A/N: To the Fanfiction reviewer known as Harvier, I've mentioned it more in depth in a few other fics featuring John, but I figure I should clarify it here.
John and his cast of characters have had a long history within my own head. You ask if there is a prequel you should read, because the way John's cast of characters are mentioned and brought up seem to be done so in a way that you should know who they are.
That… wasn't my intention, I won't lie. I'm writing it because they are all people John loves, misses, and thinks about often. He remembers how they were, how much they meant to him, and he's often gonna be thinking about them.
John's own original story, simply titled Strength, was being posted on Fictionpress, with chapters coming out as I finished them. The thing was, I wasn't really happy with the way the writing for the actual story turned out. Each chapter felt rushed to me, and each one was a third the size of these ones, at around 3000 words rather than 7000 to 10,000.
So I removed the story from FictionPress.
I have the actual story, the plot, set in stone, along with the characters, their personalities, and if it applies, powers, but I'm rewriting Strength so that it more fits my style, my preferred quality.
What you need to know about the characters and there importance to the story will come up within this fic, but if you'd prefer, I do have a general overview of the cast of characters, including personality descriptions and bios, on a Google Doc that I can send you, along with the plot.
This offer applies to anyone who'd rather have more knowledge of the characters that are mentioned in this fic.
As for tension within the story… yeah, I get that nitpick. But I'm not too confident about conveying tension in stories, how I am at really creating it, so my stories tend to focus less on the action, though I try to make sure there's a fair amount in them, and more on the relationships and bonds the characters have.
Once more, for anyone who is curious and wishes to have more in depth knowledge of John and his cast of characters, I have an overview of the main characters and a plot outline I'm willing to send to you, just contact me on here or, preferably, on Twitter.
With that behemoth of an Author's Note and Review Response out of the way, on with the chapter!
Add-On: I am not a scientist, nor a medical expert in any way, shape, or form. So anything you read in terms of medical research is almost definitely not accurate to real life and how it would actually play out. In fact, the specific scene I'm referring to takes more basis from the 2008 Incredible Hulk film than it does reality, and even then, I'm not sure if I'm remembering the scene correctly.
Which is sad, considering it's my favorite MCU film.
John
We haul inside immediately. There's a pair of glass doors open on the other side of the shutter, and I immediately rush inside, the others following behind me.
"Daryl, Merle, you two cover the back!" Shane instructs the two from behind me, but I'm not paying attention, scanning around the lobby of the CDC for anybody.
"Hello?" I call out, hoping that the person who opened the door is at least nearby as everyone quickly shuffles inside.
"Hello?!" Rick calls out, mimicking me as he looks around for someone, anyone.
"Close those doors." I hear Dale instruct Merle and Daryl, which tells me that everyone's inside. "Watch for walkers!" He adds.
Silence befalls us as we either wait for a response, or check to see if anybody's even here.
"Hello?!" Rick calls out once more.
This time, we're answered. To the sound of someone cocking a gun.
Everyone who has guns at the ready immediately raise their's, including me, as we all jerk towards the direction the noise came from.
There's a man, a rather tall one at that, about same size as me, in a t-shirt, joggers, and a pair of slippers. And he's holding a fucking assault rifle.
I gotta say, it's a rather odd site.
"Anybody infected?!" The stranger calls to us, never lowering his gun as he does so.
"No." Rick calls out to the man in response. "None of us are."
The man finally steps closer out of the shadows, and I can see he's rather middle aged, balding head. "Why are you here, what do you want?" He asks without missing a beat, rapid fire.
"A chance." I respond, finally lowering my own gun, although the others are still hesitant.
"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man responds, his voice a little softer as he approaches us.
"We know." Rick responds, lowering his own gun slightly.
A silence falls as the stranger stops, examining all of us. I can practically feel the begging, pleading gazes everyone behind me is giving him as he looks over us all.
And then he takes a few more slow steps closer. "You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission."
Well, that's not that-
Wait.
Shit.
FUCK!
I guess my secret's not staying a secret for too long, then.
