Chapter 6: CDC


KPOV

~9 years ago~

I was sat down by the porch, staring towards the streets as children played and I just held the paper tightly in my hands. Mom was still at work, she had a meeting to be at and dad was soon off his clock. I felt so alone and worried, gripping onto the paper so tightly I felt as though my heart was about to exit my chest.

I looked up when I saw dad's car park up in front, when he got out he smiled brightly at me and slowed when he saw the sad expression on my face. "What's wrong Kitten?" he asked me and I just hand him the paper, his eyes examining it as they became wide. "Fail? You failed your test?" dad asked me surprised and there was something else...disappointment?

Nodding, I could feel the tears build in my eyes, quickly I stood up and ran towards the front door, opening it and running up the stairs to my room. Slamming the door, I jumped into bed and cried into my pillow. I failed dad...he hates me now...it doesn't surprise me...I would hate me too if I was him.

I then heard a soft knock on the door, dad's voice called for me kindly as he knocked again and opened the door slowly. "Katherine...baby girl..." dad spoke as he carefully sat on my bed and let his fingers graze my arm, trying to be comforting. "Kat...please...talk to me..." he tried but I just cried silently into my pillow.

"Katherine...don't be afraid about failing something, you can always learn from these mistakes and...get better. It only takes time," he tells me gently as he rested his hand on my arm. Rubbing it slowly he sighed and moved to look at me. I closed my eyes tightly so he couldn't see my tears, but somehow he could and he wiped at where they had once fell.

"Kat...talk to me," he tried to urge, eventually, I sat up and looked at him sadly. We both moved to be laying against the wall, as we always did and sighed. Fiddling my thumbs, while I looked down at them and frowned.

"I...I feel like I've disappointed you dad...I've disappointed mom too. What...what if I fail at everything? What if I never get a job?" I ask him and he frowned at me again. His arm slung over my shoulder to pull my head to rest on his chest.

"You could never disappoint me baby girl...or your mom," dad started as he held me to him tightly. "Baby girl...this ain't the end of the world. You can learn from this, don't let this make you weaker and keep trying. As for the job...well...what I believe is...there's always hope for a brighter future. That we are always given a chance to make things right and better for ourselves," he tells me which makes me look up at him, teary eyed. "We just...take it slow...one day at a time...things can get better," he tells me sweetly which made me shut my eyes and open them to look up at him again.

"You think so?" I ask him and he smiled, nodding down at me and this makes me giggle. Cuddling up to him, I wrapped my arms around him and he gently pressed his lips to the top of my head. "Thank you daddy," I whispered to his chest and he just rests his head on top of mine.

"It's okay Kitten," he tells me and we both sat there for what felt like hours together, holding each other as we kept to our own thoughts. Gradually we moved from one another's hold and left the room to prepare for mom's arrival. When she got home to hear the news, she frowned and pulled me into a warm hug, telling me everything was going to be fine, that I could now learn from these mistakes and make things better...


Present day...KPOV

"Daryl, you cover the back!" Shane told Daryl as we began to enter the building, staying close to dad as I tugged both mom and Carl inside. Shane following closely as we all wandered inside.

"Hello? Hello?" dad called into the room, his voice echoing through the building as we walked inside, everyone staring inside with awe.

"Watch those doors. Watch for walkers," Dale commanded as we all got inside, I echoed my own 'Hello?' as I looked around, gazing at the huge structure and the fact it was so...empty. We suddenly heard a gun cock in our direction, raising my handgun, I looked at who was being pointed at on the other end of my gun.

"Anybody infected?" a man with strawberry blonde hair, pale face and...normal clothes asked us as he held up a gun at us. His eyes trailing each of our faces and bodies.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it," dad informed the man, his arms slowly lowering the gun while mine slowly lowered because of my dad's reaction. He has a good sence about people and...if he lowers his gun it's because he believes this person is good and not a threat.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" the man asked us, looking at every one of us as he looked at us blankly. We were all panting from the panick of outside and of how dark it was getting.

"A chance," I tell him and he looked at me sadly, his eyes became dull again as he looked around the room, his eyes landing on mine again as he looked at me seriously.

"That's asking an awful lot these days," he informs me, stating the obvious as I lowered my gun and frowned. Everyone around us were finally relaxing themselves from all the worry we had earlier.

"We know," dad admitted as we all stood there, awaiting his answer as he looked at all of our faces. Surprisingly, he gave us all a good analysis in his mind and walked closer to us.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission," he told us as we all nod and watched him. Some of us gulping or still trying to gather their breaths. Dad looked around, my eyes wide at the thought of a needle and this made me gulp. I hate needles...

"We can do that," dad agreed for us all, he stood closer and lowered his gun.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed," he said as we all nod and ran back outside, pulling all we could with us and rushing into the entrance again. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here," the man said as he closed the elevator doors behind us, all of us squeezing in together as I pressed Carl against me and held him in my arms.

"Rick Grimes," dad held his hand out for the man, who looked at dad's hand and gave it a small shake.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner," the man replied as we all stood closely huddled in the elevator, patient as we waited to reach the bottom level.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked Jenner curiously as we continued to wait. Carl's hands reaching up to hold onto mine.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough," Jenner said as he looked at each of us, his eyes landing on Carl as he spoke next. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you," he said slightly teasingly, looking at Carl he had a small smile on his face and it made me giggle. Leaning down, I kissed his cheek which made him wriggle from my lips. This made all the others laugh at us, especially our mom and dad.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked as she held Sophia close to her and walked down a long hall.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked Carol as she looked at the ground shyly and away from any of our glances.

"A little," she admits and looks up at us again, this made me give her a small smile. Carl's hand giving mine a light squeeze.

"Try not to think about it," Jenner told her as we walked into a huge room filled with computers "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room," he spoke to a so-called 'Vi' "Welcome to zone 5," he told us as he looked over his shoulder at us.

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" dad questioned Jenner, clearly confused as to what happened and where the others were hiding.

"I'm it. It's just me here," Jenner told us, all of our hearts sinking as we took in this information. There's...no one else? Just...him? Impossible.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" I asked him, hopeful that there was someone else out here with us. That was willing to be here, to help and keep us all safe...alive.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome," Jenner spoke out clearly as he talked slowly. Deliberately.

"Hello, guests. Welcome," a robotic voice came out of the walls, making us all look around the room surprised. No...this can't be...

