roots | daryl dixon

8 | some shmuck named Jenner

The group wandered into the building, Daryl covering the back to keep watch for walkers, since he had the best weapon for it. A man was inside, asking if anyone was bitten, and Rick responded by saying one of their group had, but he hadn't made it. Jim. The man demanded that they all submit to a blood test, which Rick easily agreed to. The man then told them all to grab anything they needed, as the doors would not open again once they closed. 

Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog, and Shane all ran to the vehicles, grabbing everyone's bags. Lou kept watching in Daryl's place, stabbing any walkers that came too close. When the men returned, everyone went inside, where the strange man punched in a code on the alarm system on the wall, and the shudders slid shut once again. 

Lou took her bag from Daryl, thanking him. The man introduced himself as Dr. Edwin Jenner. 

They all gathered in the one elevator, being a tight squeeze considering their group size. Lou was against the back, squished between Glenn and Daryl. Daryl asked if all doctors went around packing heat like Dr. Jenner.

Jenner replied, "there were plenty lying around, I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough." Then, he glanced down to Carl, and continued, "except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl could barely contain his grin. 

They walked down a long hallway into a vast room filled with computer screens and empty chairs. It turned out, Dr. Jenner was the last one remaining in the entire facility. He and the A.I. system named Vi. 

They headed into a side room, where he set up a station to take everyone's blood. Lou offered to help after he took hers first, and she revealed she had been studying to be an EMT, and knew the procedure well.

She set up on the other side of the table he had, and carefully took Glenn's blood, apologizing when he winced. The group all had their blood taken, and the last one to do so was Andrea. As she got up, she nearly fainted and Jenner asked if she was alright.

Jacqui quickly grabbed the blonde woman, holding her up as she spoke for Andrea, "she hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." 

That was when Lou realized she hadn't eaten since before they'd left for Atlanta to retrieve Merle. She suddenly noticed the pain she'd been feeling since they left camp had been due to lack of food. 

Thankfully, Jenner seemed to have a large supply of food, and to much of the group's delight; alcohol as well. They all seated around a huge round table, all of the adults drinking and eating as Dale tried to persuade Lori to let Carl have a little bit of wine. He pulled a face as the taste reached his tongue and the group burst into laughter.

"Stick to soda-pop there, bud," Shane remarked, taking another sip of his wine. 

"Not you, Glenn. I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl commented above everyone's talking and another spout of laughter bubbled amongst the group. Upon this comment, Glenn's face did indeed become red, though not from alcohol. 

Lou chuckled beside him and took another gulp of the red liquid in her cup. 

Rick stood, saying, "it seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog piped up, raising his glass.

The rest of the group followed suit, exclaiming their gratitude to the doctor in various forms. Daryl shouted, "booyah!" 

To which, the rest of the group echoed his phrase.

The mood of the entire room dropped when Shane asked, "when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc? All the other doctors? We were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

Rick tried to stop him; "Shane, we're celebrating. Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move-- supposed to find all the answers. Instead, we found him. Found one man. Why?"

Jenner spoke up, "well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." 

Shane seemed amused by that idea, "every last one?"

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They. . . opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." 

The group was silent as he explained why he didn't run, why he kept working.

Glenn said to Shane, "dude, you are such a buzzkill, man."

* * * * *

"Most of the facility is powered down. Including housing, 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 don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies-- if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

"Did he just say hot water?" Glenn asked incredulously, a grin forming on his face quickly. 

"That's what the man said." T-Dog quipped, an equally wide grin present on his face as well.

The group quickly split up, everyone scrambling to claim rooms. Lou found an empty one and wasted no time cracking open the bottle of wine she'd stashed in her pack when nobody was looking. She gulped down some alcohol and made her way to the bathroom, drunkenly stripping off as she went. She was interrupted when someone burst through the door, which hadn't been closed properly.

She froze, in just her bra and underwear, gaping at the redneck that had mistaken the room for empty.

He seemed at a loss for words, opening and closing his mouth as he thought of things to say and then decided against them, finally choosing to mutter, "sorry, this was the last one left. I'll go to the rec room." 

Maybe it was her sudden liking towards Daryl or the liquid courage she had been chugging all night, but either way, she shook her head, going to unclasp her bra. "Don't," she said, her voice silky as she stared him down.

The next thing they knew, the two were in the shower together, forgetting all about the world crumbling around them. The blonde had no idea where this put them, nor did she entirely care about the aftermath, but she sure was grateful for the company, and she definitely enjoyed it.