We drove and drove and drove. Daryl was quiet, but I was fine with that. I just enjoyed the company of being in his presence. Yes, he was a jerk more than half the time. Still, I had developed some sort of soft spot for him, and it was just nice to have someone along for the ride. I looked over and gave him a small grin.
"What?" He asked, glancing at me. His voice wasn't harsh, more curious.
"Just glad to have someone along for the ride." I admitted.
"Huh." He snorted and I laughed. I caught his smirk, and turned my head back to face the window. It was cloudy and the sun was gone. Not that it would have mattered, it would be dark soon. Looking up, I saw it. I saw the CDC.
"We made it." I whispered, more to myself than Daryl. He was quiet as the caravan slowed to a stop.
"Gotta be on guard." Daryl warned. I nodded as we jumped out of the truck. I walked quickly to Rick's vehicle, grabbing Cheyenne's hand. Flies swarmed around everywhere, swarming dead bodies that were flooding the grounds of the CDC. Cheyenne looked up at me with a disgusted face and I nodded in agreement. The smell was awful.
Holding Cheyenne's hand, I pulled my .22 from the waistband of my shorts. I clicked the safety off, as we walked through cautiously. I coughed, and my eyes watered at the smell. Dead were everywhere. I walked by one, its hair a knotted mess, and I could see its teeth in places I shouldn't where the skin had been torn off. I looked away, pulling Cheyenne closer to me. Rick was whispering to keep quiet and keep moving. I heard Shane instruct us to stay together.
Daryl was right behind Cheyenne and I, Shay to my left. We walked quickly and quietly toward the garage like doors. Rick and Shane began trying to open them, but nothing was happening. They weren't budging. It was the CDC. You didn't have to be an idiot to know those doors weren't opening unless someone opened them from the inside.
"There's nobody here." T-Dog stated.
"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick shot back.
"WALKERS!" I heard Daryl growl, and I whipped around to see them coming. I heard Carol let out a small yell, as Daryl used his crossbow. "You led us into a graveyard!"
"He made a call!" Dale fought back. I picked Cheyenne up, ready to run if needed. Daryl said something else, as Shane charged up to him.
"You hear me? Shut up!" Shane poked his chest hard. "SHUT UP! Rick this is a dead end."
"Where are we gonna go?" Carol cried, holding onto Sophia. Shane was trying to get Rick to listen.
"She's right! We can't be here, this close to the city after dark!" Lori exclaimed.
"Fort Benning, Rick. Still an option." Shane tried.
"On what?" Andrea asked. "No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles!" Everyone began to panic and started to run back toward the vehicles.
"The camera! It moved!" Rick stopped me dead in my tracks.
"You imagined it." Dale said.
"It moved." Rick said walking back toward the shutters. "It moved." Shane was trying to get Rick to leave. Rick began beating on the shutters.
"I know you're in there! I know you can hear me! Please! We're desperate! Please help us! We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left!" Lori ran over trying to grab Rick. "No where else to go! YOU'RE KILLING US!" I heard Rick screaming, as Shane tried to lead him away. The walkers were coming. A lot of them. I held onto to Cheyenne tightly, and shifted my duffel bag on my shoulder.
Suddenly, I heard a strange noise. I turned to see the shutters opening, and a bright light flooding into my eyes. It opened. It fucking opened. There was someone in there that opened the shutter. Safety! This could be it! The safe haven we had all been hoping for. They might even have a cure, some sort of refugee thing set up inside. We just stood there for a moment, before darting inside. The shutters closed behind us.
I followed Rick's lead, gun raised, just in case. Cheyenne held onto me tightly. Even though small, she was still a bit heavy. I glanced at her, to see her face filled with fear. I tilted my head towards hers, leaning against her. She leaned back, and I whispered in her ear.
"We're safe now, baby." I whispered, and she nodded. Rick and the rest were instructing us to watch for walkers.
"Hello?" A strange voice caused us to aim our guns to the right. "Anybody infected?"
"One of our group was." Rick admitted. "He didn't make it."
