Hope watched the screen in the big room with rapt attention.

"What are those lights?" Someone asked behind her.

"Synapses." Hope responded mechanically. She was too busy staring at the screen to notice the strange looks she was getting.

"Go on."

Hope looked at Jenner. He nodded slightly.

She cleared her throat. "They're electrical impulses that send messages throughout the brain… they're what make us human."

"Exactly." Dr. Jenner looked at Hope for a long moment.

"How do you know that?" asked Glenn.

"I don't know." Hope ducked her head; uncomfortable with all the attention.

"Scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning forward to the first event," the computer responded.

Glenn's voice came from somewhere behind her. "What is that?

Jenner pointed to the screen. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage; the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death."

Hope watched as Test Subject-19 slowly succumbed to death. She hugged herself, memories of the last few days echoing in her mind.

"Scan forward to the second event."

The computer responded once more. Jenner went on, "The resurrection times vary wildly. We have reports of it happening in as little as three minutes."

Hope thought back to Lawrence and how quickly he had turned. She shivered, remembering his dead hand gripping her ankle. She met Daryl's eyes from across the room. He hadn't forgotten Lawrence either.

"It restarts the brain?"Lori asked incredulously.

"No, just the brain stem…basically it gets them up and moving."

Rick walked towards Jenner. "But they're not alive?"

Jenner turned towards Rick, "You tell me."

No, that wasn't living. They were alive but they weren't living. It was an important distinction. One she was all too familiar with. Walkers may have been people once but everything that made them human was gone; their thoughts, feelings…memories.

Hope flinched when she saw the bullet go through TS-19's skull. Her mind flashed to her dream and the walker that had spoken to her, reached out for her. She turned away from the screen. She'd had enough.

Andrea folded her arms over her chest. "You have no idea what it is, do you?"

Jenner looked down. "It could viral, microbial, parasitic, fungal-"

"Or the wrath of God," Jacqui finished for him.

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something," Andrea insisted, "Somebody, somewhere."

"There are others right?" Carol asked, "Other facilities?"

"There may be some…people like me."

"You don't know? How can you not know?" Rick asked, incredulity coloring his tone.

"Everything went down; communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere. Nothing, that's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea crossed her arms over her chest.

Hope closed her eyes. So, this really was the end of the world. She thought back to what Jim said. Suddenly, that promise seemed so much harder to keep.

"Man I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk."

Hope thought Daryl had the right idea. She walked out of the room not bothering to stay for Dale's question.

Hope lay on her side, on the couch, in her room. She wasn't sleeping, just resting her eyes. The hum of the AC was a welcome change to the usual silence that accompanied her in these quiet moments.

That is, until it stopped.

She opened her eyes. The room was dark. She hadn't turned the lights off.

She sat up and swallowed; anxiety churning in her stomach.

Hope opened the door to her room as Jenner passed by. The rest of the group bombarded him with questions. They followed him as he walked toward the big room.

When they hit the staircase the group met up with Rick, Shane, Glenn and T-Dog. Rick asked what was happening.

"The system is dropping all the non-essential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second. That starts as we approach the half-hour mark," he pointed to a clock counting down, "Right on schedule."

Hope felt nauseous. She wasn't sure what would happen when the time ran out but something told her she didn't want to find out. Jenner looked far too calm. He had given up. On everything.

"We should leave," she said quietly. Daryl looked over at her.

Jenner continued into the room. "It was the French."

"What?" Andrea asked.

"They were the last 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 until the end. They thought they were close to a solution." He trotted up the stairs and walked towards a work station.

"What happened?" Jacqui breathed.

Jenner turned around, "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?"

Pretty damn stupid in her opinion.

Rick turned to the group. "Lori, grab our things. Everyone get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"

Hope trotted to the door. An alarm sounded. She paused just outside the entrance.

"Thirty minutes until decontamination," the computer stated. She saw Jenner key something into a keypad. She heard a mechanical sound and then the door shut in her face; trapping the rest of the group inside the big room.

Hope blinked at the door in confusion. Had Jenner locked the others in? She pounded on the door; the dull thud reverberated around the empty hallway. Hope pressed her back to the door. Sliding down until she sat; knees bent. She dropped her head into her hands. What was she supposed to do now? How was she going to get out?

