THIRTEEN. a way out

Relief. That was the first emotion to flow through the veins of Adeline Grimes, a hand placed on her lower back to usher her inside of the building. "Daryl, watch the back." Shane ordered, glancing behind him to make sure his wife stood in close distance of himself. Finding her tucked between Glenn and T-Dog, he ceased his worries and continued surveilling the barren building that carried a heavy echo with the words spoken. But, the thing that made them cease in their footsteps was the loud noise of a shotgun cocking, the sound bouncing off of the concrete walls and slapping the survivors in the face.

Adeline was quick to find the source, hand retreating to the hilt of her gun as her eyes landed upon a man who stood across the room. His blonde hair stuck up in multiple directions, a white shirt and jeans covering his body. He held a shotgun in his hands, pointing it directly at the group. Out of the habit to protect, Adeline curled her fingers around Lori Grimes' arm to pull the woman behind her along with Carl. "Anybody infected?" The, what she guessed was a scientist, called out to them - his voice clear as the water in the quarry.

"One of our group was, he didn't make it," Rick announced, fingers hovering over the trigger of his rifle. Adeline stayed on guard, slowly unholstering her pistol but keeping it at her side, staying cautious until things got out of hand. The scientist took a step forward, "Why are you here? What do you want?" he questioned.

The Grimes sister took a step forward, "To be safe." she spoke up, taking any and all precautions to keep the group inside the protective walls. Shane looked back to her as she talked, keeping his eyes trained on her body to make sure she stayed out of range from the man.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." He responded, taking another step closer to the group. Rick tilted his neck, glancing to the side - "We know." her brother spoke the words for her, the two of them working as a team. The scientist cast a long look over the group, taking in every single person who stood before him. He noticed the two children hugged tightly against who he guessed was their mothers, "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." He dealt his card, keeping his fingers curled around the barely used weapon.

Reluctantly, Rick took in the deal and nodded in agreement. "We can do that." He accepted, lowering his rifle as the man copied his actions and did the same. Adeline slid her pistol back into her holster, letting her guard down only slightly. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." His voice bounced off of the walls, allowing the group to slip out of the building and collect their bags before rushing in again. Shane had told Adeline to stay inside due to her ankle, not wanting to risk her getting hurt by the few walkers that loomed outside with hungry stomachs.

Once he had returned to her, the doors slammed shut behind them. They all had their bags, but due to it being the CDC, Adeline told Shane to keep her duffle bag full of medical supplies in his Jeep. She only carried a backpack with her clothes and essentials, sliding her arms through the straps as her husband rested her hand against her lower back and led her to where the group circled in by an elevator. After the scientist, who they now knew as Dr. Jenner, shut down the power and sealed the top half of the building shut, they all crammed into the rather small elevator. Backs were pressed against the metal walls, handles digging into spines. But things were a bit different for Adeline Grimes, her back squeezed against Shane, his arms wrapped around her shoulders and hands connecting on her chest. Holding his infamous shotguns in her grip, she avoided the awkward tension by looking down to the ground.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl questioned, eyeing the military-grade weapon Jenner cradled in his arms. The southern man himself had his crossbow strapped around his back, every so often the black metal clinking against the walls alongside the rifle he held in his hands.

Jenner glanced back, careful to avoid hitting Adeline in the face with his gun, "There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." He informed, looking around the cramped group. "But, you all look harmless enough." He stopped his eyes on Carl, "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you." His playful tone with her nephew caused Adeline to smile, reaching her hand out and squeezing his shoulder.

"You should, he's like a little ninja." She smiled, releasing her hand from Carl as he giggled at her words. The elevator dinged, breaths of relief being passed all-around at the sound. Jenner slipped out first, Adeline and Shane allowing the families to go out first. Together they followed behind the scientist, tracing his every step down the long corridor. "Are we underground?" Carol questioned, eyes set on the man that led them.

Jenner looked back to her, "You claustrophobic?"

Nodding, she gripped the handle of her bag. "A little." She admitted with careful eyes.

"Try not to think about it." He advised, walking into a room filled with computers and big screens hanging off of the wall. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room," Jenner announced, a prolonged hum sounding from above as bright light flashed on in the circle. Beeps came from numerous computers, revealing the room to be completely empty.

Adeline curled her fingers around the metal railing to keep herself steady, exhaustion had finally started to have a toll on her. She only hoped that it wouldn't affect her state whenever the man decided to take their blood as he required. "Where is everyone?" She allowed the question to slip past her lips, tiredly rubbing at her eyes.

Jenner avoided their eyes, "Welcome to Zone 5." he announced, his voice bouncing off of the walls and carrying a deep echo. The scientist stood in the center of the room, eyeing the group as they cautiously looked around. "Care to answer her question?" Rick spoke up, motioning towards his sister. "Doctors? Staff? Where are they?"

"I'm it." He let out a reluctance answer, "It's just me here."

