* Once again, thank you all for your support and reviews. I always love constructive criticism. Also, once again, a thank you to my editor, who is the most opinionated person I know and keeps my writing grounded.

* Warning: Mention of suicide in this chapter.

Round and Round

And I went round and round until morning, though it seemed like no time had passed at all.

I was still facing the seatback when I heard the bed shift, and then the lamp flicked on. Daryl yawned loudly, and the floor creaked as he got to his feet.

There was a pause, and then he started shuffling towards me. I closed my eyes to feign sleep.

There was a sound of fabric bunching and I had to make an effort to not scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. I almost jumped when a blanket quietly fell over me. Then, Daryl walked away and shut the door behind him.

The sounds of a shower running met my ears. It ran for several minutes.

When I shifted onto my back to stare at the ceiling, the bedroom door opened again. In came Daryl, hair wet and new clean clothes. But still sleeveless, I thought with a light smirk. When our eyes met, he walked over to me.

"Mornin," he grunted, rubbing at his eyes and glaring at the lamp, even though he was the one who turned it on.

I raised a brow at him. "Hungover," I asked with a grin, my voice still raspy.

"Pfft," he grumbled as he sat on the edge of the bed, facing me. "I ain't no lightweight." He looked over my face. "Didn't get sleep?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "No," I tried to reply casually. "Not a wink."

"You're a night owl," he shrugged. "Now that it's mornin', why don't you give it another try." He glanced around. "Safest place we've had in ages. Now'd be the time to actually get rest." He stood up. "Take the bed. I'll save you some breakfast."

Except it wasn't the safest place we had. No place was safe. In here, the outside world, the walkers, the people…Safe wasn't part of the vocabulary anymore. We would always have situations that held a razor's edge, including the people themselves. No matter what happened, no matter who we meet, no matter who we surrounded ourselves with, there would always be situations and people that could hurt us.

I stubbornly ground my teeth together. Going off of that logic, there would always be Shanes in this world. It didn't make sense not to tell Daryl about it. At least then we could figure out a plan together. I just didn't know how he was going to take it. Badly, more than likely. Convincing him not to kill Shane would be the hardest part.

"Daryl," I started.

The bedroom door closed behind him as he left to go get breakfast, having not heard me say his name. My head fell back on the couch cushions with an irritated sigh. Irritated at myself.

Knowing I wasn't going to get any sleep anyway, I stood up and stretched. My muscles protested painfully. I put my belt on, tucked my knife into it, and left my other weapons in the room as I went to catch up with Daryl. I entered the cafeteria, seeing most of the group already gathered around for breakfast.

"Hey," Rick said as someone else walked in behind me. I froze as Shane nearly brushed me going by.

"Hey," Shane mumbled back as he went over to the coffee maker.

I forced myself to breathe and shook my head to ease the anxiety. Shane wasn't going away anytime soon. I would have to deal with it, and I couldn't show any fear. I spotted Daryl leaning against the countertop and eating his fill.

I tuned out Rick as he tried to make light conversation with Shane, and walked over to Daryl. "Thought you were goin' back to sleep. Here," Daryl said, handing me a slice of bacon off his plate.

I shook my head. "After breakfast I need to talk to you about something," I muttered so only he could hear.

He tilted his head. "You okay?"

I bit my lip. "Not…entirely. At all, actually."

He searched my face for several seconds. It was a habit he'd always had when trying to problem solve a person. Some found it intimidating, but not me. I also had the same habit at times. He nodded once and handed me his plate while he went to fix another for himself. I set the plate on the counter, zero appetite.

"The hell happened to you," T-Dog suddenly spoke up. He was staring at Shane. "Your face."

Shane sat down at the table, the dim light hitting him and revealing the three strikingly long scratches on his neck and the angry crescent-shaped bruise around the lower half of his face.

"I musta done it in my sleep," Shane sighed groggily.

Everyone looked at Shane's injuries with wide eyes.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick said. "They're big marks. You sure?"

