Chapter 5 : Wildfire
In a grassy opening surrounded by trees, two men are seen sitting, facing the impending sunrise as the distant high-rises of the desolate Atlanta are seen, illuminated by the morning sun.
"After I woke up, saw the state of things and met you Morgan, when you told me about how the world was now, I never expected to find my family after it all." Rick started.
"Fate is funny like that. After parting ways with you at the police station, A part of me thought I'd never meet you again, especially as the days went on." Morgan replied
Rick continued "We hoped too much from Atlanta. Look at it now, the city of the dead."
Morgan answered. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." He sighs "All that matters to me is Duane is safe." He finished as Rick nodded, able to relate to the other man's words.
~ Camp P.0.V. ~
Andrea is seen standing with Amy as both look at Carol sitting with Ed. Lori walks over and kneels beside her grey haired woman.
"Carol" she starts
Carol doesn't look up or answer as Lori sits down on her knees beside her
"I'm sorry for your loss, but you have to let us take him."
Carol just mutters out "A few more minutes please." As Lori gets up to leave, Daryl is seen, using a pick axe to make sure all the dead stay down, as he does so by punch a hole straight through their heads, grunting as he pulls the pick axe out of a walker's skull.
T-Dog and Glenn pick the body up and toss it onto a nearby fire that already has other corpses on it, the fumes making the former cough. Across the camp Rick joins Dale, Shane, Lori and Dale at the fire.
"She still won't move?" Rick says
"She's been there all night. What do we do?" She replies, the couple having resumed basic conversation ever since the attack the previous night despite their fight the day prior.
Dale spoke "We cannot just leave her like that. We need to deal with Ed."
As they all looked at the situation, Daryl walks up. "Y'all can't be serious. Let that woman hamstring us? The dead geezer's a time bomb."
"What do you suggest?" Rick asked, exasperated.
"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain ,from here. You could do it, I could do it, Hell even your kid could do it from this distance." Daryl answered.
"No. For God's sakes, let her be." Lori replied, horrified at Daryl's idea with Dale shrugging his eyebrows as Rick shrugs his shoulders.
Daryl just scoffs and walks off, not picking up the corpse near the cook fire, even though he's clearing them up.
"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do." He says, walking past the mechanic, towards a panting Morales to help him, dropping the pick axe along the way, as the latter thanks him.
As they start to pull a corpse to the fire where the walkers are being burned, Glenn notices and walks over to them with a panicked look.
"What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He lets out.
"What's the difference? They're all infected." Daryl replies nonchalantly
"Our people go in that row over there." Glenn counters as he cries out. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?"
Daryl and Morales start to pick the body back up, dragging it to where Glenn points.
"Our people go in that row over there." The young man instructs.
Midway letting go of the body, Daryl lets out his thoughts that they all reaped what they sowed, with Morales telling him to shut up, "Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this coming." The younger Dixon continued, ignoring Morales.
Jim then walks over to help Jacqui with a body as she looks up at Jim and notices blood on his shirt. "Are you bleeding?" She asked
"I just got some on me from the bodies." Jim replied
"That blood's fresh. Were you bit?" Jacqui countered as the mechanic explained. "No. I got scratched during the attack."
"You got bit." She pushed as Jim replied he was fine, upon which she told him to show her, as he repeated he was fine.
Jacqui then let out "Jim is bleeding!"
Everyone stops what they are doing and start to gather around Jim as Jacqui backs away from him.as the man kept repeating that he was okay.
Sensing the crowd to be tense and threatening, Jim pulls at the shotgun still slung from his back since the attack last night, bu before he can, Shane appears from behind and locks his arms with his own. "Easy, Jim." the former cop says. as Daryl says "Grab him."
T-Dog grabs Jim from the right as Daryl does so from the left and pulls up his t shirt to show there is indeed a thin but long cut on his stomach, but it is not vaguely close to a bite mark. Daryl drops the shirt and T-Dog lets go of Jim. He's left by himself as everyone else faces him with apologetic looks as Jacqui speaks up. "I'm sorry for doubting you Jim." As Shane says. "But we can never too cautious about such things." As Jim, while uncomfortable with the situation does agree with his words, giving him a nod to show his agreement as Dale chuckles. "False alarm everyone."