"Why are you here, what do you want?" The man asked, stepping out of the shadows. Ah, he had a gun of his own.
"A chance." Rick pleaded.
"That's askin' an awful lot these days." The man countered.
"I know." Rick nodded.
"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." The man ordered.
"We can do that." Rick agreed.
"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." The man said. We got all of our stuff and ran back in. The man swiped a card. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."
"Rick Grimes." Rick stuck out his hand.
"Doctor Edwin Jenner." He said. We followed him to an elevator and stepped inside, quite crowded.
"Doctor's always go 'round packin' heat like that?" Daryl asked from the back of the elevator.
"Uhh, there were plenty left lying around, so I familiarized myself." Dr. Jenner said, then he proceeded to tease Carl. "Except you. I'll have to my eye on you." Carl smiled. We left the elevator when it stopped, and walked down a hallway.
"Are we underground?" Carol asked.
"You claustrophobic?" Dr. Jenner looked back at her.
"A little." She admitted.
"Try not to think about it." He replied as we walked into a bigger area. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The lights turned on. "Welcome to zone five."
"Where is everybody?" Rick asked as we followed Jenner down the ramp. "The other doctors, the staff?"
"I'm it. It's just me here." Jenner said quietly.
"What about the person you were speakin' with?" Lori asked. "Vi?"
"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them... Welcome." Jenner instructed.
"Hello guests. Welcome." Vi responded.
"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry. Now what about those blood samples?" The doctor looked at us. I sat Cheyenne down and stepped forward.
"I could help you." I spoke up and everyone looked at me. "When I was in college I was in the nursin' program. Like I mentioned before, didn't get too far. But I have drawn blood more than a few times."
"Okay then. You are..?" Jenner looked at me.
"Spencer."
"Well, Spencer. You're now part of my nursing staff." He smiled and I nodded with a slight grin. I helped Dr. Jenner get the needles ready. "Remember to tie their arm tight and label the vials."
"Got it." I said, walking over to Carl. "You're first." I grinned at him with the needle in hand. Carl nodded and Lori stood beside him as I prepared his arm. I told him to squeeze my hand, which he did. There was the vein. Once everything seemed in check I gently, but quickly, stuck the needle into his vein and took just enough blood. I secured the small dot with a band aid, and patted him on the head. "Not so bad, huh?"
"No, not really. Thanks." Carl smiled. I felt accomplished as I kept helping Jenner. I had one last person in my section, and I noticed it was Daryl. He walked up and sat down in the chair, eyeing me.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Sure." He mumbled. I grabbed his arm, and tied the tourniquet tight.
"Uhh, squeeze my hand so I can see your vein better." I mumbled, feeling myself blush slightly. His hand was rough, but his fingertips had a smoothness to them, as grabbed my hand. Daryl squeezed it a couple of times, smirking as he did. I ignored this and slipped the needle in his arm, drawing his blood. Once done, I slipped the needle back out, and put a band aid on his arm. "All set." Daryl grumbled slightly, standing up and walking away. I gave Dr. Jenner the samples I had taken.
"Your turn." Dr. Jenner said, and I laughed nervously.
"Wow, I forgot about myself." I admitted, which made Rick chuckle. Jenner slid the needle into my arm, took my blood, and labeled it with my name.
That night we sat around the table laughing and drinking. We had eaten a good meal, and I was thoroughly enjoying the wine. A little too much, maybe. Dale was going on about how children can have wine in Italy and France as he handed Lori her glass. I laughed at the look on Lori's face.
"Well, and when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori took a sip.
"What's it gonna hurt? Come on!" Rick encouraged. He laughed. "Come on!" We all burst into laughter as Dale poured Carl a little bit in a cup and handed it over. Carl took it smiling and drank a sip. Rick let out a small laugh as Carl swallowed.
"EWWW!" Carl grimaced, plunking the cup down. I started giggling, and so did Shay and Cheyenne.
"That's my boy, that's my boy." Lori said.
"You should stick to soda pop, there bud." Shane smiled lightly.
