When I wake up again it's hard to tell just how early it is. Being a couple hundred feet underground with no natural sunlight will do that to you. It makes me worry I've slept in. Turning over I glance at the alarm clock, it reads 6:57. Glad to know I didn't sleep half the day away, I sit up and stretch.

Checking to see if Shane's awake I notice his cot is empty. He's probably up already.

Hopping off the bed I start getting ready for the day. I even brush my teeth, my mom used to always nag me about that. I debate putting my hat on but seeing as there's no reason for it I leave it on my backpack.

I open the door and look out. Seeing as the hall lights are no longer dimmed I'm assuming it's okay to start wandering about. I can hear a few voices from further down the hall and follow them.

I enter the same room we ate dinner in the night before and see T-dog, Dr. Jenner, and Daryl at a table eating. Curious as to what it is that they're eating, I step closer. The smell of bacon and eggs hits my nose and my mouth begins watering. It's been far too long since I've had bacon.

Daryl gives me a small nod when he notices me then immediately focuses back on his food. He's of no help in my journey to gaining some of this deliciousness. After I take a few more steps inside the room T-dog also notices me.

"Good morning." He lifts a forkful of eggs. "Want some breakfast?"

I nod quickly.

T-dog gets up and heads toward the stove where the smell of food is emanating from.

"Take a seat kid," Dr. Jenner says.

I take a seat across from Daryl and a few to the left of Dr. Jenner. A stack of cups and a jug of water is set in the middle of the table and I pour myself a cup while I wait.

My eyes follow the plate in T-dog's hands as he walks from the stove to the table.

"You must be hungry, your eyes are practically sparkling," T-dog laughs out as he sets the plate down in front of me. A fork and knife following suit.

Immediately I dig in, barely managing a muffled thank you to T-dog. I finish only a few minutes later and lean back in my chair, satisfied. Across from me, Daryl lifts an eyebrow as he takes his own final bite.

Dr. Jenner sits to the side sipping his coffee, he's rather quiet this morning. Hasn't even said a single sciency thing.

Daryl and T-dog start discussing something about motorcycles and I zone out. Hopefully, Carl or Sophia will show up soon before I die of boredom. I could go look for Shane. He wasn't in the bedroom this morning so he must be awake somewhere.

Faint footsteps sound from the hall, getting louder. I look at the doorway hoping it's someone I can talk to.

Glenn enters the room. He groans and squints at the bright lights in here. "Why's it gotta be so bright?"

Dr. Jenner walks over to a nearby cabinet and pulls out a bottle of something.

"I have some aspirin you can use. Should dull the pain a bit." He hands it to Glenn.

"Thanks." Glenn heads toward the table and gives me a small wave. "Morning, Charlie. Mind if I sit here?" He points to the chair on my left.

I shake my head and sit up, leaning over the table to pour a glass of water for him. He looks like he needs it.

"This will help, thanks Charlie." Glenn takes a sip of it and swallows an aspirin. He closes his eyes and leans his head on the table.

"Are you sleeping, Glenn?" I ask after he stays like that for a few minutes. He's the only one in here who I'd actually start a conversation with and I was hoping not to have to sit in silence anymore.

He doesn't move as he responds, "No, just trying to pretend lights don't exist." His response comes out muffled.

"Oh," I say. Deciding that I want to help Glenn, I hop out of my chair and move into the kitchen area. After opening a few cupboards I find what I'm looking for. Grabbing it I head back over to him.

"Glenn?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Here you go." I place a kitchen towel over his head and sit back down next to him.

I hear the sound of laughter from the others.

"That's nice of you Charlotte," T-dog says through his laughs.

Glenn sits up and touches his head. "Charlie, what did you put on my head?"

"A towel. So the lights go away," I answer matter of factly.

Glenn doesn't remove it and puts his head back on the table. "Thanks Charlie."

Proud of my work I take a victory sip of water.

Shortly after, the others join us for breakfast. Lori and Rick sit in the corner listening to Carl tell a story. Carol and Sophia sit next to Dr. Jenner and Jacqui sits across from them. Dale and Andrea stand in the kitchen. Every so often Dale opens his mouth like he wants to say something to her but shuts it. As each of them enter they all ask about Glenn and his towel, and each time they laugh when they hear my explanation. Eventually Glenn takes it off and gets some eggs, he even brings me back some more, claiming I still look hungry. Shane is the last to enter.

I perk up at his arrival but get worried when I see the look on his face. His eyes briefly meet mine before quickly looking away.

"Hey," Rick greets.

"Hey," Shane greets back. He heads to the coffee pot on the counter and pours himself a mug.

"Do you feel any better than I do?" Rick asks.

"Doubt it."

This makes both of them laugh. It seems to lift Shane's mood a bit.

Shane walks over to where I am and sits down two chairs to my right.

"Morning Shane!" I give him my biggest smile, trying to get him to feel better.

It doesn't work and he only nods in response.

