Daryl's Angel (10th Anniversary Edition)

Chapter 9: The C.D.C.

"Daryl, you cover the back," Shane orders as Rick starts towards the doors, gun raised.

We head inside, spreading out as we take in the eerie quiet of the C.D.C. I stick by Daryl as he watches the entrance, weapon up and ready.

"Hello?" Rick calls. His voice echoes. "Hello?"

A gun clicks and everyone jumps. Anyone with a gun aims it. My hand flies to my knife. A man, barely visible in the near-darkness, appears at the top of a small staircase.

"Anybody infected?" he shouts.

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

The man moves down the staircase and into a patch of light, letting us get a better look at him. He wears simple clothes and has thin blonde hair and a freshly shaved face.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" he demands.

"A chance."

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

"I know."

The man's eyes comb over us as he takes a few steps forward. His gun slowly lowers and, with it, ours do too. "You all submit to a blood test," he says. "That's the price of admission."

"We can do that," Rick says.

He lets his gun fall to his side. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Glenn run outside and return swiftly with all our backpacks. Dale and T-Dog close the doors and our new host presses a button on a keypad.

"Vi, seal the main entrance," he orders. "Kill the power up here."

The shutters slide shut again, closing us in, and I finally let myself breathe.

"Rick Grimes," Rick says to the man.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner," he replies.

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We crowd into an elevator. It's big enough to hold all of us in one trip, but we're still a little cramped as it descends into the depths of the C.D.C.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asks, eyeing Jenner's rifle.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself," Jenner explains. "But you look harmless enough. Except you." He smirks at Carl. "I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl smiles a little and Jenner chuckles softly to himself. The elevator stops and Jenner leads us down a sterile concrete hallway.

"Are we underground?" Carol asks.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asks.

"A little."

"Try not to think about it." We head into a dark, open space and Jenner speaks out loud to no one I can see. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room."

A humming sound whirs to life, then beeps as a ring of lights turns on above a cluster of cubicles.

"Welcome to Zone 5," Jenner says, gesturing as we move down the ramp towards the central area.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asks. "The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it," Jenner says. "It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asks. "Vi?"

Jenner purses his lips. "Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome."