Chapter 5
No one believed that all of their hopes was just beyond the door. It was like a gift from God the way how light was shinning on them. Now was their only chance to go inside the facility, and they didn't waste any time. Daryl and Sage covered the group from behind so that walkers weren't close enough to get in. Sage then shut the doors so that they wouldn't get through while they continued covering the back.
When Rick made himself known by saying "hello," no one came out, so Sage glanced back and couldn't find anyone. It was just an empty lobby. Whoever their savior was kept themselves hidden, and probably for good reason. After all, they didn't know who anyone in their group was, so there wasn't really any reason to trust them, so Sage told Kaylee Jo to stay by her side just in case things went south.
It wasn't until when they heard a gun cock that everyone turned to see another man at the doorway with a rifle in his hand, so everyone pointed their weapons at him just like how Sage got into a powerful stance and was ready to fire an arrow at him. "Anybody infected?"
"One of our group was. He didn't make it," Rick explained.
The man then took a couple steps forward, asking, "Why are you here? What do you want?"
"A chance."
"That's asking an awful lot these days."
"I know."
The man took in each and every member of the group. He saw majority of their apprehensive expressions, while Daryl and Sage were practically fearless, not backing down in case the man changed his mind and shot at them. Whatever it took, Sage was definitely not going down without a fight.
"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."
"We can do that," Rick agreed.
As soon as the man lowered his rifle, the Dixon siblings brought theirs down slowly. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed," the man warned.
They then wasted no time running out to their cars to grab their supplies. Daryl, Sage, and Kaylee Jo didn't have much, so Daryl went back to the truck to get their only duffel bag while Sage waited with Kaylee Jo. Everyone rushed through the doors as soon as they grabbed their supplies. As soon as the last member of their group went through, T-Dog and Dale shut the doors right away before the man who let them in ran his card through a panel and spoke to someone named VI, telling her to seal the main entrance and shut the power off.
The door rattled and clanged as the shutters came back down and trapped them inside. Rick then introduced himself to the man, and the man who saved them was named Dr. Edwin Jenner. He then led them into an elevator where it was practically a tight fit. Sage held onto her daughter's hand though, making Kaylee Jo look up at her as she smiled warmly at her mother. Sage still couldn't believe that this was really happening. They may have actually found a way out of this horrible world with the CDC's help.
"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl joked.
"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough." Dr. Jenner then looked over at Carl. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."
The cop's kid smirked while the doctor chuckled. It wasn't long until they left the elevator when Jenner led them down a hallway. Daryl and Sage stayed in back of the group with Kaylee Jo as they followed them into a big room. Jenner talked to VI again by ordering her to turn on the lights. Sure enough, the lights turned on, revealing a whole bunch of computers in the center of the area.
"Welcome to Zone Five," Jenner said, stepping further inside.
Something was a little off about this bunker though when Sage looked around. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something not quite right the more she wondered about this place. It wasn't until when Rick pointed out, "Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?"
"I'm it. It's just me."
She didn't understand how he was the only remaining doctor at the CDC. It didn't make much sense. Lori even asked him who VI was, so he introduced her to the group. They all then realized that VI was just a computer operating the entire bunker. If this doctor was the only one here, then it was a miracle how he survived for so long while everyone else was dead. She just hoped that he had a solution to all of this.
Taking shots were a complete bitch, but it was the only way they could stay. At least the doctor gave them a full hearty meal when Jacqui explained that none of them didn't eat anything in days as soon as he saw that Andrea got lightheaded from the bloodwork. Everyone laughed and genuinely had a great time by feasting to pasta. Even the glass of red wine Sage had was delicious. The bitter, sweet grapes practically rolled off her tongue as she savored the moment.
For once, Sage was at bliss, and it had been a long time since then. She was even enjoying the little entertainment with Dale when he offered Carl a little glass of wine as he argued that children drank at dinner in Europe. Lori was resistant at first, which to be honest, Sage didn't really blame her since she didn't want Kaylee Jo to drink either at such a young age. She was a little surprised though to see Rick encouraging to let his son drink. Even though he seemed like he didn't enjoy breaking the rules, it was clearly a double-standard for what was right and what was wrong.
Dale then presented the cop's son with a glass of wine as Carl cautiously brought it to his mouth and took a sip. Sage had a feeling he wasn't going to like it as he made a disgusted face when he put his cup down, causing everyone to laugh, except Sage who just smirked at the scene. Lori just told him it was okay while patting his back before taking his cup and filling his red wine into her glass.
Sage then glanced over at Daryl when she heard him say, "Not you, Glenn."
"What?" the Asian kid smiled nervously.
She laughed when she saw her brother pouring a drink into a glass and gave it to him. "Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get."
Her smile soon faded though when she looked over at the doctor and saw that he wasn't enjoying himself. She thought that maybe he forgot what it was like being around with other people as it left her wondering how long he lived in isolation. Sage wouldn't know if she could live through that. She would rather just leave this place if she was completely alone.
Rick seemed to have noticed Jenner's expression too when she glanced over at him, so he clinked his glass using his knife and rose from the table. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."