Jim sits at the rear of the R.V., taking a break as the others have a conference.
Daryl starts "I say we put a pickaxe in his head, just to be sure of it, and the dead geezer's and be done with it."
"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane retorts.
"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it." Daryl says. "Come on, what are we thinking people? I am sure the first walker would not have been bitten by some rabid wolf or something."
"I hate to say it—I never thought I would but maybe Daryl has a point ."
"Jim's not a monster, Dale, "Rick says "or some rabid wolf." He turns at Daryl.
"I'm not suggesting—" Dale tries to backtrack but Rick doesn't let him.
"He's just injured. An injured man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?
"The line's pretty clear to me. Zero tolerance for walkers, or walkers-to-be." Daryl says.
Rick then proposed that they could get him help, saying the C.D.C. might still be active.
Shane said that he heard that too, but that he also a lot of things before the world went to Hell.
Rick then asked them to consider that what if the C.D.C. was still up and running, as Shane commented that it was a stretch.
Rick then made his point saying that if there was any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the C.D.C. at all costs, saying that it was their best shot in his opinion, citing shelter, protection, rescue, before Shane cut him off
"Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too. Okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."
"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction." Lori commented as Shane explained "That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."
"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The C.D.C. is our best choice and Jim's best chance to get patched up."
Daryl snarled "You go looking for aspirin; do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"
He moves toward Jim, raising his pick axe, before Rick runs up behind him and puts his cocked revolver to Daryl's head.
"We don't kill the living." Rick says as Shane takes a stand between Jim and Daryl as the latter lowers the pick axe.
"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." He commented.
"We may disagree on some things, not on this one. You put it down. Go on." Shane said.
Grunting with the effort, Daryl slams the axe down and walks off. Rick goes over to Jim grabs him by the arm. "Come with me." He says.
"Where are you taking me?" Jim asks, as Rick replies "Somewhere safe."
Dale walks over to Carol.
"I came to pay my respects." The older man says as he sits down on the ground beside her. "Did I ever mention how I lost my wife?" He asks "Cancer, wasn't it?" Carol replies solemnly. "Yeah. I dragged her to every doctor, every test. And after all the surgeries and the chemos, she was ready. She accepted it, you know? But I never could. And I spent the last few years so angry. I felt so cheated. Since she passed, These girls" He says, looking at Andrea and Amy, "And the camp's precious children were the first people… that I cared anything for."
Carol gives Dale a tearful smile, being reminded of her daughter.
"You need to grieve. To grieve is healthy, is human. But don't let it break you. You need to be there for your daughter." He finishes as Carol nods and Dale gets up and leaves.
Daryl is seen using the pick axe on more bodies. After another two more, he says, "That's the last of it. Save for one." He says, once again moving towards Ed.
Rick and Glenn see him and move, about to intervene, but Daryl stops on his own accord and says in a gentle, calm tone very much unlike him. "Carol, let me finish this please. I need to rest and we both know you need to as well."
Carol then looks up at him, takes a deep breath and says with a few tears. "I'll do it. He's my husband."
She takes the pick axe in both hands, as Ed's head suddenly starts stirring up, eyes blinking. She swings it around, hitting Ed's corpse in the head with all her might, groaning as she does so.
She doesn't need to, but she hits him again.
And a third time, grunting but not faltering in the strength of her blows. She swings faster for the fourth and fifth times. Daryl watches her silently.
Holding the axe, she is looking at her husband's corpse, continuing to sob, but these tears are of relief and liberation.
Up on the hilltop Rick and Shane are digging one last grave, for Ed. The air is thick with tension and stopping, Rick address the situation.
"Say it. Clear your mind."
Shane stops and leans on his shovel. "Okay. I'm thinking if you'd of stayed here, if you'd have looked after your own—instead of going and taking half our manpower with you. I'm thinking maybe our losses wouldn't have been so bad."
Rick counters "If I hadn't brought those guns here when I did, I think our losses would have been a lot worse. Maybe the entire camp."
Shane exhales as he doesn't look convinced.
Daryl has backed up a pickup truck up the hill. Shrouded bodies lie in the truck bed. He parks it close to the grave site. He gets out and walks toward Rick and Shane who've resumed digging.
