Unearthed ↦ Daryl Dixon

1.07

~ CW: Allusions to SA (show canon accurate) ~

"Daryl, cover the back!" Shane commanded. "Everyone inside, now."

You all pushed through the doors, entering a main lobby that was completely empty.

"Hello?" Rick called out, the sound of a gun cocking caught your attention.

An older man stood in the doorway, rifle in hand. "Anybody infected?"

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick confessed.

"Why are you here?" The man asked. "What do you want?"

"A chance."

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

Rick nodded, shifting his feet. "I know."

The man looked everyone over for a moment, letting out a sigh. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick nodded. "We can do that."

The man lowered his gun. "If you've got stuff to bring in, do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed."

Already having all you needed, you followed the man towards an elevator. He swiped his access card and it opened, him ushering you all in ahead of him.

"VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

He pressed a button, the elevator kicking into gear with a small beep.

Rick held out his hand. "Rick Grimes."

The man looked down at Rick's hand before looking away. "Dr. Edwin Jenner."

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself, but you all look harmless enough." Dr. Jenner spoke, before looking down at Carl. "Except for you, I'll have to keep an eye on you."

Carl smiled, looking up at his mother.

The elevator came to a stop, the doors slowly creeping open. Dr. Jenner stepped off and you all followed close behind.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked.

Dr. Jenner looked at her. "Are you claustrophobic?"

She nodded. "A little bit."

"Try not to think about it." He responded, his tone cold.

You all came to a large dark room, Dr. Jenner asked "VI" to power on the lights. Then, he turned to you all.

"Welcome to Zone Five."

You looked around the room. "Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?"

"It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with? VI?" Lori asked.

Dr. Jenner smiled. "VI, say hello to our guests. Tell them 'welcome'."

"Hello guests. Welcome."

His face fell as he looked back at your group. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."

You didn't want to push right away, but you couldn't help but wonder where everyone else had gone. Did they leave? Did they die and turn? Was this place as safe as you'd all thought?

Dr. Jenner began taking blood from each person in your group. The last up was Andrea.

"What's the point of this?" She asked. "If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever."