Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, ect., are the property of their respective owners. The original character and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: When the world ended the only thing Birdie Grimes wanted to do was to get home to her family. When she finds her sister-in-law and best friend on the outskirts of Atlanta, will she finally get the chance to tell him how she really feels? Will love blossom? *No evil Shane*

Warning: This fan-fiction is rated Mature for Language, Gore and Adult Situations. Readers under the age of 18 are strongly discouraged from reading.

Pairing: Shane Walsh x Birdie Grimes

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jenner smiled at Shane as he continued to glower at the old man who had seemed to have a knack for interrupting very personal moments—especially ones shared between—well, whatever Shane and I were now. Should I call Shane my husband now? I guess he was.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said, looking at Shane with a glare.

Breathe Birdie, breathe deep.

For some reason not yet known to me, that woman could get under my skin faster than chiggers. I disliked her before her sister died—but now, the woman was unbearable; constantly demanding, whiny and all around rude. I wanted to slap the piss out of her—as Grandma Clara would have said.

Jenner nodded with a pleasant smile and I thought to myself, man this guy would have been good with small children; he's got more patience than a pre-school teacher.

Huddled together, we entered another large, empty room that reminded me of what you would see in a dispatch area of Nasa. Large, theater sized screen stretched along the back way and an array of desks and computers surrounding it.

Shane stayed tense at my back, his hand gripping my hip. I could practically feel the negative energy pulsing in this room like bass from a loud-speaker.

"Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner commanded of Vi as he entered and rested his hip at the edge of one of the desks in the front of the room.

"Playback of TS-19…" The computer responded, bringing up the image of what looked like a brain.

"Aunt Birdie, is that a brain?" Carl asked as he and Trusty came to stand in front of me and Shane.

Shane ruffled Carl's hair affectionately as I chewed on a piece bacon I had stolen out of Carl's coat pocket—I just knew he was bribing my dog; damn mutt would have to go on the Jenny Graig diet if Carl kept this up.

"An extraordinary one," Jenner replied, smiling at Carl and me. "Not that it matters in the end."

"Take us in for E.I.V." Jenner commanded again and the images of the screen changed to show a more in-depth view of the inside of the brain. Electric charges…memories…ect.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked from behind me, his voice rumbling deep as he rested his chin on the top of my head.

"It a synapses of the brain." I commented lightly, but elaborated when Jenner smiled proudly and nodded at me. "I…they were testing this type of technology on some of the sick primates I was working with. It's basically a person's life; memories, primal urges, it explains what electric impulses the brain carries to make us unique."

"She right," Jenner said, his smiling face once again returning to the rest of the group. "It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you, unique…human."

Shane squeezed my hip and my nephew looked up at me with big eyes and whispered, "Wow, Aunt Birdie, you're really smart."

I hushed him, blushing…because I wasn't really that smart. Past what I was looking at, I had no idea what I was talking about…

Daryl shook his head at me and murmured, "Ya'll don't make sense…ever."

I smiled at him, laughing at his completely perplexed face and whispered. "Those pretty lights determine everything a person says or does from the moment of birth, right down until the moment they kick the bucket."

Shane snorted at my hick speak and I elbowed his stomach. Asshole.

"Kick the bucket?" Rick asked, clearly having picked up on the small conversation I was carrying on with Daryl. "Death? Is that what this is, a vigil?"

Jenner merely nodded his head at my brother. "Yes, or rather it's a playback of the vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea asked, looking perturbed. "Who?"

What a shitty question to ask. Like it mattered who it was. Damn morbid, annoying woman.

"Test subject 19." Jenner stated without emotion, but as his eyes found mind they turned sad again. Holy Shit, please don't tell me I remind him of this dead person!

"She…It was someone who was bitten and…infected, who volunteered to have us record the process." A chill when up my spine as Jenner's eyes remained locked on mine. Clearly this person must have meant something more to him than a research subject and it was becoming glaringly obvious that I resembled her.

"Vi, scan forward to the first event."

The screen changed again, this time where there had been a speckling of white lights the brain was completely dark…

"This brain is dying." I muttered, fighting back tears.

"It is," Jenner agreed, looking to me with wetness shining in his eyes…Oh dear God.

"What is that?" Glenn asked, pointing at the red lights that seemed to be overtaking the darkened areas of the brain.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage and brain goes into shutdown. Then death…everything you ever were or ever will be…gone."

"Oh my God," I gasped, hugging Carl tighter to me and Shane did the same for me. I had no idea how the outbreak started or why, but to see what actually happening to someone…it made me hurt for Jim and Amy, and all the others that had been lost along the way. Whatever this was, it really did kill you. Walkers were nothing but an empty shell.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked in her soft voice and I covered my mouth with my hand to choke back a sob.

"Yes," her mother answered looking distraught, but it was Andrea I worried for. She looked about two seconds away from breaking completely.

I truly felt guilty for the thoughts I had about her in the mess hall. She had lost everything and I still had everything to gain. I still had my brother, my sister-in-law, my nephew…and I had just gained a husband. I could only imagine her pain.

Jenner looked at Andrea as she looked away, brushing her eyes with the back of her hands.

"She lost someone two days ago." Lori told him, looking at Andrea with the same mothering concern she held for her own child—which was funny because Andrea was older than both of us. "Her sister."

Jenner nodded but didn't comment, only turned to face the screen again and called out, "Scan to second event…the resurrection times vary wildly. We've had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we've heard of was eight hours."

I leaned back against Shane's chest; curling my nephew's face into my side…I didn't want him to see any more of this. I didn't want to see any more of this.

"In the case of this patient," Jenner continued his voice choking up as he spoke, "it was two hours, one minute and seven seconds."

The brain started to show signs of life again, but instead of pulsing white lights or red…it was pink and only showed signs of affecting the bottom of the brain stem.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori gasped, tensing up and looking around for her son. She relaxed slightly when she realized he was fine and huddled up with Shane, Trusty and I.

"Just the carnal parts of us." I replied softly.

Once again, most of the room looked back at me.

I shrugged. "It looks like the brain of your lessor predator…your basic hunting instincts are there; sight, sound and smell…but I've seen these shots in certain Indian Tigers and well…something's missing."

"Again, you're right," Jenner commented. "Like Miss Grimes—

"Mrs. Walsh." Shane interrupted rudely.

Jesus, this was so not the time for this… I pinched his thigh and he growled out a warning into my ear.

Jenner smiled kindly, "Excuse me, Mrs. Walsh. Many of the impulses that make a predator a predator are missing… this brain cannot sense danger. It has no self-preserving instincts telling them that a bullet could harm them…it just gets them up and moving."

"But are they alive?"

"You tell me," Jenner said, looking back at my brother.

"If that's alive…no thank you," I thought.

"It's nothing like before; most of that brain is dark." Rick commented.

"The human part…that doesn't come back, does it?" I asked and Jenner shook his head to the negative.

"The frontal lobe, the neo-cortex—the you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

Suddenly a burst of bright light darted across the screen; the object looking like it nearly severed the brain in half.

"God! What was that?" Carol gasped.

"You shot it in the head," Andrea commented and Jenner nodded.

"Vi, power down the main screen and work stations." Jenner commanded and instantly everything but the lights above our heads went dark.

"You have no idea what this is, do you?"

~ Author's Note ~

No long rant today...very hung over:(

Tell me what you think? Please...