"We can do that." Rick responds eagerly.
I disagree, but I guess I don't have a choice in the matter.
Well, I did make a deal with Glenn. If I decided to stay, I'd have to reveal myself at some point.
I guess this gonna be it.
It shouldn't even be that hard, honestly. Shouldn't feel so scary. But I feel like now, I'm just gonna be bombarded with looks of rage, anger, hurt, when it comes out. Why didn't I just slaughter the walkers? Why didn't I just tell the truth? Those are the questions I'm expecting to hear.
It would be so much easier to just bring it out in the open right now. But I can't help the small part of me that wants to put it off for as long as I can, however short that time frame may be.
Oh well, I guess I gotta agree to a blood test anyway.
The stranger finally lets his weapon drop as he approaches us. "If you got stuff to bring in, do it now." He tells us. "Once this door closes, it stays closed." He warns us, pointing towards the doors we just entered.
It doesn't take us long to haul in what we have packed. Me, Glenn, Daryl, Shane, and Rick haul it all in while Dale and T-Dog stand watch, and we rush back in through those doors as quick as we can. Dale and T-Dog shut the doors behind us as the stranger walks up to a key card scanner by the doors, swiping a card through it.
"Vi, seal the main entrance, kill the power up here." He instructs someone on the other side.
I can't help but to watch as the shutters close, effectively locking us all inside, and the walkers outside. Rick turns to look at the stranger, offering his hand. "Rick Grimes."
The stranger simply looks at Rick's hand for a moment, before his gaze shifts back to Rick, as if afraid to touch his hand for the moment. "Doctor Edwin Jenner." The stranger finally introduces himself.
Jenner leads us all to an elevator, and it's decent sized, but it's a tight fit. Fifteen people in one elevator.
The ride down is mostly a quiet, until Daryl decides to speak up.
"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" He jokes.
"There were plenty left lying around." Jenner responds as he turns to look at Daryl with a smirk. "I familiarized myself." His eyes began scanning over all of us once more. "But you look harmless enough." Then his eyes drifted down to Carl, and he smiled. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."
Carl gets a little grin on his face at the doctor's words, and I have to admit, I can't help my own at the man's joke.
He leads us through a hallway once the elevator stops, and considering the duration of that ride, we are definitely underground. Something that Carol seems to notice.
"Are we underground?" She asks a little nervously.
"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asks as he turns to look at her.
"A little." Carol admits with a nod.
"Try not to think about it." He says as he brings us a to a gigantic room filled with computers, though the lights are off.
"Vi!" Jenner abruptly calls out to the person he was speaking with. "Bring up the lights in the big room!" At his words, lights begin popping on all around the room, notably, a giant sectioned ring light right above the main hub, as Jenner turns to look at us. "Welcome to Zone 5."
It doesn't escape my attention that the place is completely and utterly baren.
"Where is everybody?" Rick asks. Glad to see I'm not the only one who noticed. "The doctors, the staff?" He clarifies as we follow Jenner further into the room.
Jenner turns around as he reaches the section of the lab, standing right in the middle of the computers.
"I'm it." He reveals. "It's just me here."
What? That can't be right, he literally just called out to-
Oh. I see.
"What about the person you were talking too?" Lori asks the doctor in confusion. "Vi?"
"Vi, say hello to our guests!" Jenner instructed the person, or rather, computer, that he was talking to. "Tell them… welcome."
"Hello Guests. Welcome." A computerized female voice echoes through the facility as we all look around. Advanced A.I.
Go figure.
I hear Jim let out a scoff next to me.
"Computers." He says with a shake of his head. "Wonderful."
I can't help but grin at him in spite of the revelation. "Don't like them?"
Jim shakes his head. "Not really." He admits with a grin. "Could never work the damn things."
"You sound like my grandfather." I tell him with a chuckle.
"I'm all that's left." Jenner tells us, and the somber mood at the revelation is very clear among all of us. "I'm sorry."
It's not his fault. He has nothing to be sorry for.
