Cupid's Arrow | Daryl Dixon

𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎 - 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎

"Jenner, open that door now." Rick said.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down." Jenner said. "The emergency exits are sealed."

"Well, open the damn things." Rick said.

"That's not something I control. The computers do." Jenner said. "I told you once that front door closes, it wouldn't open again. It's better this way."

"What is?" Rick asked. "What happens in twenty eight minutes?"

"Do you know what this place is?" Jenner asked. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff. Weaponised smallpox. Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country. Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever! In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"What does that mean, Jenner?" Madelyn asked.

"Vi, define." Jenner said.

"HITs." Vi said. "High impulse thermobaric fuel air explosives consist of a stage two aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between five thousand and six thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

"Oh my god." Madelyn gasped, hugging Glenn tight. They were all gonna die. Madelyn didn't know if she was ready for this. Yes, she was going to kill herself but that was because she was alone. Now...she wasn't. She had people, survivors. She had friends.

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner said. "No pain. And end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything."

Daryl growled and threw a glass bottle at the door in anger. "Open the damn door!" Daryl yelled as Madelyn took deep breaths to try and stay calm. There had to be a way out. There had to be. Shane and Daryl both tried busting through the door but nothing was working.

"You should have left well enough alone. It would've been so much easier." Jenner said.

"Easier for who?" Lori said.

"All of you. You know what's out there." Jenner said. "A short, brutal life and an agonising death. Your...your sister. What was her name?"

"Amy." Andrea said.

"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it." Jenner said. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?"

"I don't want this." Rick said.

"Can't make a dent." Shane panted.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner said.

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl yelled, going to hit Jenner with his pickaxe but Dale and Rick stopped him.

"Daryl, back up." Rick said. Madelyn began to get really worried at this point. This was not how it was supposed to end.

"You do want this." Jenner said to Rick. "Last night, you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

"What?" T-Dog asked.

"Rick, what is he talking about?" Madelyn asked.

"You really said that? After your big talk?" Shane asked.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick asked.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner said.

"There's always hope." Rick said. "Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody, somewhere..."

"What part of 'everything's gone' do you not understand?" Andrea asked as she stared at the ground. She looked defeated, like she had given up. That's how Madelyn felt when everything had started.