Afraid of Being Alive

Chapter 17: Disease Control

The doors opened and we all piled into the building in a hurried and fast manner. I grabbed Shane's hand and tugged him roughly along with me, Shane giving in and allowing me to take charge. Each one of us held up our weapons as we stormed inside the CDC, our guns poised and raised.
"Hello?" Called Rick, doing a full spin around on the spot as he observed the gigantic building.
"Hello?!" Shouted Shane, raising his voice louder than Rick had done.
"Close those doors!" Demanded Dale, "and watch for walkers."

The echoes of our footsteps reverberated inside the spacious room, and every single noise made was heard. The cocking of some sort of firearm was next to follow, and the sound wasn't coming from one of our group members.
Shane turned the safety off of his gun and pointed it at a slightly chubby man of maybe fifty years or so, his weak, blonde hair seemingly clean. He wore a baggy grey t-shirt with daggy dark brown pants, some old and worn out sneakers to accompany them.
"Anybody infected?!" He yelled, holding up his assault rifle at us all.
"One of our group was," replied Rick, "He didn't make it."
Silence filtered into the room, leaving us all in a daze we didn't require.

The strange man lowered his weapon, but only slightly before speaking, "why are you here and what do you want?"
"We're here to find help." I said, stepping up and moving away from Shane and the rest of the group to walk closer to the stranger, "all we're looking for is hope. All we need is a chance."
He pursed his lips before replying, his firearm now being held at his side and pointed down at the ground, "that's asking an awful lot these days."
"I know." I nodded.
The man eyed us all suspiciously as we lowered our guns, putting them down on the floor to show that we meant no harm and didn't wish to be any trouble.
"You got stuff to bring inside?" He asked, pointing over at the doors.
I nodded in reply.
"Well go and get it now, because once this door closes it stays closed."

I bowed my head once to show the man that I understood his request and turned to go and exit through the door. I spun around and jogged for the doors but was stopped by a firm hand on my shoulder that held me back.
"There ain't no way in hell that I'm letting you go back out there." Said the voice that belonged to Shane, "whatever you need, tell me and I'll go fetch it."
"I'm good." I huffed, placing my hands on my hips, "I can do it."
Shane gave me a look of disbelief before sighing and shrugging, stepping out of my way with a disappointed look on his face.
"Fine." He huffed as I pushed past him.
I rolled my eyes at him before exiting, Glenn, Rick, Daryl and Shane all following me out the doors.

I ran with my pistol up and pointed at the heads of all surrounding dead-ones, pumping as many as I could full of solid, hard lead. They growled and foamed at the mouth as they extended their arms towards me, grasping the air as their decaying legs allowed them to limp towards me. I made a run for the caravan, sprinting in and grabbing my bag and jacket inside, also stopping to bring the women's toiletries with me so that the men weren't the ones having to carry a bag of tampons and whatnot.
"Have you got what you need?" Asked Rick as he grabbed whatever else we needed.
"Yeah, I got the women's stuff." I replied.
Rick nodded and allowed me to pass.

As soon as I stepped outside of the RV, I saw that Shane and Daryl were busy blasting the brains out of the dead-ones with their rifles.
"If you make a run for it now, I can cover you from behind." Suggested Daryl as he stepped in front of me.
I agreed to this and began to run for the CDC as fast as my legs could carry me. Generally speaking, it could be pretty fast but it seemed as though my body had given up for today. As I ran with my bags in hand, I felt my feet kick something hard, causing me to double over onto the ground. The bags went flying out of my hands as I landed face first into the pavement, my head smashing into concrete.

