𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭 | d.dixon

𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale said pouring Lori a glass of wine.

Everyone was laughing and eating. Bentley had already had three glasses of wine. She was tispy to say the least.

"In France. Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori cover's Carl's cup. 

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on." Rick encourages. Lori laughs and uncovers Carl's cup. Dale pours a sip into the glass. Carl giggles excited.

Daryl drank straight from his whiskey bottle. He was wasted.

"Well little man?" Dale says. Carl lifts the cup and takes a tiny sip. He gags and wipes his mouth.

"Eww!" Carl says. Bentley chuckles and takes another swallow of her wine.

"That's my boy. That's my boy." Lori smiles. She pours the little amount of wine into her glass. 

"That tastes nasty." 

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane smiles.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl says. Everyone turns to Glenn who was already plastered. He looked up with blushed cheeks and a embarrassed look. "What?" 

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Daryl laughs. Bentley chuckles.  

Rick taps a fork to his wine glass making a loud clunk. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." 

"He is more than just our host." Tdog cheers. 

Jenner cheerses his wine as everyone thanks him. Bentley looks to Daryl who sat down beside her. She grabbed his bottle and took a swig. She was never much of a whiskey girl but she loved to drink.

"Hey!" He yelled snatching it back. Bentley hid her smile.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc? All the... the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Shane asks. 

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now." Rick says but Shane looks to the doctor with a questioning look.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move...Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we... We found him. Found one man. Why?" Shane chuckles dryly. The alcohol was getting to him.

Bentley grabbed the bottle from Daryl once again and took a chug. So much for the celebration.

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

"Every last one?" Shane asked clearly not trusting the man.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." Jenner spoke with a deep voice.

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asks. 

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good." Jenner said. Bentley felt a wave of heat wash over her. Maybe it was the alcohol, but something didn't sit right with her about this man.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." Glenn glares at Shane. Bentley held onto the bottle of Whiskey till everyone finished eating. Jenner stood up and asked them to follow him.

Bentley pushed her chair back and stood up. Dizziness washed over her due to the amount of alcohol she drank. She held onto the table as she pushed her chair in. 

She somehow made it down the hall with the rest of the group without falling. She listened to Jenner speak as they led them down the hallway.