She took a shaky breath; fighting back the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She had to get out. Staying was simply not an option. The computer had said that decontamination would start in thirty minutes. She couldn't waste time. If she was going to do anything it had to be now.

Hope looked at the empty hall. Supplies, she would need supplies. A rush of guilt went through her. She didn't want to steal from the group but if she was going to make it out alive she needed to be practical. She wouldn't make it far without any clothes, food, or weapons.

The doors to everyone's rooms were open. She passed each room collecting any and all useful belongings she could find. Glenn's room was first. She found a flashlight and an extra pair of sneakers. T-Dog's room was a bust and so was Jacqui's. Andrea's room had a pair of pants and a shirt. Daryl had an extra hunting knife and she took Shane's watch from his room. By the time she was done she had a bag full. She checked the watch. Twenty minutes left.

She ran towards the stairs and began her ascent to the top. It was long and difficult, considering how far they were under ground. She ran as fast as she could but it still didn't seem fast enough. She glanced at the watch. Fifteen minutes left. She ran faster.

Hope was out of breath by the time she reached the top. She dropped the bags and bent forward; hands resting on her knees. She checked the watch: ten minutes left. She dropped her head. If the others weren't out now, they would never get out of here on time. She dragged the bags to the front door. She went to the keypad. She couldn't make sense of it. Shaking her head she looked around. There were windows everywhere; if she could just break one…She remembered the gun. But she didn't know how to use it. She spotted a chair behind the front desk. She ran to it. Grabbing it she walked to the window. She hit the window with all her might. It didn't even make a scratch. She tried again and again until her arms dropped in exhaustion. Frustrated tears pricked her eyes.

She walked back to the front door. Resting her head against it she closed her eyes.

Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. She'd been living on borrowed time anyway. Why was she so surprised that the time she had was almost up?

"Let's go! Open those doors!"

Hope looked up in shock as T-Dog, Shane, Daryl and Rick came barreling towards her.

Daryl grabbed her arm. "Come on!"

Hope sprung into action. She hung the bag over her shoulder and watched as the Daryl and Shane tried to break the windows with their axes.

"Watch out!" T-Dog yelled as he tried to break the window with a chair.

Shane loaded his gun, "Get down! Get down!"

Hope put her hands over her ears. He fired; the bullet bounced uselessly against the glass.

"Rick, I have something that might help." Carol hurried over to Rick.

"Carol, I don't think a nail files gonna do it," Shane remarked snidely.

"The first morning when I washed your uniform," she fished the grenade out of her bag. She handed it to him. "I found this in your pocket."

Rick took the grenade, surprise coloring his features. He ran towards the window. "Look out!"

Hope ducked against the floor by the wall. Sophia lay next to her trembling in fear. Hope covered her ears. Rick pulled the pin out of the grenade. He threw it towards the window. He ran towards them; ducking out of the way before the grenade went off. There was a brief pause and then a deafening boom. She heard shattering glass.

"Let's move!"

The group scrambled up; desperate to get through the open window and out to safety. Hope grabbed the bag and headed for the window. Daryl helped her jump down. The group ran towards the caravan. Hope glanced at her watch: One minute left. Her legs pumped faster.

She reached Daryl's truck, Daryl not far behind her. She got into the passenger seat and slammed the door. She looked at her watch ten seconds left.

Rick honked the horn of the RV. She looked up and saw Dale and Andrea running towards them.

"Get down!" Daryl yelled.

Hope bent sideways, her chest slamming into the gear stick. She felt Daryl's breath on the back of her neck. She closed her eyes, nausea rolling through her.

There was a breathless moment of silence. She winced as the explosion tore through the air. Hope couldn't breathe; the air was thick and hot. Her ears were ringing and for one terrifying moment she thought that this might be it. This could be the end.

Then it was over. The blast died down. Daryl moved off of her. She sat up. Hope watched numbly as their fleeting safe haven collapsed in on itself. She folded her knees onto the seat and leaned her head against the window. She said nothing as Daryl started the truck. She looked out of the window and let the tears fall freely on her cheeks.