The convoy arrived at the CDC, slowing to a halt on the roadside, still a considerable distance from the entrance. The group slowly disembarked, clutching their supply bags. Ravenna's hooves echoed lightly as Arthur, still astride her, surveyed the massive, imposing structure. "Looks like a death trap to me," he commented, his voice cutting through the strained quiet. The girls instantly became more vigilant, while Shane aggressively bristled. "You just can't keep your damn mouth shut, can you?"
Arthur dismounted Ravenna, meeting Shane's glare with contempt. "What'chu gon' do about it? Washed-up Pinocchio," he countered.
Shane was about to erupt, but Rick's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Stop, both of you. This ain't the time to argue with each other," Rick ordered, shaking his head at Arthur, who merely smirked. Arthur turned to Ravenna, unstrapping his rifle, bow, and rifle ammo from her saddle and bag. He transferred the bullets to his duffel bag and stuffed more into his hooded robe. "Go to the wilds, girl. You can wait for me there, in case this CDC fails," he instructed. Ravenna responded with a confirming neighh and trotted away toward the tree line.
Daryl approached Arthur, a curious glint in his eye. "Not afraid that it will escape?" Arthur shrugged. "Not really. Anyway, ready your crossbow, my spider-sense is tingling," he said, his intuition screaming danger the moment they arrived. Daryl was baffled by the last line. "The fuck?" but followed the warning anyway. Arthur smiled at his reaction. "T-Dog, Glenn, pick up the functional guns on the ground. I'll cover you guys in case a walker appears." He noted the numerous M4s and Mossbergs scattered around the littered ground. As they neared the entrance, Arthur peeked over a bullet crate, spotted boxes of shotgun and pistol ammo, and quickly stuffed them into his duffel bag.
The group continued, weapons ready, stepping over dead bodies that littered the ground. The sky was darkening rapidly. At the main entrance, Rick and Shane approached the massive shutters, trying to pry them open. "Nothing?" Shane said, banging on the door. Arthur instantly reacted. "Dumb fucker, why did you do that? We're in a hot zone."
"Walkers!" Daryl shouted, shooting a bolt through an approaching walker's head. Lori and the others began to panic, save for Hermione, whom Arthur saw glancing around, analyzing, mentally creating an escape route should things go wrong. "You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl shouted, marching toward Rick. "We made a call," Rick reminded him. Daryl ignored the excuse. "It was a wrong damn call!"
As they argued, Arthur noticed the walkers were slowly accumulating. "Better think of a way out of here than argue," he said, shooting a closing walker with his rifle. Shane glanced at him, then went back to Rick. "This is a dead end. Do you hear me? No blame, Rick." Pew. Bang. The sounds of gunfire punctuated the fear. Lori chimed in, "Rick, we can't be here, this close to the city after dark!"
Arthur shouted, reloading his rifle. "Decide now before we get surrounded!" He, Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog fired at the approaching walkers while Carol, Andrea, and the others shielded the whimpering children. Shane looked at Rick, who was still dazed. "Fort Benning, Rick. Still an option."
Hermione sharply rebutted Shane's suggestion. "With what, Shane? With no food and gasoline, we won't last long on the road." Shane shot her an irritated, cold look; Arthur suspected that had Lori said it, his reaction would have been different. "Careful how you look, Pinocchio. Ms. Detective is right," Arthur interjected, shielding Hermione from Shane's gaze.
As the gunfire intensified, the group began to panic at the sight of the continuously accumulating walkers. Hermione looked at a nearby surveillance camera and commented, "The camera just moved." Rick turned and saw it—a sudden surge of hope. He started banging on the shutters. "Let us in, man! I know you're in there! We have children!" he yelled, banging on the shutters and looking desperately at the camera. "You're killing us!"
As the walkers got closer, Arthur strapped the rifle to his back and pulled out his dirk. One walker got close to Jacqui, who screamed. Arthur appeared instantly and thrust the dirk into the walker's head before it could grab her—thwack. The group, still arguing and trying to convince Rick it was a dead end, slowly moved back toward the vehicles as Arthur spun, flicked his wrist, and thrust the hidden blade into another nearby walker.
Rick continued to plead with the person inside the CDC while Arthur, moving with finesse, killed the walkers, agilely dodging their grasping hands. With the dirk in his left hand and the hidden blade in his right, every part of his body—elbow, knee, foot—became a weapon. As Arthur weaved through the fray, he heard an unusual sound: 'This... running? Very fast at that. Is it going away? No, shit, it's approaching here.' Arthur turned toward the direction of the sound.
His danger intuition screamed, not for him, but for those around him. Hermione noticed his sudden tension. "What is it, Kenway?" she asked. Arthur replied in a low voice. "Something is running towards here. Strong, and very fast." Just as the group was about to retreat, the shutters suddenly opened, bathing the dark area in intense light.
Arthur immediately pulled Hermione aside and shouted to the group, "What are you staring at? Inside now, faster!" He could hear the thing approaching, getting rapidly closer. The group rushed inside, and the shutters began to slowly descend. Just before they closed, Arthur saw it: a creature unlike the typical walker. It had bulkier muscles, tiny spikes protruding from its body as if its evolution was incomplete, and a predator-like jaw separated in the middle, sharp claws ready.
The moment the shutters closed, a deafening bang sounded, rattling the door with the impact. The group screamed, and Rick, Daryl, Shane, and others pointed their guns at the shutters in case they broke down. Luckily, the steel was sturdy enough. Arthur turned to Hermione, realized he was still holding her hand, and hastily let go. Hermione gave him a deep, analyzing look and said in a low voice, "Better tell me later what that is." Arthur just smiled at her. "Sure, Ms. Detective," as they followed the group, vigilantly surveying the lobby.
"Watch for walkers," Dale warned as Rick and the others readied their weapons. Arthur casually walked beside Hermione, seemingly relaxed, as he heard no walkers inside other than those outside and that strange one. The lobby was pristine, devoid of corpses. "Hello," Rick shouted. Then, the loud cocking of a shotgun echoed, alerting the group. Arthur smoothly grabbed his rifle from his back and aimed it at the man who suddenly appeared, shotgun in hand. "Anybody infected?" the man in the gray shirt demanded. Rick replied, "One of our group was, he didn't make it."