A/N Hi everybody, I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to update. Being busy is a sorry excuse, but it's the truth. It takes a lot of time to transform these episodes and I couldn't find it until now. Hope you all enjoy it though.
Thank you to EverMineEverThine, aishiteru naru, and shika93 for the reviews. They mean so much to me. And thank you to all of the new followers and favorites. I truly appreciate your support. I can say that you will definitely not have to wait as long for the next chapter because school is almost over. I'll have almost a full two weeks with nothing to do so I'll be able to get some writing done, maybe even work ahead so that all I'll have to is upload instead of write during the start of next semester. That should help get these out quicker.
This is the end of season 1. Next chapter starts season 2. We'll see how Bella will change things then. I can't wait! Hugs and Kisses. Sarah
The group made it to the computer room. Dr. Jenner hit a button on a computer and commanded, "Give me playback on TS-19." Everyone looked up to the images that were appearing on the large screen before them. Dr. Jenner continued, "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few." Rick moved closer to the front and Shane seemed to hover towards the back of the group, his eyes finding Bella every few seconds before looking away again.
Carl broke the silence, "Is that a brain?" Dr. Jenner explained, "An extraordinary one, not that it matters in the end. Take us in for the IV." VI responded to the command. No one quite knew what they were seeing. Bella figured they were seeing brain activity of some sort; she just couldn't figure out why. She jumped when she heard Shane ask, "What're those lights?" She hadn't realized how close he'd gotten to her without her knowing. She quickly shifted to the other side of Daryl, hoping Shane didn't notice. But he did.
"The 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."
Daryl spoke up, clearly confused but trying to understand. "You don't make sense, ever?"
Bella nudged him so he'd look at her. "Those are synapses. They're electric impulses that carry all the messages."
Dr. Jenner nodded at her, a little impressed, before continuing. "They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth – to the moment of death."
Rick spoke up. "Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Bella scowled slightly at his callousness. Just because Dr. Jenner wasn't actively fighting the monsters outside doesn't mean he wasn't allowed to have his own demons.
"Yes. Or, rather, the playback of the vigil."
Andrea quickly understood, but wanted to confirm. "This person died? Who?"
"Test subject nineteen. Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event." Bella watched as the images moved forward. She watched as the black tendrils spread throughout the brain, as the skeletal jaw started thrashing with what she assumed was pain. She didn't care about the technical talk anymore, she knew enough about what was happening on the screen and it scared her way more than the undead crazies outside. She started to tear up as she watched all of the lights in the brain die off.
Bella noticed how hard Andrea was taking this. She went to her and wrapped her arm around Andrea's shoulder, comforting her the best she could. At Dr. Jenner's questioning look, Bella explained, "She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister."
Dr. Jenner nodded in understanding and walked towards them. "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." Bella met his eyes and saw the immeasurable pain reflected in his eyes. After a moment, Dr. Jenner turned towards the screen again. "Scan to the second event." All eyes turned to the screen as they watched light return to the dark brain. "The resurrection times vary wildly. We have 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 minutes, seven seconds."
"It restarts the brain," Lori asked.
"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."
Rick interjected, "But, they're not alive."
Dr. Jenner challenged, "You tell me."
"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."
"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back, the you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." Bella looked on with horror as a force ripped through the brain, slicing the image completely.
Carol exclaimed, "God, what was that?"
Andrea spoke up, "He shot his patient in the head." She turned to Jenner. "Didn't you?"
Instead of responding, Dr. Jenner simply powered down the room. Andrea didn't feel like letting go though. Her pain was still too raw, her questions couldn't be left unanswered any longer. "You have no idea what it is, do you?"
"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."
Jacqui interjected, "Or the wrath of God?"
Dr. Jenner conceded. "There is that."
Andrea wouldn't let up. "Somebody must know something. Somebody, somewhere."
"There may be some. People like me."
Bella could see Rick getting agitated. "You don't know? How can you not know?"
"Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."
Andrea spoke up again. "So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere. Nothing. That's what you're really saying, right?" Dr. Jenner gave no response and no one else knew quite what to say either. Bella wasn't sure how to feel; she wanted to keep up hope, but if there was literally nothing left then how could she.
Daryl said, "Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk, again." Bella wanted to agree. If they were going to spend the rest of their time there then they might as well try and enjoy themselves in the process.
"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. What happens at zero," Dale asked.
