Radioactive Chapter Twenty-Five
Waking with a headache Zac groaned some but turned over in the cot he slept on. Opening his eyes he frowned seeing that Kate was gone just like she had been gone when he came to bed last night. Slipping out of the bed he put his clothes back on and left the room, heading towards where they had, had dinner last night.
Spotting Kate once he got there he sat down beside her, "I was wondering where you snuck off too," he smiled as he kissed her cheek stealing some of the dry cereal she had poured herself.
Kate grinned as she looked at Zac, "Our baby woke me up with morning sickness, otherwise I would have still been in bed beside you," she laughed as she swatted his hand away before he could take more of her cereal. "And go get your own food," she teased him as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "There's eggs I think."
Making a face at her eggs comment Zac shook his head, "I think I will pass on the eggs," he muttered knowing the thought of anything but the dry cereal made his stomach churn some too. "I think I have sympathy morning sickness."
"Or just the results of a hang over," Kate said again as she glared at him playfully when he snuck more of the cereal out of her bowl. Before she could say more though she heard Carl speak up asking Rick if he was hung over, mainly because as he stated his mom said he would be.
Rick sat down at the table and looked at his son, "Mom is right," he smiled knowing that he indeed was hung over.
"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori smirked as she looked down at her food.
Zac stayed silent at that exchange but when he heard T-Dog mention eggs and then bring them to Glenn saying they helped the hang over he had to close his eyes and look away as his stomach churned yet again.
"Where did all of this come from?" Rick asked as he reached for a bottle of aspirin that was sitting on the table.
"Jenner," Kate answered right before Lori could. "He thought we could use it," she said watching as Rick handed the bottle to Lori so Lori could open it for him. "Or some of us at least," she laughed before turning her eyes to Glenn who looked the worst even over Zac.
Glenn closed his eyes as he held his head down on his arm, "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again," he groaned out feeling like shit, not just physically but also mentally because he could still remember what an ass he had made by chickening out on telling Jessica how he had felt about her.
Looking up when he saw Shane come in the room Rick raised an eyebrow, "You feel as bad as I do?" he asked his friend.
"Worse," Shane muttered as he flashed back to his almost rape of Lori and then how he had turned to Avery who had called him by another man's name.
T-Dog who was walking back to the table caught sight of the scratches on Shane's neck, "What the hell happened to you?" he asked him sounding confused by the marks on the man's neck. "Your neck?"
"Must have done it in my sleep," Shane answered as he spotted Avery come in the room. She was looking away from him and to be honest he liked it better that way. It wasn't like he wanted everyone, especially Lori to know that he was having sex with her.
Rick looked at Shane when the man sat down across from him, "I've never seen you do that before."
"Me neither," Shane agreed keeping his eyes away from Rick's. "Not like me at all," he said before turning his gaze to Lori who only looked at him briefly. Long enough to roll her eyes.
"Morning," Edwin stated as he walked into the room, seeing almost all of the group there. It was after he said that, that he heard a chorus of hey's or hey Doc.
"Doctor I don't mean too slam you with questions first thing," Dale said as he watched the doctor make himself a cup of coffee.
Edwin sighed at the man's words, "But you will anyway."
"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea added in, her tone serious.
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Taylor sighed to himself as he followed behind the group as Doctor Jenner lead them all back to the main room after breakfast was done. Taylor guessed it was because he was going to satisfy Andrea and Dale and give them the answers they both wanted. Answers that everyone came here for but to be honest Taylor wasn't sure if he wanted answers.
Yes he was feeling alive again but he could still feel himself tethering on the edge of being alive and not being alive. The answers the doctor were gonna give could probably send him over that edge either way.
"Give me playback of TS-19," Edwin spoke as he turned on one of the computers. It was after he spoke that he heard Vi repeating what he said. Playback of TS-19. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few," he said as he put his hands on his hips and turned to face the group before him.
Watching in silence Taylor raised an eyebrow at the images on the screen. Most of it was stuff he didn't understand but he could at least make out the shape of a face in the images.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked as he turned to look at the doctor.
Edwin smiled as he looked at the boy, "An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end," he said sadly as he turned back to the images on the main screen in the room. "Take us in for EIV," he requested hearing Vi then say Enhanced Internal View.
"What are those lights?" Shane asked as he sat down in the floor. The picture on the screen now was obviously inside the brain and there were lights flashing everywhere inside of it.
"It's a person's life," Edwin stated. "Experiences, memories, it's everything. Somewhere in all of that organic wiring, ripples of light is you. The thing that makes you unique and human."
Daryl looked at the man feeling confused by his words. "You don't make sense ever?" he asked as he crossed his arms.
"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," Edwin answered as he kept his eyes on the image feeling amazed at the sight still.
"Death? That's what this is a vigil?" Rick asked as he walked closer to Doctor Jenner.
Keeping his eyes on the image Edwin nodded his head slightly, "Yes or rather the playback of the vigil," he spoke finally turning to look at Rick.
"This person died?" Jessica asked sounding sad as she watched the images on the screen. "Who?"
"Test subject nineteen," Edwin answered as he looked at the blonde. "Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process," he smiled. "Vi scan forward to the first event," he requested again.
Once the image scanned to the first event Taylor made a face as he saw the brain was now black. It was no longer lit up with lights like before.