Shane took a gulp of coffee, and hummed. "Dunno," he mumbled. "Maybe I stumbled and fell goin' to bed last night. We all got pretty hammered."

Though everyone wasn't convinced, they couldn't do much else except shrug. Everyone except for Lori, who had her eyes glued to her plate. I glanced between Lori and Shane, knowing that there was a connection there, but not sure what. Had Lori caused the scratch marks? Not Ed? Why?

Daryl returned with a plate and two glasses of orange juice. "How'd you think it happened," he whispered as he passed me one of the glasses.

"What?"

"His face. Looks like somebody really kicked his ass," he snorted.

Miraculously, a short, genuine chuckle escaped me. I looked at the bruise on Shane's face again, and allowed myself to smile. For the first time in my life, I was proud to have bitten someone. And looking back on it, I had been so panicked that I had forgotten a small detail.

I had told Shane off last night.

I didn't have to wrestle him to the ground, I didn't have to yell. I simply told him to go away after getting him the hell off me, and he did. Sure, he was drunk out of his skull, and him not thinking straight was probably my saving grace. Otherwise, he probably would've kept on going. Simply telling him off would more than likely not work again in the future, but it did last night. And that was what mattered for right now, in that moment. We'll see what the future brings.

I was still smiling with renewed confidence, and I continued smiling even when I felt Shane's glare on me. I didn't bother sparing him a glance.

"Morning," Jenner announced as he walked in.

Some of the group said 'hey, doc' in unison.

"Doctor," Dale turned to face Jenner. "I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-"

"But you will anyway," Jenner said, monotone, as he got some coffee.

I smirked at him. "Never change, Jenner," I told him, gaining a tired grin from him for at least a second before it disappeared.

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea said.


Jenner typed some things on a computer and said to Vi, "Gimme a playback of TS-19."

Vi repeated him, and the largest screen in the room lit up.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this," Jenner said, a hint of reverence and, for some reason, sadness in his voice. "Very few."

The screen showed a three-dimensional model of a human head.

"Is that a brain," Carl asked in fascination.

Jenner nodded at him with a small smile. "An extraordinary one." Then, he frowned and refocused. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

"Enhanced internal view," Vi echoed.

The view shifted, giving us a side view of the brain. The entire room was silent as the image took its time zooming in. The veins and lines running through the brain were lit up and flashing brilliantly. I leaned on one of the desks in front of me, staring in fascination. Everything looked so…alive.

"What are those lights," Shane asked.

"It's a person's life," Jenner explained as if talking to a class. "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."

"You don't make sense ever," Daryl said. I chuckled lightly.

"Those are synapses, electric 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," Rick said, "That's what this is? A vigil?"

"Yes," Jenner replied quietly. "Or…rather the playback of the vigil."

"Someone died," Andrea exhaled sympathetically. "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."

The synapses that appeared next were mainly blackened with only some light illuminating around the edges. Jenner explained that it was similar to meningitis, and then shuts down the entire body, blackening the entire brain. Everyone of us fell deathly silent out of respect.

"Is that what happened to Jim," Sophia asked.

"Yes," Carol said.

Most of us were still silent. Only sniffling could be heard from a few of the group, including Andrea who looked away completely. Lori explained to Jenner as he looked on.

"I lost somebody, too," he said to Andrea. "I know how devastating it is."

I'd lost many people throughout the years, as well. However, the only thought in my head was Daryl. The one waiting for me in the future. The one trying to find me after I got myself left behind on a mission. The one who might never find my body due to it being devoured by corpses.

I squeezed my eyes shut to try and stop the tears, unable to imagine his sheer devastation at the realization that I wasn't coming back to him. I know I would be if the situation was reversed. I used to think that Daryl would be fine without me, and he would be. However, we both made it abundantly clear, over and over again, driving it into each other's skulls that we didn't want to be without each other. I'm sorry, Daryl.

I reached my fingers across the desk and clasped his hand in my own. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

He looked at me curiously, but squeezed my hand anyway. "For what?"

I didn't say anything, just bumped my shoulder lightly with his, blinked back the moisture, and continued to look at the screen.