"I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?" Daryl says.
"At first." Shane corrects.
"The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow him along? These people need to know who the Hell's in charge here, what the rules are." Daryl scoffs
Rick says that there are no rules.
Amy, Morgan, Carol and Sophia have followed the truck up the hill.
"Well, that's a problem." Amy says. Carol whispers comfort words to Sophia, as Amy continues. "We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do."
After 10 minutes or so, Carol is seen dragging Ed's wrapped-up corpse, toward the freshly dug grave. Morgan tries to help her but she refuses. "I can do it. I can do it. " She pants out.
She pulls Ed into the grave and arranges him, as Sophia lets out a few tears.
Morgan again offers to help her and Carol lets him help her up out of the grave.
Afterward everyone walked down from the hill top, Rick stops by the tents, seeing Carl and Lori.
"Are we safe now, Dad? Now that we're together?" Carl speaks up, as Rick sits beside him.
"I won't leave again. I promise you that. Not for anything." Rick says and Carl nods.
"Now give me a chance to discuss some things with your mom, okay?" He says and Carl nods again before walking ahead down to the camp.
"Shane blames me for not being here. Do you?" She doesn't reply but as he looks in her eyes, they betray her true opinion on the matter. He exhales and looks away before explaining to Lori.
"We got guns now. We're stronger." He says, being assertive.
"And we have fewer people, that makes us weaker. You want me to say I think you were right?" She snaps at him before continuing "I understand that. All I can say is that neither one of you is entirely wrong."
"What about the C.D.C.?" Rick tries to sell his idea, "Rick—" she tries to cut him off but he doesn't let her. "We're at the ragged edge here. We need relief and we got a injured man who needs treatment. I don't know why people can't see that."
Lori listens then puts forth her own argument. "Well, look at their faces. Look at mine. We're all terrified. If one of us suggested, based on a hunch that we head toward that city you'd have no part of it. Tell me something with certainty."
Rick's silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and saying "I loved you. And I want the best for Carl."
Lori looks crestfallen, as her anger breaks away, giving way to sadness and a few tears. "I want the best for Carl too." She says.
Lori is sitting in the doorway of the R.V. waiting on Rick as he checks up on Jim. She dozes a bit before Shane walks up sits on his heels to talk.
"I need you to help talk some sense into Rick." He starts.
Lori gets up to walk away but Shane comes up to her "Look the C.D.C. thing, Lori, it's a mistake."
Lori doesn't look convinced so Shane continues "So you're backing him?"
"What else would I do? He's Carl's father." Lori says and Shane lets out.
"Look, it may be time for you to play the dutiful wife, but you can't tell me that fixing your marriage is worth putting people's lives at risk."
"I think folks around here can make up their minds without bringing my marriage into it. It's a habit you need to break." She replies exasperated as Rick comes out the door.
"What habit?" He asks.
"Just talking about my need for a plan. So what is it? Are we leaving or not? Maybe y'all just want to stay here. Hang some more tin cans maybe." Shane replies as Rick retorts "We can't stay here. We both know that."
"I was just telling Shane I think we should trust your gut." Lori speaks as Rick looks at her, uncertain as Shane huffs, muttering. "Just great." Before he turns to Rick. "Let's go do our sweep."
Rick and Shane head out, as others follow the pair.
Out in the woods Rick is seen walking in the lead, Shane a few feet behind him, both have their shotguns ready for any walkers.
"Tell you what, man. These people, man, they're not convinced. You know? You head to the C.D.C., you might be on your own. You gotta really consider whether you want to put Carl in that kind of spot." Shane starts to express his thoughts on Rick's plan.
"I got to do what's best for my son." Is the only reply that Rick provides.
"Best for your son? What's that? Exposing him to all kinds of risks?" Shane counter-questioned.
"As opposed to what? Crossing a hundred miles of hostile territory? If we're looking for a lifeline, I say swim toward the closest ship, not further out to sea. Why can't you back me up?" Rick answered, exasperated at still having this conversation.
"Look, I want to. It's just… I don't see it." Shane said, trying to dismiss the conversation.