"What is that?" Glenn asked sounding astounded. He was confused as to why the brain was now mostly all black.
Pointing up at the image Edwin answered the boy, "It invades the brain like meningitis. the adrenal glands hemorrhage. The brain goes into shutdown then the major organs, then death," he sighed as he looked down his face falling slightly. "Everything you ever were or ever will be, gone."
Taylor who looked down at those words frowned when Sophia asked if that was what happened to Jim. All he could think about in that moment though was all of his family he had lost, especially Ezra. He had been gone before Kate even put him down. He had been gone. He was gone.
Edwin turned to look at the group seeing Andrea looking depressed and to the point of tears.
"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister," Lori spoke seeing Edwin looking at Andrea.
Edwin walked over to Andrea, "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is," he said as he leaned into her. "Scan to the second event," he said to Vi as he moved away from Andrea. "The resurrection times vary widely. We have reports of it happening 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 and seven seconds."
"It restarts the brain?" Kate asked confused as she watched little red dots now at the bottom of the brain and shooting upwards, though besides those the rest of the brain still looked black and just plain empty.
"No just the brain stem," Edwin said as he shook his head. "It basically gets them up and moving."
"But they're not alive?" Rick asked from where he stood behind the doctor.
Edwin turned to face Rick, "You tell me," he said as he pointed to the image on the screen.
Rick shook his head, "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. The you part," Edwin continued as he stayed looking at Rick. "Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."
"God what was that?" Carol asked as she scrunched up her nose as she watched something go through the patients head on the image in playback.
Andrea crossed her arms though she didn't take her eyes off the screen, "He shot his patient in the head," she said so matter of factly before turning to face Edwin. "Didn't you?"
Edwin didn't answer Andrea, instead he gave an order to Vi. Telling her to power down the main screen and the work station.
"You have no idea what it is do you?" Taylor asked finally speaking up. He couldn't help but sound bitter.
"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal.." Edwin stated until Jacqui spoke up saying or the wrath of God. "There is that," he agreed as well.
"Somebody must know something," Taylor persisted as he walked a bit closer to the doctor. "Somebody somewhere?"
Carol nodded her head in agreement, "There are others right? Other facilities?"
"There may be some, people like me," Edwin said as he turned his head slightly to look at Carol.
Rick shook his head at that answer, "But you don't know? How can you not know?"
"Everything went down, communications, directives, all of it," Edwin said calmly as he eyed Rick now. "I've been in the dark for almost a month."
Taylor shook his head at those words. "So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere," he stated sadly feeling like he was falling off that tether now and feeling again like he had nothing to live for. "Nothing. That's what you're really saying, right?"
"Man I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again," Daryl mumbled as he ran his hands down his cheek.
Dale stood there feeling stunned at the man's words but he decided to speak, "Doctor Jenner I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but that clock," he said as he walked closer to a clock on the wall. "It's counting down. What happens at zero?"
"The basement generators they run out of fuel," Edwin answered as he turned to walk away.
"And then?" Rick asked as he raised an eyebrow. When Jenner didn't answer him Rick looked up, "Vi what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the power runs out facility wide decontamination will occur."
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Avery chewed her lip as she looked at Mac. They were sitting in his room and she couldn't help but feel nervous. The whole decontamination thing was making her nervous.
"No need to be nervous Ave," Mac said as he smiled at his sister. "The guys are all down in the basement. I'm sure they will see we aren't that close to running out of fuel," he nodded knowing Rick,Shane,Glen, and T-Dog had it covered or at least he hoped anyway.
Shaking her head Avery ran a hand through her hair, "You can't sit there and honestly say that," she said as she shook her leg. It was a nervous tick she had. "You saw the countdown thing. It's dangerously close to running out. An hour maybe less by now."
Mac was about to respond to her when the lights in the room went out.
Closing her eyes briefly when the lights went out Avery stood from where she sat. The moment she opened the door she saw Doctor Jenner walking down the hall, followed by people asking him questions like why the air was off and the lights as well.
"Energy use is being prioritized," Jenner answered as he continued to walk down the hall, taking a bottle of alcohol from Daryl as he did so.
"Air isn't a priority?" Dale asked confused as he looked at the doctor. "And lights?"
Jenner kept walking feeling the group following behind him, "It's not up to me. Zone five is shutting itself down."
Avery who stayed near the back kept her mouth shut as she heard and watched Daryl walk right with the doctor asking him what his words meant. Chewing her lip she felt an arm go around her and she looked over seeing Jessica who looked equally as scared and nervous as her.
"We'll be okay," Jessica muttered to Avery as they whole group walked back into the main room. She could faintly hear Doctor Jenner talking to Rick and she could faintly make out the doctor telling Rick they had just approached the half hour mark which was right on schedule.
"It was the french," Edwin said as he looked at Taylor before walking up the stairs to where all the computers were.
Taylor looked at him confused, "What?"
"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know," Edwin stated. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways they stayed in the labs til the end. They thought they were close to a solution."
Jacqui raised her eyebrow once the doctor finished talking, "What happened?"
"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice," Edwin shrugged before pointing towards the clock. "The world runs on fossil fuels. I mean how stupid is that?"
