XXII

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We were almost to the car when there was a loud noise and Daryl yanked both of us to a stop

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We were almost to the car when there was a loud noise and Daryl yanked both of us to a stop. When I looked up at him, he was staring back at where we came from, and when I looked, the door had been opened, light was flowing out, and we could see all the walkers surrounding us. 

We ran. Daryl had a tight grip on my waist and was basically dragging me along, but we ran through the doors eventually, and as soon as we did, I noticed the man with the gun pointed at all of us, so I nudged Daryl who was panting next to me, and had yet to remove his arm. When he looked up, he must had saw the man, because before I could say anything, Daryl was in front of me again, with his crossbow pointing at the man's head, and my hands were once again locked onto his flannel. 

"Anybody infected?" The man asked calmly, and I had to stand on my tiptoes to see over Daryl's shoulder so I could look at the man, but he did seem relatively calm. 

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick said back, and it was then that I noticed that I was pretty much in the middle of the group with Daryl. Lori, Carl, Carol, and Sophia were all on my right with Rick, and Shane, Merle, T-Dog, Glenn, Jacqui, Andrea, and Dale were all on my left. 

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

"A chance." Rick answered. 

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know." There was a long pause, and it looked like the man was thinking about it before he finally answered. 

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that." Rick said, sounding very relieved. 

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door is closed, it stays closed." Everyone nodded, and Daryl turned to look at me as some of the men began to make their way back outside. 

"You stay here. What do you need?" Daryl said calmly, and it took me a moment to realize I still had his shirt in my fists, so I let go before answering. 

"Bailey's tub of dog food and my backpack please." Daryl nodded and squeezed my elbow as he left. It didn't take very long, and I avoided the stares from Lori and the other women while the men were getting the things, and when they came back, Daryl was first, carrying the large tub of Bailey's dog food, and my backpack on his back. I tried to take both from him, but he just gave me a look, put his crossbow on top of the box, as well as his bag that he had snagged, and motioned for me to follow the man who was walking off, so I did, and Daryl followed closely behind me. 

The man was speaking, but I didn't pay attention, instead choosing to focus on how we were getting to wherever we were going incase we needed to make a quick escape. When he forced all of us into an elevator, I quickly backed into the far corner, and Daryl and Merle followed close behind me, Daryl standing right in front of me, and Merle on my left side, and everyone else filed in behind us. 

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