Andrea sat next to Amy's body the whole night. Multiple people had gone over and tried to take the Omega's body away, offering their condolences while the rest of the group started to clean up the main camp. Daryl was helping by stabbing the corpses in the head while Morales and Glenn moved them into separate piles. One for the unknown Walkers and one for the campers. The group leaves the sisters alone after Andrea pulls her gun on Rick when he tries to move the body.

While others were moving the bodies, Rick, Shane, and Lori discussed what they would do with Amy. Daryl leans against his pickaxe to catch his breath and sees them huddled together. Ready to tell them off for not helping, the Omega archer adds his two cents about the girls.

Daryl stops next to Rick, pickaxe over his shoulder, "The girl's a ticking time bomb, why is this even a discussion?"

"What do you suggest we do then?" Rick asks, desperate for a new plan.

Daryl looks at him in disbelief, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring, "Hell it ain't that hard to take the shot from here."

Lori growls, asserting dominance over the archer. "For God's sakes, let her be."

Daryl watches as the Prime Alpha tilts his head in acknowledgment to the Beta who was sitting on her ass, watching everyone work, like it was above an Alpha's Mate and Prime-Alpha's secret lover to get her hands dirty. Rick rumbles his displeasure but says nothing. Daryl scoffs at them and goes to help the others.

'If the Beta bitch wasn't going to help the least she could do was get in the RV and watch her pup. Not fair to have the Omegas in there watching him after all this shit went down. Kid's probably terrified.' He thinks.

"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got work to do." Daryl calls out to the Beta, who is standing next to a couple of bodies. The Omega drops the ax and grabs the arm of one of the campers Morales was trying to drag toward the fire. The Alpha smiles and huffs out a Thanks.

"What are you guys doing?" Glenn stops them before they can toss the body into the fire. "This is the pile for the Walkers. Our people go over there."

"Walkers, campers, they're all dead." Daryl huffs, readjusting his grip. Glenn smacks the arm from Daryl's hold. The archer stands up fully and turns to the other man, the Alpha whimpers when Daryl turns on him like he is scared. Baring his neck to the redneck, Glenn points to the pile of campers on the other side of the R.V. Daryl purrs, subconsciously trying to ease the younger Alpha whom the archer already saw as a Packmate. Glenn lowers his chin and keeps talking.

"Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them!" Glenn chokes back tears as his voice raises, "We bury them."

Daryl takes a breath and reaches down with a nod, pulling the body away from the fire, not wanting to upset the Asian Alpha, even more, his inner Omega screaming at him to ease the others' pain any way possible. Morales sighs heavily and goes to drag the body toward the digging hole.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl hollers back at Glenn and T-Dog, who was working the fire.

Morales snaps at the redneck with a bared teeth snarl, "You know what? Shut up, man."

Daryl drops the body, causing the Alpha to trip. He'd been around enough Alphas and Alpha-want-to-be's to know baring teeth was a challenge, a fight. As an Omega, he'd be at a disadvantage, even with Merle's and Will's special training. And he had no desire to add to his collection of scars. He goes to pick up his ax again, needing to vent a little frustration on something, lest he takes it out on someone. "Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming! At least ya'll HAVE bodies to bury!"

Rick saw the commotion and heard Daryl shout. Starting in the direction of the Omega to calm him down, Jacqui grabbed the attention of the whole camp, "He's bit! A Walker bit Jim!"

The Alphas start to circle him, worried. Rick pats Jacqui on the shoulder and points her in Lori's direction, trying to keep her calm when they start yelling at Jim to show them the bite. The Beta picks up a shovel from the ground, ready to defend himself if it gets violent. T-Dog comes up behind him silently and catches Jim's arms, pinning them to his back to hold him with a rumble to warn him not to fight back. Daryl lifts Jim's shirt, revealing a deep set of teeth marks, causing everyone to back away from Jim while the man repeats that he's ok.

"Ok, we need to handle this calmly." Rick steps up to defuse the tension, "We need to finish burning the bodies and moving the dead into piles away from camp."

"What, are we just going to leave him like that man?" Shane growls at the other Alpha with a glare, challenging him.