Jenner leads us to a room, looks remarkably like a classroom of sorts, with chairs lined up in rows on one side, and a small table with a few chairs and a dry erase board behind it.
Jenner pulls up a few chairs, and a garbage can, before he leaves for a moment to get the stuff he needs to take our blood.
I can't help the anticipation in my gut, the nervousness, considering the fact that I'm about to have myself exposed. I opt to go last, simply because, like I said, a part of me wants to put this off for as long as I can.
It goes on in silence for the most part. One after another, he takes every single person's blood, and not a single one complains or says anything.
Actually, scratch that.
"Is there even a point to this, Doc?" Merle asks when it's his turn to go. "If any of us were actually bit, we'd be sweating like pigs from the fever." He remarks in his typical snark, though he just sounds a little curious.
Jenner looks up at Merle. "I've already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here." He tells the redneck. "Let me just, at least be thorough."
"If you say so." Merle responds with a sigh. "You'd think having no bites would be thorough enough."
"You'd be surprised." Is Jenner's simple response as he finishes up with Merle.
Then he glances at me.
"You're the last one, right?"
I let out a sigh as I stand up off my chair. "Yep."
Tell them.
Just tell them.
Why won't you just tell them?!
In spite of every instict inside my urging me to tell the truth already, there's an equal instinct fighting to keep it hidden as long as I can manage, to put off the truth, the anger, for as long as possible.
So despite knowing it'd be best to just talk, my walk right over to the chair, moving past Merle, and take my spot.
God, it feels so weird being in this position. Ever since I got my powers, I've had no real reason to go see a doctor, well, outside of when Jason, Tibe, and Jack ambushed me at school that day. But even then, I just needed water drained from my lungs, not much else.
Ever since I got my powers, I don't know what it feels like to have anything pierce my skin. Closest I've ever come is whenever Peter and I get into a fight, and that's because his metal is pretty much impenetrable. Not even I can break it.
To be fair, he can't do shit against me, either. He's not strong enough to damage my skin, or me, really, in anyway, and he's too tough when he coats himself in the metal for even me to hurt him.
But I digress.
The point is, I haven't had anything break my skin for almost two years, and I've never had to get prepped to have a needle in my skin because of it.
So having the alcohol pad wiped on the inside of my elbow, and the having Jenner give a little tap to try and get the veins to pop a little, is a surreal experience.
And then comes the needle.
And I can't help but hold my breath in anticipation.
Whenever I had to get a shot before I got my powers, I've always had a little quirk.
I hated needles, absolutely loathed them. For most people, that would mean to look away when they stick it in. But I'm the opposite. If I wasn't looking, it drove me up the wall.
I absolutely had to watch the needle pierce my skin.
And now, being in this position, even knowing what the outcome will be, I can't help but to eye the needle as he gets it ready, and then begins to bring it towards my skin.
"This won't hurt that bad." Jenner tries to assure me, probably seeing the small bit of fear on my face, and misinterpreting it.
It's not the pain, that I fear.
And, as is obvious, he pushed against the inside of my elbow, and rather than pierce my skin, the needle bends against it, rendering it useless.
Both mine and Jenner's eyes widen, though his are out of surprise, at the result.
"What the hell?" I hear Rick gasp in surprise, and I can practically feel the looks of shock and disbelief as Jenner raises the needle for all to see.
Jenner's face scrunches in scrutiny for a moment as he eyes the needle. And I gotta say, his next words surprise me, but for a different reason.
"You ever go get tested for supras humas?" He asks me out of nowhere, and I gotta admit, the question catches me off-guard. Mostly because I've never heard of supras humas.
"What's that?" I can't help but ask in response.
"Most people call it the superhuman gene." Jenner explains, and now it makes sense. There's a basic term and a scientific term for all kinds of things, though I have to admit… supras humas for the superhuman gene sounds a little… lazy.
"No. Never felt I had a reason too." I respond, looking at Jenner.
"Hmm." Jenner nods at my words.
