Everybody started walking back to their rooms just in case they needed to get everything ready to grab and leave. As I was walking back to my room I heard a weird groaning, it was coming from Trevor's room. I knocked and no response. I opened it slightly and peeked in, Trevor was hunched over on the floor and groaning. My mind went to the worse, was his bitten? I slowly walked towards him, weary that he might be one of them. I grabbed his shoulder and quickly turned him over, he wasn't one of them. I sighed in relief, he was just hungover. "Oh. . Hey, Jade." He mumbled.

My mind went to what happened last night, I lifted his head up with one hand and pointed at my neck with the other. "Do you know who did this?!" I yelled. He squeezed his eyes shut but then opened them back up, "N-no. . ?" I headbutted him, "It was you, you piece of shit!" He grabbed his head as he layed on the ground, "You're going to regret that!" He yelled. I kicked him at his stomach repeatedly and when I was done I spat on his face. I wiped my mouth off and left the room.

When I entered my room I started putting clothes and the few supplies I had left into my backpack. All of a sudden I feel a pair of arms around my neck and waist, choking me. "Let. . go. . !" I managed to gasp out. I tried to get free but it was no use. I started looking around the room for something to use to make noise to get anybody's attention. I saw a lamp on the table beside the bed, I start whaling my legs around until I managed to knock it over. Everything started slipping into blackness so I decided to start kicking at his legs as hard as I could. "God Damnit!" He yelled, letting go of me. I stumbled my way out of the room and into the hallway.

I leaned against the wall as I went down the hall, "Help me. . !" I huffed out. "Help. . !" Trevor pulled me by my hair and yanked me back, I yelled in pain. Everybody opened their doors, Dale and Daryl grabbed Trevor off of me and took him back in there, you could hear Daryl yelling at him and Dale trying to talk some sense into him. Carol and Jacqui helped me up, "What's wrong with him?!" Jacqui said. "Thanks for helping me up, you guys." "Do you want me to help you to your room?" Carol asked. I shook and head and slowly walked back into my room.

I fell backwards onto my bed and sighed loudly, "Could this day get any worse. . .?" Just then the lights in my room went off. ". . . I should've kept my stupid mouth shut." I grabbed my backpack and left my room. I could hear everybody ask Dr. Jenner what's going on and all he said was, "Energy use is being prioritized." "Air isn't a priority?" Dale asked. "It's not up to me," Dr. Jenner replied, "Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

"Hey! Hey! What the hell does that mean?" Daryl asked.

Dr. Jenner ignored him and kept walking.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! What do you mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a buildin' do anythin'?"

"You'd be surprised."

Rick, T-Dog, Glenn and Shane came running back in from the basement.

Everybody started following Dr. Jenner right on his heels. "Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked in a stern tone.

"System is dropping all non-essential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second. It probably just reached the half-hour mark." He pointed at the clock as we entered the room, "Right on schedule." He took a swig of alcohol and handed it to Daryl. "It was the French," He said out of nowhere, as he looked at me.

I gave him a confused look, "W-what. . ?"

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. . While our people were bolting up the doors and committing suicide in the hallways they stayed in the labs until the end. . They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened. . ?"

"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran outta juice. . The world runs on fossil fuels. I mean, how stupid is that?"

Shane ran up the stairs after Jenner, "Let me tell ya. . !"

Rick held Shane back, "I'm done with it, Shane! I don't even care." He pointed at Lori, "Lori, grab our things. Everybody grab your stuff we're getting out of here. NOW!" He yelled.

Everybody nodded and started heading towards the door, except for me since I already had my backpack with all of my supplies with me. All of a sudden an alarm goes off, "What the hell is that?!" Shane yells. "30 minutes to decontamination." Vy states. I watch as Dr. Jenner walks over to something and starts pushing buttons, "C'mon! You have to tell us what's going on!" I yell. "Everybody ya'll heard Rick, get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!"

