Sorry for the short chapter, but this is basically a wrap up of part one. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Diary of the Dead Days

Part 1: Atlanta

Chapter Seven
Fifteen Minutes

The next morning, I didn't wake with start nor did I sleep in. The feeling of Ripley's paw shoved against my cheek and his tail hitting my leg every now and then made me stir. My dreams last night almost tricked me into believing everything that had previously happened was just some nightmare, but I was sadly mistaken. I stretched my stiff limbs in an attempt to rid myself of this heavy nostalgic feeling and glanced over, noticing my sister was still asleep. Ripley was already awoken by my movements and yawned in my face, greeting me with horrible dog breath. Rubbing the sleepiness out of my eyes, I headed for the kitchen area where we feasted last night after I quickly dressed myself.

I was greeted by T-Dog who offered me some powdered eggs, and I graciously accepted the food.

"I got some for Rose when she wakes up." He said, and I nodded, smiling.

Everyone was quite hung over, which made me glad that I didn't drink much last night. Glenn had his head down, clenching to his temples in pain while groaning. He swore he wasn't going to drink ever again. Everyone was slowly making their way into the kitchen, Shane grabbed a cup of coffee as he took his seat across from Rick. I noticed scratch marks along his lower cheek and neck.

"How did you get that scratch?" Rick inquired his friend.

"Must have done it in my sleep." His excuse seemed half-hearted to me, his dark eyes kept gazing in Lori's direction.

My attention was then brought to the sleepy Rose that approached the chair next to me, sitting down while rubbing her eyes. I grinned, trying to fix her messy mass of brown hair with my hands. T-Dog placed a plate of eggs down in front of her, Rose was about to complain but ceased as I lightly squeezed her forearm. Rose thanked him for the food and started eating, trying her hardest to hide her disgust for eggs. Ripley was fed the very few leftovers we had from last night. All the dog food that I had packed for Ripley was left in the van in front of the CDC, as well as my bow. I hadn't been able to practice for a long time, but if our current situation stays the same, I wouldn't have a need for the bow anymore. We were safe as we could be in the CDC.

As we were finishing our morning meal, Jenner had accompanied us. He mostly kept his distance, sipping on coffee and watching us in the threshold of the kitchen. All the time he spent in solitary in this underground facility, he must not be use to being around people. However, he motioned for our group to follow him to the control center. He said he had something to show us.

I stood with Rose near Carol and Sophia, gazing up at the screens in the control center where Jenner had led us. The center room had an ominous feel to it, it reminded me of some secret, evil lair of a villain in some of the books I read, mostly the generic si-fi novels. Displayed on the screen was a brain scan, label "Test Subject 19", I stared curiously at it while my little sister already seemed bored.

"This is TS-19," Jenner began explained, "This person was infected and allowed the process to be recorded."

We all watched as the virus began taking over the brain, causing it to go dark with death. Jenner had to fast forward through the video, taking it to the "second event" where the reanimation process occurred. Only the brain stem starts to light up, while the rest of the brain was nothing but darkness. Then a bullet shot through the skull, ending TS-19's life for good. Rose hadn't been paying much attention though the sound of the shot had made her jerk slightly, even though it was just a brain scan, the sight was quite disturbing. The room was filled with silence until Dale finally spoke.

"It has been bothering me since we got here, that timer on the wall has been counting down this entire time," Dale stated, "What happens when it reaches zero?"

"The basement generators will run out of fuel."

Jenner's words had haunted me, and the scientist took extra care to avoid our group even more, especially our questions. Rick took a few downstairs to check out the generators and I was eagerly awaiting their news. I had also noticed Andrea, she had been an emotion wreck since we had left our old campsite. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was running, I tried offering her some of the tissues I had found in the rec room but she refused and wandered off. Depression ate away at me, I so desperately wanted to comfort her, but my awkward attempts were probably starting to annoy her.

I ended up spending time with Rose with the other children and Carol in the rec room, searching through the books for something interesting. Standing underneath one of the air vents, I felt a continuously breeze of the chilly air until it suddenly ceased. I glanced upwards, staring questioningly at it.

"The air conditioning not working anymore." Carol said, her voice in a mild panic.

"Let's go to the control center," I mentioned, "Maybe the others found something out."

It didn't take a genius to know what was going on, Jenner had explained the generators were running out of fuel and the building was beginning to shut itself down. However, what puzzled me the most is what would happen when everything was completely shut off? Once we met up with everyone else in the control center, Jenner had been waiting for us, like he was expecting our panicked arrival any second.

"Whats going on here?" Rick was the first to speak out, he appeared calm on the outside but on the inside, he was brimming with fear like the rest of us. My hands tightly held Rose's shoulders with Ripley beside her.

"When the building runs out of power, it will self-destruct." He stated blankly, his dark eyes holding little to no emotion. He seemed so accepting, like he had been preparing for this moment for a long time. However, those words caused my jaw to drop, and my body trembled with sheer despair. Most bolted towards the door, I just stood there, dumbfounded as my little sister began to cry. She didn't want to die. Jenner slammed his hand down on a button near his desk, causing the doors surrounding the control room to shut before anyone had a chance to slip through.

"Why are you doing this?" I heard Carol's voice cry out, she held Sophia even tighter.