He had the computer scan to the next event.

"The resurrection times vary wildly," he explained. "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." With every word he spoke, his voice grew quieter and quieter. I understood why he picked this particular test subject. Whoever was on screen was important to him.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said quietly.

He looked back at me as if startled. And then he nodded once and turned back to the screen.

The brain was lighting up again. It was still mostly blackened, but dark red was relighting the synapses.

"It restarts the brain," Lori asked.

"No," Jenner said. "Just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive," Rick said.

Jenner gestured to the screen. "You tell me."

Rick shook his head. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark. Lifeless. Dead," Jenner agreed. "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back – The you part. Just a shell, driven by mindless instinct."

I shrugged. A simplistic way to describe walkers if I ever heard one, aside from all the science talk.

Very suddenly, light blinded the screen. And when it faded, there was a thick line cutting through the test subject's skull. My jaw dropped at how it was presented on the screen. I'd never seen a gunshot in that kind of view. Wow…

"God," Carol said. "What was that?"

Andrea stared up at the screen. "He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?"

Instead of answering her, he said, "Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations."

"Powering down main screen and work stations."

"You have no idea what is, do you," Andrea all but demanded.

Jenner glanced down, as if suddenly bothered by the group's attention. "It could be microbial," he said vaguely. "Viral, parasitic, fungal…"

"Or the wrath of God," Jacqui spat, tears streaming down her face.

"There is that," he mumbled.

When everyone started asking Jenner about the other facilities and locations, I shook my head and tuned them out. Untangling my hand from Daryl's, I started to slowly circle the room, mostly aimless pacing. Daryl didn't follow me, but I could feel his eyes on me, watching me with interest.

I was the last person in the world to ever say there was no hope. I was a stubborn mule and had only one direction, and that was forward. Despite not believing there was life after death – which has me laughing at myself now – I didn't believe for a second that life was aimless, without goals or meaning. There were always ways to carry on, ways and motivations to keep going. It was just different for every person, and some had more difficulty with it than others.

What I did not believe in, however, was false hope. And that's exactly what the CDC and anything related was. Whatever caused people to become walkers quite possibly had no cure. You could either cling to that and cry about it, or square with it and move forward. Sometimes life is the way it is. It was okay to feel sad or upset, but you let the universe win the moment you let hardships consume you. Was there a cure? I didn't know. But dwelling on a 'what if' would not do anyone any favors.

At some point during my pacing, I stopped to stare down at a PIN pad. It was lying on a table, and it looked out of place just sitting there with nothing else around it.

"So, it's not just here," I vaguely heard Andrea say at some point. "There's nothing left anywhere. Nothing. That's what you're really saying, right?"

Silence, the group absorbing what she was saying.

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk," I heard Daryl mutter. "Again."

I slowly took my attention away from the PIN pad to glance at everyone's devastated faces.

"Dr. Jenner," Dale said. "I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but…" He stepped closer to the red numbers that loomed over us. "That clock, it's counting down." As the numbers were hitting the one hour mark, Dale asked, "What happens at zero?"

Jenner gazed at the ceiling, at the walls, anything but the group's gaze. "The…basement generators. They run out of fuel."

"More so than they already have," I asked, making a couple people, including Rick, glance sharply at me. Jenner turned away.

"And then," Rick asked him, but Jenner ignored him to go disappear deeper into the facility. Rick stared after him for a full second before addressing the ceiling. "Vi! What happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

Rick looked around at everyone's confused and slightly fearful faces. Even if they didn't know what was to happen, they could all tell by Jenner's tone and body language that it wasn't good. Rick rubbed a hand over his face

Daryl made his way over to me and leaned in close. "What does it mean by 'decontamination'?" I shook my head grimly. He blinked, staring at me in shock. "You can't be serious?!"

I shrugged. "Let's hope you were right and we all get out of this alive."

"Son of a bitch," he snapped loudly, burying his face in his hands and pacing. Every now and again I caught a glimpse of his face, and I could see he was torn between both belief and disbelief at what might happen.