"Are you saying he's a superhuman?" T-Dog asks in disbelief at Jenner's words.
Jenner nods his head as he sets the needle down. "Most likely." He says as he brings his gaze up to me. "The gene can cause a mutation during times of intense stress, and it's not age specific." He says as he looks at me. "Was there anything really stressful that happened to you when you were a kid, by chance?"
My response is bit of a smartass remark, but it's the truth nonetheless, and I go along with it because I'm beginning to believe he's giving me an out without realizing it, and besides, I'm not usually one of those people that keep bad events to myself. The only event in my life that was so bad that it truly traumatized me, gave me PTSD, was ironically enough the event that gave me my powers.
"My step-dad used to beat me to hell and back if I so much as grabbed a bag of Cheetos without his permission." I respond with a shrug. "Shit went on for two years. He'd beat the ever loving hell out of me."
Jenner nods. "You probably have the superhuman gene. It must've activated without you even realizing it, toughened your skin." He proposes as he sits back in his chair, thinking for a moment. "Give me just a second, I'll be right back."
Jenner stands up and walks out of the room, and I stare at him for a moment as he walks off.
And then Merle's laughing behind me.
"Kind of explains why you're so fucking strong." He remarks with a chuckle as I turn to look at him.
"I hate to say it, but Dixon's got a point." T-Dog says with a smile. "Explains why you were swinging that hammer like it was toy earlier."
"And why shoving walkers seems to come so easy to you." Dale remarks with a mirthfull laugh.
All of them have grins on their faces, and I got to say, it's a rather relieving site.
Well, most of them do, anyway.
My gaze catches Glenn, who's frowning, and I can see the look of disappointment on his face as he glances at me. And I can understand why.
I then look over at Jim, and though he's trying to hide it, I can see the disappointment on his face as well.
I let out a sigh at their faces, before I quickly cover up the shame of their gazes with a smile. "I wonder if the walkers could bite me?" I can't help joke.
Shane snorts at my words. "Let's not test that." He says in response. "I'm in no hurry to find out, how about any of you?"
A chorus of no's and uh uh's roll through the group in agreement with Shane's statement, and I let out a chuckle. "Glad to see I'm loved." I remark with a smile.
"Let's try this one." Jenner's voice catches my attention, and I turn in his direction as he walks into the room with what looks to be another needle, but there's something about it. Something that seems to familiar.
"Another needle?" Daryl asks with a raised eyebrow as Jenner sits down and begins hooking the new needle up to the empty blood vial. "Won't that just be a waste?"
"This one's different." Jenner replies without even looking at him. "When the Juggernaut revealed the existence of superhumans to the public two years ago, a man by the name of Alex MaGrath, who had been working with the government in secret for years, offered to play a more active role in helping people." He explained, and I gotta admit, I'm surprised when he mentions Alex.
But I suppose it makes sense. When I met Alex a few days after I exposed myself, he remarked that at least now he could help out a little more openly.
"How's that explain the needle?" Amy is the one to ask.
"One of Alex's MaGrath's agents, a man by the name of… Peter Wyling, if I recall correctly, had the abiltiy to create an unimaginably durable metal substance."
Well, that surpises me. But I got a pretty good idea of why the needle seemed so familiar. It's not the needle, it's the material.
Peter's metal is almost silver in color, but it shines like chrome.
"Was he the Metal Maker?" Carl asks curiously, an excited tone in his voice.
If Peter was here, you better believe I'd be laughing my ass of at his reaction. He always hated that name.
"Yep." Jenner responds with a smile at Carl's excitement. "Mr. Wyling offered to craft an abundance of tools out of the metal he creates, needles, scalpels, other surgical tools, in case a superhuman turns up in a medical facility and they needed to get blood, operate, things of that nature." He explains to the others, and I have to admit, this was news to me too.
But… it's not a shocker. That's Peter for you, always looking to help.
"Now, let's get this blood out." Jenner says as he preps my arm once more, and begins to bring the needle towards my arm.
