IT WAS BEGINNING TO GET DARK WHEN THEY FINALLY ARRIVED AT THE CDC.

Marcella stared out the window with worry. Bodies littered the ground around the building. Both civilian and military.

At least Rick was right about one thing. They protected the CDC until the end.

"What if we made the wrong choice?" Marcie whispered, not wanting to wake the toddler up,

"Then we have to live with it." Vivian responded,

Marcie checked her weapons before stepping out of the vehicle. The smell hit her first. It was like a hundred farm cows died and were rotting in a field of manure, but worse.

Vivian got Liam out of his seat and he began to get fussy, waking at the smell. She silently prayed that he wouldn't cause too much noise. It was the last thing they needed right now.

Rick led the group and Marcie made sure Vivian wasn't far behind. All the mothers and children should be close together so the others could protect them. Vivian could fight, but not with a child in her arms,

Liam began to cry the closer they got to the CDC,

"Shut him up!" Shane scolded her,

"He's a baby, Shane!" Vivian hissed, "They don't stop crying on command!"

Rick placed a hand on her back and they began to jog towards the building. Vivian pressed Liam's face into her shoulder, hoping to muffle his cries.

Boy, did this child have bad timing.

Shutters were closed around all the doors and windows. Shane and Rick went forward trying to open them, "There's nobody here." T-Dog stated,

'Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asked, panic in his voice,

"Walkers!" Daryl announced and Marcie turned to see a walker in a military uniform stumbling towards them,

The group began to panic. Liam was crying louder and even the older children were whimpering in fear. Vivian bounced him, trying to comfort him while looking around in case more biters began to approach,

Daryl shot the walker before turning to Rick, "You led us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call." Shane told him,

"It was the wrong damn call!"

Shane pushed him away, "Just shut up. You hear? Shut up. Shut up!" He turned to his friend, "Rick, this is a dead end." Rick ignored him, still searching for a way into the building,

"Where are we gonna go?" Jacqui questioned,

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori told her husband,

"Fort Benning, Rick..." Shane called out, "Still an option."

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles." Andrea reasoned,

"125." Glenn spoke, "I checked the map."

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now." Lori pressed,

Rick raised his hand, trying to calm them down, "We'll think of something."

"We need to think of something now." Marcie stated,

Shane began to usher the group back towards the cars, "Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here."

"The camera... it moved." Everyone paused and stared at where Rick was looking. There was a security camera above the shutter doors,

Shane went over to Rick, "You imagined it."

"It moved. It moved."

Marcie wasn't sure if he was trying to convince them or himself.

"Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on." Shane urged but Rick didn't move, "Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick."

They flinched as Rick slammed his hand on the metal shutters, the noise loud enough to draw walkers, "I know you're in there! I know you can hear me!"

Shane tried to drag him away, "Everybody get back to the cars now!"

Marcie stood there, not knowing what to do. Either way, it was all on blind faith.

"Please, we're desperate. Please help us." Rick begged, "We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left."

Vivian handed Liam to Marcie before running over to Rick, placing her hand on his shoulder and forcing him to meet her gaze, "Rick, there's nobody here."

He shook his head, tears in his eyes, "We have nowhere else to go."

Rick broke away from her and pounded on the door again, "If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please! You're killing us!"

Shane pushed him away and a loud, screeching sound of the shutter doors was heard across the area as they opened.

A bright light filled their visions.

Marcie covered Liam's eyes and turned away.

"C'mon, everyone! Let's go!" Shane called out, shaking everyone from their state of shock.

Vivian took Liam from Marcie's arms and they all began to rush towards the doors, "Daryl, you cover the back." Shane ordered,

The group entered the CDC and looked around. The lobby was dark and there was no one around.

"Hello?" Rick called out.

A gun was cocked and they all turned to see a man with a large gun standing in a doorway a few yards away, "Anybody infected?" The man asked,

Marcie tightened the grip on her knife, not trusting the man yet. He could be anyone, and he was holding a dangerous looking piece.

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

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man questioned as he approached them,

"A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man told Rick,

"I know."

The man glanced around at all of them. They must've looked pretty pathetic since he lowered his gun, believing they weren't a threat, "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick nodded, "We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." The man stated,

Marcie, Shane, Rick, Daryl, and Glenn left to grab everyone's bags. Marcie ran to Vivan's car and made sure to grab Liam's diaper bag along with her and Vivian's bags.

The five of them made it back inside the CDC, where T-Dog and Dale were ready to close the doors. The man swiped a card through a card reader and it turned green, "Vi, seal the main entrance. kill the power up here."

The shutters closed over the glass doors and the man, who introduced himself as Dr. Edwin Jenner, led them over to an elevator.

Everyone piled in, which made it a bit of a squeeze. Nearly twenty people... Marcie was surprised the elevator didn't break.

Marcie offered to hold Vivian's and Liam's bags so she could keep the two year old in her arms. Daryl's crossbow pressed into her backpack, which pushed her up against Vivian. She felt the elevator go down and she glanced around at everyone's tired faces.

She noticed Liam's head rested on Vivian's shoulder as he stared over at her. Marcie made a funny face, causing the boy to smile,

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked from behind Marcie,

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." Jenner looked around at all of them, "But you look harmless enough." His eyes stopped on Carl, "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

The boy's cheeks turned red and he smiled sheepishly.

The elevator doors opened up and the group was quick to exit, "Are we underground?" Carol asked as they walked down a lit corridor,

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner replied,

'A little." She answered,

"Try not to think about it." He responded,

Vivian would rather be underground than out there. She looked around at all the closed doors. Was everyone sleeping? Jenner was the only person they've seen, was he on guard duty?

