Notes: You know the drill by now, dialog lifted from episode six from season one, so here's your warning.
Sorry for any structural/grammatical errors-I'm in the process of going back through this. Still not beta read.
Glenn lets out a breath of relief, hoping that it's not too premature for such a thing, and follows after the others once Rick and Shane start corralling the group through the building's recently opened entrance. He hears Shane call out to Daryl, asking him to cover their backs. Once inside, they fan out on the lower level but stay within one another's sights, looking for whoever opened the door. Rick, seeing no one, calls out a greeting while Shane turns his attention to trying to get the doors closed.
"Hello?" An unfamiliar voice sounds out, causing Glenn to quickly cock his gun and point it in the direction that the voice originated from. Rick follows suit and eventually a middle-aged gentleman steps out into their line of sight with the quietly demanded question of, "Anybody infected?"
Rick, since he's apparently taking the role of leader in this situation, responds with: "One of our group was. He didn't make it."
"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man questions further, advancing into the room.
"A chance."
"That's asking an awful lot these days."
"I know."
The un-named man looks around at all of their faces before looking back at Rick. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."
"We can do that."
"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."
Dale and T-Dog stand watch for approaching walkers while he, Rick, Shane and Daryl run outside to grab their supplies and bags. As soon as they're inside of the door, the man turns to talk to the control panel next to the door, "VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." They watch as the shutters close back down over the doors and the lights go back out. Rick moves forward slightly to introduce himself. Afterwards, the man returns the gesture and introduces himself as a Doctor Edwin Jenner.
During the elevator ride down to the lower levels, Daryl glances over at Jenner, "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"
"There were plenty left lying around, I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough." He replies, before glancing down at Carl. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you." This causes Carl to smile slightly, which Glenn appreciates. He leads them down a long hallway as soon as they reach the appropriate floor and out into some sort of control room, where he reveals that he is the only one left at the C.D.C.-a proclamation that is met with subdued glances shared amongst the group.
Jenner then leads everyone to one of the smaller rooms where he can take a sample of their blood. When Andrea's turn has come and gone and she almost stands up and passes out, swaying slightly on her feet, it's revealed that the group really hasn't been able to eat in a few days, so Jenner takes them to the kitchen and dining area. Settled in seats around a large table, everyone finally lets go and relaxes—Lori even lets Carl try some wine which produces a hilarious reaction and Daryl tries (in fact succeeds) to get him drunk—for the first time in what seems like ages. For at last they feel safe—both in location and in current company.
Rick attempts to toast Jenner for his hospitality, but Shane chooses to ruin the atmosphere of good feelings by asking what truly occurred in the facility. Jenner explains that many people simply fled once they realized what was happening: went home to their families and loved ones. Others, who couldn't face walking out the door to what awaited them, committed suicide. Jenner claims that he remained behind because he just hoped to do some small measure of good by continuing his work. These revelations cause a somber mood to settle over the survivors.
As soon as everyone finishes eating, Jenner continues his tour of the facilities; he directs the group toward their sleeping quarters and mentions that the kids might enjoy the rec room that's located down the hall. He asks that they try not to use the electricity and to go easy on the hot water. Glenn is personally delighted at the idea of hot water. He looks toward the back of the group to catch Daryl's eye before moving toward a room at the end of the hall.
Once inside, he drops his belongings off of the side of the door and all but runs for the bathroom, tugging his shirt over his head as he goes. Behind him, he hears Daryl enter the room and shut the door. He's in the process of yanking off his jeans and boxer-briefs when he hears the tell-tale thumps of Daryl's bags hitting the floor next to his and then silence; shrugging, he strips his shoes and socks off and then almost trips and brains himself in his excitement to actually get into a shower with not only running water, but hot running water.
Glenn is so blissed out from the feeling of a real shower that he doesn't notice Daryl's presence behind him until he feels the brush of lips across the nape of his neck. He's sure that his husband would normally have a few choice words about his lack of awareness, but for now they are safe behind secure doors, and his only comments are the kisses he continues pressing down his nape and along his right shoulder.
As he allows his body to lean back against Daryl's sturdier one, Glenn lets out a peaceful sigh when he feels Daryl's hands slide up his flanks with one coming to rest teasingly below his navel. Typically Glenn's unable to help the babble that flows from his mouth in these situations, but the combination of simple comforts, safety and the alcohol from dinner leave him a silent, compliant dead-weight against his husband. Like usual, Daryl remains a quiet, yet intense and focused presence behind him.