"Not you, Glenn!" I heard Daryl's voice.
"What?" Glenn looked up, a huge smile on his face.
"Keep drankin', little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl teased. I began giggling again. I heard a tapping noise and saw Rick stand up.
"Seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick said.
"He is more than just our host." T-Dog spoke up.
"Yea!" We all spoke.
"Boo yah!" Daryl lifted his bottle.
"Thank you." Rick said. But Jenner was quiet. He just lifted his glass and drank.
"So, when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc? All the uh, the other doctors. We're s'posed to be figurin' out what happened. Where are they?" Shane asked, killing the mood.
"We're celebrating, Shane. No need to do this now." Rick said, sitting down.
"Oh, but wait a second. That's why we're here, right? This was your move, s'posed to find all the answers. Instead we uh, we found him." Shane pointed to Jenner. "Found one man. Why?"
"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." Jenner explained.
"Every last one?" Shane asked.
"No. Many couldn't face walkin' out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." The doctor looked down.
"You didn't leave." Andrea spoke. "Why?"
"I just kept workin', hoping to do some good." Jenner answered.
"Dude you are such a buzz kill, man." Glenn complained toward Shane. That cut dinner short. Jenner led us down a hallway, explaining things as we walked. When we reached the middle of the hall, I began to listen.
"There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." He knelt down in front of Carl, Cheyenne, and Sophia. "Just don't plug in the video game, okay? Same applies. if you shower go easy on the hot water." Jenner turned and walked off. Glenn turned around with big eyes.
"Hot water." He grinned.
"That's what the man said." T-Dog grinned back. I picked out a room and sat my bag down, fishing out some clean clothes. I walked over to the shower and smiled. I stripped down quickly, and jumped in. I sighed as the hot water ran over me. This couldn't get any better.
I didn't want to use too much hot water, so I showered quickly, and took the grand opportunity to shave. It felt nice to be able to shave in an actual shower. I grinned at my smooth legs, happy to see no razor burn from past experiences. Shaving without soap is not a fun thing.
I turned the water off and grabbed my towel. Stepping out, I dressed quickly, and walked out of my room and into the hallway. Reaching the kitchen, I grabbed a bottle of wine. I walked into a room where I heard laughter, and saw Rick, Lori, Carol, Glenn, T-Dog, and Daryl all sitting around. The kids were playing on the floor.
"That shower... Good Lord." I shook my head, chugging the wine.
"Spencer, you were already tipsy at dinner." Glenn laughed.
"Was not!" I smirked.
"Sing!" Cheyenne grinned up at me.
"Ah, nah! I can't sing." I smiled back at her.
"That's bullshit and you know it." Shay walked over and sat down. "Sing a song."
"Well, go ahead!" Glenn nodded.
"I dunno what to sing." I looked around.
"Beyonce!" T-Dog joked.
"Well, okay then. But gotta do it acappella." I laughed and T-Dog stared at me.
"You better have some pipes girl." T-Dog grinned. "Beyonce's music is tough to sing."
"Oh, she does." Shay winked and I laughed.
"Y'all really want me to sing?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Just do it, Spencer!" Glenn encouraged.
"I wanna hear it." Rick nodded.
"Fine... If I were a boy, even just for a day. I'd roll out of bed in the mornin' and throw on what I wanted and go."
"Wooo! Damn!" T-Dog grinned.
"Drink beers with guys. And chase after girls. I'd kick it with who I wanted and I'd never get confronted for it. Cause they'd stick up for me. If I were a boy." I belted out. "I think I could understand. How it feels to love a girl, I swear I'd be a better man. I'd listen to her. 'Cause I know how it hurts. To lose the one you wanted, cause they've taken you for granted. And everything you had got destroyed... There, ya happy?" I grinned.
"Wow, Spencer. I didn't know ya had it in ya!" T-Dog grinned.
"That was really great." Rick nodded with a smile.
"Thanks" I grinned, and I caught Daryl staring at me. His face had the slightest hint of a smile. I grinned and took another sip.