"Ah, if it was your boy you'd feel differently." Rick says without thinking as Shane stops. Realising his mistake, Rick turns around and looks at him as Shane walks angrily toward Rick, getting close to the other cop.
"What did you say to me? I kept him safe, man. I looked after him like he was my own. That's what I did."
"I didn't mean it that way." Rick said tying placate the other man.
"Well, how'd you mean it? Go on, man. How'd you mean it?" Shane said anger evident on his face.
"You're misinterpreting me, man." Rick sighed, getting frustrated himself, as Shane tried to push him further, and Rick tried to calm the situation and end the discussion.
"You know, what you did for Carl, I can never repay that debt, okay?" Rick said as he walked ahead. "Even if you thought that made it alright for you to fuck my wife." He muttered despite Shane hearing every word clearly in silence of the forest as the curly haired man was seething with anger.
Suddenly the pair's attention was caught as a branch snapped and the two men split, on alert for any walker that might be around. As Rick walked down into the forest, looking for anything unusual in the forest, Shane, riled up, brought his gun around till Rick was in his sights. Breathing deeply, Shane keeps the shotgun and his intent on Rick before he takes a deep breath to calm down. Hearing another twig snap, he turned to look at Daryl, crossbow ready, looking at him with Dale staring at him shocked.
"Jesus." Dale said, horrified at thinking what could have happened. As Shane chuckles, trying to diffuse the situation. "I know. Gonna have to start wearing reflective vests out here." Shane makes light of it and Daryl responds with a grunt and moving away so he can't see his face, but by the look on Dale's face, the former cop realises that he and Daryl are most likely not convinced.
Shane tried to convince Dale again then calls out to Rick to return to camp, putting on his ball cap, acting as if nothing happened.
Shane turned to Dale. "Come on, man. Let's go. Nothing out here." He said as the older man follows him intently with his eyes.
In the camp, Andrea is asleep in a chair as Amy is seen sitting nearby talking to Carl about fishing stuff. Lori is also seated a bit away, sharpening a stick. Morgan and Carol are seen talking with each other, as their kids are doing the same.
Rick, Shane, Daryl and Dale walk into the camp where the people are gathered.
"I've been, uh—I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no... there are no guarantees either way, I'll be the first one to admit that, but I've known this man a long time so I trust his instincts." He spoke, as Lori eyed his change of heart with suspicion. "I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" He finished.
~Next morning~
As the sun rays hit his face through the R.V.'s window, Jim wakes up as he hears Shane's voice, before groaning as the sudden movement pains his wound.
~outside~
Shane is standing with the group around him as he announces the plan. "Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on Channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"
Daryl is seen wiping tears from his eyes, reminiscing about his brother's fate, before Morales speaks up. "We're, uh…we're—we're not going."
"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people." His wife continues, as Shane replies that if they go they would be on their own. won't have anyone to watch your back.
Morales then said that they would take the chance. "I got to do what's best for my family." Morales said.
Rick then asked him if he was sure, with Morales replying that he had talked about it with his family and they were sure.
Rick and Shane then nodded and Rick got a box of the shotgun shells. "24 shells,12 gauge." He said handing it to Morales for the shotguns he and his wife were carrying.
Orlando then stepped forward. "Shane, after everything that's happened, me, Bill and the Gomezs' have also decided to part ways." Shane looked at him and the people behind him. William Oakley, Steve and Blanca giving a collective nod as support to Orlando's words.
"Where are you planning to go?" Morales asked the four as Orlando answered. "We were thinking about joining you and your family to Alabama, Bill's got a brother there." "Jeff, he owns a motel, near Birmingham itself, actually." Bill added. "If it's alright, of course." Orlando said and Morales looked at his wife and turning back to the four, they both nodded.
"How will all of you guys get there?" T-Dog asked and Morales answered. "About that... T-Dog, can you trade me your church van for the Suzuki?" Morales said, showing the keys of the vehicle in his hand. T-Dog looked hesitant for a minute before saying. "Okay, just let me collect my things in it." He said and Morales offered to help him as the two went along.
"Alright, 357?" Rick said, handing Orlando a .357 Magnum. "Yeah. Box is half full." Shane said, handing the man a box of bullets as Daryl scoffs, not believing it despite seeing them handing over guns and ammo just like that.