At his outburst, Rick stared at us, and then he focused on me and strode over. "How did you know about the generators," he asked me quickly.

"I told y'all last night at dinner," I said. "I was going exploring."

He spun around. "Glenn, T-Dog, Shane," he said to them. "We're gonna investigate this." He turned back to me. "Can you show us where the basement is?"

I nodded once.

"I'm comin', too," Daryl said, not leaving any room for argument.

"No need," Shane grumbled irately. "Rick's already got a lot of us goin' down there."

"I don't take orders from you," he growled.

I put a hand on his chest to stop him from getting in Shane's face. "We'll be fine," I said to Daryl. He glanced at the timer, not convinced. "We still have an hour left."

He looked at me, grumbled under his breath, and stepped aside to let us through.

Before I led them out of the control room, Rick turned around and said, "Everyone else, go back to your rooms, cafeteria, or rec room. Buddy system, don't go anywhere alone. We're gonna figure out what's goin' on here."

When we reached the steps leading down to the basement, everyone behind me fired unanswerable questions at each other.

"Decontamination," Glenn said. "What does that mean?"

"I don't like the way Jenner clammed up," Shane said uneasily. "The way he just wandered off like that."

"What's wrong with him," T-Dog wondered aloud. "Seriously, man, is he nuts, medicated, what?"

I pointed down the hall at a door. "Right there," I said. "That's the basement entrance."

"I want you comin' with," Rick said. "I need you to show us the generators."

"Generator," I corrected. "There's only one left in operation." I resisted the urge to glance apprehensively at Shane. "Fine," I muttered, continuing to lead the way.

We opened the door and the lights automatically came to life. The only thing around us were the empty barrels.

I pointed in a vague direction. "Over that way is the last running generator," I said.

Rick nodded and pointed in a different direction. "Check that way," he told T-Dog and Glenn. "See what you can find. Be on the lookout for any fuel."

"There is no fuel," I said. "I checked every single one of these barrels."

"We still gotta look anyway," Rick said.

"You never know," Shane mumbled from somewhere behind me. "You mighta missed somethin'."

Not addressing him, continuing to look at Rick, I said, "Then, I'll go with T-Dog and Glenn. Help them look."

Rick pursed his lips, then nodded. "Shane," he beckoned for him to follow.

"You two look in every container we come across," I told T-Dog and Glenn as we went through our side of the basement. "I'll keep an eye out for anything I might've walked past when I was here last night."

"What's the point in us doing this," T-Dog scowled as he shined his flashlight into one of the barrels.

I shrugged. "I might've missed something," I said, resisting the urge to say it mockingly.

Glenn shook his head as he opened some supply cupboards. "It's doubtful. You notice everything."

"It's a blessing and a curse," I sighed as I went through the adjacent set of cupboards. "My mind never shuts up as a result."

"What do y'all think happens when the clock reaches zero," T-Dog asked, just as the lights went out.

"Emergency lighting on," Vi said.

"How close to zero do you think we are right now," Glenn whispered as they turned on their flashlights.

"Too close," I replied as we went to find Shane and Rick.

"Hey," Glenn called as we found them around the next corner. "You guys kill the lights?"

"Nah, it just went out," Shane said as he and Rick continued to inspect the last generator.

Rick looked at us. "Anything?"

"Yeah," T-Dog said. "A lot of dead generators and more empty fuel drums than I can count. Layla's right. Ain't nothing down here."

Shane looked away from the generator to stare at Rick. "It can't be down to just that one."

Rick stared at the fuel gauge of the generator for a long time. Then, he shook his head. "I want answers," he said he walked around us. We all followed him. "We deserve answers. Let's go find Jenner."

"But where," T-Dog scoffed. "You seen how big this place is? It goes on forever."

When we exited the basement and started going up the stairs, Rick said, "Layla, you been all over this building. Where do you think we should start?"

"Don't know," I said truthfully. "Offices, restricted areas, connecting hallways, there're too many places he could frequent." Then, I hummed thoughtfully. "Let's start off in the control room. That seems to be the main hub. And then we'll go to the least important places first, like the rec rooms or any room without technology."