It's no surprise to me when he can't pierce it, and believe me, he tries. He even gets a little frustrated, but at least the needle isn't gonna bend. Hell, if it were bigger, it's probably be the best melee weapon in the room if you can believe it.
"Damn!" Jenner says as he pulls the needle back from my arm. "Your skin is tough."
I look down at my arm, and then towards the needle, and an idea enters my head, though depending on how you look at it, it could be a little twisted.
Me and Peter were equals, you could say. He was as tough as I was strong. At least, his metal was. But I was durable enough that he could never do any sort of damage to me, because he wasn't strong enough. No bruises, scratches, cuts, anything.
Now… what if I were to do it? Take a blade made from his metal, like this needle, and put in myself?
With my strength, would my skin give? I mean, I've scratched myself before, but most superhumans have an innate healing once their powers kicks in, a failsafe. My body heals at a rapid pace.
But… maybe…
"Let me try." I say, and the look on surprise on Jenner's face is absolutely comical as I reach for the needle.
"Are you serious?" He asks in disbelief.
"I've always been a little stronger than most." I tell Jenner, intentionally leaving out the real reason as of why, and that fact that I haven't… always been stronger. "Maybe now I know why."
Jenner looked at me for a moment, before letting out a sigh. "Alright." He relents, and offers me the needle.
I gotta admit, now that it's in my hand, I'm a little nervous at what I'm about to do. For the past two years, I haven't even seen my own blood, let alone had anything pierce my skin. It feels… uncomfortable, to even think about it, now.
But… sooner you get it done, sooner you don't have to do it.
I bring the needle against my arm once more, and slowly, I push it into my skin.
My skin bends around the needle as I push it in, and then a grunt of pain escapes me as I jump a little.
God, my pain tolerance is so fucking low, now, isn't it?
Makes sense, I guess.
When my skin gives, it does so with an audible pop, and it's stomach churning. I can hear groans of disgust and sounds of sympathy, at least, I think that's what it is, coming from around the room as I get the needle further into my arm.
"That's enough." Jenner says, causing me to stop as he gestures for me to pull my hand away, and I gladly do so. Getting it out won't need the kind of strength it required to get it in. "I got it from here."
I can't help but watch with a sort of… morbid fascination, as my blood fills the vial. It doesn't look any different than anyone elses, but it's weird. It's a part of me. It was inside me. And now I have blood leaving my body for the first time in two years.
It's oddly surreal experience.
"There." Jenner says as he pulls the needle from my arm, the wound healing so quickly that it could be misinterpreted that the needle was a gag needle, a prop. Not even a drop of blood escapes my arm. "All done."
"Well, now that it's over with," Jim speaks up, catching Jenner's attention. "Is there any chance we can get some food or something? We haven't had anything since last night."
Jenner looks at us all for a moment, before he smiles.
"Follow me."
The laughter echoing around the table is a heartwarming site, and a beloved sound. Smiles are everywhere in the room as we all all kinds of food laid out and cooked up for us by Jenner, god bless him.
As for drinks, their's some Pepsi and Coke laid out for the kids, and I'll probably stick to that, but most of the adults are having wine and getting a little buzzed. Well, except Glenn.
He's drinking straight from a bottle, and he already looks shitfaced.
Dale finishes pouring a glass of wine as he hands it to her, and gets an idea with a big ol' grin on his face. "You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." He says with massive smile. "And in France."
"Well, and when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori replies as she places her hand over Carl's glass in refusal of the idea.
Of all people to actually try and convince her, it's Rick who says something. "What's it gonna hurt? Come on." Lori's in the middle of taking a drink when she speaks, so the wide-eyed look at her face as she looks at Rick is comical. "Come on!" Rick says again, giving a smile at the look on Lori's face.
In spite of her disagreement with the idea, Lori's smiling at Rick, absolutely surprised at the idea, before she nearly spits her drink out all over the table in laughter as she lifts her hand, consenting her permission, causing laughs and cheers of mirth and amusement to erupt all over the table as Dale picks up Carl's glass and pours him a drink.
