We entered the lobby of the CDC very carefully, checking every inch of the room that we could see, still with our weapons drawn. My eyes landed upon a man who stood at the top of what looked to be the main stairs, and he brandished an M-16 assault rifle.
"Are any of you infected?" He asked us without moving from his spot. We all answered him with a 'no' while Rick told him about Jim who didn't make it with us. "The price of admission will be a blood test. No compromise. " Everyone nodded, agreeing happily now that we had somewhere safe to stay.
He told us to grab everything we needed to come in, as when the doors were shut, they were shut for good. The men ran out to grab all the bags, with the exclusion of my father who stayed with me at the doors to stand watch. After everyone came back in and handed the bags around to their respectful owners, we followed Dr. Jenner, as he introduced himself while leading us into an elevator.
The elevator ride down was relatively quiet, save for the idle chatter that the doctor tried to hold with us. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, and I'm sure that given the chance we'd be able to get along quite well. I, personally, was looking to get some answers about what the hell was going on in the world.
When we exited the elevator, he led us through numerous hallways, walking quickly. The next thing I knew we entered a big room that resembled an auditorium, but with more computers. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." he instructed someone, or something. He walked into the center of the room and turned back to us. "Welcome to zone 5."
We continued to file into the room, looking curiously at everything. The rows of computers and chairs that accompanied them, the giant screen at the front of the room, and the many lights that lined the ceiling support beams. Rick looked confused though. "Where is everyone? The other doctors, the staff?" When Dr. Jenner reached the small circular platform in the middle, he stopped and turned to face the rest of us. "I'm it. There is no one else here."
Everyones face dropped and filled with concern. "What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked. "Vi?" He looked up. "Vi! Say hello to everyone. Tell them… Welcome." An automated voice came over the many speakers that filled the room. "Hello guests. Welcome." I didn't know what to think. Of course. It all made sense now. Vi, as in V.I. Virtual intelligence. How could I have been so stupid as to think he could have been talking to a real person, telling it in multiple locations to do things that when spoken to a real person could only been done over a speaker or walkie talkie.
He had a look of sorrow on his face, "I'm all that's left." Rick looked down then to the rest of us as Jenner apologized to us. I don't blame him. I leaned onto one of the railings that resided along the layer of computers that we stood beside. "Now if you will follow me.." he said before walking back the way we came. We all followed him into another room where we sat in the chairs while we waited to be tested. For the most part we waited silently, and it wasn't until Andrea spoke that we started a conversation. "What's the point? If we were infected we'd be running a fever." He sighed and continued to take her blood. "I'm just being thorough. You can't really blame me." I barely listen to what they were saying as I sat waiting for everyone to be done. I had already had mine taken, as had the majority of us.
"Alright, you're done." He said to Andrea. She nodded and got up, but swayed a bit. "You ok?" he asked as Jacqui came to her assistance. "She hasn't eaten for a while. None of us have." Jacqui explained. He looked around at us, seeing that most of us had very tired looks on our faces. "Well I guess I can help with that then." I looked at my father and he seemed relieved. We would finally be getting something in our stomach.
After everyone had gotten their blood taken and he had brought the vials to his lab, he took us on another short walk to the grand kitchen which at the sight I could almost drool. The women started to raid the fridge, with me and Andrea being the exception, assumingly missing the cooking part of life. I looked around and everyone seemed to be in a good mood, getting ready for a nice feast that would soon be in front of us. Jenner went into one of the cabinets, cracking out a couple bottles of wine for everyone to have. My father nudged me as he did, and I sighed knowingly that he wanted me to get some glasses for everyone. I looked in multiple cabinets before Jenner pointed me to the correct one, and I grabbed multiple glasses at a time, bringing them around getting small thanks-yous as I did. After doing that, I thought to myself that I might as well get the other cutlery as well, grabbing forks, knifes, spoons, and plates.
By the time I had everything out on the table, Dale had already opened one of the bottles and had begun pouring drinks for people, while Daryl just had one to himself. It didn't take long for the food to finish cooking, and I took some of the plates of food and put them in various locations on the table. When the first plate hit the table, there were already forks invading its contents. I took my own seat while everyone was digging into the food, and patiently waited my turn. I took my glass of wine and started chugging it down, having missed the alcohol.