After he got done talking Avery watched as Shane muttered to hell with the doctor and lunged towards him only to be stopped by Rick who told the group to get their stuff because they were getting out of here.
Pulling away from Jessica she turned to leave hearing a siren go off and then Vi's voice saying thirty minutes to decontamination. It was after that, that Shane told everyone to get to moving again and the moment they all did so doors came up blocking their way out.
"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asked sounding panicked. "He just locked us in!"
Running back towards the main part where the computers were Avery felt her heart beating faster. Everyone was panicking now even Mac.
"Hey," Jessica spoke as she grabbed Avery's hand and pulled her down to the floor. "We'll be okay," she repeated again though she didn't believe it. "We'll be okay," she repeated as she watched Daryl now go towards the doctor even grabbing a hold of his chair and moving him away from where he sat before Shane came over and moved Daryl away.
Avery just looked at Jessica before shaking her head. She wanted to believe her sister's words but she couldn't. They weren't going to be okay and the way the doctor seemed so calm about everything just made it worse for her.
"Jenner open that door now," Rick demanded as he walked to where the doctor sat.
Edwin looked up at Rick, "There is no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."
"Well open the damn things," Dale yelled.
"That's not something I control. The computers do," Edwin told them as he shook his head. "I told you once that front door closed it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that," he reminded the group. "It's better this way."
Rick who had looked at Shane briefly turned to look at the doctor, "What is?" he asked before looking at the clock. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" he asked though of course the doctor ignored him so he repeated his question this time letting his anger show.
"Do you know what this place is?!" Edwin asked as he stood up. "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 yelled as he finally let his anger get the best of him.
Taking a deep breath after that he then sat down and collected himself, "In the event of a catastrophic power failure in a terrorist attack for example HIT's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."
"HIT's" Rick asked as he made a face confused as to what HIT's were.
Edwin who was unable to met Rick's gaze sighed, "Vi define."
"H.I.T.s - high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosive consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition which produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."
"It sets the air on fire," Edwin said after Vi finished with her definition. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret, everything."
Avery who had listened to everything buried her head in Jessica's neck as tears came out of her eyes. As she cried in her sister's neck she could hear Daryl throwing his bottle of alcohol against the doors that had came up trapping them in the main room. She could also hear Zac pleading on behalf of Kate and their baby but of course she knew it would just fall on deaf ears. Doctor Jenner didn't care what happened to them. He was determined to die anyway.
Holding her sister to her Jessica tried to calm her even if she herself was now in fear. She knew last night she had been upset but even in her grief she never wanted to die. Looking around her she could hear Shane now trying the doors with an axe as Sophia and Carl cried next to their moms. Kate was holding onto Zac who looked on the verge of tears and Mac just kept pacing back and forth. It was Taylor who seemed the most calm out of everyone. Well him and Andrea both. It was almost eerie.
"You should have left well enough alone," Edwin said as he looked at the people sitting in the floor. "It would have been so much easier."
"Easier for who?" Lori snapped out angrily as she looked at the doctor.
"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death," Edwin muttered before turning to look at Andrea. "Your sister what was her name?"
Andrea looked at the doctor from where she sat, "Amy."
"Amy. You know what this does, you've seen it," Edwin told her before turning to Rick. "Is that really what you want for your wife and.." he started but was stopped by Rick.
"I don't want this," Rick hissed out knowing he didn't want this for his family either.
Shane came back to where Rick was after trying the doors with his axe, "I can't make a dent," he confessed his breathing shallow.
"Those doors are made to design a rocket launcher," Edwin told him sarcastically.
Feeling angry at the doctor's response to Shane, Daryl raised his axe as he again lunged for the man, "Well your head ain't!" he yelled but he was stopped by Rick, Dale, and Mac before he could reach the doctor.
"You do want this," Edwin told Rick. "Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead," he nodded recalling what the man had told him while he was drunk.
Avery who had moved her head out of Jessica's neck turned to look at Rick. She couldn't help but feel shocked that the man had admitted those words but maybe he had a right to say them. Shaking her head she just closed her eyes. They were all fucking doomed.
"What you really said that?" Shane asked feeling angry at his friend. "After all your big talk?"
Rolling her eyes when Rick answered Shane by telling him that he had to keep hope alive she wasn't so sure she believed him.
"There is no hope," Edwin stated as he shook his head. "There never was."
Rick walked closer to the man, "There is always hope. Maybe it won't be you. Maybe not here but somebody somewhere."
"What part of everything's gone do you not understand?" Taylor asked Rick as he looked up from where he sat beside Andrea.
Edwin nodded as he pointed to Taylor, "Listen to your friend. He gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."
Shaking her head again Avery buried her head in Jessica's neck as she heard Carol now appeal to the doctor. This was crazy. She was going to die and she couldn't even admit that she was beginning to fall for Daryl. She was beginning to fall for Daryl and that thought scared her even with her impending death when it wouldn't matter.
Ignoring the conversation between them Avery only moved her head again when she heard a gun cock and soon heard footsteps. When she pulled away she felt her eyes widen at the sight of Shane holding a rifle at the doctor as he threatened the man to open the doors or he'd blow his head off.