"No, but we don't want everyone to start panicking either." Rick snares back at his partner in anger, raising his chin and puffing out his chest with a glare of his own, "Having everyone working will give them something to focus on; to keep them calm while we figure out what to do with the situation. If you want to be part of the discussion, you're more than welcome. Otherwise, we keep burning and moving the bodies."

A small group gathers around Rick as he and Shane stare at each other while others clean up. Shane growls low in his chest but shows Rick his neck, to the disgust of Lori and the surprise of the rest. Jim had taken a seat next to the RV and was watching them silently.

Daryl was the first to speak up, "I say we shoot him and the dead girl's and be done with it."

Shane turns to the Omega and snarls back, "Is that what you'd want?"

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it." Daryl growls. Shane bares his teeth and starts at the archer, who pulled the ax closer to his chest with a rumble himself. Rick gets between them, glaring. He places one hand on Daryl's chest and the other hand on Shane's. The Omega backs down gracefully while the Alpha shoves past Rick and tries to grab the Omega, ready to show the archer his place as a Beta. Rick gets in Shane's face and bares his teeth, ready to defend the Omega he considers Pack.

"Do not make me make you submit, brother. He is not worth you gettin' your teeth knocked in. Then we'll be down a man, and we'll need every able body today. You pickin' a fight with him is only going to end with you hurt." Rick clicks his tongue, disappointed in his second's behavior. Daryl swallows the retort he's about to spit at the Alphas, ready to tell Shane off for thinking he was weak and Rick for making him believe that the Alpha was different from the others. He decides to hold his opinion of the Alpha for the time being.

"The Beta ain't that strong, I could easily get him to submit. The bastard needs to know his place in my Pack." Shane moves to go around Rick. Glenn and T-Dog move closer to the Omega, ready to defend their Packmate. Rick rumbles loudly and threatens the other man, telling him one more time to back off. Shane snarls with bare teeth, shoving the Alpha away, and Rick snaps. Grabbing Shane's collar, he pulls the man down underneath him and forces his head to the side, neck bared. The Alpha snarls at Rick but stays down. He lowers his chin silently and allows his Prime to move him as he wishes.

Everyone stops and stares at the display, the crowning of a new Prime Alpha. Rick rumbles softly and strokes Shane's neck before pulling him to his feet. Patting the Alpha on the back, Rick looks at the others. Everyone gets back to work, either moving bodies or discussing the situation at hand. Daryl watches Rick as the man places himself between his Pack and Shane. Nodding to Lori, Shane goes where the other Alpha sends him next to his lover. Lori scuffs in displeasure, watching Rick. Said Alpha, who turned to his Pack, scared they would react badly. T-Dog and Glenn lower their chins, respectively, smiling at how their Prime had handled it. When Rick's gaze falls on Daryl, the Omega lifts his chin slightly to the side, showing the Alpha his respect and submission. Rick rumbles softly with pleasure and turns to the group.

Dale sighs. "I never thought I would say it… but maybe Daryl's right."

Rick shakes his head. "Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog."

The Elder tries to backtrack, not knowing how the new Prime would react, "I'm not suggesting we outright kill him. But maybe we ask him what HE wants us to do; mercy killing or leave him to eventually, painfully die."

Rick sighs. "I'll ask him; give him some time to think about it. But until we have his answer we need to have a plan B. He's sick, right? What if we can get him help? The CDC…"

The group gets into a heated debate over taking the Beta and the camp to the CDC, or Fort Benning, an army base a hundred miles in the opposite direction. Daryl watches the Alphas argue like a tennis match, biting his lips in consideration. Twisting the ax in his grip, he looks at Jim, who was watching all of them. When the Omega has had enough, he tightens his grip on the ax and charges at the bitten Beta, ready to swing the blade into Jim's head. Jim shouts in horror, and Rick follows, pointing his gun at the Omega's head.

"We don't kill the living." Rick grits his teeth in anger. Daryl had acknowledged Rick as his Prime and then disregarded the Alpha's decision. To do something like that was a challenge. Knowing how Daryl would react to him pushing his dominance over the archer, Rick handles it without the Pack dynamics.