My eyes were barely able to open, and even when I did manage to open them it didn't make a difference seeing as my vision was both blurry and distorted. I saw dead-ones coming for me, trailing their frail legs across the pavement as they neared me, their excitable and hungry eyes feasting on my fallen figure. Suddenly, all of them began to fall and the sound of gunshots echoed across the area.
I saw the unmistakable figure of Shane racing up to me, his gorgeous face was panic stricken.
"Oh no no no," he muttered as he knelt beside me, taking one of my hands into his, "stay with me, keep your eyes open."
I tried to keep my eyes open, I really did, but when you've just smashed your head on concrete I believe that you can imagine that it's not exactly the easiest job in the world.
"Don't you dare close your eyes, ya hear me?" Continued Shane, squeezing my hand, "Zelda, stay awa-"

~

I woke up facing upwards at a large cream, verging on beige coloured ceiling, the warm lighting burning my eyes despite being dim. I blinked a few times to adjust myself to the light in the room. I rolled onto my side to see that I was lying down on a soft blue couch. The walls of the room were the same colour as the ceiling, but had wooden boarding which started around a third of the walls height from the ground. There was furniture in the room, ranging from bookshelves to arcade games and even a TV. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the couch, stepping down onto a pale blue and beige checkered tiled floor, a dark brown shaggy rug placed not to far away with a coffee table on top of it. In the room, there was even a small dark wooden floorboard stage with a grand piano placed on top, a small kitchenette just opposite it.

"What is this place?" I whispered to myself, looking wildly around the room.
"We're in the CDC." Said a voice that came from the door, "but you already knew that."
I looked to see the stranger that had let us into the CDC before was the one speaking. He walked slowly out to me, extending his hand in my general direction.
"I'm Edwin Jenner." He said, shaking my hand, "and if I'm not mistaken, you're Zelda, correct."
I nodded.
"Whilst you may have freedom here, there are a few terms and conditions that you'll have to live by for the time being."
"Whatever you need." I replied.
He explained to me to simply go easy on the hot water, manage my electricity usage efficiently (which meant no video games), switch off any lights and power points that were not being used and that I'd have to go through a blood test as the price of admission. I agreed to all of this, but didn't tell Dr. Jenner what I really thought about the blood test. I was horrified of needles; shit scared of them. I always had been and that hadn't ever changed.

"Where are all the others?" I asked him.
"They've all gone to go have dinner in the canteen area." He said, walking back over to the door and motioning for me to follow, "if you'd like to follow me?"
I nodded and followed him out of the rec room and down a corridor. We got into the lifts and he pressed on the floor titled: lower ground.
"What happened out there?" I asked him, "I remember passing out outside surrounded by dead-ones and that's about all that I remember."
"I'm sorry but I'm not the one to talk to about that," replied Dr. Jenner, "your friends were there, they know the full story. I only lead the way up to the rec room."

As soon as I entered the canteen, I spotted our whole camp seated around a giant table, a spare seat saved for me between Shane and Glenn. Jenner walked victoriously in with me, gesturing for me to take a seat.
"Zelda!" They all chorused, their faces lighting up when they saw me.
"Hey guys." I smiled, sitting down beside Glenn and Shane.
"How are you feeling?" Asked Shane as he nuzzled his nose softly into my neck.
"Better now that you're here." I smiled weakly, a throaty cough escaping my mouth.
"How's your head?"
"Hurts." I replied bluntly, "what happened to me?"
"I'll tell you everything after dinner," said Shane, "I promise."
I nodded and decided against bringing it back up again throughout the course of our evening meal.

"Who's got the damn red wine?" Said Daryl as he snatched his wineglass up from the table.
"Over 'ere!" Called Shane, lifting his hand which held the bottle up in the air to show that he was holding it, "lemme first pour a little for Zelda and then it's all yours."
Daryl nodded and Shane turned to me, popping the bottle open and pouring the blood red liquid into my glass.
"I shoulda asked if you wanted some first..." Muttered Shane, putting the cap back onto the bottle.
"Oh trust me, I'm always in the mood for some good red wine." I giggled, picking up my glass and putting it up to my lips, taking a sip of the cold beverage and enjoying the satisfying feeling of the liquid gliding down my throat.
Shane chuckled at my response, refilling his own glass and the passing the bottle back to Daryl who had asked for it.