The last part made Avery laugh some because if Shane killed the doctor for not opening the doors it really would kill them all anyway. They couldn't quite get out if the doctor was dead. Hearing Shane scream after Rick and Lori tried to calm him down she jumped when Shane raised the gun from the doctor's face and started shooting at various computers. It was obvious Shane had lost it but he was kind of scaring Avery more than she already was scared.
It was only when Rick took the gun from Shane though and knocked him down to the floor with the butt of it that Shane seemingly calmed down or well calmed down as much as he could be in this moment.
"I think you're lying," Rick spoke to the doctor after a few moments of silence.
Edwin turned his head to the man, "What?"
"You're lying about no hope. If that were true you would have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't, you chose the hard path. Why?" Rick asked curiously.
Edwin shook his head, "It doesn't matter."
"It does matter," Rick stated feeling like it did. "It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"
"Not because I wanted too," Edwin admitted as Rick leaned down in front of him. "I made a promise to her," he said as he pointed to the big screen. "My wife."
Kate took in the man's words as she stood up from the floor, "Test subject nineteen was your wife?"
"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" Edwin asked after shrugging his shoulders. "She was dying. It should have 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 have done something about this. Not me."
Rick who listened to all that Edwin had to say swallowed before speaking again, "Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's all we want, a choice, a chance."
"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori spoke as she held Carl to her, her voice cracking slightly.
Edwin sighed and shook his head, "I told you topside is locked down I can't open those," he said as he walked away from Rick's group.
Standing up from the floor Avery watched as the doctor walked away and went to a machine where he typed in a code. A code that seemingly opened the doors to the room they were in. Running to the doors she grabbed onto Jessica's hand seeing Mac beat them out of the room.
Feeling Jessica slow down Avery came to a stop as her eyes landed on Taylor who was staying where he sat in the floor.
"Aren't you coming?" Kate asked her brother-in-law as she and Zac made it half way towards the opened doors.
Taylor shook his head, "I think I am gonna stay," he said to her as he nodded his head. He may have felt alive when he kissed her but now knowing there was no hope, well he kind of wanted to take this way out.
Kate felt her husband try to pull her along and she shook her head, "Go," she told Zac. "I'll be behind you," she nodded.
Looking at his wife in disbelief Zac just shook his head but he could tell from the looks she gave him she was serious. "Fucking hell if you die because of him," he muttered as he turned his back and headed for the doors. Seeing Avery and Jessica had stopped to watch he grabbed onto both of them and lead them out of the room so they could get their stuff and leave. They only had four minutes left now.
Avery stayed with Zac and Jessica as they all got their stuff. Following what was left of their group up the stairs and towards the main upper part of the building she watched as a few them tried the doors unsuccessfully and even tried hitting the windows with axes. It was only when Carol gave Rick a grenade that she had found in his shirt after doing his laundry back at camp that they were able to get out.
Running through the whole in the glass that the grenade made she held onto Zac's shirt as he took down a few walkers on their way to where the vehicles were parked. Once they did make it to the vehicles though she parted from Zac and Jessica watching as they ran into the RV where Mac was and she found herself running for a familiar blue truck.
Getting in the truck Avery caught her breath as she watched Daryl join as he got in the driver's side. She half expected him to make her leave but she was relieved when he didn't.
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"You don't have to stay because of me," Taylor spoke as he looked at Kate who had now sat beside him. "You are pregnant and you need to think about your baby," he reminded her as he reached over to put a hand on her belly. Beside them he could hear Dale talking to Andrea who along with Jacqui had also opted to stay and go out this way.
Kate shook her head, "I'm not staying because of you," she told him after he put his hand on her belly. "I'm not even going to stay but I hope you choose to come with me," she told him as they locked eyes. "You don't need to go out this way," she frowned as she chewed her lip. "Natalie and your kids wouldn't want this from you. Ezra wouldn't want this."
At the mention of Ezra, Taylor closed his eyes, "Ezra would want me happy and being with him is going to make me happy," he told Kate.
"No it wouldn't. It would make you dead and hell if you commit suicide you may not even be with him," Kate reminded him firmly. She knew it was low but she'd do anything to change his mind. "Staying alive is what he would want from you. Not taking the easy way out," she said firmly as she stood up and turned her back to Taylor hoping to God he followed her out of this building.
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Staring at the building Avery sighed not seeing Kate or any of others coming out yet. They were gonna lose more people and god forbid if Zac lost Kate like this then he'd be a mess. Shaking her head at that thought she raised an eyebrow when she saw people running towards the hole in the glass from the grenade. Seeing them step out she couldn't help the smile on her face when she saw four figures coming running towards the vehicles. Andrea,Dale,Kate and Taylor had all made it out in time.
Hearing the honking of the horn in the RV, Avery dropped down in the truck as she knew it had to be time for the building to blow. Feeling a body on top of her Avery smiled again some as she felt safe again even as she heard the building outside of the truck blow up. She was safe wherever Daryl was. She was safe with the man who she was beginning to fall for and now not even that thought scared her as much.
When Daryl moved off her she sat up now just seeing a burning pile of rubble where the CDC had once been. A burning pile of rubble and another lost shelter.
Looking away she watched the four figures who had made it out of the CDC run the rest of the way into the RV and then their little caravan headed off down the road to god knew where but hopefully soon they'd find another place. They'd find hope and shelter somewhere else.