Daryl lowers the ax and turns to the Alpha slowly. Seething, Daryl gets closer to Rick, laying his forehead on the barrel of the Prime's gun. "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

Daryl slams the pickaxe down with a grunt and gets up close to Rick. "Ain't scented; ain't yours. Remember that...Alpha."

Rick watches him go before grabbing Jim, "Come with me, I'm taking you somewhere safer. We need to talk."

…

Rick and Shane dug graves near the campsite after Rick got Jim situated in the RV. Shane was shoveling the dirt with excessive force and growls, sneaking dirty looks at his Prime. Fed up, the Alpha stops digging and leans on his shovel, snapping at the other man, "If you have something to say, Shane, then say it."

Shane puckers his lips and clicks his jaw to keep himself from baring his teeth, "If you had been here to protect the camp and OUR Pack… If you had stayed maybe we wouldn't have all these graves to dig, man."

Rick scoffs at the Alpha and rumbles back; voice raised, "If we hadn't brought those guns back it would have been a lot worse. Maybe the entire camp!"

Shane spits at the ground and glares at Rick. "What would have happened if I wasn't here man? To your pup… to Lori? She's your wi- your Mate and you left them."

"You mean your Mate." At Shane's wide eyes and whine, Rick turns to look at the Alpha. "What? You really think I wouldn't notice?"

"Now, brother… I can explain…."

"Explain what Shane? I told you when you submitted to me back in high school that she and Carl were mine. We agreed to that. I get it if ya'll thought I was dead and that is what you do in a Traditional Pack, but Lori and I were having trouble before all this. We haven't been TOGETHER like that in years. The first night I come back she doesn't let me Scent her but then she wants me to take her with Carl right there…." Rick clicks his tongue and shakes his head, "I knew somethin' happened. Then I smell you on her… Take her if she wants you. I refuse to have a cheating Mate. But if you force her man, I will make you a Gamma. Understand me, brother?"

Shane whines and bares his throat entirely to the Prime, agreeing to whatever the Alpha wanted. Rick purrs softly, and the two guys go back to digging, "I'll talk to Lori and Carl. Tell them about this discussion. But Carl is MINE… he is my pup. Try to claim him as your own, and I will bury you."

Daryl drives the truck to the graves, tailgate first, cutting off the Alphas discussion. The group buries the dead campers, placing families together because of the lack of holes. Amy's body was the last to go in the ground, Andrea crying as she dragged the Omega's body in. Everyone goes back to camp once everyone has had the chance to mourn. Rick goes into the RV to check on Jim while Lori sits outside. Carl was hanging out with Sophia and Carol, trying to keep the two Omegas calm and distracted in his way.

Ed was dead; Sophia's father and Carol's Alpha Breeder. Carol took Daryl's ax and smashed his face, letting out all her hurt and anger at the Traditional Alpha over the years. The abuse she suffered from him had taken its toll on her, the sleepless nights worrying about how her pup would present and what would happen after. Years of mental, sexual, and physical abuse she released into the man's face, and the Omega had almost told them to burn the body with the Walkers. Not wanting Sophia to see that, though, she allowed them to bury the Alpha with the others.

The Omega archer had had to pull her away and calm her down; she had been sobbing and covered in his blood.

"Have you talked to Rick?" Outside the RV, Shane joins his Mate. Lori shakes her head and glares at the Alpha. "The CDC… Lori, it's a mistake."

Lori sighs and stands, shaking her head again. Shane huffs in astonishment, "What, do you agree with him? The CDC; that's our plan?"

Lori sounds tired as she replies, "He's my husband, of course I-"

Shane gets in her face, nasty, "You bare MY bite, you are MY MATE. I protected you and your pup, not Rick. And you trying to… fix… your broken marriage is not worth the lives of the group."

"I am Rick's WIFE, not your Mate. And I think folks around here can make up their minds without bringing my marriage into it." Lori snarls back at the Alpha with a whisper.

"What's going on?" The two turn to see Rick standing in the doorway of the RV, having heard most of the conversation.

Lori steps up next to Rick and lays one hand on Rick's arm, staring her lover down while talking to her husband, "I was just telling Shane I think we should trust your gut. To go to the CDC or wherever else you think would be safe."