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry," he told us and led us all to a room where he had the equipment to get blood samples.

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever," Andrea stated as he took her blood sample. My blood sample went smoothly, more than what doctors were like back when they were all alive. I hissed at the thought of the possible pain, only feeling a slight pinch and sat beside Carl when he had his own blood sample.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough," he explained to her and she just stayed silent. "All done," Jenner spoke as he looked up at Andrea. She got up and stumbled, Jacqui caught her and placed her to her feet again. "Are you okay?" Jenner asked worried about the woman in Jacqui's arms.

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have," Jacqui informed the man as we all made our way towards the dinning room.


"Fine," mom told Dale as he poured her a drink, I had my own little glass of wine and sipped on it gently. Trying to keep it for the entire night and to not get drunk by keeping to just the one glass. Dale handed mom her glass, she smiled at me and then to dad. She gave Carl a kiss on his temple before she took a sip of her wine.

"You know, in Italy...children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France," Dale informed us which made my eyes widen a little. Is he trying to get Carl into drinking?!

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France...he can have some then," mom teased which made me giggle on my glass, mom had her hand covering Carl's cup, I looked up to see Daryl taking a sip from the bottle and watching me.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on," dad tried to reason to mom, she looked at him stunned and convince mom to let Carl have a drink. "Come on," he encouraged again and this made mom look at dad before stifling a wine filled giggle and lifted her hand from his glass.

"There you are, young lad," Dale said as he poured wine into Carl's cup a little and we all watched as Carl took a sip, dad was already stifling his laugher as I smirked at Carl. He pulled a face of disgust and gave us all a long 'eew' and slammed the glass down.

"That's my boy. That's my boy. Good boy," mom comforted him as she took the glass from him and poured the wine into her drink. Taking an innocent sip as everyone else laughed, my giggles making my shoulders shake as I looked to Carl's disgusted face.

"That tastes nasty," Carl said as he shook his head and looked at all of us. We were all laughing, dad reached over and messed Carl's hair a little as we enjoyed our meal and wine.

"Well...just stick to sour pop there, bud," Shane teased as he looked at Carl from under his lashes. His eyes drifting to me, mom and dad but landing back on Carl again.

"Not you, Glenn," Daryl spoke as he walked towards the others, pouring some wine into their glasses and Glenn looked up confused but stunned as he was reading his wine bottle absent-mindedly.

"What?" Glenn asked as he finally pulled himself out of his reading daze, a bright and wide smile on his face as he looked at the redneck who was watching him.

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get," Daryl said, the way he looked at that moment...his face slightly red from the laughter and wine, his arms...god his arms...they were tense, flexing and his muscles rippling under his skin as he spoke and held onto the bottle. His short brown hair slightly messy and his mouth moving slowly. He looks...

Everyone began to laugh, including Glenn. I quickly pulled myself out of my trance when I noticed my dad turn his head to look at me, then his eyes drifted past me and towards the man who was alone. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," dad said as he raised to his feet, clinking the glass as he spoke to get others attention.

"He is more than just our host," T-Dog slurred a little as he sounded in complete bliss and we all raised our glass to him. Daryl running around to make sure everyone had their glass full of wine, even pouring me a little extra and quickly scurrying away to fill other glasses.

"Hear hear!" someone said "Here's to you, doc," said someone else as we all raised our glasses and smiled at the doctor who sat alone watching us.

"Booyah!" Daryl said as he lifted the wine bottle and shouted out this word. Causing everyone else to echo after him and take their own sip of wine. Dad thanking the man as he gave him a nod and we all drank up and dad sat back down.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane questioned the man, his voice dull and emotionless as he quickly changed our mood and everyone silenced. "All the- the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?" Shane questioned further, not allowing the man to answer back to his questions prior to these new ones.

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," dad said as he sat back down, all of us silent as we took a sip of our drink. My swallow was hard and slow as I felt my throat close up from the tension and sadness.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move- supposed to find all the answers. Instead we...we found him. Found one man. Why?" Shane asked as he stopped my dad from changing the subject any further.

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just...left. Went off to be with their families...and when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted," Jenner told us, his voice monotone and his expression was distant.

"Every last one?" Shane asked, playing with anything he could get his hands on he seemed pleased with himself as he spoke to Jenner.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time," Jenner spoke, his eyes glassy as he informed us of what happened, this made me frown and look down at the glass on the table.

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked the question all of us were thinking.

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good," Jenner told us, but the way he spoke so bluntly made me want to question him futher. Instead we all stayed silent and sat there.

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man," Glenn told Shane as he got up and walked to another seat, all of us drowning in our thoughts as we sat and ate our food silently. When we were finished, Jenner decided to show us around the building as we walked along a hall and carried all our belongings.

"Most of the facility is powered down...including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy," Jenner told us but stopped to turn and look at the kids.

"Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power," Jenner told the kids as he leaned down to look at the two of them. "The same applies- if you shower, go easy on the hot water," he informs us as we looked through the doors and into the rooms. All of us stopping to the magic word. Hot water.

"Hot water?" Glenn asked us as he looked at us from over his shoulder, he was clearly stunned and surprised that there was hot water in this place. After all the time we've had at the creek with no hot water and just the cold creek, it wouldn't surprise me we all want heat in us.

"That's what the man said," T-Dog said as we headed towards the showers but saw it was only two. There could only be one person in the showers at a time. Deciding to go last, I grabbed both mine and Carl's stuff, leading us towards a room and placing our stuff there.

"Mom?" I asked her as she was fixing her own stuff in hers and dad's room, she looked at me with kind eyes and a smile. Her hair was slightly messy but possibly not as messy as mine, I had finally got it down and had taken off my bow and quiver. My holster belt was on the table in our room but I told Carl not to touch it, to go play with Sophia.

"Yeah honney?" she called to me as I looked around the halls in case anyone was wandering or hearing us. Dad had gone to talk to Shane, but mom was alone and fixing their stuff, settling into the room and I just walked over to her and shut the door behind us.

"I wanted to talk to you...about something important," I hint at her as I looked at the ground and she folded the cloth in her hands, crossing her arms as she walked to me and looked at me curiously.

"What about baby girl?" she asked me and I look up at her from under my lashes, my eyes flickering back down to my feet as I walked up to her and she placed her hands on my arms. Rubbing her hands up and down them comfortingly as she looked at me kindly, trying to make me look up at her as she ducked to my level. "Speak to me Kitten...you know I'll listen," she tells me kindly.