"Hey now, slow down there little girl, you must not have too much experience with alcohol." Shane said as he patted my back. "Actually I beg to differ. In Canada the legal drinking age is eighteen so I'm ahead." I corrected him and he raised his eyebrows.
"Oh that's right!" Dale exclaimed from the other side of the table. "What the hell are you guys doing down here then?" I took a second to finished my drink before answering him, as my dad was chatting with Rick at the time. "We were actually coming down to look for a summer home. Or at least a cottage or something similar. So instead of taking a plane, we drove down and got caught up in the same place as you guys."
"So what did you guys do up there? Like, jobs and stuff." Glenn asked me. "Oh, well I worked retail, and it fuckin' sucked shit." Andrea nodded, signalling she had gone through the same thing when she was my age. "And my dad, he was air force. Nothing too big, writing policies or some shit. He never really gave me a straight answer." I told them, pouring myself another glass of wine. "And what about your mom?" Carl asked me before being hushed by his own. "It's fine, Lori." I told her. "She was military as well. She helped people with their computers though." I answered Carl, making sure he didn't feel to bad about asking me.
"So you grew up in a military family then, eh?" asked Shane. "Yeah, a lot of my family was actually in the military, including aunts and uncles. So was my sister." He nodded to me and continued to eat his food. I dug in and ate most of what was on my plate, drinking two more glasses of wine with it.
Everyone was still talking and having a good time. Dale was trying to convince Lori to let him have a bit to drink as well. "Sorry Dale, but until he is in Italy or France, he won't be having any." she said with a small laugh. Rick looked at her and laughed along, then spoke. "C'mon, what's it gonna hurt? C'mon." he said, also trying to get Carl a little bit to drink. She looked at him, her hand covering Carl's glass before everyone started laughing. She broke and let him have a bit.
Dale poured him only a little into a glass and handed it over to him. "Here you go, little lad." Carl took the glass gratefully and took a sip before immediately regretting his decision. "Eeew!" he said, pushing the glass away as everyone laugh at his reaction. "That's my boy." Lori told him as she patted his back and took the rest of it.
After everyone quieted down Shane spoke. "It's no a soda pop, little man." he said, chuckling. Daryl held up his own wine bottle and looked at Glenn. "But not for you, Glenn. Better start drinking, I wanna see how red your face can get." A chorus of 'oooooh' was heard around the table as Glenn shook his head.
All of a sudden we heard clinking on a glass. We all turned our heads to Rick, who spoke as soon as he stood up. "It seems as though we have not thanked our host." T-Dog chipped in as well. "He is more than just our host." and everyone lifted their glasses and drank happily. It didn't last for too long though.
"So when are you gonna tell us what happened here, doc?" Shane asked from his spot beside me. "All the uh, other doctors, that are supposed to be figuring out what's happening. Where are they?" Rick gave him a look, "We're celebratin, Shane. We don't need to do this now." I sat up from my seat and gulped down the last of my fifth glass of wine. "No, he's right. We need to know, whether it be now or later." Shane continued as I finished. "Well since we're here. This was your plan, and we're supposed to find all the answers. And we found him." he said as he pointed to Jenner. "One man. Why?" And we all looked to the doctor.
"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 got overrun, the rest bolted." "Every last one?" Shane asked with disbelief. "No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They… Opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." Everyone sort of looked down, the good mood ruined by the truth of the world. Reminded of what was still out there.
"But you didn't leave." Andrea said. "Why?"
The doctor continued. "I just kept working. Hoping… To do some good." We all looked around at each other, not really knowing what to do. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." Glenn directed at Shane. I understood why he said that, but at the same time we needed to know answers. We may have been safe in here, but the reality of it was that shit needed to be done, and quickly.
Shortly after that, Jenner walked us out of the kitchen and out into some halls that were close by, where there were beds and other rooms, like a rec room and lounging areas. He pointed out that many sectors were shut down, including the main housing sector, so we had to do with the secondary housing. "And also, if you shower, go easy on the hot water." he said, waving his finger at us like a stern father would at his children.
Everyone rejoiced at the sound of him saying hot water, and rushed to get their things to their rooms of choice, while I just took it easy, knowing I was a bit on the drunk side. I told my father that I wanted my own room, somewhere to make my own for a bit. I just sat in it for a bit, thinking about nothing in particular, just wondering where we were going to go from here. Surely we couldn't stay here forever. There was no window to look out of, so I was stuck staring at whatever I could find, mostly just the white wall that was in front of me and the cot I sat on.
