Hero

f i v e

As Lenora stood there gaping at the bright light, Daryl pushed her in gently yet with enough force to get the girl's feet moving and out of danger. 

 Slowly, the group made their way into the large building with guns raised. Wary of everything. Little Lenora even raised her knife, which made Daryl smirk. He admired the little girls attempt at keeping herself safe.

"Hello?" Rick called into the building multiple times. 

"Close those doors." An unknown voice spoke. "Watch for walkers." 

Lenora watched as a man showed himself after cocking a gun, pointing it at the group. She took a step closer to Daryl, who kept his crossbow trained on the blonde man. 

"Anybody infected?" The man pointing a gun at them asked. 

"One of our group was." Rick told him. "He didn't make it."

Lenora didn't understand why Rick brought up Jim. Maybe it was just her little mind not quite grasping the concept. Jim was gone, why bring him up now in front of someone they didn't even know?

"Why are you here?" The man said approaching the group. Daryl took a protective step in front of Lenora as he did so. "What do you want?"

"A chance." Rick said hopeful. 

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The blonde man spoke not letting his gun down a single inch. 

"I know." Rick agreed. His eyes were pleading, Lenora decided because suddenly after a pause and looking over every single tired face the group had to offer, the man complied. 

"You all submit a blood test, that's the price of admission."  Lenora let out a sigh of relief that she didn't realize she was holding. Then she realized what blood test meant. Needles. She despised the objects, mostly because of what they were associated with in her childhood home. 

"We can do that." Rick said and Lenora looked at the man with worried eyes, could she do that?

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now." The man said finally putting his gun down. "Once this door closes it stays closed."

"Stay here Lee." Daryl told her and Lenora nodded planting herself in place as Daryl and a couple of the other men ran to get their things.

When they reentered the building the doors were shut tightly behind them, even the shutters going down. Lenora watched as Rick went over to introduce himself. 

"Rick Grimes." He spoke. 

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." 

____

The group was now cramped together in an elevator. Lenora was a little overwhelmed. She didn't like being this close to so many people. It made her nervous. Luckily, she was close to Daryl which eased her nerves just a little bit. 

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asks from behind her. She giggled, earning a slight look from the doctor. 

"There were plenty left lying around," Jenner states. "I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough. " He then looks towards Carl. "Except you, I'll have to keep an eye on you."

Once more, the elevator was engulfed into an awkward silence. Lenora tapped her foot anxiously as she picked at her thumbnail, waiting for the ride to be over. 

Finally when the doors opened, Jenner led the large group down a sterile white hallway. Lenora stuck to the back, following them at a distance. Despite being with them for a couple of days, she still didn't feel like she was one of them. Then again, there hadn't really been any opportunities for the group to accept the young girl. It seemed like they were always bouncing from one problem to the next.