Before anyone could even get close to the exit it was closed. "Did you just lock us in?!" Glenn asked, you can tell his was scared because of the tone of his voice. Dr. Jenner ignored him, sat at a computer and began recording himself talking. "HE JUST LOCKED US IN!" Glenn screamed. Everyone looking around, panicking because they didn't know what to do. Daryl started charging after Dr. Jenner, "You sonuvabitch!" "Shane!" Rick yelled. Glenn and Shane held Daryl back, "You locked us in here!" Daryl yelled.

Rick walked up to Dr. Jenner, "Jenner open up that door. Now."

"There's no point. Everything top side is locked down, and the emergency exits are sealed."

"Well open the damn things!" I heard Trevor yell.

"That's not something I control, the computers do. I told you 'Once that front door closed it won't open again,' You heard me say that." Everybody looked at Dr. Jenner, either they were glaring at him or looking at him with eyes full of fear. "It's better this way. ."

Rick got closer to Dr. Jenner, "What is? What happens in 28 minutes?"

No response.

Shane slammed his hand on the desk next to Dr. Jenner and Rick yelled, "WHAT HAPPENS?!"

Dr. Jenner stood up and began yelling, "Do you know what this place is!? We've protected the public from VERY nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola sprays that can wipe out the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! EVER!" We all stared at him in silence for a moment, until he spoke up again, "In the event of a catastrophic power failure and a terrorist attack, for example. H.I.T.'s are deployed to prevent any organisms getting out."

"H.I.T's?" Rick questioned.

"Vy, define."

"H.I.T. High-Impulse Thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure ignites the oxygen, between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired." Vy states.

"It sets the air on fire," Jenner explains, dumbing it down.

I slide down the side of the desk, so that I'm sitting on the ground. I start having fits of laughing hysterically mixed in with crying. Carol hugged Sophia as they cried. "No pain," Dr. Jenner began, "An end to sorrow. . . Grief. . Regret. . Everything." Daryl ran over to the sealed exit and threw his bottle of beer against it as he screamed. "Open the damn door!" He yelled at Dr. Jenner. "Outta my way!" Shane yelled as ran towards the sealed exit with an axe and starting hitting it. T-Dog threw Daryl an axe, Daryl went to the door and starting hitting it with the axe next to Shane.

I put my knees up to my chest, wrapped my arms around me knees and buried my head in my arms. Dr. Jenner sighed, "You should've left well enough alone. . It would've been easier. ."

"Easier for who?" I yell through my arms.

"All of you. You know what's out there. . A short, brutal life and an agonising death. Your sister. . What was her name?"

I look up from my arms and I glare at Dr. Jenner, "Kira. ." I whisper.

"You know what this does. You've seen it," He looks up at Rick, "Is that really what you want for your wife and so-"

"I. Don't. Want. This!" Rick said, pointing to the ground.

Shane leaned against a desk. "Can't make a dent. . ." He huffed.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Dr. Jenner informed.

"But your head ain't!" Daryl yelled, coming after Dr. Jenner.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Daryl, don't!" Everybody said as they held him back.

"You DO want this," Dr. Jenner stated, looking at Rick. "Last night, you said you knew it was a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

We all looked at Rick, shocked at what we were hearing. "D-did you really say that. . .?" I whispered.

"Wait, you really said that? After your big talk?" Shane asked.

Rick looked around the room, "I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"

"There is not hope," Dr. Jenner said plainly. "There never was."

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here. But somebody, somewhere," Rick replies, stepping closer to Dr. Jenner.

"What part of everything's gone don't you understand?" Andrea snaps.

"Listen to your friend, she gets it. This is what takes us down. This is. . . our extinction event."

"This isn't right," Carol cried, "You can't keep us here!"