"It's about...Shane," I whisper and she slowly froze in place as she tensed up. I looked up at her slowly and shook my head at her. "I'm not judging you mom, you had your reasons but...he lied to us...to both of us and...whatever was happening between you and him have to stop if you still want to be with dad," I tell her trying to keep my voice level and not come across threatening.

"You...still want to be with dad right?" I ask her and she nods, her hazel eyes becoming wet but she quickly blinked away any tears that threatened to spill, her eyes focused on me and she gave me a small smile, rubbing my arms gently again and tapping my shoulders.

"I know baby girl...and yes...I do want to be with your father. I love him, very much and I don't know what happened between me and Shane but...that's long gone," she tells me with a small smile and soft eyes.

"Does dad know?" I ask her and she pursed her lip, she went to speak and bit her lip, her head shaking vigorously as she couldn't force herself to speak and possibly afraid of breaking down. "It's alright mom, as long as dad doesn't find out by anyone else...if you and Shane are truly over...all will be fine," I tell her comfortingly as I smiled and gently stepped away from her. Taking her hands in mine and giving them a small rub with my thumbs and a quick squeeze.

Heading back to the room, I grabbed my clothes and saw Carl had already had his shower and was just slipping on his top. Walking towards the shower, I had my towel in hand and walked to it, seeing mom going into one of the showers, I went to the other and finished up quickly.

When I was done, I wrapped myself in the towel and wandered down the hall, going into my room, I shut the door and dried up. Dropping the towel to the floor, I started to get changed when I felt a presence watching me and turned to see the door was slightly opened. Walking to it, I slipped my head out and looked to either side of the hall, no one was there and I shut the door as I finished off getting changed.


DPOV

I was drunk...drunk wasn't enough. Shitfaced. I was wandering the halls, grabbed another wine bottle and looked through the once opened door, to find it was opened slightly. When I peeped inside, I saw Kat stood there, in her sleep pants and in nothing but that. Her bare back curved as she rubbed her hair dry.

My eyes trailing her naked skin as I watched her figure in the shadows. Her muscles suddenly tensed, quickly I moved into my room silently and shut the door behind me. Hopeful that she didn't see me or notice me watching her.


KPOV

Me, Carl, Sophia and Carol were all huddled in a corner of the room as we read a book. Carol was reading a book while the kids played a board game, I watched Carl with a small smile on my face. Mom giggled as she walked in, another glass of wine in her hand and a bright smile on her face. "Any good books?" she asked us and Carol looked up to her with a smile.

"Enough to keep us busy for years. All right. Come on, kids, it's bedtime," Carol told them as she got up and placed the book onto the table, the kids got up and began to walk to their rooms.

"Kat...are you coming to bed?" Carl asked me, his bright blues filled with wonder as he looked up at me. Giggling I nod, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, he ran off as I turned to mom, she was wet from the shower, fresh and clearly happy.

"I'm gonna browse a bit," mom told us as she looked around the multiple books, I smiled and watched as Carol walked off with Sophia trailing behind her.

"Come on Kat," Carl spoke as he took my hand in his and lead me towards our room, leaving mom there as Carol turned slightly to talk to mom, making us stop for a second as she spoke.

"This is the first night we might actually get some real sleep. It's a miracle, isn't it?" she said as she turned around and walked off, heading down the hall and into her room, Sophia following behind and as we were about to cuddle up in bed, I heard footsteps running towards our room. Sophia came in through the opened door and gave me a bright smile.

"Carl said you would sing for us," Sophia told me, Carol popping in to peek into our room and held her daughter by the shoulders. This made me look to Carl, eyebrows raised as I looked at his shy expression.

"Is that right?" I asked them both but more to Carl who hadn't informed me of any vocal exercises I would be doing today. Especially not to both him and Sophia. Carol gave me a sad smile as she tried to pull her daughter out of the room.

"You don't have to if you don't want to Kat," Carol told me softly but this made me smile and shake my head. Carl slipped his hand into mine, making me turn to look at him and see his bright blues looking up at me.

"Please Kat...sing for us," he pleaded, sighing I gave in and sat down on the bed with an excited Sophia and Carl. Carol sat beside me, watching me intently as I asked them what they wanted to hear. "My favourite song," he tells me and I just giggle. Nodding, I start to sing 'Fix You' by Coldplay.


DPOV

This had been my last bottle, I couldn't drink anymore and was too bored to be alone, just as I was about to go back into the dinning room to grab a bite to eat, I heard a soft voice...a song being sung. When I reached the room that held such a voice, it was gentle, sweet and peaceful. They were singing some...famous band I couldn't remember the name of anymore. It was a girl...

When I heard the voice, saw the bright blue eyes shut as she sang and open up to look at me, I gave her a slight smile. Resting against the door frame, watching her and the kids sitting around the bed. Carol watching the girl with a bright and pleased face. The song was comforting, as was the voice of the girl singing. Beautiful...she's just...beautiful.

When the song was over, the kids hurried back to their rooms and Carl crawled under the covers, Kat got up and kissed Carl's head. She then leaned over to kiss Sophia's head, giving Carol a hug they all left. Kat looked at me shyly but then pushed away and walked off, leaving Carl alone in bed, his eyes wide opened as he waited for his sister.

I gave the boy a silent nod before I went into the dinning room and grabbed something to eat, munching on it as I walked back into my room and passed out on the couch.


KPOV

I was surprised to see Daryl listening in and watching us. When it was over, we said our goodnight to each other and I walked off towards where my mom was last. I could hear whispers, growling, screaming and rustling. Walking closer to the voices, I realized it was the same place where we left mom, the voices getting louder as I got closer.

"Get your hands off me!" a woman's voice cried out, noises of people moving and fighting was becoming louder as I got towards the room. Mom I gasped as my feet moved me quicker towards the room.

"I love you. There's nobody here," a male voice told her as I could recognise the voice. It was Shane, the sounds of struggles got even louder as I reached the room, opening the door a creek, I saw Shane had my mom pinned to a table.

"Please! No!" mom cried out as she tried to push Shane away, he kept touching her, in places he shouldn't and trying to silence her. Clearly drunk out of his mind and hurting my mother.

"Stop, Lori. It's all right. Just-" Shane tried to reason but I quickly slammed the door opened, closed it quietly and rushed towards the two.

