In the Shallows

Silence fell over the group as Shane finally spoke the words we had all been thinking, I was just wishing that it didn't put a damper on all our moods as fast as it did. Something about the way Shane said it, had really brought all our buzzes down even though most of us were borderline shitfaced drunk. "So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc? All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" His eyes zeroed in on Dr. Jenner, that look sent chills over my body.

Rick's jaw clenched, "We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now."

Shane gave an angry smirk, "Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move-supposed to find all the answers. Instead we-" A chuckle escaped his lips, but it wasn't a good one, "we found him." He pointed towards the doctor, "Found one man, why?"

I hated Shane, and I mean I really hated him. He was such an inconsiderate ass. I could see the hatred in his eyes whenever he looked at Rick, the intensity of borderline crazy love whenever he looked at Lori and the vibe he projected off? It was ten times worse now then it had ever been. I handed Daryl the bottle of wine and shifted in my seat, pulling my knees up to my chest, listening to Jenner explain after much hesitation.

"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."

My eyes narrowed at Shane's tone, "Every last one?"

Jenner shook his head, "No, many couldn't face walking out the door, they opted out. There was a rash of suicides." I hated how this night had turned from bad to happy to worse. Everyone's expressions were the exact same, unable to understand. "That was a bad time."

I pursed my lips, cocking my head to the side, "Why didn't you leave?"

He kept his eyes on the table, avoiding everyone's stares, "I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

Glenn kicked off from the wall he stood at and made his way towards a chair, his eyes narrowing slightly on Shane, "Dude you are such a buzzkill, man." The rest of the conversation had died down, just everyone sitting in silence, staring at their hands or the trash that littered the tables. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else had done the same thing Jenner did. Stay. Stay to keep working to find a cure, to help out, to risk the idea of knowing whether or not your loved ones had made it. I didn't think I could, I would be too afraid. Not a few minutes later, Jenner had stood up and told us to follow him.

We followed him down another set of corridors until we reached what appeared to some sort of lame housing unit, "Most of the facility is powered down, including the main 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 toom down the hall that you kids might enjoy." He stopped short, turning around to face Sophia and Carl, "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." He gave a small smile and entered a room, leaving us to pick rooms for ourselves.

I suddenly felt happy again, the idea of showering sounded like heaven. There was an odd number of rooms so Daryl and I had decided to share, even though everyone probably automatically assumed we would. I dropped everything I had in my hands and bolted to the shower, stripping off my clothes, I embraced the clean and running water that wash away the dirt and blood away from my body. I didn't want to spend too long in the shower, knowing that Daryl probably wanted to savor the feeling too, so after I had made myself clean as a whistle, I grabbed the white towel and wrapped it around my body.

Gingerly stepping out of the bathroom area, I softly entered where Daryl lazily laid on the couch. I noticed that he had dragged a cot into the room, what a gentlemen. I quietly walked towards him, raising an eyebrow at his closed eyes and soft breathing pattern. I held the towel up with my one hand and with the other I gently reached out to wake him. I yelped as his eyes snapped open and his hand gripped my wrist, sending me to the ground with him over top of me, "Ow, what the fuck!"

His eyes softened the second he realized it was me, his one hand on my wrist and the other on my throat, he quickly let go, "Sorry, Lex. Ya jus' scared me."

I laid there with my eyes looking at the ceiling, "No shit." I squirmed underneath him, I pressed my lips, "Um, can you slowly get up-with your eyes closed?" The whole little scene had caused my towel to reveal a whole lot more of me than I wanted it to.

Daryl huffed, closing his eyes as he stood up, turning around, he growled softly, "I've seen it all, Lex."

My cheeks turned bright red as I re wrapped the towel around me, "Not on purpose." I snapped. I walked past him, bending down to my knees and making sure that nothing else was exposed, I started rummaging through to find clothes. "Go take a shower."

He sighed, "Just leave me the towel when ya done."