"Thank you all… for everything." Morales's wife said as Andrea walked up to her. "Come here." She said, pulling the shorter woman into a hug as they both cried.
Morales and Shane shake hands as the latter wishes the former luck as Lori kisses the Morales boy and girl good bye as Eliza turns to Jacqui, whispering goodbye as they hug.
"Channel 40 if you change your minds. All right?" Rick says to Morales as he replies in affirmative.
Sophia hugs the Morales girl as both cry, and afterwards are comforted by their mothers.
"What makes you think our odds are any better? Come on. Let's go. Let's move out." Shane says to Rick as he looks disappointed.
Soon, the engines start and one by one the vehicles pass the tank, which Rick had decided to leave behind.
The Morales and their co-passengers go one way in T-Dog's church wagon, while the R.V., heading the caravan, turns off in the other direction. Andrea waves goodbye through the open window toward Morales' vehicle, with his wife reciprocating the gesture.
Dale is seen driving his R.V. as Andrea sits beside him in the passenger seat, in her hands is the map with directions marked. Jacqui is in the back of the R.V. sponging Jim off.
Glenn is second in the caravan, driving his Red Dodge Challenger with Carl on the passenger side seat after requesting his dad, with Rick himself in backseat, alongside Amy, who had opted to join them as to not make the R.V. too cramped, mildly surprising her sister.
Morgan drives Carol's Jeep Cherokee, with the woman sitting in the back with Sophia and Duane.
Shane is in the Suzuki, Lori beside him with T-Dog silently driving the vehicle.
Back in the R.V., Jacqui continues helping Jim.
Daryl follows in a pickup, a motorcycle strapped down in the truck bed.
~New unknown location~
Green letters appear on a black screen. They read "WILDFIRE MSB3417 ACTIVE. BEGIN TRANSMISSION" as a beeping sound is heard.
A middle aged man in his shirt sleeves sits in a darkened room, speaking into a camera, his face illuminated by the table lamp.
"Jenner here. It's day 194 since Wildfire was declared and 63 days since the disease abruptly went global. There's no clinical progress to report."
The picture breaks off and back in as he's seen shuffling some papers, before he continues.
"Item—I finally got the scrubbers in the east sector shut down to save power. Wish I could have done it a month ago, but it took me that long to figure it out. Too bad I never studied engineering, could have saved a lot of amps."
The video breaks in and out again.
"Item—Still not sleeping well. Can't seem to keep regular hours. Living underground doesn't help, not knowing if it's day or night. I'm just feeling very off-kilter these days."
As he is finished, the black screen again comes up with the message "WILDFIRE MSB3417 ACTIVE" But this time the screen also says "END TRANSMISSION"
The beeping of a keypad being successfully logged into is heard, as a large metal door hisses as it's opened.
Jenner is then seen in a blue protective suit, walking through a set of security doors and into an airlock.
He walks through another set of doors into a laboratory with a few monitors in background. One such monitor is showing a 3-D image of a human skull as another person in a similar blue suit is seen typing on the keyboard, who is revealed to be a red-haired woman who smiles at him through her mask. With her watching, he is then seen removing a tissue sample labeled TS-19 from a cold storage locker as both are seen to have solemn, serious looks on their faces. He cuts open the package and she uses a pair of tweezers to remove a sliver and inserts it into a vial. Using a dropper he adds a liquid that bubbles and fizzes and the woman processes the sample with a centrifuge, as he sits there waiting. He's dozing before the woman gently shakes him awake when the machine beeps that the processing is done.
She smears a drop of liquid onto a glass slide and puts it under a microscope and focuses the lenses. "Honey, come look at this." She says, surprise in her voice as Jenner takes note of the same and sits in the chair to look in the microscope as she steps aside for him. "Fascinating!" He exclaims as in reaching forward for something, he ends up knocking over the beaker of liquid as It falls onto the tissue sample and the table top, bubbling and fizzing as it does, as an alarm is set off.
Jenner tries to drain the liquid from the Petri dish with the tissue samples with his gloved hand, but a drop falls on it and starts melting the glove.