A knock on the half open door and footsteps interrupted me. I looked up and saw Shane standing there, a towel wrapped around his shoulders signifying he just got out of the shower. "Just here to let you know its free." he told me, but made no sign of moving. I nodded to him, notifying him that I understood him, but still, he refused to move from his spot. "What's going on?" he asked quietly. I said nothing to him, as he still had everything; his best friend, his family.
I heard movement at the door, and I assumed he left until the space beside me sunk down. "You know you can talk to me if you want. About anything." I turned to him and just stared. No expression, but he knew how much I was hiding. "The feelings that I am hiding, are the ones that Andrea are showing, but ten times worse. I don't know what to do anymore. My moms gone, my sister and my neice are gone, and it's only a matter of time before my fathers gone and I'm left alone." I told him as the tears started rolling down my cheeks. I felt weak. I was supposed to be the strong one, for my parents. But all I've been doing lately is crying.
He put a hand on my thigh and I twitched. I don't think he noticed though because he just rubbed his thumb up and down in a soothing motion. I could smell the alcohol on him, but what he was doing wasn't sexual in any way, so I didn't have to worry about anything in that department. He spoke to try and calm me down. "It will get better." those words rung in my ear, him repeating what Jim had said. "Your father is tough, tougher than I could have thought, and since you mentioned he was military, it kinda all made sense, y'know? I could tell he had some type of training. Besides, you have the rest of us too." I nodded at him, but I still didn't really feel any better. I stood up and his hand fell off of me. "I'm gonna go take a shower now." I told him and left before getting a response. Though my first stop was not the shower stall. I traveled into the kitchen, and to the fridge. I grabbed one of three bottles of wine that sat in the refrigerator. It was after that, that I went into the steamy sauna that the others have created.
After starting the shower up I popped the top of the bottle open and started to down the contents. Taking a breath, I let the water run over my head and down my body, making me more relaxed than I had been the whole night. I set the bottle down and picked up the soap, having it slip out of my hands numerous times, and being drunk not helping much. Eventually I got it to stay in my hands, and started to lather my body down. After I took what looked like to me to be hotel shampoo and rinse it through my hair. I got out after downing a bit more wine, and got dressed into a tank top and loose boxers.
I walked out of the room, and held onto the wall for support with one hand, and had my bottle in the other. I travelled into where I thought the rec room was and saw Lori looking through the books that lined a couple of shelves. "Hey Lori.." I waved lazily at her as I moved my way to the couch that sat on the other side of the room, and I plopped down on it with a soft thud.
"Hey Mary… Is everything alright?" she asked me, noticing my unusual behaviour. I nodded at her. "Yeah, it's all good. just trying to forget everything you know?" Unfortunately for me I knew it wouldn't last too long, because I sober up too fast. Ever since I discovered that I don't stay drunk for that long, I vouched to drink as much as I could any time I decided to take up drinking. She nodded to me and continued to look at the books that sat on a shelf beside the couch I currently took up. I put the bottle on the ground beside me and curled into the couch so my back was facing away from her. It wasn't before long that I fell asleep and dreamt of nothing.
I woke up to someone picking me up. It took me a bit to get my vision back but when I did, my eyes landed on Shane. "What are you doing?" I asked him groggily. "What are you doing, missy, sleeping on the couch when you have a perfectly good cot in your room?" I chuckled at this a bit "I was talking to Lori, I think." I told him as he carried me back to my room. I rested my head on his chest as we entered the room. "Well it didn't seem that way, now did it?"
"No I guess not.." I trailed off when he sat me down on the couch in my room. I looked closer at him and noticed three scratches that lined his neck and jaw. "So what happened to you?" I asked, hinting at the scratches. He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "Eh, it's nothin you need to worry about." I rolled my eyes and stood up. He backed up a bit, but I kept on him. I'm not sure why though, maybe it was the alcohol still in me? I lifted my hand to the small cuts, lightly touching them.
I felt myself frown and my hand fall when he twitched away from me. "Please...just let me.." I asked quietly. He didn't move. I picked my hand back up from where it had dropped and back to his neck.
