Pretty When I Cry

We Need Answers

We drive up to a huge building, and the first thing I see are the dead bodies scattered everywhere. You can tell the military was here, but you can definitely tell that they didn't make it either.

I sigh to myself, frustrated. We spent this whole time driving to the CDC looking for some kind of refuge, but all that's left are flies buzzing around the dead bodies.

Me and Daryl get out of the truck, meeting everyone else as we walk toward the huge building. I've never seen anything like it. Daryl keeps his crossbow up and I can't help but take out my hunting knife from its sheath.

The smell is fucking horrible. The bodies are completely rotted like they were here for years. But I'm surprised there's not more walkers in the area, especially with how close it is to the city.

Daryl makes sure to keep me in front of him as we all walk together, his hand on my back to let me know that he's right behind me.

"Alright, everybody. Keep moving. Go on." Shane encourages us in a low voice, and I hear Lori coughing.

I literally pull my shirt over my own nose to try and stop from breathing in the stench. It doesn't work. "Stay quiet, let's go." Shane continues.

The closer we get the more everyone starts to cough, and I hold back from doing the same thing. "Ok, keep moving. Stay together." Shane keeps saying like a damn drill sergeant. "Keep moving, come on."

Rick shushes him as we move closer, stepping over the bodies. There's no guarantee that every single one is dead, and I'm not about to take that risk either. Every time I step over one, I make sure I see the wound in its head before moving on.

We all walk quickly to what we're pretty sure is the front entrance, but whatever it is, it's covered by metal shutters, making me exhale. Can we never just get anything easy?

"Keep it moving." Shane keeps talking, and I want to slap him in the face so that he'd shut up.

"We're almost there, baby." Lori joins in, but I'm not as mad at her. She's just encouraging Carl, and she's not a dick like Shane is. "Almost there."

Rick and Shane approach the doors first, trying to find a way to get in. "Nothing?" Shane asks, and Rick shakes his head, trying again.

Shane pushes against the shutter, straining before he realizes that it won't open, and he starts pounding on it instead. Yeah, like that's gonna help.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog says, and I look around anxiously, keeping an eye out for walkers. It's getting late, and we're so close to the city. Not to mention all the noise Shane is making pounding on the shutters. Walkers could be coming out of nowhere anytime now.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asks, and he's got a good point. If no one was here, it would look abandoned, completely unprotected. Clearly there's something, or someone, in there that needs the security.

Me and Daryl see a walker at the same time, and he lifts up his crossbow immediately, and I hold my knife up, ready to strike. "Walkers!" He calls out, and the moms and kids gasp, turning around.

Guns cock from everyone that has one, but Daryl is the one to shoot it with an arrow. "Ya led us into a graveyard!" He approaches Rick with anger, and everyone shushes him. I glance between the arguing and the bodies laid out everywhere, waiting for another walker to show up. "He made a call." Shane tries to defend him.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl yells again. I feel a small hand fall into my free one and I look down, seeing Sophia clinging to both my hand and her mom's side. I can't find the effort in me to smile, so I settle on squeezing her hand gently.