Waking with a headache Zac groaned some but turned over in the cot he slept on. Opening his eyes he frowned seeing that Kate was gone just like she had been gone when he came to bed last night. Slipping out of the bed he put his clothes back on and left the room, heading towards where they had, had dinner last night.
Spotting Kate once he got there he sat down beside her, "I was wondering where you snuck off too," he smiled as he kissed her cheek stealing some of the dry cereal she had poured herself.
Kate grinned as she looked at Zac, "Our baby woke me up with morning sickness, otherwise I would have still been in bed beside you," she laughed as she swatted his hand away before he could take more of her cereal. "And go get your own food," she teased him as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "There's eggs I think."
Making a face at her eggs comment Zac shook his head, "I think I will pass on the eggs," he muttered knowing the thought of anything but the dry cereal made his stomach churn some too. "I think I have sympathy morning sickness."
"Or just the results of a hang over," Kate said again as she glared at him playfully when he snuck more of the cereal out of her bowl. Before she could say more though she heard Carl speak up asking Rick if he was hung over, mainly because as he stated his mom said he would be.
Rick sat down at the table and looked at his son, "Mom is right," he smiled knowing that he indeed was hung over.
"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori smirked as she looked down at her food.
Zac stayed silent at that exchange but when he heard T-Dog mention eggs and then bring them to Glenn saying they helped the hang over he had to close his eyes and look away as his stomach churned yet again.
"Where did all of this come from?" Rick asked as he reached for a bottle of aspirin that was sitting on the table.
"Jenner," Kate answered right before Lori could. "He thought we could use it," she said watching as Rick handed the bottle to Lori so Lori could open it for him. "Or some of us at least," she laughed before turning her eyes to Glenn who looked the worst even over Zac.
Glenn closed his eyes as he held his head down on his arm, "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again," he groaned out feeling like shit, not just physically but also mentally because he could still remember what an ass he had made by chickening out on telling Jessica how he had felt about her.
Looking up when he saw Shane come in the room Rick raised an eyebrow, "You feel as bad as I do?" he asked his friend.
"Worse," Shane muttered as he flashed back to his almost rape of Lori and then how he had turned to Avery who had called him by another man's name.
T-Dog who was walking back to the table caught sight of the scratches on Shane's neck, "What the hell happened to you?" he asked him sounding confused by the marks on the man's neck. "Your neck?"
"Must have done it in my sleep," Shane answered as he spotted Avery come in the room. She was looking away from him and to be honest he liked it better that way. It wasn't like he wanted everyone, especially Lori to know that he was having sex with her.
Rick looked at Shane when the man sat down across from him, "I've never seen you do that before."
"Me neither," Shane agreed keeping his eyes away from Rick's. "Not like me at all," he said before turning his gaze to Lori who only looked at him briefly. Long enough to roll her eyes.
"Morning," Edwin stated as he walked into the room, seeing almost all of the group there. It was after he said that, that he heard a chorus of hey's or hey Doc.
"Doctor I don't mean too slam you with questions first thing," Dale said as he watched the doctor make himself a cup of coffee.
Edwin sighed at the man's words, "But you will anyway."
"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea added in, her tone serious.
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Taylor sighed to himself as he followed behind the group as Doctor Jenner lead them all back to the main room after breakfast was done. Taylor guessed it was because he was going to satisfy Andrea and Dale and give them the answers they both wanted. Answers that everyone came here for but to be honest Taylor wasn't sure if he wanted answers.
Yes he was feeling alive again but he could still feel himself tethering on the edge of being alive and not being alive. The answers the doctor were gonna give could probably send him over that edge either way.
"Give me playback of TS-19," Edwin spoke as he turned on one of the computers. It was after he spoke that he heard Vi repeating what he said. Playback of TS-19. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few," he said as he put his hands on his hips and turned to face the group before him.
Watching in silence Taylor raised an eyebrow at the images on the screen. Most of it was stuff he didn't understand but he could at least make out the shape of a face in the images.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked as he turned to look at the doctor.
Edwin smiled as he looked at the boy, "An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end," he said sadly as he turned back to the images on the main screen in the room. "Take us in for EIV," he requested hearing Vi then say Enhanced Internal View.
"What are those lights?" Shane asked as he sat down in the floor. The picture on the screen now was obviously inside the brain and there were lights flashing everywhere inside of it.
"It's a person's life," Edwin stated. "Experiences, memories, it's everything. Somewhere in all of that organic wiring, ripples of light is you. The thing that makes you unique and human."
Daryl looked at the man feeling confused by his words. "You don't make sense ever?" he asked as he crossed his arms.
"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," Edwin answered as he kept his eyes on the image feeling amazed at the sight still.
"Death? That's what this is a vigil?" Rick asked as he walked closer to Doctor Jenner.
Keeping his eyes on the image Edwin nodded his head slightly, "Yes or rather the playback of the vigil," he spoke finally turning to look at Rick.
"This person died?" Jessica asked sounding sad as she watched the images on the screen. "Who?"
"Test subject nineteen," Edwin answered as he looked at the blonde. "Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process," he smiled. "Vi scan forward to the first event," he requested again.
Once the image scanned to the first event Taylor made a face as he saw the brain was now black. It was no longer lit up with lights like before.