They came upon a dark, open room, "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Jenner called out. The lights turned on and Vivian paused, looking around at all the empty chairs and computers, "Welcome to zone 5." Jenner greeted,

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

Jenner turned towards them, "I'm it. It's just me here."

Marcie's heart dropped. They came for answers, for help and safety. At first, it seemed like they were going to get just that. But now... she wasn't so sure.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked,

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them... Welcome." Jenner ordered,

An automated voice sounded over the speakers, "Hello, guests. Welcome."

Vi wasn't real. She was just a computer.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." He gave them a sad smile, as if it would make up for it.

He led them into another room and got out a kit full of needles and things he would need to collect blood samples. They all went, one by one, as he collected a small amount of blood from each person.

Vivian sat in the chair, Liam in her lap, "He's a baby. He's going to cry if you stick him with that." She argued,

"I need a sample from everyone. Including him." Jenner replied,

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea questioned,

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough." He stated, glancing up at the blonde before putting a needle in Liam's arm. The young boy began to cry and Vivian tried her best to comfort him,

"Shhhh, I know, honey, I know." She whispered, bouncing him slightly on her thighs before Jenner pulled the needle out,

"All done."

Vivian stood, clutching the crying toddler into her chest. She stumbled slightly, causing Marcie and Jacqui to reach out to steady them,

"Are you okay?" The doctor asked,

Vivian bounced the child in her arms slightly while nodded, "Mhmm." She hummed,

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." Jacqui informed him.

With that, Jenner led them to the kitchen. They began looking through the cupboards, searching through ingredients to make some sort of meal for the group. They found a large amount of pasta and canned sauce and decided to go for spaghetti and tomato sauce.

Marcie sat on the counter, watching Carol and Lori cook the food. It made her miss her parents. They always prepared home-made pasta and cooked sauce from scratch. She knew this meal would be nothing like that, and she just wished they had the ingredients to make her parent's recipe just one last time,

Vivian squeezed her knee, "You okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah... just reminds me of home."

Once it was finished, the group gathered around the table and spooned the food onto their plates. Dale and T-Dog found alcohol in some other compartment and poured glasses for everyone while they laughed and ate.

Here, they had walls. They were safe. They didn't have to worry about the dead walking in and eating them in their sleep.

They could relax.

Vivian sat with Liam in her lap, feeding him small bits of noodles. At one point he reached for the plate and covered himself in tomato sauce, causing everyone to laugh at the mess,

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France." Dale informed them,

"It's true." Marcella smiled, taking a sip of her wine, "My grandparents always gave me some when I visited them."

Lori smiled, "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."

"What's it gonna hurt?" Rick asked, taking a bite of his food, "Come on."

Everyone encouraged her and Lori shrugged, signalling Carl to go ahead. Dale handed him a cup with a small amount of wine inside, "There you are, young lad."

They all watched in silence as Carl took a sip. He quickly squinted in disgust and pulled the cup away, "Eww."

The group laughed at his reaction and Lori took the rest of the contents of his cup and poured it into her glass, "That's my boy. That's my boy. Good boy."

"Yuck. That tastes nasty." Carl shook his head,

"Well, just stick to sour pop there, bud." Shane joked,

Daryl walked behind the group, grabbing another bottle of wine, "Not you, Glenn." He called out,

Glenn glanced up with a nervous smile, "What?"

"Keep drinkin', little man. I wanna see how red yer face can get." Daryl joked, pouring the wine into Glenn's glass,

Marcie laughed at the look on Glenn's face. The youngest Dixon reached past her to top up her glass as well, "You, too, girl. You need ta relax." He grinned,

She glanced up at him, her big brown eyes piercing his blue ones, "I think you're doing all the relaxing for me, Dixon." She joked, causing the men to laugh,

Rick looked over at Vivian, "You're not having any?" He asked, noticing her cup filled with water,

She held a napkin in her hand, trying to clean Liam's face, "Uh, no, don't think that's the best idea for me." She gave him a small smile, "Besides, someone has to remember this in the morning."

Vivian had no desire to drink. This was still the end of the world and would rather catch up on her dehydration before taking a sip of wine.

He shook his head with a grin before reaching for a knife and clanked it against his glass gently before standing, "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

T-Dog raised his glass, "He is more than just our host."

"Hear hear!" Everyone toasted,

Daryl held up his bottle of wine, "Booyah!"

"Booyah!" Liam clapped his hands and the group laughed at the little boy's exclamation. T-Dog raised his hand for the toddler to high-five him,

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked and the group's smiles diminished quickly, " All the... the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened... where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now." Rick stated, sitting back in his seat,

Shane looked over at his friend, "Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move... supposed to find all the answers. Instead we..." Shane scoffed and shook his head, "We found him. Found one man. Why?"

The group looked over at the doctor, now wondering the same thing, "Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families." Jenner began to explain, "And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

Marcie didn't blame them. She would've done the same thing.

"Every last one?" Shane asked,

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They..." Jenner looked over at the three kids, "...opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked and Vivian wondered the same thing.

It must've been lonely the past few months. It would've drove her insane, not knowing if it was day or night, wandering the halls of the building. Why didn't he leave or kill himself like his colleagues?

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good." He answered,

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." Glenn mumbled, moving back towards his seat beside Marcie's

Vivian bit her lip, thinking for a moment, "Did you?" She spoke up and his eyes turned to hers,

"Did I what?"

"Did you do some good?" She asked,

He thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Now, I have."