Wayward Journey

After a little bit of silence, Daryl's eyes wandered the gun that Jenner held close to his side. He glanced over the man and cleared his throat. "Doctors always go 'round packin' heat?" His face was skeptical and wary as he kept his arms residing at his sides.

Jenner looked over to Daryl for a brief moment before letting off an uneasy laugh. "There were plenty enough left lying around..I familiarized myself." He gave off a nod and scanned over the faces of everyone cramped inside the elevator. "You all look harmless enough.." He spoke softly, his eyes pausing on Carl. "Except for you. I'll have to keep my eyes on you."

The smirk that placed itself on Carl's lips was adorable, it was a cross between amusement and pride. His shoulders stiffened slightly, as if trying to look even a little bit taller than his scronny frame allowed. The voices, however, ceased as the doors pushed open to reveal a long and dimply lit hallway. In any other circumstances it would be a creepy sight, but dark hallways and spooky houses lost their creep factors long ago when the dead rose and began consuming the living.

Carol's voice was next to break the silence as the group filed out of the elevator and followed Jenner down the hall. "Are we underground?" The waryness in her voice was not the only giveaway of her uncertainty. Carol, Naomi was quickly learning, was the type of woman who wore any and all of her emotions on her face, and that was no different in that moment. Worry-lines had creased near her eyes and her hand clung to her daughters wrist as if she would lose her at any moment.

Jenner nodded slowly, looking back towards Carol briefly. "You claustrophobic?" His question was answered by the shy nod she gave off, and he forced a small and reassuring smile. "Try not to think about it." The hallway led the group to a large room with whiteboards set up along the walls and a few tables that, despite a few scattered papers, were fairly clean. Jenner waved his hand briefly, allowing the group to scatter around the room while he began to set up the necessary equipment he would need in order to take their blood samples. 

Once he was ready, it was easy to read the nervousness on the different members face. Some were squeamish with needles, others uneasy but compliant. Sophia simply balled her eyes out while her mother held her hand. Naomi was simply glad that needles didn't have an effect on her, not much in this world did anymore, really.

While they all formed a line, Naomi's attention went towards a white board not far from Jenner's little blood station. She wrapped her fingers around an orange marker carefully and tugged the cap off. Scribbling a few lines on the board to test the color, she was pleased that it showed up vibrant and new. Wiping away the line with her finger, she pressed the tip to the board and drew out a small chibi-like turtle in the bright orange coloring; her eyes scanning her little masterpiece as a pleased grin fell on her lips.

A familiar and gruff voice distracted her, pointing out the obvious flaw in her drawing. "Turtles are green." The voice belonged to Daryl, and Naomi let off a dimpled grin before faking a shocked expression. Daryl gave off an expression that had something resembling a slight smirk on his lips at the sound of Naomi's quiet gasp.

"No!" She dragged out, placing her hand over her chest and shaking her head. "My life has been a lie. All this time I thought turtles were orange. God dammit Daryl you have crushed my soul." Her acting was over drawn out and Daryl gave off an odd expression at her words, only to let off a slight snort in response.

"It's what I'm good at." He mumbled, shrugging his shoulders briefly as Naomi gave off a teasing stare. He watched her fingers wipe away the small drawing before moving his gaze to reside on her face. 

The two kept their gazes on one another for a brief moment before Jenner called out her name. She gave off a slight nod before turning and moving to seat herself in the chair. She laid out her arm and returned the smile that Jenner shot in her direction, her eyes moving to rest on the needle as he pressed an alcohol wipe over her veins. "Needles make you nervous?" He noticed her eyes staying glued to the object in his hand.

"Not much makes me nervous these days." She admitted, giving off a slight shrug before her watching him get ready. "They intrigue me, honestly. I don't know why I like watching the blood come out into there." She motioned towards the vile and watched as he brought it towards her skin. The pinch that she felt was barely even a pain as she watched the liquid that gave her life flow into the small tube. Once he was finished, he pulled the needle out and wiped at any small bubbles of blood that seeped from the tiny wound.

When she rose to her feet, dizziness flooded her head and her eyes went fuzzy for a few moments. Her small frame nearly collapsed, the only thing stopping her was an unfamiliar grasp on her waist pulling her into a standing position. A voice she recognized as Shane's flooded her ears, but she wasn't quite sure what exactly had been said. Slowly, her vision returned to normal and she was no longer feeling as ill. She fixed her footing so that she wasn't leaning into whoever had caught her and stood up, carefully brushing the calloused hand from her hip. It was Shane. 

Daryl's eyes stayed stoic, but there was a definite concern in him due to what he'd just seen. He watched her carefully brush away any helping hands as she nodded her head just slightly to any questions that referred to her well being. Rick's voice sounded next, asking a very valid question. "Have you eaten?"

Naomi slowly shook her head before allowing her shoulders to rise in a shrug. "It's been about five or six days. It hasn't been an easy couple of weeks, you know?" She defended her lack of nutrition, and now her size made sense. "But, I mean..nobody here's really eaten. We've been a bit occupied." She took the attention off of her fairly quickly, pointing a bit to the rest of the group who all nodded in agreement.

The next voice that sounded was Jenner, he had a kind smile on his lips. "I can fix that." He confirmed, putting away his equipment and leading the group through the door and down another dimly lit hallway. They were brought out into a fairly large dining hall, tables set up and a full kitchen not far away. "Plenty to go around." He confirmed, and everyone swore they felt a certain happiness that had been lacking in their lives for a long while.