Despite this being a perfect chance to catch up on previously missed opportunities while being enthusiastic about it, Daryl doesn't disrupt the tranquil aura that's settled over them; he keeps his touches light and teasing, trailing his hands up and down Glenn's thighs and avoiding the area where Glenn would normally be pleading for him to touch. When he finally does receive that specific brand of attention, Glenn doubts he'll be able to last long at all with how he's feeling and how long it's been since they've done anything remotely resembling this.
When Daryl finally wraps a hand around Glenn's erection, he feels his husband's own press against his cheeks as he starts to placidly rut against him, timing the movements of his hand with that of his thrusts. True to his own predictions, Glenn doesn't last very long at all with the combined attentions Daryl is paying to both his front and back; as his release comes upon him, he turns his face and presses his mouth against the underside of his partner's jaw in attempts to muffle his cries. Satiated and basking in the afterglow, Glenn collapses forward against the shower wall, narrowly avoiding getting a face full of water and sighs contently as Daryl slowly brings himself to his own completion against Glenn's backside, both hands now firmly grasping his hips.
For the first time in what feels like forever, Glenn is truly exhausted and doesn't force himself to power through it; he remains slumped forward against the wall while Daryl cleans them off and gently herds him from the shower. Glenn watches placidly as his husband looks around for a towel to first dry Glenn off followed by himself; he occasionally has to stop what he's doing and help Glenn straighten up so that he doesn't topple over. Once satisfactorily dry, Daryl manages to successfully clothe them for bed before scooping Glenn up into his arms; Glenn grumbles half-heartedly in protest, but it's lessened by the fact that his face is currently smooshed in his husband's chest. The last thing he remembers is the feeling of his head touching the pillow once Daryl makes it to the bed and lowers him down on it.
"Morning," Rick greets the group as he joins them for breakfast in the morning. Glenn really wishes everyone would just stop talking. He moans pitifully into his arms, where he's buried his head in order to escape from any and all sounds and lights.
Regrettably, that doesn't seem to work as he hears Carl ask his father, "Are you hungover? Mom said you'd be." The little shi-the little delight-sounds ecstatic about it, too.
"Mom is right."
"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori remarks, smirking.
"Eggs, powdered, but—but I do 'em good." T-Dog announces, from the kitchen area, bringing over a skillet of freshly cooked eggs. "I bet you can't tell." Glenn lifts his head and groans at the ear-splitting level in which he is speaking.
Oh, god. Glenn feels his stomach roll traitorously when T-Dog scoops some onto his plate with the smart-assed comment of, "Protein helps the hangover." He's going to fucking kill Daryl—where is that bastard anyway? "Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again," He murmurs to Jacqui, who has taken pity on him and is gently rubbing his back. He also chooses to block out whatever drama is currently going on with everyone else—namely Shane, Rick and Lori—until Dr. Jenner walks into the room and Dale starts asking him questions; unfortunately, Glenn is interested in that, so he puts aside his discomfort and forces himself to pay attention.
Dr. Jenner leads them back into the control room that they visited yesterday where he asks VI, the center's A.I., to bring up information regarding Test Subject 19, an individual who was infected and then allowed for the process to be recorded and studied. The group watches, and listens, as the scientist takes them through the process of what happens once someone is bitten—explaining that the "you" part of one's brain fails to come back during the reanimation process, as the virus only restarts the brain stem as opposed to the entire brain.
Once the demonstration is over, Andrea snaps both angrily and hopelessly at Jenner, accusing the man of actually knowing nothing about the virus. When Jenner is questioned about the prospect of their being others—meaning other scientists or doctors working at other centers-he half-heartedly admits that there might be, but he doesn't know—he's been in the 'dark' for close to a month. This further angers Andrea, as she points out that Jenner is implying that there isn't anything helpful remaining out there and that the virus has spread too far. When the scientist offers no counterargument, various members of the group start expressing their frustrations and hopelessness.
However, Dale chooses that moment to ask Jenner one more question: there's a large red counter downing down on the back wall and he wishes to know what it is. Jenner merely remarks that eventually the basement generators will run out of fuel and walks out of the room, despite Rick asking about what happens after that. Since Jenner chooses not to answer, Rick asks the center's A.I., VI. The A.I. responds by saying that when the power runs out, the facility will automatically decontaminate.
"Decontaminate—what does that mean?" Glenn worriedly asks Rick, as he hurries after him to the basement, along with T-Dog and Shane, to check on the generators.
"I don't like the way Jenner clammed up," Shane remarks. "The way he just wandered off like that."
T-Dog, bringing up the rear of the group, mutters, "What's wrong with him? Seriously, man, is he nuts, medicated, what?"