"Really? You think so?" Rick tries to call her out on her bullshit. Lori just smiles at him and nods. Rick rumbles his displeasure and moves the Beta's hand off his arm, calmly dragging the two behind the RV, "Both of you, come here. NOW."

Rick pulled out a wad of papers stapled together and highlighted in multiple places and turned to his wife. He keeps his eyes on Lori as he hands them to the Alpha.

"I stopped by the house before comin' to Atlanta and found these. The date is about a month before I was shot and entered a coma. Going by how long I was told this shit started, that was three months ago, I didn't read them until I got here. After the first night... finding out my Mate had been unfaithful… that would have been something we could have worked on if you BOTH had come to me and explained the situation. The trying to hide your scent and have me Mate you without Scenting though… and then I pull theses out to calm down, thinking it was something of Carl's from school…."

Lori tries to grab the divorce papers from her lover. Shane holds them out of her reach while he stares at the signatures. Lori's was older than Rick's, meaning the Alpha had only signed them recently. But it was true. Lori had given up on Rick when the Alpha would have needed his Mate the most. Flipping through the pages, Shane holds up the one page not signed; the custody papers of Carl.

When Rick holds out his hand for the papers, Shane gives them back to his Alpha without hesitation. Rick rumbles his thanks and puts them back in his pocket. "I signed them this morning since you were kind enough to fill out the rest. All except for Carl's that is. As far as I'm concerned, you're not my wife anymore. I'm not your husband or your Mate. Your Shane's so don't act like you're still mine. I will be discussing this with Carl and we'll figure out what to do about it later. But because you are both still part of my Pack, I will still be protective of you two."

Rick takes off his wedding ring and gives it to Shane. "Carl is still my pup and if you try to take him from me, I will make you regret it."

Lori bites her lips in frustration and walks away, sniffing back tears, saying something about checking on Carl. The two Alphas depart to sweep the forest for Walkers.

…

Jim had taken Rick's advice and thought about his options overnight. At first light, Rick and Daryl took him up to the hill with the rest of the graves to give him a chance to die without the others present. They do it quietly and quickly, one of Daryl's bolts to the head and then buried before anyone else was awake. The Omega had sent a nod in Rick's direction before heading out to pack up his and Merle's supplies.

Once the rest of the camp was awake, they laid out the plan to go to the CDC and made sure that anyone who wanted to go with them was ready and packed before noon. Morales and his family leave alone, wanting to be with their Pack in Birmingham.

….

By the time they make it to the CDC, it's almost dark. Unmoving military corpses surround the building. The dead had overrun the military: their vehicles and camps buried under the hundreds of bodies lying on the ground. The group approached the building quickly, quietly, and carefully, checking each body to see if it'd move.

Rick and Daryl watch the group from the back and the side, Shane and T-Dog leading. Carol keeps the pups under her arms with hands over their eyes enough, so they can't see the massacre but not trip over the bodies. When Rick notices that the Omega is taking care of his pup instead of his mother, Rick growls at Lori. With a scowl, the Beta takes her son's hand and pulls him along behind her. Daryl pushes the Omega and her daughter forward gently with a purr.

"Best stay closer to the middle of the group, it's safer there. Try to herd Mrs. Queeny over there too… don't want to lose one of the pups in this mess." Daryl huffs, readjusting his grip on the crossbow. He kept it aimed at the bodies but could hear his fellow Omega thank him and move closer. Rick catches his gaze and nods his thanks as well, showing his throat a little. Daryl copies the gesture and shuffles over to the Alpha, hesitantly rubbing his hand on Rick's arm.

"Let me know if you change your mind." The Alpha smiles. Daryl swallows and nods his consent, knowing the Alpha was offering Daryl a place in his Pack.

Shane leads them through the camp; rifle raised and cocked when they reach the building; Shane pounds on the locked and shuttered door.

"There's nobody here."

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick tries to find a way inside.

"Walkers!"

Shane turns to his Prime Alpha, "Rick, this is a dead-end. Fort Benning is still an option."

"On what? That's 100 miles in the other direction and we've got little to no fuel left."

"125. I checked the map." Glenn says.