Maybe he had a nightmare, or maybe he's getting sick? I never want to smile when I get sick.

While he sips his coffee I notice three scratch marks on his neck. That must be why he's in a bad mood. Scratches hurt.

"How'd you get those scratches?"

At first I didn't think he heard me, but right as I'm about to repeat my question he answers.

"Mistakes kid, mistakes."

"Oh," I get up and move down a seat toward him, "I once made the mistake of walking down my stairs backwards."

He lifts one eyebrow but keeps his eyes on his coffee. "How'd that end up going for you?"

"I fell and ended up in the hospital for a concussion." I take a bite of my eggs. "There was a lot of blood, my mom thought I died."

"You should not be so calm while telling that story," Glenn interjects.

I shrug. "It happened a long time ago. My head doesn't hurt any more and all I have left is a scar."

Glenn just shakes his head and takes another bite of egg.

I turn back to Shane. He keeps glancing at Lori and then back down to his coffee.

"Are you sad cause your scratches hurt?"

He doesn't turn to look at me, just stares straight ahead as he answers, "No."

"Then why are you sad?"

He puts his coffee down on the table, it spills a little from the force. "I'm not sad."

He seems really annoyed by my questions so I back up a little and stare down at my hands. I tug a little at the end of my shirt, pulling a thread loose and dropping it to the floor. I didn't mean to make him more upset.

The room gets oddly quiet so I look up to see why and notice everyone staring at Shane and I.

Rick is the first to speak, "Something wrong Shane?"

Shane rubs a hand down his face. "Just tired man." He then turns to me. "Sorry kid, I'm not mad at you."

I give him a nod and then look back down at my hands.

Dale speaks from his spot in the kitchen. "I don't mean to slam you with so many questions first thing in the morning Doc."

"But you will anyway," The doctor adds.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea says next.

Moments later we all find ourselves back in the big room from yesterday.

Usually I'd stand next to Shane but he seems like he needs some space. Plus he's not even standing still, he's pacing around the back of the room. So instead I stand in-between T-dog and Jacqui.

"Vi, give me a playback of TS-19" Jenner commands as he types something into his computer.

A big screen along the wall turns on.

"Playback of TS-19," VI's robotic voice says.

Dr. Jenner steps away from one of the computers and stands in front of all of us.

"Few people ever got to see this," he says. "Very few."

The screen shows an x-ray image of someone's brain.

Carl turns to look at Dr. Jenner. "Is that a brain?"

"An extraordinary one." Jenner looks back at the screen, he gets a far off look in his eyes. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

Vi's voice echoes through the room again. "Enhanced internal view."

It zooms into the person's brain, showing an extreme close up of the inside. Zig-zagging lines fill up the screen, lights dancing across them. It's mesmerizing to watch the lights move around so fast.

"What are those lights?" Shane asks.

Dr. Jenner explains quickly, "It's a person's life—experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you—the thing that makes you unique and human."

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asks.

I couldn't agree more with him. I have absolutely no clue what Dr. Jenner is going on about. Science has always confused me. I'm more of a history fan.

The Dr. starts explaining what's going on in more detail but I don't understand a word of it. Deciding I've had enough of it I turn to Jacqui and lightly tap her arm.

"Miss Jaqcui can I go play in the rec room? I'm really bored…..and confused," I add.

I notice she glances at Shane first, who ignores her, before responding to me. "Sure honey, just don't make a huge mess."

Grateful for her allowing me to leave I say a polite thank you like mommy always taught me to say before slipping out of the room.

Entering the rec room I decide to explore it a bit. I examine the bookshelves I saw the night before. Most of them are biographies and sciency looking books. I find one about mythical creatures that has a huge scary looking dragon on the front. Taking it off the shelf I sit on the couch and flip through some of the pages. I'm more interested in the pictures than what it's saying.

I look up from a page with a picture of phoenix as Carl and Lori enter the room. It hasn't been too long since I came in here so I'm assuming Dr. Jenner finished up his long explanation quicker than I thought he would.

Carl gives me a smile and comes over to me. "What are you reading?"

I look back down at my book. "I'm just looking at pictures."

"I wanna see!" He leans over and examines the picture of a phoenix. "The pictures get more interesting if you read what it says."

I raise one eyebrow at him. "How so?"

He points to a few different details on the Phoenix. "See all these, the way his claws extend or how his feathers get darker the closer they are to his body? If you read what it says it tells you why it's like that."

Briefly glancing over the words I realize he's right. I look up at him. "But if they're just made up then why's it even matter?"

He leans back on the couch and puts his arms behind his head. "It doesn't really. It just makes it more fun."

The lights flicker off before slightly dimmer ones come back on.

"Emergency lighting is on," VI says.

"What is the robot lady talking about?" I ask no one in particular.

Carl stands up with a panicked look. "Mom, is the power gonna turn off?"

Lori, who's been sitting on one of the chairs picking at her nails, gives him a comforting look. "No sweety, everything's fine."