"He is more than just our host," T-Dog toasted.
Sage couldn't help but chuckle a bit when she saw her brother lifting the wine bottle up and practically exclaiming, "Here's to you, Doc. Booyah!"
She then watched Rick when he thanked Jenner and noticed their exchange as Rick seemed like he was trying to cheer him up or maybe finding out why Jenner was acting this way. The doctor clearly wasn't so enthusiastic like everyone else. It almost left Sage wondering why. She even wanted to jump in to ask, but she decided against it since she didn't want to make it awkward for the whole group after seeing everyone having a good time for once.
Her thoughts were soon cast aside though when her brother came over, swiped her glass from her and refilled her, causing to laugh at his antic. "Seriously?"
"Any idea how long it's been since we've had a decent drink?" Daryl smirked at her.
"Too long," Sage laughed.
When he finished refilling it, she clinked her glass and just took a sip. She didn't want to drink too much since she had a daughter to think about. Someone had to look after her, so she just let Daryl drink straight from the bottle, causing Kaylee Jo to chuckle at her uncle before both mother and daughter glanced at each other with a knowing smirk. If Merle was here though, he wouldn't waste time chugging that whole bottle. Then it would be left to Sage to look after three kids.
"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc?" Shane's bluntness ruined the whole mood. "All the-the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"
"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," Rick told him, sounding almost serious.
"Woah, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move-supposed to find all the answers. Instead we-we found him. Found one man, why?"
As much as Sage didn't agree with Shane, she was wondering about it too, but she had no idea when the time would be right to say something, so she listened to Jenner's answer, "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 cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."
Shane continued his interrogation by asking if everyone made it out, but Jenner told him that they all committed suicides after being too afraid to walk out the door. It did raise another question though as Andrea asked him why he wouldn't leave, so he told her that he wanted to do some good. It made everyone lose their appetite. No one really knew what to say after that. The only person who opened their mouth was Glenn by telling Shane that he was such a buzzkill, which to be fair, he wasn't wrong. They were all enjoying themselves until Shane ruined it.
At least, they could get a nice sleep when they finished their meal and followed Jenner who gave them a tour of the living hall. "Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies—if you shower, go easy on the hot water."
Sage couldn't believe what she heard. In fact, no one did. It was almost too good to be true to hear that they were going to have a real shower. It had been so long since they had hot water. While they had been on the run, the Dixons survived getting in cold water to wash themselves. Now, that they were in the bunker, it felt almost like an oasis in the middle of a desert-a miracle behind closed doors.
The Dixons claimed a room as they set their weapons down. It was a simple, spotless room. Clearly Jenner took care of it. There was a dresser and a small table with a couple of chairs. A lamp sat on the bedside table with two beds in between it. It almost reminded Sage of a motel room.
Daryl immediately flopped down on the bed farthest away from the door, causing Sage to smirk and shake her head at him. "You go on. I'm gonna rest a bit."
"Alright," Sage told him.
She unclipped her belt that carried her hunting knife and her machete and put it on the table before carefully putting her bow and her quiver on the ground beside the dresser. Finally, she unzipped her leather jacket and tossed it on the chair before going into her duffel bag to grab her hair brush, toothbrushes and toothpaste. She then told Kaylee Jo to follow her inside as she shut the door behind them so that they could shower since Sage wanted to do what the man said by not wasting all of the hot water.
She went in first after going completely naked by throwing her clothes to the floor. The water was so nice. Sage even shut her eyes to savor the moment of the hot water raining down her body. She even smiled from ear to ear when she got herself all clean.
When she finished, she got out and let her daughter go inside next. Kaylee Jo laughed when the water came down. She was must have been so thrilled to finally be in warm water. It made Sage smile at her when she saw her reaction. She then let Kaylee Jo enjoy it by putting her clothes on before watching her daughter come out with a bright smile on her face and steam coming out from the shower.
"Do we really have to put our clothes back on?" Kaylee Jo asked when her mother handed her clothes.
"If I had any spares, I'd give it to you, but we don't. Now, come on. You don't want to run around naked, do you?" When Sage noticed the look on her daughter's face, she told her, "Maybe when we're out on the road, we might find some new clothes to wear."
"Do we have to leave though?" Sage was a little off guard to hear her say, "This place is great."
As much as Sage would like to stay with her family, she knew they couldn't. "It is, but your Uncle Merle's still out there somewhere. When we're done with here, we need to find him, and then, who knows? Maybe we'll come back."
"You mean it?"
The hopeful look on her face made Sage smile warmly at her. "Yeah, why not?"
When they finished getting dressed, they brushed their teeth and headed out of the bathroom. Kaylee Jo grinned when she saw her uncle passed out. He was trying to sober up from drinking too much. Sage should have known this would happen, which was why she scoffed as she kicked his leg.
"Daryl." No reaction, so she tried again. "Daryl, wake up."
"Mmm."
"Come on. You smell like shit. Go take a shower and then go to sleep."
He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at his sister before getting out of bed to go into the bathroom. When he locked the door on them, Sage went out into the hall with Kaylee Jo. She was planning to head to the rec room but soon stopped when she saw Carol and Sophia coming out of their room.