"What is that?" Glenn asked sounding astounded. He was confused as to why the brain was now mostly all black.
Pointing up at the image Edwin answered the boy, "It invades the brain like meningitis. the adrenal glands hemorrhage. The brain goes into shutdown then the major organs, then death," he sighed as he looked down his face falling slightly. "Everything you ever were or ever will be, gone."
Taylor who looked down at those words frowned when Sophia asked if that was what happened to Jim. All he could think about in that moment though was all of his family he had lost, especially Ezra. He had been gone before Kate even put him down. He had been gone. He was gone.
Edwin turned to look at the group seeing Andrea looking depressed and to the point of tears.
"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister," Lori spoke seeing Edwin looking at Andrea.
Edwin walked over to Andrea, "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is," he said as he leaned into her. "Scan to the second event," he said to Vi as he moved away from Andrea. "The resurrection times vary widely. We have reports of it happening 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 and seven seconds."
"It restarts the brain?" Kate asked confused as she watched little red dots now at the bottom of the brain and shooting upwards, though besides those the rest of the brain still looked black and just plain empty.
"No just the brain stem," Edwin said as he shook his head. "It basically gets them up and moving."
"But they're not alive?" Rick asked from where he stood behind the doctor.
Edwin turned to face Rick, "You tell me," he said as he pointed to the image on the screen.
Rick shook his head, "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. The you part," Edwin continued as he stayed looking at Rick. "Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."
"God what was that?" Carol asked as she scrunched up her nose as she watched something go through the patients head on the image in playback.
Andrea crossed her arms though she didn't take her eyes off the screen, "He shot his patient in the head," she said so matter of factly before turning to face Edwin. "Didn't you?"
Edwin didn't answer Andrea, instead he gave an order to Vi. Telling her to power down the main screen and the work station.
"You have no idea what it is do you?" Taylor asked finally speaking up. He couldn't help but sound bitter.
"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal.." Edwin stated until Jacqui spoke up saying or the wrath of God. "There is that," he agreed as well.
"Somebody must know something," Taylor persisted as he walked a bit closer to the doctor. "Somebody somewhere?"
Carol nodded her head in agreement, "There are others right? Other facilities?"
"There may be some, people like me," Edwin said as he turned his head slightly to look at Carol.
Rick shook his head at that answer, "But you don't know? How can you not know?"
"Everything went down, communications, directives, all of it," Edwin said calmly as he eyed Rick now. "I've been in the dark for almost a month."
Taylor shook his head at those words. "So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere," he stated sadly feeling like he was falling off that tether now and feeling again like he had nothing to live for. "Nothing. That's what you're really saying, right?"
"Man I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again," Daryl mumbled as he ran his hands down his cheek.
Dale stood there feeling stunned at the man's words but he decided to speak, "Doctor Jenner I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but that clock," he said as he walked closer to a clock on the wall. "It's counting down. What happens at zero?"
"The basement generators they run out of fuel," Edwin answered as he turned to walk away.
"And then?" Rick asked as he raised an eyebrow. When Jenner didn't answer him Rick looked up, "Vi what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the power runs out facility wide decontamination will occur."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Avery chewed her lip as she looked at Mac. They were sitting in his room and she couldn't help but feel nervous. The whole decontamination thing was making her nervous.
"No need to be nervous Ave," Mac said as he smiled at his sister. "The guys are all down in the basement. I'm sure they will see we aren't that close to running out of fuel," he nodded knowing Rick,Shane,Glen, and T-Dog had it covered or at least he hoped anyway.
Shaking her head Avery ran a hand through her hair, "You can't sit there and honestly say that," she said as she shook her leg. It was a nervous tick she had. "You saw the countdown thing. It's dangerously close to running out. An hour maybe less by now."
Mac was about to respond to her when the lights in the room went out.
Closing her eyes briefly when the lights went out Avery stood from where she sat. The moment she opened the door she saw Doctor Jenner walking down the hall, followed by people asking him questions like why the air was off and the lights as well.
"Energy use is being prioritized," Jenner answered as he continued to walk down the hall, taking a bottle of alcohol from Daryl as he did so.
"Air isn't a priority?" Dale asked confused as he looked at the doctor. "And lights?"
Jenner kept walking feeling the group following behind him, "It's not up to me. Zone five is shutting itself down."
Avery who stayed near the back kept her mouth shut as she heard and watched Daryl walk right with the doctor asking him what his words meant. Chewing her lip she felt an arm go around her and she looked over seeing Jessica who looked equally as scared and nervous as her.
"We'll be okay," Jessica muttered to Avery as they whole group walked back into the main room. She could faintly hear Doctor Jenner talking to Rick and she could faintly make out the doctor telling Rick they had just approached the half hour mark which was right on schedule.
"It was the french," Edwin said as he looked at Taylor before walking up the stairs to where all the computers were.
Taylor looked at him confused, "What?"
"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know," Edwin stated. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways they stayed in the labs til the end. They thought they were close to a solution."
Jacqui raised her eyebrow once the doctor finished talking, "What happened?"
"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice," Edwin shrugged before pointing towards the clock. "The world runs on fossil fuels. I mean how stupid is that?"
