BRONTIDE, the walking dead

⁷ 𝙇𝙀𝙂𝙀𝙍𝘿𝙀𝙈𝘼𝙄𝙉

"We can do that." Rick nodded. "Whatever it takes."

"Good. You got stuff to bring in, do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

       Their men bolted outside and fetched everyone's bags. T-Dog and Dale closed the doors after them. The CDC worker slid an ID card into a panel with some code entrances, having the shutters locked, and amassing them in safety. Everybody took a calming breath in.

They had made it.

Rick's intuitions were as strong as hers, Harlene knew now. In tired relief, her shoulders slumped as Daryl forwarded her duffel bag to her. She mumbled a thank you. The hopeful curve on Theodore's lips caught her eyes, but she could not return the grin, nodding in response.

"Rick Grimes." Rick broke the silence by forwarding a hand.

It was left unshaken. The man looked down at the hand of their leader and tastelessly muttered, "Doctor Edwin Jenner."

       He led them to a large elevator, and they huddled uncomfortably. As if they were infected, the Doctor sank into a corner away from them, and Harlene noticed his nose scrunching to the stench of their clothes. She frowned between Glenn and Daryl's bodies. It was easy to reckon why he would be timid and distant to outsiders. But someone with a civil sense would at least try to reciprocate to common courtesy.

"Doctors always go 'round packin' heat like that?" Daryl's southern drawl vibrated in her ear, nudging his nose at Jenner's machine gun. It made her jump on the spot. She hadn't realized his proximity, so much that his crossbow's cold surface was pressing against her back.

It was his scent. That earthy cologne from the pickup.

She had to take a step forward, gently holding onto Sophia's bony shoulders. The little girl looked up at her with a smile. She appeared happy they had found someone to help them. Harlene smiled back at the child, but her improper thoughts didn't vanish.

"Oh, there were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough." Doctor Jenner replied. His eyes traveled to Carl as he attempted to lighten up the mood, joking toward him, "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

It didn't amuse anyone else but the boy.

       The elevator went floors into the subsurface. Doctor Jenner directed the way once they got out, dismissing the claustrophobic queries from Carol. Landon offered the woman comfort instead, digging into his pockets to give her Valium. She swallowed it dry as they strode a long white corridor until it largened into a dome-like, circular hall. A ramp lowered to a ring of computers and high-tech devices.

"VI, bring up the lights in the big room," Edwin shouted. "Welcome to Zone Five."

Computers beeped and buzzed. Fluorescent lights blindingly flashed, revealing everything more transparently. And the most transparent thing about the room was how empty it was. When it should have been hundreds of people squirming around, working their lives off, trying to find a cure to this sickness, there was not a single soul.

"Where is everybody?" Rick immediately interrogated, taking his hat off. His voice echoed in the void, "The doctors? The staff?"

"I'm it." Edwind wandered to the center of the room. "It's just me here."

Dumbfounded, Lori questioned, "What about the person you were speaking with? VI?"

"VI, say hello to our guests! Tell them: Welcome!"

At a perfectly settled time, a robotic feminine voice rang through the building, "Hello, guests. Welcome."

"Virtual Intelligence," Landon realized with a sigh. His head dropped in frustration at the dismay this place was as Jenner sent him an impressed look, scrutinizing his abysmal manifestation.