"Why least important," Rick asked.

"Jenner's going through something right now," I said. "Would you wanna go near your place of work if you were feeling emotional?"

T-Dog and Glenn glanced at me while smirking.

"Like Glenn said," T-Dog shook his head. "You don't miss anything."

As we exited the staircase and went through the hallways in the direction of the control room, we heard voices…Actually, one voice.

"Hey, man, I'm talkin' to you! What do you mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a building to anythin'?"

Shane sighed in annoyance. "Or just keep it simple and follow the sounds of your impatient redneck boyfriend."

I rolled my eyes.

"You'd be surprised," Jenner said to Daryl as he came down a set of stairs to our level. He tried going right passed us, but Rick kept pace with him to try and hold his gaze.

"Jenner, what's happening," Rick asked.

Jenner's voice was monotone again. "The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second."

Daryl fell in step beside me as we followed Jenner to the control room. "Everythin's turnin' off," Daryl relayed to me. "Air conditioner, water spigots, electricity, you name it."

Jenner stopped talking to point to the clock. "Right on schedule," he said as we all stared at numbers that read thirty minutes left.

Jenner took a swig from the alcohol bottle in his fist. Every single group member was gathered behind him at this point. All was quiet. Jenner handed the bottle to Daryl.

"It was the French."

Andrea stepped forward to ask the question everybody had. "What?"

Jenner faced us. "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 'til the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened," Jacqui asked.

"They run out of fuel, too," I asked.

"The world runs on fossil fuel." Jenner shook his head in frustration. "I mean, how stupid is that?"

Frustrated as well, Shane sprinted forward as Jenner walked away again. "Let me tell you somethin'-"

"To hell with it Shane. I don't even care," Rick exclaimed as he grabbed his shoulder. He spun around and pointed at us. "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're gettin' outa here, now!"

Everyone started scrambling, about to take off to their rooms. I stayed still, observing Jenner's body language. Instead of walking away to an aimless part of the building this time, his stride held purpose, with a destination in mind. Daryl stood next to me, gaze flickering between my face and Jenner's back, trying to understand what I was observing.

I didn't react when the alarm started blaring, but everyone else sure did, and they were terrified. When Jenner got out of my sightline, I walked around the computers to try and discreetly follow him.

For only a few seconds more, Daryl kept pace beside me. "I'ma go get our stuff."

I nodded distractedly as he started leaving for our room. Jenner was over by the PIN pad I'd seen earlier. He had his ID card and was messing with the pad, but I couldn't see what he was typing in.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick," Shane yelled. "Get your stuff and let's go! Go now!"

I jumped when a door slid shut over an entryway, the same entryway we first arrive through.

"Did you just lock us in," Glenn panicked.

Thank you for stating the obvious. I really appreciate it, I thought while grinding my teeth together. I shook my head rapidly, tried not to focus on us being trapped, and directed my focus on the PIN pad all the way from where I was standing.

"He just locked us in!"

"Yes," I yelled. "Please! Say it louder, Glenn! God almighty," I grumbled into my hands.

When Jenner moved away to start making a voice recording in front of one of the computers, I growled stubbornly and jogged over to the PIN pad. Something he typed on there had to have had something to do with the door. All the while, everyone was losing their minds.

Daryl tried causing a scene.

Everyone was demanding the door be opened.

Jenner explained – I mean, shouted – the CDC's protective function.

He had Vi define H.I.T.

Daryl and Shane swung axes at the door.

Jenner was getting morbid.

I only vaguely heard all of it. I kept nearly all of my focus on the PIN pad and Jenner's ID card that sat next to it. I turned both things over in my hands and then set them down. Jenner's ID had barcodes and multiple strings of numbers written on it. I started typing in the numbers from the ID onto the PIN pad because I highly doubted Jenner was going to actually give me the code.

"Wouldn't it be kinder," Jenner coaxed everyone at some point. "More compassionate to just…hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"

"That's a cult I don't wanna be a part of, doc," I mumbled to myself as I continued typing.