"Shane!" I shouted angered as I felt my anger boil. Mom was crying, begging and she soon attacked him by digging her nails into his skin and scratching him. I walked up quickly to them and shoved him as far away from my mom as possible.

"Next time you touch my mom like you did today...you'll regret it...and it won't be just my dad you'll have to worry about. Got it?" I growled at him, pushing my chest up against his and glared at him evilly. He rubbed at his scratched up face and walked off, I hadn't realised my mom was holding onto my arms tightly.

When he left, mom began to sob loudly and tremble, turning to her I cupped her face and looked into her eyes. "Mom...are you alright?" I asked her, worry and sadness in my eyes as I looked into her red rimmed ones.

"He-he..." she began but soon her thoughts crumbled, sobbing as I ran my fingers through her hair comfortingly and kissed her head while I pulled her into my arms. Holding her close and kissing her temple, I whispered sweet nothings until she finally relaxed, slipping out of my arms and wandering back to her room.

I climbed into bed, snuggling under the covers and found a fast asleep Carl in bed. Giggling softly, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to me. Kissing the top of his head as he snuggled up to me, pulling me to him as he nuzzled his head into my chest. This made me smile but sigh at the thought of mom, all afraid and sad. Slipping off to sleep, we soon woke to head towards the dinning room.

T-Dog had made us powdered eggs, but we ate them all the same and thanked him for it. Mom had told us that dad was most possibly hungover from what Jenner had told her. Giggling, Carl looked at us and asked us what it was like to be hung over, which made both me and mom explain to him how and what happens when we are hungover.

"Morning," dad said as his feet dragged along the ground, Glenn was in agony as he ate his eggs and held his head. Dad seemed more or less normal but it was clear he was hung over as he sat down to give us all a kiss on the head, giving mom a quick peck on the lips as he looked up when Carl spoke.

"Are you hungover? Mom said you'd be," Carl tells him, which made dad chuckle softly and me smile at the two of them.

"Mom is right," dad stated, not denying that he was in fact hungover from the drink he had last night.

"Mom has that annoying habit," mom teased as Carl munched on his cereal, giving me a small smile as I winked at him and this made him giggle.

"Eggs. Powdered, but- but I do 'em good. I bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover," T-Dog told us as he placed some in Glenn's plate and dad's. Glenn groaning as Jacqui rubbed at Glenn's shoulders.

"Where'd all this come from?" dad asked us curious as to where all this food and medicine came from.

"Jenner," I tell him as he struggled to open the medicine cap.

"Could you help me please?" dad asked mom politely. Which made mom nod and open it up for him as she chewed on some egg.

"He thought we could use it," she tells him as she passed him the medicine. Which earned he a 'thank you,' from mom. "Some of us, at least," mom said as she looked up at me and smiled. Still sober...

"Don't ever ever ever let me drink again," Glenn groaned out as he had his head in his hands, his hangover must have really fucked him up since he looked like death.

"Feel as bad as I do?" dad asked Shane as they exchanged hello's. Shane walking over to grab something from the counter.

"Worse," Shane answered as he grabbed some medicine for his hangover and walked back to the table to eat something.

"What the hell happened to you? Your neck?" T-Dog asked him as he got a good glimpse of the scratches mom left on his neck from last night. Both me and mom exchanged a glance as we both looked back down at our food quickly.

"I must have done it in my sleep," Shane tried to make up an excuse as dad just looked at the scratch quizzically.

"Never seen you do that before," dad admits as he thought back to all the times they shared and not once had Shane done something like that.

"Me neither. Not like me at all," Shane answered as he looked between both me and mom. Mom's eyes quickly flashed to me, worry hidden behind them as I gave her a soft look and small smile.

"Morning," Jenner said as he walked in, he looked a lot neater than he did yesterday and he moved towards the coffee. A bunch of 'hey doc's and 'morning's being thrown at him as he walked by.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-" Dale started from his seat, being polite as he spoke and watched the doctor pour coffee into his cup.

"But you will anyway," Jenner stated as the elder man looked down sadly before he opened his mouth to speak again.

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea stated as Shane just rubbed his face, Dale's mouth shutting while he slowly turned and looked down at his food. Slowly Jenner turned around to look at us, gave us a nod and wordlessly walked towards the table, he ate his breakfast and indicated that we should follow him.

"Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner ordered the computer as he walked into the room with all the technology things. Everyone gathering in the room as we stared up at the screen.

"Playback of TS-19," the female machine answered robotically.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few," Jenner informed us as we saw the documents load and the footage begin to show. It looked...like a moving x-ray but...more...accurate.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked us confused, I looked down at him and gave him a quick nod.

"An extraordinary one," Jenner told Carl as he bent a little to get a good look at it, Carl looking up at the screen and smiled at it. His hand clutched mine gently as I felt his fingers slip into mine. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V," Jenner announced and demanded of the machine, confusing us slightly with the weird names they gave things.

"Enhanced internal view," the machine spoke as she loaded an internal view of the brain, up close and watched in hushed tones.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked out to Jenner as I looked at him slightly surprised, even I knew what they were.

"Synapses," I mumbled and Jenner looked to me surprised, giving me a small smile while others looked at me confused and surprised. "I did some biology in my time," I tell Jenner and he just nods.

"Clever girl...you're right," he tells me as he looked up at the scan sadly, his eyes glued to the outline and inside of the brain as he marveled in it.

"It's a 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," Jenner explained to Shane.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl questioned the man as he looked between me and Jenner, seeing as I knew a little about the bodily functions and the brain. The brain has always been fascinating to me in all honesty.

"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," Jenner explained further as we all looked up at the image on the screen.

"Death?" dad questioned as he walked to stand by me and closer to Jenner. "That's what this is, a vigil?" dad questioned further as he looked at the screen and Jenner just looked at dad but then back to the person on the screen.

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil," Jenner said as he looked at dad but then back up at the screen.

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked as she never took her eyes away from the screen, her voice cracked a little and she wandered forward absent-mindedly.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event," Jenner explained, leaving out any names and then spoke up to the machine.

"Scanning to first event," the machine agreed as it gradually showed us what had happened to TS-19.

"What is that?" Glenn asked confused about what was happening from within the brain.

"The brain...it's dying...whoever this is, is...dying," I whispered but with how quiet the room was everyone heard it. No one moved or said a word, Jenner stayed silent for a few minutes as he stared up at the screen.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brian goes into shutdown, then the major organs," Jenner explained as we witnessed the person on the screen die and the brain along with it. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone," Jenner said dully, emotionless and staring up at the video.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked her mother shyly, trying to be quiet about it which just made Carl grip onto me tighter, moving him so he was hugging my side and placed a gentle kiss to his head.