My breathing got heavy all of a sudden. I didn't know what I was doing. It's like I wasn't there. I snapped back to reality and saw what I was doing. I retracted my hand and held it to my chest. I rushed into the bathroom, trying to take back what I had done by getting a wet rag for him. I ran the face cloth that I found under the sink under the warm water. Footsteps followed me in though, and my face started to heat up and my ears got really warm. Fuck I'm such a moron. I had no idea what the hell I was thinking, what was going through my brain. Obviously nothing.
His hand ran along the small of my back and then up my spine, where it finally rested on the base of my neck. I felt his heat roll off of him and hit me like a brick wall. I held my hands under the water that only seemed to feel colder as my own body heated up with the unanticipated fantasies that were unluckily going on inside my head. My mind would only go where I didn't want it to, and there was nothing I could do to block it out. I looked at him through the mirror and he could only laugh at me.
"I can see the alcohol is clearly going to your head." I did not break eye contact from him as I muttered under my breath, "among other places…" his eyebrows rose and he chuckled low and I could feel it resonate from within his chest, and it sent a chill up my spine. I don't know why I was feeling like this with him. I have had plenty of interactions with men and have had no problems totally dominated and making them feel like they are the tame ones. He smirked at me and lowered his head down to my neck, and I let him.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, giving him free range to go where he pleased. He slipped the straps of my tank top off my shoulders, but did not move the rest of it. I turned myself around and grabbed his head in my hands and brought it to mine. Our eyes locked for what seemed to be forever. My skin had goosebumps all over and we couldn't hear anything but the two of us breathing. My eyelids lowered in routine, and I moved closer to him, tilting my head a bit to the left, and he followed in suite. When our lips connected it wasn't anything special, but it was something. Something I haven't felt in a while.
Our lips moved in unison, both experienced, but him more. We moved back a bit to catch our breath, and moved in again once more, but we both wanted something more, to feel something other than despair and disappointment. I opened my mouth just a bit, but he got the hint. Our faces collided somewhat causing me to move back a bit and our teeth to scrape against each other. He took note and without even breaking contact, he grabbed my hips and lifted me onto the bathroom counter. I ran my hands through his hair as he ran his hands down my back and up my torso, stopping just before my breasts. He broke our kiss and grabbed me once again, throwing my legs around him and picking me up by my ass and carrying me out to the couch. He threw me on it, but started to walk away.
"Aw.." I said as he walked to the door, but to my surprise he only closed and locked it. "No need anybody getting too curious." he told me with a sly smirk on his face. I giggled like a schoolgirl, and got up before he could reach me. Without saying a word, I grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him onto the couch, now finally getting some balls to do what I had done with others before. He plopped onto the couch and held his hands out, waiting for me to take them. I gracefully took his hands and put my legs on either sides of his hips, and sat on his lap. I could feel him through his pants, and even just from that I was somewhat impressed. I rested my arms over his shoulder and grabbed his hair, coming back in for another kiss. It was more rough, I made sure of it. I moaned as dug his nails into my back and dragged them down, then rested his hands on my ass. I smiled into the kiss as I started grinding my hips, and he moaned and guided them back and forth. The friction was amazing, and reminded me of old times with my ex, but this was different. A good different. I wasn't attached to Shane like I was with him.
The man beneath me grabbed the bottom of my shirt and started lifting cautiously, making sure it was alright with me first before he continued. I lifted my arms as consent, and off it went. Everything stopped for a bit and he only stared. I stared back at him to find he was looking at my breasts. My face instantly got red and I covered my chest with my arms and put my head down.
"Why are you just staring at me?" I asked, suddenly getting very self conscious. He only smiled softly and took my arms and tried to take them off. I resisted thought. "I'm not joking. Tell me." I said once again stubbornly. "I wasn't staring. I was admiring." he said with a laugh as I puffed my cheeks out in annoyance, but let my arms go. He took one breasts and cupped it in his hand, then brought his mouth down to it and started sucking, while playing with the other. I gasped, but then it turned to moaning, and I gripped his thighs with my nails. He then switched and did the same with the other, then taking the inside of my breast and started sucking. I knew what the little bastard was doing, but made no move to stop him, it just felt so good.
