Give Me Your Crossbow (DARYL DIXON)

Our Saviour

24 HOURS LATER

CHRIS POV

We were all getting ready to head out again. The boys came back last night, no Merle however. They found his severed hand on the rooftop and Daryl was very upset. Walkers invaded our campsite and we lost a few people. Ed and Amy were amongst the dead, both of them were buried last night. Rick planned to take us all to the CDC, he said that it would be better for us. Shane wanted to go to Fort Benning, but Rick said that it would most likely be overrun by now. After we had dealt with the dead, we all separated off into different vehicles. There was no room in the RV and our SUV, I thought I was completely out of options before I saw Daryl with his truck. He was alone. I made my way over and leaned over the hood.

"Everywhere else is full, is it okay if I ride with you?"

He looked up from the drivers side door, and his eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure about that? There ain't nowhere else you could go?"

"No! I've checked already! Hey, this ain't exactly my first choice of escort either. Either way, I have to ride with you, so get used to it."

I rolled my eyes and opened the passenger door. I let out a grunt as I plonked my behind down on the leather seat. I was annoyed at the man beside me.

****

The ride through was absolute torture. The silence was uncomfortable as Daryl drove behind the SUV. I was just itching to say something, but what, I don't know. A horn sounded and I turned around in my seat to see that the RV had stopped. I gave Daryl a look and he stopped the truck. The men crowded around the front of the engine, the hood was open.

"The hose burst, it ain't goin no further til we fix it."

"Can you jerry rig it?"

Dale shrugged his shoulders. "It's already more duct tape than a pipe. And I have no more duct tape."

"I see something up ahead." Shane looked further down the road using Dale's binoculars. "Service station, if we are lucky. "

"We'll have to risk it, we can't go anywhere without the RV."

"Hey, Rick. Can you hold back the fort? I'm going to drive ahead and see what I can bring back?" Shane asked, T-Dog offered to accompany him. "You keep all your eyes open now."

****

They came back a few minutes later, they couldn't find a hose but they found more duct tape. Shane handed the roll to Dale.

"The RV's not gonna last without a new hose but this should last us until we get to the CDC."

He started working on the RV, eventually getting it up and running again. We all filed back to our cars, I braced myself for another half an hour of silence from Dixon. We drove right up to the entrance of the CDC, everything was locked down tight. I got out of the car, to stretch my legs while Rick jumped out of the SUV and went right up to the door. A lone security camera sat above the doorway, Rick couldn't stop staring at it. There's was no way in, not one that we could see.

"Come on Rick, there's no way to get in there."

"Hold on."

His voice was low, his eyes never left the camera. Suddenly, he ran up to the door and began banging on it.

"Let us in! We need help! You have to let us in!"

I ran up to Rick and tried to grab his hands.

"Rick! There's no one here!"

"No! The camera moved! I swear! Let us in!"

Everyone kept on trying to get Rick away from the door, when it actually opened! A middle aged man stood in the doorway.

"Get in! Hurry up!"

We all ran inside, and the man shut the door behind us.

"Vi! Shutters down!"

We heard the whirring mechanisms, and turned back to the man.

"Who are you? Is anyone infected?"

Rick took a step forward.

"No, there's no one. We just need a place to stay."

"Okay fine. But price of admission is that you will all submit to a blood test."

"That's absolutely fine."

"Go and grab your stuff, once these doors close they don't open again."

****

The Doctor, we later came to know, showed us inside. He had food, places to sleep and hot water. He showed us around his facility, all the other scientists had taken the easy route out of this mess. I looked down the hallway to find a room to sleep in, almost every one was occupied. I went to the room down the far end, I saw no one, I sighed as I placed my bag down onto the bed. A throat cleared behind me.

"I know we ain't the best of friends but there's no room anywhere else."

Daryl came in and put his bag on the ground next to the couch. I rolled my eyes before sitting down on the bed, it was the comfiest thing I'd sat on in weeks.

"Roll your eyes at me again woman, see what happens."

"What are you gonna do huh? Rick would kill you if you laid a hand on me."

"Shut the fuck up."

"You shut the fuck up, I'm goin for a shower."

****

We had a big feast that night. There was a lot of wine to be drunk. Glenn's face was bright red, Daryl kept encouraging him to drink more. Dale began to pour some wine into Carl's cup, Lori's eyes narrowed.

"No, no wine for you."

"Come on Lori, kids in France drink wine."

"He can have some when he goes to France then."

"Just a little bit?"

Lori rolled her eyes and gestured for Carl to take a sip. He gleefully grabbed the cup and took a swig, his face immediately screwing up at the taste.

"Yuck! That's disgusting!"

Everyone laughed, Lori tussled his hair before pouring his wine into her glass. I took a sip of wine, watching Shane out of the corner of my eye. He was staring at Lori, his face unmoving. He took large swigs of wine, he was obviously trying to get drunk. I got up out of my chair, almost falling over.

"I'm gonna bunk down for the night. Night everyone.

I stumbled down the hallway and crashed on the bed.