Trouble ▪ Daryl Dixon [UNDER EDITING]

9 [EDITED]

The CDC smelled like antiseptic, papers littered the floor and it was chilly inside, causing goosebumps to rise on Rose's skin and a shiver to run down her spine.

The group now stood inside a very crowded elevator. The rattling noise it made was somewhat soothing because the only other noise any of them heard nowadays were the moans of the dead.

"Your name?" Rose asked the man, while picking at her cuticle.
"Jenner," he responded almost immediately "Dr. Edwin Jenner."

"Doctors always go round' packin' heat like that?" Daryl asked, nodding his head towards the automatic gun in the doctors hand.

"There were enough lying around so I familiarized myself." He replied, running a hand through his already tousled hair.

He had bags under his eyes that were a deep shade of purple, worry wrinkles lined his face as the callouses did his hands. His hair askew in all directions.

"You all look harmless enough." Jenner said "Except you," He continued, glancing down at Carl "I'll have to keep an eye on you."

Carl's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink and he let out a soft chuckle. Sophia clung to her doll, and in the dim light of the elevator you could see the freckles that carelessly dotted her young, innocent face.

The walls of the underground CDC were painted a disgusting color of white that reminded Rose of mayonnaise. She cringed at the thought, she hated mayonnaise.

"Are we underground?" Carol's fragile voice asked. It seemed to bounce off the walls over and over again like a CD stuck on repeat.

"Why? Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked.

"A little." She replied, smoothing her hair with her hand.

"Try not to think about it." He said, continuing to walk further ahead of us.

Daryl walked by Rose's side, his hand lightly brushed hers.

She looked up at him expectantly, unknowing of why she was awaiting a reaction.

"You trust this guy?" He whispered, low enough so no one else could hear him.

"No." Rose said immediately."I don't trust anyone."

And then they were back to a deafening silence.

"Vi, bring up the big room lights." Jenner said, aloud. The group shot each other confused glances.

"VI?" Carol asked.

"VI, say welcome to our guests." Jenner chuckled.

A robotic female voice sounded through the almost empty room. "Hello guests."

"Where's everyone else?" Rick asked, straightening his hat.

"I'm it, its just me here. I'm sorry." He said with a look of sympathy etched on his face.

The blood was drawn surprisingly quickly.

The thick red liquid oozed into the small capsules it was being kept in.

Rose let her shoulder brush Shane's before leaning into him completely. She was weak, hungry, tired and in dire need of a shower.

She knew she shouldn't be here, not with this group. She should be alone.

Rose felt Daryl's hot gaze on Shane and her and she craned her neck to the side to look at him. A smirk played on her lips, asking for a challenge.

She watched Daryl clench his jaw. He didn't like Shane, that was obvious.

Rose let her head become weak on her shoulders and fall onto Shane. His hand brushed the top of her knee.

Daryl's eyes never left them. His eyes were dark and menacing, almost a threat.

"You're next," Shane's husky voice said in her ear, his lip lightly brushing it.

A physical shiver ran up her spine and Daryl definitely saw it.

Rose got up and steadied herself, next was Andrea.

Andrea was unsteady on her feet and swayed to the side and Jacqui rushed to her assistance.

"What's wrong with her?" Jenner asked, tipping his head in the general direction of Andrea.

His eyes skimmed Rose's, and she watched him cock an eyebrow.

"She hasn't ate in days," Jacqui said silently soothing Andrea "none of us have."

"I can fix that" he replied with a Cheshire cat grin.

At dinner the conversation was relentless, everyone chattering on about nonsense. Rose couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"You know in Italy, they let the kids have wine with dinner." Dale said, humor lacing his voice.
"Well, when Carl's in Italy then he can have some." Lori replied.

"Come on Lori, what's it gonna hurt?" Rick says, a huge grin plastered on his face.

Laughter echo's throughout the dining room and Rose's eyes find Daryl's who's staring at her with curiousity.

He looks as if he wants to say something but decides against it.

Reluctantly, Lori hands the glass over to Carl and he takes a tiny sip only to make a sour face and spit it back out.

"That's my boy." Lori says, ruffling Carl's hair.

"Stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane says, shooting a smile at Carl that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Not you Glenn," Daryl suddenly says, pointing a finger in his direction "Keep drinking little man, I wanna see how red your face can get."

Glenn shoots Rose a sheepish smile as he takes a sip of his wine.

"When you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane spits.

A few people in the room try to shush him but he continues.

"We came here for answers but instead we found you. Where is everyone else?"

The doctor sighs and takes a long sip of whatever he has in his cup, which is certainly not wine.

"Well, when things got bad some people just left," he begins "Some people opted out."

"Opted out?" Andrea questions.

"They killed themselves." Rose says, swiping the doctors drink and taking a long swig.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill." Glenn says, glaring at Shane. Rose chuckles at Glenn, a grin spread widely across her face as he blushes.

After dinner, Jenner leads the group to the living area. They chatter amongst themselves. But Rose and Daryl remain silent.

"If you shower go easy on the hot water." Jenner says, his eyes skimming over the members of the group.

Rose hears multiple murmurs that are questioning the fact of hot water even being real anymore. "That's what the man said!" T-dog shouts, taking off down the hall.

Most of the other rooms are full so Rose is stuck with the last room on the left. She looked at the bag that was lazily thrown on the bed and the  crossbow that layed on the floor.

"Looks like we're roomies," She says, smirking at Daryl. "Dibs on the shower first." Rose shrieks and runs to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

"Bitch." Rose hears Daryl murmur from outside the door. She stepped into the shower, not exactly caring how hot the water was.

She watches wearily as all of the walker blood and dirt slowly go down the drain. Rose sighs in content, a smile on her face for what seemed like the first time in forever.

°°°

This kinda sucks bc it's a filler chapter and i kept most of my old dialogue so oops