As soon as Carol noticed their appearance, she smiled and asked, "You don't want to be in your pajamas, Kaylee Jo? It's awfully late at night."
"I don't have any." Kaylee Jo sounded somewhat disappointed as she explained, "Mom said we should only take what we needed when we left home."
Carol then glanced over at Sage, who looked away when they made eye contact since she was somewhat embarrassed for being in the same clothes. It was necessary though since they only needed to carry essentials. The clothes on their backs was enough, but Carol didn't seem to like it from the look on her face.
"Well, we got some clothes if you want to sleep in." When Sage turned back to Carol, the woman smiled warmly at her. "If you want to that is."
Even though Sage swore to herself not to get close, it was kind of refreshing for someone else to genuinely care about her and her daughter. Sage and Kaylee Jo only ever depended on Daryl and Merle-no one else. That was why Sage appreciated what she was doing for her and for her daughter. She knew Carol didn't have to as Sage reminded her to only look out for herself and for her kid in this world. Her kind, tender heart was too good for this life. Still, that didn't mean that Sage wasn't going to waste the opportunity since their clothes smelled awful.
"Sure," Sage said as Carol led them inside with Sophia and handed them clothes. When they got dressed, Sage saw how happy her daughter was to be in different clothes even if they weren't their styles at all, especially Sage's pajamas. They were white with little red and blue polka dots all over her. It was going to have to do though. "Hey," Sage caught Carol's attention as she turned to her. "Thanks, but you didn't had to do that."
Carol just smiled at her and told her, "I know."
Sage then smirked at her, and they all headed to the rec room after Sage and Kaylee Jo put their clothes in their room. Carl was already there looking over at the pinball machines. There was an actual bar, a couch, board games, and shelves filled with books. Kaylee Jo and Sophia already rushed to the table with Carl after they greeted him and played checkers, or at least, Carl and Sophia were while Kaylee Jo watched.
"Wow. Guess Jenner wasn't lying. A lot of stuff to do here," Sage stated when she headed over to the books with Carol and read the titles.
"Yes there is," Carol agreed before picking out a book. "So many books in here to last us through years."
When Sage turned back to the books, there was a huge assortment to choose from whether it was science fiction, fantasy, memoirs, horror, crime, and the list went on the more she read the titles. In the end, she picked Cormac Mccarthy'sThe Road. She flipped to the end and saw that it was nearly three hundred pages long. It wasn't like Sage never read books before. She tried but eventually gave up when she reached about the fiftieth page and ended up watching the movie instead. That was why she didn't do too well in school. It didn't look like there was any t.v. though, so the book was going to have to do.
"What'd you pick?" Sage showed her as Carol nodded her head. "Oh,The Road. That won the Pulitzer Prize I think."
She raised a quizzical brow as she asked, "The Puliker Prize?"
"The Pulitzer Prize. It's an award that the writer receives." Carol then pointed to the gold badge on the book. "That right there is the medal they use for it."
Sage simply stared at the cover as she asked, "Is it any good?"
Carol smirked knowingly as she told her, "You'll just have to find out."
After Carol convinced her, she followed her over to the couch and opened her book to read it. On occasion, she looked up to watch her daughter making comments like "why would you do that?" or "good move," then she would turn her attention back to her book. Reading this book was a bit strange-not because she hadn't picked up a book since she was in high school but also because it was strange how much she delved deeper into the story. It was just relatable how much the man needed to be strong for his son in an apocalyptic world as they were out on their own.
The man even had a gun on him to take his son's life because he thought it would be more merciful if he did it rather than letting him be put in a horrible situation. Sage just wouldn't know if she would ever take her own daughter's life if that ever happened to them. To kill someone alive rather than a walker was brutal of course. Hell, she was going to do it to Jim when she sided with Daryl, but it was a little different since it was her thought alone made her skin crawl and the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.
When Sage heard footsteps approaching, she looked to see Lori with a glass of wine in her hand as she made her way over to them and chuckled, "Any good books?"
"Uh-huh," Carol said, closing her book before getting up. "Enough to keep us busy. All right. Come on, kids. It's bed time."
When Lori told Carl to go say his prayers before going to sleep, Sage got up to tell Kaylee Jo, to head back to their room before Carol stopped to tell the group, "This is the first night we might actually get some real sleep. It's a real miracle, isn't it?"
They then headed out the door as Kaylee Jo wished Carl, Sophia, and Carol well while Sage simply nodded her head at them and went down the hallway since theirs was the furthest down, but when they reached halfway to the hall, Kaylee Jo stopped her mother. "Oh no." Sage raised a skeptic brow until her daughter said, "I forgot to pick a book."
"It's late, Kaylee Jo. You'll pick one next time. Now, you need to go to bed."
"But I always read before I went to bed. It helped me go to sleep, and I haven't really been getting one for a while now."
As much as Sage thought that she should go to sleep, she immediately thought back to their old lives. Whenever Sage was late to pick up Kaylee Jo from school, she always found her in the library reading. Back then, those were good days. She was always calm and peaceful while watching her daughter. It might not have been bad for her to pick up old good habits.