Rick slams on the shutters. "I know you can hear me. We have women, pups, no food, hardly any gas left. We have nowhere else to go. Please, let us in!"

Shane starts to drag Rick away from the doors, calling for the others to get back to the cars. Just as they're about to leave, back to the cars to hide in the RV until morning… the door to the CDC opens, causing everyone to freeze. Rick raises his gun and moves towards the doors, ready for anything or anyone on the inside. The others follow closely, not wanting to be anywhere near the Walkers. Daryl stays next to the doors with his gun up while the others make their way into the building. Keeping watch, the Omega listens in.

"Hello? Hello?" Rick leads the group into the empty lobby. Calling out for the person who opened the door, the Alpha tries to keep his voice low.

The group turns when they hear a gun cock and find another Alpha with a military-issued machine gun. "Anybody infected?"

"No. None of us that are still here now." Rick lowers his gun slightly, a rumble of warning escaping his chest. The group moves closer together, Sophia whining as Carol pulls her closer. Rick and Shane move in front, keeping this new Alpha away from their Packs.

The doctor observes the group, deciding, "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick nods, thankful that this Alpha was allowing two unknown Packs onto his territory without a fight, "We can do that."

Shane glares at his Prime but nods his consent as well. Jenner lowers his weapon. "If you're bringing stuff in, do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed."

…

Andera was the last to have her blood drawn, and after almost passing out, Dr. Jenner took the group to the cafeteria, Daryl's crossbow loaded and pointing at his head the whole time. Rick lays a hand on the Omega's shoulder, causing the man to lower it with a sideways glance.

"Try to be more discreet about not trusting him. We don't want the pups and their mothers freaking out right now. We're in this Alpha's territory and we can't afford to be kicked out. Be ready if the guy pulls something, but not bluntly threatening, ok?"

Daryl nods and shoulders his bow, one hand resting on his knife. He leans in and scents Rick's hand before moving away from him, causing the Alpha to nod at the Omega archer with a smile. He moves to sit next to his pup and Lori, where they are seated at a large round table eating pasta while Dale passes the wine around.

Daryl grabs the bottle and pours more into his glass, making the whole table go quiet, "Keep it up, Glenn."

Glenn looks up blankly at the Omega, "What?"

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Daryl laughs along with the others when Glenn tips his cup back and swallows the rest, raising the cup to show it was empty; the Asian Alpha was just happy with the archer feeling social. The men cheer as Daryl pours more into Glenn's cup.

Rick turns to see how everyone is doing and notices Jenner. He taps his glass with a fork, standing up. "It seems we haven't thanked our host properly."

The others cheer at the Alpha's toast. Shane decides that the Packs need answers more than they need this party they seem to be having. "So, what the hell happened here, Doc? All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

Rick glares. Everyone could hear the Alpha's rumbles of warning throughout the now silent room. Shane glares right back at Rick, letting out a growl. Rick bares his teeth at his second, daring him to challenge his Prime. Carol pulls her pup closer to her with a whine, while Carl tries to bury himself into Lori's side when Rick stands up. Lori was watching the silent battle with little interest to her son. When Carl lets out a minute whimper, it was Daryl who laid his hand on the pup's shoulder, lightly scenting him and offering comfort.

Glenn and T-Dog noticed where they had stood up as well, waiting for a signal from their Prime on how to handle the situation. They share a smile at seeing the Omega comforting the Alpha's pup and a frown for Lori's dismissal of sorts to her son. Lori might be a Beta, so her instincts weren't as strong as Daryl's to comfort a distressed pup, but it still should have triggered something in her.

Rick scowled when the other Alpha refused to back down, "We're celebrating, Shane. We don't need to do this now. Back down."

"This is why we're here, right? This was your idea to find all the answers. Instead, we found him; we found one man. WHY?" Shane chuckles darkly.

Jenner had been watching the two Alphas with a deep-seated curiosity. It was unusual for two Alpha males to be a part of one Pack. When their attention is focused on him, though, he sighs. "When things got bad, some people went off to be with their families. Many… opted out. There was a rash of suicides. I kept working, hoping it would do something."

Glenn sighs heavily, looking at Shane, "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man."