"I don't know about you Daryl," started Shane, "but I reckon I'm going to stay sober."
"I know I won't be sober," laughed Daryl, "and neither is Glenn."
"What?!" Exclaimed Glenn.
"You're drinkin' little man," replied Daryl, "I wanna see how red your face can get."
All of us at the table scoffed, laughed and banged the table with our fists at Daryl's comment. Everybody, that is, except for Jenner.
I wasn't the only one to take notice of this, for Rick had seen the look on Jenner's face too. Rick lifted his silver spoon up to his wineglass and clinked it a few time to grasp the attention of everyone around the table.
"It seems as though we haven't thanked our host properly." Said Rick as he stepped up from his seat.
"Oh he is more than just our host." Drawled T-Dog.
"Cheers." Smiled Rick, raising his glass.
"Cheers!" We all chimed in.
"Booyah!" Exclaimed Daryl, raising his wine bottle up.
"Booyah!" I cheered along with Rick, T-Dog and Lola.

The laughter and cheers continued on for a little while longer before Shane decided to ruin our fun with his serious questions and requests.
"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here Doc?" He asked, raising his eyebrow, "the other doctors, the staff, where are they?"
"Shane," I whispered, giving him a small rub on the back, "we don't gotta do this now. We're celebrating."
"Nah, nah hang on just a minute. This is why we're here right? This was Rick and your moves babe, aren't we supposed to be finding all the answers? But instead we found him," said Shane, gesturing to Jenner with his last sentence, "we found one guy. Why?"
"Well... When things got bad, a lot of people left this place to go and be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." Explained Jenner.
"Every last one?" Scoffed Shane, picking up his wine glass and bringing it to his lips.
"No," replied Jenner, "many couldn't face walking out the door. They..... Opted out. There ws a rash in suicides. That was a bad time."
The mood around the table was now solemn and sad.
"You didn't leave." Piped up Andrea as she sat drinking her wine beside Lola who sipped merrily on her orange juice, "why?"
"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good." Replied Jenner.
A heavy sigh was released from Glenn who sat right beside me, an unopened bottle of red wine in hand, "dude, you are such a buzzkill."
Shane took a deep breath before standing up from the table, moving the wooden thing perhaps a millimetre as he did so.
He got up and left the room with an arrogant strut and a chilled bottle of wine. It seemed as though all of us here were about to get our own private bottle of alcohol, seeing as there was so damn much of it.

"Excuse me." I sighed as I got up from my seat and followed Shane out the room, tracking him down the hall before catching up to him. I gently grabbed him by the arm and tugged him back slightly to face me.
"You alright?" I asked him.
Shane bit his lip before replying, "what are we doing here baby?"
This was a good question because I didn't have an answer, therefore I was stripped of my ability to reply. I just gave him a big eyed look and shook my head a little, trying to hint to him that I wasn't sure what to say.
"C'mon, you and Rick thought this was a good idea," he continued, "why?"
"We thought we'd be safe here." I answered honestly, "thought that we could help find a cure-"
"We're not scientists, Zelda!" He yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Except for Lola," I added, folding my arms across my chest, "well, she's not a scientist, but she was doing senior chemistry in her sophomore years. She was planning to study Forensic Anthropology in college... But then this mess started and, well, obviously she couldn't no more."
Shane nodded his head, seemingly impressed at thought of Lola being as clever a girl as she was.

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit of a douchebag, but I'm scared Zelda, I really am." Whispered Shane as he backed me slowly up against the bright white wall of the corridor so that my back was pressed against it. "I don't know what's going to happen to us. Hell, fuck I don't even care what happens to me, but I'm worried sick for you. I'm sorry for being a dickhead earlier today, but please understand that it's only because I can't imagine losing you."
Shane's face inched its way into the crevice of my neck, nipping at the skin tenderly before kissing his way up to my lips.
"I've lost people Zelda, and in not losing you too."
"We're safe here baby, I promise." I hushed, stroking the side of his face gently with my hand, "now, let's say we get another bottle of that wine and pull an all-nighter until we pass out, hey?"