"Alright. You take what I get you and no complaining, understand?" When Kaylee Jo nodded her head in acknowledgement, Sage sighed. "Okay. Go back inside."
Sage then headed back to the rec room by going down the hall, but right before she was about to head inside, she heard Shane's voice, "How could you treat me like this?"
It gave her a moment to realize that Lori was still in there. "You're kidding, right?" When Shane denied it, she told him, "Because you told me my husband was dead."
Her lips slightly parted in shock, trying to understand what was going on. Sage knew that Rick and Shane were best friends, so it made sense for Shane to be close to his wife. However, his tone seemed strange, almost as if Lori committed an act of betrayal. Realistically though, if Shane told Lori that Rick was dead, then Lori had a right to be angry. Sage knew that she would.
"Jesus, Lori. I didn't lie to you, all right? I didn't. Do you know what it was like there? Huh?" Sage moved away from the door and stayed hidden when she heard them approaching as Shane shut it, trapping her inside, so Sage slowly crept towards it to listen in. "Stop. Things were falling apart. They were slaughtering people in the hallways. It was a massacre. There were walkers everywhere."
"So you left him?"
"Everybody else ran. There were no doctors there. It was just me. He was hooked up to machines and I did not know what to do. I even took my ear and I put it on his chest and I listened for a heartbeat and I did not hear one. And I-I-I-I—I don't know why. Maybe it was gunfire. I don't know what it was, but there was no way he could've survived that. No way," Shane argued with his voice rising a bit before pounding the door behind him.
"He did."
When Shane went on a rant by saying that he had her and Carl to think about, Lori clearly didn't want to hear it. He tried telling her that he was thinking of her safety by getting her to Atlanta, which made Sage question even further what was going on. She even heard Lori trying to get up from something, but then Shane pushed her back down by telling her to stop and give him one second.
He sounded very heated over protecting her when he told her, "If you thought for one second that he was still alive, would you have come? So I saved your life—you and your little boy's. That's what I did. Right?" When there was no response from Lori, Shane continued on to say, "And if I could've traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now because—" Sage kept hearing Lori repeatedly say "no" to him while telling him that he was drunk. "I love I know there were some things that say that you love me, too. Because there's no way that you could've been with me the way that you were."
Sage practically gawked in disbelief when she heard Shane. She couldn't believe the betrayal of what they both did to Rick. Sage, however, didn't blame Lori as much as she did with Shane. He knew he was alive when he left him in that hospital bed, yet he didn't say anything to his family about it. That was why she understood Lori's frustrations, but if Sage was honest, a part of this was Lori's fault too. It wasn't necessarily that she allowed herself to be with another man, but Shane was unhinged and not a good leader. That was why Sage and her siblings didn't like Shane since he always wanted everyone to listen to him and follow his every word.
The worst part about this whole situation was that now that Rick was part of the group, Shane still wanted Lori. It was sickening. For a best friend to go after other people's wives like that was really sick. He even knew exactly what he was doing whenever he had his way with her. It sounded like all he needed to do was be there for her by giving her comforting words before screwing her around to ease her loneliness. Still, that didn't take away how much of a stupid bitch Lori was to trust him in the first place. None of this would've happened if she didn't believe him.
When Lori repeatedly said Shane's name and told him to stop, Shane refused by expressing his love for her. He tried to convince her that she loved him too, forcing Lori to tell him sternly to get his hands off her. It made Sage narrow her eyes at the door as she speculated what the commotion was when she heard them struggling. The more Lori pled for him to stop, Shane just wouldn't, and it led Sage to an awful path to her memories again where she pleaded for Merle's best friend to stop, but he didn't as he took her over.
Sage's breaths became shallow, and her hand twitched the more Lori shouted, so she put her hand on the doorknob, ready to let Hell loose, only to stop when she heard Shane groan in pain. There weren't anymore noises. No one said anything else. Sage imagined Lori sitting somewhere in fear of Walsh while he glared at her. That was when Sage backed up to the wall to hide herself in the corner when she heard footsteps approaching the door again.
Shane pounded the door on his way out, leaving Lori sobbing in the rec room. Sage had no idea if she should go in there to say something. It was probably better if she didn't though. If Lori knew that Sage found out what she did behind Rick's back, then she probably would go to Shane. However, Sage wasn't the type to just admit something if it didn't involve her. Sooner or later, the truth would come out. It tended to do one way or another.
As soon as Lori came out of the rec room, she watched her leave and go back to her room, giving Sage an opportunity to head inside the rec room by keeping a promise to Kaylee Jo. It still unnerved Sage hearing Shane's confession. She never liked him from the moment he barked orders at her and her family. Now, there was an even bigger reason why she didn't like him. He wasn't a friend to anyone. All he cared about was himself and his happiness. He must have been so jealous of his best friend from the moment he saw him alive because he knew he was going to lose Lori.