A gun cocking echoed around the room. I glanced behind me as Rick was yelling at Shane to back off.

"Open that door," Shane demanded of Jenner at gunpoint. When Rick continued to try and talk Shane down, he only succeeded in making Shane point the gun away. Not that it mattered, because Shane gave an obnoxious battle cry and started shooting at computer monitors.

I rolled my eyes and got back to work. I cursed as it once again rejected the numbers. Daryl appeared beside me, shaking his head and baring his teeth in sheer frustration. After tossing one of the axes to the floor, he placed his elbows on the desk, put his hands over his face, and yelled into his palms.

He lifted his head from his hands as I continued to mess with the numbers. "What're you doin'," he asked.

"Trying to find a code off of this hunk of plastic," I said, tapping the ID card. "Jenner punched some numbers into this PIN pad and then seconds later the door came down. I highly doubt it was a coincidence." I glanced at Jenner for a second. He was now talking about his wife being Test Subject 19. "Hmm, I wonder if the code has the number nineteen in it."

Daryl shook his head. "Don't look at me. I got no clue."

"Yeah, well, neither do I. I'm flying by the seat of my pants with this."

"What are you two doing," I heard Jenner suddenly asked.

"Fucking shit up," I replied instantly. "Care to help?

At everyone's silence, I looked behind me to stare in Jenner's eyes. Jenner sighed as he looked away from me to stare at Rick.

"Your wife didn't have a choice," Rick said to him. "You do. That's-That's all we want…A choice. A chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori begged.

Jenner took one more glance around. "I told you, topside's locked down. I can't open those." He looked at me. "Swipe the card first. Then, 8719."

I did as he said. As soon as I hit the last digit, the door opened.

And suddenly, it was like everyone woke up. They shouted at each to get their stuff, to get a move on. When I went up the ramp to the door, Daryl slung his crossbow on and tossed me the rest of my weapons and my backpack. I put it on, staying off to the side and making sure everyone made it past me before going myself.

"Come on, people," I said. "Let's move it!"

"Come on," Daryl said to me.

"Not 'til everyone's ahead of me," I said calmly. He scoffed loudly. "Go on ahead," I told him. "See if there's a way out. Everyone's moving quickly, I won't be far behind."

"Nu-uh," he said fiercely, getting close so only I could hear him. "'Cause you said two people don't make it. I'll be damned if you turn that into three just 'cause your tryin' to play hero."

I shrugged. "I guess you're waiting here with me, then, 'cause I'm not moving until I got everyone accounted for." In response, he threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Let's go, let's go," T-Dog said to Jacqui.

"No, I'm stayin'," Jacqui pushed him away. "I'm stayin', sweetie."

"But that's insane," T-Dog yelled.

"No, it's completely sane," she said through gritted teeth. "For the first time in a long time. I'm not endin' up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue, not if you wanna get out. Just get out. Get out!" She gave T-Dog one final shove, but it was Shane who had to drag him away.

"Come on, let's go, let's go," Shane yelled as he tried pushing everyone out the door. All except for Daryl and I, which he completely ignored. I shrugged. He was ignoring me; I'd say that was a step in the right direction.

Dale was at a loss, mouth opening and closing as he approached Jacqui and Andrea, who was also opting to stay.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered as I looked around at Jacqui, Andrea, Dale, and Jenner.

Dale looked away from them to stare at us. "Just go! Go!" As soon as Dale said that, Shane once again coaxed everyone away, and this time he was successful. Dale's eyes landed on Daryl and I. "Go!"

I shook my head. "Not without you guys-"

"Trust me. I've got it handled, Layla," he said, looking me square in the eyes, unwavering.

I glanced once more at everyone sadly. I sighed and nodded. As soon as I did so, Daryl grasped my hand and we took off after the others. Dale wasn't cut out for this world, but he made convincing arguments. If anyone could encourage those three to keep on going, it'd be Dale. And I trusted him to try. He was a stubborn son of a bitch, and I'd be very surprised if he failed.