"Yes," Carol told her daughter bluntly. All of us took a moment to process this and take in this information as well as we could. Andrea held back her tears as she shut her eyes and looked away.

"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister," mom spoke up as she looked between Andrea, me and Carl. Her eyes stopping on Jenner as she spoke to him.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is," Jenner empathized as he stepped close enough to Andrea to explain what he knew about this. "Scan to the second event," he commanded the machine as it did as he said.

"Scanning to second event," the robot echoed his commands as it found what it was looking for and showed us more documents.

"The resurrection times vary wildly. 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," Jenner informed us as we saw the body and brain slowly re-animate but...not fully.

"It restarts the brain?" I asked him and he shook his head, all of us edging closer to get a better look of what was happening on the screen.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving..." Jenner explained as we all looked to one another and then back up at the patient.

"But they're not alive?" dad asked as he walked closer to Jenner, unsure of what exactly was going on and if anything made sense right now.

"You tell me," Jenner questioned my dad as he gestured for us to look at the video.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark," dad answered and that was when we all looked to Jenner for a moment as the doctor spoke up.

"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," Jenner spoke as he agreed with my dad. That these bodies just...roam, nothing else and of course...feed.

"God. What was that?" Carol asked as we saw the patient begin to move and come back to life, before it could move any further there was a sudden slash through the brain.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" I asked him and he didn't answer, instead he walked away and didn't look to any of us.

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations," Jenner ordered and sudden the screen shut itself down and all he did was begin to walk off.

"Powering down main screen and workstations," the machine replied to Jenner as the screen went black and turned itself off.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked, her voice shaking lightly as tears formed in her eyes.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal," Jenner tried to determine but even then he sounded like he doubted he truly knew what was happening and how to prevent it any further.

"Or the wrath of god?" Jacqui spoke up, her tone dull and lifeless, as though she had thought about this for a long enough time to believe it.

"There is that," Jenner agreed but didn't at the same time. He just...clearly doesn't know what this is. At all...

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere," Andrea hoped as she looked to the doctor, walking closer to him as she spoke.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asked him further, clutching her daughter to her tightly as they looked to Jenner for answers.

"There may be some. People like me," Jenner suggested as he looked to Carol and her daughter. He sounded hopeful...but not enough.

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" dad questioned the man as he got up to get close to Jenner, his body was tense as I tried to calm him down by placing my hand on his chest, he looked down at me and looked to Carl who was clutching my hand desperately.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives...all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month," Jenner explained to us as we all tried to take in the information he had just fed us. And hell is it hard to swallow...

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea continuously asked him, I could see mom in the distance breathing shakily, her eyes wide and her body stiff. I looked to her with soft eyes. There is always a chance...there is always a way.

We all reacted in different ways, dad stepping back, Andrea shaking her head and Jacqui sighing out a quick 'Jesus'. "Man, I'm gonna get soon faced drunk again," Daryl said as he walked to one side, rubbing at his eyes and face.

"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 the final question as he walked to a clock that had been counting down. We all looked to it and saw there was only an hour left.

"The basement generators...they run out of fuel," Jenner informed us as he walked away, leaving us there watching him leave and look to the clock. Less than an hour now...

"And then?" dad asked him but Jenner didn't answer, he just kept walking away from us all and left us there to think over what just happened and panick over what could happen when the generators run out of power.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" I called up to the computer as we all looked up to hear the female robotic voice talk to us.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur," Vi told us, which made me tense up at the thought of what this could be. Wait...are we...no. That can't be. I looked down to Carl as we all parted ways when the men decided to check how much fuel we had left. Me, mom and Carl went to mom's room where we all sat together on the couch, waiting for news to come about the fuel.

Suddenly we couldn't feel the breeze anymore, just the heat of Georgia as we sat there becoming more sticky with sweat. Mom got up to reach the air vents, only to stand there waving her hand back and forth, both me and Carl looking at her weirdly.

"Mom? Something wrong?" Carl asked her politely, curious about what was wrong and why she was up in such a position.

"Nothing. It's just...the air conditioning stopped," mom told us as she turned her head a little to look at us, she stayed there, stood still and looking up worriedly. This made me cuddle up Carl in my arms as I held him tightly to me.

"Why is the air off?" mom asked Jenner as we all began to poke our heads out to the sound of Jenner's footsteps coming closer to us.

"And the lights in our room?" Carol asked her as we all began to follow Jenner, throwing questions to him as he walked towards the computer room.

"What's going on? Why is everything turned off?" Daryl asked as he swung from his door frame, a bottle of wine in his hand. Walking past him, shaking my head and taking the bottle from him.

"Now is not the time to get drunk, especially if I think what's happening is about to happen," I tell him and he just grumbles, following closely to us all as we trailed behind Jenner who hadn't spoken to us a single word while we followed him.

"Energy use is being prioritized," Jenner tells us as he continued to walk.

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale asked him confused of what was more important in this facility. Jenner just shook his head and walked past the elder man.

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down," Jenner told us numbly, he continued to walk and this was when Daryl suddenly decided to push me and my family behind him gently, reaching the doctor as he looked to the man angered.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean? Hey man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?" Daryl continued to ask Jenner, Daryl's tone slightly threatening as he got to Jenner's side, Daryl's stride was angry and masculine with every step he took.

"You'd be surprised," Jenner mumbled and mom quickly looked over the railing when we heard footsteps coming from underneath us.

"Rick?" mom called down to dad which made both me and Carl looked down to see dad raise his hand to the three of us and rushed towards the doctor.

"Jenner, what's happening?" dad asked Jenner, confused and angered about what was happening. He's probably angry because he doesn't know what is happening.

"The system is dropping all the 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," Jenner explained as he stopped by the stairs of the computers. All of us right behind him as we all paused too. "It was the French," Jenner blurted out which made all of us confused.

"What?" Andrea asked him confused as she took a step towards him.

"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 till the end. They thought they were close to a solution," Jenner told us as we looked at him, listening to every word he had to say.

"What happened?" I asked him, unsure of what could have made them stop if they were close enough.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner commented as he turned his back on us and continued to the computers.