"There you are, young lad." Dale says, smiling as he hand Carl a glass with a small bit of wine. Everyone goes silent as he takes a drink, and admittedly, I think we all know his reaction.
Right on cue. The moment Carl takes the glass from his mouth, his face scrunches in disgust. "EWW!" Is his immediate response as he sets the glass back down, trying to shake the taste from his mouth as we pretty much roar with laughter.
"That's my boy, that's my boy." Lori says, trying to hide a smile as she rubs Carl's back, before picking up the glass and pouring into her own cup.
"People don't drink it for the taste there, buddy." I remark with a grin as I look at Carl.
"Then why do they drink it?" Carl asks, still gagging a little from the taste of the wine.
Merle's the one who responds, and though it's rather crass considering he's answering a kid, even he looks like he's filled with nothing but positivity for once. "You want to know why, little man? Look over at Glenn there." He says.
Glenn glances up at Merle's words, and something tells me he has absolutely no idea what anyone just said. "What?" He asks, a giant drunken smile on his face as we all turn to look at him.
Daryl grins wickedly at Glenn. "Keep drinking, little man, I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl says with a challenging smirk, causing laughter to erupt amongst us all once more.
Glenn busts out laughing at that, along with everyone else, so I'd say it's a pretty good assumption that, yeah, he's done for right now.
"What about you, John?" Dale offers, catching my attention as he raises the bottle of wine and a glass in his hand. "Wanna try some?"
My first instinct is to refuse the offer, mostly because I know that with my body the way it is, I won't even get buzzed, just the bitter taste from the wine, but then the thought occurs to me that my reaction would probably get everyone fucking roaring.
So screw it!
"Sure, why not?" I say to the old man with a smile. Everyone grins at my response as Dale proceeds to pour me a glass of wine, before offering it to me.
"Here you go, son."
I take the glass from Dale and look at it for a moment. Apparently, everyone wants to see my reaction too, because they all go silent and eye me as they wait for me to take a drink. I grin as I get an idea, and bring the glass to my lips, before throwing my head back as I down the glass in one go.
The bitter tasting drink washes over my tongue and down my throat, but it's gone quickly, and I set the glass down on the table before spreading my arms in a victorious manner, like I've just won some kind of tournament.
And then the taste hits.
"BLEH!" I say, my face scrunching in disgust as everyone else starts laughing at my expense, as I actually stick my fricking tongue out, like the air around me will taste better than the wine that just went into my mouth.
Amy's the one who says something after the laughs die down a little. "Enjoy your first drink?"
I let out a chuckle at her question. "No, not really." I respond bluntly, but a smile is still on my face as I reach over a snag one of the two liters of Pepsi, twisting the lid off and pouring it into my now empty glass. "I think I prefer this."
Laughs pick up once more as at my words, especially when I finish pouring and raise the glass to my lips, the taste of the Pepsi washing away the wine from my mouth.
"I mean, what did you expect?" Jim asks with a chuckle. "You said it yourself, no one really drinks it for the taste."
"Yeah, yeah." I say with a roll of my eyes, grinning all the same as I snag a piece of bacon when I set my pop back down, and pretty much gobbling it down in one go.
"You like bacon, huh?" Shane asks in a teasing tone with an amused grin.
I give him a playful glare. "Do not make fun of my bacon fixation." I respond, causing laughter erupt from everyone, and my own façade breaks into a smile at the response.
That's always been me. When people start laughing their asses off, it's like it's contageous to me. I can't help but join along and start laughing like a madman.
Our conversation is silenced when Rick abruptly stands up, tapping a spoon to his glass in order to catch everyone's attention.
"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." He says as he raises a glass, a toast to the man.
"He is more than just our host." T-Dog says with a wide smile on his face as he raises his glass.
"Hear hear!" Dale says in agreement with T-Dog as echoes and words of praise and gratitude echo around the table for the doctor, who looks a little surprised by the kind words.
"I can toast to that." Jim says with a smile as he raises his own glass.