We ran up the stairs and into the lobby, where everyone was shoving at the doors and struggling to break the windows.

"Layla, what was that code again," T-Dog shouted from where he stood in front of another PIN pad.

"Uh, 8719," I said as I joined him.

The screen on the pad was unlit and blank. T-Dog tried punching in the code over and over again anyway while yelling at Glenn to keep trying the doors.

Going over to the bag of guns, I dragged out one of the rifles, aimed at the glass, and took a few shots that weren't successful in the slightest. I shoved the gun back into the bag. Daryl and Shane tossed each other axes and swung uselessly at the windows. T-Dog tried throwing a chair at it. Shane even tried shooting at it as well. Nothing we did made a scratch.

"The glass won't break," Sophia asked fearfully.

"Rick," Carol said as she dug through her bag. "I have something that might help."

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it," Shane ridiculed.

Fuck off, Shane.

Shane whipped his gaze to me with a harsh glare.

I sneered at him. "Whoops, no filter."

"Your first morning at camp," Carol was saying to Rick. "When I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." I would've never guessed that she'd take out a grenade. Damn, that was impressive.

Ed, who'd been standing back and away from everyone, started stomping his way over. "You had that this whole time," he growled. "And what? You didn't think to tell me?"

I stepped in Ed's path, glaring at him and staring him in the eye. He bared his teeth at me and glared right back before backing away.

Then, someone yelled 'Look out!' and we all drew further back. Some huddled against the wall or dropped down against the stairs. Daryl and I were lying on the floor cupping our hands over the backs of our necks. It was so quiet that we could all hear Rick readying the grenade. He pulled the pin.

"Oh, shi-" Rick was beginning to yell as he made a run for cover.

As soon as the blast went off and shattered the glass, Daryl's arm flew out to wrap around my upper back, and I moved one of my hands to grasp one of his.

The moment the ground stopped shaking everyone was up and grabbing their stuff. We jumped through the destroyed window and onto the front lawn like bats out of hell. It didn't end there, though, because the friendly neighborhood walkers had come to say 'good afternoon' to us.

Rick and Shane fired off rounds. Daryl bashed them over the head with his crossbow and axe. I kept to the outside, circling the group and stabbing walkers as they came too close. When I saw that there were no more walkers coming from the sides and that the men had the front covered, I ran ahead of everyone.

Walkers were gathered around the vehicles, crowding near some of the doors. After a couple stabs and shooting some arrows, the last walker dropped. As I killed that last one, the group had reached the vehicles, jumping in to each one and slamming the doors behind them. I stared at the CDC.

"Come on," Daryl grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the truck.

"The rest of 'em, though," I said without looking at him. "They gotta make it out-"

"They ain't gonna! Let's get outa here!"

"No, look!" I pointed at the broken window, where Dale and Andrea were climbing out of. It was only a half victory. No Jacqui and no Jenner.

I looked at Daryl sadly, and he only shook his head slowly.

Dale and Andrea were running. They almost made it the RV when suddenly people were shouting to get down. Fire was filling the inside of the CDC.

This time, I let Daryl tug me again. We both pressed ourselves against the side of the truck, holding on to each other for dear life as the explosion almost shattered our eardrums and tried to tear apart the air. The ground shook violently, and the blast was strong enough to heat up the metal of the truck. But the fire didn't reach us, just a couple dozen feet out of reach.

Daryl's arms were wrapped tightly around my shoulders and back, chin resting on the top of my head. My face was pressed against his chest and I had one of my arms draped over the back of his neck. When the heat subsided, we both took a breath and gradually relaxed, but still clung to each other.

I heard everyone starting their vehicles, one by one.

"We need to get in the truck," I exhaled, but neither of us made a move.

I felt him nod. "Layla," he murmured against my hair.

"Yeah?"

He inhaled and exhaled, his grip around me tightening by a fraction. Then, he loosened up and pulled back to look at my face. Despite us nearly getting blown up, his face was calm and neutral, with his eyes steady and not looking away from mine. "I believe you."