After he got done talking Avery watched as Shane muttered to hell with the doctor and lunged towards him only to be stopped by Rick who told the group to get their stuff because they were getting out of here.
Pulling away from Jessica she turned to leave hearing a siren go off and then Vi's voice saying thirty minutes to decontamination. It was after that, that Shane told everyone to get to moving again and the moment they all did so doors came up blocking their way out.
"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asked sounding panicked. "He just locked us in!"
Running back towards the main part where the computers were Avery felt her heart beating faster. Everyone was panicking now even Mac.
"Hey," Jessica spoke as she grabbed Avery's hand and pulled her down to the floor. "We'll be okay," she repeated again though she didn't believe it. "We'll be okay," she repeated as she watched Daryl now go towards the doctor even grabbing a hold of his chair and moving him away from where he sat before Shane came over and moved Daryl away.
Avery just looked at Jessica before shaking her head. She wanted to believe her sister's words but she couldn't. They weren't going to be okay and the way the doctor seemed so calm about everything just made it worse for her.
"Jenner open that door now," Rick demanded as he walked to where the doctor sat.
Edwin looked up at Rick, "There is no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."
"Well open the damn things," Dale yelled.
"That's not something I control. The computers do," Edwin told them as he shook his head. "I told you once that front door closed it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that," he reminded the group. "It's better this way."
Rick who had looked at Shane briefly turned to look at the doctor, "What is?" he asked before looking at the clock. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" he asked though of course the doctor ignored him so he repeated his question this time letting his anger show.
"Do you know what this place is?!" Edwin asked as he stood up. "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 yelled as he finally let his anger get the best of him.
Taking a deep breath after that he then sat down and collected himself, "In the event of a catastrophic power failure in a terrorist attack for example HIT's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."
"HIT's" Rick asked as he made a face confused as to what HIT's were.
Edwin who was unable to met Rick's gaze sighed, "Vi define."
"H.I.T.s - high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosive consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition which produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."
"It sets the air on fire," Edwin said after Vi finished with her definition. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret, everything."
Avery who had listened to everything buried her head in Jessica's neck as tears came out of her eyes. As she cried in her sister's neck she could hear Daryl throwing his bottle of alcohol against the doors that had came up trapping them in the main room. She could also hear Zac pleading on behalf of Kate and their baby but of course she knew it would just fall on deaf ears. Doctor Jenner didn't care what happened to them. He was determined to die anyway.
Holding her sister to her Jessica tried to calm her even if she herself was now in fear. She knew last night she had been upset but even in her grief she never wanted to die. Looking around her she could hear Shane now trying the doors with an axe as Sophia and Carl cried next to their moms. Kate was holding onto Zac who looked on the verge of tears and Mac just kept pacing back and forth. It was Taylor who seemed the most calm out of everyone. Well him and Andrea both. It was almost eerie.
"You should have left well enough alone," Edwin said as he looked at the people sitting in the floor. "It would have been so much easier."
"Easier for who?" Lori snapped out angrily as she looked at the doctor.
"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death," Edwin muttered before turning to look at Andrea. "Your sister what was her name?"
Andrea looked at the doctor from where she sat, "Amy."
"Amy. You know what this does, you've seen it," Edwin told her before turning to Rick. "Is that really what you want for your wife and.." he started but was stopped by Rick.
"I don't want this," Rick hissed out knowing he didn't want this for his family either.
Shane came back to where Rick was after trying the doors with his axe, "I can't make a dent," he confessed his breathing shallow.
"Those doors are made to design a rocket launcher," Edwin told him sarcastically.
Feeling angry at the doctor's response to Shane, Daryl raised his axe as he again lunged for the man, "Well your head ain't!" he yelled but he was stopped by Rick, Dale, and Mac before he could reach the doctor.
"You do want this," Edwin told Rick. "Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead," he nodded recalling what the man had told him while he was drunk.
Avery who had moved her head out of Jessica's neck turned to look at Rick. She couldn't help but feel shocked that the man had admitted those words but maybe he had a right to say them. Shaking her head she just closed her eyes. They were all fucking doomed.
"What you really said that?" Shane asked feeling angry at his friend. "After all your big talk?"
Rolling her eyes when Rick answered Shane by telling him that he had to keep hope alive she wasn't so sure she believed him.
"There is no hope," Edwin stated as he shook his head. "There never was."
Rick walked closer to the man, "There is always hope. Maybe it won't be you. Maybe not here but somebody somewhere."
"What part of everything's gone do you not understand?" Taylor asked Rick as he looked up from where he sat beside Andrea.
Edwin nodded as he pointed to Taylor, "Listen to your friend. He gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."
Shaking her head again Avery buried her head in Jessica's neck as she heard Carol now appeal to the doctor. This was crazy. She was going to die and she couldn't even admit that she was beginning to fall for Daryl. She was beginning to fall for Daryl and that thought scared her even with her impending death when it wouldn't matter.
Ignoring the conversation between them Avery only moved her head again when she heard a gun cock and soon heard footsteps. When she pulled away she felt her eyes widen at the sight of Shane holding a rifle at the doctor as he threatened the man to open the doors or he'd blow his head off.