"Me too!" Amy says, quickly following the older man's example.
"Me three." I say as I raise the glass of Pepsi in my hand with a smile.
"Here's to you, Doc!" Daryl can just barely be heard over the cacaphony of people as he raises the bottle of wine in his hand. "Booyah!"
Everyone else pretty much mimics Daryl, myself included, as we raise our glasses once more.
"Thank you. Thank you, Doctor." Rick says sincerely, a serious tone in his voice as he truly thanks the doctor, who nods in response as everyone clinks their glasses together in a toast Jenner. Jenner takes a sip from his own drink as well.
"I'd say we got more than one thing to toast about." Shane says after everyone settles down, glancing at Rick with a grin on his face. "Now that we have wine, at least. To Rick."
Rick looks genuinely shocked when everyone gladly raises their own glasses in honor of the former cop.
"To Rick!" I say, raising my glass high in the sky as I glance at the cop with a grin on my face. "The man with a plan."
"Well," Glenn says, sitting up off the table, though wobbling a little as he does so. "Let's not just toast Rick, when I can think of two other people here who deserve a toast." He says as he raises his glass. "To John and Shane!"
Whoops and cheers echo around the table while I go wide-eyed in surprise, and Shane seems to be just as surprised as I am.
"Nah, Rick and John helped us the most lately, I don't see how I did anything."
"You're the one who's led us, so far, Shane." Dale says, smiling at the man as he raises his glass. "And I'd gladly keep following."
Lori looks as if she disagrees with that, but I can't possibly understand why.
"Yeah, that explains him," I can't help but speak up as I look around the table in confusion. "But what did I do?"
"First off, you got us out of Atlanta and saved my ass." Glenn says with grin as he looks at me.
"And you're probably the one who helped the most when the walkers attacked last night, so there's that too." Jim remarks with a chuckle. "You're a crackshot with a gun."
"And you're fun!" Carl adds, and I can't help but grin at that.
"Alright, I get it." I say with a sigh and a playful roll of my eyes. "I guess neither me or Shane are getting out of this."
"Nope!" Amy says quickly with a giggle.
"So we might as well suck it up." Shane says as he smiles at me, and raises his glass. "To Rick!" He says once more.
Rick smiles and raises his own glass as he looks at me. "To John!"
I smile and raise my own glass, looking at Shane. "To Shane!"
"To all of the above." Dale says with a grin, causing words of agreement to echo through the room as we all clink our glasses together.
And the party continues.
Edwin
Well… they're a lively bunch of people. All of them are so happy, simply because they have a safe place to stay.
Which makes sense, I guess. I imagine it's pretty hard out there. Though, I wouldn't know… since I've been in here for god knows how long, completely in the dark for almost a month.
Right now, I'm in the main hub, doing a little research while the new guests are taking themselves their first, and probably only, hot shower in a long long time. I mean, I know that it doesn't count for anything, since I'm not gonna be around long enough to really make a real difference. I didn't want to tell them, ruin their mood, since this is probably the happiest they'll ever be, before… tomorrow.
But considering what they've probably been through, they deserve it.
Right now, research pretty much consists of a pattern I've repeated many times in the past; checking their blood.
I'm hoping, praying, for some kind of miracle from them, even though I know it's most definitely a moot point. And so far, it's confirming my point.
Something they clearly don't know, since they think it's the bites that infect people, is the fact that… it's airborne.
We're all infected.
The virus sits dormant inside all of us, until truly triggered by death or kickstarted by a bite. When we die… we will turn.
And it's proving to be true and true with each blood sample I check.
I could go in the details, say a lot of the big words… but I should probably keep it simple.
When checking a person's blood, the all I would normally see when all this started is white and red blood cells. But now, whenever I check a sample, it's marred by smaller, purple cells that sit, untouched by the white blood cells, as if it's a normal part of the body.
That's the infection, the Wildfire Virus, laying dormant inside of people.
When the virus is active, either through a bite or death, the little purple cells grow, expand, and infect the others, turning a them darker, killing them, and the purple ones become black as they're active.