When he lifted his head back up he took the back of mine with his hand and brought me back down for a kiss. He stood up with me wrapped around him only to move so I was laying down on the couch and he hovered over me. His kisses went from my lips to my jawline, then to my neck. After leaving a few marks, thankfully where either my bandana or shirt would cover it, he continued down, playing with my breasts again, then even further down. I shivered with anticipation, and almost wanted to push his head down between my legs. He passed my navel and reached the top of my boxers. He took both sides and started to pull them down.
This wasn't right.
"Stop." I told him. He paused and looked at me somewhat disappointed but also curious as to why I said it. "What's wrong?" He asked me. I looked at him with sincerity and I truly did feel sorry for stopping him, but I knew we couldn't continue. "We shouldn't be doing this. I'm really sorry but I just can't." I told him, the sobriety taking over me. There was a time and a place to do this, and unfortunately for the both of us, neither of those were here and now.
He nodded understandingly and apologize for doing it. "No, don't be sorry. I'm not. I just think there is a better way to go about this, and it's not being drunk." I got up and put my shirt back on. I apologized once again because I knew I was kinda cock-blocking him, and I absolutely hate doing this. So I just sat down beside him and we just sat there in silence. Eventually he got up and exited the room, and I was left my myself. I got up and went to the washroom, turning the light off and walking back over to my cot, getting under the blankets and wrapping myself in a cocoon. I huffed and closed my eyes, thankful that what happened did, but not quite feeling like it should have. At least I felt something, other than pain of course. I fell asleep soon after that thought, waiting for whatever presented itself to me in the morning.
When I woke up, I wasn't hurting as bad as I thought I would be. Just a small headache that would be gone within the hour and an aching back. Aching back? I made my way into the bathroom and turned the light on, and as I looked at myself it all came rushing back. The marks on my neck, the scratches on my back. I blushed a bit to myself before hearing a couple bangs on my door.
"Yes?" I asked to the unknown person on the other side. "Yeah, get your ass out of there! Breakfast is ready and there's a shit ton of bacon!" I heard Daryl yell half assed, assumingly with some of said bacon in his gob. I laughed at him and yelled an 'ok' back. I grabbed my bag and started rummaging through it. I picked out some capri leggings, a sports bra, and loose black v-neck shirt as well as my bandana to try and hide the hickies on my neck. Out of habit, the went for my tomahawk and it's belt, thought about it for a second before deciding to do it just out of comfort. After tying it around my waist, I opened my door and made my way down to the dinner hall to grab some breakfast.
As I walked in, the air was thick. I could feel the tension in the air, and knew it wasn't good. Everyone was getting up up, having finished their breakfast or not. I asked my father who was putting all his dishes into the sink where they were going.
"To the lab, I guess. Jenner is going to show us some things he found out about the virus." I nodded to him, curious as to what he would actually tell us. We followed the doctor down several hallways, now becoming familiar, having been down this way before. We filed into the room, taking seats or standing where we pleased, trying to get comfortable.
"Vi, can you play TS-19?" he asked the V.I., and it complied. The giant screen in the front of the room turned on, filling with blue words and finally different pictures and videos of someones head. "Few people have ever gotten a chance to see this." He told us. We continued to look at the screen, watching as a scan enhanced the brain so we could see it clearer in the x-ray. "Take us in for the I.V." he told the synthetic being.
"Enhanced internal view." we heard before the screen turned the head to we had a side view of the head. It took us in further, so we could see the chemicals running through the brain. "What are those lights?" Shane asked and everyone waited for the answer. "It's someones life." Jenner told us, us we looked back to the screen in awe.
"Experiences, memories, it's all there, it's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light, is you. The things that make you unique, and human. They determine everything a person says, the things they do, from the moment of birth… To the moment of death."
"Death? That's what this is? A vigil?" Rick asked, walking towards him. "Yes." he simply told us. "Or rather the playback of the vigil."
"So this person died?" Andrea spoke. "Who?" he didn't look back to her. "Test subject nineteen. Someone who was bitten, then infected, and volunteered to have us record the process. Vi," he asked the V.I. once again, "Scan forward to the first event." it obliged. The video fast forwarded to where he wanted. The brain was different. At the base, we could see darkness, instead of light where it used to illuminate. It started to branch out like a tree, taking every path it could find throughout the brain.
