PHOSPHENES¹ [the walking dead]

A - V

TS-19 - PART 1

They walked into the lobby, it was vacant and scary but still surprisingly clean. A nice change from what was outside of those doors.

At the end of the lobby, there was a staircase. A man with a gun descended from the stairs.

The man looked slightly drunk, beatrix noticed it immediately. She turned her head to look at daryl, he had noticed it too. Having a drunk man holding a machine gun was never a good mix.

The man had wild blond hair and dark eyes. He spoke with a clear voice. "Anybody infected?"

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." The new self-proclaimed leader spoke out for them.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man still hadn't moved from his spot at the staircase.

"A chance." rick told him.

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

"I know."

The man dropped his gun ever so slightly. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

The group agreed to it and the man lowered his gun completely. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed."

A couple of the men run out to go and grab the last of the stuff. Once they came back in, the group followed the man into an elevator.

"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The mystery man said right before they entered the elevator.

"rick Grimes." The leader introduced himself.

"Doctor Edwin Jenner."

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" daryl had been staying with his little sister the entire time. He didn't trust the new situation just yet.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough."

The doctor then turned to the children, specifically Carl. "Expect you, I'll have to keep an eye on you." The doctor only got a smile from the boy, nobody else.

Once they left the elevator, they found themselves in a very long hallway and then at last a massive room that was too dark to look into. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The lights went on and beatrix could now see a ton of computers. This is what she had expected the CDC to look like.

"Where is everybody? The doctors, the staff?" rick asked.

"I'm it. It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori now asked, holding on to her son.

"Vi, say hello to our guest. Tell them welcome."

A computer voice sounded through the room wishing them welcome. Doctor Jenner saw the disappointment in the group's faces.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."

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After their blood had been taken. They all got invited to dinner. Pasta with wine.