Shane's pov-
We all stand around in the big room watching the countdown. I glance at Carl and then Lori. She's holding him against her chest, hugging him tightly.
My gaze then turns to Dr. Jenner, he sits in front of a computer resting his head in his hands. I'm tempted to slam his head on the table; maybe that'll knock some sense into him.
"Hey guys?" Glenn moves to the center of the room and turns around in a circle. "Where's Charlie?"
I turn around myself, half expecting her to be standing right behind me. I've grown so used to her shadowing me that I barely even notice it anymore. Now it feels like something's missing.
The others start looking around too.
"Charlotte? Honey?" Carol shouts while trying to keep Sophia calm.
Carl pushes away from his mom and steps toward the Dr. "She must still be in the rec room. You've gotta open the door, she's out there alone in the dark!"
He sighs and faces Carl. "I already told you, those doors aren't opening."
Why that son of a- without thinking I step forward and grab him by the collar. "You better open those doors right now! You got no right to let a little kid die out there alone!"
Someone places a hand on my shoulder and I turn to look at them. My grip on the Dr's shoulder only tightens.
"Shane, calm down. Keep your head on straight," Rick says, attempting to diffuse the situation.
"Nah man, I ain't gonna keep calm while this mad man keeps us locked up in here while we wait for death." I give Jenner a good shake before roughly shoving him back.
"This ain't gonna help anything either."
I shake my head at Rick and back away from Jenner. Leaning against one of the computers I watch him brush himself off and sit back down. My attention quickly turns to Daryl as he throws a bottle of liquor at the steel doors.
"Open the door!" He shouts.
The clock reaches 12 minutes left.
I'm sick of just standing here waiting for an escape and look around for something, anything to help us get out of here. In the corner I spot emergency fire axes and run over to them. T-dog sees them too and follows after.
I pick one up and waste no time running to the steel door. Using all my strength I swing it as hard as I can at the door. T-dog tosses the other ax to Daryl and he begins hitting it too.
We exchange blows with the door for a minute but nothing comes of it. The door's too thick. I back away from it and toss the ax to the side. Panting I lean over a computer.
"Can't make a dent," I say between breaths.
"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner says.
I'm two seconds away from tossing him at the door. As I move toward him once again I'm stopped by Daryl's voice.
"Shane!" He shouts, gesturing behind him. "Kid is at the door."
With one last threatening look at Jenner I rush toward the door.
"Charlie!"
"Shane what's going on, why are all the lights off? And why is this door here?" She's shouting but her voice barely makes it through the door.
I look at the clock. 8 minutes left. If the doctor won't open these doors then Charlie's gotta get outta here on her own.
I rub my hand over my face and yell back, "Listen to me Charlie, you're gonna get your stuff and you're gonna go. Find a way out okay?" I hate telling her this. Makes it sound like I'm giving up. Looking back at the Dr. I harden my face. Ain't no way I'm giving up.
"What? Why? I'm not leaving without you and the others!" She pauses. "I can't survive out there, I can't even kill a walker!"
No point in sugar-coating it, it's better to tell her the truth. "The building is set to self-destruct so get up and go! We'll be right behind you!"
She doesn't say anything but I can tell she hasn't moved. Frustrated, I run my hand through my hair and pound on the door.
"You hearing me? Go!"
A few seconds pass before I hear a barely audible, "Okay!"
Satisfied, I turn back around.
Carl is crying now, holding on to Lori. Next to them Carol and Sophia's crying grows louder with every passing second.
If Rick's not going to do something to save his family then I will.
"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here," Carol cries.
Jenner leans forward in his chair. "One tiny moment—a millisecond. No pain."
Carol wipes a few tears off her cheeks. "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." She hugs Sophia tighter.
I'm not listening to this any longer. I'm halfway to the bag of discarded guns before I even realize what I'm doing.
"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate just to hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner explains.
I cock the shotgun in my hands and aim it at Jenner's head.
"What about the little girl out there? She ain't got no loved ones to hold!" I move closer. "What's kind and compassionate about that?"
