Chapter XIII(Part 1)- The scientist, the drunks and the rejected lackey
When we entered the CCD, we were greeted by a man with a gun in hand, his face bearing a serious expression, his eyes shrouded in a haze of pain and madness. Needless to say, I don't trust him one bit. It's not the same distrust I feel with Snape, but it's not as bad as the one I feel with the older Malfoy, but it's still there as an unbearable reminder.
As Rick conversed with the scientist, he glanced around as if assessing us. I felt like meat in a butcher shop. You might think, "Harry, you're exaggerating." No, I'm not. Years of being ostracized and constantly pursued have helped me develop a sense of people, which has been very useful over time. But even if I'm a bit paranoid, it would take a fool not to notice how strange this scientist is, and I really hope the others aren't fools.
Dr. Jenner told us to run if we wanted to grab our things because if the doors closed, they wouldn't open again.
Things that make the doctor a disguised psychopath:
Locking up his victims.
Mentally noting, I followed Daryl, who for some reason didn't let go of me, to get our things from the pickup truck. I don't think he even realized he was holding onto me; if he had, he would have let go by now.
When we returned inside the lab, Jenner yelled for someone to close all the doors and cut the power to that floor, and he led us to the elevator. According to him, the condition for us to stay was him drawing our blood for analysis. We agreed, of course, but this place gives me bad vibes.
Seriously, what scientist carries a gun inside a laboratory?
It seems Daryl had the same train of thought as me, but he had the courage to voice it.
"Do doctors always carry guns around here?" he asked, leaning against the elevator wall.
"Plenty of guns lying around, and I've gotten used to them!" he said, turning to us. "But you all seem harmless," he looked at Carl. "Except you, I'll have to keep an eye on you!" he joked, making Carl laugh.
Weird guy!
Things that make the doctor a disguised psychopath:
Locking his victims ✓
Deceiving his victims by pretending to be a good guy ✓
Soon the elevator stops, and we step out of it.
"Are we in the basement?" Carol asks, slightly out of breath. You can see in her eyes her desire to leave that place.
"Are you claustrophobic?" the doctor asks, walking down the long white corridor.
"A little!" Carol replies, somewhat nervous.
"Try not to think about it," the doctor says, briefly looking back.
He, apparently, is terrible at comforting people.
We walk for a few more minutes until we reach zone five.
"Welcome to zone five," the doctor says, entering the large room.
"Where is everyone? The doctors, the other staff?" Rick asks, stepping into the room. As we followed him, I observed the deserted and cold place.
"It's just me, I'm the only one left here," Dr. Jenner replies, standing amidst the scattered computers in the room.
"What about the person you were talking about?" Lori asks.
It's a valid question, but it's also a little silly. It's clear that the place is completely empty.
"It's probably a robotic assistant!" I respond, leaning my head on Merle's arm, shielding myself from the discomfort, while Lori and the others look at me as if I'm stupid.
"You're right!" Dr. Jenner laughs and says. "V, say hi to our guests, tell them welcome!"
"Hello, guests, welcome!" The robotic voice fills our ears as everyone looks around in amazement.
"I'm all that's left," he says, watching as the faces of my companions fall with disappointment. "I'm so sorry!" he finishes somewhat reluctantly.
After that, we walked to a room to have our blood drawn.
"Who's going first?" Jenner asks, putting on sterilized gloves.
A moment of silence falls over us as we look at each other, until Merle gets impatient.
"Oh, for God's sake!" Merle exclaims irritably. "I will, you cowardly little shits" he says, dropping the backpack at my feet and approaching the doctor who was waiting not so patiently.
The order went like this:
1. Merle
2. Daryl
3. Rick
4. Shane
5. Carol
6. T-dog
7. Glen
8. Dale
9. Amy
10. Jacqui
11. Jim
12. Lori, followed by Carl and Sophia
13. Me, and lastly, Andrea, who was now getting her blood drawn totally indignant with the situation.
"Why bother? If we were infected, we'd have a fever!" she says.
"I've already broken all the rules in the manual by letting you in here, so let me at least be cautious," he says, removing the blood vial. "There you go." He applies an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to the needle wound, and Andrea gets up, supported by Jacqui. Andrea's face was pale, and it seemed like she was about to collapse at any moment, if it weren't for Jacqui holding her up. "Are you okay?" the doctor asks with a hint of concern in his voice.