Brushing the thought aside, Sage reminded herself why she went back into the rec room, and that was to pick a book for Kaylee Jo, so she grabbed a mystery novel and went back to her room, while trying to forget about what she overheard so that she could get a decent sleep.
The next day Sage's stomach was practically in knots. She still couldn't get over what happened last night when she overheard Lori and Shane. As she was sitting with the group for breakfast, she glanced over at Lori and saw her picking at her bacon by ripping stripes of it before putting it in her mouth. Lori may have seemed normal towards everyone, but deep down, Sage knew that Lori was still bothered by what happened between her and Shane.
Rick soon entered, greeting everyone at the table before Carl asked him, "Are you hungover? Mom said you'd be."
"Mom is right," Rick grinned.
Normally Sage would smirk or chuckle like everyone else here, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. In fact, she tried not looking at Lori's way because the more she did, the angrier Sage got for keeping a big secret from her own husband. Thankfully, T-Dog took her mind off it by coming over with a pan of powdered eggs.
Protein sure helped hangovers, and Glenn wasn't looking so good as he moaned groggily. Rick then noticed the bottle of aspirin on the table as he asked where it came from. He then found out it was from Jenner, and she gave him a couple of pills to help with his hangover. At least Sage didn't have to worry getting drunk. She hadn't been for a long time now because she had to take care of her family.
When Glenn muttered to never let him drink again, Sage actually managed a smirk, but it soon turned sour when Shane walked in the room. All Sage did was watch him grab a to-go cup to make himself some coffee. When Rick asked his best friend if he felt as bad he did, Shane admitted that he felt worse but didn't go into detail of course. As expected he wouldn't, Sage took one more glance at Lori and stared hard at her when she noticed Lori looking down at her plate and trying to avoid contact with Shane.
Shane however really pissed her off since he reminded her too much of Merle's best friend as he thought he was high and mighty and pretended that he was looking out for his best friend and his family, so Sage thought she might as well bring him off his high chair when she noticed the long red marks tracing his neck. "You wanna tell us what happened there?"
Most of them noticed Sage's cold tone towards Shane, but Sage didn't care, she wanted to prove to him that he didn't intimidate her. It wasn't until when he turned to her, Sage gave him a calculated stare-one that told him that she wasn't backing down. Shane clearly saw that as he raised a brow towards her and probably wondered what she was getting at, especially since she never liked talking to him so freely before.
He stared her down, telling her, "I must have done it in my sleep."
"Never seen you do that before," Rick commented.
"Me neither." Shane then sat at the table and looked over at Lori to which Sage noticed as she narrowed her eyes at them but soon turned back to her eggs when Shane caught her as his eyes somewhat hardened. "Not like me at all."
Luckily for Sage, Jenner showed up and wished everyone a good morning. It seemed nice at first until they all realized why they came here, so they got straight to the point. They told Jenner that they didn't come here for the eggs; they came to look for a solution by seeing if there was a cure that the CDC uncovered, so Jenner took them to the big room where the computers were.
"Give me a playback of TS-19," Jenner said, typing a few keys onto the computer before hearing it beep as the screen in front of them loaded a video. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."
Up on the wall, an oversized display shows varying 3-D views of human skulls. It was clear that it was a brain as Carl pointed it out. They then saw the brain's enhanced internal main screen changed to show the upper shoulders and head of the subject. The screen skewed to a horizontal view then by increasing the magnification as the image became more and more detailed, eventually showing the inside of the skull. It appeared to be lit with bright blue threads of energy. Some areas were denser with light than others but there were lighted threads throughout the skull. The detail zoomed in until the threads became closer and pulses of light could be distinguished.
When Shane asked what the lights were, Jenner answered, "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."
Daryl crossed his arms, asking almost condescendingly, "You don't make sense ever?"
"What he means is that we don't understand what you're saying, Doc." Sage said after nudging her brother for his question.
Jenner then explained, "Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."
"Death?" Rick stepped forward as he pointed out, "That's what this is, a vigil?"
"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil."
When Andrea asked who the test subject was, Jenner showed them a playback to the first event after telling them that the test subject volunteered after they were bitten and screen then read a message, "Scanning Forward". They soon saw a brain with lights still flickering in the outer areas but the center became dark as if black roots grew inside. All Sage could do was watch as she tried to understand what she was watching. Glenn was just the one who spoke up by questioning what it was with a disgusted face.
"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone." After hearing Jenner, Sage saw Sophia turn to her mother to ask if the same thing happened to Jim, to which Carol told her that it did.
Andrea then began to cry, and Jenner found out that it was because her sister died a couple of days ago. He tried comforting her by saying that he knew how devastating it was to lose people he cared about before jumping into the second event on the screen.
"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had 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."
A red glow flickered at the base of the brain. The rest remained dark. Random sparks shot out into the larger area of the brain but no further lights grew.
"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.
"No, just the brain stem," Jenner replied. "Basically, it gets them up and moving."
"That doesn't mean they're alive," Sage argued.
Jenner then turned to her and gestured to the screen. "You tell me."
Rick then stepped forward, shaking his head at the whole thing. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."
"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part—that doesn't come back. Theyoupart. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."
