Deadland

Chapter 8- The Truth

I smile lightly at the sight, "Jesus, Glenn." He just groans in response. 

"I made scrambled eggs. They're powdered but I'm a beast, so they'll be fine." T-dog says, coming out of the kitchen and stirring a pan of scrambled eggs.

"Remind me to never drink again." Glenn croaks.

I scoff, "Good luck following that. All of us have said that at least once. Even Carl." Everyone chuckles and agrees with me.

Shane comes into the room, his huge scratch is still visible. Lori and I look at each other.

"Jesus, what the hell happened to you?" T-dog asks, putting eggs on Dale's plate. 

"Musta done it in my sleep."

"You've never done that before." Rick says, looking at Shane. 

"I know..." He looks at Lori. "It's not like me at all." 

Lori looks down and doesn't make eye contact.

Dr. Jenner comes and sits down at the table, Dale and Andrea nod to each other. 

"Oh god." 

"Dr. Jenner, we don't mean to pound you with questions first thing but-" Dale starts. "But you're going to do it anyway?" Dr. Jenner interrupts. 

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea says, staring at Dr. Jenner. 

Dr Jenner sighs and stands up, motioning us to follow him. Glenn groans and stands up, Jaqui is massaging Glenns shoulders. 

Jenner leads us to the big room that we were in when we first met his robot, "Vi". 

Dr. Jenner pulls up a picture of the brain of a Walker. 

"Cool." I whisper.

"What's that?" Carl questions, looking impressed at the picture.

"A brain. An extraordinary one at that." 

"AKA, my brain." I whisper to Alyssa. Alyssa giggles and covers her mouth. 

Dr Jenner begins to zoom into the brain, showing the brain stems, cells, and other parts of the brain. 

"What are those lights?" My dad asks, 

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all the organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you." He points to us. "The thing that makes you unique and human."

"You don't make sense...ever?" Daryl looks around, confused. 

I scoff, Alyssa giggles.

"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."

"Death?" Rick says, walking to Dr. Jenner. "That's what this is, a vigil?" "Yes." He says. 

"Or ra-rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea looks longingly at the screen. "Who?" 

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected...and volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event."

The screen fast-forwards and there's red-ish blue lines all throughout the bottom of the brain, lines that weren't there before. 

"What is that?" Glenn asks. I look at Glenn as he speaks.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Dr. Jenner explains, pointing to the screen. "The Adrenal Glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs...then death." 

Andrea looks like she's about to break down as Dr. Jenner is speaking. 

"Everything you ever were, or ever will be...gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asks Carol. "Yes." Carol nods. 

Everybody looks like they're about to throw up. 

Dr. Jenner shows us what the infected person looks like as they're a Walker. There are red glittery things all over the brain stem. He explains how the infection gets the body up and moving but doesn't make the person come back alive. 

Something pierces the head of the test subject.

"What was that?" Carol asks.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea answers. "Didn't you?"

(Summary:) Adrian fully opens up to Glenn about her abusive ex-boyfriend Nick. Though, she thinks she opened up because of the alcohol, which is most likely true. Adrian then hears the attempted sexual assault of Lori from Shane in the other room and she runs to help Lori, getting there just seconds after Shane leaves. Adrian hugs and comforts Lori and promises not to say anything, though Shane and Adrians relationship will forever be strained. In the morning, everyone is hungover, and they decide to see how the infection actually infects the brain and Dr. Jenner shows them. 

(Authors Note:) Hi! So, I'm on vacation right now so these chapters may be coming out way slower than normal. I will write whenever I get the chance, but I honestly will probably get little to no time to write. ALSO, I'm pretty sure I wrote "Dr. Brenner" instead of Dr. Jenner, but I can't find any "Brenner"s. If anyone finds one please let me know so I can edit it, thanks!