"All personnel must clear the room. Corrosive element is deemed poisonous if inhaled." The computerised voice says as Jenner and the woman take turns to press a button and spray themselves with water. Pressing another button, the door slides open and they goes through as it slides shut behind them and more water sprays from both sides as they remove the protective suite and all their clothing, letting the water completely rinse them off.
"All personnel clear. Full decontamination in effect." The computer voice is heard again.
At that announcement Jenner's face has a horrified expression as he yells no in futility and is about to run toward the door he'd just came from, but the woman stops him hugging him from the behind. "No. Don't!" She says, holding him as they see flames bursting through the lab, the force of the flames beating against every surface.
"Full decontamination complete." The computer says as the flames subside leaving behind nothing but charred ruins.
Jenner thunks his head against the glass door, slumping down to the ground as he breaks down sobbing, with the woman holding onto him as a depressed look falls on her face as well.
Jenner is videotaping his thoughts again. This time he's in a t shirt, looking tired as he sips wine.
"The TS19 samples are gone. The tragedy of their loss cannot be overstated. They were our freshest samples by far. None of the other samples we gathered even came close. Those are necrotic, useless, dead flesh." He takes a deep breath. "I don't even know why I'm talking." He says as he leans in. "I bet there isn't a single son of a bitch out there still listening, is there? Is there?" He waits for a second, tempting fate, but realises it's for naught.
"Fine. Saves me the embarrassment."
Jenner gets up from his seat, as he stands the dark room lit by a circle of overhead lights, the bank of computers in front of him all dark, save for the one he's been talking into. The woman from before, now in normal clothes, also sitting nearby as she sips wine, looking at him with a concerned look.
"Now there's nothing to do but wait for the facility wide decontamination. But tonight, I'm getting drunk." He says pouring some more wine. "Speaking of which, how far you think I can chuck this, huh? Pretty far I bet." He says and throws the now empty wine bottle up into the air as the woman looks at his actions with wide eyes before wincing as the sound of glass shattering is heard.
"Oh! It is out of the stadium!" Jenner exclaims as he raises his arm in field goal fashion.
The vehicles are parked in the street along the front of the CDC building as the Atlanta group climbs out.
There are corpses lying everywhere, both military and civilians, as flies buzz all around. Sand bag barricades, having machine guns mounted on tripods, were constructed to reinforce security at the entrance. They are still in place but the corpses litter the street in front and behind the barricades, making it evident that they were overrun.
"All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go." Shane whispers as he cocks his gun.
Covering their mouths, in an attempt to try and lessen the stench, the group makes their way toward the C.D.C. doors.
"Okay, keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on." Shane says as the group walks past the entrance and up through a parking lot where tanks and more barriers are positioned around the entrance. "Oh God!" Glenn exclaims at the sight before them, corpses lying all around them.
Suddenly an alarm beeps on a monitor and the woman goes over to investigate. She looks at a schematic of the building that's displayed on the monitor and alarms are lit up at the entrance area. Automatically the computer switches to live video and she sees Rick and his group walking up to the building. "Edwin!" She cries out as the panic in her tone makes the man come out of his drunken stupor and come up to her. "What is it Candace?" He asks and then looks at the monitor, shocked into silence as she states the obvious. "Survivors!"
Outside, the Atlanta group gets closer to the doors as everyone tries not to retch. "Keep it together. Come on." Shane says as Lori assures Carl. "We're almost there, baby. Almost there."
Rick tries the roll up the security shutter door as it rattles but does not move.
Shane also then pushes against it and pounds on the door, as the sky above is growing darker by the second, heralding the impending nightfall.
"There's nobody here." T-Dog states as Rick counters. "Then why are these shutters down?"
"Walkers!" Daryl exclaims as a lone walker heads their way and is promptly sniped by him shooting a crossbow bolt into its face.
The parents huddle around the children like they did the night before, the children having scared looks as Sophia whimpers, the adults holding their guns, their eyes scouring their surroundings.
"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl yells, walking up to Rick.
"He made a call" Dale said, trying to justify the former Sheriff's decision as Daryl retorted. "It was the wrong damn call!"
"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane said to Daryl as he got in between him and Rick, before turning to the latter. "Rick this is a dead end."
"Where we gonna go?" Carol asks, clutching onto Sophia.
"Do you hear me? No blame." Shane haughtily said, as Lori spoke, looking at Carol. "She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark."