"Let me tell you-" Shane began but dad just called out to him as Shane followed Jenner angered. He shrugged my dad off as he stormed closer to the doctor.

"To hell with it. I don't even care," dad said as he looked to the rest of us, Shane stopped and leaned against a computer desk. "Lori, Kat, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!" dad ordered the rest of us. Jacqui mumbled a 'oh, okay' as we all began to turn around to head towards the hallway.

Suddenly there was an alarm blaring out repeatedly, causing everyone to turn back around and look at Jenner. "What's that?" Shane asked panick stricken as I saw Carl look up to me, his hands gripping my arm as he repeated Shane's question up at me. His bright blue eyes filled with worry and uncertainty.

"Doc, what's going on here?" T-Dog shouted over the alarm.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now!" Shane ordered us as we all began to turn back around and this was when dad ordered us to go too. Following us and trying to push us towards the hallway.

Suddenly we heard a door slam shut, the one to the entrance that we came through, the hallway...was locked up tightly. Dad went to run to it but stopped when he saw the door shut quicker than he could run to it. "Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asked Jenner but got no reply from the doctor. "He just locked us in!" Glenn shouted to the rest of us as I clutched Carl tightly to me.

"We've hit the 30-minute window. I am recording," Jenner began to talk into the screen as he sat down at the desk. "Carl! Kat!" mom called to us as she ran to us, clutching us both as she kissed the top of our heads. Carl screamed out for her as she reached us and we all clutched each other desperately.

"You son of a bitch!" Daryl began to run towards the doctor, angered as he went to go and attack Jenner. Dad called out for Shane as both Shane and T-Dog tried to restrain Daryl from being able to hurt Jenner. "You let us out of here! You lying-" Daryl was cut off as they removed Daryl's weapon and pulled him away from the doctor.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now," dad growled as he walked to the man angered, I kept a tight grip on both mom and Carl as Carl cried. Mom holding us both as she tried not to cry herself, my eyes dry as I focused my attention on the scene going on between Jenner and the others.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed," Jenner tried to explain, giving a shit excuse for us not being able to leave.

"Well, open the damn things," Daryl growled out, hopeful that this man had the power to do so.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that," Jenner said as he looked directly at my dad. Then browsed around to look at each of our faces. "It's better this way," Jenner told us all absent-mindedly, as though we would all know what he was talking about.

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" dad asked Jenner as he got up close and bared his teeth, dad's eyes drifting to the clock and back down to Jenner. "What happens in 28 minutes?!" dad screamed after Shane hit Jenner to get his attention.

"COME ON! You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" Jenner screamed as he got to his feet and shouted back at dad and at Shane. "Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner screamed out as he looked at each and every one of us.

"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," Jenner spoke after he calmed down and sat down on his desk.

"H.I.T's?" dad asked confused as he started to change the weight of his foot every so often.

"Vi, define," Jenner told the computer as he stared at the ground dully.

"HITs. High-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives, cocoists of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired," the computer told us as half way people walked to their loved ones.

Dad walked to us, wrapping his arms tightly around us as he pressed a kiss to both mine and Carl's foreheads, then gently kissing mom's lips as he held us all to him. Carl sobbing into the group hug as he clutched us frightened.

"It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief...regret. Everything," Jenner spoke as though he had no emotion left, as though he had been drained and knew it was the end of it all. This made dad walk away from us, mom let go of us slowly and Carl clutch to me tightly. His tears soaking through my shirt as I held him to me tightly and tried to stop his crying.

Daryl took the wine bottle that I had placed onto the table without realizing up and threw it against the door exit. "Open the damn door!" Daryl yelled to the doctor.

"Out of my way!" Shane shouted as he ran up to the door with an axe in hand, trying to knock the door down and someone passed another axe up to Daryl. The two of them slamming their axe into the glass but causing not even a scratch. I was too focused on my baby brother crying than on anything else that was going on.

"You should've left well enough alone. It would've been so much easier," Jenner spoke to mom, me, Carl, Carol and Sophia.

"Easier for who?" I questioned him and this just made him look at us dully.

"All of you. You know what's out there...a short, brutal life and an agonizing death," he looked to all of us, his eyes landing to Andrea's equally dull face but filled with her own thoughts as they ran through her mind. "Your-your sister...what was her name?" Jenner asked to Andrea.

"Amy," Andrea answered him plainly, short and simple.

"Amy," Jenner repeated, taking in the name as he spoke to Andrea. "You know what this does. You've seen it," he urged to all of us. "Is that really what you want for your wife and kids?" Jenner asked up at dad but this made dad angry as he got up close to Jenner again.

"I don't want this," dad whisper growled to Jenner as we could see the sweat drip from dad. Probably from stress and tension in this room. We're locked in a room where we're about to become roast dinner for the walkers.

"Can't make a dent," Shane said exhausted from the work he had been doing to the door, Daryl continued to hack at it but nothing was happening.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner tells us as we looked to him surprised they even designed doors like that.

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl screamed as he went to slice Jenner's head off, his face red from the swinging of the axe earlier and now from anger. The others began to pull Daryl back again, watching as Daryl finally moved away and tried to calm down.

"You do want this," Jenner said as he stood up and looked at dad. "Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead," Jenner said as dad stayed silent, his eyes roaming to look down at the three of us. My heart pounding in my chest.

"You really said that?" I asked him and felt the tears and anger build up within me. My bottom lip wanted to tremble but I held it back as I stood up slowly. "After all your big talk?" I questioned him as I saw him look at me with sadness in his eyes. He went to reach for my face and I quickly moved myself away from him. Looking away from him, to the side and shutting my eyes tightly.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" dad said as he growled at me. Trying to reason his actions and thoughts to me.

"There is no hope...there never was," Jenner began to tell us all, his eyes glued to dad as he spoke.

"Shut up! Just shut up," I shouted at Jenner as I shoved him forcefully. "There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here...but somebody...somewhere-" I say as my voice trembled a little from the fear of what was happening, that my dad kept his thoughts to himself and that...he doesn't have hope that we'll live.

"What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?" Andrea asked me in a dull tone, looking up at me as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event," Jenner spoke bullshit as we all stood or sat there, dad looking at the three of us, Carl crying into mom's chest as she held him tightly.

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here," Carol sobbed out to Jenner, pleadingly as she could barely even look at him.

"One tiny moment. A millisecond. No pain," Jenner talked as he leaned towards the two sat on the floor in front of him.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" Carol cried out as she held onto Sophia for dear life.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner questioned her, but before Carol could reply Shane was walking towards us again with his shotgun at hand.