"She hasn't eaten in days, none of us have," Jacqui replies, and I can see Jenner take a deep breath.
Well, Jacqui exaggerated a bit. I've been sharing a lot of food supplies with them sporadically when I go out alone to scavenge some houses or stores, but without giving myself away.
"Come with me," Jenner says, getting up after storing the blood vials.
He walks with us to the dining area, telling us to make ourselves at home. The women started cooking, while the men tidied up the place. Doctor Jenner disappeared somewhere, probably to store the blood in a secure location.
I sincerely hope my blood doesn't show anything abnormal. I don't know how wizard blood reacts to Muggle chemical components.
But well, dinner was soon ready, and we all sat at the table, including the scientist. The atmosphere is pleasant; all the adults were drinking and laughing cheerfully as if the world wasn't a mess.
"You know, in Italy, children drink a little wine with dinner, and in France too!" Dale says, handing Lori a glass of wine.
"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some!" Lori says before taking a sip of wine.
"It won't hurt, just let him, let him," Rick says, slightly tipsy. Lori looks at him and then laughs, letting Dale pour some wine into the child's glass.
"Here you go, kid!" Dale says, handing him the glass.
"Ew!" Carl says with a disgusted face, eliciting laughter from all of us. "It tastes bad."
"That's my boy." Lori pours the wine from his glass into hers.
"Stick to soup, kid," Shane says, chuckling lightly.
"Not you, Glen," Daryl says, pointing to the youngest.
"What?" The Asian guy questions, laughing.
"Keep drinking, kid, I want to see your face all red!" Daryl says, filling his glass, while everyone laughs.
"And what about you, Harry, not gonna drink?" Amy asks playfully by my side.
"No, I'd rather spare myself the hangover pain," I say, sipping orange juice.
"Don't be a pussy, sweetheart!" Merle says in his usual charming way, grabbing a bottle of wine and pouring a bit into a glass. "Just a little won't hurt you," he says, raising the glass towards me. I sigh resignedly and take the glass. "That's it, cutie!" Merle laughs, patting my back.
Actually, the reason I don't want to drink is that I ended up completely wasted after the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. The twins managed to smuggle in some bottles of liquor, and I grabbed one and headed to the Black Lake while everyone was partying in the common room. Viktor Krum found me, also escaping from his classmates' celebration. It turned out he stayed to drink with me, and we found out that I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol and a cheeky pervert. We drank the whole bottle, and then the night was a blur. I woke up in Viktor's room on the ship, our naked bodies entwined and a hellish hangover. When we recovered from the hangover, we talked, and it turned out we became friends with benefits. The last time I saw him was before leaving with the Dursleys. After that, I promised myself I wouldn't drink like that again, it's better for my mental sanity.
The atmosphere was great, aside from the fact that the scientist had a sour expression. Rick seems to have noticed this, as he stood up tapping lightly on his glass.
"I don't think we properly thanked our host!" he says, catching everyone's attention.
"He's much more than our host," T-dog says, raising his glass, followed by the others murmuring cheers.
Doctor Jenner watched everything with a slight smile on his face, raising his glass along with us.
The mood improved a bit, but like the big idiot he is, Shane decided to question Jenner.
"So, when are you gonna tell us what happened here, doctor, huh? All the other doctors who were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Shane, in his infinite wisdom, asks, totally ruining the peaceful atmosphere.
"We're celebrating, Shane," the former sheriff says, sitting down. "We don't need to do this now!"
"Oh, wait a minute, isn't that why we're here, huh? It was your decision to come here for answers." He says mockingly. "But we ended up finding only him, we found one man. Why?"
An uncomfortable silence settles in the room, until the doctor audibly breathes before speaking.
"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people left, went to be with their families." He sighs. "And when things got worse, when the military got wiped out, the rest fled." He says without enthusiasm.
"Everybody fled?" The brute opens his mouth again.
"No, not everyone had the courage to escape through the door, they simply gave up. There was a wave of suicides," he says, and the atmosphere in the room gets heavier than it already was. "It was a bad time."
"You didn't leave, why?" Andrea asks.
"I stayed working, hoping to do some good!" The doctor says, and Andrea nods understandingly.
"You know what, you're a buzzkill, man," Glen says, sitting down near us.
This quiet guy is a poet; honestly, I should have glued his mouth shut with the pipe glue I have in my backpack.