"Fort Benning, Rick—still an option." Shane put in his thoughts.
"On what? No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles." Andrea countered as Glenn backed her, saying it was 125.
"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight. Now." Lori said, as Rick said that they would think of something.
"Let's get out of here." Shane said as T-Dog agreed,the air dense with tension. The children crying and adults all having panicked expressions, they all start back toward the cars, when Rick looks up at a surveillance camera above the door whirring and sees it move.
"All right, everybody back to the cars. Let's go. Move." Shane directed but was cut short by Rick's words. "The camera—it moved."
As Dale said he imagined it, Rick insisted it moved, as Shane tried placate him down. "Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on!"
Edwin and Candace watch the group from inside as Jenner pleads with them despite knowing they cannot hear him. "No, just go away." He says, hoping that the signs of no life will make them realise it is fruitless to be here.
"Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick. Rick, there's nobody there." They hear the curly haired cop speak to the now named Rick, before said man fights past the former and beats on the door. "I know you're in there. I know you can hear me."
"Edwin! Open it!" Candace says, looking at the children in the background of the live feed. "I cannot honey, you of all people know why I can't." He replies in a depressed tone, as the black haired cop is seen directing everybody to get back to their cars.
Back outside Rick still speaks to the camera. "Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left." He pleads as a black haired woman runs up to him.
"Rick, there's nobody here." She is heard saying. "We have nowhere else to go." Rick counters as he pounds on the door, the other cop meanwhile looking vigilant and instructing others to be as well.
Inside, the scientist couple look on. "If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" Rick pleads, as the woman begs him to get away.
"Come on, buddy, let's go." The black haired cop says, as he drags Rick away from the door.
"Please help us!" Rick tries again, as the people are heard shouting behind them, as the feed from another camera pops up, showing somewhere between three dozen to forty undead, walking towards the CDC, in the direction where the group is at.
"You're killing us! Your killing us! Your killing us!" Rick yells out, further attracting the horde's attention.
As Candace begs her husband to let them in, Edwin also breaks down in sobs and is even about to consider pressing the button and opening the gate, before they're shell-shocked to see the sight unfolding before their eyes.
Shane drags Rick away from the door as he cries, but the sheriff, pushes off his partner and yells. "Fine! I'll break down this door myself!"
He fumbles with the Omnitrix and is enveloped in a flash of green light, coming out of it as the crystalline hunk of a being that only Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl recognise.
Working purely on instinct, he clenches his wrists and elongates the crystal comprising his hands into scythe-blades, running towards the door and swinging his arm like a sword, makes a gnarly noise as the tip tears through the security shutter door, leaving a long gash in it, as his other hand is brought back to make another.
"Walkers coming up!" Jim yells out as everybody turns backwards to see the mass of undead approach. "Yeaaaarrgh!" Rick roars, as if letting out a war-cry, and charges ahead, the survivors parting around him, as he drives into the horde, and swinging his arms like machetes, cleaves into the corpses.
The Jenners look on wide eyed as the alien is seen cutting through the horde like twigs against a power-saw.
Soon Rick is seen getting surrounded and buried under the horde and the air is thick with tension, as the men again level up their weapons at the walkers, but before they can shoot, a spherical mass of crystal spikes erupts and pierces outward in the centre of the horde, skewering at least ten of the walkers around it, before all of it retracts back into Rick, who then stands up from his previously kneeling position.
Then seeing only a sparse number of threats, all spaced out, Rick once again lets his alien instincts guide him, and raising his arms, he shoots out little shards of crystal at a lethal rate of fire, gunning down all of those walkers without firing a single bullet himself.
Then seeing the threat down, Rick again yells and charges towards the door, his arms turning into arm blades like before, and makes another gash in the door that is nasty on the ears.
"Edwin, he's going to break through!" Candace cries, panic in her voice, and Edwin, in a last ditch effort to stop Rick from breaching their defences, surrenders.
Suddenly, white light flashes through the gashes, stooping Rick mid-slash.
As the door starts rolling upwards, before stopping at halfway up, the mechanism getting interrupted by the bent-out-of-shape pieces of jagged metal, courtesy of Rick, as he and the survivors behind him stand in the light.