Dr. Jenner hesitated. "The basement generators run out of fuel." Bella did not like how he said that. She had to ask, "And then?" Dr. Jenner did not answer, but he met her eyes as he walked out. Rick had to know. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." Bella's eyes widened. She met Rick's gaze and saw her own fear reflected in his. "Maybe someone should go check them out? The rest of us could start packing up our stuff. There's no point in staying here if there isn't going to be any power," Bella proposed. Rick nodded his agreement. "You're right. Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, you'll come with me to check the power. Everyone else pack up and start sorting out the food. Take only what we need, there's no reason to let Jenner starve." The groups split then.
Bella and Daryl hurried out of the room to pack up their things. "I don't like this. I don't like it one bit," Daryl said. "Decontamination? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Bella shrugged, preparing to respond when she froze. She looked up at Daryl, her eyes wide. "The CDC deals with deadly diseases, right? Things that are only contained when the power is on. If the power runs out, they run the risk of releasing the pathogens to the general population. There must be a plan in place to make sure that can't happen."
"What do you mean, Bella? What do you thinks going to happen?" Instead of responding, Bella ran out of the room, searching for Dr. Jenner. She found him in an office, holding a picture frame. He was saying something when she entered. He stood up, but continued. "We always think there's going to be more time… then it runs out."
Bella asked, "Dr. Jenner, something's going to happen to the facility when the power runs out completely. Something bad, right?" He turned to her, tears in his eyes. "What's going to happen?"
Dr. Jenner put his lab coat on. He looked her in the eyes and said, "Follow me." The pair walked into the hallway. Everyone started asking questions about the lights and the air. No one knew what was going on, and Dr. Jenner gave no answers, not until Rick showed up.
"The system is dropping all 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. Right on schedule." Dr. Jenner took a long swig from the bottle of alcohol he had picked up along the way before handing it off to Daryl. He turned to Andrea. "It was the French."
Andrea looked at him, confused. "What?"
"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 stand in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."
Jacqui asked, "What happened?"
"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuels, I mean how stupid is that?"
Shane grew angry. "Let me tell you-"
Rick interrupted him. "To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Everybody grab your stuff. We're getting out of here now." Just as everyone started moving to grab their bags, a loud alarm starting blaring.
"What's that," Carl asked. Vi responded, "Thirty minutes to decontamination."
Daryl called out, "Doc, what's going on here?"
Shane responded, "Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go. Go now. Go!" Bella watched in horror as the doors to the hallways closed. She turned to Dr. Jenner, fear written on her face. Dr. Jenner spared a glance at her before sitting down at a computer. "What did you do?"
Daryl rushed towards the doctor. "You son of a bitch! You locked us in here!" He continued to yell out, even as Shane and T-Dog carried him away.
Bella turned back to the doctor. "Open the doors, Doc. Now."
He replied, "There's no point. Everything's locked down topside. The emergency exits are sealed."
She replied, "So open them."
Dr. Jenner shook his head. "That's not something I can control. The computers do. I told you, once that front door closed it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that."
Bella said, "We didn't know you meant forever." Tears started to form in her eyes. Dr. Jenner sighed. "It's better this way."
Rick wasn't having any of that. "What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Dr. Jenner didn't respond so Rick asked again. "What happens in 28 minutes?!"
Dr. Jenner snapped. "Do 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!" Dr. Jenner took a deep breath and sat back down. Bella was finding it hard to catch her breath. She was right. She didn't want to believe it before, but she knew now that everything was going to be destroyed. Including them.
Dr. Jenner continued. "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."
Rick asked, "H.I.T.s?"
"Vi, define," Dr. Jenner called out.
"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 than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."
Dr. Jenner translated, "It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret, everything."
Everyone responded differently to the news. Daryl and some of the others got obviously, violently angry. They even tried to break it down. Bella saw the kids crying with their moms' arms wrapped tightly around them. Bella's heart was breaking at the fact that she wouldn't have the chance to even try to find her sister and father. Her hope was slipping further and further away from her and her chest ached.
Dr. Jenner looked up at her. "You should've left well-enough alone. It would've been so much easier."
Lori replied, "Easier for who?"
"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death." He turned to Andrea. "Your sister, what was her name?"
"Amy."
"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it." He turned to Rick. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" He looked at Bella, but continued addressing Rick. "For Bella?"
Rick replied angrily, "I don't want this."
Shane joined the group, out of breath from his effort with the doors. "Can't make a dent."
"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher."
Daryl replied, "Well, your head ain't!" He started to swing the ax in his hand as the others tried to stop him. Bella instinctively flinched towards the doctor since she was sitting next to him.
Dr. Jenner turned to her. "You do want this. Last night, you heard what Rick said. You both knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Rick looked at Bella quickly before turning his gaze to Lori and Carl. Shane and Lori both noticed and frowned.
Shane asked, "What? You really said that? After all your big talk?"