With that information - it made the group see that there was no cure being worked on. Or rather that, no one cared enough to stay behind and try to fix the world. All except the one man in front of them, dark bags much like Adelines beneath his eyes. "What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori questioned, her voice picking up off of the concrete. "Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them... Welcome." Jenner commanded - an automated voice from within the walls following close after his.

"Hello, guests. Welcome." The feminine robotic voice greeted, causing Adeline to breathe a deep breath before looking back to Shane who had a look on his face that resembled her own. Disbelief and disappointment. The feelings rooted from the realization that the world was going to be stuck the way it was, and the only way to survive was with someone watching your back and a weapon in your hand.

Jenner took in the looks on their faces, "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." he apologized with a solemn look. Adeline failed to blame the man, giving him credit for even attempting to stay behind and solve the impossible puzzle. She had respect for him just for that, but there was still that bubble of disappointment that boiled beneath her dirtied skin.

Leading them to what looked like a classroom, one by one they all had their blood drawn. Adeline took it well, she even helped the scientist find the vein in her arm and taught him an easier way of doing it. The exhaust made her stumble when done, but it was nothing that made the group (except Shane and Rick) worry. Andrea was the one with the biggest reaction, nearly falling on her feet after a wave of dizziness. And that was when Jenner realized they were all running on fumes, the only food they had ate being the fish from two nights ago. He brought the survivors to, what they guessed, was a cafeteria of some sort.

Most of the lights had been shut off, the only ones that remained on being the ones above them. Adeline sat with a smile on her tired face, her body stuck between Shane and a sweaty Daryl. With her elbows pressing against the table, she leaned forward to snatch the bottle of wine from the rednecks hand. Seeing as he was a few feet away from sober, he dropped his jaw and widened his eyes at the girl. Snickering at his reaction, she poured the red substance into her cup before giving it back to him.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France." Dale informed with a smile, filling a wine glass up to the middle and handing it off it Lori laughed while covering the top of Carls cup, "Well when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."

Adeline took a sip from her cup, "Just a sip isn't gonna hurt anybody." she said with a smile, catching her nephews out and scrunching her nose up at him. Sending her a small thumbs up, Rick laughed before looking to Lori with an expecting face. Reluctantly, she removed her hand from her sons cup and allowed Dale to grab it.

The table grew silent with curious eyes as Carl took his cup that now had wine in it, looking at it mysteriously before taking a very small sip from the drink. The taste smacked him in his face, his face scrunching up and cup clattering to the table - "Ew!" he whined, causing the survivors to break out in laughter from his reaction. "That taste nasty!" Carl informed, watching as Lori poured the remaining substance into her own cup.

Shane chuckled from beside Adeline, his arm resting against the back of her chair. "Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." He smiled, squeezing his wifes' shoulder from behind her back.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl was quick to bounce off of Shanes words - looking to the boy who held a wine bottle in his hands.

Glenn looked up from where his spot on the surface of the counter, "What?" he asked with a smile on his face. His cheeks flushed with red, a blush emitting from the attention being on him.

"Keep drinkin', little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl taunted, causing an outbreak of laughter from the men around the table. Adeline suppressed her own giggle underneath her hand, wiping away at the wine that spluttered from her lips.

The sound of a knife clinking against glass caused the group to fall silent, attention brought to Rick who stood up from his seat. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." He stated, gesturing to Jenner who sat quietly in the corner - shadows casting over his features.

As Daryl brushed past the nurse to walk over to Glenn, T-Dog raised his glass to the scientist - "He is more than just our host. Put him and Adeline together and maybe they can solve this thing." He called out, the rest of the group cheering in unison at his statement. At this, Adeline blushed and looked down to her hands - her husband massaging his fingers into her tense shoulders to calm her nerves.

"Here's to you, Docs!" Daryl shouted while raising his wine bottle, "Booyah!"

Once it grew quiet again, Shane took initiative. "So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" He questioned, bringing the mood down with his words. "All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" He added, causing Adeline to lose her smile and look down to the table.

"We're celebrating, Shane. No need to do this now." Rick tried in attempts to shut him down, but they soon proved to be futile. Catching her brothers expecting eyes, the girl sighed and grabbed Shanes hand, the man starting to speak up again. "Wait a second, this is why we're here, right?" He asked.

Adeline looked to her husband, "Let's just wait until morning, yeah?" her voice was soft as she avoided the looks the group sent her way. "At least wait until the kids are in bed."

Shane shook his head - "This was Ricks move. Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we.." he laughed beneath his breath, "We found him. Found one man. Why?" He repeated, looking to Jenner for an answer. Adeline stayed quiet, realizing she wanted to know the answers herself.

Jenner glanced to the floor, "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." He informed, some of the members of the group nodding in understanding.

"Every last one?" Shane retorted with a look that explained he was unconvinced, causing Adeline to press her hand against his arm and sharpen her eyes at him. "Shane, please." She whispered - her husband avoiding her eyes and looking to his hands.