The test subject moved with its mouth opening and closing. The head moved side to side, and the shoulders moved as if the arms were being lifted. Something appeared at the subject's forehead. Before anyone knew it, something tore the patient's head, leaving a red cluster of embers. The brain went completely dark, and the subject stopped moving. It then became clear that he shot his patient in the head.
"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea questioned.
When Jenner admitted the possibilities of what it could potentially be, Sage scowled after pointing out, "So we just wasted our time here?"
"There are others, right? Other facilities?"
Carol tried to give the group hope, but Jenner proved that he wasn't helpful when he told her that there may be others like him. Maybe wasn't good enough for Sage. She was getting more and more irritated the more he spoke. All they wanted was answers-a solution, and he couldn't give that to him when he worked for the freaking government.
Even Rick got annoyed when he pressed, "But you don't know? How can you not know?"
"Everything went down. Communications, directives—all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."
They all soon were perturbed when Jenner stayed silent after Andrea asked, "So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?"
"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again," Daryl rubbed his temple.
Sage felt like joining Daryl for a second there, but her eyes soon narrowed at Jenner when she saw Dale walk up to a timer. "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?"
For some reason, Jenner was conflicted to say, "The basement generators—they run out of fuel."
When Rick tried asking Jenner, he stayed silent, so he asked VI instead. "When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."
Decontamination? Sage had no clue what that meant. Something about Jenner though didn't sit well with her and clearly not towards anyone else. They needed to find out what was going on and hurry before that timer ran out. Whatever was going to happen wasn't going to end well for anyone.
When some of the men in the group went to go look for the generator, Sage, Kaylee Jo, and Daryl waited in their room, only for Sage to realize something when she stared at the ceiling. Daryl just laid on his bed, drinking some Whiskey and watching Kaylee Jo read before noticing his sister grabbing a chair and put it underneath the air conditioning unit. Sage then put her hand up to feel the air, but there wasn't any coming out.
Her brother then sat up, asking, "What is it?"
"The air conditioning. It stopped."
They both had concerned looks on their faces, and when the lights whirred and flickered before shutting off, it caught their attention, so they went into the hall where the other half of their group was. Some of them asked what was going like why everything was turned off or why there wasn't any more air. Jenner finally came out and grabbed the bottle from Daryl's hand as told them that energy use was being prioritized. As they followed Jenner down the hall, he drank straight from the bottle Daryl drank from earlier and told them that Zone Five was shutting down on its own.
"Hey! Hey, what the Hell does that mean?" When Jenner didn't answer Daryl, he caught up to the doctor. "Hey, man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"
"You'd be surprised."
The other members of their group joined in, and Rick confronted Jenner when they reached the bottom of the staircase. "Jenner what's happening?"
"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." Jenner took another swig from the bottle before pausing at the steps that led up to the work stations in the big room. Everyone followed him, and Jenner handed the bottle to Daryl who angrily snatched it out of Jenner's hand. "It was the French."
"What?" Andrea asked.
"They were the last ones 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 till the end. They thought they were close to a solution." When Jacqui asked him what happened, he told her, "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?"
Sage couldn't believe how calm Jenner was being. It was rather nerve-wracking since she was still trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Shane even tried getting in the doctor's face, but Rick stopped him by turning back to the group and telling them to grab their stuff so that they could get the Hell out of there. No one was going to argue with Rick since the situation in the bunker looked bad enough, so Sage took Kaylee Jo's arm and told her "let's go," but everyone didn't have a chance to run out when they heard a siren blaring.
Everyone kept asking what it was. The kids panicked. Even Kaylee Jo looked at her mother, asking what was going on. For once, Sage didn't have an answer for her. She just stared at the doctor until she heard VI announce, "Thirty minutes to decontamination."
They all wanted answers, but Jenner wasn't giving it to them. Daryl tried asking him what was going on, but there was still no answer. While everyone was in fear of the unknown and followed Rick and Shane's order, Sage just stood there, watching Daryl. Kaylee Jo tried convincing her mother that they needed to leave until Daryl came over to grab his sister and tried dragging her back while telling her to go.
It wasn't until when Jenner swiped his badge on the scanner before entering a code on the pad as Sage grew numb before she shouted out, "Hey! What are you doing?"
Rick turned to see why Sage yelled until the doors whirred and clanged, causing him to notice the doors as the rose and trapped them inside. Glenn then told the group that Jenner just locked them in, so Kaylee Jo and Sage wrapped their arms around each other to comfort one another. The doctor then sat by his computer and recorded something.
"You son of a bitch!" Daryl then charged over at Jenner when he realized how dire the situation was before Shane and T-Dog dragged him away after Daryl grabbed the doctor and told him not to do it when he was ready to smash the bottle over his head. "You locked us in here!"
Rick finally stepped forward to tell him to open the door. "There's no point," Jenner said, "Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."
"Well, open it!" Sage seethed.
Jenner then turned to her to say, "That's not something I control. The computers do. 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?" When Jenner ignored Rick by typing into his computer, Shane grabbed Jenner's chair as Rick got even more heated, "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?"
