VII

—/<3/—

After over a month of only having only one or two walkers appearing around their camp site at a time, it finally happened. They were overrun with the dead. Two had died, one was bitten.

Rory and the group that went to Atlanta had gotten back just in time to help clear them out, but it wasn't enough, people had died already, the damage was done.

Poor Andrea sat by her sister's corpse all night, only moving when the sun rose and what was left of Amy began to stir, raising from the dead and trying to bite her own sister. Andrea cried as she destroyed her sister's brain, and a few others cried whilst they watched.

Niamh nearly passed out from the shock of the attack and seeing her boyfriend again after watching what she thought was him being crushed by rubble when Atlanta was bombed on the first night of the outbreak. Turns out, he'd been knocked out by the impact and the only severe damage taken was to his ankle, though his body has slightly yellow and green from the faded bruises of the aftermath. He woke up a day later alone, not knowing if his bandmates were alive or if he'd survive himself, but then the gang at the nursing home found him and took him in.

Archie didn't let Rory out of his sight when she got back. He watched her as she helped pack up the camp and haul dead walkers into a pile to be burned whilst he dug graves for Ed and Amy. He silently worried over his last remaining relative, anxiety fuelled by watching Andrea mourn her own sister, as selfish as that sounded.

Everyone was shaken, but Rory didn't seem all that bothered. She was one of the fastest to adapt to this situation along with Daryl and Shane. She knew death was inevitable, especially with flesh eating creatures sniffing them out, and of course she was sad and scared, but she knew it was no use letting it effect her. This is the way it was now whether she liked it or not, and she wanted to live, so she would accept things they way there were.

—/<3/—

Rick managed to convince the majority of the others to follow him to the CDC. A few families went their own way but the others agreed to go back to Atlanta, no matter how utterly stupid the idea was. It was bad enough going on runs with a few people, but taking their whole camp there? It was actually laughable. But Rick was so desperate for a cure and a safe place to stay that he was willing to risk it despite the children, the injured and the people who had not yet learned to protect themselves, and Rory was not dumb enough to risk taking her family off on their own, so they followed too.

It was almost dark by the time they reached the CDC. Niamh and Archer stayed by Mikey, who was still on crutches, to protect him from any walkers that might go for him, and Rory walked slightly ahead of them, eyes darting in every direction so she could protect the three of them.

Rick ran up to the door and knocked, earning a few hushed grumbles from his peers for making too much noise. Then he began to beg and bang on the door, and the familiar growling and groaning of the walkers began drawing nearer.

"Come on Rick! There's no one there! We need to get out of here man!" Shane yelled as the group began to back away from the door, heading back the way they came to their vehicles.

"The camera moved! There's someone in there!" Rick countered. "Please I'm begging' you, we have kids here!"

The door didn't budge one bit, so with disappointed tears in his eyes, Rick finally turned away. The group prepared to make a run for it to avoid the oncoming hoard of walkers, but then the door groaned and lifted, the blinding LED lights from inside shining out.

"Get in quick!" The man demanded and the group did just that, springing towards the entrance to safety.

"Thank you," Rick said graciously.

"I'm Dr Edwin Jenner, a scientist here at the CDC, the only one remaining."

—/<3/—

Dr Jenner took them underground where it was safe, gigantic titanium doors keeping everything they didn't want to see out. But Rory couldn't help but think of the fact that they were also keeping them in. It didn't seem like Dr Jenner had been outside since everything began, not that there was any need for him to, but it rubbed her the wrong way. The provisions and generators down there would run out in a matter of time, and then they'd be back of the road, did he plan to leave too? Or would he still remain behind the doors that required electricity to open, trapped until he starved to death?

Rory remained silent as he gave them the tour of the place, not looking to enthusiastic as he did so. She had to admit, she was excited at the prospect of a warm shower and a bed to sleep in after 2 months sharing a tent with her brother but something felt off, like it was too good to be true.

But everyone looked so happy, so excited to finally be safe that she decided to shake it off and take a shower to scrub off the walker blood and mud that caked her skin. She was careful not to use too much hot water. There was a lot of them after all and Jenner said the hot water supply was powered by the generators, she didn't want to be part of the reason they ran out of fuel if she didn't have to be.

She couldn't deny that she felt more like herself after a real shower though.

Rory walked out of the bathroom with a towel in hand, drying her hair as she walked towards the room she'd been assigned to. She knew she'd have to share, but she didn't know who with yet, just assuming she'd either be put with Archie or Niamh.

She did not expect to be rooming with Daryl.

She eyed him as she walked into the room, flopping down on the bed opposite his and reaching for her backpack to grab the gun and knife she'd left in there. She checked the magazine, counting the bullets before shoving it back into the bag and pulling out her mortar and pestle. It was an odd thing to carry but it was useful. Archie found it for her on a run but she hadn't had a chance to actually make medicine with the plants she'd foraged yet, and now with the weird amount of free time she'd found herself with, she may as well get started.

"We don't need that anymore," Daryl said. "This place is probably stocked with medicine n' shit."

"We won't be here long," Rory said, not looking up from what she was doing. She placed the yarrow into the mortar and added a splash of water from her flask before she began grinding it into a paste.

"Why'd ya say that?" He asked. He thought something was off too, like this place wasn't as safe as it appeared to be.

"Those titanium doors are powered electrically. Once the generators run out, we're trapped here, so it's either we leave soon or we die down here." Rory sighed, gripping the pestle tightly.

"Don't you think something's wrong with that Jenner guy?" Daryl questioned, angling his head curiously so he could see what Rory was making.

"Yes." Rory looked up, her hand pausing. "He said that once we go down, there's no coming back up. I can't figure out if he meant until tomorrow when he inevitably kicks us out or if he plans to keep up down here until we die."

Daryl nodded, his lips pursed and then he stood up to leave the room.

"Don't mention it to the others yet, let them enjoy a normal night for once and we'll deal with it in the morning." Rory told him before he left.

—/<3/—