"What is that?" I heard Glenn ask from the back. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The brain is going into shutdown, and then the major organs go. Then death. Everything you ever were or will be, gone." he finished somewhat sadly. Andrea was holding back tears, and he noticed.
"She lost someone two days ago, her sister." Lori answered so she wouldn't have to. Jenner walked over to her and spoke to her, "I lost someone too, I know how devastating it is…. Scan to the second event." he commanded. The video fast forwarded again. "The resurrection times vary wildly. I have reports that it can happen within as little as three minutes. The longest we've heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient it was two hours, one minute… Seven seconds." As he finished my eyes moved from him back to the screen, and we saw sparks, but they were red, not blue like before.
"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked with disbelief. "No, just the brain stem. Basically it got them up, and moving." "But they're not alive." Rick said. "You tell me." he said as he pointed to the screen. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."
"Yes, dark. Lifeless. Dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the 'human' part, that doesn't come back. The.. The you part, doesn't come back. Just a shell, driven by mindless instinct." The body on the screen started to move around, trying to move but unable because it was tied down. All of a sudden, a bright light flashed on the screen and a giant black line crossed the brain.
"Good lord," Carol said, "What was that?" Andrea answered, "He shot his patient in the head… Didn't you?" Without answering, he told Vi to power down the screen and the main work stations in the room. "You have no idea what is is, do you?" Andrea questioned him.
"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal.." "Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui answered. Andrea walked forward. "Somebody must know something. Somebody, somewhere. There are other facilities?" He shrugged his shoulders in response. "There could be… people like me."
"You don't know? How could you not know?" Rick pestered him. "Everything went down. Communications directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."
Andrea came back, "So it's not just here. It's everywhere. Nothing. That's what you're really saying right?" she said, getting a little frustrated with the answers she got. Everyone looked around in disbelief, not understanding how literally everywhere in the world was being affected by this… Apocalypse. I wasn't surprised. All it takes is for one person to get aboard a plane and take it over.
"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again." Daryl said while rubbing his face in exhaustion. "Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but.. that clock," Dale said, "is counting down. What happens at zero?" He waited a minute before answering. "The.. basement generators run out of fuel." My heart dropped. If the generators ran out, then that means systems started to fail, eventually leading to the whole facility shutting down.
I looked up at him with a bit of anger in my eyes. "And what happens when the generators run out of fuel..?" I asked him, afraid to know the answer. And he didn't, which seemed to frustrate everyone more than they could be in this situation.
"Vi, what happens when they run out of fuel?" Rick asked. There was no way we could have been prepared for the answer. My heart stopped, and I couldn't hear anything else in the room but the footsteps of the doctor walking out. I started to shake with rage, how could he not tell us this?! I was not done living, and I was not about to let this man take my life away, not now.
"When the power runs out, station-wide decontamination will occur." Panic rose within the ranks of our people, some started to cry, while others decided yelling was the best action. Rick gathered up Shane, Glenn and T-Dog to head into the basement with him to look for any remaining oil, to try and keep everything going for a bit longer, hopefully enough for us to find a way out, or alternative source of fuel other than oil.
My father ordered the rest of us to go back to our rooms and make sure we had everything packed in case we needed to leave quickly. Everyone retreated back and started to pack. I didn't have much that needed to go away, but I made sure I took a couple blankets rolled up and stuffed in my bags. The room started to get a bit stuffing thanks to the air turning itself off.
The next thing I knew the lights decided to go. I leaned my head out the door to see everyone was having the same problem. "What's going on?" I heard Dale ask from a few doors down. "Sector five is shutting itself down." Jenner said as he turned the corner into our hallway to head to the main room. Everyone started to follow him but I decided to stay behind to make sure everything was ready to go, cause I had a feeling they weren't going to find anything in the basement. I set everything by the door of my room and started to head out.
When I entered the main room, I saw everyone standing around Jenner, but nobody said anything. Until he spoke. "It was the French. They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. As our people were bolting out the door and committing suicide in the hallways they stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution." "What happened?" Jacqui asked him.
"The same thing that's happening here. The power grid… ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" he said as he turned around and moved away from us. "Let me tell you-!" Shane started yelling at him before Rick caught his arm. "To hell with this Shane, I don't even care. Lori, get your things, everyone get their things we're getting out of here, now!" he ordered us.