I don't know how long we sat there. I know Daryl had gotten up, and so did Lori. Lori had taken the kids to bed. I stood up, stumbling slightly, trying to catch my balance as Lori walked back in.
"Whoa, Spencer!" Rick laughed. "You gonna make it to your room?"
"You're drunk." Lori laughed.
"Ha ha." I slurred with a teasing sneer. "Of course I will. And yea, I am."
"Need me to walk you to your room?" Rick asked.
"You're such a gentleman, but nah. Thanks, though." I said, slurring. I tried to focus on the room as I walked out, and into the hall. I lurched forward, stumbling. I felt a hand reach out and grab my arm.
"Come on, girl." A voice said.
"Sam?" I asked, but no, the voice didn't match Sam's. I looked up and focused in on the face.
"Daryl." His gruff voice caused me to snicker. We walked through the doorway, and I felt like I was falling. I grabbed onto his arm tight, but then realized I was just laying down. He started to let go of my arm, and I giggled.
"Daryl.. Such a jerk." I grinned, and slapped his chest playfully. I heard a grunt, and then I fell into a deep, quiet darkness.
The next day, I awoke to a nice little headache. Nothing too serious, I expected my head to be pounding. I threw the covers off and wondered how I had gotten into bed. Thinking hard, I remembered Rick offering to walk me to my room. But I said no... I was in the hall... I stumbled! Then someone... Daryl took me to my room.
"Hmm." I murmured out loud. I stood to walk out of the door, when suddenly, Daryl was right there. We stared at each other for a moment, before I gave him a thankful smile.
"Thanks for bringin' me in here last night. I was drunk off my ass." I admitted.
"Who's Sam?" Daryl sort of mumbled out the question. My eyes locked on his and I turned my head, glaring.
"How do you know about Sam?" I asked the question a lot more harshly than I meant to. Daryl shrugged.
"You called me Sam last night." Daryl said looking at me. "Or more called out for him. You ain't gotta tell me." And with that, he turned to walk away.
"Daryl, he's my brother... Sam's my older brother." I said quietly. Daryl turned back and looked at me. I knew my face held sadness, I couldn't hide it. He nodded and walked out. I followed him to where everyone was sitting, eating breakfast. They were already slamming Dr. Jenner, but when Daryl and I walked in, everyone looked at us strangely.
"No, we didn't sleep together." I waved my hand at them. "I just woke up people!" Everyone began to laugh, and even Daryl, who had a smirk on his face let out a small chuckle.
"Here." Lori handed me a bottle of aspirin.
"Thanks, lovely." I grinned at her, but she didn't grin back. She gave me a quick smile, then looked back down at her plate. When I felt eyes, I looked over to see Shane glaring. He turned his head and I saw it. Scratch marks on his neck. "The hell happened to you?"
"Sleep." He growled. I shrugged and sat down at the table, joined by Cheyenne, who looked like she had just crawled out of bed herself.
"Hey, sleepyhead." I smiled at her, kissing the top of her head.
"Food." She stared at the breakfast wide eyed.
"Yes, food." I laughed, making her a plate. Dr. Jenner told us there were some things we probably wanted to know, but he would wait until we finished breakfast. I gulped down my food, feeling great knowing we were finally catching a break. Once finished, I cleaned up after Cheyenne and myself, before following the others into the big room.
"Give me a play back of TS-19." Jenner spoke to Vi.
"Play back of TS-19." Vi began.
"Few people ever got the chance to see this. Very few." Jenner said.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.
"An extraordinary one." Jenner replied. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for EIV."
"Enhanced Internal View." Vi spoke, and I was amazed at the screen before me. Cheyenne wandered up to the the front with Carl, as we watched the screen. The person was lying down, and the brain was beautiful, glowing and sparkling with blue and green lights. The shot went in deeper into the brain, revealing some sort of bright sparks dashing about everywhere.
"What are those lights?" Shane asked. I glanced over to my left to see Daryl sitting. He looked at me, then back to the screen.
"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in that organic wiring, and all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique and human." Jenner explained.
