The Dead Walk the Earth

Chapter 8 - The Aftermath

When the small group got back to the camp, it was chaos. Once all the walkers were taken out and the reanimated friends they'd lost killed for good, the camp sat in shock. They accepted that, in the dead of night, it was more dangerous to try and bury the dead rather than just wait until morning. Charlie watched from the fire they'd started while Andrea sat as still as a statue and held the corpse of her younger sister. Amy would turn eventually, Andrea sat and waited for it to happen. She was reminded of Jackson as she looked at the woman mourning.

"You should get some sleep," Daryl said when he came up beside her and took a seat.

"Not tired," she told him, her eyes still trained on the sisters.

"Liar." he argued, "Get some sleep."

"How can I?" she asked and finally took her eyes off the pair and looked at the redneck.

He looked at her with sad, old eyes until he looked at the ground and nodded, "Alright." he said softly. The two sat in comfortable silence and stared into the fire before them and slowly, Charlie felt the exhaustion set in and yawned.

"Told ya so," Daryl said in a gruff voice. He reached behind him and pulled a dirty poncho out of his bag and handed it to her, "Now get some damn sleep."

Charlie looked at him a moment before she nodded and took the offered makeshift pillow. She shifted and laid down, her head close to Daryl's lap and quickly fell fast asleep.

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Charlie sat in the truck with Daryl as they made their way to the city. The CDC was their last hope, someone had to have an answer and if they did it was there. Though she'd gotten a bit of sleep last night, the thought of her good friend Amy lying dead just a couple feet away from her kept Charlie distracted most of the night. In the morning, they had burned the walkers and buried their friends before taking off. Charlie yawned and rested her head against the window of the truck.

"When's tha last time you ate?" Daryl asked while he drove. Charlie thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Grab that bag, still have some food in there. If you ain't gon sleep, at least eat," he told her.

"Not hungry," she mumbled. Jim, Amy, Ed. So many dead. Amy was a good friend and now she was a dead friend. Charlie felt sick even thinking about what happened, the thought of food didn't make it any better.

"Fine, but if you pass out, don't expect me to carry your ass," he told her after he shot her a look. Charlie watched the greenery fly by as the truck sped down the road and watched as the CDC building came into view. Daryl turned the truck off and sat there staring for a moment.

It was twilight and it made the scene of bodies scattered everywhere even creepier. They grouped together, weapons up; They coughed at the terrible stench that filled their noses. Charlie unrolled her jacket sleeves and used it to block the stench, but it did little. As they approached the building, Charlie spotted the emergency doors were shut and sealed, someone obviously had to be in there or they'd be up. The group stopped and stood around discussing what to do next.

"Walkers!" someone shouted and Daryl took the first one easily with his arrow. Shane suggested Fort Benning again. With everyone in a panic, the idea of getting in the cars and driving somewhere away from the city sounded like the best idea until Rick caught their attention.

"It moved. The camera, it moved." Rick said as the sky grew darker by the minute.

"Rick, it's an automatic system." Charlie told him, but he didn't hear. Everyone got loud, panic growing quickly as Rick screamed into the camera and Shane screamed at Rick. The commotion grabbed more attention and Charlie gave up reasoning and started to aim her gun, ready to defend the group. Suddenly the group grew quiet as a blinding light engulfed them, along with the sound of a door unsealing. Without hesitation, they ran inside. A voice came over the loudspeaker and then a guy with a gun stood before them. He looked familiar, but Charlie couldn't quite place him. He and Rick talked, and then the group was all led deeper inside the CDC. Charlie wasn't familiar with the part of the building they were in, she was typically in the upper levels with her boss, but the upper levels probably weren't safe.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the main room." their savior said. Charlie finally realized who he was, he was Dr. Jenner.

"You're Candace Jenner's husband. I remember her telling me about you." Charlie realized aloud. "I'm Charlotte Grimes," she said when he looked confused.

Realization quickly crossed his face, "Yes, Charlotte. My wife told me much about you. All outstanding things." he responded with a small smile.

She returned the smile, "Where is everyone?" she asked while she took in the floor of Zone 5.

"It's just me."

"What about the person you were talking to? Vi?" Andrea asked.

Vi, the automated voice, spoke, "I'm all that's left." Jenner told them.

He took them to a different room and drew blood from each of them. When he finished with Andrea, Jaqui told him that they hadn't eaten in days; they all nodded in agreement, Charlie's stomach hurt as if on queue. He got up and led them down another hallway and then into a large, open room with kitchen utensils and a big table,

"Enjoy," he said and let them walk past him. Dale broke out the wine he found and they gathered around the table with full plates of food.

"When can I drink wine?" Carl asked. Everyone laughed, knowing he was too young to like wine, but Rick let him take a sip anyway. The face he made sent us into another round of laughter and they all took sips of their wine mockingly.

"Why don't you stick to soda pop lil man?" Shane said with a smirk on his face.

"Not you Glenn." Daryl spoke up with a smile, "You're drinkin' tonight. I wanna see how red your face can get." he joked. As if waiting for the moment, Glenn's face went red with blush and the group laughed again. Rick tapped his glass and gave a little toast to Jenner and thanked him for taking them in.

"So when you gonna tell us what happened here, Doc?" Shane piped up.

"Oh look, Captain Killjoy is here," Charlie muttered to Daryl; He grunted and smirked at her.

Rick and Shane argued again and Jenner told them that everyone basically left or killed themselves. The tension in the air could've been cut with a knife, the enjoyment of the night gone in an instant.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill man," Glenn spoke for the group to Shane. They eventually cleaned up their plates and food in silence and followed Jenner to where they'd be sleeping.

"If you shower, go easy on the hot water." was the only thing Charlie's ears caught before Jenner was gone.

"Hot water?" Glenn asked excitedly. The group rushed off the put their things in rooms, Charlie's stuff went into a room next to Rick and Lori. She grabbed a fresh outfit from her bag and got ready to walk to the showers when she sensed someone behind her.

"Daryl, you scared me," she told him and walked his way.

"Sorry. Not every day you gitta meet a rock star." he joked.

"Dr. Jenner had to be over exaggerating. Candace liked me, sure. But she's not one to brag and brag about someone, especially not an intern." she reasoned. She could tell by his eyes that he was buzzed and on the brink of being drunk, so she cleared her throat and excused herself to shower.