Status: active

To Keep You Close to Me

Drinks

The group quickly rushed inside of the building, fearful of the walkers gaining on us. We had our weapons drawn as we walked into the lobby. The ceilings were high, so high that every little sound we made echoed. The lobby was dimly lit, but we had enough light to see. A man appeared from a hallway, gun ready, but lowered towards the floor. He asked if we were infected.

“One of our group was,” Rick stated. “He didn’t make it.”

Approaching us he asked, “Why are you here? What do you want?”

“A chance,” Rick breathed.

“That’s askin’ a lot these days,” the man retorted.

“I know,” Rick agreed. We all stared at the man and he stared at us, no one moved.

“You all submit to a blood test. That’s the price of admission,” he told us.

“We can do that,” Rick concurred.

“You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed,” the man told us. We quickly ran outside, sprinting to our vehicles and started grabbing as much as we could carry. Daryl grabbed the majority of our bags, throwing them over his broad shoulders. I grabbed what my weak arms could handle and ran back to the building. It took us a few more trips to grab everything that we needed and just as he said, the door closed behind us.

The man, who introduced himself as Edwin Jenner, led us to a large elevator, which we all packed into. Daryl stood in the back corner, and I was in the front corner. He was purposefully distancing himself from me, which I hated. I knew he’d come around eventually, but I wasn’t sure when.

“Doctors always go around packin’ heat like that?” Daryl asked.

“There were plenty lying around, I familiarized myself. You look harmless enough,” the doctor said to us. “Except you.”

Carl smiled as he realized Jenner was talking to him. The elevator hit the bottom floor and opened to a large hallway. Jenner led us through, pointing out various rooms that we could use. He then led us into an even larger room, with multiple computers circling around. Jenner spoke to some voice animated system that turned on the lights.

“Welcome to zone five,” he said to us. We cautiously followed behind Jenner, nervous at the surroundings.

“Where is everyone? The other doctors, the staff?” Rick asked.

Jenner walked into the center of the room and said, “I’m it.”

Jenner walked into yet another room and he pulled out a box of supplied. Inside the box were needles and other equipment for a blood test. One by one we all endured a blood test. Andrea was the last one to go and also the only one to question why he was doing it.

“I’ve already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just be thorough,” he answered. When Andrea stood up, she stumbled.

“You okay?” Jenner asked.

“She hasn’t had anything else eat in days, none of us have,” Jacqui said.

I was confused at the layout of this place. We’ve been through so many hallways and so many rooms, it was hard to keep it all straight. We were now in some dining hall type room. Jenner offered us an abundance of food, which we accepted graciously. Lori, Carol and I started cooking dinner for everyone. At first we didn’t even know what to do because we haven’t seen this much food in so long. Jenner also brought out a few bottles of wine, which I was rather excited for. It had been so long since I had a drink. I was amazed by the luxury. The fact that so many things we used to take for granted have now become a serious luxury, it was sad. The world we knew was gone, but we got a final taste of what used to be. And it was nice.

After food was served and the wine was poured, we all sat down and started eating. It was delicious. I was so happy to have real food, I know we all were. Dale grabbed a bottle of wine and started filling everyone’s glass, except Daryl. He spotted a bottle of whisky that he kept to himself. When it came to alcohol, Daryl wasn’t a sophisticated drinker. He wasn’t really a sophisticated anything.

Lori even gave Carl a taste of the wine, which after he took a sip, he puckered his lips in disgust. The group laughed at Carl. Shane told him to stick to soda.

“Not you, Glenn,” Daryl said. “Keep drinkin’ little man. I wanna see how red your face can get.”

We laughed. It was a good time. We could actually make a life out of this. Eventually, we’d run out of food and supplies, but we could always make runs. We could easily adapt to this lifestyle.

Rick clinked his knife against his glass and rose from his seat.

“Seems like we haven’t thanked our host yet,” he said.

“He is more than just our host,” T-Dog said. The group raised their glasses as we cheered. Daryl, rather than saying cheers, said ‘booyah!’ Which then, others followed suit.

After dinner, Jenner showed us where we could sleep. The actual sleeping chambers had been shut down, but there were plenty of couches to go around. There was also a rec room with loads of books and games. He then told us about the showers and to go easy on the hot water, which was a foreign term to us. Hot water these days was hard to come by.

We got to choose a room to sleep in. I was unsure if I was able to share a room with Daryl or if I’d have to find my own. But I figured that I might as well ask him. So after he selected a room, I followed him in.

“Can I stay in here?” I asked nervously. Daryl stared me as he placed the bags down. He didn’t say anything for a few more seconds so I took that as a ‘no.’ So I turned around and went back into the hallway in search of a vacant room. Luckily, the one right beside Daryl was open so I quickly claimed that one. This was nice because then I could walk next door to get my things, which Daryl still had.

As much as I didn’t want to face Daryl, I went into his room anyway to retrieve my stuff. I needed my clothes and shower products. Since we now had hot water at our disposal, I was going to use it. Daryl watched me as I walked in silently and started searching through bags.

“I’m just getting my stuff,” I explained before he even had a chance to question it.

“Val,” Daryl whispered.

“I’m taking a shower,” I told him and walked out with my stuff. I didn’t even look at his face to see his expression. I had to walk in the other direction to get to the shower, so I’d have to walk past Daryl’s room again later on.

The showers were pretty decent. I can’t complain. I haven’t had an actual shower in a long time. It’ll be a nice change. I stepped into the shower and turned on the water, which was cold at first, but it heated up pretty fast. Once the water was just right, I stepped underneath and let it cascade over my body. The warmth from the water heated my body and it felt so amazing. I tried to keep my shower short since Jenner warned us about going easy. It was hard to give up the warm water, but I did and wrapped a fresh towel around me. I put some clean clothes on and walked back into the hallway, walking past Daryl. I went into my room and put my stuff away.

Glenn came in after me, smiling and holding a bottle of wine in his hand.

“Wanna help me drink this?”
♠ ♠ ♠
Uh oh, Glenn and Val are gonna get drunk! There might be some action in the next chapter *wink wink*

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