"If the power turns off than the elevator will turn off too! Then we'll be stuck down here!" Carl only looks more panicked now.

Shaking my head I focus back on the book. "There's stairs leading upstairs too, Carl."

He sits back down. "Oh."

"Here," Lori stands up and pulls out a few books from a bag she left on the ground. "These will be a good distraction." She hands him a few different school books and he groans.

"But Charlie doesn't have to do school."

I try glaring at him but I'm not quite sure how to glare so it comes out looking more like a confused stare. Which in turn makes Carl give me a confused stare back.

Lori puts a schoolbook on top of the book I'm holding. "There, now both of you can do it together."

Lori sits back down in the chair across from us as we open up the schoolbooks.

"Sorry Charlie," Carl gives me an apologetic smile.

"It's fine, I'd rather be learning than doing some boring chore."

I read through two and a half chapters of the history book Lori gave me when she suddenly stands up. I put down the book and watch as she puts her hand up in front of the vent.

"Mom? Something wrong?" Carl asks.

"Nothing. It's just.." She pauses as she waves her hand again. "The air conditioning turned off."

Lori sits back down and Carl resumes his reading. I can tell something's bothering her though. She keeps chewing on her nails and watching the vent, stopping only to glance at Carl.

A few minutes later the lights flicker off and we hear some shouts from outside the hall. Lori stands up immediately. She looks pointedly at me and Carl telling us to stay put before leaving the room.

We sit in the dark for about 10 seconds before Carl loses all his patience and stands up too.

"I'm going to see what's happening," He declares and proudly walks out of the room.

He's always acting all proud, even though he gets in more trouble than me and Sophia combined.

After a few minutes of me sitting in the dark listening to nothing but the silence, alarms start blaring. Getting worried I decide to find where Lori and Carl went. Placing my hands down on the couch to push myself off my hand touches something hard and I remember the mythical creature book I had out. There's no point letting it go to waste in a dark room so I take it with me and hold it against my chest as I wander out into the hallway.

Soon after the alarms shut off and I'm left in the quiet darkness keeping one hand on the wall to guide my steps. Eventually I hear banging from a little ways down the hall and follow the sound. It leads me to a big metal door with two dim lights on either side. More banging and some shouting can be heard coming from behind it.

"I don't remember this being here," I mutter. I'm pretty sure the big room is behind it so I begin feeling around the cold metal surface searching for a handle or some way to get it open.

After finding no way to open it I begin to worry. Turning around I stare down the hallway. I don't hear any other sounds besides what's behind the metal door which must mean everyone is in there. I'm probably supposed to be in there with them.

Getting more panicked I turn back around, dropping the book I'm holding and start pounding on the door.

"Hello!" I shout with every pound. "Shane! Glenn! Lori! Anyone?" I do that for a while, but there's no response.

I slump to the floor in defeat. My yelling isn't loud enough to get through the thick metal and my banging could probably only be heard if you're right against the door.

Not knowing what else to do I close my eyes and lean my head on the cool steel.

Eventually they'll have to leave the room. Right?

Something smashes against the door and my eyes fly open. Soon after something bangs against the door so hard my skull vibrates and I jump back.

Are they trying to get out? If they are, that means they're just as stuck as I am.

The door only shakes as they continue hitting it repeatedly. Deciding that it's probably safer staying away from it I take a few steps back. Only a few hits later they stop.

Not wanting them to completely give up I rush back to the door and pound on it again. Hoping that they're still right behind the door.

"Kid? That you?"

That sounds like Daryl.

As loud as I can possibly be-which isn't very loud-I shout back. "Yes!"

I hear Daryl yell something but it sounds further away.

Another voice yells back through the door.

"Charlie?"

Shane.

"Shane what's going on, why are all the lights off? And why is this door here?" At this point I'm less confused and more worried.

"Listen to me Charlie, you're gonna get your stuff and you're gonna go. Find a way out okay?" His voice sounds strained, probably from all the yelling.

"What? Why? I'm not leaving without you and the others!" I start pulling on the bottom of my shirt. "I can't survive out there, I can't even kill a walker!"

There's a pause, and then he shouts again, "The building is set to self-destruct so get up and go! We'll be right behind you!"

I stay silent. I used to watch spy movies with my uncle and a lot of things self-destruct in those. If the building is gonna do that then I really should leave. But everyone else is stuck behind the door, and if they can't get out then there's no way I'll survive on my own longer than a day.

I jump as he hits the door and his frustrated voice yells back through it. "You hearing me? Go!"

He said they'll be right behind me and Shane wouldn't lie.

"Okay!" I yell back. Bending down I pick up the book I found and run down the hallway, trusting that Shane will only be a few minutes behind me.

Getting close to the end of Season 1! Yay!

I can't wait for you guys to see what I have in store for season 2! There'll be some major changes that I hope you'll all love.

Until next time, -Sparrow