"No." The scientist reassured, "Many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." he spoke, his words bringing the mood down from a 90 to a complete and hard 0.

Andrea glanced to him, "You didn't leave. Why?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, Jenner sipped from his wine glass. "I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

Glenn hopped off of the counter with his wine bottle in his hands, "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." he directed towards Shane, the man avoiding eyes and only looking up when Adeline stood from the table and walked away from him.

At her approach, Jenner sat his cup down and raised from his seat. "I'll show you to the rooms." He informed, walking out of the cafeteria with Adeline and the group quick on his heels. She had slipped her backpack over her shoulders, taking as many limped steps as possible to put space between her and her husband. "Most of the facility is powered down, including housing. So you'll have to make do here." He informed - the lights on the walls flashing on as they walked down the corridor.

"The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power." Jenner instructed, stopping the group and looking to Sophia and Carl who stood on each side of Adeline. Both of the children held her hands, staying close to her. They nodded at his words with a small smile on their faces. Jenner straightened his back and looked to the adults, "The same applies. If you shower, go easy on the hot water." He informed before walking away and into another corridor.

Glenn, who stood behind Adeline, turned around to the group with wide eyes. "Hot water?"

T-Dog smiled widely, "That's what the man said."

It wasn't long before the hot water found itself running down the bare spine of Adeline Grimes, her chin craned to the shower head. The dirt on her skin faded off into the drain, caramel eyes open as the water ran over her face. When she felt the salty taste that tears carried mix with clear water - Adeline hadn't even felt it happen. A choked sob left her lips as everything that had happened to her started to ram into her stomach. For so long she hadn't had time to think, she never had the chance to do anything because she was so worried about making sure others lived. Even when Rick was in the coma, she had to make sure she kept him alive.

Adeline remembered when Morgan tried to make her save his wifes' life. When the man showed up on her white picket doorstop with the woman in his arms bleeding from the bite mark on her right shoulder. She remembered how the blood splattered across her skin and she remembered how she had turned right before her eyes. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't save her life. And no matter the words she spoke, Morgan wouldn't let her put the woman out of her misery. Adeline couldn't do anything to save her and she blamed herself.

With the overwhelming pressure of her own thoughts, she shut the water off and hurried out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around her shivering body she wiped away at the steam on the mirror and connected her eyes with her reflections. "Pull yourself together." Adeline whispered, furrowing her eyebrows and rubbing at the tears that fell numbly from her eyes. "Just pull yourself together." She added, turning away from the mirror and lowering herself to the cold tiled ground.

Even though she was clean - when she looked down to her hands she found blood staining her fingertips. "No," the whimper of a word left her mouth as she rubbed her hands against the white towel around her body. She had never killed anyone, and she never wanted it to get to the point where she had to take a life when she was meant to save them. But the blood on her hands made Adeline fear what she would become. Everything was falling apart.

After composing herself long enough to get dressed, the steam had faded off of the mirror like the blood on her hands and gave her time to actually take in her appearance without breaking down. For the first time, Adeline noticed the dark bags underneath her eyes. Her freckles still danced across her skin, but she had taken in the loss of weight. Ever since the world ended, food had become scarce. The amount she had lost wasn't alarming, her cheeks were still full but her jawline had become sharper and more precise.

Looking at the black tee on her body, she noticed bagginess of the item. It didn't faze her, seeing as she always preferred her clothes to not hug her frame. She wore a simple pair of grey sweatpants, slipping on a pair of socks before cracking the door open. A gust of cold air greeted her - the temperature changing drastically compared to the bathrooms. The first thing she saw was Shane sitting on the couch with a whiskey bottle in his hands - the glass nearly empty.

"Having a party?" Adeline questioned, throwing her old clothes into her bag while flopping down next to him.

Shane shrugged his shoulders, "Something like that."

The tension between them was heavy, pressing onto bodies with sinister meaning. What was needing to be said was what they dreaded to say. Adeline knew, and he was certain she did. The last thing he ever wanted to do was to hurt the woman he loves, the one person he wants by his side to hate him. But he knew that he couldn't live with himself if he kept what he did hid. Because if anyone deserved the truth, it was Adeline Grimes. Before he could actually speak up and let four words leave his mouth, his wife grabbed his hand and held it tightly in her grasp.

Adeline had never been a stupid girl. She was smart, and she was always quick to put two and two together. The first time she saw Lori Grimes look to Shane across the campfire - she knew. But what she also knew was that, for two months, she was dead. Her husband saw her get taken down by two walkers, he saw that happen to her. They had no clue about anything yet, and everything had changed since they last saw each other. Adeline took into thought what he had went through - and the one thing that kept her sane throughout the two months of keeping her brother alive was the remembrance of the love she had for her husband. It was the one thing that kept her going, that pushed her through the darkness when it tried to take over. Adeline Grimes had lost everything she once had, so she would be damned if she'd let the end of the world take the one thing she wanted away from her. When she held her husbands hand, she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"DON'T TELL ME."