"You don't make sense? Ever?" Daryl asked, he was standing right beside me now.
"Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain. They carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth..'til the moment of death." Jenner was watching the screen.
"Death? That's what this is? A vigil?" Rick asked, walking forward.
"Yes. Or ra-rather the play back of the vigil." Jenner explained.
"This person died?" Andrea asked, watching. "Who?"
"Test subject nineteen. Someone who was bitten and infected... And volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event." Jenner ordered.
"Scanning to first event." Vi responded. I watched carefully as the brain stem began turning black as the brain dimmed. The blue and green glowing wasn't so bright anymore.
"What is that?" Glenn asked from somewhere in the room.
"It invades the brain like meningitis." The doctor went on explaining the process. I watched as the light slowly faded into nothing but darkness. "Then death. Everything you ever were or will be, gone."
"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked, looking up at her mother.
"Yes." Carol said softly. I looked over to see Andrea crying.
"She lost somebody two days ago...her sister." Lori said to Dr. Jenner, who was looking at Andrea questioningly. He stepped closer to her.
"I lost somebody, too. I know how devastating it is." He and Andrea shared a look before he moved on. "Scan to the second event."
"Scanning to second event." Vi announced.
"The resurrection times vary wildly. We have 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." I looked at him strangely. I know people are devoted to their work... But that devoted? I looked back up to the screen to see a small part of the center of the brain turn red.
"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.
"No just the brain stem. Basically it gets them up and moving." Jenner said.
"How is that possible?" I asked. Jenner just looked at me. He didn't know.
"But they're not alive?" Rick stepped forward.
"You tell me." Jenner looked at Rick.
"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." Rick said.
"Dark, lifeless, dead." Jenner began explaining further as we watched. "The human part, that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell, driven my mindless instinct." I kept watching the screen when something caught my eye above the test subjects head. A flash of light, and something tore through it's brain. They shot the test subject...
"God, what was that?" Carol asked.
"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea spoke up. "Didn't you?"
"Vi, power down the main screen and the work stations." Jenner ordered.
"Powering down main screen and work stations." Vi responded, and the room dimmed a bit.
"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked. Jenner went on to name things, but all in all, he had no answers. Carol began asking about other facilities, to which Jenner said he had been in the dark for about a month. There was nothing. Everything was gone. And if there were other groups or other people, they were in the same boat we were in.
"Man Imma get shit faced drunk..again." Daryl said, rubbing his head and resting on his elbows.
"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, and I whipped my head up to notice, sure enough, there was a clock counting down on the wall.
"The basement generators, they run out of fuel." Jenner replied. My heart began to pound. What did that mean?
"And then?" Rick asked. But Jenner just walked past him, not answering. Rick looked up. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the powers runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." Vi responded.
"Oh shit..." I mumbled. Rick, Glenn, Shane, and T-Dog left to check downstairs. I sat there, staring at the clock. Decontamination? That didn't sound good.
"Emergency lighting on." I heard Vi's voice.
"What the hell?" I looked around.
"What's goin' on?" Cheyenne ran to me. I grabbed her up and walked into the rec room. Lori was looking at me strangely.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at her.
"Air's off." She mumbled. I grabbed Cheyenne, pulling her closer. I walked into the hall with Lori to see Jenner coming through. "Why's the air off?"
"And the lights in our room?" Carol asked. Daryl appeared, bottle in hand, saying something about turning the air back on. Dr. Jenner grabbed the bottle from Daryl.
"Energy use is being prioritized." Jenner said blankly.
"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale asked.
"It's not up to me." Jenner said, taking a swig. "Zone five is shuttin' itself down."
"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Daryl caught up to Jenner. "Hey, man I'm talkin' to you! What'dya mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a buildin' do anything?"
"You'd be surprised." I heard Jenner say as Rick and the others came running in.
"Rick!" Lori called down to him. We followed Jenner and Rick walked up to him.
"Jenner, what's happening?" He growled.