When everyone finished eating, Jenner showed them the rest of the living area, telling them where they could sleep and a rec room with some games for the pups. Reminding the whole group not to plug in anything that draws power and go easy on the hot water, Jenner returns to Zone 5 to test the blood samples. The group takes turns showering, ecstatic at the feeling of hot water. When Rick is done with his shower, having ignored Lori's beckoning into her's, he checks in with his Pack. Carol had the pups occupied with some games in the rec rooms, and Glenn and T-Dog were playing cards in their room. Rick Scents them both with the door closed before moving on. Dale was on his way to his shower and had stopped to help Andrea clean up her puke.

As he passes one of the open doors, he sees Daryl sitting on a cot drinking straight out of one of the bottles. Rick stops and clears his throat. Daryl looks up at the Alpha and gestures for him to close the door. Once the door is closed, Rick walks over to Daryl and sits on the ground next to the cot.

"The hell ya doin', Rick?" The Omega snorts.

"It's a technique we are taught in the academy to calm distressed Omegas. I figured this would be the appropriate way to go about being in your territory since you claimed this room." Rick shrugs. "I went to check with Jenner about the blood and apologized for the stare down at dinner. I might have said something I'll regret tomorrow, though."

"Why the hell you tellin' me, Alpha?"

"Because I know that you'll tell me off regardless if I'm an Alpha. If I do or say something out of line, you'll set me right. Shane used to be the one that would, but I don't think I can trust him again. Not after Lori." Rick clicks his tongue with a sorrow-filled smile.

"You might be an Alpha but you're still human. Why me though? You got Glenn and T-Dog as Pack, why me?" Daryl grunts with restrained curiosity.

"They would have my back, I don't doubt it. But Glenn is beyond submissive for an Alpha and T-Dog was always part of a Traditional Pack; I feel that he might not know what to do in some situations and I will go beyond what an Alpha is supposed to do. I know you will knock me on my ass if I push too much."

Daryl huffs, secretly pleased and honored that Rick would trust him so much. "What'cha say that ya think you'll regret?"

"That it was only a matter of time before we all die and-OOWW!" Rick growls as he cradles his head, rubbing the spot where Daryl had hit him. The Alpha grimaces when he puts pressure on the bump and turns to the Omega glaring at him as he takes a sip from his bottle.

"You're an idiot Grimes. The hell ya thinking saying shit like that." Daryl huffs, grabbing Rick's arm and pulling him up on the cot.

"I was thinking that the last thing I remember was getting shot in a car chase and being loaded in an ambulance wondering if I was going to see my pup again while Shane went to tell my Mate I was in a coma. I wake up and the dead are eating people, my Mate is fucking my best friend, my pup thought I was dead and I've got a new Pack I'm responsible for before it can even register that my life is gone. My family… Everything I knew… gone, dead."

"Shit Rick, ain't no one expecting you to take care of everyone. If ya need help I'm sure ya would have gotten it."

"Lori said that it's been three months since I was in a coma, two since this whole thing started. Everyone has had months to come to terms with everything." Rick sighs and lays down on the cot, looking up at the ceiling, "I've had four days."

"Four what?" Daryl looked a little surprised at the reveal. "You're handlin' it better than most people."

"Yeah. I think I outta get ready for sleep. Gotta check on Carl, then find out where I'm sleeping." The Alpha gets up with a grunt and wipes his hands on his jeans. "Thanks again, Daryl."

…

Jenner leads everyone into the big room after breakfast the following day. Most stumble after slowly, holding their heads and groaning. Daryl snorts at them as he passes them and makes it to the front with T-Dog and Rick.

"Bunch of sissies can't take a little hangover. Wasn't even the good shit." Rick looks at Daryl, one eyebrow raised, causing the Omega to laugh at Rick's bloodshot eyes. "Sissy."

The men chuckle as the group gathers around Dr. Jenner at his computer station. "Give me a playback of TS-19. Only a few people ever got to see this."