Rick pauses at a map of the facility to locate the generators before leading the group forward, "In there." They move forward until they come to a door and step through to be greeted by the sight of various types of machinery. "Check that way," he says to T-Dog and Glenn, pointing off to the side. Then he turns in the other direction, calling out to Shane.
Glenn and T start down the indicated path, looking over the various machines. Eventually, they come upon several oil drums but they all empty turn out to be empty. While they're looking, the sounds of the generator clacking can be heard and the lights suddenly go out; after a second or two, Glenn hears VI announce that the emergency lighting has come on. He and T-Dog quickly run back toward Rick and Shane and ask, "Hey, did you guys kill the lights?"
"Nah, it just went out," Shane answers.
"Anything?" Rick asks, looking up at their approach.
"Yeah," T-Dog scoffs, "A lot of dead generators and more empty fuel drums than I can count."
"It can't be down to just that one," Shane argues disbelievingly. Sadly, it does turn out to be just that one.
Glenn and the others make their way back upstairs to the main control room, where they discover that the rest of their group has gathered and are actively questioning Jenner, who is still remaining tight-lipped on the subject. As they burst into the room, he hears Daryl angrily ask, "Hey, man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"
Jenner mutters, "You'd be surprised."
"Rick?" Lori calls out as she catches sight of them.
Rick holds up his hand to stop her before approaching Jenner, "Jenner, what's happening?"
"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark." As they come into view of the countdown, he points over to it, "Right on schedule." He takes a swig of the liquor bottle that he's now carrying with him before turning back to Andrea, "It was the French."
"What?" She asks, confused.
"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution."
"What happened?" Jacqui asks.
"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" He tells them before turning to walk up towards the work stations.
Angered, Shane goes after him, "Let me tell you—"
"To hell with it, Shane," Rick interrupts. "I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"
Glenn, along with everyone else, moves toward the exit of the main control room at Rick's command but are unfortunately unable to leave. Jenner closes the door of the room via a remote control once an alarm sounds announcing that there are only thirty minutes remaining until decontamination. Distraught, Glenn turns around to look at Jenner, "Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!"
"You son of a bitch!" Daryl yells, going after Jenner; Rick, too far away, calls out for Shane to stop Daryl, and he manages to restrain him in time with the help of T-Dog; Glenn cautiously heads in their direction. Meanwhile, Lori rushes to Carl's side and Jenner, ignoring everyone else in the room, begins a video recording stating that the 30-minute countdown has begun. Pissed off, Rick marches over to Jenner, demanding, "Hey, Jenner. Open that door now."
"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."
"Well, open the damn things."
"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way." Glenn stares at the man in shock, wondering how he can rationalize any of this as 'better.' Feeling slightly sick to his stomach, he's about to ask what happens when the clock actually does reach zero, even though he has a pretty good idea, but Rick beats him to it.
"What is?" Rick snaps back. "What happens in 28 minutes?"
Jenner ignores Rick's question, turning around to start typing at the workstation. Annoyed with the scientist, Shane knocks into his shoulder and Rick repeats his question again. Angrily, Jenner stands up and shouts. "You know what this place is!? We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" After he finishes his small rant, he visibly calms himself and sits back down. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure—in a terrorist attack for example—H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."
"H.I.T.s?"
"VI, define." Jenner requests. They hear the computerized voice automatically respond with: "H.I.T.'s—high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5000 and 6000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired." Various members of the group, including Lori and Carol, start crying as they hear the definition while Jenner calmly states, "It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything." The sick feeling in Glenn's stomach increases as his hunch is proven true; he moves to reach for his husband but finds him already moving away.
Refusing to accept Jenner's plan, Daryl and Shane try to break down the door to the room with axes, but of course, they get nowhere. Meanwhile, the rest of the group sits near Jenner, furiously arguing with him. "You should have left well enough alone," He remarks. "It would've been so much easier."
Lori angrily counters, "Easier for who?"
"All of you. You know what's out there—a short, brutal life and an agonizing death." Looking away from Lori, he turns his attention to Andrea, "Your—your sister—what was her name?"
"Amy."
"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that really what you want for your wife and son?"
Rick leans forward into Jenner's space, "I don't want this." Glenn can whole-heartedly agree with him here. While he may not wish to suffer "a short, brutal life and an agonizing death," he certainly doesn't wish to suffer this sort of end either.
Shane and Daryl come over and Shane informs Rick that they can't make a dent. When Jenner scoffs and says that that door was built to withstand rocket launchers, Daryl attempts to put an ax in Jenner's face, but is stopped once again. Seething, he returns to Glenn's side and allows the younger man to finally lean against him in distressed horror: there's no apparent way out of this situation other than by Jenner's will alone.
Looking at Rick, Jenner scoffs, "You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."
