. That thought instantly made her smile that had unknowingly appeared on her face vanish.
Once she had grabbed onto everything they needed, she spotted Daryl, Glenn and Shane rush over toward her with backpacks on their backs.
"You got everything from the RV?" Shane inquired, rushing his words slightly.
"Yeah," she answered, panting from all of the rushing of grabbing onto everything.
Immediately, they all hurried over to the doors to the CDC. Once they were inside, T-Dog and Dale slammed the doors shut so no walkers could get inside. That was it. The doors were shut, meaning they couldn't leave.
"Vi, seal the main entrance," the man stated to an automated device, leaving the group perplexed to who he was talking to, but they didn't question it. "Kill the power up here."
The shutters creaked and screeched as they lowered down, making a big noise once it hit the bottom. Rick stood in front of the man and locked his eyes into the man's, "Rick Grimes," he introduced, holding out his hand.
The stranger ignored the hand that was extended and parted his lips to speak, "Dr. Edwin Jenner." He peered over Rick's shoulder and motioned his hand to follow him.
Simultaneously, the group all followed him. He led them to an elevator. The doors opened in an instant and they all managed to squish themselves inside. There was an awkward silence floating around the air until Daryl broke it, who was eyeing Jenner, "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"
"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough," he joked. His eyes scanned over the group until they fell on Carl, "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."
The elevator's doors separated, allowing them to all step through. They all followed the man's steps through a hallway and Kloe shifted her eyes to the ground and stared at her boots that continually stepped forwards to keep up with the rest of the group.
She noticed Glenn beside her as her eyes darted between her boots and Glenn's sneakers. A small grin formed across her lips as she began to sync her footsteps with his.
"Are we underground?" Carol asked, making Kloe shoot her head up from the ground and gazed at Jenner for an answer.
"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner looked back at her.
Carol shrugged, "A little."
"Try not to think about it," Jenner suggested, turning back to face ahead. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The lights in 'the big room' all flickered on, allowing the group to see everything that was in the room. There were computers and desks scattered everywhere, but no other scientists or doctors like there were supposed to be. "Welcome to Zone five," Jenner addressed as he approached the center of the room.
"Where is everybody?" Rick questioned, following the man. "The other doctors, the staff?"
Jenner stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face the small group, "I'm it," he answered, "it's just me here."
"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked, "Vi?"
"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them..." he paused, staring into the air to search for his next words, "welcome."
"Hello, guests," an automatic voice answered, causing Kloe's eyebrows to lift in amazement. "Welcome."
"I'm all that's left," Jenner gulped sadly. Almost immediately, Kloe's eyebrows dropped. The two best friends shared a quick glance before looking back at Jenner. "I'm sorry."
...
Kloe was sitting on a chair with her head leant against Glenn's shoulder. He offered to let her rest on him since she had gotten light-headed from the blood test.
Zayn leant against a wall on the opposite side of the room, occasionally eyeing the two best friends. Andrea was sitting in a chair opposite Jenner who placed a tube connected to a needle into her arm. She was the last person to get her blood test done.
"What's the point?" Andrea asked. "If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever."
"I've already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough," Jenner answered, pulling out the syringe from Andrea's arm, "All done."
Andrea slowly rose to her feet, freezing in place as she began to feel dizzy. "Are you okay?" Jenner asked.
"She hasn't eaten in days," Jacqui stated, standing beside Andrea to keep her steady, "none of us have."
A sudden look of an idea filled Jenner's expression, making Kloe lift her head slightly from Glenn's shoulder with confusion.
...
Dale poured wine into a glass for Lori with a large smile on his face. "You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner," he handed Lori the full glass, "And in France."
Lori shook her head and placed her hand over Carl's glass, "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."
"What's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick smiled. "Come on."
Lori pursed her lips and lifted her hand from her son's glass, giving in as more laughs entered the air. Dale laughed and wrapped his hands around Carl's glass as he poured a little amount of wine into it, "There you are, little lad."