Upon the wall, a large display shows varying 3-D views of human skulls—the main screen changes to show the upper shoulders and head of the subject. The screen skews to a horizontal view then increases the magnification. The image becomes more and more detailed. The magnification shows the inside of the skull where lights appear with bright blue threads of energy. Some areas are denser with light than others, but there are lighted threads throughout the skull. The detail zooms in until the threads become closer, and pulses of light become more distinguished by those watching.

"What are those lights?"

Jenner points at the blue lights on the screen, "Those are synapses; electric impulses in the brain. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death. This is a playback of the vigil, for 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 brain has lights still flickering in the outer areas, but the center has become dark as if black roots were growing inside. Glenn gasps at the image of the spreading darkness in the brain, blue lights replaced with red. "What is that?"

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death." Jenner clears his throat as the brain goes black, all the lights go dark. "Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone. Scan to the second event. The resurrection times vary wildly. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute… seven seconds."

A red glow flickers at the base of the brain. The rest remains dark. Random sparks shoot out into the larger area of the brain, but no further lights grow.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asks in shock, staring at the screen with wide eyes.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." Jenner says.

They watch the screens; the subject starts to move, its mouth opens and closes. The head moves side to side, the shoulders move as if the arms were trying to lift off the table. The barrel of a gun appears at the forehead, pointing down. A bullet enters the brain and tears through the red cluster of embers. The brain goes completely dark; the subject stops moving.

"God. What was that?"

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you? You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea looked at the Alpha, waiting for an answer while the computer powered down the main screen and workstations.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but…." As it hits one hour, Dale points at the massive clock on the wall, "that clock is counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators—they run out of fuel."

"And then? What happens when the power runs out?" Rick asks. Jenner ignores the question and walks out of the big room.

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

…

Jenner had locked the group in zone 5, waiting for the HITs to detonate and set the air on fire. After a couple of attempts on Jenner's life, which Rick had broken up before the doctor was hurt, the Alpha begged Jenner for a second chance. Once the doors reopened, everyone except Jenner, Jacqui, Andrea, and Dale ran up the stairs to the ground level. T-Dog and Daryl run for the doors, banging against them. T-Dog tries the electronic security pad beside the door.

"Daryl!" The Omega tosses the ax into Shane's hands. They both start hitting the glass, but it doesn't break. T-Dog makes a run at the window with a chair.

"Daryl, look out!" The chair doesn't work. Shane loads his shotgun and fires a round at the glass. It barely makes a dent.

Seeing no progress, Carol reaches in her bag, remembering a critical detail from Rick arriving at camp. "Rick, I have something that might help."

Shane scuffs as the timid Omega fumbles with her purse, "Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it."

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." Carol ignores the other Alpha as she speaks to the Prime, pulling out the grenade Rick had picked up in the tank in Atlanta. She gives it to him and takes Sophia away toward the back of the lobby.

"The fuck Officer Friendly?"

"Oh my god, that's a GRENADE!"

"GET DOWN!"

Everyone takes cover while he removes the pin and puts the grenade on the window sill. Terrified at what he's just done, he leaps back and away as quickly as he can.

"Oh, Sh—"

Only the window nearest to the grenade shatters, but it's big enough for them to escape through. Once outside, the group runs to their vehicles, shooting any Walkers that are in their path. Rick leads the way, the pups and their mothers right behind him. He climbs into the RV and gets the keys to start the engine. Lori points out the window as Andrea and Dale jump down out of the building. "Wait! They're coming."

Andrea and Dale make a run for the RV, and Rick checks his watch. They weren't going to make it. Lori sees the flames building up in the window and sticks her head out the window. "Get down!"

Dale and Andrea take shelter behind the sandbag cordon out by the guard shack. Everyone else ducks down in their vehicle as a giant fireball builds up inside the CDC building until it fills the entire place. The heat blasts out the windows, setting fire to everything around it, exploding tanks, cars, trucks, everything it touches. The explosion expands until the roof disintegrates and the building implodes on itself. Behind the sandbags, Dale reaches down to Andrea and helps the Beta up.

Glenn opens the RV door, ushering them into the vehicle as he sees the Walkers getting closer. "Get in!"

Rick drives the RV away, looking shaken. The five cars turn around and drive back up the road they'd come down on; the burning of the CDC sends a column of black smoke high up into the Atlanta sky.