For the first time, Jenner lost his cool by shouting back at Rick, "You know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" He calmly sat back down in his seat and composed himself. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure—in a terrorist attack, for example—H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."
"H.I.T.s?"
"VI define."
Everyone grew with numbed fear when they heard VI say, "H.I.T.s—high-impulse thermo baric 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 effect ignites the oxygen at between five thousand degrees and six thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."
Sage held her daughter when she heard her sniffling and cried as she turned around and buried her head in her mother's chest. She needed to find a way out of this. There was no way Sage was going to allow her family to be killed so brutally. However, Jenner seemed satisfied when he heard VI as he explained to the group that the air was going to be set on fire and that there would be no pain. He actually believed this was the best way by claiming that everyone's grieves and sorrows would end. Even Sage felt the tears coming, but they refused to fall. She promised herself that she would be strong for her daughter, but it didn't stop Daryl from noticing how Sage held her daughter so tight against her.
That was when Daryl went over to the door to try to figure out a way through, to which Sage wasn't surprised by since he wasn't going to allow his own family to die like this as they huddled themselves in a corner with the other mothers and kids. "Open this damn door!" Daryl yelled after smashing the bottle against it.
Shane tried to force his way out using an axe, but it hardly left a dent, so T-Dog tossed an axe to Daryl as he rushed over to help him out. Still nothing though. It became clear to Sage that only the doctor held the key to free them. There was no way that he was going to let them out if he was really okay with this. It was hopeless.
Rick even tried telling Jenner off when he told him that he didn't want this after Jenner asked him if he wanted to see his wife and his son die in an agonizing death. Sage just held her daughter closer to and listened to her cry while Shane came back and told his best friend that they couldn't even make a dent in the door, which wasn't surprising to hear after Jenner reminded the group that the doors were designed to sustain a rocket launcher. As soon as he said that, Dale, Rick, and Shane held Daryl back from chopping off the doctor's head. T-Dog then took the axe away from her brother, and all Sage felt was emptiness since she believed that there was no way out.
Normally, Sage would fight for her family. She would probably wring the doctor's neck and choke him until he got them out. Jenner had a death wish though, and Sage knew there was no way to convince him to let them go. That was why her eyes turned hollow, because she knew there was no chance to get out of this since Jenner held all of the cards for a winning hand.
She soon became shocked when she heard Jenner addressing Rick, "Youdowant this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Rick argued that he tried keeping hope alive, so Jenner retorted back, "There is no hope. There never was."
"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here but somebody somewhere—"
Sage felt like strangling Andrea when she heard her cut in, "What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?"
"Listen to your friend," Jenner agreed, "She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event.
Force clearly wasn't cutting it. Not even being reasonable with him. Their last resort was begging, and that was just what Carol did. The poor woman pleaded that he couldn't just keep them in there. Jenner, however, tried to reassure her by saying that it was one second, so Carol cried out that her daughter didn't deserve to die like this. Jenner still wasn't getting it though as he argued that it would be much more compassionate to hold onto their loved ones and wait for the clock to run down.
When they heard a gun cocking, everyone turned to see Shane with a shotgun approaching Jenner. He got right in front of the doctor with the barrel pointing directly at his head, so Sage moved her daughter out of the way by going over to her brother. Sage knew it wasn't going to end well when Shane threatened Jenner to open the door before he blew his head off. Rick and Lori tried stopping him by saying that if Jenner died, then they all were going to die.
With a ferocious yell, Shane aimed his gun at the computers and fired. Every blow made Sage freeze because she saw how out of control he was. It was like a monster had been unleashed as he destroyed everything he set his sight on. Thankfully, Rick stopped him from going even crazier by trying to take the shotgun away from him. When Shane refused to let go, Rick used his strength to hit Shane in the face using the butt of the gun before using his elbow on him, knocking him to the ground.
Shane grunted and was on the ground, while Rick rushed over to him andfeinted with the shotgun butt, ready to hit him again to keep him down while Rick panted, "Are you done now? Are you done?"
"Yeah, I guess we all are."
Rick then handed the gun to T-Dog before looking over at the group and saw the mixed fear and frustrations in them. "I think you're lying," Rick addressed Jenner.
"What?"
"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"
"It doesn't matter."
"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"
"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise...to her" Jenner then pointed to the screen as he said, "My wife."
It then became clear to everyone that the subject he showed them earlier was his wife. He shot her down. Before she turned, she begged him to keep going, so he tried. Eventually, he gave up hope, which explained why he was ready to die.
When Daryl grabbed the axe again, he went over to the door and rushed over to it to continue pounding his way out, while Sage watched him until she heard Jenner speak again, "She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to theworld. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field she was anEinstein.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—that's all we want—a choice, a chance," Rick argued.
Jenner reminded him that the topside was still under lockdown, but he at least went to the security pad and typed in a code. The door Daryl was banging on opened, so he turned back to the group and told them to hurry up, so Sage breathed out a sigh of relief as she rushed over to her brother with Kaylee Jo. They were not ready to go out like this. Sage was determined to get her family out now that Jenner opened the door for them.