"The system is dropping all the non-essential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second. It starts when we just approached the half hour mark. Right on schedule." Jenner said.
"Yea, but what's that mean?" I asked looking at Jenner. "What's the buildin' gonna do?" Jenner handed the bottle of alcohol back to Daryl, who snatched it away.
"It was the French." Jenner said, turning away.
"What?" Andrea asked.
"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Jenner replied. "While our people were bolting out the door and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs 'til the end. They thought they were close to a solution."
"A solution? Like a cure?" I stared at Jenner with hope.
"What happened?" Jacqui asked.
"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 looked crazy for a moment.
"Let me tell you somethin'," Shane darted up the stairs.
"To hell with this, Shane!" Rick tried to stop him.
"I don't even care." Shane ignored Rick.
"Lori! Grab our things, everyone get your stuff, we're gettin' out of here NOW!" Rick yelled. I turned to go to my room when a loud noise interrupted, echoing through my ears.
"Thirty minutes until decontamination." Vi said. I heard Rick and Shane yelling for us to gather our things, when suddenly the door shut. I looked at Andrea and we shared the same look. Terrified.
"Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn yelled.
"Carl!" Lori called.
"MOM!" Carl's scream was full of terror.
"Spencer." Cheyenne said my name, and her voice was small.
"It's okay honey. We're all gonna be just fine, okay?" I held her close and glared at Jenner.
"You sonofa bitch!" Daryl's voice rang out.
"Shane! SHANE!" Rick called out.
"You locked us in here!" Daryl attempted to smash Jenner with the glass bottle, but Shane stopped him.
"Jenner," Rick came walking up, "open that door, now."
"There's no point. Everything top side is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." The doctor said.
"Well, open the damn thangs!" Daryl spat.
"That's not something I control. The computers do." Jenner explained. "I told you. Once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."
"What is? What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Rick asked. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?"
"YOU KNOW WHAT THIS PLACE IS! We protected the public from some very nasty STUFF! Weaponized SMALL POX! EBOLA STRAINS THAT COULD WIPE OUT HALF THE COUNTRY! STUFF YOU DON'T WANT GETTING OUT, EVER!" Jenner sat down, regaining his composure. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure, a terrorist attack for example, H.I.T.'s are deployed to keep any organisms from getting out."
"H.I.T.'s?" Rick questioned.
"Vi, define." Jenner ordered. Vi began explaining, and as her words hit my ears, I began to panic. Blow up. The CDC was going to blow up. No, this couldn't be happening. The one place that was supposed to be safe, and it was going to kill us all. I was going to have to sit here, until the last second, lying to Cheyenne. Tell her everything was going to be okay. Everything we've fought for, our lives and keeping ourselves alive, was about to go down the drain.
"Sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief. Regret. Everything." I hugged Cheyenne close, feeling tears in my eyes. I didn't want to die. I didn't want any of us to die. I glanced at Andrea, who didn't look so worried anymore. How could she be okay at a time like this? Carol was sobbing, holding onto Sophia. I heard glass breaking.
"Open the damn door!" Daryl roared. Shane and Daryl began hacking at the door with axes. I held Cheyenne close, as she cried. I was sitting on the floor near Lori, Carl, Sophia, and Carol. They were all crying, except Lori and I. Daryl tried to attack Jenner again, this time with an axe, but failed.
They were all talking, Carol was pleading with Jenner. Shane turned on Jenner, shoving the gun in his face. Rick and Lori were begging Shane to calm down, when he let out a yell and began firing at the computers. I covered Cheyenne's ears, and grimaced at the loud gunshots as they echoed. Rick wrestled the gun away and knocked Shane down.
"JUST FUCKIN" LET US OUT!" I screamed at him. I handed Cheyenne to Shay, and stood beside Rick. "Let us out."
"I think you're lyin'." Rick said after Jenner remained silent.
"What?" Jenner looked up.
"You're lyin'. About no hope. If that were true, you woulda bolted with the rest. Or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path, why?" Rick asked.
"It doesn't matter." Jenner said quietly.