An alarm starting shouting at us from all speakers in the facility. "What's that?" Shane asked in a small panic. We all turned back around, and as we did, the screen turned on and a clock starting at thirty minutes, started counting down. "Doc what the hell is going on now?!" I heard T-Dog yell.
"Everybody you heard Rick go get your stuff! We're getting out of here!" Shane yelled at the rest of us and we started towards the door. But before we could get there a large metal door replaced the glass one locking us in. "Are you fucking serious!" I shouted at the doctor. "Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asked, fear covering his features. "He just locked us in!"
Daryl ran over yelling at Jenner, and Rick sent Shane to make sure he didn't do anything. Ricked power walked his way over and demanded that the doors be opened. "There's no point. Everything topside is shut down. The front doors are completely closed. You can't get out."
"Well open the damn things!" Dale told him as if it were no problem. "That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you. Once the doors close they stayed close, you heard me say that. It's better this way." "What is?" Rick questioned. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" he waited. No answer. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!" he said, adding more force to the words.
"Do you know what this place is?!" Jenner retorted. "We protected the public from very. nasty. things! Weaponized small pox! Ebola strains that can wipe out half the country! Stuff that you don't want getting out! Ever!" he finished his rant, sitting down in his seat. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure, and a terrorist attack, for example, HIT's are deployed to stop any organisms from getting out."
"HIT?" Jenner didn't bother answering himself. "Vi, define." We heard the robotic voice again. "HIT: High Impulse Thermobaric explosives consist of a two stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significant of greater power or duration of any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure effect ignites the air between 5000 and and 6000 degrees."
"It sets the air on fire." Jenner concluded. "An end to sorrow, grief. Regret...everything." I stood there motionless. What could we do at this point? I turned from my place and started walking up the ramp to the door. Taking my tomahawk out of its holster, I whipped it at the door, only to have it ricochet off and hit the ground. I picked it up, and walked back over to just start wailing on the door, trying to get it open.
Shane and Daryl got the idea, but brought axes with them. "Outta my way!" he yelled at me, and I complied. I jumped over the railing just in time for him to miss me and hit the door. Both men were at the door trying their damndest to get through. I looked around me, noticing the mothers huddling their children, other comforting each other, the rest just standing not knowing what to do.
I came back around just in time to hear Jenner telling them it would have been easier if we had just left him alone. "Easier for whom?" Lori demanded. "Easier for everyone. You know what's out there. A short agonizing life and a brutal death. Your sister," he said, talking to Andrea. "What was her name?" "Amy." she replied. "Amy.. You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that really what you want for wife and son?" Rick looked at him like he was crazy. "I don't. want. this." he told him defiantly.
Rick turned away and looked at Shane. "We can't make a dent." Shane told him. "Those doors are made to withstand rocket launchers." We heard Jenner say from behind us.
"But your head ain't!" Daryl yelled, swinging the axe at Jenner, only to be stopped by the other two men beside me. "But you do want this." he said to Rick. "You told me last night, you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." I looked at Rick. How could he say that about his family?
"Did you say that?" Shane asked. "After all your big talk?" Rick tried to save himself. "I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"
"There is no hope." Jenner interupted. "There never was." "There is always hope! Maybe it's not you, and maybe it's not hear, but somebody, somewhere!"
"What part of 'nothings left' don't you understand?" I looked to Andrea who was huddled on the floor. "How can you say that?" I asked her. "It's barely been a month and you're already giving up? Yeah, I know you lost your sister, but you have to stop using it as an excuse to give up. Do you think she would stop now? Do you think this is what she's want you to do?" she only looked away from me, and I gave up on her. If this is what she wants to do, then I'm going to let her. No use trying to drag someone around if they don't even want to try.
"This isn't right." I heard Carol say through her tears. "You can't just keep us here!" He leaned closer to her. "Just one tiny moment, a milisecond, no pain." "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" he looked at carol with sympathy. "Wouldn't it be kinder? More compassionate to just hold your loved ones and just wait for the clock to run down?" out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Shane move across the room, not looking in anyway happy. He grabbed his shotgun and cocked it, moving to the computers around Jenner. He took aim at his head, and I knew it was bad. I quickly walked up to him, and tried to calm him down.