They soon stopped though when they looked to see Jenner whispering something in Rick's ear. Sage was curious what he said, but there was no time to question it. They needed to get the Hell out of there and fast. His wife rushed over to him to grab him and lead him back to the door. Glenn then shouted that they had four minutes left, so they needed to leave.
When T-Dog tried bringing Jacqui with him though, she pushed him off her, causing everyone to look to see why she wasn't going with them. She then explained that she was staying because she didn't want to end up like Jim and Amy. No matter how much T-Dog tried convincing her, there was just no time. Even Andrea said she wanted to stay, and Dale didn't like that one bit. If they wanted to die, then Sage thought it was best not to stop them so that the rest of the group didn't get killed before the timer ran out.
Dale then turned to the group and told them to just go, so they did with Daryl taking his sister's arm and dragging her ahead of him so that she was out first with her daughter. "Come on," Daryl grunted.
Everyone else rushed to the lobby while Shane barked out to get the doors open. The men did what they could to get the group out. T-Dog tried entering the padlock system, but it was shut down. Daryl and Shane even tried busting through the windows using their axes, but they hardly left a scratch.
When Sage told her daughter to stay close to her, Daryl jumped out of the way so that T-Dog could bang the windows using a chair. She then looked over to see Shane getting his shotgun, so she pushed her daughter behind her when Shane shot at the window after telling T-Dog to get down. The glass didn't even crack. Even Sophia turned to her mother about it when she asked her that the glass wouldn't break.
It felt like it was hopeless. They were going to die here, and there was nothing Sage could do about it. She just watched them continuing to hammer out the windows as her brother rushed over to the window and continued trying when he glanced over at his sister and his niece. Sage wasn't the type to give up, but she had no idea how they could get out of this. It wasn't until when she reached into her pocket and felt something inside.
Sage's eyes widened when she realized that she still had the grenade that she pocketed when Carol was washing his uniform, she took it out and went over to him. "Hey! I've got something that'll help." Everyone looked to see the little grenade in her hand as she held it out for Rick to take. "I took it...when Carol was washing your uniform. I found it in your pocket."
Rick stared at her for a moment and saw the determination in her eyes, so he took the grenade and seemed almost surprised that she was willing to help him. To be fair, it wasn't as if Sage liked him, but she had to admit that they needed to work together if they were going to survive. For now, she was willing to help him since they were in the same boat as Rick took the grenade from her.
Everyone then ducked to cover towards the back of the lobby while Rick went over to the window sill to pull the pin out of the grenade. He froze for a second, almost terrified after realizing what he just did. Rick then rushed back to his family as quickly as he could while leaping out of the way and cursing to himself. That was when Daryl grabbed his sister's head and brought it down while telling her to get down as they huddled around Kaylee Jo to protect her from the explosion.
When the glass shattered, the Dixons immediately got up along with everyone else, and they all rushed out to their vehicles. There were some walkers heading their way, so Sage held her daughter's hand so that she wouldn't fall. She then took out her machete and prepared herself by slashing a walker who was a little too close to them. She may not have killed it, but she stunned, giving her and her daughter a chance to keep running. Sage left the killing to her brother as he trekked behind them by taking one of the walker's heads off with an axe. Shane and Rick shot at the walkers ahead of them, giving the group an opportunity to reach to their vehicles.
"Get in!" Daryl shouted at his family as they climbed in the truck.
When he got inside, he slammed the door and turned the key on the ignition, but he didn't go just yet when Kaylee Jo pointed to the facility, "Look. They're coming out."
Sage and Daryl noticed Andrea and Dale leaving the building and headed over to the cars, but with the timer running out, they weren't going to make it, so they watched helplessly before Daryl brought their heads low and yelled, "Down! Down!"
A huge fireball built up inside the C.D.C. building until it filled the entire place. The heat blasted out the windows, setting fire to everything around it, exploding tanks, cars, trucks, everything it touched. The explosion expanded until the roof disintegrated and the building imploded on itself. When they thought it was safe, they peered over to see the building in ruins. Sage's eyes widened when she saw the outcome of the explosion, and she panted lowly, not believing that they actually made it out. Kaylee Jo just stared at the fires roasting the whole facility. Daryl on the other hand huffed in relief beside them.
He then looked over at his sister and noticed the expression on her face. "You okay?"
It took her a moment to finally turn to her brother as she told him, "Let's get out of here already."
Daryl was conflicted to say something to her, but he thought it was best if he didn't when he saw her comforting her daughter by wrapping an arm around her and rubbing her shoulder. That was why he turned his attention back to the road and followed the group out. No matter where they went, Sage was going to stick by her family, and she wasn't going to let anyone take them away from her. Merle was already out there somewhere, so it was only a matter of time before the Dixons met with him again. For now, they were just going to stick with the group and survive until they found him again.
There's the end of season one.Hope you're ready for season two. I also understand that Sage didn't really have much opportunities with Rick, but it is a slow-burn story, so trust me when I say that we will see them getting closer together in season two. Please let me know what you think or what your expectations are for my story. Stay tuned for more chapters heading your way!