"Shane, no!" dad tried to stop Shane.

"Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way!" Shane shouted to dad as he cocked the gun and aimed it at Jenner's head. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?!" Shane growled at Jenner but I ignored the rest of the conversation.

Grabbing an axe, I began to hit at the door, grunting with every swing in hope to get it opened. I heard gunshots but I didn't bother about them and kept swinging. I then heard footsteps come up behind me. "What the hell are you doin'?" Daryl's rough voice asked as he watched me.

I didn't turn to look at him as he talked to me. "I'm not giving up. That's my family there...there's always a chance. Always hope, and I'm going to get them out of here. All of us out of here," I tell him and he just shows me an axe that he was holding.

"Mind if I join you then?" he asked me and I shrugged as I continued to swing down forcefully.

"Knock yourself out," I tell him and we silently swung at the door, our axe's clinking and clanging as we tried to smash the door opened. Not giving up while the others spoke between themselves. Suddenly we heard the sounds of buttons being pressed and the door opened rapidly. All of us running out, but I quickly turned back and told them to keep running, that I'll make it in time.

Running back, I grabbed my weapons and a few huge books and a few small ones, shoving them into my backpack as I ran towards the hall again. I heard Dale trying to convince Andrea to join him, running out there was a loud bang, making me gasp and run faster. I saw everyone begin to climb out the windows, following closely dad gave me a nod as mom grasped for my hand.

My hand slipping out of hers as I grabbed my machete and began to slice at the walkers who heard us coming. A walker I jumped over, surprised me and grabbed me, causing me to tumble to the ground and fall to the floor. It's body trying to climb up mine as it clutched at my foot. Kicking it's face with my free foot, I kept kicking it until I reached my handgun and shot it.

Suddenly, a hand reached me and picked me up. "Come on!" Daryl's rough voice called to me as he ran us towards his truck, opening the door he shoved me inside and I rolled over so he could squeeze in beside me. The sound of an explosion fired off as I looked up slowly, hearing the sound of fire going off as I peeked up after Daryl did. "They made it," Daryl mumbled surprised as he saw Dale and Andrea stumble towards the cars.

Sitting up, I buckled myself in and gripped onto my backpack tightly. We were both sat there panting for a long time as we watched the flames rise high above the sky. Daryl started up the truck and slowly we all began to drive off, towards wherever dad was leading us. Eventually we stopped outside of Atlanta, heading towards the place we met Guillermo and the residential people.


DPOV

Hopping down from my truck, I pulled out my crossbow and waited for Kat to show up next to me, she rushed to get to her family as I trailed behind her. We were heading to Guillermo's hide out. "Thought they were barely hanging on, what makes you think they'll take in strangers?" Andrea asked us as she walked towards the windows.

I was checking around to see if there were any walkers around, only one or two were wandering around in the distance. "With all the guns we gave 'em a part they better throw us a party," I inform the group with small sarcasm in my joke. "Good call...for once," I tell Rick as I walked ahead a little, checking for walkers and finding non.

Glenn jumped over the glass window, then T-Dog, me and the others. Kat helping both her mom and Carl to get over the window carefully. No one was coming out of the doors, from their supposedly look outs they would have patrolling the area. "Where are the lookouts?" Glenn questioned as he looked at Rick.

We soon turned a corner, seeing walkers feeding on those who were once here and taking a stand for this hell hole. I knew we shouldn't have given them the guns! "Ah...son of a bitch," Shane muttered as he walked into the small clearing. The others following behind, Kat, her dad, Shane, T-Dog and anyone with guns raised them.

The walkers soon noticed us, moving their heads away from their munch fest, they looked up at us and began to rise to their feet. Stumbling towards us as Rick moved closer, to the very front and raised his gun. "T'hell with the noise," he growled and we all began to shoot. Kat included started to gun walkers down until they were all dead on the floor. "Come on! On me!" Rick ordered the others to follow him when all the walkers were dealt with.

We opened up the doors and wandered the hallways, they were all empty, other than all the corpses and flies that surrounded the bodies. "Keep the voices down, come on," Shane instructed as we wandered down the halls. Keeping close together, we tried to stay silent and calm. As to not attract attention.

The sounds of a girl crying caught my attention. So loud and annoying...please...shut the fuck up. She's going to get us killed. "Put a sock in it!" I growled at the little girl and her mother. "Jesus christ!" I whisper shouted at them.

"You leave her alone," the mom told me, her eyes giving me death glares as she held tightly to her daughter.

"You shut her up or I will!" I growled at the woman as she looked at me with mad eyes. Getting evil looks from both Carol and Lori.

"Back the hell off and I mean now!" Lori growled at me as Kat looked at me mad and disgusted by what I said to them. Carl was clutching onto both his mom and Kat. "Are we staying or going?" Lori asked of her husband as she held onto her kids.

"We don't have the fuel," Rick tried to tell us of the situation. That there wouldn't be enough fuel to let us reach anywhere safe enough to call shelter. Especially not at this hour, it was getting dark and we needed to get some rest.

"We hunker down for the night, okay? You, me and Daryl we're going to sweep the building, make sure we're alone," Shane told us as we all nod and were all panting. Rick turned to look at the rest of the group.

"Use those to barricade those doors," Rick told them as he pointed to the hospital beds and we wandered down the halls to check the rest of the building. Finding more and more dead bodies, I stopped to speak to one telling them of how great of an idea it was.

Rick started to slow down, walking beside me as we searched the place, it was empty from what it looked like. He looked to me, making me watch him from the corner of my eye and give him a questioning glance. "I wanted to...ah...thank you. For saving my daughter back there from that walker," he told me and I just kept walking.

"Don't need to thank me. She saved herself, all I did was lift her to her feet," I inform him and he just looks forward then to me again. His eyes trailing me as though he was checking to see if I was lying or if I was acceptable...or something. God knows what the fuck is going on in this guy's head.

"Still...I'm grateful for what you did back there...thank you," he told me and we continued to walk forward. Checking the entire building before we all grouped up in the big hall, where we had seen that old man suffering from an asthma attack.


KPOV

We had barricaded the doors, instead of using an arrow from a shot I could possibly miss, we all crouched down and waited for the walker to wander off. Sophia was crying but Carl tried to calm her down, when the walker finally left, T-Dog told us to hurry, leading us all into the hall and meeting up with Daryl, Shane and dad.