"One tiny moment, a millisecond. No pain," He informed.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" Carol started crying more.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, to be more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"

We heard a cock of a gun and turned around to see Shane holding a shotgun. "Shane! Don't do this!" Rick yelled. "Just get out of my way, Rick!" Shane yelled right back. Shane pointed the gun straight at Dr. Jenner's face but he seemed unfazed, "Open the door or Imma blow your damn head off. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Rick got close to Shane, "Brother, brother, this is NOT the way. If you do this we'll NEVER get out of here." "Shane you listen to him." Lori pleaded. "Shane, if he dies we al-" Rick was cut off my Shane's loud screaming. "Shane, no!" Rick yelled. Shane moved the gun away from Dr. Jenner's head and started shooting at the computers beside him over and over again.

I watched, horrified, as Rick fought the gun off of Shane, shooting some lights in the process. When Rick got the gun from Shane he shoved the butt of it into his stomach and he fell to the ground. Rick was about to hit him in the head with it but stopped himself in the heat of the moment, "You done there? Are. You. Done?" "Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane snapped at Rick. Rick handed the shotgun to T-Dog and noticed everybody was looking at him. It was silent for a moment until Rick spoke up, "I think you're lying. . ."

"What?" Dr. Jenner asked, looking up at Rick.

"You're lying," He stated, "About no hope. If that were true you would've bolted with the rest and taken the easy way out. You didn't, you chose the hard path. . Why?"

"It doesn't matter. . ."

"It does matter," Rick said, smirking as he approached him. "It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not. Because. I wanted to. I made a promise." He stood up from his chair and started pointing up at the dark screen, "To her. . . My wife."

We all looked at him for a moment. "Subject 19 was your wife. . ." I said.

"She begged me to keep going for as long as I could. . How could I say no. . ?" We heard Daryl keep swinging the axe at the door in the background. "She was dying. . It should've been me on the table, it wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the WORLD. Hell, she ran this place and I just worked here. In our field she was an Einstein! Me? 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 all we want. A choice. . . A chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can. ." Lori pleaded.

Dr. Jenner looked around at all of us for a moment, sighed and started walking towards a computer, "I told you Top Side's locked down, I can't open those." He started pushing buttons on the computer and it opened the door.

"C'mon!" Daryl yelled as he grabbed his stuff and ran down the hallway.

"C'mon, let's go!" Glenn yelled, following Daryl.

Everybody started running but Andrea, Jacqui, Dale and myself. Rick started talking to Dr. Jenner but after that he came to my side, "We have to go, Jade! Come on! We can survive this we can find answers somewhere else! Please, don't give up. . !"

"I don't want answers anymore. I want my life back, I want my family back and I want things to be normal again." I said weakly, but with determination in my voice.

Rick reached out his hand towards my shoulder, but I shrugged him away. "You can do this, Jade. We're your family now and we will make things normal again. . ."

A tear streamed down my face. I whispered while looking down at my hands, "I've been trying to hold on to reality, but ever since I lost Kira I've been adrift. . . I've been holding on by a single thread, but now it's my chance to be with her again, Rick! I can't pass this opportunity. . I'm sorry."

"You should know that's now h-!" Rick was cut off by Lori.

"Hurry, Rick! We have to go. Now!" Lori pleaded.

Rick looked torn between us. "I- We have to go now, Jade!" He started running for the exit but I stayed in my spot.

I heard a chuckling, "I didn't know you were such a wimp, Jade." I turned my head to see Trevor.

"Leave me alone, Trevor. . ."

"And why should I do that? I love seeing you down in the dumps! I love seeing you angry and pissed off at the world. Do you know what Kira would think of you if she knew that you were giving up so easily? She would be so disappointed in you. When she thought you were dead she kept going and she was younger than you. . You're so pathetic, Jade!" He started laughing as hard as he could.

I stood up, "Shut up, you asshole!" I ran towards him and punched him in the face. Tears started rushing down my cheeks, even though he was an asshole he was right. . . I am pathetic. I'm so lost without Kira but she would want me to keep going and be strong for me and everybody else in my life. Should I stay or should I go. . . ?