"Shane, no!" Rick shouts. He tries pushing me away but I shove him off.
"Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way!" I push him away again. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?"
The barrel of my shotgun is an inch away from Jenner's face.
"Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here." Rick's next to me now, staying out of my way.
Lori decides to chime in, "Shane, you listen to him." Her voice is stern and it only makes me angrier.
"He dies, we all—" Rick starts but is cut off by my yell.
I push the barrel into Jenner's face.
I know just as well as Rick that if he dies we die too.
Shifting my aim, the barrel is now pointed at some computers. I release a few rounds at them.
Rick wrestles the gun from my hands and deals a blow to my chest. I fall to the ground and he stands over me.
"Are you done now?" He asks.
I look him in the eyes. "Yeah, I guess we all are."
Rick takes a few steps back and hands the gun to T-dog. I lay there for a moment, watching Rick. I glance at Lori as I get to my feet. She ignores me.
Everyone has their eyes on Rick. He turns slowly, eyes passing over all of us before landing on Jenner.
"I think you're lying," He says.
Jenner meets Rick's eyes. "What?"
Rick takes a step toward him. "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." Another step forward. "Why?"
Jenner looks away. "It doesn't matter."
Rick takes another step forward and crouches down in front of Jenner.
I watch closely. I'm curious as to what his plan is here.
"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"
Jenner turns back toward Rick. "Not because I wanted to. I made a promise." He stands up and Rick stands with him. Dr. Jenner points to the screen. "To her. My wife."
Lori looks shocked. "Test subject 19 was your wife?"
Jenner keeps his eyes on Rick "She begged me to keep going as long as I could." He shakes his head. "How could I say no?"
Rick stays silent while Daryl begins hitting the door.
"She was dying." He points to the screen again. "It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. 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."
Rick puts his hand out in a calming manner. "Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's—that's all we want—a choice, a chance," He begs.
"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori pleads.
Jenner takes a deep breath. "I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." He walks to one of the computer's desks and types something into a keypad.
The door Daryl's been hitting opens, revealing the long hallway behind it. The lights flicker on and everyone starts moving.
Daryl's the first into the hallway. "Come on!" He shouts
I pick up the bag of guns and his crossbow and start running towards everyone else.
Glenn looks at the clock and shouts, "Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!"
Handing the crossbow to Rick I notice T-dog watching Jacqui walk back into the center of the big room. I grab his arm and pull him forward.
"Dog, come on, man."
We all rush out of the room and down the hallway. Everyone runs to their rooms and grabs as much of their stuff as they can.
"Charlie!" I shout as I run by each room. I hear Glenn doing the same.
Getting to my room I notice that her backpack is gone. She must already be upstairs.
Quickly stuffing everything into my bags I leave the room and run to the stairwell. Most of the group is already running up them.
Glenn runs up next to me. "Did you find her?" He asks.
I shake my head. "Her stuff's gone, she must already be upstairs."
We get to the top and run out into the lobby.
"Charlie?" I shout again. There's no sign of her.
"You haven't found her Shane?" Carl asks.
"No," I tell him and instantly regret it. His already worried expression grows worse. "I'm sure she's fine."
I watch him run back to his mom.
"Carl's the priority," I tell myself. But I can't help the constant glances I take around the room, hoping to spot some sign of the little girl.
Forcing myself to focus I drop the bag of guns and run toward the windows.
"Daryl!"
He tosses me one of the axes and I start hitting the window.
"Move!" T-dog shouts as he comes running in with a chair. He tosses it against the window.
It won't crack so I grab my shotgun. I shoot at the window but it still doesn't break.
I back up, shaking my head. Options are quickly running out. I glance around the room again and see a knocked over pile of paper scattered on the floor in front of the receptionist's desk. The door behind it is cracked open.
Running toward it I hop over the desk and open the door. Another hallway with a handful of doors on either side is behind it.
"Charlie!" Please be back here.
I throw open the last door in the hallway, first thing I notice is the shattered glass scattered across the carpet. Second thing I notice is the blood along the window frame.
"Shit."
A scream echoes from outside the window and in an instant I'm there.