"Upstairs is our best bet, we've cleared a few rooms, we can barricade those if we have to," dad tried to reassure us as I held Carl close to me, mom's hand resting on both mine and Carl's. "We'll be alright," he told us and we all just nod, all except Carol.

"Do you mean it this time? Or are you just lying to us like all the times before," Carol said which made me frown and mom sigh. Dad just looked down and then back up, but this time it was to my eyes, that was until mom spoke up and was talking to Carol.

"That's unfair and no help at all," mom defended dad as we all stood there, Carol holding onto her daughter who sat on her lap and clutched her doll tightly to her. I saw my dad changing the weight on his legs from time to time, while Glenn looked around stunned and numbly.

"What the hell happened?" Glenn asked as his voice was dull, lifeless and clearly saddened of what happened to this place. Andrea was wandering, looking at the bodies and made us look at her when she spoke.

"What do you think? They got overrun," she said but this made Daryl circle her like she was some prey. Andrea was stood by the bodies, her arms folded over her chest and he back to us. Daryl made a noise which made Andrea's head turn to look at him. "Something to say?" she questioned.

"Yeah..." Daryl started as he got closer to her, his face vicious as he was already thinking about what he wanted to say. "How about 'observant'?" Daryl asked her and she looked at him stunned and slightly unsure where he was going about this.

"Observant. Big word coming from a guy like you, three whole syllables!" Andrea mocked as she looked to the bodies then back at the redneck. Why are they insulting each other like that? It's not getting any of us anywhere. Everyone is being so...mean.

"Walkers didn't do this," Daryl stated as we all looked at the bodies laid out on the floors. "Geeks didn't show up until all this went down," Daryl told us as he looked down at the bodies. "Somebody attacked this place, killed all these people, took whatever they wanted, they're all shot in the head...execution style," he informed us as dad checked their bodies, in fact-finding gun shots in their heads.

"Ya'll worried about walkers? I'd be much more worried about the people who did all this," Daryl told us as he walked around. "Get a dictionary. Look it up...observant," Daryl said as he pointed to his brain. Andrea stood there, looking stunned and insulted at the same time.

We all began to walk upstairs and into one of the rooms they cleared, just as I was about to enter, dad pulled me back and I saw Carl turn to look at us. "Kat? Dad?" Carl called to us confused about why we stopped, I looked up at dad's eyes searching for any answers and was surprised to see unsaid words.

Mom pulled Carl inside, reassuring him that we'd be fine and when everyone was inside he looked me right in the eye. "Kat..." he began as he tried to reach up to touch my face, twisting my head away from his touch again as I felt my jaw clench. "Katherine..." he tried again his voice sad but when he went to speak, I broke him off.

"Don't," I growled at him. "All these years...you told me that there was always a chance...always hope for a better future. Yet...when it comes to this world you think...we can't survive?" I questioned him, my voice angered and quizzical as I spoke.

"Now I never said tha-" he tried again but I stopped him again and took two steps away from him. He looked at me sad and desperate to try and get things right with me.

"Dad...you wanted to give up. You didn't think we would survive longer than you probably expected. While you lost hope, I never lost mine but...I'm losing my hope in you. Thing is dad...while you were sulking and arguing over the doors, I saw that pain and fear rush through mom and Carl's minds. Their sadness at the fact you didn't have faith in them...in me...my own father," I tell him.

"At the moment I saw their hearts break...I would have done everything I could to save them because...for me...as long as I have you, mom and Carl...I have hope. I have a chance at making things better. One day at a time," I tell him and he frowned at me deeply.

"Also...you just placed yourself as our leader...with being a leader you have responsibilities. Such as...'keeping the hope alive' and well...here's a tip dad...you either change...or start believing your lies," I tell him and walked off. Leaving him there to his thoughts as I turned my back and headed into the room. I saw the others all eating and drinking their water.

Andrea seemed half dead, Dale seemed guilty and Glenn seemed shocked. Daryl was opening a bottle of alcohol, Shane and Daryl had been drinking from a bottle of wine, T-Dog had first watch and when dad came into the room, we had been deciding what we would do.

We were to head towards Fort Benning. Glenn still seemed shocked and phased by the ones who died in the residential home. The men all got outside of the room and talked to themselves outside. It had been two hours since we ate, Daryl had taken watch and I was sick and tired of my dad watching me out the corner of his eye.

I walked out of the room, Carl was reading a comic book I had saved in my back pack and I stood besides Daryl. My hands in my back pockets as I looked down at him, he had the bottle in his hands and would rarely drink from it. "Mind if I join you?" I ask him and he just shrugged.

Sitting down next to him by the stairs, I took the drink from his hands and took a sip. Passing it back to him, we kept it moving back and forth, both of us taking sips in turns. "I'm uh...really sorry about what happened to Merle...truly. I don't know what I would be like if it was me in your place and Carl had been in that situation. I'm...sorry we didn't find him either," I tell him.

He seemed to stay silent while I kept talking. "You need to stop blaming others for what happened, like my dad...T-Dog...Glenn. It's not their fault entirely," I tell him but he just stayed silent. Taking a sip, he passed it back to me and I took my swig of the drink. "In all honesty...I believe everything happens for a reason...fate," I tell him and he continued to stay silent. Watching me.

"Like the CDC where I found out my dad is...uh..." I took another swig and passed it him, looking down at my feet, I looked back at the drink and held the bottle in my hands. "The reason we gave those people our ammo and guns was...even if you don't like it...the right thing. Not just because they were good people but...because they had hope. A reason to keep fighting...a vision," I tell him.

"To have those...it makes everything worth fighting for. To keep surviving...to get through this," I tell him and he stayed silent. "So...that's why we gave it them. It may have been a shitty reason to you but...I value people who have the strength to keep going, even when they feel like they don't have a chance at all in this world," I tell him and he stayed silent. Taking a final swig, I handed him the bottle and walked back into the room.

Cuddling Carl, I fell asleep quickly enough and kept him close to me. Our breathing slow as I let my dreams take me to a far away place. Far enough to forget about the hell I'm living through these past few months that have gone by...


Season 1...wrapped! What did you think? Can't wait for season 2? It will stay on this story so don't worry! Do you guys want more? Can I have 5 reviews? That way I'll post as quickly as I can. Do you guys think I'm playing Daryl true to character?

Much love!

HeroJustInTime90 x