The Undead Secret (A Walking Dead Fan Fiction)

Buzzkills

"You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France!" Dale laughed, handing out glasses of red wine, even giving one to Jaime as she sat patiently, waiting for everyone to eat before she could start. "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori gave him a fake smike, unamused. "What's it gonna hurt?" Rick laughed, "Come on!" She sighed, laughing quietly as she nodded, and Dale poured him the smallest amount ever. He took the smallest sip before grimacing and spitting it back into the cup, "Ew!" and the table laughed at his reaction.

Jaime fiddled with her fingers in her lap, listening to everyone make jokes, even asking Glenn, a Korean man, how red his face could get from drinking.

Jaime could feel an overwhelming stare, as she looked up. Daryl was staring at her, gesturing towards her plate full of food as she shook her head and let her eyes glance towards her mother. Daryl sighed, going back to his own meal.

Rick tapped on his glass, standing up as he caught the tables attention. "It seems to me that we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog proclaimed, raising a glass to Jenner. "Here's to you Doc, booyah!"
"Booyah!"

"Thank you." Rick nodded, sitting back down.

"Jaime."

Jaime looked up at her mother, as she gestured towards Jaime's plate, and Jaime quickly started shoveling food in her mouth.

"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?"

"We're celebrating, Shane." Rick shook his head, trying to diverse the conversation. "Ain't gotta do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second." Shane laughed, "This is why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers, instead we found him." Shane pointed his finger at Jenner. "Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. went off to be with their families. And when the counts got worse, when the military got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one of them?"

"No, god no. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They opted out. There was a rash of suicides. It wasn't a good time."

Jaime stopped eating, her fork hovering over her plate suddenly sick to her stomach.

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea piped in.
"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill man." Glenn looked at Shane in disgust as Jaime coughed, clearing her throat as she put her fork down and covered her plate with a napkin.

"I've suddenly lost my appetite."

***

"Most of the facilities powered down, including housing so you'll have to make do here."

Jaime and the group followed Jenners down a long stretch of corridor, past a few doors.

"Couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games or anything that draws power, the same applies if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

"Hot water?" Glenn smiled.