Pincushion and Beanpole Take On The Walking Dead

TS-19 (Part 2)

"Energy use is being prioritized." Jenner explained when he entered the computer room again. Daryl followed close on his heels.

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?"

Jenner clumsily drank straight from the bottle, dribbling some down his chin and belching. He swayed a bit as he stood, the alcohol clearly taking effect.

"It's not up to me." The doctor slurred. "Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

"Hey!" Daryl barreled towards the doctor. "Hey, what the hell does that mean?"

Jenner kept walking, seemingly oblivious to everyone following him.

"Hey, man, I'm talking to you." He grabbed Jenner by the shoulder, yanking him around to face him and finally answer a question. "What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised." Jenner chuckled as Rick, T-Dog, Glenn and Shane came running to join them.

"Rick?"

Upon hearing her call for him, Rick motioned her to wait as Jenner continued down the stairs past Rick and the others and up the steps into the computer room.

"Jenner, what's happening?"

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." Jenner took another drink from the bottle, already having drained over half of it. He paused at the steps that led up to the work stations in the computer room and was followed by the rest of the group as they gathered around him. Jenner finally handed the bottle back to Daryl who angrily snatched it out of Jenner's hand and turned to Andrea. "It was the French."

Andrea blinked in confusion. "W-what?" She stammered.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui implored.

"The same thing that's happening here." The doctor drunkenly insisted, gesturing wildly at the room around them. "No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"

Shane lunged at the man before being held back by Rick. "Let me tell you—"

"To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"

"Oh, Okay." Jacqui agreed, but her efforts to pack were half-hearted at best.

Several people in the group panicked when an alarm began blaring throughout the compound, echoing off the cement walls.

The computerized voice spoke again: "30 minutes to decontamination."

"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl asked when the announcement suddenly sent Jenner into a flurry of activity.

The archer eyed the doctor wearily as the man sat down at one of the monitors and scanned his badge, entering a code into the security pad and steadfastly ignoring the string of commands flying around him. At first it's unclear what the purpose is of his computerized commands until Rick started running toward the main security door that was currently sliding up to block the only way back out of the CDC.

Jenner hits a few more keys on the keyboard. "We've hit the 30-minute window. I'm recording." His voice was oddly calm considering the fear taking place all around him.