"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed, when others ran. Why?" Rick asked again.
"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise." Jenner said, standing up, pointing. "To her. My wife."
"Test subject nineteen was your wife." Lori stated.
"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" I heard noises to see Daryl trying to get through the doors. "She was dying. Shoulda 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, I just worked here. In our field she was an Einstein. Me? I'm, I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."
"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's, that's all we want. A choice, a chance." Rick pleaded.
"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori begged.
"I told you top side's locked down, I can't open those." He opened the door that Daryl had been smashing away at.
"Come on!" Daryl yelled. I grabbed Cheyenne up and ran for the doors. I turned to see Shay beside me as we ran from the big room.
"Hey! We got four minutes left, come on!" Glenn yelled as he held onto Carl. T-Dog had his arm around Jacqui, pulling her but she stopped him and snatched away.
"No, I'm stayin'!" Jacqui yelled. "I'm stayin', sweetie."
"Look, that's insane!" T-Dog exclaimed.
"No, it's completely sane, for the first time in a long time. I'm not endin' up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue and no point. Not if you wanna get out. Just get out. Get out!" She pushed T-Dog away and grabbed his face. Shane pulled T-Dog away and we ran into the hallway. But stopped when Dale didn't follow. I looked around. Andrea was still in the big room. I shook my head, feeling tears in my eyes. No, Andrea. Not you too, I thought.
"J-just go, GO!" Dale yelled, so we did. We ran up the stairs quickly and made it to the area where we first came in. They began beating on the doors, trying to open them. I had my duffel bag over my shoulder and Cheyenne on my hip. We had to get out of here! Jenner didn't let us out just so we could die in this room. They began smashing against the windows with axes. T-Dog grabbed a chair. Shane shot the window. Nothing.
"Rick! I have something that might help!" Carol called.
"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane replied, obviously freaking out.
"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." Carol handed him a grenade, her hand shaking. Rick took the grenade and ran over to the window.
"LOOK OUT!" He yelled. I heard him pull the pin and he came running toward us. "Oh, shit!" Then there was an explosion and glass breaking. All I could hear was ringing in my ears. I jumped up, snatching up Cheyenne. We ran to the open window. I looked back, hoping to see Dale and Andrea.
"Go, girl!" Daryl pushed me gently through the window. I jumped out. We ran. I grabbed my gun, shooting two walkers along the way that got too close. I saw Daryl decapitate one, as I ran behind him. I made a dash for Daryl's truck, I knew we didn't have much time. "Get in! Get her in and cover her up!"
I shoved Cheyenne into the truck and Daryl grabbed her, leaning over her. I covered my ears and my head the best I could, leaning down beside Cheyenne. I could hear the rumbling, getting louder like a train, then the explosion hit. A shock wave. The truck shook, and it sounded like a hundred gunshots going off all at once in my ears. All I could hear was ringing, I thought I might be deaf. Debris was flying, I could hear it hitting the truck. I raised up and looked at Daryl. Cheyenne jumped up in time to see Andrea and Dale running for the RV.
"Andwea! She made it!" Cheyenne's voice was excited.
"Yea, she did." I thanked God. I turned to Daryl. "Looks like we're ridin' with you."
Daryl nodded and cranked up the truck. I saw Rick pull forward in the front and turn around. Our little caravan followed. I sighed, pulling Cheyenne close, leaning my head against the window. We made it, we were safe. All except Jacqui... We lost one, but it was her choice and she didn't want to go. I watched as we drove away, the thick, black smoke tumbling into the air. I looked at Daryl, who glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. In that moment, it had never felt so good to be alive.
I feel so accomplished, I got two chapters up todayyy ! Yay ! Well, it might be a couple of days before I update again, because I gotta get the second season from my mother-in-law's house ! But I will update ASAP. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, I enjoyed writing it ! I love the interaction with Daryl and Spencer and how Daryl is getting a wee bit closer to Cheyenne. Reviews are GREATLY APPRECIATED, lets me know I'm doing my job ! You guys are awesome !
~Kaila