Jewels: I do not own The Walking Dead…
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
SMACK!
"Whoever invented the alarm clock is both a savior and an idiot," I mumbled, after smacking the top of the alarm clock that was sitting on the end table. I carefully rolled back over into Daryl's chest. I had woken up an hour earlier, but I had stayed put do to my very comfortable position of being wrapped in his arms. Frankly, I didn't want to get out of bed…not yet anyway. Getting out of bed would mean rejoining the rest of the world, what's left of it anyway.
I reached up and gently ran my index finger across his bottom lip. 'Those lips were all over me last night,' I thought, my skin starting to tingle just at the thought of the night before.
"You just gonna stare at me?" he suddenly asked, opening an eye and looking down at me.
"I was thinkin' about it…that bother ya'?" I asked.
"Not one bit…but it looks like we have to get up and join the rest of them idiots," he said, letting out a sigh.
"Oh you sound so thrilled about that…"
He leaned back, putting his arm behind his head, and looked at me with a smirk on his face. "If I had a choice…I'd stay here all day with you…relivin' all the things we did last night. But sayin' as there's a group of people out there who will be lookin' for us and wonderin' where we got off to…"
I was silent.
"What's that look for?"
"Just a couple of days ago we were fightin' with each other and then last night, we were all over each other…I'm just worried-."
"Heh, you don't have to worry 'bout that," he said, sitting up and looking down at me, "Was I angry, hell yeah…I felt like I had been rejected after I did what I did for ya'…but you drew me in either way and I'm here now, and I'm gonna protect ya'. I ain't gonna promise that I won't yell again, I got me a temper and I can't change that. Nothin' like my old man's, but still I got a temper…"
"What are you tryin' to say, Daryl?" I asked.
He leaned down and buried he head in my neck, kissing it. "That I'm one possessive sumbitch and you best believe that I'll hurt any man that tries to hurt ya'…now go shower…ya' smell like sex."
I pushed him away and laughed. "And whose fault is that?"
"Yours for comin' into my room the way ya' did last night…" he replied.
DARYL'S POV
Jewels grabbed her night shirt and pulled it on, a small groan slipping from her lips. I had warned her that she was gonna regret her words. I etched every inch of her body into my mind, and left some marks behind to prove it. Nothing that would stand out much…besides the hickey on her collar bone, but enough to leave her sore.
She made her way out of the room casting on last glance over her shoulder at me before leaving the room.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and ran my fingers through my hair. 'Damn girl…getting' in my head, but man. The sex last night was amazin'. But damn, damn, damn. Those things I said to her…that ain't me…but I meant it.' "God damn it…" I mumbled before grabbing my clothes and walking to the shower.
As the water ran over me I watched it run down the drain. 'There wasn't a damn girl like her in North Georgia…she can hunt, track, clean, from what I understand she can cook, she's amazin' in bed, and she's smart. If I had met her before all this shit…man, stop thinkin' like that.'
I stayed under the water for a little while longer before stepping out and getting dressed. Stepping out into the hallway I saw Jewels doin' the same.
JEWELS' POV
"You look relaxed," Daryl said.
"I had nothing to worry about last night or this morning," I said smiling, "Of course I'm relaxed, now let's get some grub…I'm starvin'."
BREAKFAST
"Eggs. Powdered, but…but I do 'em good," T-Dog said, passing scrambled eggs around the table.
Glenn groaned, not doin' so hot from his hard night of drinking.
"Protein helps the hangover," Jacqui said.
Glenn groaned again and looked at me and Daryl. "How do you do it?"
"What?" we both asked.
"Drink so much…especially whiskey," he replied.
"Oh…um…I have a high tolerance," I replied.
Daryl chuckled. "Hard liquor, good for the soul…what are ya' starin' at Shane."
Shane scoffed and shook his head. "I think that girl of yours owes me an apology."
"Excuse me?" Daryl questioned.
"For what I said last night?" I cut in, remembering that the whiskey made my honesty spew out, "I meant it."
"What…" Shane said. He was obviously in a bad mood about something; if I had to take a guess it was that he had a fight with Lori. The scratches on his face weren't from falling as he would probably want people to believe, and it was obvious before Rick had reunited with her and Lori that Shane had been sleeping with her.
'Guess he doesn't know when to let it go…' I thought. "I meant what I said…plus I think you are the kind of Doucheville, leader of the Douchebagarians, in the land of Douchebagary," I said.
He slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "You got a problem?!"
Daryl went to say something to Shane, but I cut him off getting in Shane's face. "No, but you obviously do…what is it Shane? Feelin' a little…frustrated?"
His jaw clenched as he scowled at me. "You need to watch yourself…"
"Or what? You ain't the king of nothin' 'cept your own ego," I said, "So don't go 'round actin' like you're owed anythin'."
"Um…good morning…" Rick said, walking into the room, "Everything okay?"
"Perfect," Shane said, "We were just havin' a heated discussion, that's all…"
"My grandma did always say never to discuss politics at the breakfast table…" I commented.
"Are you gonna sit back down or just stand there lookin' like you're about to kill each other?" Rick asked.
We both took our seats but every once and awhile continued to glare at each other. Shane and I weren't going to get along. I knew this was bound to happen; he had his head stuck so far up his ass that there was no getting it out.
"Where's all this come from?" Rick asked, looking at the small pile of pill bottles in the center of the table.
"Jenner," Lori replied, handing him an aspirin, "He thought we could use it….some of use at least."