The last part made Avery laugh some because if Shane killed the doctor for not opening the doors it really would kill them all anyway. They couldn't quite get out if the doctor was dead. Hearing Shane scream after Rick and Lori tried to calm him down she jumped when Shane raised the gun from the doctor's face and started shooting at various computers. It was obvious Shane had lost it but he was kind of scaring Avery more than she already was scared.
It was only when Rick took the gun from Shane though and knocked him down to the floor with the butt of it that Shane seemingly calmed down or well calmed down as much as he could be in this moment.
"I think you're lying," Rick spoke to the doctor after a few moments of silence.
Edwin turned his head to the man, "What?"
"You're lying about no hope. If that were true you would have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't, you chose the hard path. Why?" Rick asked curiously.
Edwin shook his head, "It doesn't matter."
"It does matter," Rick stated feeling like it did. "It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"
"Not because I wanted too," Edwin admitted as Rick leaned down in front of him. "I made a promise to her," he said as he pointed to the big screen. "My wife."
Kate took in the man's words as she stood up from the floor, "Test subject nineteen was your wife?"
"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" Edwin asked after shrugging his shoulders. "She was dying. It should have 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 have done something about this. Not me."
Rick who listened to all that Edwin had to say swallowed before speaking again, "Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's all we want, a choice, a chance."
"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori spoke as she held Carl to her, her voice cracking slightly.
Edwin sighed and shook his head, "I told you topside is locked down I can't open those," he said as he walked away from Rick's group.
Standing up from the floor Avery watched as the doctor walked away and went to a machine where he typed in a code. A code that seemingly opened the doors to the room they were in. Running to the doors she grabbed onto Jessica's hand seeing Mac beat them out of the room.
Feeling Jessica slow down Avery came to a stop as her eyes landed on Taylor who was staying where he sat in the floor.
"Aren't you coming?" Kate asked her brother-in-law as she and Zac made it half way towards the opened doors.
Taylor shook his head, "I think I am gonna stay," he said to her as he nodded his head. He may have felt alive when he kissed her but now knowing there was no hope, well he kind of wanted to take this way out.
Kate felt her husband try to pull her along and she shook her head, "Go," she told Zac. "I'll be behind you," she nodded.
Looking at his wife in disbelief Zac just shook his head but he could tell from the looks she gave him she was serious. "Fucking hell if you die because of him," he muttered as he turned his back and headed for the doors. Seeing Avery and Jessica had stopped to watch he grabbed onto both of them and lead them out of the room so they could get their stuff and leave. They only had four minutes left now.
Avery stayed with Zac and Jessica as they all got their stuff. Following what was left of their group up the stairs and towards the main upper part of the building she watched as a few them tried the doors unsuccessfully and even tried hitting the windows with axes. It was only when Carol gave Rick a grenade that she had found in his shirt after doing his laundry back at camp that they were able to get out.
Running through the whole in the glass that the grenade made she held onto Zac's shirt as he took down a few walkers on their way to where the vehicles were parked. Once they did make it to the vehicles though she parted from Zac and Jessica watching as they ran into the RV where Mac was and she found herself running for a familiar blue truck.
Getting in the truck Avery caught her breath as she watched Daryl join as he got in the driver's side. She half expected him to make her leave but she was relieved when he didn't.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"You don't have to stay because of me," Taylor spoke as he looked at Kate who had now sat beside him. "You are pregnant and you need to think about your baby," he reminded her as he reached over to put a hand on her belly. Beside them he could hear Dale talking to Andrea who along with Jacqui had also opted to stay and go out this way.
Kate shook her head, "I'm not staying because of you," she told him after he put his hand on her belly. "I'm not even going to stay but I hope you choose to come with me," she told him as they locked eyes. "You don't need to go out this way," she frowned as she chewed her lip. "Natalie and your kids wouldn't want this from you. Ezra wouldn't want this."
At the mention of Ezra, Taylor closed his eyes, "Ezra would want me happy and being with him is going to make me happy," he told Kate.
"No it wouldn't. It would make you dead and hell if you commit suicide you may not even be with him," Kate reminded him firmly. She knew it was low but she'd do anything to change his mind. "Staying alive is what he would want from you. Not taking the easy way out," she said firmly as she stood up and turned her back to Taylor hoping to God he followed her out of this building.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Staring at the building Avery sighed not seeing Kate or any of others coming out yet. They were gonna lose more people and god forbid if Zac lost Kate like this then he'd be a mess. Shaking her head at that thought she raised an eyebrow when she saw people running towards the hole in the glass from the grenade. Seeing them step out she couldn't help the smile on her face when she saw four figures coming running towards the vehicles. Andrea,Dale,Kate and Taylor had all made it out in time.
Hearing the honking of the horn in the RV, Avery dropped down in the truck as she knew it had to be time for the building to blow. Feeling a body on top of her Avery smiled again some as she felt safe again even as she heard the building outside of the truck blow up. She was safe wherever Daryl was. She was safe with the man who she was beginning to fall for and now not even that thought scared her as much.
When Daryl moved off her she sat up now just seeing a burning pile of rubble where the CDC had once been. A burning pile of rubble and another lost shelter.
Looking away she watched the four figures who had made it out of the CDC run the rest of the way into the RV and then their little caravan headed off down the road to god knew where but hopefully soon they'd find another place. They'd find hope and shelter somewhere else.