"I don't want to die!" Rose clawed at my arm, tears streaming down her face. I couldn't respond, I just stared at her with my eyes wide. I noticed Ripley didn't quite understand what was going on around him, but he grew worried as he sensed everyone's fear, "Lily!"

"Open the doors!" I shouted, my voice falling in with the others. The scientist appeared genuinely confused at our requests. In the corner of my eye, I seen both Shane and Daryl helplessly beat the shutters with any object they could find, mostly chairs and an emergency fire axe. Even though it was obvious they were getting no where, they still continued to try their hardest to break through.

"Isn't this a kinder way to go, rather than being torn apart by those monsters?" Jenner inquired, calmly as the seconds ticked away.

I felt my little sister's hands claw deeper into my arm, her tears burning my skin as her wails joined in with both Sophia's and Carl's cries. Ripley even started to wine at all the hysteria surrounding him. My gaze rested on the timer that was rapidly counting down, we only had fifteen minutes before the place would decontaminate itself and we would all be no more. I felt my own tears fall down my face, I knelt down and grasped Rose as hard as I could. Regret flooded through my system. Regret for never telling my sister the truth, for not apologizing to Daryl, and not being able to comfort Andrea.

"Please," I heard Lori trying once more to convince Jenner on letting us go, "We just want to survive as long as we can."

The shift in his facial features made it clear that Lori's words somehow struck a cord in him, Jenner sighed and reluctantly pressed a button on the control panel. The doors lifted opened and most raced towards the exit. I couldn't help but linger, noticing that Jacqui wanted to stay behind. What bothered me the most was that Andrea decided to stay as well, I wanted to stop her but I had Rose to look out for. After that, I raced along the corridors with the others with Rose by my waist and Ripley at my heels.

Jenner had warned us he was unable to open the entrance, we had to figure that out for ourselves. Shane attempted to shoot the glass but it was bulletproof. I knew it was hopeless, but I lifted a chair and tossed it with as much force as I could manage towards the window, and the chair bounced off. Glenn and Daryl also attempted to break the glass with the fire axe but nothing worked.

Carol fumbled through her purse, suddenly pulling out a small device, "Rick. I found this in your uniform when you first came to camp."

It was a grenade.

Rick detonated it near the windows of the lobby as the rest of us raced for cover. My body instantly covered Rose, and I had to shove Ripley out of the way. The poor dog didn't have the slightest clue of what was happening, and he was ending up being more of a hindrance than anything. But I knew I had to protect him as well. After the blast went off, my ears were ringing but we all raced through the broken window as a bigger explosion was about to take place. I knew the last time I gazed at the clock, we had at least fifteen minutes but it was impossible to keep track of how long time had passed from us racing through the halls and escaping from the lobby.

I dragged Rose along the fields of bodies surrounding us, heading for our van, "Ripley!"

Rose had screamed, digging her heels into the ground and forcing me to stop. I should have yanked her along, but Ripley seemed confused and frightful about the situation at hand that he was frozen. I knew walkers were due to this location at any time because of the noise from the grenade. The German shepherd had ceased near the window where the blast took place, barking inside the building. I gritted my teeth.

"Rose, head for the van and get inside as quick as you can. I'll be right behind you with Ripley." My hands were holding her shoulders tightly, shoving her towards the minivan as I suddenly dashed back to the CDC building.

"Lily! What are you doing?" I heard Glenn called out after me along with Carol and Daryl's voices yelling at me.

I ignored them, jumping over the bodies and running towards Ripley until my calves started burning. It wasn't a long distance, but all the running beforehand was starting to wear me out. He continued to bark inside the building and I knew what he had been calling for, Andrea and Dale were coming up from behind. Before we left the control center, I hadn't realized Dale stayed behind with Andrea. I was slightly grateful someone else was able to snap sense into her.

Ripley still refused to budge, he was probably waiting for Jacqui, who surely wasn't going to come. I ended up grabbing Ripley, cradling the heavy dog in my arms. He slowed me down as I hobbled the rest of the way, but I heard the others yell from the vehicles to get down. They didn't need to tell me twice as I ended up tripping over a body, landing roughly on the ground near Andrea and Dale. I heard Ripley yelp as I crashed down on to him.

I didn't see the explosion but I sure as hell could feel it. My back felt like it was suffering from intense burns and I suddenly became sweaty. The loud noise was indescribable, though I could barely hear anything afterward except the ringing in my ears had intensified. Dale tugged my arm once it was safe to keep moving. They slowed their pace for Ripley and me. The canine didn't resist me carrying him, thankfully, but my arms were starting to grow weak as his fur was slipping through my fingers. Though, I manage to make it to the van.

I tossed Ripley in the side where Rose was waiting, she slide the door shut and I raced on the other side and jumped in the driver's seat. The key was already in the ignition and the engine revved flawlessly. Our caravan immediately left the scene as walkers were slowly, but surely, making their way to the noise. Glancing over, I could see nothing but smoldering rubble. I couldn't help but feel mournful for Jacqui, though I knew she didn't want to suffer anymore and had made her decision. Though I couldn't accept death like she did, not with Rose pleading for her life like that.

"Ripley!" Rose cried out, hugging the dog I risked my life for.

I followed the RV in front of me, not sure where we were going but I would be glad to get as far away from this place as we could.

Again, sorry if this one seems a lot shorter than the other chapters! But don't worry, the next chapter will be up by next week! Probably on or before Christmas Eve. Anyway, thank you for reading and please leave a review!