"Don't ever, ever let me drink again," Glenn groaned.
Rick then looked at Shane. "You feel as bad as I do?"
"Worse…" he scowled.
"By the way, what the hell happened to your neck?" T-Dog asked Shane.
"Hmmm?" he replied.
"Your neck…"
"I must have done it in my sleep."
"Never seen you do that before," Rick said, puzzled.
"Me neither; not like me at all," Shane stated, looking straight at Lori.
"Um…Julianne?" Sophia said.
"Yes sweetie?" I questioned.
"Did you do that in your sleep too?" she asked.
My eyes shot open and my hand went to my neck. "Well sweetie, actually…I fell last night."
"More than once from what I heard," T-Dog mumbled.
"Yes, well…" I stopped and then pointed my fork at Sophia, "Let this be a life lesson Sophia…alcohol makes you clumsy as hell and it will be very embarrassing if people hear your clumsy-ness….your mother will tell you're a bit older…but, whiskey is not your friend. Alright little lady?"
"Alright…" she said, completely confused at this point.
I heard snickering next to me and saw Daryl hiding his face in his hands laughing.
"Wait…I thought…" Glenn started.
"Oh, dude don't go there," T-Dog said, "What has been heard cannot be unheard, and I'll tell you right now, it wasn't just the whiskey talkin'."
"No…no it wasn't," Daryl said, with a stupid grin on his face.
"Morning," Dr. Jenner said walking into the room, thankfully switching the conversation off of me and Daryl.
"Hey, doc," Shane said.
"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing…" Dale started.
"But you will anyway…"Jenner said, almost sourly.
"We didn't come here for there eggs," Andrea said.
-Computer Room-
"Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner said, as we entered the main computer room
"Playback of TS-19," Vi's automated, voice played over the speaker system.
"Few people ever got a chance to see this…very few," he said, as an image of all I could describe as a hi-tech MRI appeared on screen.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.
"An extraordinary one…not that it matters in the end," he replied, with a sad distant look in his eyes, "Take us in for E.I.V." The 'video' sped up and lights began to move around the brain we were staring at.
"What are those lights?" Shane asked.
"It's a person's life…experiences, memories; it's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you…the thing that makes you unique…and human," he replied.
"Don't you make sense ever?" Daryl asked.
"Those are synapses, electrical impulses in the brain that carry all the messages…they determine everything a person says does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death…"
"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asked.
Jenner stared at the screen for a second, his eyes darkening.
'He knew this person,' I thought recognizing that look. It was grief; the same look that I carried with me after I lost my grandparents.
"Yes, or rather a playback of the vigil," he said.
"This person died?" Andrea asked, "Who?"
"Test subject 19, someone who was bitten and infected…and volunteered to have us record the process…Vi, scan forward to the first event."
"Scanning to first event," Vi said.
"What is that?" Glenn asked.
"It invades the brain like meningitis, the adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs…then death," Jenner replied, "Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone."
"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked, looking at Carol.
"Yes," Carol replied sadly.
"We lost somebody two day ago…" Lori said, sensing Jenner's confusion, "And her sister…"
Jenner looked from Andrea back to the screen. "I lost somebody too…I know how devastating it is. Scan to second event."
"Scanning to second event," Vi said.
"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute…seven seconds."
The brain that had gone dark once the patient had died, now lit back up, but not like it had before. The lights were a dark color and not as active as they were before.
"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.
"No, just the brain stem, basically it gets them up and moving," he replied.
"But they're not alive?" Rick asked.
"You tell me," Jenner stated.
"It's nothing like before, most of the brain is dark," Rick said.
"Dark…lifeless…dead…"Jenner said, "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part…that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell, driven by mindless instinct." There was a gun shot and we all jumped.
"God, what was that?" Carol asked.
"He shot his patient in the head…didn't you?" Andrea asked.
"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations," Jenner said.
"Powering down main screen and workstations," Vi said.
"You have no idead what it is, do you?" Andrea snarked.
"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal…" Jenner said, listing off the things it could be.
"Or the wrath of god," Jacqui commented.
"There is that…" he agreed.
"Great…it's either the work of god or a bad case of athlete's foot," I said, throwing up my hands, "That makes me feel so much better."
"Somebody must know something…somebody, somewhere," Andrea said.
"There are others, right? Carol asked, "Other facilities?"
"There may be some," Jenner replied, "People like me."
"But you don't know?" Rick asked, "How can you not know?"
"Everything went down; communications, directives…all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month," Jenner replied.
"So it's not just here, there's nothing left anywhere? Nothing?" Andrea said, starting to have a meltdown, "That's what you're really saying, right?"
"Jesus," Jacqui mumbled.
"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again," Daryl said.
"I'm right there with ya'," I said, scowling. Who could really tell whose fault this shit really was; was it a government experiment gone wrong, terrorists, just an ugly mutated virus that scientists couldn't take care of, or the modern day black plague that would pass and cause the survivors to have to rebuild society little by little.
"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but…that clock…it's counting down," Dale said, speaking up, "What happens at zero?"
"The basement generators…they run out of fuel," Jenner replied.
"And then?" Rick asked, Jenner clamming up and not answering the question before leaving the room, "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur," she replied.
"Decontamination…what does that mean?" Glenn asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like," I replied, "The C.D.C. is gonna 'clean up' after itself…"
TO BE CONTINUED…