No Tomorrow

.

"Don't ask, because I don't even know. Does anyone have anything that will fit her?"

Carol vanished to one of the cars near the edge of camp and Rick approached me with bags under both eyes and a slight limp to his step.

"Glad that you found her on time, becuase we'retaking her up on her offer just as soon as Martinez decides if he wants to go or not."

"So we're actually going then? To the CDC? That's a bit far don't you think?"

Belle coo'd in her slumber and shifted one of her arms around my neck and I wanted to wrinkle my nose at the smell of the blood, her skin seemed to have this burning edge to it now...but it didn't feel unpleasant.

"Over a hundred miles, give or take, but we can't stay here anymore after last night."

Belle's POV:

A familiar scent was making my nose tickle and I swatted a hand in its general direction before moaning pitifully.

"Mmmmm.......go away and let me sleep will you? I'm tired...."

"Afraid not sweet cheeks, you've been sleeping damn near all day and you need to wake up Belle. We're nearly there."

I opened my eyes and when I'd blinked the sleep away I saw Daryl standing there with his arms folded over his chest and a smirk on his face, the glow from the setting sun was shining in his hair from the cracked blinds behind him but...my brain was a jumbled mess. Since when did I fall asleep in the RV? I remembered a massive surge of anger and pain...but then nothing after.

"Where? How'd I get-"

I sat up on the ledge of the bed and when I caught a glimmer of the prestine gray building from the broken part of the window blind my breathe seemed to get caught in my lungs. I threw myself wih the energy of a small rabbit into Dary's arms and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before I squealed in delight and started pulling him by the wrist, out of the RV.

"Come on, come on!"

*

"Air conditioning? How do you afford to keep doing that?''

Dr Jenner simply inclined his head to Lori's question while we walked down the carpeted halls to the labs and I was basically bouncing on the balls of my feet, I wanted to make a run for it right for Jay's office but Jenner insisted that we all doo bloodwork before we got much further.

"Generators...we were well prepared for this place going on for quite some time in case of an end of the world scenario."

Further on down the hall I picked up the scents of stale coffee and baked goods and Jenner stopped at a closed door to type in some numbers to a small keypad, but I already knew the code; the doors swished open to reveal the main control room to a place where all but a few computers were buzzing with life. A chair turned at one of the computers by the big screen and I started to cry when I saw Jay's warm brown eyes and skin, his mouth fell open and I let go of Daryl's hand to run across the room straight into Jay's chest.

"Belle....you're alive...."

The way he whispered my name sent shivers down my spine and he stopped hugging me to get a good look at my face but we broke apart when we heard a gruff throat clearing from behind.

"Ahem....the reunion can wait Doctor Woodson. These people need bloodwork done before they're allowed to relax."

"Right....right. If you'll all follow me through here..."

Jay stroked a few fingers along my jaw line before he looped an arm around my shoulders and walked me back over to the group and I couldn't help but notice how Daryl's eyes never seemed to leave Jay's arm.

*

A heavy knocking sounded on my door and I rubbed at my arms while I padded barefoot over to answer it, bloodwork was done over an hour ago and I had claimed my old lodging room so I could take a hot shower until my skin was pink and felt better, but I was expecting this visit soon enough. When I opened the door Jay was there dressed in a plain white shirt and gray sweats with wet diamonds in his hair from a recent shower.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

I stepped aside to let him in and his fingers brushed my shoulder before he sat down on the edge of my unmade bed and ran a few fingers through his damp hair, I kicked the door shut with one of my heels and went to join him with my legs folded over one another.

"You took that needle I gave you, I can tell. I felt it when I first touched you."

".....was I not supposed to? You never got the chance to tell me what it did- but Jay, I tried to wait, I really did. My...well, my body was shutting down so I had no other choice to."

He placed a finger on my lips to stop me from blabbing and my words echoed in the sudden silence for a second.

"It's my fault, don't worry about it- you were supposed to take it. I just need to know w h e n you took it and what happened after."

"....er....the other morning? I think? It must have gotten stronger because I wasn't able to take it for a few weeks....but I don't really know what happened to me the night I took it. It just....it just felt like my bones were on fire all day and I had one hell of a headache..."

"Noted, anything else?''

I took a moment to think about it and pondered how to describe the pain but I still couldn't remember what happened after, yet Jay's milky brown eyes revealed nothing while he waited patiently for me to answer.