Carl took the glass from the old man's hand and without hesitation took a sip of it. Everyone watched the young boy with amused grins on their faces, ready for a humorous reaction from him. As he swallowed, his face immediately scrunched up. "Ew!" he exclaimed in disgust.
A loud laugh escaped everybody's lips whilst Lori rubbed her hand against Carl's back, "That's my boy. That's my boy. Good boy," she poured the wine from Carl's glass into her own as he shook his head with even more disgust.
"That tastes nasty."
Dale poured wine into another glass while more laughs spread through the room. He handed the glass over to Kloe as she smiled appreciatively and took the glass from his grip.
"Well, just stick to soda pop there, buddy," Shane smiled.
Daryl shot his eyes up to Glenn, who was sitting on a counter, looking at a wine bottle, "Not you, Glenn."
Everyone's attention fell onto him as he lifted his head with a sheepish smile, "What?"
"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get," Daryl smirked, causing Glenn to laugh sarcastically. Daryl transferred his eyes to the younger Schmidt as she took a sip out of her glass, "You too, Klo. You two try to get shit-faced drunk and try to walk straight."
She playfully rolled her eyes at the man and continued to drink out of her glass, "Well, I've only legally drunk a few times," she said. "Let's say I will get shit-faced drunk and start imagining a petting zoo."
More people laughed, including Glenn and Zayn. Kloe was shocked at her brother's reaction, he'd usually stop her from drinking, but she figured he had drank some wine already.
"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," Rick spoke.
"He is more than just our host," T-Dog, who was slightly drunk, raised his glass. In an instant, everyone began to cheer as they all raised our glasses.
"Here's to you, Doc. Booyah!" Daryl yelled.
"Booyah!" everyone else repeated. Everyone clinked their raised glasses together. Kloe brought the glass back to her lips and dared herself to take large sips. The group were finally safe, or so they thought at least. She swallowed down the wine, grimacing at the burning pain that ran down her throat, but continued to drink more.
"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc?" Shane asked as the cheers settled down. "All the, uh... the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"
"One way to ruin the celebration, Shane," Kloe groaned with a scowl, "ask questions later when I'm totally out of it or something."
"Woah, wait a second, this is why we're here, right?" Shane stared into her eyes as she plainly shrugged. He turned over to Rick, "This was your move. Supposed to, you know, find all the answers. Instead we-" Shane scoffed, "we found him. Found one man. Why?"
"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just... left," Jenner stated. "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, narrowing his eyes.
"No," Jenner answered. "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 frowned. "Why?"
"I just kept working, hoping to do some good," he responded truthfully.
There was silence for a moment. One moment there was laughter and joy, to silence and misery. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man," Glenn said, staring directly at Shane as he hopped off the counter and sat down in a seat.
"Literally," the brunette added, sighing as she brought the wine glass back to her lips.
THey all sat in an awkward silence for the next twenty minutes as they ate their food. Shane should've just kept his mouth shut. It was all going well until he opened his mouth.
After they finished their meals, Jenner offered to tour the group around another part of the facility.
"Most of the facility is powered down, including housing," Jenner stated as they walked down a narrow corridor. "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 you kids might enjoy." Just as Jenner finished speaking, Kloe quietly and unnoticeably knocked her shoulder on the wall from being a little tipsy. Even being drunk already, she wasn't planning on going to stop. "Just don't plug in the video games, okay?" he knelt down so he was height level with Carl and Sophia. "Or anything that draws power. Same applies... if you shower, go easy on the hot water."
Zayn and Glenn, who were both at the front, behind the two kids, slowly turned to face the rest of them with the biggest grin on their faces. "Hot water?" they both asked hopefully.
"That's what the man said," T-Dog grinned.
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Words: 3875
- 8th December 2021
There's not much to say except thank you all so much for 100 reads! I really appreciate it!
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