"Shane you can't do this. If he dies, we won't be able to get the doors open." I told him harshly, holding the barrel of the gun away from Jenner's temple. I could see him shaking with rage, and at that point I didn't know what to do. "Listen to her, Shane." Lori said from her place on the floor. He yet out a sort of war cry and took out a couple of the monitors, almost emptying his shotgun in the process.
Rick ran over, grabbing Shanes gun and pointing it the air while trying to wrestle it from him. Eventually Rick got the upper hand and butted Shane's face with the end of the gun, throwing him to the ground. "Are you done now?!" he yelled, asserting his dominance. "Yeah," he said. "I guess we all are." The feeling of regret came over me. I knew this was it, but it never really sunk in. This will be the last bit of our lives and we can't do a damn thing about it. We all stood in silence, watching to see what Rick would do, and I thought it would be nothing. I was wrong.
"I think you're lying." he said to Jenner. "What?" "You're lying. About no hope. If that were true, you would have bolted, taken the easy way out. But you didn't. You stayed to try and find a solution. Why?" "It doesn't matter. None of it does anymore. I couldn't do it." "It does matter. You stayed while others ran. Why?" Rick asked him again.
"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise. To her." Jenner told him, pointing at the screen where the patient's diagnostic ran just an hour ago. "My wife." "So test subject nineteen was your wife?" Lori asked. "She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" I heard a clang from behind be, assuming it to be Daryl who left not seconds ago with the axe again.
"She was dying. It should have been me on that table, it wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She, was a loss to the world. Hell she ran this place, I just worked here! She could have done something about this, not me." Rick looked back to him, "Your wife, didn't have a choice. You do. That's all we want. A choice. A chance." he begged.
Jenner sighed, defeated. "I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those doors." He said as he opened the heavy doors. "C'mon! Let's go!" Daryl yelled and others ushered the rest of us out. I ran out the door as fast as I could, trying to catch up to Daryl and Glenn who were leading the pack. Everyone went to get their thing from their rooms before meeting up in the main entrance. I noticed a few weren't there. Jacqui, Andrea and Dale. But there was no time to go back. If they wanted to stay, I had no place to stop them.
Daryl and Shane went back with their axes to the windows, trying everything they could to get it to break. Eventually T-Dog tried throwing a chair at it, but to no avail. "Rick!" shouted Carol. "I found this in your pants when I washed them, back at the quarry." she said as she held out a grenade with a shaky hand. He nodded to her, telling everyone to get down and out of the way. I took cover behind some stairs, only to be pushed farther away by Daryl. Rick pulled the pin and ran, waiting only seconds before the grenade to go off.
An explosion rang through our ears, and the window had shattered. I got up off the ground, and grabbed my bags along with a few other that were splayed out around me. I ran with everyone to the new hole in the wall and threw everything out before being helped out by Rick who stood on the other side. I picked it all back up before racing back the the jeep, but Rick told us to get down where we were, and I was picked up by someone else and thrown into a car and they shielded me with their body as the facility went out with what seemed to be a miniature nuclear bomb. We stayed down for a bit, waiting for the crumbling of the CDC to stop.
When it did, the body on top of mine rose, and Daryl backed away from me, dusting himself off from any debris that could have landed on him. "Uh… Thanks." I told him, while he shook his head at me. "Don't mention it." he replied, with a tone that sounded like he meant it- don't mention it. I nodded and got up as well, looking out the back of the truck to see if my father had made it to the jeep in time. I saw two heads come up from behind the dash; my father and Shane. I waved an acknowledgement to the two and they waved back.
I saw Andrea and Dale come up from behind a couple of sandbags, and they looked to be fine. I had to trust that everyone else was ok, out of those who got out, which meant that only Jacqui stayed behind, as I couldn't see her. Daryl and I switched seats, and I leaned back to catch my breath a bit, not caring to move to the other vehicle. We both heard the RV start up, so he started the truck up as well. All the bags were thrown in the bed of the truck next to the motorcycle, presumably by the redneck himself.
There was almost no time spent waiting for anything else to happen. We knew that every walker in the area heard that, so we needed to get out quickly. The caravan turned face and travelled back the way we came, heading to God knows where next.
My good lord I am so sorry this is so long. I really didn't mean for it to be. Regardless, hope you enjoy.