Rick replied, "I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"
"There is no hope. There never was," Dr. Jenner pleaded with Rick to understand. Bella stood up in front of him. "There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody, somewhere…"
Andrea interrupted, "What part of 'everything's gone' do you not understand?"
Dr. Jenner replied, "Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."
Carol cried out, "This isn't right. You can't just keep us here."
"One tiny moment, a millisecond. No pain."
Carol continued, "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this."
"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Bella could not believe what she was hearing. However, she knew that her issue with this situation was not the death itself, but the fact that he took their choice away from them, from her. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let anyone do that to her again. She couldn't let this be how she died. She was about to respond when she turned at the sound of a gun cocking. She saw Shane barreling towards the doctor, his intent clear. Rick tried to stop him, but it wasn't working. Bella made a split second decision and stepped in front of Shane.
"Stop, Shane. This isn't the way. If you do this, we'll never get out of here." To her surprise, Lori spoke up in support. "Shane, you listen to her."
"He dies, we all die. SHANE!" Shane turned his gun and shot into the computers over Dr. Jenner's shoulder. Bella flinched at the noise. Rick rushed over to disarm Shane. "You done now? Are you done?"
Shane replied, "Yeah, I guess we all are." Rick looked around at the group, reading everyone's faces. His eyes landed on Bella's last, and she could see the resolve in them. "I think 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?"
Dr. Jenner answered, "It doesn't matter."
Bella replied, "Of course, it matters. It always matters. You stayed when everyone else didn't. Why?"
He met her eyes. "Not because I wanted to. I made a promise to her. My wife."
Lori pointed out, "Test subject 19 was your wife."
"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, it 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 all we want. A choice, a chance," Rick pleaded.
Dr. Jenner sighed. "I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." He walked over to a control panel on the table and punched in a code. The door opened and Daryl called out, "Come on!" Everyone started yelling out, running to collect their things and get out. Rick and Bella held back.
"There's your chance. Take it."
"I'm grateful," Rick replied.
"The day will come when you won't be."
Bella asked, "What do you mean?"
Dr. Jenner shook both of their hands before pulling them in close, whispering in their ears. Bella pulled back, terrified of what he told them. She looked at Rick, who shared her look of fear, before Lori came over and pulled him away.
Bella looked up to see Jacqui say, "No, no I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie."
T-Dog responded, "But that's insane!"
"No, it's completely sane, for the first time in a long time. I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue and no point. Just get out. Get out." She walked back down the ramp.
Bella turned back to see Andrea standing around. She said, "I'm staying, too." Dale replied, "Andrea, no!"
Bella noticed the group hesitating in the doorway. She turned to them all, "Just go, go!" Rick hesitated, meeting her gaze before nodding and pulling Lori along. Dale looked at her, and see nodded as well. "We'll be right there." He left with one last look to Andrea.
Bella walked over to Andrea and kneeled down in front of her. "Andrea, you know Amy wouldn't want this. You know she'd want you to live for as long as you could."
Andrea shook her head, "Amy's dead. And you need to leave." Bella shook her head. "No, Andrea think about this. Please. We need to go. Amy would want you to live. Dale wants you to live. I need you to live." Andrea met her eyes. Bella started to sob. "I need you, Andrea. Please, I can't do this without you. I can't handle Shane, and Rick, and my sister, I can't handle any of this, without you. Please. Please," Bella pleaded with her. Andrea stared once more before she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Bella. "Ok," Andrea conceded. "Ok, let's go." They both stood up. As they were leaving, Bella felt someone grab her arm. She looked back at Dr. Jenner. "Are you sure? We both know what's out there."
Bella nodded with conviction. "Yes, I'm sure. It was nice to meet you, but we have to go."
Bella and Andrea ran out of the room and up the stairs as fast as they could. When they got to the lobby, Bella noticed a giant hole in the wall and pulled Andrea over to it. "Come on, we don't have much time left, we have to find a place to hide from the blast."
Bella could see the cars and they both pushed themselves to go faster. They made it to a pile of sandbags and ducked down. After the blast, the pair stood up and ran. Andrea hopped into the RV but Bella ran to Daryl's truck.
After the group left the area, Daryl spoke. "What were you thinking? What the hell were you thinking?"
Bella could hear the pain in his voice, the fear. Bella turned to him, tears reappearing in her eyes. "I need her, Daryl. I can't do this without her. Without you both. I can't handle this without you guys." Bella tried to continue but her voice broke. Daryl reached out a hand and grabbed hers, squeezing it in reassurance. They didn't say anything after that, just held hands. Even without words, Bella knew that they were both thinking the same thing. What now?