Now, I have all of the blood samples labelled, a point of professional pride, even though I know its not gonna mean anything. Right now, I'm finishing up checking the one known as Merle. The last person I have left to do is that kid. The superhuman. John, I think his name was?
I don't know why I'm actually trying to remember, though, considering none of it will matter tomorrow.
I let out a sigh. An enormously small part of me is hoping that maybe the last bit of blood to check will hold some sort of answer as I remove Merle's, but the logical part of me knows that's probably not the case.
Still, professional pride, all that.
So, I set the slide I was currently checking off to the side, and grab the last prepared vial, John's.
I look at it a moment, before I let out a sigh, and I move it into the microscope, before looking into to check.
Damn! Just like the other-
No, wait a second.
"Huh?" I can't help but utter as my brow furrows in confusion, trying to make sure I'm seeing this correctly.
John's slide. It is different. It's similar to all the others, but it's missing something.
There's not a trace of the virus, dormant or otherwise, in his system.
How… how is that possible?
It's an airborne virus! He should be infected like all the rest of us! Carrying it dormant inside him.
But this looks like a normal blood sample, virus free, and perfectly healthy. None of the sickly purple cells that is the virus.
Hmm… could his superhuman biology have something to do with it? It can't simply be the fact that he's a superhuman. I've studied a few superhuman blood samples before, hoping for an answer, and found none.
So why this one?
Why John?
Could it be that his abilities keep him from getting the virus?
No, it couldn't be. Even those with enhanced durability and abilities that are supposed to make you immune to disease were completely overwhelmed by this virus.
So… back to the original question: Why is John virus free?
I lean away from the microscope as I process this unexpected discovery, finding myself curious about this unexpected developement. I wonder… could something else be keeping the virus out of his system?
Or… could it possibly be… that John's immune? That his immune system is actually combatting the virus?
Hmm…
I think I can test out that second theory.
We have a few samples of the virus, extracted from infected blood, pure and refined for testing, in a attempt to find a cure before everything went to hell. I wonder…
I stand up and make my way out of the main hub. I instead of turning towards the housing area, I make my way towards the lab, where we keep samples of the virus.
It's a few minute trip to and from the lab, but I'm a little eager to test my theory. This is the first true breakthrough, the first sign of hope, that not just me, but anybody has had. Even the French, who thought they were close, probably didn't have anything like this.
I take a syringe full of the refined virus and bring it back to the main hub. I know it sounds weird, checking the blood samples in a computer room instead of a lab, but honestly, I was just gonna do a quick checkover, and then record another log.
This… this was unexpected.
When I reach the main hub, I immediately sit myself back down and pull out the blood sample, taking the top slide off before hovering the syringe over it. I bring the needle down into the blood sample, and I just barely put any in it, before removing the syringe and placing the upper slide back on top of it, before looking in the microscope, eager to see the result.
And my eyes go wide.
It's dormant, inactive, like it is in everyone else, but unlike anything else I've seen, the kid's white blood cells are eating away at the dormant cells at a rapid rate.
It's… unbelievable.
Within seconds of looking into the microscope, the virus is completely wiped out from the sample.
And then it's normal.
I… I don't even know what to say.
John… he's completely immune to the virus. Whenever it's introduced into his system, his blood cells eat away at it.
It's probably reached a point where he's completely immune to it, because his immune system actually recognizes it as a threat and completely annihilates it. The virus can't stay in his system, and no it can no longer even try unless introduced directly.
I… I think John might be the key. The key to a cure, an end to this nightmare.
One that doesn't result in death.
Of course, now I stumble upon this breakthrough when the facility is gonna use up what little power there is tomorrow.
I don't have enough time left to make a cure.
Candace… I'm sorry… I came so close.
But at the very least, I can make sure that the possibility of this being cured, at least later down the line, is very much a reality.
I stand up on my feet hard enough to throw the chair I'm sitting back, and I immediately march out of the main hub.
I need to find the kid.
I need to find John.