Shocked, Lori stares up at Rick while Shane looks at Rick annoyed; Glenn feels slightly betrayed. "What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane demands.
"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick replies, looking down at Lori.
"There is no hope." Jenner states, "There never was."
"There's always hope," Rick argues back. "Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody, somewhere—"
"What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?" Andrea abruptly interjects.
Jenner looks back at Rick, advising, "Listen to your friend, she gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."
"This isn't right," Carol cries out, speaking up for once. "You can't just keep us here."
"One tiny moment—a millisecond. No pain," Jenner offers in an attempt to sooth her.
Shaking her head, Carol continues with: "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." None of us do, Glenn thinks viciously.
As Shane angrily storms off, Dr. Jenner remains steadfast in his endeavors to convince them, "Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Glenn doesn't mind holding onto Daryl, but he finds nothing compassionate about forcing execution on those who do not want it.
No one notices Shane with the gun until he cocks it and moves back toward the scientist, demanding that he open the door. Rick, however, moves forward to stop him, but Shane merely loses it and starts firing around the room in rage; Rick eventually gets the gun away from him after he knocks him to the ground. Then, he turns back to Jenner. "I think you're lying."
"What?"
"You're lying. About no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"
"It doesn't matter."
"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"
"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise…to her. My wife."
"Test Subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asks, horrified as she makes the connection.
"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."
"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's—that's all we want—a choice. A chance," Rick pleads.
"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori begs.
"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those," Jenner finally—thankfully—relents, moving to unlock the room.
Glenn, along with everyone else, watches frozen until he hears Daryl yell, "Come on!" as the door finally opens. Glenn darts up the pathway after his husband, shouting back to the others, "come on, let's go!" The remaining group members, shaken out of their apparent stunned stupor, start to follow after them. Carl rushes up to Glenn alone, causing him to pause; he turns around and sees that Rick is still talking to Jenner. Shaking his head in dismay, as he knows there will be no changing Jenner's mind about staying, he calls out, "Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!" Rick, apparently releasing that his efforts are futile, thankfully starts to move his ass. As everyone gathers at the entrance of the control room, Jacqui and Andrea announce that they are staying to follow in Jenner's footsteps. This exclamation causes Dale to stay behind but not before he tells everyone else to just go.
Upstairs on the ground floor, they do indeed find the doors locked; no amount of beating on the glass windows with the axes or various objects appears to be doing any good. The entire situation appears hopeless until Carol mentions that she has something that may help—something that she found in Rick's belongings; it turns out to be a grenade. Rick awkwardly detonates the grenade and it successfully blows one of the windows out of the building, enabling the group to escape with minutes to spare. Unfortunately, there is still no sign of Dale, Andrea or Jacqui.
Outside of the building, the remaining survivors make a break for the vehicles they'd left behind which they can see in the distance, dodging the walkers they can and shooting others they cannot as they go. Glenn, the first to arrive at the R.V., hastily throws the door open, hurriedly checking inside for any stray walkers (he hasn't survived this long by not being careful). Rick, Lori and Carl follow quickly behind him as the others hand for the other vehicles. Frantic, he checks out the window to make sure that Daryl has reached his truck, calming only once receives visual confirmation that this is in fact true. Rick dives for the driver's seat in order to pull away—the clock is ticking after all—however is stopped by Lori's urgent shouts at the last minute. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! They're coming."
Glenn, Rick and Carl all glance out of the front window and see Andrea and Dale making their way out of the building. Glenn rushes to throw the door of the R.V. open, shouting "Come on!" to the both of them, urging them to move faster. They don't manage to make it close enough in time and Glenn slams the door closed once again only to dive towards the seat where Carl is sitting as Rick shouts out a warning as the H.I.T.'s make their appearance; he hopes Andrea and Dale managed to make it far enough away from the building.
As soon as the ground stops shaking from the explosion, Glenn, shaken himself, rises from his crouched position over Carl to stare blankly out the front window back towards what remains of the C.D.C. In shock, he numbly continues to watch the flames and black smoke rise into the air even as Dale finally makes it to the R.V., with Andrea in tow, and fumbles back into the driver's seat that Rick relinquishes.
The caravan morosely makes its way out of the area after Rick's made sure everyone is unharmed in a viable vehicle. Glenn's not sure what they're going to do at this point—like Andrea pointed at before, they have almost no gas, no food, no medical supplies, nothing. What they did have before supplies-wise went up in flames with the C.D.C. building, but at least they are still alive and have the chance to figure out what they're going to do and he's thankful for that. At least he still has Daryl and that's all he needs to move willingly toward whatever the future holds for him.