Charlie's outside on the ground, a walker on top of her. She's got her arms out in an attempt to push it away but it just keeps coming.
The window is too thin for me to get through so I pull out the glock on my hip and take aim. Careful not to hit Charlie, I shoot. The walker's head rears back from the force before it goes limp.
Charlie shoves it off and jumps up. She sees me in the window and I can see the relief start to replace the fear.
She's covered in small cuts, blood starting to seep through her clothes. But she's okay.
"Shane!" She calls out. "Can you get through?" She motions to the windows.
"No, I'll meet you out front."
She looks worried at that.
"How are you guys gonna get out? All the doors are locked and the glass won't break!" The growls of walkers get closer.
I disregard her question. "Go. Now!" I tell her.
With a final worried glance she takes off running. Knowing she's at least got a chance calms my nerves.
An explosion shakes the ground, T-Dog's shout follows it.
"Shane! We got our exit, come on!" He appears in the doorway, eyes widening when he sees the bloodied broken window.
"She's fine," I answer before he even asks. "Let's go!"
I run past him out into the hall. He follows closely behind.
We get to the big room and I see one of the windows is completely gone. T-Dog and I jump out after the others. I race ahead of them, gun in hand, taking down as many walkers as I can.
Looking around I try to spot Charlie through all the chaos. Only movement I can see are the walkers scattered around the lawn.
We get to the parked cars and I make sure Carl and Lori are safe inside the RV before rushing back onto the lawn. I spin around, searching for any sign of the kid.
Dale and Andrea come jumping out of the window.
Rick, Lori, and Glenn start yelling to get down.
Time's up.
I drop behind the closest concrete barricade. A dead soldier sits next to me.
The CDC explodes, the ground shakes, and a wave of heat washes over my back.
Charlie better have the brains to be hiding behind something. Even if it's something small.
I wait till the shaking stops and the heat dies down before peeking out from behind the barricade. Dale and Andrea sit up from behind a wall of sandbags. They look unharmed and they start running toward the RV.
Getting up myself I notice the increase in walkers. They're drawn to the explosion like moths to a flame. I take the closest ones down.
"Shane, we got to go!" Rick yells from the window of the RV.
"Go, I'll be right behind you guys!"
He rolls the window up and starts the engine, the rest of the cars doing the same.
"Charlie! Where'd you go!"
There isn't much time left until this place is swarmed with walkers. Already there's too many for me to take down alone.
Where the hell did that kid go?
I scan the area, looking for her, checking for anything that's actually living.
One walker is headed in a different direction than the others. Instead of the flaming ruins it's headed straight for a military jeep. It's flipped on its side, half the roof is missing, and its front tire is nothing but rubber shreds.
The walker limps around to the back.
That must be where she's hiding.
Wasting no time I sprint to it.
The walker is a foot away from biting Charlie when I pull it back and smash its head into one of the jagged metal edges on the destroyed car. It crumples to the ground, blood spilling over the ground.
Charlie is crouched down, hunched in on herself. Her eyes are hidden behind the bill of my police hat and she's covering her ears.
I bend down and pull them away from her ears. Then I lift the bill of my hat to uncover her eyes.
"Charlie, c'mon!"
Her eyes fly open at my voice. She sits there stunned, staring at me with confusion that quickly turns into relief once she realizes it's me and not some walker.
I pull her up and grab her arm, dragging her along toward my jeep. We weave around walkers. One gets too close and I pull Charlie behind me, dropping her arm so I can shove it back.
She runs behind me the rest of the way and hops into the passenger seat. Immediately I start the engine and follow after the others.
It's not till we're caught up with them that I remember she's covered in unbandaged cuts. This girl really is gonna be the death of me.
Woo! Season 1 is finally finished! Only took me like what? A year?
Anyway, it's finally finished and I can rest knowing I've accomplished this small milestone in a long journey.
Only ten seasons left to go. *sigh* It'll be a ton of fun though.
Just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you guys for reading my story! Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and especially the comments. You guys are so sweet (:
See you in season 2
-Sparrow